Desika sthothramala

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19.praangnirmithanaam

thapasaam vipaakaah

 

prathyagraniSSreyasa sampadho me

sameDhisheeran thava paadha padhme

sankalpachimthaamanayaH praNaamaaH

 

 

May my salutations

at your lotus feet, due to the

fructification of my austerities done in previous births, and which are

like the wish-giving gem, Chintamani,

secures me the fortune of salvation, go

on increasing.

 

From this sloka onwards Desika yearns for the grace of the

Lord, and prays for His blessing by meditating on His form. The four slokas

from this describe the glory of His feet.

 

The praNaamaah

..salutations to the feet of the Lord is due to the fruition of the penance done

in earlier lives, praangnirmithanaam

thapasaam vipaakaah, says Desika as

in the expression, avanaruLal avan thaaL vaNangi. May the pranaama gather force and increase forever, sameDhisheeran, which will secure the salvation at every step, prthyagraniSSreyasasampath, because

they are like the wish giving gem, sankalpachinthaamaNayaH

which gives everything wished for to those who resort to it. The the

salutations offered at he feet acquire the power of sankalpachinthamaNi because

the lotus feet of Lord Hayagreeve is the real chinthamaNi, is the implication

here.

 

The praNammas are the result of the past tapas and they directed

towards the feet of the Lord acquire the power to give future results.

 

20.

vilupthamoorDhanyalipikramaaNaam

surendhrachoodaapadhalaalithaanaam

thvadhanGhriraajeevarajaHkaNaanaam

bhooyaan prasaadhaH mayi naaTha bhooyaath

 

May the dust of your lotus feet, which are capable of

erasing the lines of fate on one's head, which are found on the crown of Indra and others, bestow abundant blessings

on me

 

It is said that the fate of a person is written on his

head at the time of birth, moorDhanyalipikrama,

due to his past karma. Desika says that the dust of the feet of the Lord on the

head of the devotees destroys, viluptha

the line of fate. The devas like Indra also wear the dust of His feet on their

head, choodaapadhalaalitha, in

reverence. Such is the power of the dust of His feet and Desika says may they

bestow abundant grace bhooyaan prasaadhaH on Him. The idea of the

previous sloka is continued in this as it shows the reason why the pranaamaas

have the power of showering blessings.

 

21.parisphuran

noopurachithrabhaanu

prakaasanirDhoothathamonushangaam

prabhoDharaajeevavibhaathasandhyaam

padhadhvyeem the parichinmahe anthaH

 

We gather inside our heart the pair of your feet, the

anklets on which are the Sun that dispels the darkness of ignorance and is the dawn that makes the lotus of wisdom blossom.

 

In this sloka we see Desika the poet surfacing and it is a beautiful one. The noopura, anklets on the feet of the

Lord shed light, parispuran, as

brilliant as the Sun and dispels, nirDhootha,

the darkness of the night, thamonushanga,

which is the ignorance, the word thamas meaning darkness aswell as ignorance

due to thamoguna. The light like the Sun awakens jnana. praboDha, which are the lotuses that blossom in the morning, vibhathasandhyaa.

 

The word sandhya is used both for evening and the dawn and

hence Desika uses the word vibhaatha

sandhya, vibhaatha meaning morning

that is prabhaatha.

 

To the spiritual seekers it is night as long as the

ignorance prevails and the morning is when the knowledge appears. In Gita

Krishna says,

 

Jnaanena thu

thdhajnaana yeshaam naaSitham aathmanaH

Theshaam

aadhithyavath jnaanam prakaaSayathi thath param(Bg-5.16)

 

Man is endowed with jnanam which is his real nature. But

the jnana is covered by ignorance as the world is covered by darkness. When the

knowledge dawns like the Sun the

darkness is nowhere to be seen and the

light that is natural appears.

 

To the devotees the night is the time before devotion

dawns at the heart. When the feet of the Lord is resorted to it brings jnana

like the sun and the dawn is only when the devotion dawns in the heart. This is

what is described as gathering His feet inside the heart, padhadhvayeem the parichinmahe

anthaH

 

22.manjupraNaadham

maNi noopuram the

thvathkinkaraalankarNochithaanaam

thvayaivakalpaantharapaalithaanaam

manjooshikaam vedhagiraam pratheemaH

 

 

We consider your anklets, that are the fitting ornaments

of the head of your servants which are

sweet-sounding as the caskets that hold the Vedas which are preserved by you

from other kalpas.

 

 

The anklets are praised here as the casket that holds the

Vedas. The sound of the anklets, manjupraNaadham

maNi noopuram the , are the

sound of the Vedas, as Lord Hayagreeva is the personification of the Vedas.

Desika says that the Lord has preserved the Vedas from the previous kalpas, kalpaanthara paalithaanaam, and instructs Brahma at the beginning of each kalpa

and he preserves it in His noopura and

hence the sound of them are the sound of the Vedas. Therefore the noopuras are

the casket that holds the Vedas, manjooshikaam

vedhagiraam. The devotees wear His

feet on their head and hence the noopuras are said to be the ornaments of the

servants of the Lord., thvathkinkaraalankaranochithaanaam.

 

23. samchinthayaami

prathibhaa dhaSaasThaan

samDhukshayantham samayapradheepaan

vijnaankalpadhrumapallavaabham

vyaakhyaanamudhraa maDhuram karam the

 

I repeatedly meditate on your sweet hand holding the jnanamudra, shining like

the tender shoot of Kalapakatree which kindles the intellect which is like the

wick that illuminates the vedic principles.

 

This sloka and the next two describe the hands of Lord

Hayagreeva.

 

Samayapradheepa is the tenets of Vedanta compared

to the light of the lamp of jnana. The intellect which comprehends the vedantic

truths is the wick of the lamp, dhaSaa,

which is kindled, samDhukshayantham,

by the Lord Himself. As he says in the Gita, `dhadhaami budddhiyogam tham,'

meaning that He gives the wisdom

for His devotees to realize the truth. Hence Desika says it is the jnanamudra, vyaakhyaanamudraa, indicative of the

knowledge of the truth in the right hand of the Lord Hayagreeva looks as though

He is kindling the intellect, prathibhaa, which is like the

wick, of the lamp of wisdom, to

make it burn bright.

 

24. chitthe karomi

sphurithaakshamaalam

savyetharam naaTha karam thvadheeyam

jnaanaamrthodhanchanalampataanaam

leelaaghateeyanthram iva ASrithaanaaam

 

I contemplate in my mind your right hand which also holds

the akshamaalaa, the garland of

beads , which appears to be the machine for drawing water from the well with

ease, for the sake of the devotees who desire for the nectar of wisdom.

 

The right hand of Lord Hayagreeva holding the jnanamudra

also has the japamala, which goes up and down like the contraption used in

drawing water from the wide well in the field by the farmers, which moves up

and down to draw the water and pour it

on the field continuously. The idea in comparing the hand with the

ghateeyanthra is that he Lord seems to be drawing the nectar of jnana and giving

it to His devotees.

 

Savyetharam karam means the hand other than the left, savya , that is, the right, which has sphuritha , shining akshmaala, the circle of crystal beads.

ASrithaanaam-for the devotees, who are jnaanaamrtha udhanchana lampataaH, desirous

of extracting the knowledge which is like nectar.

 

Leelaaghateeyanthram denotes the ease with which the

knowledge is provided for the devotees.

 

 

25.praboDhasinDhoH

aruNaiH prakaaSaih

pravaalaalso sanghaatham iva udhvahantham

vibhaavaye dheva sapusthakam the

vaamam karam dhakshiNam aaSrithaanaam

 

 

I clearly perceive your left hand which holds the book,

with its red hue looking as though it is bringing out the corals from the sea

of knowledge and which is kind towards the devotees.

 

Vibhaavaye means clearly perceive. Desika

was enjoying the presence of the Lord and describes His appearance. The left

hand of Lord Hayagreeva is holding the book signifying knowledge and the palm

is red like the collection of corals.

Desika carrying the metaphor further

says that the ocean from which these corals came was the sea of knowledge. He says that the left hand vamahastha is dhakshiNa , partial or kind to His devotees thus using the pairs of

opposites, namely vaama and dhakshina , left and right, to denote

the left hand which shows the kavichaathurya.

 

26.

thamaamsibhitthvaa viSadhaiH mayookhaiH

sampreenayantham vidhushaH chakoraan

niSaamaye thvaam navapundareeke

Saradhghanam chandhramiva sphurantham

 

 

 

I see You on a white lotus , shining like the moon among

the autumn clouds, breaking the darkness by white rays and giving joy to the

wise who are like chathaka birds.

 

The Lord Hayagreeva is visualized by Desika as being

seated on a white lotus, navapundareeke,

His form is also white like the moon among the autumn clouds, Saradhghanam chandhram iva, which are

white and the moon shines even whiter on account of that. The white rays that

His form emits, viSadhaiH mayookhaiH, break the darkness of ignorance,

thamaamsibhitthvaa, and give rise to

jnana and hence the wise are pleased, sampreeNayantham,

like the chakora birds, vidhushaschakoraan,

with moon light.

 

The Mythological Chakora birds are supposed to feed on

moonlight only. So also the wise consider knowledge as their only food which

they get from the Lord Hayagreeva. By praying to Him the darkness of ignorance

recedes and the light of wisdom dawns.

 

In this sloka Desika describes the whole form of the Lord

as seated on a white lotus and Himself being

of crystal white hue denoting

pure satthva.

 

The wonderful vocabulary of Desika can be seen in his

usage of the words which are uncommon and meaningful. Here he uses the verb niSaamaye, meaning, "I see." Nisamana

means seeing or observing. Also the word `niSaamaye,'

is in-keeping with the general meaning of the verse, `removing darkness'