SrI deSika stotra-s - 2. daSAvatAra stotram.

        This stotram was composed by SrI vedAta desika when he worshipped the =
Lord in the daSAvatAra sannidhi in SrIrangam.    The first Slokam is =
introductory in nature, and SrI deSika offers obeisance to Lord =
ranganAtha and Mother ranganAyAki whose ten divine incarnations he is =
going to cover in the stotram.  The next ten Slokams are devoted to the =
ten incarnations, one for each incarnation.  The twelfth Slokam =
summarizes all the ten incarnations in one Slokam, and the thirteenth =
and last Slokam is a phala-Sruti. =20

        The most striking aspect of this stotra for me was the poetic side of =
SrI deSika that comes out  so vividly in this composition.   When this =
statement is made, it is not to diminish  the importance of the =
devotional fervor in the stotra in any way.  In praising the poetic gift =
of Sri deSika,  one writer has remarked that SrI deSika could compose a =
thousand pASurams in praise of SrI RanganAtha's pAduka-s with ease in =
one night, whereas no other poet would have found it easy to compose =
more than a handful of Sloka-s on the topic of  'sandals'.  This is the =
poet that is revealed to us when we go through the daSAvatAra stotram.  =
Especially in the description of the first few incarnations, this poetic =
expression is striking.

        In his description of the matsya incarnation, the poet describes the =
beauty of the eyes of the Lord thus - wherever He goes as a fish in the =
waters looking for the lost veda-s, His eyes look like a traveling lotus =
garden.  The huge waves that He creates as He travels collide with each =
other and this looks like a swing in the waters.  And Our Lord is having =
fun enjoying this ride in this swing as He is looking for the veda-s.

        In the kUrma avatara, SrI deSikan imagines the Lord in the form of a =
tortoise enjoying the massage by the mandAra mountain as it is used in =
churning the ocean while supported on His back.  This massage makes the =
Lord feel so comforted that He falls asleep.  His deep breathing results =
in the huge waves which again serve the Lord as the water-bed on which =
He is present with His Consort, blessing all of us.

        The poet describes the sound emanating from the nose of the Lord in the =
varAha incarnation (ghur-ghuraih) as reverberating across the worlds and =
purifying them.  The Lord takes this incarnation to retrieve the lost =
Earth from the ocean, and once He has retrieved Mother Earth, He has Her =
firmly seated on His canine teeth as He is rising out of the Ocean.  She =
is enjoying the firm seating on His canine teeth and creating all the =
forms from brahma all the way down to the grass and all other beings as =
She is enjoying the ride.

        When the Lord appeared as nr*simha in the pillar in hiranyakaSipu's =
palace, the pillar became the 'mother' of the Lord, who Himself is the =
Father of brahma.  Thus the pillar managed to lose its sterility, and =
now became the grandmother of brahma! Given that brahma himself is =
called the pitAmahan (grandfather), now the pillar became the =
grandmother for the grandfather also.   (How lucky is the pillar that =
had the good fortune to give birth to the Lord!).  Since the Lord did =
not know He had to appear in the pillar (until prahlAda so wished), He =
did not have His weapons for the slaying of hiraNyakaSipu.  This is just =
as well, because His nails obviously are more powerful than His other =
weapons!

        As the foot of the Lord in His vAmana incarnation keeps growing, SrI =
deSika imagines that His feet are carrying mahAbali's fame (for =
fulfilling His words to the Lord happily) like the soldier announcing a =
victorious king's arrival.  The Ganges river that resulted from brahma's =
washing of the Lord's Holy feet as it flowed down to earth looked like a =
white victory flag for the Lord. =20

        The second aspect of the stotra that is noticeable is the description =
of the incarnations of the Lord using strikingly extreme aspects of the =
avatAra as if to illustrate that the Lord is all extremes at the same =
time.   In the description of the parasurAma and rAma incarnations, SrI =
deSika first points out the extreme capability or actions that they =
either did or are capable of, and then takes us down to the other =
extreme of their actions as if to contrast the two extremes.  Thus he =
first points out that ParSurAma destroyed 21 generations of kshatriya-s =
as a revenge for the slaying of his father, and captured the whole world =
for himself.  At the other extreme,  He sacrificed all his possessions =
in one swoop to Sage KaSyapa.  In rAma incarnation, SrI rAma was capable =
of draining the whole ocean with the heat of His arrows.  The power of =
His arrows is far more, and is many times more tortuous than the agni =
that devours the world mercilessly at the time of pralaya.  This same =
Lord rAma has as His vow the protection of those who surrender to Him =
just once.=20

        The above are some instances in the daSAvatAra stotram where SrI deSika =
has lost himself intensely in the bhagavad-anubhava as he is describing =
the different incarnations.   In addition to the descriptions of the =
above incarnations, the stotram also has one Sloka each that is devoted =
to the balarAma, kr*shNa and kalki incarnations.  =20

        Originally when I had the desire to go through each of the deSika =
stotra-s and share a high-level summary of each, I had planned not to =
include the samskr*t version of any Sloka or present detailed meanings.  =
However, in the twelfth Sloka
in this stotram svAmi deSikan summarizes all the ten incarnations in one =
Sloka.  So I am including this Sloka and its meaning briefly.

        "IcchA-mIna vihAra-kacchapa mahA-potrin yadr*cchA-hare        =20
        rakshA-vAmana rosha-rAma karuNA-kAkutstha helA-harin         |
        krIDA-vallava kalka-vAhana-daSA-kalkin iti pratyaham
        jalpantah purushAh punanti bhuvanam puNyaugha paNyApaNAh  ||

        "Oh Lord! Those who speak your name daily=20

as the One who took the form of a fish by your own free will, incarnated =
as a tortoise for the purposes of having fun, took the form of a big =
boar, appeared as Lord nr*simha when no one (including you) expected it, =
took the incarnation of vAmana just for protecting everyone (through the =
contact with your feet), presented yourself as the angry paraSurAma and =
also as rAma - the personification of kindness and mercy, had the sport =
with the plough in the balarAma avatAra and as the cowherd in your =
kr*shNa incarnation, and will ride the white horse in your kalki =
incarnation,

make this world pure by the store-house of puNya that they have =
accumulated, and are like the store where we can get all the puNya we =
need (i.e., by merely associating with them)".

        SrI deSika again gives vent to his poetic sentiments in describing =
these noble souls as shop-keepers from whom we can get all the puNya =
that we want by associating with them.   In the concluding Sloka, Sri =
deSika points out that even the desire to chant this stotram will lead =
to sarasvati-katAksham, in addition  to the spiritual development, =
purity of thought, and all kinds fame. =20
        =20
        As in the case of the previous write-up on SrI hayagrIva stotram, it is =
hoped that this high level description of the daSAvatAra stotram gives =
the desire to look at the detailed meanings of the stotram, chant it =
regularly,  and be blessed by our Lord and our AcArya.=20

-dAsan kr*shNamAcAryan