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bhishma-stuthi-7

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M K Sudarshan • June 7, 1997 


srimathE lakshmi-nrsumha parabrahmaNE namaha
sri vedanta guravE namaha

Dear "bhAgavatOttamA-s", 

It will be worthwhile examining in some detail the splendid expressions in
Verse #48 of the "dayA-satakam" on the matter of "antima-smriti". A poet's
perspective is often the most truthful and revealing of all.

   daivAt prAptE vrisha-giri-thatam dEhini tvanni-dAnAt
    svAmin pAhIthya-vasha-vachanE vidanti svApamanthyam  I
   dEvaha srImAn dhishati karunE dhrsti-micham-stvadhIyAm
    udhGhAtEna sruti-parishadA-mUtharENA-Bhi-mUKhyam     II

Now, in the above verse Swami Desikan employs a poetic hyperbole to drive
home a "vEdAntic" truth which could be said to have subtle bearing on
"antima-smriti".

Let me explain myself.

In the above Verse, Swami Desikan describes the perfect hold that the Lord's
Consort, "dayA-devi", has on Lord Srinivasa and How he virtually "dances to
Her tunes" and "jumps" to do her bidding. If one were to use a modern phrase
to explain the Lord's behaviour, one would say that if "dayA-devi" asks the
Lord to "jump", He first asks Her, "How high, My Dear ?" !! He does so not
out of any conjugal weakness of the worldly variety by which husbands
sometimes are rendered more slavish to their spouses than they would ever
care to admit! The Lord, instead, does so for the sake of the all-consuming
Compassion that She has for His Creation !

In the above Verse of the Daya-satakam, Swami Desikan illustrates the above
idea of the Lord's "daya" through a skillful imagery which is not only
poetically pleasing but also relevant to the subject-matter of "antima-smriti".

It is as follows :

In the poet's imagination, a pilgrim with no spiritual "qualifications"
whatsoever, a virtual "jaDa", so to speak, visits the holy Tirumala Hills,
the abode of the Lord. 

After worshipping the Lord, the person suddenly takes ill and lapses into a
moribund state. The time of his "prayANa kAlam" -- final departure -- arrives. 
In those last moments when his faculties are rapidly failing him and he is
losing consciousness, the devotee utters a phrase involuntarily and
incoherently..... what Swami Desikan in the above verse calls "svAmin
pAhIthya-vasha-vachanE" .. meaning "the Lord ...protects !".

Now, it must be understood that the "pAhithya-vachanE" of the devotee is not
being uttered by him with full control of his senses. The words fall out of
his mouth not with any deliberate intention on his part. In his dying
moments the poor pilgrim is not even aware of what he is saying. The words
"svAmin pAhi !" (Lord save) which the devotee utters, in fact, sounds like
the blabbering of a man about to breathe his last (somewhat like the
"pressure-cooker" sounds I described a few posts ago when I related my dear
grandmother's moments on the death-bed in Tirupati)!

At that very moment ... Swami Desikan, the "kavi-simham" imagines ... at
that moment "dayA-devi" arrives ! She hears the devotee blabber "svAmin
pAhi". Instantly she turns to the Lord with a sharp look that is at once
both commanding and appealing.

Now, the Lord perfectly understands that strange "look" on His Consort's face! 
In fact He is especially fond of that "special look" on Her face and
something which He always eagerly awaits. It's a "look", a glance, that adds
an extra dimension of beauty to Her exquisite face. Like any husband the
Lord, too, wants to see that strangely exciting "look" on his Consort's face ! 

(Personally, I can't vouch for the feeling myself, but I have heard certain
gents say they love the "look" of their spouse when she is angry !! They say
it "makes the missus look so much more beautiful" !! The "kavi-simham", with
his incisive insight into human psychology, seems to have been well aware of
the 'kinky' preferences of some doting husbands, I guess!)

Anyway, in the "dayA-satakam", the Lord is quick to recognize that lovely
look, that sharp glance, from "dayA-devi" who sits beside the dying devotee.
That look of Hers seems to silently query the Lord as to how He proposes to
respond to the dying soul uttering the words "Lord Save" .... "svAmin pAhi
!" That "look" of Hers seems to "command" the Lord to respond; it also
"appeals" to Him to shower His Kindness on Her beloved ward, the dying pilgrim !

In the Verse, Swami Desikan next captures the scene of the Lord's response
brilliantly.

In deference to "dayA-dEvi", the Lord immediately responds to the dying
devotee's garbled exclamation of "svAmin pAhi !" with an equally short and
clipped answer.

The answer of the Lord, Swami Desikan writes, is : "Om" ("Of course, yes !!") !!

In other words, the Lord's answer to the dying devotee is a Vedic pun or
what the "kavi-simham" terms as "udhGhAtEna sruti-parishad". In Sanskrit,
scholars say, the "udhGita", signifies "praNavam" in the "sAma-veda" mode
i.e. the primordial sound of eternal Truth experienced by the ancient
"rshis". The intonation of "praNavam" through a certain inflection of the
voice can also be said to denote ASSENT as in ... "Of course, Yes !".

Now, it is extremely interesting to note here that the above pun invoked by
Swami Desikan in this poetic scene serves 3 great "Purposes of AFFIRMATION"
of the famous Upanishadic statement : "satyam, gnyAnam, anantham brahmhA".

(A) Firstly, the Lord's prompt "Yes" to the dying devotee is seen to be
pleasing to His Consort, "dayA-dEvi", the agency of Divine Compassion, whose
every whim He craves to fulfill. This is an "Affirmation of the quality of
Compassion (Daya)" inherent in the nature of "para-brahmham". 

How so ?

The quality of Compassion and Forgivance("dayA") is said to be a natural
off-shoot of true "gnyAnam". I think it was a Western philosopher, George
Santayana, who once remarked that "TO KNOW EVERYTHING IS TO FORGIVE
EVERYTHING". In the same vein, when the above Upanishadic statement refers
to "para-brahmham" as "sarvagnyan" (All-Knower) it also implies that the
"all-knowing One is also the all-forgiving One". Hence, the exquisite
aptness of Swami Desikan's poetic emphasis on "dayA" as the redeeming agent
for the soul at the time of its "antima-prayANam" (final journey). 

(B) Secondly, the Lord's response,"Yes, of course!", takes the truth of the
"varAha-charama-shlOka" one step higher in its exaltation. It is an
"Affirmation of Truth (Satyam)" which is also inherent in the nature of
"para-brahmham" as per the Upanashadic statement (vAkyam).

How so ?

We saw that in the "varaha-charama-shlokam", the Lord gives his Guarantee of
Protection to devotees who surrender to Him in their early, youthful
condition of existence when their MIND-BODY EQUIPMENT IS FIT ("stiThE manasi
susvasTE sharIrE sati yO nara-ha") much in contrast to what it's condition
is, usually, at the time of "antima-prayAnam".   

Now in the scene that Swami Desikan skillfully weaves for us in Verse #48 of
the "dayA-satakam", the poet leaves us unsure of the dying pilgrim's
"qualifications" as a "prapanna". We have no means of knowing if the pilgrim
did sumbit to Narayana in his "younger and fitter" days.

But what is certain is that the pilgrim, in his dying moments, has somehow
managed to retain a degree of mental clarity quite sufficient to be able to
articulate, albeit incoherently, the words "svAmin pahi!". 

Now, in the dramatic situation that Swami Desikan has created in this Verse,
the Lord hears those two simple words of the dying pilgrim and is
immediately reminded of the Solemn Guarantee He gave in the
"varaha-charama-shlOka"!

Momentarily, He is unsure whether that Guarantee, given to "younger and
fitter" souls, is now applicable to the dying pilgrim for whom "dayA-devi"
is vehemently interceding ! The Lord knows that the dying devotee is
physically infirm and yet has managed to blabber a few words in praise of
His Glory in the last, doddering moments of his time on earth.

In this very dramatic situation Swami Desikan constructs, the Lord has no
choice but to give the 'benefit of doubt' to the dying pilgrim and grant him
salvation. Because, if He did not (Swami Desikan would have us believe) if
the Lord failed to do so, He would be seen to be reneging on the Guarantee
enshrined in the "varaha-charama-shlOka".

Further, if the Lord did renege, then, the Upanashid "vAkyA" -- "brahmha"
being "satyam" --- would be grievously invalidated.

Thus, in the vivid scene that Swami Desikan evokes in this Verse of the
'Daya-satakam', we see the Lord "squirming under pressure" (if one may be
permitted to use the expression)! Lord Srinivasa gets "pressured" into
granting salvation to the dying pilgrim regardless of whether or not he'd
turned to the Lord in his youth! This happens because:

(1) The Lord's Own Credibility as described in the Upanashid "vakya" ---
"satyam brahmha" --- was at stake !

(2) His beloved Consort, "dayA-devi", had to be "humoured" at all costs !

(3) He had to perforce allow the provisions of the "varaha-charama-shlOka"
to be interpreted (in a legal sense!) as widely and flexibly as possible so
as to enable an "otherwise unqualified" pilgrim, breathing his last, to
claim the Lord's Protection on the strength of having merely uttered two
simple words : "hE svAmin pahi" !!

The Lord, therefore in this scene, had no choice but to rush to AFFIRM the
Upanishadic statement of "satyam brahmha" with a Vedic pun Swami Desikan
describes as "udhGhAtEna sruti-parishad!!"
   
(C) And finally, the Lord's answer of "Yes", skillfully couched in a Vedic
pun, is also an "Affirmation of Eternal Validity (Anantham)" since "vedA"
itself is known to be timeless ! A Guarantee chosen to be conveyed through
an Instrument of immortality becomes immortal itself ! No clause of
limitation ever becomes operative in such cases.(It is so even in modern
legal jurisprudence !)

Also subtly signified in this verse of the 'dayA-satkam' is that His "dayA"
and His "satyam" are both "anantham" .... endless or limitless.

Swami Desikan's poetic conception of this particular situation in the
"daya-satakam", thus, may be metaphorically compared to the fisherman's net
that swiftly captures the great big, elusive fish of an idea called
"antima-smriti" roaming the deep waters of a pond called the
"varaha-charama-shlOka"; and the bait that Swami Desikan uses to lure the
fish into the net is the Upanishadic statement of "satyam gnyAnam anantham
brahmhA" ! 

All of Verse #48 of the 'Daya-satakam' is, hence, a simply marvellous
example of poetic imagination being applied to explain the underlying basis
of SriVaishnava doctrine on "antima-smriti" !

                          ************************** 

In the next post let's move on to other key phrases in the First stanza of
the "bhisma-stuthi" which, too, yields a wealth of philosophical significance.

srimathe srivan satagopa sri narayana yathindra mahadesikaya namaha
sudarshan