32)shri sambhavAya namah! O shelter and support of Will and creation

ichchOtpattigAshrayane sambhava namO ninage

machcha kachchapa varAha narasimha roopagaLu

swEchchA avataaraLa avirbhavisi agAga

prOchcha sukha tEjas bala swaroopa namaste hare

Shri Prasanna Shrinivasa dasaru sings the praise of “Sambhavah”.

“O sambhava! Who is the shelter of will and creation,from whom flows the (apparent )will of all others too, who creates as He wishes! I bow down to You and offer my humble obeisances. You have taken on the forms of Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Narasimha and manifested Yourself out of Your own wish and will. You do this at times when you deem necessary. Your innate self is complete with undescribable,deep bliss,brilliance,strength and other auspicious gunas. I saute to You O Hare! with all reverence for Your every action is itself”hare” which implies that You move the souls away from pain and suffering when entreated upon as  “hare“.What compassion,O Hare, just calling upon You as “hare” and you remove the negative impacts and consequences of our selfish actions as per our eligibility leading us to enjoy happiness both in the here and now as well as there-after too.”

paritrAnaaya sAdhunAm vinAshAya cha dushkritAm

dharma samstApanArthAya saMbhavAmi yuge yge … BG 4.8

Shri Prasanna Shreenivasa dasaru describes the import of this name as per the Brihati sahasra in the first line and then gives a brief on the method of understanding it.

The first word here “ichchOtpattigAshraya” is quite intrigiuing and can open vistas of His gunas. The first contemplation that comes to mind is :ichcha mAtram prabhoh shrishTi” This is possible for only Him who is complete in the all the gunas some of which are stated by Dasaru in the third line -“prOchcha sukha tEjas bala swaroopa”.He is the one and only one of that kind. “ichchage Ashraya” – Who controls the very wish or desire of each and every soul. Why so? The shelter of ichcha implies that which enables one to have desires .

As we know ,the body is required ,and the mind sheltered by that body offers capabilities to think and have wishes. But is this mind working independent of others?

manadoLage tAnniddu manaveMdenesi koMbanu

manada vrittigalanusarisi bhOgagalivanu trivida chetanake

He resides in the mind and makes it word (vritti). Then as per the wishes and capabilities of the jiva the environment for enjoyment of the desire is created by Him and the jiva is made to expereince it. “ichchOtapattigAshraya” The jiva enjoys because of the body,the mind etc and He is the Ashraya for all these too. Finally He creates the experience for the jiva by being present in every aspect of the experience. What wonder! Everything that we experience is His creation and is as per His will . It is not for nothing that He is called ichchOtpattigAshrayanu by Dasaru. The word “sambhava” also implies wonderful creations, beautiful manifestations. When it comes to the world and bodies of jivas, He creates, when it comes to His appearances on earth He manifests.

The previous nama being “Avyaya” spoke of His imperishable nature. This holds for all His infinite gunas too. When we apply it here, we understand Him as the infinite,eternal support of will/creation and also that He suffers no loss when He manifests as Matsya, Kurma etc. All His avataras are complete with auspicious attributes and remain flawless eternally. He manifests to protect dharma/righteousness,moral code ,spirituality etc.

yada yada hi dharmasya glAnir bhavati bhArata

abhudAnam adharmasya tadAtmAnAm srijAmyaham

The explanation ends with the word”Hare” which gives the reason for His wonderful actions. Why does He engage in such creation etc… If His swaroopa itself is of infinite bliss[prOchcha sukha] without a shadow of grief then why is He doing all this? This is a question that pops up in our minds as we understand rationally that all work is done to achieve a better state of happiness than before.

For this Dasaru says He is “hare” . He does it to remove our grief and give us peace and bliss. O “sambhava”…namaste! What else to say? You are the Supreme master, yet all Your endevours have the objective of uplifting the eligible souls. “na ma” – I am nothing without You, Your ashraya is everything.

To this one may ask ,”If Paramatma itself wills everything then why is there failure in the world. His will never comes to not!” For this the answer is that  He himself wills that such a failure should occur.Let us trace the events of each action and expereince.

The jivas sets out on an objective because of His will, then He performs due to His will and support. If the jiva fails then that too is His will. If there is success ,that is His will.

If we can reconcile our failures in this manner, there would be no grief in the world. It is precisely for this reason Gurushreesha vittala dasaru asks of the Lord, “ninna chittake baMdaddu enna chittakke barali anyata bayakeya koDadiru”. In the above example the third part where the jiva fails, it expereinces grief . This happens because there was an expectation of victory  with feeling of entitlement. To tune oneself to the will of God is a high achievement for the sadhaka and it comes only with the grace of Hari.

Constant contemplation of His Supreme gunas and His compassion on us will surely secure His grace .That is a surety. One has to have this abiding faith.

“bahunAm janamanAm aMte jnAnavAn mAm prapadyaMte”

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bhAgaNNagOpAla dAsAryara….I offer my sincere obeisances to the feet of shri Gopala dasaru

Shri Prasanna Shrinivasa dasaru has composed a  work stretching 122 verses descrbing in minute detail the charitre of Shri Gopala dasaru.His works show his great abilities and vast store of distilled knowledge. His works always sing the glory of Hari. Even if it is the glory of the guru, he sings it as O dasa of this great Lord as in the following stuthi.

bhAgaNNagOpAla dAsAryara padakke

baagi sharaNaadenu satata nishchayadi

jagadAdi karta aja aghadUrA suguNAbdi

turagAsya vijaya shrINivAsa priyatamaru

O bhagaNNa ,you are the true dasa of Gopala,I bow down to your feet and seek shelter.You are my leading light for eternal time. My mind flows to your feet in surrender perpetually! Why so ? It is because you are the indisputable favourite devotee of  Shrinivasa who is “jagadaadi karta-designer,creator ,and one who sustains and dissolutes the universe,aja-who  is omnipresent and timelessly free from the bondage of birth, who is an infinite ocean of auspicious attributes ,turagAsya-who is the giver of knowledge to even Brahma-Hayagreeva, and whose will always prevails-vijaya.

How did Bhaganna become Gopaladasa? The shruthis proclaim that none can become Hari’s devotee until and unless one is chosen by Him. “yamevEsha vrinute tEna labhyah”.

navaratnagalu kaMda kaMDa DavinalunTe

navavidha bakthigalu kaMdakaMDaluMTe

ninna bhakuti kaMDare bAradu kalitare bAradu

purandara viTtala ninna dayavAgatanaka

This is precisely the answer . He has been chosen by Gopala! Despite his poverty stricken early life, he was blessed to obtain Brahmopadesha at the age of five and had the grit to stick to his sadhana inspite of many odds. He obtained the siddi of the gayatri mantra and became an expert in jyothisha shastra. After a short stint there, then he was drawn into the dasa lineage by the grace of his guru ,”Vijayadasaru”. Each and every moment of his life has led to this moment of victory(obtaining the guru) and that is why Prasanna Shreenivasa dasaru says he is the  “priyatama ” of Vijaya Shrinivasa.

This stuthi declares that Gopaladasaru is indeed a chosen devotee of the Lord Shrinivasa, who is pre-eminent in auspicious gunas and is the cause for the existence and other states of the universe. Meditating on the Lord’s form as Hayagreeva bestows victory as He bestows wisdom as Hayagreeva and gives jaya as vijaya.

Gurugalu Shri Bannanje Govindacharya has many a time mentioned the subtle concept of this form of Hari. Why particularly the face of a horse ? He explains that the horse is quite an ancient form of transport for human beings and it is the fastest one available as a natural part of the environment. Horse =fast is what comes to mind. Horse=focus is also true as the horse once spurred in a certain direction, speeds off in that direction and reaches it pretty fast ,crossing fences and rivers too, if necessary. The mind in a sense is faster than the horse as it can take one to different worlds within moments. This quickness of the mind has to be harnessed and focused properly. Myriads of obstacles may obstruct one’s path and dissipate focus, but contemplating on the power of the Lord who gives knowledge as Hayagreeva, helps one to cross over and move forward with a renewed focus to uncover the hidden revelations. Indeed! Isn’t it His true compassion that He came forth with the face of the horse to disburse knowledge, so that the mere thought of that symbol of speed and focus will point us to contemplate on His power which designed the horse itself!

vijaya – vishEshavaada jaya

When the plan of action succeeds and bears fruit we consider it to be a victory. For the Lord His every thought is fruitful. The ancients declared ,”iccha mAtram prabhO shrishTi”

Entire creation is done by a mere thought of His. His wish is so powerful.

Dasaru’s sing the prasie of His will.

hari chitta satyA narachittakke bandaddu lavalEshavaiyya

Gopala dasaru who has the grace of this “Vijaya Shrinivasa” has achieved true victory. This victory is satat-eternal and it is firm-nischaya. His devotion to His guru Vijayadasaru and his compassion to his disciple Shrinivasa acharya are both included in this praise of Gopala dasaru . It is at the order of his guru that he gives aways 40 years of his lifespan to Shrinivasa acharya without a moment’s hesitation. The fruit of that action is seen even today as the epic poem “Shrimad Harikathamruthasaara” which was composed by Jaganntha dasaru(Shrinivasa acharyaru) by the grace of his guru. The nandi or opening verse itself seeks to rever the guru, “gurugala karunadinda Apanitu peluve” . Further he has also dedicated an entire sandhi to sing that praise of his guru -“Vigneshwara stotra sandhi”.

I offer my humble salutions with deep reverence at the feet of  a great guru , Shri Gopaladasaru on the occasion of his aradhana today and also for all time to come. This is shown by using the word ,”satata”.

 

31)Shree Avyayaaya namah!-The imperishable One

nAshavillada neenu avyaya namO namO yeMbe

nInu savitru maMDala madhyavarti nArAyaNa

shashvadEka prakAra ninna balaadi guNagaLu

aksheena avikAra nityavu poorNa sarvOtkrishTa

Shri Prasanna Shreenivasa dasaru sings the great glory of the “Imperishable One”. In the Vishnu sahasranama this comes after “shrinidhi” and exhorts the nature of His opulence as that which is truly imperishable.

” O Imperishable one, I bow down to you again and again.You reside in the Savitru mandala-Sun and remain as the cause for all existence to be sustained in their respective bodies. The sun shines day after day relentlessly . This source of heat and light is illuminated by the opulent Lord who is always constant in His infinite auspicious attributes. His attributes of strength which never wanes,never undergoes distortion but remains constant and complete single Him as the master who is “sarvOtkrishTa”-The Supreme power.”

 

The Sun which illuminates our world and fills it with heat and warmth fails when it comes to illuminating this Bhagavantha. Lord Krishna says ,”na tad bhAsayate suryO na shashAMkO na pAvakah ” . This one phrase clearly shows His trancendence over all such light giving objects. He is the superior energy who illuminates these two and enables them to function day after day without respite until the time He wills it to dissolution. The awe-inspiring sound  “Om” resonates inside the Sun . This naada is the eternal mantra which glorifies “Avyaya” as the one who is the eternal sustainer of the jiva residing inside the life giving force emnating from the Sun as well as residing right inside the jiva as the antaryAmi.

He is the one and only one capable of such sustenance as His innate powers of strength etc are infintie and never decay or deteriorate with time or place. They remain complete and full in all respects eternally. Such a Supreme power is to be comprehended as per one’s abilities as eternally completely full of auspicious attributes .Such a comprehension is quite above the limited powers of the human mind and it remains quite mystically unless a glimpse of it is revealed by the Lord Himself. So all human endeavour is towards that end, of pleasing God and securing His prasada/benefaction ,critical to release from samsaara.

This explanation of avyaya by Shri Prasanna Shreenivasa dasaru is an attempt to help one transcend the limitations of the mind which conceives of all powers,statuses,entities as temproary and depleting with time and depending on the place. It is precisely because of this that he gives the opposites of those observed by one in the world as the spontaneous attributes of the gunas of Hari. aksheeNa- never expereincing loss due to expense,giving away, stolen or any other kind which we observe in the world. However much the Lord dispenses His karuna,His ojas,His sahas etc etc… it never depletes. However much or in whatever form He weilds His power it never is transformed or deteriorated in anyway. It always remains in its full glory without expectation from any other entites. Such a constancy is seen up a limited extent in the Sun and Dasaru declares this Sun itself is sustained by “Avyaya”.

savitru- means Surya

savitru also means the stimulator, the vivifier etc

surya-means -surigalinda gamyanaadava. He who is seen by the jnanis as per their ability- Who is that ? It cannot be a qualification for the sun as the sun is seen by all. Then whom does it refer to ? Of course, it is referring to that Supreme who sustains the sun to

Who birghten and lights up everything. The cause and sustainer of life itself is Avyaya.

Dasaru talks about “balaadi guNagalu” referring to the definition of Bhagavan or Purusha which is “shadguNa aishwarya poorNa”- bala, shakthi,jnAna,aishwarya,veerya and tejas.

These are pointers to the infinite capabilities and attributes of Bhagavan/Purusha. The lead the sadhaka deeper and deeper into realms of wonder at His boundless energies which never sag or suffer from transformation due to any cause. Let us bow down to this flawless Avyaya and seek His grace to become free from the limitations that bind us to this samsaara.