Previous Sharanagati Deepika
Shloka 18
Next

nimnonnatAni nikhilAni padAni gAdham
	majjanti te mahima sAgara shIkareShu |
nIrandhram Ashrayasi nIchajanAn tathApi
	shIlena hanta! shishiropavaneshvara! tvam ||

Meaning:

shishira upavan Ishvara 	- O! Lord of Thiruththanka.
shIkareShu 			- Within the small droplets
te mahima sAgara 		- of Your ocean like majesty
nikhilAni padAni 		- all places,
nimna unnatAni 			- small and great,
gAdham 				- are well
majjanti 			- submerged;
tathA api 			- Even so,
tvam 				- with Your
shIlena 			- divine saushIlya quality,
nIrandhram 			- without distinction
Ashrayasi 			- You mix freely
nIcha janAn 			- with even the lowliest beings;
hanta! 				- Ah! (how amazing).

Vyakhyana Saram:
Previously, Swami Desikan spoke of His quality of protection. Appropriate to this quality is the quality of saushIlya - shIla and saushIlya are synonyms. This quality is defined as "mahato mantais saha nIrandhreNa samslesha:". A great person mixing with a lowly person is the quality of shIlam. Such a person having that association without even being aware of that in his heart is the quality of saushIlyam.

Such a greatness of the Lord is vast like an ocean. Nammazhvar too called this quality as "kadal puraiyum sIlam". The wealth of Brahma, Rudra, the Dikbalas and the Devas are all within a few droplets of this ocean. To show the variegated nature of all these beings, Vedanta Desikan uses the phrase 'nimna unnatAni'.

In spite of being so great, He freely mixes with the lowliest of beings - such as a hunter, a monkey, Sabari, Kushela, et al. This is the quality of shIlam described in this shloka.

Vedanta Desikan Thiruvadigale Sharanam
Azhvar Emberumanar Jeeyar Thiruvadigale Sharanam

Previous . Next