SRI HARIKATHAMRUTASARA (ಶ್ರೀ ಹರಿಕಥಾಮೃತಸಾರ)

 (Sri Jagannatha Dasavirachita)

SRI HARIKATHAMRUTASARA / ಶ್ರಿ ಹರಿಕಥಾಮೃತಸಾರ

UNIT 1 MANGALACHARANA SANDHI  - ಶ್ರೀ ಹರಿಕಥಾಮೃತಸಾರ ಮಂಗಳಾಚರಣ ಸಂಧಿ

A PRAYER TO SRI VEDAVYASARU (ಶ್ರೀ ವೇದವ್ಯಾಸದೇವರ ಸ್ತೋತ್ರ)

ವೇದಪೀಠ ವಿರಿಂಚಿಭವಶಕ್ರಾದಿಸುರವಿಜ್ಞಾನದಾಯಕ

ಮೋದಚಿನ್ಮಯಗಾತ್ರ ಲೋಕಪವಿತ್ರ ಸುಚರಿತ್ರ|

ಛೇದಭೇದವಿಷಾದಕುಟಿಲಾಂತಾದಿಮಧ್ಯವಿದೂರ

ಆದಾನಾದಿಕಾರಣ ಬಾದರಾಯಣ ಪಾಹಿ ಸುತ್ತ್ರಾಣ||7||

VEdapeeTha virinchiBhavashakrAdisuravijnAnadAyaka

mOdachinmayagAtra lOkapavitra sucharitra|

CChEdaBhEdaviShAdakuTilAntAdimaDhyavidUra

AdAnAdikAraNa BAdarAyaNa pAhi sattrANa||7||

SUMMARY: Oh Lord Vedavyasa, please protect us. You impart special knowledge of the universe to Lord Brahma, Lord Rudra and Lord Indra, who are themselves the custodians of Vedas; You are the embodiment of knowledge and bliss (JnAna and Ananda); You are the holiest in the universe and you make this world sane; You have the history of being good forever; You are fully free from shortcomings such as getting cut, broken, sorrowful, cheating, dying, taking birth and very temporal life span. You are the cause and consequence of receiving and similar acts or actions; You are the sole protector of righteous and you reside in Badari.    

NOTES:

This stanza clearly establishes that Sri Vedavyasaru is an incarnation of Lord Hari. Sri Jagannatha Dasaru has summarized all prominent qualities of Lord Hari in a very cryptic way. Almost all the words in this stanza are directly drawn from Sanskrit. Even the verb “Pahi”, which means “Please protect or nourish”, is from Sanskrit. The usage of Sanskrit deserves all appreciation since it is in praise of Sri Vedavyasa, who, besides being an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, is identifiable from the division of Vedas he did; from the Upanishats he has created and from various other Sanskrit works.

A question may arise as to why the invocation to Sri Vedavyasa has been given after invocation to the Lord. It is very pertinent to note that the prayer is being offered to Sri Vedavyasa as a Guru. In Vayustuti, it is stated: “Gurutamamagurum dEvadEvam namAmi”

VEDAPEETHA (ವೇದಪೀಠ) -  Peetha means Seat or a material that gives shelter. VEdapeeTha means persons in charge of providing shelter to Vedas. Vedas are categorized into two types. One is anon and another is the “composer known”. Rig Veda, Yajurveda, Sama Veda and Atharvana Veda are Apaurusheya (ಅಪೌರುಷೇಯ) since the composers are ‘unknown’ and their sources are also ‘unknown’ or they have come down to humanity through word of mouth. Holy Works like Ramayana, Mahabharata, Puranas or epics are works the sources of which are known. ChandOgyOpaniShat (ಛಾಂದೋಗ್ಯೋಪನಿಷತ್) mentions: ItihAsapurANaha panchamO vEdAnAm Vedaha (ಇತಿಹಾಸಪುರಾಣಃ ಪಂಚಮೋ ವೇದಾನಾಂ ವೇದಃ).

Sri Vedavyasa incarnated during the concluding period of the twenty-eighth Dwapara Yuga. Till then, the Vedic knowledge had vanished due to a curse by Sage Gauthama. Sri Vedavyasaru of twenty-eighth Dwapara revived that knowledge. In the current stanza, Sri Jagannatha Dasaru has said: virinchiBhavashakrAdisuravijnAnadAyaka (ವಿರಿಂಚಿಭವಶಕ್ರಾದಿಸುರವಿಜ್ಞಾನದಾಯಕ) This means, the sole purpose of the incarnation of Lord Narayana as Sri Vedavyasa is to illuminate the universe with the light of spirituous knowledge that had submerged till his arrival on Earth. During this incarnation, he not only composed Mahabharata but gave a divine power to Sanjaya to watch the happenings in the battlefield while sitting in front of Dhrutarashtra and report the same. Even Dhrutarashtra was empowered to hear everything. Arjuna was empowered through Sri Krishna to see the Divine-most form of Lord Vishnu. All these actions are indicated in the word under reference.

This stanza is set to Bhavini Shatpadi rhythmic pattern. Shatpadi means six lines and in this particular pattern each line consists of 3 light sounds, 4 hard sounds and 3 light sounds. Only the third and sixth lines will have twenty-one syllables.

(In the next episode, specialty of more words in this stanza will be discussed. SDN Access all articles at: https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3857926767002555602#allposts )