In this exemplary devaranama Sri Sripadarajaru glorifies the Lord as the remover of distress who has many facets to His exquisite personality and then continues to describe the lowly stature of a human enmeshed in the bondage of samsaara and how the miraculous presence of the Lord's grace uplifts one . He also hints that by accepting that one is at a very low level in all aspects helps in developing humility. Understanding the magnificient nature of the Lord's grace induces unquestionable faith in the Lord which is a pre-requisite for attaining knowledge about Him and His glory. Finally Dasaru says believing in Him and knowing His miraculous nature , His supremacy one should surrender and just ask for His protection and not for any specific boons or wishes. Dasaru shows this by using the word 'kaayO' in the last charanam which means that one seeks uncondiional protection and not any specific boon.

duritagaja panchaanana nara

hariye dēvara dēva kaayo gOvinda

We experience anxiety,sorrow,loss,poverty,boredom and see that it forms a major part of our life. These distressful events are which stretch for long dull periods in an embodied jiva's life are compared to the elephant which is grey(dull) in colour and huge(long time). But to those who are devoted to the Lord Narahari, He takes the reins of our life as "gOvinda" and makes us move in the proper path.

'Narahari' is the Narasimha form of the Lord where He manifested from a solid pillar instantaneously to save His bhakta, Prahlada. So also when His devotees are in trouble and seek His grace, He immediately goes to their aid. This is the kind of confidence one gets when one reads the charitra of Prahlada varada Sri Lakshmi Narasimha. Sri Sripadarajaru has a special affection to this form of the Lord, having it as a main diety in the Sripadaraja mutt at Mulbagilu.

panchaanana- five faces or five mouths

Here faces are not necessarily physical faces but indicate different facets of His personality. He appears differently to different types of jivas based on their swabhava.

The five faces of Lord Narasimha that Sri Sripadarajaru may be doing chintana of are :

Ugra Narasimha - The form which instills fear in the daityas and sinners

Veera Narasimha - The innate strength of the Lord to tailor His Will to match the bhaktas's situation.

Yoga Narasimha - The form of the Lord which shows His infinite knowledge and patience.

Lakshmi Narasimha - The form of the Lord which gives immense bliss to His devotees

Shanta Narasimha - The Lord who is the originator of peace for all times/places.

Each aspect of this divine form of the Lord has been described by many yathis and dasarus of Madhva lineage.

narasimhana paada bhajaneya maado

durita parvata kandisuva kulisha dantiruva

.................

hari vrinchyaadyaru karevetti mugiyalu

parama shaanta naada sri purandara vittala

narasimha lakshmi narasimha paahimaam

.....

vaṭapatra shayana durjaṭi vandya jagannatha vittala

kritaanjali puṭadi beḍuve lakshmi narasimhana

ugram veeram mahaavishnum ......

Jagannatha Dasaru commences his magnum opus Harikathamruthasaara with salutions to the five forms of Lord.

sriramaṇi kara kamala poojita chaaru charaṇa sarOja brahma

sameera vaani panindra veendra bhavēndra mukhavinutha

neeraja bhavaando daya stili laya kaaraṇane kaivalyadaayaka naraasimhane namipe karunipudu emage mangalava||

Here Dasaru is referring to the five rupas of the Lord.

1.Narayana - sri ramani kara kamala pujitha charu charaNa- one whose lotus feet is worshipped by the lotus like soft, delicate hands of Sri Mahalakshmi who is 'ramaNi' means one who is having maximum knowledge and bliss about the Lord among all chetanas. This proves that if one with maximum knowledge is glorifying the Lord incessantly, then she must be knowing His greatness and His yogyatha to be glorified . So it follows that all below Her which comprises all chetanas should worship Him as the Supreme personality.

2. neeraja bhavaanḍOdaya karaṇa - Pradyumna -Who is the creator of the the brahmanda from the lotus in His navel. ( The niraja bhavaanDa must be taken with karana and laya too)

3.neeraja bhavaanḍa stiti karaṇa- Anirudha -The running of the entire universe which consists of innumerable chetanas and achetanas , providing suitable bodies for the sadhanas of the jivas and seeing that they get sufficient subsistence. He oversees that such subsistence is given and nature recycles food, water etc.

4. neeraja bhavaanḍa laya karaṇa -Sankarshana- When the time for pralaya comes, He Himself being the instigator of Shiva, destroys the entire universe and keeps the entire hordes of jivas in His stomach without making them experience anything. They lie in an unconscious state and rest.

5. kaivalyadaayaka- Vasudeva-One who gives the eligible jivas the eternal happiness in the form of moksha.

Further panchaanana can also be the eight fold control of the Lord over the jivas which when grouped gives five fold control over His entire creation. In the eight fold we have creation, sustenance and maintenance,destruction, knowledge , ignorance, bondage and moksha.

Here sustenance and maintenance become one group, knowledge and ignorance are the two sides of the same coin and and can be grouped into one set. Similarly bondage and moksha are mutually exclusive events and can be grouped into one set. So we get five-fold control of the Lord if we do this anusandhana.

1. shrishṭi - He creates the world out of His infinite compassion for the upliftment of the jiva rashis.

2. sthiti -maintaining balance and sustenance of sentient beings

3.laya - destruction

4. jñana- ajñaana prada - He is the bestower of knowledge to the deserving souls and He gives ignorance also based on the eligibility.

5. bandha-moksha prada - He puts the jivas in bondage in order that they work out their karma and realise their true nature . It is also a means to realise the Lord's unexcelled supreme powers -mahima as per their ability.

Sri Sripadarajaru also states that this 'Narahari' is also 'Govinda' and no different. The Lord may have different names and may appear to have manifested at different times, but He is omnipresent. All His forms and attributes are eternal and infinite. There is no difference in attributes between one form and another.

Also 'Govinda' is the form of the Lord who herded the cows in the right path in Gokul during His avatara as Lord Krishna. So also He takes care to herd His devotees in the right path.

Govinda also means the giver of the knowledge in the Vedas. So if we pray to Him as Govinda, He will bestow correct knowledge on the seekers.

In this devaranama Dasaru is talking about the pitiable state of a jiva and how lowly it is by comparing it to worldly objects. He then compares the Lord also to a related worldly object and asks Him to accept oneself inspite of all the faults. All examples for the Lord are limited and should be taken only with respect to an aspect that is being explained.

Acknowledging that one is at fault is a good way to begin . If we don't even think that we are constantly doing wrong and are in a very dirty state of mind and body then how will we ever take measures to improve ourself . So Dasaru is asking us to examine ourselves and see when he states that he is of the lowly type. It is not Dasaru who is meant here, because of his extreme humility he speaks to the Lord in the first person and puts himself in the place of the dirty ,polluted jiva.

hesaruLLa nadigaLu oLegombo samudranu

bisuḍuvane kaaluhoLegaLa gOvinda

Famous rivers flow into the ocean and are accepted. But if a dirty stream flows into the ocean, does the ocean reject the stream. It just accepts it and as a result the stream gets cleansed. The import that Dasaru wants to convey is: "I may be too polluted to be a famous or staunch devotees of Yours, but I have come to seek the protection of Your lotus feet, so You must accept me."

The ocean here is the ocean of ananta kalyana gunas of the Lord. The inexhaustable store of auspiscious attributes is so vast and untainted whereas the jiva possesses almost no auspicious gunas excepts that if one is a mukthi yogya then the guna of being attracted to truth is there . This is the only guNa which makes or carries one towards the Lord and is due to His grace only.

So Sri Sripadarajaru is saying ," Even though I am devoid of any sadguNas while You are an infinite ocean of satguNas , please look at me with compassion as I am flowing towards You. That is the only plus point that I can claim to have .Just as the ocean accepts the dirty stream which flows towards it, I request You to cleanse me by accepting me."

In one devaranama Kanaka Dasaru says,

ēnendu konḍaaḍi stutisuveno dēvaa

naanenu balle ninna mahimegala maadhava

harimukundanu neenu narajanma hula naanu

paramaatmanu neenu pamaranu naanu

paranjyothiyu neenu durulakanu naanu

ondu molake aaru huli bandu kavidive

bandhana biḍisenna tande gOvinda

I am like a goat who is attacked by six tigers. Dasaru is talking about the arishadvargas which torment the mind of man and enmesh one into further bondage. Kama(desire), krodha(anger), loba(greed),moha(excessive attachment) ,mada(pride), matsarya (jelousy) are diseases of the mind which propel a human being to do actions which cause bondage. All actions born of desire are pure knots for the soul and one should constantly strive to overcome these fervently. Lord Krishna advises Arjuna about the ills of desire.

kaama ēsha krodha ēshaH rajoguṇa samudhbhavaH

mahaashanO mahaapaapaa viddhyenamiha vairiṇam || 3.37||

"The evil desires which give rise to unrest and anger when unsatisfied arise from the turbulent mind and such desires fuel more and more desires. Just as fire keeps on raging as long as it has something to burn so also the desires never get satiated by fulfilling them, they just cause more and more desire. This leads one towards more and more selfish goals and hence these are the worst enemies of a sadhaka."

Unless God wills , these tigers in the form of desire, anger etc will continue to obstruct our path and Dasaru is praying that since the Lord Himself is the one who places such desires in our mind , based on our anadi karma, swabhava and yogyatha, He is the one and only one who can help us overcome this.

Sri Sripadarajaru entreats Govinda who is the father, means who is the orginator of the jiva's bondage and thereby is the only one who can remove the bondage also.

hetta makkaLu huchcharaadare taayi tande

ettade nelake bisuḍuvare gOvinda

Sri Sripadarajaru continues to says "O Lord of Lords, please take me under Your loving care just as a father and mother take their mad child under their care and never abandon the child." One may ask why should Sri Sripadarajaru call ordinary human beings mad when they aren't really mad?

For this we visualise Sri Sripadarajaru saying on the behalf of such a human" Even inspite of You giving me the correct information regarding the vidhi(do's), nishedas(don't's) etc, I continue to disobey the injunctions repeatedly , like a mad man. I am really mad because inspite of being told which is not good for me , I repeatedly do that. Inspite of being told which is good I don't do it. Isn't this the kind of behaviour a mad person would have? Defintely I am insane."

Since every father and mother do anything only as per the Lord's prerana it is quite clear that the Lord has instilled such vibhuti in the parents, making them overcome their fear, sorrow and become stable and brave to take care of their child even if the child is mad. So if such a sense of responsibility is evoked by the Lord in the ordinary human parents , then what of the Lord who is the eternal parent of every one.

munna maaḍida karma benna biḍididdare

ninna vaalaisalyaake gOvinda

Sri Sripadarajaru is saying , "I am entreating You to protect me but I am being put to such grief and distress because of my anadi karma. Then what is the use of praying to You, what is using of glorifying You?"

This question is being asked by Dasaru on behalf of many jivas who are struggling in life, inspite of being true devotees of the Lord. Most of us have the experience, of praying incessantly but not receiving the relief for which we have been praying for. Sometimes the relief comes fast but sometimes it doesn't come at all. Dasaru is asking us to contemplate on why this happens?

If it is anadi karma that is hurting us, then why can't God interfere and stop the string of karma that is causing such hurt. For this we have to understand that "God always gives only that experience which is necessary for the upliftment of the jiva." At that point in life, one may feel the experience to be bitter, but it is definitely for the upliftment. By contemplating on the Lord's guna 'gOvinda' which states clearly that He herds the jivas in the correct directions we should try to understand it.

A worldly example : The mother gives the child bitter medicine. This is to cure the child and improve its health. Initially the medicine is bitter and may cause discomfort like rashes, gastric trouble etc but finally the outcome is positive.

So Dasaru's purport though directed sarcastically towards God, is actually indirectly meant for the jiva. It is that one should always never question the experience that the Lord is giving and one should never assume that He is purposely punishing us. One should look at this from a braoder point of view which encompasses the journey of a jiva towards its goal comprising thousands of births and deaths and not just one lifetime .

aapattu taapatraya benna biḍadiddare

shripati sharaṇennalyaake gOvinda

Dasaru continues his strain of rhetorical praise in a sarcastic tone. "If accidents, misfortunes keep befalling one , the why should one say that one is taking the shelter of Shripathi. You answer me, O Lord Govinda."

Everyone experiences suffering and it seems never ending. Dasaru says," If relief from suffering is not going to occur even after one seeks Your shelter, then why should one do anything at all to attain Your protection."

Here Dasaru wants one to understand that asking questions or doubting His benevolence is not going to lead one anywhere. Absolute faith is necessary. People who pray but don't have faith , they will face such calamities again and again. In the Bhagavad Gita Lord Krishna talks of faith and knowledge and then continues saying that those who doubt everything and don't have faith will slide into the darker worlds. "samshayAtma vinashyati"

People who trust and have complete faith they will never have such calamity because they are coated with the steel helmet of the love of God and even if any thing untoward happens , it may be untoward in the eyes of the world but not in the eyes of the true devotee . The true bhakta never perceives what he/she has received from God as aapattu or accident or distress but always as a gift from God. They perceive it like a medicine which has been provided by God so as to be cured of the disease of bondage.

It is relevant to recall that Lord Krishna asserts that He never deserts the sincere devotee who always remembers Him and is engrossed in His memory .

Lord Krishna in the BG 9.22 says,

ananyaachintayantO maam ye janaaH paryupaasate

tēshaam nityabhiyuktaanaam yogakshemam vahaamyaham || 9.22||

"One who has abiding devotion to Me and contemplates on Me uninterupptedly with complete faith in My Supremacy and Grace, I shall never forsake such a devotee of mine. I give my assurance that I shall peronally see that such a devotee does not lose whatever merits he/she has acquired and shall earn more merit and enjoy My Grace , undoubtedly."

arasu muṭhalu daasi rambeyaadalu dēva

paruSha muṭhalu lOha svar ṇa gOvinda

parusha - philosopher's stone or magical stone

Dasaru is giving more examples to state that the Lord's Grace is so exquisite and magical that it can transform a devotee from a dullard to jñani.

An ordinary maid becomes a beautiful damsel when favoured by the King of the country. A piece of iron turns into gold with the touch of magic from the phislospher's stone. A philosophore's stone is a magical stone whch can transform things by its mere touch.

Dasaru is saying that one glance of Grace from the Lord and the lowly human becomes an elevated devotee of the Lord. To understand that God does things just by a thought or ichcha is to understand His great omnipotence . At the same time understanding that God's favour is the requirement for upliftment is also extremely necessary as it is this one motivator which can move the ordinary person to become a loving devotee of the Lord.

maanaabhimaanadoḍeya rangaviṭṭhala

jñanigaLarasane kaayO gOvinda

After giving more and more analogies and examples as to why God should favour oneself, Sri Sripadarajaru finally says in surrender,"O Rangavittala ,You are the master of my soul and You may keep me in a respectable position or one of lowly rank, You are the king of the knowledgeable ones, please protect me O Govinda."

Here Dasaru is acknowledging that the Lord knows everthing being the king of those who have knowledge, He is omniscient and so one must accept with humble gratitude where ever He places one, one must endure with patience whatever experiences He makes one undergo, and one must continue to pray for His protection always, then He will bestow knowlege being Govinda, the knower of the Vedas, and He will lead one towards knowledge , Govinda the one who herds the cows in the right direction, similarly He will herd the faithful devotee in the right direction.