Śrī Stuti VERSE 9
त्वामेवाहुः कतिचिदपरे त्वत्प्रियं लोकनाथं
किं तैरन्तःकलहमलिनैः किञ्चिदुत्तीर्य मग्नैः ।
त्वत्संप्रीत्यै विहरति हरौ संमुखीनां श्रुतीनां
भावारूढौ भगवति युवां दम्पती दैवतं नः ॥ ९ ॥
tvāmevāhuḥ katicidapare tvatpriyaṃ lokanāthaṃ
kiṃ tairantaḥkalahamalinaiḥ kiñciduttīrya magnaiḥ ।
tvatsaṃprītyai viharati harau saṃmukhīnāṃ śrutīnāṃ
bhāvārūḍhau bhagavati yuvāṃ dampatī daivataṃ naḥ ॥ 9 ॥
SYNONYMS
tvām eva āhuḥ katicit: some say it is You alone | apare: others | tvat-priyaṃ loka-nāthaṃ: (say it is) Your beloved, the Lord of the worlds | kiṃ taiḥ: what use are they | antaḥ-kalaha-malinaiḥ: who are stained by internal conflicts | kiñcit uttīrya magnaiḥ: having risen a little, they sink again | tvat-saṃprītyai: for Your complete pleasure | viharati harau: while Hari sports | saṃmukhīnāṃ śrutīnāṃ: of the Vedas that are favorably disposed | bhāva-ārūḍhau: established in the inner meaning | bhagavati: O Bhagavathī! | yuvāṃ dampatī: You, the divine couple | daivataṃ naḥ: are our God |
TRANSLATION
Some speak of You alone as the Supreme Power, while some others speak of Your beloved exclusively as the Supreme. But our firm conviction is that You the couple, constitute the Godhead.
PURPORT
Meaning according to Vaikuṇṭa-vāsī Villivalam Nārāyaṇācchār Swāmy : Bhagavatī! Some say that You are the Supreme (pradhānam). Others say Your Lord is the pradhānam. Let these people with such diametrically opposite views quarrel like those who climb and fall. Let these little men, who quarrel among themselves after they arrive at an auspicious matter, do what they please! Indeed, Your Lord engages in the sport of Creation of the Universe etc for Your delight. When He does all these for Your pleasure, both of You residing at the center of śrutis as the Divine Couple, are our Para Devatā.
Expanded meaning according to Vaikuṇṭa-vāsī Śrī V.N. Śrīrāma Deśikācchār : Oh Mahā Devī! There are many matams and they have different views about Your tattvam. Some say that You are the Empress of this universe. Using this view as their central belief, they interpret this view in different ways. One group states that You and Nārāyaṇan are only one ātmā but have two separate bodies. Another group believes that Emperumān is called as Lakṣmī and there is no separate form for Lakṣmī. Yet another group advocates that Nārāyaṇan creates You for enjoying pleasure just as He took on Mohinī rūpam during the churning for amṛtam to bewitch the asuras. Few others say that Nārāyaṇan has taken the female form and has the name of Lakṣmī to unite with Her permanently. A select few believe that You are the Supreme most being over and above the three tattvams of cetanam, acetanam and Īśvaran. Thus all of these groups accept You, Bhagavathī, as Sarveśvarī and yet argue with each other along the above lines. Opposing this view that Lakṣmī is Sarveśvarī, a group denies Your sarveśvaratvam and insist that Nārāyaṇan is the Lord of the entire universe (Sarveśvaran) and that You (Lakṣmī) has no claim to be called Īśvarī. They claim that you are a viśeṣa jīvan. These two groups that insist and reject īśvaratvam for Lakṣmī argue vehemently for their points of view and become exhausted. These people declare that their views are backed by śāstras and are unable to establish their points of views (i-e) they come forward to accept that Lakṣmī is a separate tattvam and accept Her vaibhavam but they fall apart by not accepting the īśvaratvam (nature of Being Īśvarī) of Lakṣmī. Oh Devī with all auspicious attributes! Our siddhāntam is quite different. We believe that Your Lord engages in acts such as Creation of the beings of the world for Your pleasure (amusement). The Vedas appear to be talking about Him alone, when looked superficially. If one studies the Vedams deeply, it becomes clear that the inner meaning of the Vedas is about revering You both as equal. Vedas have also explicitly stated the above views. Therefore, We consider Both of You as Para Devatā. During the performance of prapatti, one has to accept both of You as upāyam (means) for the offering of the ātmā. In some yajñams, śāstras point out that one has to combine two devatās into one and offer the havis to that united devatā. Therefore, one has to have BOTH OF YOU as the target to offer the ātmā as the havis and THUS conclude the prapatti yajñam successfully. As a fruit of that offering, the mukta jīvan should perform nitya kaimkaryam to BOTH OF YOU at Your Supreme abode. Both of You together shine as upāyam and phalan.
Additional Observations on the passages of the 9th ślokam of Śrī Stuti :
1) "Bhagavati! katicit tvām yeva āhuḥ" (Some aver that You alone are the Īśvarī / Supreme Being and the Empress of the World).
2) "Apare tvat priyaṃ lokanātham āhuḥ" (Others insist that it is Your dear husband, who is the Sarveśvaran).
3) These opposing groups dispute each other and get up and fall down (antaḥ kalaha malinaiḥ kiñcit uttīrya magnaiḥ).
4) What is the use of these disputants? (kiṃ taiḥ?).
5) Your dear husband performs all the līlās (sṛṣṭi, rakṣaṇam and saṃhāram) to gladden Your heart (tvat saṃprītyaiḥ viharati hariḥ).
6) The Vedas focusing on Hari have the core conviction that You as the Couple (Husband and Wife) are our Para Devatā (harau sammukhīnām śrutīnām bhāva ārūḍhau, dampatī yuvām naḥ dhaivatham).
Expanded meaning according to Vaikuṇṭa-vāsī Śrī V.N. Śrīrāma Deśikācchār : Oh Mahā Devī! There are many matams and they have different views about Your tattvam. Some say that You are the Empress of this universe. Using this view as their central belief, they interpret this view in different ways. One group states that You and Nārāyaṇan are only one ātmā but have two separate bodies. Another group believes that Emperumān is called as Lakṣmī and there is no separate form for Lakṣmī. Yet another group advocates that Nārāyaṇan creates You for enjoying pleasure just as He took on Mohinī rūpam during the churning for amṛtam to bewitch the asuras. Few others say that Nārāyaṇan has taken the female form and has the name of Lakṣmī to unite with Her permanently. A select few believe that You are the Supreme most being over and above the three tattvams of cetanam, acetanam and Īśvaran. Thus all of these groups accept You, Bhagavathī, as Sarveśvarī and yet argue with each other along the above lines. Opposing this view that Lakṣmī is Sarveśvarī, a group denies Your sarveśvaratvam and insist that Nārāyaṇan is the Lord of the entire universe (Sarveśvaran) and that You (Lakṣmī) has no claim to be called Īśvarī. They claim that you are a viśeṣa jīvan. These two groups that insist and reject īśvaratvam for Lakṣmī argue vehemently for their points of view and become exhausted. These people declare that their views are backed by śāstras and are unable to establish their points of views (i-e) they come forward to accept that Lakṣmī is a separate tattvam and accept Her vaibhavam but they fall apart by not accepting the īśvaratvam (nature of Being Īśvarī) of Lakṣmī. Oh Devī with all auspicious attributes! Our siddhāntam is quite different. We believe that Your Lord engages in acts such as Creation of the beings of the world for Your pleasure (amusement). The Vedas appear to be talking about Him alone, when looked superficially. If one studies the Vedams deeply, it becomes clear that the inner meaning of the Vedas is about revering You both as equal. Vedas have also explicitly stated the above views. Therefore, We consider Both of You as Para Devatā. During the performance of prapatti, one has to accept both of You as upāyam (means) for the offering of the ātmā. In some yajñams, śāstras point out that one has to combine two devatās into one and offer the havis to that united devatā. Therefore, one has to have BOTH OF YOU as the target to offer the ātmā as the havis and THUS conclude the prapatti yajñam successfully. As a fruit of that offering, the mukta jīvan should perform nitya kaimkaryam to BOTH OF YOU at Your Supreme abode. Both of You together shine as upāyam and phalan.
Additional Observations on the passages of the 9th ślokam of Śrī Stuti :
1) "Bhagavati! katicit tvām yeva āhuḥ" (Some aver that You alone are the Īśvarī / Supreme Being and the Empress of the World).
2) "Apare tvat priyaṃ lokanātham āhuḥ" (Others insist that it is Your dear husband, who is the Sarveśvaran).
3) These opposing groups dispute each other and get up and fall down (antaḥ kalaha malinaiḥ kiñcit uttīrya magnaiḥ).
4) What is the use of these disputants? (kiṃ taiḥ?).
5) Your dear husband performs all the līlās (sṛṣṭi, rakṣaṇam and saṃhāram) to gladden Your heart (tvat saṃprītyaiḥ viharati hariḥ).
6) The Vedas focusing on Hari have the core conviction that You as the Couple (Husband and Wife) are our Para Devatā (harau sammukhīnām śrutīnām bhāva ārūḍhau, dampatī yuvām naḥ dhaivatham).
