Dvisahasri of Tembesvami (Summary and Study)
by Upadhyay Mihirkumar Sudhirbhai | 2012 | 54,976 words
This page relates ‘Miscellaneous Erudition of Tembesvami’ of the study of the Dvisahasri by Tembesvami:—a Sanskrit epic poem (mahakavya) narrating the legend and activities of Lord Dattatreya, including details on his divine sports and incarnations. Also known as Datta, he is considered one of the Holy Masters in the Natha cult imparting spiritual knowledge and adequate practice to the aspirant.
Miscellaneous Erudition of Ṭembesvāmī
H. H. Ṭembesvāmī’s erudition would be incomplete, if his knowledge of texts other than that of Vedas, Upaniṣads and Purāṇas is not taken into consideration.
Bhāsa, the great dramatist depicts the sense of servitude of minister Rumaṇvān in the Svapnavāsavadattam[1] and that of king Dilīp attending upon Nandinī in the Raghuvaṃsam[2] (02/06) is very well incorporated in the following verse (16/12) as much as that the husband eats, the wife eats that much. As long as long he sleeps, she too sleeps that long. As much as he is emaciated she too is emaciated that much. Thus she is as if his shadow.[3]
Great poet Kālidāsa’s benediction of the Abhijñānaśākuntalam[4] is interwoven in four verses (Śrīgurustuti 100- 103) nicely.
The 08 forms of Lord Śiva are assigned to the Holy Master.
(01) The Earth and (02) the Water in Śrīgurustuti 100,[5]
(03) the Fire and (4) the Sun in Śrīgurustuti 101,[6]
(05) the Moon and (06) the Wind in Śrīgurustuti 102[7] as well as
(07) the Ether and (08) the individual soul in Śrīgurustuti 103.[8]
Under 03/58 while stating the infallible character of a curse or a blessings conferred upon by any sage mune moghaṃ na te vākyam, because he clarifies with two reasons (01) they have the power of their penance. (02) the power of their thought-projection.
This seems to be an answer to Bhavabhūti’s Uttararāmacaritam (01/10):
laukikānāṃ hi sādhūnāmarthaṃṃ vāganuvartaṃte |
ṛṣīṇāṃ punarādyānāṃ vācamartho'nudhāvati ||
Bhartṛhari’s Nītiśatakam[9] has also impact on the verse 11/04:
“You are a bullock without a tail and horns, it is the luck of the bullocks that you do not eat grass”[10]
The famous stanza “The wealth of learning is the principal among all riches, because it can neither be stolen by thieves,” etc.[11] is reflected in “The treasure of learning (i.e. knowledge) cannot be taken away by thieves. It grows when imparted to students. It makes a low–caste person respectable among the high-class person and sometimes it makes a penniless a rich.[12]
Under 05/20 while commenting on the word annam [anna] (meals)[13] as of four kinds which is referred to by Ādi Śaṅkarācārya in his commentary on Śrīmadbhagavadgīā (15/14). Four kinds of food are (01) the food which has to be eaten (bhojya), (02) the food which has to be eaten by devouring (bhakṣya), (03) the food which has to be shucked out (coṣya) and (04) the food which is eaten by licking (lehya).
The impact of the mental worship to be performed by a devotee is presented by Ādi Śaṅkarācārya in his Śiva-mānasa-pūjā (01-02)[14] is nicely depicted. The golden throne (siṃhāsana) studded with the jewels and the fashioned seat under Śrīgurustuti 27 and the golden bowl full of milk under Śrīgurustuti 38.
Under Śrīgurustuti 89[15] he seems to incorporate the ideas of the last verse of the Śiva-mānasa-pūjā[16] as,
“O Omni-pervaded Supreme Self (Dattātreya), I dedicate all that to you whatever I do with my mind, intellect, ego, speech and body depending on the nature instinct (As I have shelter in your lotus-feet).”
Even his Devyaparādhakṣamāpana [devyaparādhakṣamāpanastotram] (12)[17] has got impact in:
“There is no sinner like me and there is no sin destroyer like you. O Lord Dattātreya, give up indifference to (neglecting) me and protect me who am solely sheltered in you.”[18]
Under 01/41 he writes in his auto-commentary supporting the idea of the Śataślokī (38)[19] that the dreams come true, too.[20]
Under 08/36 he writes,
“In the Kali Era a man’s life-span of hundred years decreases half in the sleep and the rest (i.e. 50years) passes in the childhood, the youth and the old-age with total dependence (on others).”[21]
Under 21/90-91[22] he writes,
“After that being engrossed in the ignorance, he gets attached in the sports with the friends and in the youth gets attached to the senses and being puffed up in the company of wicked. After having seen a woman which is the created illusory power of the Lord and by her graceful gestures he becomes a man of uncontrolled senses, prone to a sensual pleasure, wicked, unaware of dos and don’ts and a follower of the unrighteous path.”
These 03 verses can be well-compared with the Bhajagovindam.[23]
The famous stanza[24] expressing the indefiniteness of the hopes and desires is connected with one of the 24 holy masters,
“The learner learns from a honey bee that a monk should accept (i.e. gathered or collect) the essence (or required alms) like a honey bee but should not stick to the pleasure in only one place the mentality of storing like that honey bee (who was encaged in the lotus after sunset) is the seed of the destruction.”[25]
In his auto-commentary on Śrīgurustuti 67 he employs the word abhrākāśam [abhrākāśa] which is equivalent to durdinam [durdina] (the cloudy day) of the “meghachanne'hni durdinam|” (Amara. 01/3/12) and in Śrīgurustuti 77 āsecanakām [āsecanaka?] (satiation) of the “tadāsecanakaṃ tṛpternāstyanto yasya darśanāt|” (Amara. 03/01/53)
Under 01/31 he employs the word padam [pada] and explains its two senses as (01) the permanent position in the sky to Dhruva and (02) the permanent kingdom of Laṅka to Vibhīṣaṇa.[26]
The last but not the least is the extraordinary composition of the Metaphor of the battle-like river fancied in the Dhyānaśloka of Śrīmadbhagavadgītā:
bhīṣmadroṇataṭājayadrajathalā gāndhāranīlotpalā
śalyagrāhavatīkṛpeṇavahanī karṇenavelākulā|
aśvatthāmavikarṇaghoramakarādūryodhanāvatāanī
sottīrṇākhalupāṇḍavai raṇanadī kaivartakaḥ keśavaḥ||06||
The similar rendering of the River of the worldly Existence is described with the words,
“The ignorance on the other hand is the water of this shore less ocean of Existence. The thirst is the wave passion (or lust etc.) are crocodiles, etc. the enjoyments is the sound (of agitation). This story of Holy Master is the boat. The Holy Master himself is a boat-man (netā) and the god’s grace is the favourable wind.”[27]
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
[2]:
sthitaḥ sthitāmuccalitaḥ prayātāṃ niṣeduṣīmāsanabandhadhīraḥ|
jalābhilāṣī jalamādadānāṃ chāyeva tāṃ bhūpatiranvagacchat||02/06||
[3]:
bhuṃkte yathānnaṃ sa satī tathānnaṃ śete'pi yāvatsa satī tu tāvat|
kṛśo'pi yadvatsa satī tu tadvat chāyāparevāsya pativratā'bhūt|| 16/12||
[4]:
[5]:
ādhārabhūtaḥ sthirajaṅgamānāṃ kṣamāsvarūpasthitirasti nityam|
āpyāyate yo jagadapsvarūpī sarvāghahṛtsthāsnucariṣṇu jīvaḥ|100||
[6]:
vaiśvānarātmā'khiladehasaṃsthaḥ pacatyasau prāṇasakhaḥ sadānnam|
yo bhāsvadātmākhilakarmasākṣī viśvaṃ sadā cetayate svabhāsā||101||
[7]:
yo'bjo rasātmā sakalauṣīdhīvaz puṣṇāti saṃtāpaharo'khileḍayāḥ|
kṣetreṣu bhūtvā daśadhākhileṣu prāṇātmako yaḥ pavate'khilātmā||102||
[8]:
ākāśarūpo'khilago'pi saukṣmyādyo'bhedasaṅgaḥ kila śabdasaṃsthaḥ|
bhunakti cotkāmati tiṣṭhate'pi mūḍhā viduryaṃ na sadātmarūpam||103||
[9]:
sāhityasaṅgītakalāvihinaḥ sākṣātpaśu pucchaviṣāṇahīnaḥ|
tṛṇaṃ na khādannapi jīvamānastadbhāgadheyaṃ paramaṃ paśūnām||12||
[11]:
na coracauryaṃ na ca rājahāryaṃ nā bhrārtṛbhājyaṃ na ca bhārakāri|
vyaye kṛte vardhata eva nityaṃ vidyādhanaṃ sarvadhanapradhānam||
[12]:
vidyānidhirhartralabhyaḥ sa śiṣyārpita edhate|
śreṣṭheṣvarcyaṃ karotyūnaṃ kvāpyasvaṃ ca dhanānvitam|| 11/5||
[13]:
[14]:
[15]:
[16]:
kāyena vācā manasendriyervā budhyātmanā vā prakṛte svabhāvāt|
karomi yadyatsakalaṃ parasmai nārāyaṇāyeti samarpayāmi||
[17]:
[18]:
mādṛkpāpo hare nāsti bhavādṛṅ nāsti pāpahā|
pāhyananyāśrayaṃ dīnaṃ tyaktvaudāsīnyamīśa mām|| 1/39||
[19]:
svapne mantropadeśaḥ śravaṇaparicitaḥ satya eṣaḥ prabodhe
svapnedeva [svapnodeva?] prasādabhilaṣitakalaṃ satyatāṃ prātareti|
satyaprāptistvasatyodapi bhavati tathā kiṃ ca tatsvaprakāśaṃ
yenedaṃ bhāti sarvaṃ caramacaramathoccāvacaṃ dṛśyatām|| śataślokī 38||
[20]:
evaṃ vilāpya mārge'sau gurudhyānaikatānahṛt|
tasthau prāyopaveśena daivātsvapnastadābhavat|| 1/41||
[22]:
tato'pi krīḍanāsakto vayasyairajñabhāvagaḥ|
tāruṇye viṣayāsakto matto durjanasaṅgataḥ|| 21/90||
devamāyāṃ striyaṃ prekṣya tadbhāvairajitendriyaḥ|
bhogotsukaḥ khalojñāta-kāryākāryo duradhvagaḥ|| 21/91||
[23]:
bālastāvatkrīḍāsaktastaruṇastāvattaruṇīraktaḥ|
vṛddhastāvaccintāmagnaḥ pare brahmaṇi ko'pi na lagnaḥ||07||
[24]:
rātrirgamiṣyati bhaviṣyati suprabhātam bhāṣvānudeṣyati hasiṣyati paṅkajaśrīḥ|
itthaṃ vicintayati kośagate dvireke hā hanta hanta nalinīṃ gaja ujjahāra||
[25]:
gṛhṇīyātsarvataḥ sāraṃ ramennekatra cālpabhuk|
saṃgrahe nāśabīje'pi madhukṛdvanmuniḥ sadā||4/20||
[26]:
jyotidyotamihābdombu sevonā'rpayati dhruve|
padaṃ bibhīṣaṇe'dātro dattaṃ me dehayataḥ priyam||1/31||