Shri Satyanarayana Kathaasaara pancharatna suLaadi
Composed by
Sri Abhinava Pranesha Vittala daasaru (1903 – 1978)
Rendered by Sri Hunsur Sriprasad
A brief note from Shri Hunsur Sriprasad
Shravana for Shri
Satyanarayana
Dear Vaishnavas
Shravana is the holiest month in the hindu calendar and is replete with
festivals and holy days. It has been a part of our tradition to do some special
religious activity or sadhane during this month to earn the grace of Sri Hari
Vayu Gurugalu.
I am placing before you "Sri Satyanarayana Katha Sulaadi" which is the only
Haridasa work on Sri Sathyanaraya Katha. It is a compendium of 5 suladis,
corresponding to the 5 adhyayas of the Katha. It is by Sri Abhinava Pranesha
Vittala dasaru who obtained his ankitha from Sri Pranesha Dasaru in a dream.
There is a strong belief in traditional circles that reciting this suladi with
devotion fetches a lot of punya or merit, perhaps comparable to the punya
obtained in performing Sri Sathyanaraya pooje. The Suladi is in complete
conformance with Madhva doctrine and takes care to pay respect to Vayu devaru
and other tattvabhimaani devatas.
In order to make it easy for people to recite this work, I have included the
script in Kannada, English and Devanagari scripts. Other transliterations may be
done if requested. I have also recited the suladi in a simple audio format. The
scripts and the audios are available in Tattvavada website.
It is my fervent hope and prayer that all satvikas avail of this opportunity to
perform this unique seva during the holy month of Shravana and earn the grace of
Sri Hari, Vayu, Gurugalu.
nI itthange iruveno hariye, yenna doreye
Hunsur Sriprasad
Sri Satyanarayana Kathaasaara pancharatna suLaadi
Overview:
This gem from Sri Abhinava Pranesha Vittala daasaru (1903 – 1978) has the unique distinction of being one of the few (if not the only one) works on Sri Satyanarayana in the haridasa tradition. He came from a traditional family in Lingasuguru, Karnataka. Even though he is from the 20th century he obtained his ankita in a dream from Sri Pranesha Dasaru, a direct disciple of Sri Jaganntha dasaru. He was very close to Sri Varadendra Vittala dasaru (1886 – 1960) and looked up to him. Sri Varadendra Vittala dasaru was a disciple of Sri Guru Jagannatha Vithala dasaru and was also from Lingasuguru. It is believed that Sri Varadendru asked him to compose this unique composition. He refers to this fact in the work itself.
The work is broken down into 5 adhyayas,
closely resembling the 5 adhyayas of the Satyanarayana katha. Each adhyaya in
turn, has the same structure as a traditional sulAdi with its progression of
talas from dhruva, Matta, Trivida, Atta, Adi and ending with a Jate. In
traditional suladis, there is only Jate for the entire work and it is at the
end. Here Dasaru has added a Jate for each adhyaya in
which he has given us the key take-away message from the adhyaaya. That is why
some people regard this as a set of 5 suladis. Dasaru has used his artistic
judgment to shorten or enhance portions of the Katha in accordance with Madhva
tradition.
Another unique aspect of this work is the seamless integration of Dvaita concepts into the traditional Satyanarayana katha concept. He draws a very theistic parallel between the actions of Soota mahapuranika (the narrator of the Katha in Naimisharanya) to those Sri Vayu devaru. Tradition holds that reciting a suLaadi composed by an aparoksha gyAni fetches as much merit has 100 devaranamas. This work is a collection of five sulaadis and that too on the holy topic of Sri Satyanarayana katha! This is the basis for the traditional belief that reciting this sulaadi with devotion fetches as much merit or punya as performing Satyanarayana puje.
Rough Translation of Suladi
(This is still being worked and incomplete but will be updated later ... work in progress ...)
Satyanarayana vrata should be performed daily after becoming ‘satyavanta’. The common meaning of ‘satyavanta’ is honesty but here dasaru uses the fact that religious literature calls the Lord as ‘satya’ (satyam param dhImahi – bhagavata). So becoming satyvanta means becoming soaked in devotion towards the Lord. This great vrata is like a ladder or steps reaching up to Mukti or salvation, destroying the wordly bondage of mortals (liberation from the cycle of births and deaths), Sootha purAnika expounded on this in Naimisha forest to Shounaka rushi and others, who were steeped in satya vrata (devotion). All the gods including Lakshmi, Brahma, Vayu and other tatvaabhimaani devatas perform this vrata of Satyanarayan incessantly and are full of intense bliss. The human body, superior to other life forms, is like Naimisha forest. The soota aachaarya in this forest is Mukhya praana, who is also known as Sutra-naamaka. This wind god is present in all living beings and performs service to the Lord, chanting hansa mantra incessantly. Everybody should learn about the three incarnations of Vayu devaru and their exploits, understand the true import of the 37 works of Madhvacharya and worship him daily as the original guru and then perform Satyanarayana vrata. In other words, dasaru is saying that any worship of Sri Satyanarayana is incomplete without understanding the greatness of Vayu devaru. Performing such worship will please Satyanarayana, who is Abhinava Pranesha Vittala and is also the son of Satyvati (Lord Vedavyasa), and grant us stay in Satyaloka (i.e grant us mukti).
One day Lord Govinda was resting happily in His throne with his consort Lakshmi
in Vaikunta. Deva Risi Narada then came there and prostrated before the Lord
(who lifted the Mandara mountain) and Lakshmi (the daughter of the ocean). With
folded hands he prayed to the Lord “O Father of Ganga, one who uses Adisesha as
his bed, pious people on earth have been afflicted by the intense torment of
Kali and are suffering greatly in human bondage. Please show us the beautiful
way of salvation”. Hearing this prayer, the Lord (Abhinava Pranesha Vittala)
smiled at his grandson Narada and said thus.
“Son of Brahma, I value your question, pleased by your desire to help humanity. Sri Satyanarayana vrata, which bestows wealth and happiness, is the only solution to this in Kali yuga. The fearsome human bondage along with its attendant sorrows and miseries will all immediately vanish (when this vrata is performed). This vrata may be performed on Full moon day (Poornima), New moon Day (Amavase), sankramana (around the 15th of a month when the Sun moves to a new house) or any other desired day. One should perform the 16-fold pooje (shodashopachaara puje) to Satyanarayana, the consort of Lakshmi and also earn the grace of Brahma, Vayu, Saraswathi and Bharathi in order to get special knowledge of the 5 koshas or enclosures. The taittiri Upanishad gives us more details about these 5 koshas, which are annamaya, praanamaya, manomaya, vignana maya and Ananda maya. As part of this pooje, one should make a special dish (known as sapaada bhaksha) out of cow milk, ghee, rava or wheat, mixed with sugar and bananas. This should be offered to the Lord as navedya. He will be pleased by this.”
“Every honest devotee of the Lord who performs this vrata with intense devotion and utmost happiness, accompanied by his relatives, will lose all mortal sorrows and miseries. Abhinava Pranesha Vittala, who is the grandfather of Shiva, will grant unending bliss (moksha).”
Please click the links below to view Text
Shri Satyanarayana Katha Saara Pancha Suladigalu Text: PDF Documnet (in Kannada)
Shri Satyanarayana Katha Saara Pancha Suladigalu Text: PDF Documnet (in Devanagari)
Shri Satyanarayana Katha Saara Pancha Suladigalu Text: PDF Documnet (in Tamil)
Shri Satyanarayana Katha Saara Pancha Suladigalu Text: PDF Documnet (in Telugu)
Shri Satyanarayana Katha Saara Pancha Suladigalu Text: Documnet (in Baraha Script)
Click here to listen or Download Audio in MP3 format - Rendered by Shri Hunsur SriPrasad
Shri Krishnaarpanamastu