With very little knowledge of Sanskrit and abysmally poor idea about Vedanta and Spirituality, on January 4th of this year , I commenced my journey to try and get a feeling of the first Dasakam of Narayaneeyam. No need to emphasise the very low confidence that I had in this journey. It was akin to the journey by foot undertaken from the erstwhile State of Madras to Kasi (Varanasi) in the previous centuries, with the traveller not really sure if he will ever reach the destination; leave alone the chances of studying there.
As a beginner and a self-learner, like the Kasi traveller, I take lot of time to understand the sentence in Sanskrit (In Tamil we call it எழுத்துக்கூட்டி படிப்பது). Then look for help in splitting the long words into simple and understandable words (பதம் பிரித்து) and then refer to the dictionaries for meaning; come to some conclusion and then refine it with respect to the context. Many times I had lost hopes of me understanding the context and the concepts that are propounded by Bhattathri. But as I started the journey, I had an invisible hand holding mine after I finished studying each sloka – I can only guess that it was indeed the Lord of Guruvayur Himself.
So here I am; at the end of 75 days plus around 25 days of preparation , have just completed the first round of my study of 10 Slokas . I need to study this again and again till I get an understanding, as I feel that this Daskam brings out Vedantic concepts in describing Lord Guruvayurappan. I will do that as my next project. In the meantime, here is a consolidation of my learning.
Pl bear with me if you find my understanding and translation as inadequate. Please feel free to let me know through your comments.
Prabhu's Ponder 