nyAsa tilakam (864 to 895)
This and the following two stotras deal with nyAsa or zaraNAgati and are supplementary and complementary to zaraNAgati dIpikA ante. nyAsa tilakam, the name given by the author to it shows the importance that he himself attached to this work. (tilakam–prominent jewel or other article beautifying a person.) It consists of 32 shlokas couched in various metres from anuShTubh with eight syllables in a quarter to sragdharA [twenty-one to a quarter].
The Deity in whose praise this Stotra has been sung is Lord raNganAtha of shrIrangam at whose Feet AchArya rAmAnuja performed prapatti in zaraNAgati gadyam. shlokas 866 and 867 refer to shrI-prapatti which comes first, shloka 885 makes pointed reference to the special assurances given by Lord raNganAtha to rAmAnuja about the certainty of protection to zaraNAgatas. For these and other reasons this stotra has been taken to be an elucidation of that gadya in addition to its being an embellishment thereof in padya [Poetry].
Several doubts that are likely to assail us about the efficacy and potency of prapatti are mentioned, and at once dispelled by cogent and irrefutable data. shloka 882 deals with the obstacles to MahAvizvAsa and how to remove them. In 877 a very intricate problem is very successfully tackled, viz hopes of a glorious life in future held out to one wallowing in misery here. shlokas 883 and 884 stress the value of the blessing of an AchArya as the only panacea for wavering minds, and how an AchArya can procure to us benefits beyond us.
Towards the end, this stotra contains more than the usual measure of personal touches and introspective exclaims. The poet addresses his fickle and vacillating mind in shloka 887 and in shloka 889 informs his speech, body and mind that veNkaTesha kavi is now a prapanna at the lovely feet of Lord raNganAtha and asks them not to play their old pranks with him any longer. The Stotra winds up with a prayer to be made the recipient of the highly coveted title of “Servant of the Lord and His shrI.”
The importance of nyAsa tilakam can also be gathered from another fact. This is the only stotra for which svAmI deshika’s son and disciple, kumAra varadAchArya, has furnished a commentary in Sanskrit.