Garuda Dandakam (Ramanuja.org/Stotras of Vedanta Desika) (original) (raw)

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A form of versification in which more syllables than 26 to a quarter (pAda) are found is known as daNDakam in Sanskrit prosody. This Garuda Dandakam has 108 syllables in each quarter (vide sloka 6). The four sections numbered here as 2 to 5 are really four quarters of one sloka.

This work is in praise of Garuda (like Garuda Panchasat). Sloka 932 enshrines Garuda-mantra. It is said that a snake charmer challenged Desika to defy a deadly serpent which he sent towards that acharya, and on singing this Dandakam, Garuda appeared and carried away that snake.

The last sloka, however, says that this Dandakam about Garuda was sung by the all-knowing Venkatesa for the delectation of Garuda-dhvaja, Lord Vishnu.

वक्ता, श्रोता, वचन-विशयः, प्रीयतां वेङ्कटेशः