Daya Sataka is a stotra in 100+8 slokas on the mercy of Lord Srinivasa of Tirumala Tirupati. In this Stotra, Mercy, which is  a quality is defined as  the Supreme Goddess as being above Bhoomi, Neelaa and even Lakshmi the Chief  Consort of Bhagavan Narayana, who is Svayam vyakta (Self-manifest) in  Tirumala. It is stated that it is under her behest the Lord himself discharges His duties as the Creator, Protector and Liberator. The ever flowing streams of clear and pure water in Tirumala is a concrete example of the ever flowing beneficient Mercy of Lord Venkateswara.

In the opening Mangala sloka, Swami dEsika eulogises the Mount tirumala  itself as the solidified form of the Lord’s Mercy and pay obeisance. “Prapadye tan Girim praya Srinivasa anukampayaa yanmoortya Ssrkaraayitam”). In the next nine slokas of the first of the ten decades in the centum he refers to the Acharyas, Alwars, and Ancient Sages. Vishvaksens, Lakshmi, Bhoomi, Neela and even Lord Venkateswara Himself as the forms of Daya-devi.

In the entire stotra, Daya is portrayed as superior to all things in the world here and hereafter because of Her qualities mentioned in the ten decades as follows.

1.Daya is the bestower of all fruits including Moksha;
2.She is the omniscient goddess;
3.She removes the enemies of her devotees;
4. she is the ever-successful and never failing means for all fruits;
5. she is the unsurpasses goal of attainment;
6. she is the refuge for all who seek protection;
7. She is easily accessible to all;
8. Daya is also the transcendent deity;
9. she manipulates the different incarnations of Bhagavan as Fish (Matsya) and Tortoise(Koorma), Boar (Varaha) and Man-lion (Narasimha) to come down and liberate the souls in bongage; it was under Her command that the Bridge(setu) for Lanka was constructed by Sri Rama , the very sight of which confers emancipation and Bhagavad Gita was taught by Sri
Krishna which are the permanent records for the work  of Daya;
10. She bestows the bliss of moksha in this world itself on those who pray for it.

Daya-devi is the Empress seated on the chest of the Lord as on the throne. All the qualities are her attendants-Knowledge as the torch-bearer goes in front; power and vigour are followers. But for Daya all these qualities will not have a good name since they will get enlisted in the list of defects.
       “Vrishagiri Griha Medhi Gunah
             Bodha-bala-aiswarya-veerya-sakti-mukhaah!
                  Doshaa-bhaveyur-etc
  Yadi naama Daye Tvayaa vinaa- bhootaah”

Sri Vedanta Desika reveals that he was but an unlearned boy; the Merciful Lord proclaimed that the boy was really Vedanta Desika ( The Upanishadic Preceptor) and sung the sweet-sounding stotra through him as though playing upon Veenaa through Daya

      “Vedanta-Desika-pade vinivesya baalam
        Devo Daya-satakam etat avaadayat maam
        Vaihaarikena vidhinaa samaye grheetam
        Veenaa-viseshamiva Venkata sailanathah”

Sri  Vedanta DEsika concludes by saying that the Lord of the Venkatesa Hill is pleased with the stotra and will silence the fault-finding critics since the lOrd himself has produced this welcome lyric(108).

The Daya-satakam of Swami Sri Vedanta DEsika has shown his skill in writing the slokas in different metres beginning from the short Anushtub-metre and gradually increasing the size of metres with every following decade we shall give below the serial number of the decads and the names of the metres in which they are composed..

1. anushtup meter (eight syllables in each quarter)
2. aaryaa
3. aupacchandasika (11, 12, 11, 12)
4. Maalinee (8+7) [also slokas 105 and 106]
5. Mandaakranthaa [4 + 6 +7 ]
6. Natkulakam [8 + 9]
7. Sikhaarinee [ 6 + 11]
8. Warinee [6 +4 +7]
9. Prthvee [8 +9]
10. Vasantha thilaka [ 8 +6] also 101-104
11. Saardoola Vikreeditam [12 +7] 107 and 108

Thus Daya sathakam shows that Swamy Desika is great poet and philosopher.

Dehaleesa-sruti is a stotra in twenty-eight verses on Lord Trivikrama in the shrine Tirukkovalur,  ‘(Gopapuri)’, near Villupuram in South India. There is an interesting tradition about this shrine which reveals how Bhagavan chose to manifest Himself in an invisible form in the corridor of a small house to the three Alwars in their midst and get crushed, to give birth to the hymns
of the Divya-prabandha.

  The tradition is: In the beginning of Kali-yuga, there were three great saints Poigai Alwar, BhootatthAlwar, and pEy Alwar born in consecutive days in the month of Tulaa (November-December) in South India. Being god-minded, they went from one holy place to another each in his own way thinking of God and worshipping Him. Once it so happened by the will of God that all three reached Tiru-k-kovalur near Villupuram. It was a pitch-dark night and it was raining. There was a small house with a narrow dEhaLI (corridor)and they got into it one after another. There was space there just enough for one to lie down, two to sit and three to stand. Being of identical nature, they stood there close to each other with thoughts of Bhagavan. After some time, they felt a pressure in their body as though someone has got into their midst and was pressing them. They wanted to light a lamp and dispel the darkness to find out who that invisible person might be.

  The first of the Alwars, Poigai Alwar, lit a wonderful lamp. The entire world was the basin, the waters of the vast ocean were the ghee and the blazing sun was the wick of the lamp. By this light in the form of a garland of words to adorn the Lord’s feet the external darkness was dispelled.

  The second Alwar, BhootatthAlwar lit a lamp of knowledge for which love was the basin, ardor was the ghee and the joyful thought was the wick. By this emotional and psychic light’ the internal darkness of the heart was dispelled. When the darkness, external and internal was driven away, the third alwar, PEy AlwAr, jumped with joy singing, “Thiruk kaNdEn pon mEni kaNdEn [Lakshmi have I seen, the golden-hued Dhivya mangaLa vigraha of the Lord have I seen.]”. The world became blessed with three centuries of devotional hymns which were the first three of the twenty-four ballads known as four-thousand Divya-prabandham  sung by the ten and two ‘Alwars’ for the enjoyment of all here and in Paramapada.

The ‘Mudal Alwars’ (the first three Alwars) are referred by the name of ‘Aadi-Bhakthaih’(27) in Dehaleesa-stuti and slokas 14-18 describe how they were blessed by the Lord. Paramatma also gets two new names-Dehalee-isa (the Lord of the corridor) and ‘Bhaktopamarda-rasika’ (He who enjoys the spicy pressure of devout saints).

The charming figure of Trivikrama Bhagavan is beautifully described in several moving slokas. When Bhagavan goes to the sacrificial hall of Mahabali, he is Vamana (Dwarf) as a Bachelor (Brahmacari). Lakshmi, on His chest is inseparable and He tries to conceal Her presence with a broad deer-skin worn as sacred thread. When He raises His foot to measure the worlds high above, the leg is described as a beautiful flag-post with the divine river Mandakini as the waving banner-indicating probably his own victorious visits as well as proclaiming the charitable and magnanimous nature of the demon Mahabali.

One unique feature of Bhagavan Trivikrama in the temple is that he holds the conch in the right hand and the discus in the left.

Sloka 27 of this Stotra is put at the end of Sac-carritraraksha, another work of Sri Desika.

Sri Devanayaka- pancaasat is a Stotra in 50+3 slokas on Sri Devanayaka, the Lord at Tiruvahindapuram.He is also known by the name of Devanatha.

Sri Desika begins the Stotra paying homage to Bhagavaan and Lakshmi (1-4), describes the Sacred Hill Aushadaadri and the holy river Garuda-nadi and other sanctifying waters, (ii) the Lord adorned with ornaments and weapons which are really deities that preside over the various Tattvas (Reals). In thirty slokas the various parts of the body from head to foot of the Lord are described. Towards the end, he mentions Bhakthi and Prapatti which are the means of emancipation. Echoing the song of the Alwar, Bhagavan is referred to as Daasa-satya(Adiyavarku-meyyan) and concludes by saying that true to His name, the Bhagavan  has made Sri Desika, Satyavaadi (speaker of truth).

The detailed description of the Lord is made as follows-(with the number of sloka in brackets)-The crown (16); Curly locks of hair(17); face (18);forehead(19); ears(22); eyebrows (23); eyes(24)(25);nose  and cheeks (26); lips(27); neck(28); arms(29); chest(32); stomach(35); navel(36); thighs(38); knees (39); shanks (40); feet(41); toes(42); nails(43); marks on the sole of the  feet(44).

A comparative study of description of Lord Deva-nayaka herewith that of Bhagavan  Narayana  as enjoyed by the Mukta-atma(Release soul) in Vaikunta given in the last section(Praaapti-parva) of Paramapadasopana by Swami Sri Desika  will be of great interest to scholars and of great enjoyment to soft mind devotees.

There is a clear internal evidence in the works of Acarya Sri Desika from which it is determined that Bhagavan Deva-nayaka had installed Himself in the Arcaa-form in Tiruvahindrapuram centuries before in anticipation of the birth of Sri Desika in Toopul near Kanchi and his pilgrimage to this shrine for stay and worship of the Lord and service to the cause of Vaishnavism.

Sri Desika too, impelled by the divine will came to Tiruvahindapuram where he stayed for several years. As commanded by the Lord, he composed several works-one in Sanskrit, one in Prakrit (the language of the queens in the harem); and seven songs in Tamil verse have been composed by him in which Sri Desika(Venkatanatha) fins himself transformed as the bride(Venkata-nayaki)  and sings in the states of union and separation depicting her extreme love for the Lord who is the lover. The Lord also reciprocated the love for Venkatanayaki, the beloved. He also showered His love and blessings on Sri Desika and made him one of the foremost Acaryas in our Vaishnava Sampradaya. Sri Desika also did yeomen service to the cause of our religion and philosophy by writing more than a hundred books in poetry and prose, epic and drama, in Sanskrit, Prakrit, Tamil and Manipravala.