aarjavam

[Guest guest]

In this continuing series of twelve posts, twelve of the

many guNaas that are innate to Brahman is discussed

with illustrations from aazhvaar paasurams. These

twelve guNaas demonstrate God's eternal love for us

jeevaathmaas. They are sowseelyam, vaathsalyam,

maardhavam, aarjavam, sowhaartham, saamyam,

kaaruNyam, maadhuryam, gaambeeryam, owdhaaryam,

chaathuryam, and sthairyam. The subject of this post is

aarjavam.

 

aarjavam: Consistency among thought, speech, and

action. Manam, vaakku, kaayam orumitthu

irukkai.

 

This kalyaaNa guNam encourages us to develop mahaa

visvaasam that our Lord will save us, consistent with the

promise he made in the carama slokam of sri bhagavath

geethai.

 

Sarva dharmaan parithyajya maamEkam saraNam vraja

ahamthvaa SarvapaapEbyO mOkshayishyaami maa@uca:

 

One really needs to understand the full import of the

above from an aachaaryaa. In short, the Lord responds

to arjunan's desperation that it would be almost

impossible for him to pursue karma, NYaana, bhakti, ..,

by saying, "don't you worry; abandon all of these

methods and simply surrender to me, I will save you

from all your sins and grant you mOksham."

 

This promise comes from our Lord's manam, vaakku,

and kaayam in unison, thus revealing aarjavam. Now, let

us examine these three aspects.

 

Manam:

--------

Nammaazhvaar maintains in periya thiruvandhathi that

the Lord is always thinking of rewarding his devotees,

"un adiyaarkku en seyvathu enRE irutthi nee."

 

 

onRuNdu seNGkaNmaal! yaanuraippathu, unnadiyaark

kenseyva NnenRE yiriththin^ee,-ninpugazhil

vaiguntham sinthaiyilum maRRinithO, neeyavarkku

vaikuntha menRaruLum vaan?

 

-- periya thiruvandhaathi (53)

 

Aazvaar says to our Lord, "I do declare that the thought

of rewarding your devotees is constantly in your mind;

but is the vaigundham you are offering better than the

blissful delight of dwelling in your divine qualities here

and now?

 

vaakku:

--------

Sri ANdaaL refers to this promise, verbalized to arjunan,

in "nennalE vaay nErndhaan" (Thiruppaavai 16).

 

\bt

naayaganaay ninRa nandhagOpan udaiya

kOyil kaappaanE! kodi thOnRum thOraNa

vaayil kaappaanE! maNik kadhavam thaaL thiRavaay

aayar siRumiyarOmukku aRai paRai

maayan maNi vaNNan nennalE vaay nErndhaan

thooyOmaay vandhOm thuyil ezhap paaduvaan

vaayaal munnam munnam maatraadhE ammaa! nee

nEya nilaik kadhavam neekkElOr embaavaay

\et

 

The first 15 paasurams of thiruppaavai describe how the

young girls of gOkulam have gathered in the morning to

gently awaken Lord Krishna. In paasuram 16, the group

approaches the gates of the nandhagOpan's palace and

appeals to the gate keeper to open the gate. They remind

the gate keeper of the Lord's promise to give them an

exceptional musical instrument. They beseech the gate

keeper not to refuse entry into the palace so that they

could sing His praise and gently awaken our Lord of

deep blue diamond hue." The "aRaipaRai" is the

moksham that our Lord promised (vaay nErndhaan),

earlier to arjunan (nennelE.)

 

kaayam

---------

Finally. the following thiru mangai aazhvaar paasuram

illustrates one instance of emperumaan delivering on his

promise through his direct action.

 

andhagan siRuvan arasartha marasaR

kiLaiyavan aNiyizhai yaicchenRu,

`endhamak kurimai sey'enath thariyaadhu

`emberu maanaruL!' enna,

sandhamal kuzhalaaL alakkaN_nooR Ruvartham

peNdiru meydhin^oo lizhappa,

indhiran siRuvan thErmun_nin Raanaith

thiruvallik kENikkaN dEnE.

 

-- pariya thiru mozhi 2.3.6

 

This describes the Drowpathi vasthra abahaaram, her

surrender to the Lord, and our Lord saving her from

humiliation. The yuddham that follows and the

destruction of dhuryOdhanaathikaL is indicated by

"nooRRuvartham peNdirum eydhi n^ool izhappa."

 

alakkaN = suffering

sandham al kuzhaaL = drowpathi with beautiful black hair

nooRRuvartham peNdir = wives of dhuryOdhanaathikaL

nool izhappa = widowed

 

..... to be continued

 

----------

This and other posts to follow in this subject are based

on the aruL mozhigaL of the 45th azhagiya singar of sri

aHObila madam, sri vaN satakOpa sri naaraayaNa

yatheendhra mahaa dEsikan, published in sri nrusimhap

priyaa starting with bava varusham, chitthirai maasam,

(April 1994), and commentaries of aazhvaar

prabhandams published by The Visishtadvaita Pracharini

Sabha, 27, Venkatesa Agraharam, Mylapore, Madras,

600 004.

 

 

p.s.

----

While I have tried to be faithful to the references given

above the accuracy of my translation is limited by my

modest ability. Further, I have strayed outside these

references while choosing paasurams for a given topic.

Any and all mistakes in the translations and choice of

paasurams are completely mine. My intention is to whet

the reader's interest. Individuals with "genuine" interest

must find suitable texts and study these concepts for

themselves. Better yet, approach an achaaryaa and

pursue a life long study, along with all the other things

we have to do with our material life.