A 'mArgazhi' diary and accompanying reflections

[Guest guest]

Dear Bhagavathothamas:

 

Today is a wonderful day in this month of mArgazhi - as swami

Azhagiya MaNavALapperumAL nAyAnAr celebrates "immalaTTu mAsangaLil

Ethor mAsam vAythatho, an obvious reference to Kannan's words in

bhagavadgeetha - mAsAnAm mArgasheershoham.

 

To this, add the fact that today's pasuram is about manathukkiniyAn -

Sri RAman and naRrcchelvan - one who gave up his sAdhAraNa dharmam to

purusue the visesha dharmam that supersedes all dharmas, service to

our dear Kannan. And in this context, Sri Sampathkumar's musings are

instructive, instructive because they illuminate the need for us to

not to attempt to re-invent the wheel, and especially one that

hobbles a lot.

 

When we have available an ocean of vyAkhyAnams and insights from an

AchArya paramparai that is divinity re-incarnate, why would, and

should, one attempt to interpret thAyAr's pasurams - given for our

benefit - bereft of these wonderful commentaries? What is more

foolhardy than trying to interpret that vEdhamanaithukkum vithu when

we cannot even bring ourselves to read and experience the joy of

listening to upanyAsams of many a hallowed Acharya or vyAkhyAnams of

smamy periya vaachhAn pillai or azhagiya maNavALapperumAL nAyanAr?

 

And this is precisely what sri sampathkumar is trying to do. And in

doing so, he is also guilty of exposing some distorted

interpretations that are orthogonal to the philosophical behemoth

that we call srivaishNavam, a philosophical edifice that holds

nishkAmya karma (extolled by Krishna as an exemplary state in Sri

BG - Ch. 18) as secondary to bhagavat and bhAgavatha kainkaryam.

 

There are several aspects to Sri Sampathkumar's ** interpretations**

that are contrary to poorvacharya vyAkhyAnams. aDiyEn will utilize

one such egregious interpretation to attempt to convey to Sri

Sampathkumar about the need to exert the effort to study (and a

lifetime is not enough) the incredible outpourings of our Acharyas

before attempting to ensnaring oneself in the folly of one's own

fanciful misgivings.

 

Sri Sampathkumar writes:

>

> But the chief purpose of life, according to Vedanta,

> is to understand and trancend the "purushArthA-s".

> Once we do attain an intuitive understanding of the

> principles of "aram", "porul", "inbam" and "mOksa" we

> are said to be on the certain road to Godhead.

>

> Andal's "tiruppAvai", scholars and "achAryA-s" remind

> us, actually teems with several scintillating

> references to this great Vedantic matrix of

> "purushArthA-s" described above.

>

 

To say that the above lines mis-state the intent of thiruppavai would

be the understatement of the millenium that is about t pass us by.

Thiruppavai essentially is dvayartha prathipAdakam, that He is the

upAyam for the ultimate, and the ultimate is service at His feet.

AnDAL, just so that mandamathis like ourselves do not think that

there is any other purpose to her pasurams, explicitly states

"maRRainam kAmangaL mARRu", the reference being to the two ashddhis

that can come into one's prapathi: the tinge of ego in the

performance of prapathi, and that the goal is not mOksham, is not the

joy that comes out of the performance of prapathi, is not anything

that even remotely contributes ones own pleasure; it is simply

bhagavadanubhava preethikaaritha kainkaryam - kainkaryam that brings

uhappu to his heart - kainkaryam that brings him unmitigated joy -

isn't He ultimately bhOkta and prabhu, sEshi and swAmy, pita and

bharthA (as He asseverates in the bhagavad geetha)?

 

ThAyAr's pAsurams, meant for our upliftment (is she not the ultimate

purushakAra bhoothai - these pasurams are not for Her benefit)

reinforce the need for kartrutva buddhi thyAgam and swa-bhOktrutva

buddhi thyAgam. And to put this wonderful, ineffable aruLiccheyal,

in the all too commonplace framework of sAmsAric purushArthas is

retrograte at best and grossly offensive at worst. And to lend

sampradayic authenticity to one's own interpretations through

statements such as *** "Andal's "tiruppAvai", scholars and

"achAryA-s" remind us, actually teems with several scintillating

references to this great Vedantic matrix of "purushArthA-s"*** seems

to be a weak attempt to reinforce belief in an exposition that has

been derived outside the orthodoxy of Acharya insights. Instead of

suggesting that Sri Sampathkumar should read Sri PVP's vyakyanam

(which requires a certain maturity of anubhavam and comprehension),

aDiyEn would exhort him to find a good Acharya to learn about Sri

vaishNavam. And in doing so, Sri sampathkumar may very well realize

that there is hardly a need to embark on a journey to discover new

meanings to thiruppavai. If only we can comprehend and experience

the immeasurable beauty and insight in Acharya vyakhyanams, we may

have served our cause for redemption very well.

 

Azhwaar EmberumAnAr Jeeyar AnDAL thiruvadigaLE sharaNam

 

sridhar