Sri GuNa rathna KOsam : Part XX---> SlOkam 11

[Guest guest]

Srimathyai RanganAyakyai Nama:

 

Dear BhakthAs : In the eleventh slOkam , Bhattar

describes the fools , who go around with noisy

protests and quarrels in the world . Bhattar describes

five categories of such people , who have fallen into

this miserable state because of their misfortune in

not being the object of Sri RanganAyaki's krupA katAksham.

 

The eleventh slOkam containing these thoughts is:

 

aahurvEdAnamAnam kathichana kathichArAjakam visvamEthadh-

rAjanvath kEchidhIsam guNinamapi guNaistham dharidhrANamanyE

BhikshAvanyE surAjambhavamithi chajaDAsthE talAtalyakArshu:

yE tE Sriranga harmyAngaNa kanakalathE! na kshaNam lakshyamAsan

 

Meaning by Dr.V.N .Vedanatha Desikan :

***************************************

 

Oh Goddess ! Veritable creeper of Gold! Queen of

the palace of Sree Ranga VimAnam! Those dunces ,

who were out of bounds to Your grace would commit

the crime of destroying/denying the authoritative

stature to the VedAs . A few others would say there

is no God. Others , who admitted a God , denied

however , auspicious qualities to that deity .

Some others conferred Godhead on a mendicant ,

Bhikshu, namely , SivA .All these warring groups

indulge only in mutual beating and create

a huge furore.

 

(Oh RanganAyaki !) They all behaved in this manner

only because Your Grace was not avilable to them."

 

AdiyEn's observations

*********************

 

Here , Bhattar alludes to the unfortunate people

who have developed strident and conflicting views

regarding " the world manifestation and the status

of MahA Lakshmi ". Bhattar points out that these

deluded people do not acknowledge or perceive

the truisms embedded in the text of great authority

such as Vedham and as a result have failed to be

the objects of Sri RanganAyakI's grace .

 

These unfotunate ones are grouped by Bhattar into

five categories of disbelievers and distorters of

the eternal Truth proclaimed by the Vedhams:

 

1) Those who deny the Vedhams as PramANams altogether:

Jainism , Buddhism and Materialism (ChArvAkAs ).

They belong to the Naasthika systems . All the three

deny the concepts of soul and God as held by

the followers of the VedhAs.They are opponents of

Aasthika darsanams, which affirm the VedhAs as

unassailable PramANams( Instruments of valid knowledge).

 

The materialists deny the existence of any thing , which

are beyond the reach of the eyes. The Jains adopting

"anekAntavAdha " believe that nothing can have a particular

trait. They replace VedhAs with the authors of Jain texts.

 

The Buddhists come under the twin groups of HeenayAna

(lower path) and the MahAyAna ( the great path) . HeenayAna

is subdivided into VaibhAsikAs and SautrAntrikas . Former

maintain that the world is real , but has only a momentary

existence. The latter (SautrAntrikas ) arrive at the world's

existence only through inference . The MahAyAna group is

again subdivided into two: The YogAchAra School and

Nihilism School . The former holds the world to exist

only in the form of knowledge. The latter (Nihilism)

denies altogether the total existence of the world

and accepts SoonyA (Void) as the reality.

 

All the three Naasthika darsanams are called as Vedha-

Baahya darsanams , since they reject VedhAs.

 

(2) The second category accepts VedhAs , but gives

incorrect meanings to VedhAs .These are known as

SaankyAs. This NirIsvara Saankya darsanam rejects

Isvara tatthvam and hence the Saankya darsana followers

are known as "arAjakars"( Those who believe that

there is no king/Isvaran). They accept 25 Tatthvams:

(1) Moola Prakruthi or primordial entity (2)mahath or

great principle (3) ahankAra or the cosmic egoism

(4) manas or mind (5-9)Jn~AnEndhriyams or organs of

knowledge (10-14) karmEndhriyam or organs of action

(15-19) Pancha tanmAtrAs or five subtle elements

(20-24) Five gross elements and (25) Purusha or Jeevan.

There , they stop by excluding Isvaran.There is no 26th

Tatthvam that VisihtAdhvaithin accepts as a cardinal

principle.

 

(3) The third category consists of VaisEshikAs , who accept

the authority of VedAs , but emphasize inference (anumAna)

and Verbal comprehension (sabdhA).This line of thinking was

founded by KaNAda and is also known as Asath-karya Vaadham .

This group tries to prove the existence of God by inference.

They recognize our Lord to the limit of nimittha kaaraNam

but do not extend Him to UpAdhAna KaaraNam ( material cause ).

ParAsara Bhattar in His masterly work ,Tatthva RatnAkara has

criticized soundly the deficiencies of this school of thought

to uphold the supermacy of VisishtAdvaitham.

 

(4) The fourth group accepts Vedam (sabdha PramANam ) but makes

the Lord of limitless KalyANa guNams (SaguNa Brahmam)

as bereft of those auspicious attributes .They make Him

"GuNa Daridhran". These are the MaayA Vaadhis.

 

(5) The fifth group is constitute by Saivars , who see in

a mendicant Isvarathvam . This Bikshu is a karmAdhinan

and states clearly that He is the daasan of Sriman NaarAyaNan

in Manthra Raaja Padha Sthothram and elsewhere.

 

All of these five groups quarrel with one another and

are either non-believers in Vedham as PramANam or misintrepret

the Vedhic passages to their own advantage in an unsatisfying

and inconclusive manner . All these viparIthams happen because

of their failure to become the objects of the grace of

Sri RanganAyaki, the golden creeper blessing us as the Queen

of the palace at Srirangam.

 

Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil V.SatakOpan