Sri saranagathi deepikai

[Guest guest]

Pranams

 

I was reading Desikar's Saranagathi Deepikai. In 8th

sloka, he says, "ghyanam balam......te gunashatka

maadhyam".(please forgive me for the spelling)

 

The meaning written was "Though you have many kalyana

gunas, gyanam,shakti, balam,aishwaryam,veeryam, tejas

these six are the important gunas. All the other gunas

are inside these gunas".

 

I have heard from many bhagavathas about Lord's gunams

viz. Souseelyam, soulabyam, madhuryam, karunyam. I

don't know why Sri Desikan is particularly mentioning

these six gunams.

 

I request the bhagavathas to explain me more on this.

 

Pranams once again

raji sridhar

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

bhakti-list, RAJI SRIDHAR <sridharaji> wrote:

> I was reading Desikar's Saranagathi Deepikai. In 8th

> sloka, he says, "ghyanam balam......te gunashatka

> maadhyam".(please forgive me for the spelling)

>

> The meaning written was "Though you have many kalyana

> gunas, gyanam,shakti, balam,aishwaryam,veeryam, tejas

> these six are the important gunas. All the other gunas

> are inside these gunas".

>

> I have heard from many bhagavathas about Lord's gunams

> viz. Souseelyam, soulabyam, madhuryam, karunyam. I

> don't know why Sri Desikan is particularly mentioning

> these six gunams.

 

Raji,

 

Briefly, Sri Desika lists these six qualities because,

as you yourself have mentioned, they are the basis

or foundation for the others.

 

The kalyana-gunas of Bhagavan cascade as follows.

The Upanishads describe the svarUpa or essential

nature or Bhagavan as having the five following

fundamental attributes:

 

svarUpa nirUpaka

----------------

1. satya -- unconditional existence (reality), without any

limitation of any sort

2. jnAna -- unconstrained knowledge, omniscience if you will

3. ananta -- infinitude. There is no limitation to Bhagavan's

essential nature, either qualitative or quantitative

4. Ananda -- unconditioned blissfulness

5. amala -- bereft of any blemish

 

Because these gunas reveal (nirUpaNa) the essential

nature (svarUpa), they are known as svarUpa nirUpaka

dharma-s. The word 'dharma' here means attribute or

quality.

 

These five attributes are based on several Vedanta vAkyas,

primarily from the second chapter of the Taittiriya Upanishad,

which mentions with great fanfare the first four of these.

 

Building upon this we have the next set of attributes,

which Bhagavan makes manifest for the sake of universal

creation, sustenance, and dissolution, and for the delight

of His devotees. Principal among these are the six Swami

Desika mentions above:

 

1. jnAna -- knowledge (once again!)

2. bala -- strength

3. aiSvarya -- rulership

4. vIrya -- uncompromising prowess

5. Sakti -- energy

6. tejas -- splendor

 

There are esoteric components to these six qualities that

I am not qualified to detail, but my understanding is that

these qualities are the basis for advanced meditation. They

are mentioned again and again in the Pancaratra shastras

and repeatedly by Sri Ramanuja himself in his works.

In the introduction to his commentary on the Gita,

Sri Sankara also describes Lord Narayana as 'eternally endowed

with jnAna, bala, aiSvarya, vIrya, Sakti, tejas'

/jnAna-balaiSvarya-vIrya-Sakti-tejaH sadA sampannaH/.

 

Because these qualities are made manifest by the Lord

out of his essential nature, they are known as 'nirUpita

svarUpa dharma-s'.

 

All the other kalyana-gunas are derived from these six

attributes.

 

Others who know more detail are invited to clarify further.

 

aDiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan,

Mani