Sri PVP vyakhyanam of Prathama Jitante stotram shlokam 12.

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Sri PVP vyakhyanam of Prathama Jitante stotram shlokam 12.

 

 

Srimate Ramanujaya Nama:

 

Sri PeriyaVachchan Pillai tiruvadigaLE sharaNam

 

 

shrImat kriShNa samAhvAya namO yAmunasUnavE ;

 

yatkaTAkShaika lakShyANAm sulabha: shrIdhara: sadA.

 

 

**12. durgatAvapi jAtAyAm tvadgato mE manoratha:

yadi nAsham na vindEta tAvatA(a)smi kritI sadA**

 

 

Meaning::-- --tvad gata:-- firmly attached to You. --mE-- my.

--manOratha:-- aspiration. --durgatau jAtAyAm api-- even when born in a

woeful bad low category of life or even in the worst circumstances.

--nAsham na vindEta yadi-- if it does not get destroyed. --tAvatA-- by

this much. --sadA-- for ever. --kritI asmi-- I am satisfied.

 

 

Introduction::-- (durgatAvapi etc) God asks "neither retirement from this

sorrowful samsAra is wanted nor the attainment of that land which is full

of happiness is wanted. Will it be a sufficient puruSAhArtha if there is

merely that eligibility criterion of jnAna and adherance to Him as the

means and goal (see shlokam 11.). Besides, as in "janmAntarE(a)pi", is it

not contra-indication to the soul, to sanction more births which prevent

early reunion with god". Then I say, "Well, do not sanction anything asked

for in the earlier shlokams. Even if I remain as a samsAri, and more over,

get entangled in most unenviable circumstances, and again not

materealising the cherished jnAna (regarding Your divine feet) and

adherance to it, my aspiration remains only a dream, still I consider

myself as satisfied as one who has done his duty and is in self control.

 

 

VyakhyAnam::-- (durgatAvapi jAtAyam) What is durgati? -- it is a state in

which all organs except the mind are uncooperative in the body. That is

-- owing to debility, as in "aiyyAr kanThamadaikkilum"

(TiruVaiMozhi-2-9-3), in the state of soul exiting from the body, in the

dream state when all the external organs are senseless due to sleep, etc.

In any of these states of debility.

 

(tvadgata:) my aspirations involved in the feet of Yours who is saturated

with svarUpa rUpa guna and vibhUti.

 

(mE manoratha:) the aspirations of mine who am unable to wiggle physically

out of my indulgence in mundane desires and work for attaining the goal.

 

What is manOratha? It means the action of keeping thinking about an

object of desire or puruShArtham even if that did not materialize, out of

deep attachment to that object.

 

If one asks, "if an aspiration does not materialize, can the action of

just thinking about it be a source of solace? can the thinking of

unfulfilled aspiration itself be a source of pleasure?", Well, a person,

who enjoyed for a long time in the company of Urvashi, and later lost her

company owing to the exhaustion of his punya (punya kshayam), even if

provided with other sources of pleasure, his mind will not cherish them

and will find comfort in merely thinking about her only and consider it as

his purushArtham. The same applies here too.

 

It is rather sweeter to merely nurture (unfulfilled) aspirations of

higher distinguished objects than to physically enjoy trivial objects.

 

What is the nature of aspirations in respect of god? Well, as in "pitA

tvam mAtA tvam...", desiring that He alone should be all types of

relations to me, as in "uNNum shORu paRugu nIr tinnumveRRilaiyumellAm" He

alone should be all sustenance, nourishment and enjoyment for me, and

desiring that the means for obtaining Him should be He alone.

 

(yadi nAsham na vindEta) If this aspiration does not suffer a

discontinuity owing to distraction by other sense objects. "yadi" is used

here because it is so impossible and rare to come by an unbroken

continuity in the aspiration in respect of god in this samsAra where

trivial sense objects are beckoning all and ruling the roost. The

inference here is that, just like the obtainment of happiness by reaching

a special land (vaikuntham), or like the elimination of sorrow of this

samsAra, or like the obtainment of the jnAna, even the instilling of this

aspiration in respect of god is totally dependent on the grace and mercy

of the lord.

 

 

(tAvatA(a)smi kritI sadA) I consider my duties discharged for all time to

come, just by harbouring such aspiration with respect to god. Irrespective

of whether one is in a state of sound health or in a state of diseased

body, whether one is sitting or sleeping or standing anywhere, or in

various different births, I am satisfied fully by merely harbouring such

an aspiration as much as by attaining the goal itself

(prApyasiddhiyiRpOlE). This is reflected in the nAradIya sUkta vachanam...

 

 

**AsInA vA shayAnA vA tiShThanto yatra kutra vA.

namo nArAyaNAyEti mantraika sharaNA vayam**

 

 

Meaning:: Whether sitting or sleeping or standing anywhere, we always

adopt the mantra called "namo narAyaNAya" as the only resort.

 

 

In the previous shlokam, as much sweet as attaining the God tastes, even

so much sweet does merely having the jnAna also tastes. In this shlokam,

that concept is pushed to the boundary of sweetness by saying that even

having that jnAna is not necessary ; it is adequate if merely the

(unfulfilled) aspiration for that jnAna is harboured in the mind. After

all, the essence of sweetness of the object worth remembering, is found

and experienced in the remembering or recalling activity itself. Thus, the

unboundedness or the limitlessness of the sweetness of the object worth

remembering (god) is also described. See "ninaindennuLLE ninRu, nekkum

kaNgaL ashum pozhuga, ninaindirundE shiramam thIrndhEn nEmi nediyavanE"

graced by periyAzhvAr based on this concept alone.

 

Also read "nAhantu sakhyo bhajato (a)pi jantUn.....tadva: pratiyAtu

sAdhunA" in BhAgavatam 10-32-21,22,23.

 

Meaning:::-- Krishna said to gopis "Oh friends! Just to make their

meditation of mine uninterrupted, I do not show up before the living

beings who are devoted to me. Girls! just as a moneyed man who loses all

his riches becomes filled with the thought of the lost riches and so does

not think of anything else, so also, I vanished from your sight, so that

you who left behind all your family world, may develop stronger thoughts

regarding Me. Oh dears! you should not feel jealous and dejected with me

on that account. I can not fully well repay you all even by the ages of

angels, for mingling with me without any sort of crookedness. Let your

chains of bondage to samsAra get unlocked for having cut asunder your

bondages to your families, houses and husbands and children and having

come to enjoy my company. That is my gift to you."

 

 

---- continued

 

 

Adiyen dasan

 

Ramanuja