geethA sAstramum nedunthAndaka sAstramum-18

[Guest guest]

Sri Parthasarathi thunai

Srimathe Ramanujaya Namaha

Sri Vara Vara munayE Namaha

Sri vAnAchala mahA munayE Namaha

 

In the previous posting we enjoyed emperuman as ‘ponnuru’. Next

azhvar attributes the qualities of precious gems to emperuman –

‘maNiyuruvil bhoodham IyindhAi’. Emperuman is like a precious gem

and he is the five bhoodhas, Akasam (sky), vayu (air), agni (fire),

jalam (water), bhoomi (earth). Sri kulasekara perumal in his divine

work ‘mukunda malai’ beautifully portrays emperuman as ‘maNi’ as

follows:

 

“bhakthApAya bhujanga gArudamaNi:

trilOkya rakshAmaNi:

gOpeelOchana sAdhakAmbhudhamaNi:

soundarya mudrA maNi: I

ya: kAnthAmaNi rukmini ka nagucha

dvanthvaikka bhooshAmaNi:

srEyO dEvasikAmaNi: dishatu nO

gOpAla choodAmaNi: II

 

Keeping the same in mind Thirumangai azhvar calls emperuman to be

‘maNiyuruvil bhoodham IyindhAi’. Emperuman stays as the body made of

pancha bhoodhas and has the qualities of the gems. Sri Periya vAchan

pillai compares the qualities of emperuman and the gems as 1) vadivil

tEjOmayan- emperuman glitters like the gems 2) mAnikka seppilE pon

pOlE tanakkAsrayamAna svaroopaththikkum svaroopAsrayamAna

guNangalukkum thAn suddha sattvamaya mAgaiyAlE prakAsakamAyirukkai-

Take for example a gem studded plate decorated with gold. Emperuman

being suddha sattva mayan his glory spreads to both the svaroopa that

gives him form and also the qualities that depends on the svaroopam.

3) thAn svaroopaththai kAttilum bhOkyamAyirukkai – highly enjoyable.

So there by azhvar showed that emperuman is someone much different

from the chit and the achit and is a supreme tattva. Thereby the

tattva traya knowledge was clearly imparted by azhvar following which

another doubt arises in our minds. Then is emperuman such a high

tattva that cannot be reached by us? The answer follows in the next

line.

 

Meanwhile let us see what geethAcharyan has to say about the above words of azhvar.

 

“bhoomirApO nalO vAyu: kam manO bhuddi rEvacha I

ahankAra etheeyam mE bhinnA prakruthirashtathA II” [7-4]

 

[know that this nature spread as panchabhoodhas earth, water, fire,

air and sky and manas, mahan and ahankAram, so totally 8 different

things all belong to me]

 

“mayi sarvamidham prOktham sootrE manikaNA eva” [7-7]

 

[All these things are joined to me like the beads connected with a string]

 

In this example, geethacharyan shows his sAmyam (similarity) with the

thread/string that connects all the beads in a chain of beads. Like

the thread all the chetanas and achetanas are connected with

emperuman. The thread goes into the beads and binds all of them

together. Similarly all the chetanas and achetanas remain as the

body and emperuman their athma. A single thread holds all the beads

similarly emperuman alone supports all the chits and achits. The

thread is hidden at the back of the beads still it doesn’t need the

support of the beads. Similarly emperuman is hidden by the other

tattvas but he doesn’t need the support of the other tattvas. If the

thread is removed then the beads fall down which indicates that only

the thread holds the beads and the thread is independent. Similar is

the case with emperuman and the other two tattvas. Though all these

similarities hold good between the thread example and emperuman they

lays one difference. As per the sastric verse, “anthar bahischa tat

sarvam vyApya nArAyaNa: stita: [in all the objects in this world

narayaNa: remains inside and outside] which doesn’t suit the thread

case.

 

“rasOhamapsu kowthEya prabhAsmi sasisooryayO: I

pranavas sarva vEdEshu saptha: kE powrusham nrushu II” [7-8]

 

[Kunteeputra! Iam the taste in water, light of the sun and the moon,

pravanam among all the vedas, the sound characteristic of the sky,

and the maleness of the males. ]

 

Let us enjoy the sowlabhyam of emperuman in the next posting.

 

(To be continued)

 

Azhvar EmperumAnAr Jeeyer thiruvadigalE sharanam

 

Adiyen ramanuja dAsee

Sumithra Varadarajan