Bhagavan! (post-1)

[Guest guest]

Sri Parthasarathi thunai

SrimathE rAmAnujaya Namaha

Srimad Vara Vara MunayE Namaha

Sri vAnAchala mahA munayE Namaha

 

“Srivatsachinha misrEbhO namavukthi madheemahi,

yadhuktayas trayeekantE yAnthi mangaLasootrathAm”

 

“Sri parasara bhattAryA: SrirangEsa purOhita:

srivatsAngitha sudhas sriman sreyasE mEstu bhooyasE”

 

Dear bhagavatas,

 

Now adiyen has called you all as bhagavatas-what does that mean? All

of you will be tempted to answer immediately Oh! Don’t you know that?

We are all bhagavat bhakthas. Then if adiyen asks you then who is

bhagavan? Surely all of you will come to a conclusion that something

has gone wrong with me. After reading and writing so many postings

in these valuable groups can anyone ask this silly doubt? It is

ofcourse, emperuman Sriman Narayanan. Then why are we bhakthas not

called otherwise why are we called as bhagavatas and Lord Sri Krishna

as bhagavan. Bhagavan being a general term does cause confusion and

many claim that only the deity they call as bhagavan is supreme.

 

Are you confused? There is no need of confusion. The term bhagavan

undoubtedly refers only to Sriman Narayanan, Sri maha Vishnu. But

the confusion is only because of the ignorance of the meaning of this

term. What is the meaning of the term ‘bhagavan’? We know who is

‘bhagavan’ – Bhagavan Sri Krishna. We know that the purana that

details about Krishna and his divine leelas and attributes is only

called as “Srimad bhAgavatham” Krishna bhakthas are otherwise called

“bhAgavathas” and the great text given out of the divine mouth of

emperuman “svayam padmanAbhasya mukapadmAt” is called as “Srimad

bhagavat geetha” but what does this term “bhagavan” actually signify?

 

Bhagavan – according to Sanskrit grammar, the root ‘bhaga’ signifies

six prime kalyana gunas. One who is filled with these kalyana gunas

is called as bhagavan. Again one more doubt may arise- we even use

this term to others like “Narada bhagavan, suka bhagavan, valmiki

bhagavan” why? That is because they have been blessed with some of

these gunas due to the nirheduka krupai of emperuman. Like the

azhvars who were blessed with “mayarvaru madhi nalam” the above said

rishis were also blessed by bhagavan with some of the gunas totally

not attainable by a normal soul. It doesn’t mean that they have

become equal to emperuman it is just to show their greatness and

superiority over the other souls. Let us further see about the six

prime gunas.

 

“Mozhiyai kadakkum perum pugazhan” is the reward given to Swamy

koorathAzhvan, the prime disciple of Swamy ramanuja by

thiruvarangaththamudhanar. See what that great koorathazhvan says

about the bhagavat kalyana gunas in his “Sri Varadarajan stavam”

 

“prakrishtam vignAnam bala madulam Ishvaryam akilam

vimaryAdham veeryam varadan! Parama shakthirapi cha I

param tejascha ethi pravara guNashatkam prathamajam

guNAnAm nissemnAm gaNana vigunAnAm prasavabhoo: II (15)

 

[Meaning: Oh varada! Great jnana (knowledge), incomparable bala

(strength), uncountable Ishvaryam (wealth), unlimited veerya

(valour), excellent shakthi (power) and brilliant tejas (brightness)

all these are the Six prime gunas that dwell in the first primodial

form, para vAsudEvan. These form the root cause for the other

limitless uncountable kalyana gunas of emperuman]

 

>From the above sloka it is made clear that the para vAsudeva moorthi

is a embodiment of these prime gunas that further develops into all

the other countless kalyana gunas behind the bhagavat tattvam. In

the above sloka, Sri KoorathAzhvan adds adjectives like “prakrishtam,

adhulam” etc to show the speciality of knowledge, strength etc

possessed by emperuman while compared to the same of others.

 

What use are these qualities to the supreme lord (para vasudevan) we

will see in the next posting with the help of Sri KoorathAzhvan’s

son, Sri Parasara bhattar’s srisookthi in his divine work “Sri

Rangaraja stavam” (uttara satakam).

 

Alwar emperumAnAr Jeeyer thiruvadigalE sharaNam

Adiyen ramanuja dAsee

Sumithra Varadarajan