ThiruviNNagarappan Paasurams : Periya Thirumozhi 6.2.4 : Part XI : additional Thoughts

[Guest guest]

SrI:

 

Dear BhakthAs of the Matchless Lord of ThiruviNNagaram :

 

In the fourth Paasuram , Thirumangai Mannan declared :

" PeRRa MakkaL PeNDir yenRu ivar pinn udhavAthu yenRu

aRinthEn ; (athanAl) piRinthEn . Nee PaNittha aruL yennum oLL

vALL uruvi eiympulankaL idar theera yeRinthEn " . After executing

that act , adiyEn arirved at Your ThiruvadivAram and joined Your

sacred feet in an inseperable manner as the Prama PrApyam .

 

Let us reflect further on " nee PaNittha aruL oLL VaaLL koNDu

eiympulankaL idar ozhitthEn " . What is this powerful upadEsam ( PaNittha

aruL ) of the Lord to chase away the troubles caused by the Indhriyams ?

 

The powerful UpadEsam of the Lord , which serves as the unfailing

weapon in the fight against the Five cognitive Indhriyams is VAIRAAGYAM

born out of VIVEKAM . The five organs of knowledge ( Jna~nEndhriyams)

are the ear (srOthra) , skin (tvak) , eye (chakshus) , tongue (jihvA )

and nose ( ghrANa) . Through sense control ( indhriya nigraham) ,

one develops VAIRAGYAM ; the renunciation of all these non-lasting

and ultimately grief-yielding pleasures results from Vairagyam .

 

The Replacement of aj~nAnam by true Jn~Anam results . Raagam(Kaamam)

and dhvEsham ( hate) leave the mind . The saadhakan becomes a samadharsini

( equipoised in attitude ) . Once the mind's concentration on the

Self (Aathman)

is achieved and the full control over the sense organs and the mind is accomplished ,

Jn~Ana nishtai follows . The Saadhakan becomes a sTitha praj~nan to follow

Jn~Ana yOgam or to perform SaraNAgathy at the sacred feet of the Lord .

 

Few githA slOkams form the 18th chapter blessed to us by the Lord are revelatory here

to understand Brahma Sthithi ( A state, where the mind is centered in Brahman ) :

 

ahankAram balam darpam kaamam krOdham parigraham

vimuchya nirmama: saanthO BrahmabhUyAya kalpathE ---18.53

 

(Meaning) : " Forsaking egoism , power , arrogance , desire , wrath

and sense of possession , with no feeling of " mine" and being tranquil---

he becomes worthy for the state of pure Self and attains true bhakthi towards

the Lord ( Thereafter , the Saadhakan neither grieves nor desires . He attains

supreme devotion to the Lord ) .

 

bhaktyA Maam abhijAnAti yaavaan yascchaasmi tattvata:

tathO Maam tatthvathO jn~AthvA viSatE tadanantharam ---18.55

 

( Meaning ) : " Through devotion (Bhakti) he comes to know Me fully ---who I am

and what I am . Thus having known Me in true form , he then enters in to Me

( attains Me as the Supreme goal of Bhakti yOgam ) . " The emphasis is on

the UpadEsam that single-minded devotion to the Lord will make it possible

to know the Lord fully and attain Him in the state of Moksha ( Jn~Atum dhrashtum

cha tatthvEna pravEshtum cha paranthapa -- XI.54, GitOpanishad).

 

Through such a single minded devotion and phala thyAgam , one attains the eternal

and immutable abode says the Lord ( Madh prasAdhAd avApnOthi Sasvatham padham

avyayam ---XVIII.56) .

 

Lord ParthasArathy once again states the importance of MahA ViswAsam in Him :

 

Tamm yEva SaraNam gaccha sarvabhAvEna Bharatha

tath-prasAdhAdth paramam Saanthim sTAnam prApyasi Saasvatham --XVIII.62

 

At ThiruviNNagar , Thirumangai Mannan reflects on the two powerful slOkams

of the Lord at the battle field and performs his SaraNAgathy with the utterance :

" tEnE NinnadainthEn ThiruviNNagar MeyavanE , seRinthEn NinnadikkE

ThiruviNNagar MeyavanE " . The two gitA slOkams in this context are :

 

ManmanA bhava MadhbhakthO MadhyAji Maam namaskuru

Maam yEvaisyasi sathyam tE pratijAnE priyOsi mE ---XVIII. 65

 

sarvadharmAn partithyajya MaamEkam SaraNam vraja

aham thvaa sarvapApEbhyO mokshayishAmi maa Suchah---XVIII.66

 

(Meaning ) : Focus your mind on Me; bedevoted to Me; worship Me;

prostrate before Me ; you shall come to Me. I promise you truly , for you

are dear to Me .

 

Relinquishing all dharmAs , seek Me alone for refuge . I shall release you

from all sins . Do not grieve .

 

Dr. Chari in his monograph on " The Philosophy of Bhagavad Gita " has

insightful comments on the Charama slOkam ( XVIII.66) : " The SaraNAgathy

or the surrendering of oneself to paramAthman seeking Him as the sole refuge

implies according to RaamAnuja , the relinquishment of the sense of ego as

the doer of deeds ( Karthruthva thyAga) and also the sesire for their fruits

( Phala ThyAga) . This is what is meant by " Sarva dharmAn partithyajya "

and not the total renunciation of all karmAs as Samkara intreprets. By observance

of SaraNAgathy in this mannner , all the sins of the past standing as obstacles

in the way of attaining ParamAthman will be removed by His grace . Thus ,

the SaraNAgathy advocated in GitA serves as an aid (anga) to the Bhakthi

yOgA , which is the direct means to Moksha ".

 

For a Bhaddha Jeevan( Souls in bondage ) , the Lord at Kuru kshEthram

explained how the bondage is caused and how they can snap out of that

bondage to become Muktha Jeevans ( liberated Souls) and attain Him .

This is the UpadEsam on approaching Him thru Bhakthi yOgam .

 

The path of Bhakthi yOgam is not easy for many to follow . For the benefit

of those , who despair about their capabilities to practise Bhakthi yOgam

to reach Him , the pParama DhayALu , our Lord blessed us with the Charama

SlOkam to house His message of Prapatthi or SaraNAgathy to Him . In VisishtAdhvaitha

philosophy and practise , " the doctrine of SaraNAgathy is accorded an important

place. The total surrender of one's self to the Lord with the firm conviction that

He is the sole protector , the means and goal , is considered as an alternative

and direct means to Moksha for persons , who are incapable of observing

the rigorous Bhakti yOga ". Acharya RaamAnuja elaborated on the doctrine of

SaraNAgathy in his SaraNAgathy gadhyam and showed us the way to perform

Prapatthi at the sacred feet of the Lord following the path laid out by Thirumangai

AzhwAr and Swamy NammAzhwAr earlier .

 

Daasan, Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan

SriMath Azhagiya Singar ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam