nAnmugan thiruvandhAdhi-81

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Sri Parthasarathi thunai

 

Srimathe ramanujaya Namaha

 

Srimad Vara Vara munayE Namaha

 

Sri vAnAchala mahA munayE Namaha

 

 

 

Paasuram-72

 

 

"ellara millEl tuRavara millennum

 

sollaRa mallanavum sollalla-nallaRa

 

mAvanavum nAlvEdha mAththavamum nAraNanE

 

yAvadhee tandRenpArAr"

 

 

 

Listening to thirumazhisai piran's complaint about those who haven't learnt the

divine meanings some questioned, "Why do you just talk ill of the ignorant why

shouldn't you, who have learnt the same give it to the world?"

 

Thirumazhisai piran with all grace gives the meaning of the charama sloka, the

enlightening crux in this paasuram.

 

 

 

Sri Krishna charama sloka is the essence of Mahabharata; Sri Rama charama sloka

is the essence of Sri Ramayana; same is the case with "memporul" paasuram in

thondaradipodi Azhvar's thirumaalai; here this paasuram is the highlight of

nAnmugan thiruvandhAdhi.

 

 

 

(ellaRam ellennum sollum sollalla) Those verses that advocate karma yoga to be

the means to moksha are not pramanas. The word "ellaRam" is equated to karma

yoga as only a gruhastan has the rights to perform yagna, dhana and tapas.

Otherwise the word 'sharaNam' conveys three meanings viz., way, house and

protector. "el" in tamil refers to a house. 'sharaNa' and 'gruha' are synonyms

and hence 'el' is considered to refer to upaya/means over here.

 

So pravruththi dharma is neglected.

 

 

 

(tuRavaram el ennum sollum sol alla) All those verses that declare jnana yoga to

be the means to moksha are also not to be accepted. Here "turavaram" indicates

jnana yoga, as it has to be performed by sacrificing karma yoga. It has to be

noted that even Sri Krishna in his divine bhagavat geetha refers to jnana yoga

with the word sanyasa "sanyAsam karmanAm" (geetha 5-1) "sanyAsasthu" (5-6) and

so on.

 

"yadhaidAmsi samithOgnir basmasAth kurutErjuna"

 

[just like the fire that burns a log of firewood to ashes, properly performed

jnana yoga burns all karmas)

 

 

 

(aramallanavum sollalla) All those verses that state other means to be the

mokshOpaya are also not pramanas

 

 

 

Which are the other dharmas considered to be the mokshopaya?

 

1) "bhakthyA tvananyayA shakya:" -bhakthi yoga

 

2) "dEsOyam sarva kAma duk"-DivyadEsa vAsam

 

3) "kim jabhan muchyatE janthu:"- ThirunAmasankeerthanam

 

4) "janma karma cha mE divyam" - Avatara rahasya jnanam

 

5) "yO mAmEvam asammudo jAnAthi purushOtamam"-purushOtama vidya

 

 

 

All these have been repeatedly stated to be the means to moksha in the ithihasa

puranas and bhagavat geetha by the rishis and bhagavan himself. How does azhvar

then without any hesitation disregards these verses? It is due to the strength

given by the geethacharyan to thirumazhisai piran. GeethAcharyan himself

overrides his previous statements with the parama pramana "sarva dharmAn

parityajya" (leave all the (aforeside) dharmas).

 

 

 

Though karma, jnana, bhakthi yogas are considered to be the means still being

insentient these are incapable of granting the results by themselves. The

result has to be given only by the parama chetanan, emperuman Sriman narayanan.

Emperuman doesn't depend on anything for granting the result since he is sarva

shakthan. Thereby the inner deep meanings conveyed in the Vedanta are

explicitly given here by thirumazisai piran in simple lucid words.

 

 

 

If split as "sollara mallana" then we derive the above meaning (pramEya param).

On the contrary if read as "ellennum sol" then the pramEyas karma, jnana and

bhakthi as stated by the pramanas are not the means (pramAna param)

 

 

 

Why are these not considered to be the means?

 

 

 

(nallaRamAvanavum) aram- refers to karma; nallaRam-those duties done without any

expectation. Those that have been specified in the ithihasa puranas viz.,

namasankeerthanam etc.

 

 

 

(nAlvEdha mAththavamum) The duties (karma yoga) specified in the first half

(poorva bhaga) of the Vedas.

 

 

 

(nAraNanEyAvadhu) All the other karmas are effective only due to the divine

grace of the almighty.

 

How?

 

For all the other means emperuman is essential to grant the final result whereas

emperuman needs no help to grant moksha.

 

 

 

(Edhu andru enpAr Ar)Who can refute this great fact? Without any dispute the

Vedas, bhagavan Sri Krishna, the vedantins, the rishis and all the azhvars

accept emperuman to be the mokshOpayam.

 

 

 

A few quotes from the words of rishis:

 

"yamaiovaisha vrunuthE tEna labhya:"

 

"nyasa iti brahma.nyAsa A-vatyarEchayEt"

 

"lOkAnAm tvam parO dharma:"

 

"rAmO vigrahavAn dharma:"

 

"krishnam dharma sanAtanam"

 

"pAvanas sarva lOkAnAm tvamEva"

 

 

 

Words of bhagavan

 

"mAmEkamEva sharanam"

 

"sharaNam mAm prapadyava"

 

 

 

Words of Azhvars

 

"aRantAnAi thirivAi"

 

"nAganai misai nampirAn charanE shaRan namakku"

 

"kalaikan neeyE"

 

 

 

Charama sloka in this paasuram

 

 

 

"ellaRamillEl tuRavaRamillennum sollaRamallanavum sollalla" - sarva dharmAn

parityajya

 

"nAraNan"- mAm, aham

 

"nArananE" - EkAram parallel to Ekam

 

"nallaRamAvanavum nAlvEdhamAththavamum"- sarva pApEbhyO mOkshayisyAmi

 

"Ethu andru enpAr Ar"- mAsucha:

 

 

 

To Be Continued)

 

 

 

Azhvar emperumAnAr Jeeyer thiruvadigalE sharaNam

 

 

 

Adiyen ramanuja dAsee

 

Sumithra Varadarajan