Tamil word for bhakti

[Guest guest]

Is "matinalam" the Tamil word for "bhakti"

 

If so, does it exactly mean "bhakti"?

 

If not what does "matinalam" mean?

[Guest guest]

At 02:59 AM 3/27/02 -0000, you wrote:

>Is "matinalam" the Tamil word for "bhakti"

>

>If so, does it exactly mean "bhakti"?

>

>If not what does "matinalam" mean?

 

Dear Devotee:

 

You have asked a very profound question for which

the ThiruvAimozhi commentators have answered in depth.

 

You have to study this word "mathinalam "

in the context of the second line of

the First paasuram of ThiruvAimozhi

of Swamy NammAzhwAr, where it is found:

"Mayarvara MATHINALAM aruLinan yavanavan".

 

The literal meaning of this passsage is:

 

The One who blessed us with the power of faculty

(aRivu = discriminating intellect )that chases away

aj~nanam (nescience and ignorance )as well as

the auspicious attribute of Bhakthi towards Him

born out of His limitless DayA.

 

He has Uyarnalam and He blessed us with

MATHINALAM . That great and compassionate Lord

"endowed us with JN~ANA-BHAKTI FACULTY /MATHINALAM,

which effaces the weakness of the intellect

that CONSTANTLY doubts ,confuses and fails to see

what ought to be seen CLEARLY ".

 

MATHINALAM THEREFORE COVERS BOTH THE JN~ANAM AND

BHAKTHI. Both are intertwined.This Mathinalam is

"MayarvaRa mathinalam",the Jn~Ana Bhakthi faculty

that banishes ajn~Anam and viparItha Jn~Anam.

 

Earlier in His first Prabhandham (Thiruviruttham ) ,

Swamy NammAzhwAr referred to the opposite of Mathinalam as

"poy ninRa Jn~Anam ". That Poy ninRa Jn~Anam is

of many kinds: (1)viparItha Jn~Anam (2) Soonya Vaadham

(3) naasthIkam (4)athmaa is independent/svathanthran

(Kaivlyam state), (5)deham and aathmaa are one and

the same (dEhAthma Bramam),(6)Isvaran and Jeevan

are one and the same (Jeeva-Berahma Eikya Vaadham)

(7)forgetting that the jeevan is the leige

of the Lord (sEsha bhUthan) and not having

Seshathva Jn~Anam (8) dEvathAnthara

worship through the lack of knowledge

about the Supermacy of SrIman NaaraayaNan

as the one and only Moksham- granting Lord

(Moksha-DhAyaka Mukundhan) .

 

Swamy NammazhAr appeals in this First paasuram of

Thiruviruttham to the Lord to banish all these

"Poy ninRa Jn~Anam" and bless him with

"MayarvaRa Mathinalam "( Jn~Ana -Bhakthi faculty ).

This is the context to understand "mayarvaRa Mathinalam ".

 

You can ask the question: Are Mathi and Nalam one and

the same? The first commentator on ThiruvAimozhi gives

the answer to this question and the other commentators

elaborated on that view. The First commentator ( Thirukkurahi

PirAn PiLLAn ) said: " Tannai uLLapadi aRivitthu,

Tamm ThiruvadigaLil niravathika bhakthiyai uNDAkkinaan".

The Lord gave the Jn~Anam about His true self and

generated matchless Bhakthi for Him .Bhattar is

attributed to have described this "Mathi " as

"Bhakthi Roopaapanna Jn~Anam ".This Jn~Anam sprouting out

in the form of Bhakthi ;Jn~Anam about the Lord

did not come first and then grew gradually to Bhakthi.

The pramANam is : "BhakthyA SaasthrAth Vedhmi JanArdhanam".

Bhakthi is the reason (KaaraNam )for mathi and Bhakthi is

the purpose/activity (Kaaryam ) for Mathi. AzhwAr did not say

that he was a bhakthan of the Lord and therfore He(the Lord)

blessed him with Mathi. He blessed the AzhwAr with Jn~Anam as well

as parama Bhakthi in the form of Bhakthi RoopApanna Jn~Anam

simultaneously .

 

>From the definition point of view, Bhakthi is different

from Bhakthi Yogam.Bhakthi is defined as pious faith ,

reverential worship , unassailable devotion to the Lord etc.

Bhakthi Yogam , the difficult anushtAnam leading to

Moksham is some thing else. The entire Twelfth Chapter of

Bhagavath Githai is devoted to the Lord's Upadesam on

Bhakthi Yogam.

 

The anubhavam of the BhakthA thru uninterrupted

meditaion on His Form (Roopam ), GuNam , Svaroopam ,

the many moods that Bhakthan experiences to have

the constant company of the Lord thru darsanam ,Keerthanam

of His attributes, SravaNam of His glories , sEvanam

(kaimkaryam to Him ) , nirvEdam when he does not have

samslesham , dhainyam ( helplessness), VisvAsam inspite

of the delay in getting the anugraham of the Lord,

Vaathsalyam to Him , aathma SamarpaNam , Kruthajn~athai

and MangaLAsAsanam are vast subjects in themselves.

Swamy NammazhwAr's ThiruvAimozhi paasurams help us

understand these moods (BhAvams) of a Parama Bhakthan

and his attainment of liberation from samsAric afflictions.

 

We started with the intent of having a short discussion

on "Mathinalam" and the profound nature of your question

propelled me to respond at this length.

 

AzhwAr's and AchAryA's words are so precise and

so deep that one can never comprehend them fully

by intellectual analysis alone .

 

Swamy NammAzhwAr ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,

Oppiliappan Koil V.Sadagopan