Sri SudarSana and Sri Narayana Tattvam - article 2

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Sriman Naaraayanaya Namaha:

Srimathe Ramaanujaya Namaha:

Srimathe Vedaantha Desikaaya Namaha:

 

 

AzhwArs seeing the Jyothi and Brahmam as Sriman nArAyana

 

We saw earlier Sri SudarSanA or the Lord is in general praised as

the Veda, kAla, jyoti swarUpi that we all can see.

The Lord seems to have willed that he should somehow make himself

visible out of mercy for all of us, especially for those

(even gopas) least capable of perceiving him.

 

We indicated his will to make Him visible through a verse

from the vedam. We retell the famous lines in verse 1.8 of

Sri rudra praSna namakam since the verses indicate to us

figuratively why the Lord is seeable in some sense.

 

`asau yo(a)vasarpati ..

utainam gopA adruSannadruSannuda hArya:

utainam viSwA bhUtAni sa drushTo mrudayAtina:'

 

asau: the Lord as this Sun

avasarpati - rises and goes around

enam: this suRya rUpi

gopa: uta: - even the cow herders

adruSan - see

utaharya: - even the girls bringing water

adruSan - see

eNam - this suRya rupi

viSwabutAno uta: all other beings also

druShta: seen and worshipped thus

sa: this sUraya swarUpe

na: us

mrutayAti: make happy or let live happily.

 

We read the chAndogya upanishat 3.1.1 would say

 

Om asau va Adityo devamadhu.

 

The rishis worshipped Him also as sUrya and gAyatri

in the main parts of Vedas.

 

Then the upanishat would equate Aditya and gAyatri and declare

that here is even greater and more preceding one and it is the

purusha.

 

tato jyAyAgumca purusha:

 

Thus after gradually elevating the concept, it would declare in

section

3.7:

 

asmin anta: purushe jyothi.

 

Also he verse 1.6.8 in this upanishat would say in utgIta upAsana:

 

Ata ya esho antaraditye hiraNmayam purusho druSyate|

 

The Lord who shines like gold in the Sun is pointed out to be sriman

nArAyana:

 

tasya yathA kapyAsam puNdarIka meva...

 

The Lord's eyes are red like lotus... There is no doubt that the

Sriman nArAyana is pointed out here since He is known as

punAdarIkAksha.

This is one of the lines that caused a rift between Sri Ramanuja

and Sri yAdhava prakAsa.

 

Thus the Lord is in intense brightness(also).

 

How does he reside in intensely bright objects such as Sun?

 

Not very differently from the way he resides everywhere else.

 

There was a need to make this argument as a part of establishing

the concept of Brahma upasana.

 

Hence the Brahma sutram in antarAdhikaranam will expound the

antaryAmi

tatvam as follows:

 

antastaddharmopadeSAt: ( Br. Su. 1.20 )

 

'because of being in the eye and the Sun

with His essential attribute according to upadeSam'

 

antah: - being within the sun and the eye as the antatyAmi

tat dharma: - his essential attribute or nature

upadeSAt - the sruti preaching thus

 

The chAndogya upsanishat in section 1,6,7 will preach the wonderful

bhagAvAn as the seeable light residing in the Suns as well as the

eye.

We saw some references above. And it is also why we say that

the brightness of a person is seen in his eyes.

Thus He is established to be same everywhere

by bringing things as diverse as the Sun and the eye

and connecting them through Him.

 

But how same is he in such diverse objects?

Can we all become or are already Him?

 

'Stop it. do not rush to become the Brahmam,' exhorts the next

sUtram.

 

bhedavyapadeSaccAnya: ( Br. Su. 1.21 )

 

'There is really another one on account of

the declaration of distinction'

 

bheda: - difference

vyapadeSaT - because preached as

ca: - and

anya: - is different from all the Jivas including

the shining principle in the Sun

 

The Brihadaranyaka upanishat 7.3 would declare:

 

ya: pridivyAm tishtam pridivyA antaro yam pridivI na veda

yasya pridivI Sariram ya pridivimantare

yamayatyesha ta AtmAntaryAmyamruta:

 

He who resides in the Sun, who the Sun does not know,

he who has Sun as the body, and he who rules from

within the Sun is your Atma, antaryAmi, and amrutham.

 

The fact that even the powerful sun does not know Him supports

the observation that He is at least one step beyond the Sun.

What we cannot know is His true rUpam and intention.

He completely rules us in that sense.

But we do know him in many ways otherwise. Hence the brahmopaSana.

 

This is emphasized in the another slokam 3.1.15

in Brihadaranyaka upanishat:

 

ya: sarveshu bhuteshu tishDan sarvebhyo bhutebhyo(a)ntare yam

sarvANi bhutani na viduryasya sarvAni bhutAni Sariram ya:

sarvANi bhutAnyantaro yamayatyesha ta AtmAntaryAmyamruta.

 

However it is accepted that He is the paramjyoti and viSwa

and vishnu and worshipped as Sriman nArAyana, since he alone

is suitable for ekAnta worship in this life.

 

Thus we will study how our azhwArs saw Him. Especially our interest

is

in finding out how much respect they paid to the Vedas and

what aspects of Vedas they emphasized a lot.

 

Let us first understand that all Veda sampradAyams

accept Vedas as an authority. However different parts

are emphasized to establish different schools of thought.

Sri Vaishnavam philosophically respects all parts of

the Vedas equally in order to avoid extreme interpretations

that will void this or that part of the Vedas prima facie.

 

In this context, the azhwArs took all the Vedas

as a source of inspiration and also took the parts of Vedas

that will help them worship Sriman Narayana alone

as the parabrAhmam. Why? all the differences merge into him since

He created everything else, as we saw in the bhedaupadeSA sUtram

and various other supporting statements from the sruti.

 

Sri nammAzvar would mention in TiruvAimozhi 9

in 'orAyiramAi' section in Prabandam verse 3579 as

follows:

 

avane yakal nyAlam pataitidantAn

avane yahtuNdumizhn tAnaLantAn

avane yavanu mavanu mavanum

avane marollAmu marintaname.

 

He exhorts us to realize the Lord is this

thing, that thing, and everything else. Thus all the

power and brilliance of the stars and Sri SudarSana is Him only,

though it is a visible form for all of us to see.

 

In PerumanIlpatai, Prabandam verse 2782,

Sri namAlwar would sing as follows:

 

nambi yaitten kurunkuti ninra, ach

cenpo netika zhumtiru mUrtiyai

umpar vAna r**Adiyam Jyoti**yai

yempi rAnaiyen solli marappano

 

He would address Him as the sheen in the gold, and Adi paramjyoti.

 

We saw Him as all brillance and happiness and residing

in the Vaikuntam per the quote from TripAd vidhuthi

Narayanopanishad. (TripAd vibhudhi is another name for vaikunta

vibhudi).

 

In 'UnilvAzh', Prabandam verse 2815, Sri namAlwAr would

extol how happy he feels when he sings about him:

 

kativAr taNNantuzhAik kaNNanviN NavarperumAn

pativA namiranta **paraman pavitiran**sIr

cetiyAr noikalketap patintu kutaintAti

adiyen vAimatuttup parukik **kalittene**

 

The azhwAr would call him as param pavithram just as the Vedas would.

 

In 'aNivathu', Prabandam verse 2866, Sri namAlwar would label Him

as all the trimUrthis put together.

 

punarkum **ayanAm** azhikum **aranAm**

punartatan **unthi**yo tAkattu manni

punartta tiruvAkit tanmArvil tAncer

punarpan perumpunarp pengum pulane

 

Why? The vedam says

 

sa: brahma sa: shiva: sa: hari:

 

Sri namAlwar would also praise the beauty of this Jyoti swarUpi

in Prabandam verse 2898 in 'mudiJyoti' section:

 

katuraikkil tAmarainin kaNpAtam kaiyovvA

**cuturaita nan ponnul tirumEni oLiovvAtu**

otturaittiv vulakunnaip pukazhvellAm perumpAlum

patturaiyAip purkenre kAttu**mAl paramJyoti**

 

He would address Him as 'tiruMal paramJyoti' whose shine is

incomparable and trancends even the gold shining

hot and beautiful under the melting process.

 

Sri namAlwar would praise this Jyoti swarUpi just as much as

the Vedas would in 'pukazhul oruvan' section

in Prabandam verse 2930:

 

pukazhu oruvan enko! poruvilcIrp pumi enko!

tikazhumtaN paravai enko! tIeNko! vAyu enko!

nikazhumA kAsam enko! nILsutar eranDum enko!

ekazhvilv vanaittum enko kaNNanai kUvumare!

 

The azhwAr would address Him as his king and mention that He is the

one best praised and well-known, He is the famous earth,

fire, vAyu, AkAsam, two kinds of jyoti,

and all that are highly valued.

 

Note that AkAsam is another name for the Brahmam not the simple sky.

 

Sri namAlwar would praise this Jyoti swarUpi just

as much as the Vedas and puranas would

in the section in Prabandam verse 2932:

 

pangayak kaNNan enko! pavaLaccv vAyan enko!

ankathir adiyan enko! anjana vaNNan enko!

cenkathir mudiyan enko! tirumArvan enko!

cankucak karatan enko! cAthimAnikkat taiye!

 

Here the Lord is praised in a personal form as worshipped

in the puranas.

 

Sri namAzhwar would call Him first among the first

just as much as the Vedas would in 'seya tAmarai' section

in Prabandam verse 2953:

 

mUva rAkiya muRtti yaimutal mUvark kumutal vanrannai

cAva muLLana nIkku vAnait tatanka talkitan tAnrannait

deva devanait tenni lankai eriyaccherra villiyai

pAva nAsanaip panga yattadan kaNNa Naippa vumino

 

Here the azhwAr asks us to sing Him having

the following characteristics:

He is the three murthis, also the first before

all the three murthis, he would remove all the sins,

He is ksheerabdi sayanan, deva devan, and pApa nAsan.

 

Sri namAzhwar would start a set of verses in 'payilum cutaroLi'

by addressing Him as a 'Jyothi' in Pradandam verse 2963:

 

payilum cutaroLi mUrthiyaip pangayak kaNNanai

payilum iniyanam pArkatal cernta paramanai

payilum tiruvutai yaryava relum avar kanDIr

payilum perappitai toremmai yALum paramare.

 

Here also the AzhwAr would address using the various meaning of the

word 'payil'. In short he addresses him as jyoti, kaNNan,

ksherabdi sayanan, etc.

 

Sri namAzhwar would bring out the unity of the three murthis

in Sriman nArAyana in the beginning of the section called 'muniye'

in Prabandam verse 3766:

 

muniye! nAnmukane! mukkaN NappA, en pollAk

kanivAit tAmarak katkaru mAnikkame! en kaLvA

taniyen Aruyire! entalai misaiyAy tavantittu

eninAn pOgalot tenonrum mayamsey yelennaiye

 

He would address him as 'nAn mugan' the brahma,

mukkanNappa, the Siva, and karu mAnikkam,

the shining nIlamega shyAmaLan, the vishnu.

He would also address him as the 'thief' who stole him heart,

and also as his very life.

 

Sri PeriAzhwAr in pallAndu verse 11 would address Him

as 'pavitirane'.He would also describe the Lord kaNNan

walking toward him as the lightning and the merciful cloud

in acchoparuvam verse 97: 'minniyal megam'.

 

There is also beautiful aligory. The Sri SudarSana

tatvam taking over simple Aditya upASana is described by a story

in which the bhagaVan covering the sun with his cakra.

This is known as 'Azhiyodu sUriyanai maraital.' There are

various references to this tatvam by many AzhwArs.

 

Sri tirumangai AzhwAr would resonate with namAzhwAr and also

with the Vedas when he mentions the the Lord is cit, acit,

(the meaning of) the Vedas, and three mUrthis, and the

jeshta (first) murthy in verse 1249 in 'potalarda' section:

 

yAvarumA yAvaiyumA yezhilvedap porulkaLumAi

moovarumAi mudalAya mUrthyamarn turaiyumidam

mAvarumtiN pataimannai venrikoLvAr mannunAnkai

devarumcen riraincupozhil tirutdeva nartokaiye.

 

Thus seeing the brahmam through Sriman nArAyanan and other

jyoti swarUpi forms is an **established** tradition.

The Lord is the material jyoti, the jyoti within

the jyoti, and the jyoti in all that is not jyoti.

 

Let us joyously recite the following verse from the vedam and

perform saranAgati under His feet -

this verse praises Him is pavitram, paramam, amrutham, jyoti,

etc. in just a few lines:

 

caraNam pavitram vitatam purANam

yena putastarati dushkrutani

tena pavitrena Sudhdena putA:

atipApmAnavarAtintarema

lokasya dvaramarcimat pavithram

jyotishmatbhrAjamAnam mahasvat

amrudasya dhAra bahudha dohamAnam

caraNanno loke sudhitAndadhAtu|

 

 

adiyen,

Ramanuja dasan

U. Ve. R. T. V. Varadarajan

 

 

, "N.S. Rajagopalan"

<gopalan35> wrote:

> Swami Ramnuja Dasan (rtvrajan)

>

> Thank you for your masterly, scholarly and

> philosophical treatise on Sudarshanam. This should be

> the eye opening to all those who are little worried

> about worshipping anya devatha (thinking Sudarshanam

> as one of anya devatha) and are little concerned about

> performing SudarSana homam. This scholarly exposition

> reinforces the fact that SudarSana is nothing but

> Parathvam Sri Narayanan. I would request you to

> continue to write on special topics like this,

> supporting and quoting from Vedams, upanishads and

> Divyaprabanadam. (It would also be helpful if you

> quote the original sanskrit brahmasurtram) . May Lord

> Hayagreeva bless you to do this kaimkaryam for

> oridinary people who could not study and understand

> vedams, upanishads etc.

>

> I would also like to know about you. Your name, where

> you live and on your lowkeeka and philosophical

> educataional background.

>

> Nerur S. Rajagopalan

> --- rtvrajan <rtvrajan> wrote:

>

> > Sriman Naaraayanaya Namaha:

> > Srimathe Ramaanujaya Namaha:

> > Srimathe Vedaantha Desikaaya Namaha:

> >

> > Here is the second version of my humble composition

> > to find answers to a splendid question about the

> > equality of Sri BhagavAn and Sri SudarSana.

> >

> > Also it is worth learning about the Vedic references

> >

> > to BhagavAn and Sri SudarSana because we have

> > celebrated the SrAvanam recently and should be

> > embarking on Vedic studies.

> >

> > Sri SudarSana is normally said to carry

> > shodasAutham ( sixteen Ayuthams ) including the

> > cakra

> > and conch of the Lord. Sri SudarSana is the most

> > supreme

> > among the visible forms of the Lord and is

> > considered

> > almost equal to the Lord himself as we graduate

> > into the supreme realization of Him.

> >

> > Sri SudarSana's fame is extoled in satapada

> > brAhmanam of Shukla yajur vedam. Numerous references

> >

> > to Sri SudarSana are found also in Krishna Yajur

> > vedam and Atharva vedam. For scientific minds, we

> > can

> > say that Sri SudarSana is the all-pervasive visible

> > star power of the universe. Also let us keep in mind

> > that

> > the Lord is the indwelling invisible force who rules

> >

> > the cit and acit as the material and efficient

> > cause.

> >

> > We have to look at Sri SudarSana from various angles

> >

> > to understand the concept. Before we look at Vedic

> > references, let us go to our favorite source, Sri

> > Desika. His words would amplify the meaning of the

> > Vedic utterances.

> >

> > Sri Desika would say in Sri SudarSanAshtakam verse 2

> >

> > that Sri SudarSana is extolled in satapada

> > brAhmanam:

> >

> > Subha jagathrUpa maNDana sura gana trAsa kandana

> > Sadamaga brahma vandita **Satapada brahma nandita**

> > prathita vidvat sapakshita bajadahirbutnya lakshita

> > jaya jaya srI sudarSana jaya jaya srI sudarSana

> >

> > In verse 3 he would extol His brightness as that of

> > agni and sUrya and lightning(Neela Devi).

> > `sppuTa taTijjAla pinjara pruthutara jwAla panjara'

> > and compare Sri SudarSana's divya vigraham to

> > that of the divya thiruMEni of BhagavAn:

> > `parigata pratna vigraha.'

> >

> > In verse 4 Sri Desika would extol Sri SudarSana's

> > established reputation in Vedas by saying

> > `nigama nirvUTha vaibhava.'

> >

> > In verse 7 Sri Desika would also mention He is the

> > antharyami of all tatvams, cit and acit included, by

> >

> > saying `sakala tattva pratishTita'.

> >

> > In verse 8 Sri Desikaa refers to Sri SudarSana as

> > `trayImaya', indicating that He is the three-Veda

> > swarUpi. We normally refer to the Lord himself as

> > the

> > Veda swarUpi. Thus the equality of Sri SudarSana and

> >

> > the Lord is evident.

> >

> > Also in verse 8, Sri Desika would equate Sri

> > SudarSana

> > with three forms of agni by saying `savana tejas

> > trayImaya'.

> >

> > Thus we can identify various Vedic elements in Sri

> > SudarSana and the Bhagvan himself. Why? Because Sri

> > SudarSana is the visible form of the BhagavAn.

> >

> > Further Sri Desika would equate Sri SudarSana with

> > the time element as follows in Sri ShodasAyutha

> > stothram verse 2:

> >

> > yatAyattam jagach cakram kAla cakram ca SaaSvatam

> > pAtu vastat param cakram cakra rUpasya cakriNa:

> >

> > The Lord as Sri SudarSana is indicated by the phrase

> >

> > `tat cakra rUpasya cakriNa:'. The reference to time

> > is in the phrase `kAla cakram'. Here time is

> > considered to be contained or subservient to Sri

> > SudarSana.

> >

> > The Lord as the creator of time is spelled out in a

> > manthram in Maha Narayanopanishd 1.2.3.

> >

> > sarve nimeshA janjire vidyuta: purushAdadhi|

> > kalA muhUrtA: kAshTAccAhOrAtrAshca sarvaSa:

> >

> > That the Lord is not seen mentioned in manthram

> > 1.3.1:

> >

> > na sandruSe tishTati rUpamasya na cakshushA paSyati

> > kaccanainam|

> >

> > However He manifests as Sri SudarSana and Adityas

> > and

> > all other rUpas by His will. Sri SudarSana rUpam is

> > the most powerful of the visible forms of the Lord.

> > How did the Lord become Sri SudarsanA? By his will

> > and through the grand Havis – `yath purushena

> > havishA

> > devA yagyama danvata' as indicated by the Purusha

> > suktham.

> >

> > Sri SudarSanA is in general praised as the Veda,

> > kAla,

> > jyoti swarUpi that we all can see. The Lord seems

> > to

> > have willed that he should somehow make himself

> > visible

> > out of mercy for all of us, especially for those

> > (even gopas) least capable of perceiving him:

> >

> > `utainam gopA adruSannadruSannuda hArya:

> > utainam viSwA bhUtAni sa drushTo mrudayAtina:'

> >

> > The chAndogya upanishat would preach Sri SudarSana

> > or

> > Aditya upasanA and it is known as madhu vidyA. First

> >

> > Aditya or SudarSana is shown as madhu. Then there is

> >

> > even more of a madhu, and it is the Lord.

> >

> > First the chAndogya upanishat 3.1.1 would say

> >

> > Om asau va Adityo devamadhu.

> >

> > Gradually it would elevate the concept and in

> > section

> > 3.7 it would declare

> >

> > asmin anta: purushe jyothi.

> >

> > The nArAyana suktham also mentions the Lord as

> > a brilliant object, a form with jyoti tejas:

> >

> > nArAyana parojyothirAtma nArAyana para:

> >

> > Thus the visible iridescent form of the Lord, Sri

> > SudarSana, is a worthy object of worship.

> >

> > Sri SudarsanA as koti sUrya Aditya is praised in the

> >

> > upanishats and puranas.

> >

> > Aditya maNdala brahmopAsanam in MahA NaarAyana

> > upanishat 14 mentions the Lord resides in the Aditya

> >

> > maNdalam and also resides as Veda swarUpi in it.

> >

> > AdityO vA esha etanmaNdalam tapati tatra tA rucas

> > tat rucA maNdalam ...

> > ... trayyeva vidyA tpati ya eshoantarAditye

> > hiraNmagum purusha:

> >

> > Sri SudarSana is praised as sUrya nArAyanA and the

> > Lord as Adi nArAyanA in tripAd vibhUti mahA

> > nArAyanopanishat 1.5:

> >

> > sudarSana divyatEjo (a)ntargata: sudarSana purusho

> > yathA sUrya maNdalAntargata: sUrya nArAyano (a)mita

> > aparicchinAdvaita paramAnanda lakshaNa

> > thejorASyantargata Adi nArAyanastatha sandruSyate.

> >

> > Its meaning is as follows: in the same way as Sri

> > SudarsanA resides with his Sudarsana divya tejas as

> > sUrya nArAyana in (koti) sUrya mandalam, Adi

> > nArAyanan resides in Vaikuntam exhibiting limitless

> > inseparable brilliance and happiness.

> >

> > Sri Krishna and Sri SudarSana are equated in another

> >

> > manthram uttered in the same breath in this

> > upanishat:

> >

> > Om namo bhagavathe rukminI vallabAya swAhA om namo

> > bhagavate mahA sudarSanAya hoom phat.

> >

> > This is referred to as Sri Krishna SudarSana

> > shoDaSAkshara manthram.

> >

> === message truncated ===

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