Sri Pillai Lokacharya's Mumukshuppadi - 012

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Sri:

Srimathe Ramanujaya Nama:

 

Original Sutra:

12. maRRaiyavai iraNdukkum asishtaparikrahamum apUrththiyum uNdu.

 

Meaning:

The two vyApaka manthras, DvAdasAkshari and Shadakshari have some

drawbacks compared to the AshtAkshari vyApaka manthra: they are

supported by kudrushtis and they are also incomplete in some

respects.

 

Sri PBA Swami's Sarartha Deepikai:

Why is the Narayana manthra considered higher than the Vasudeva

manthra and the Vishnu manthra, even though all three are vyApaka

manthras?

Asishta parikraham means they are supported by kudrushtis who

claim that the Supreme Lord is "nirvisesha cinmAtram". ApUrthi

means that they do not explain everything that they seek out to

explain and only talk about one part of it.

 

Why do kudrushtis support the Vasudeva and Vishnu manthras?

They claim that the Lord has no special kalyANa guNas and that He

does not have a special divine form. They only consider His form

as one that pervades everything and nothing more. The Vishnu and

Vasudeva manthras speak mainly of His all pervading form and not

His guNas or His other forms. As such the kudrushtis support

these manthras to a great extent.

 

So what if kudrushtis support these manthras? Why do we have to

then consider them lower? Would we stop eating a food item just

because it is being eaten by these people?

To answer, this Pillai Lokacharya also points out that these

manthras are somewhat incomplete.

 

It is not sufficient that the manthra explains that He is all

pervading. It should also explain what is being pervaded by Him

and what is the effect of such pervasiveness. The nature and

guNas of He who pervades all, has to be shown. The Vishnu manthra

does not do all of this. In the case of Vasudeva manthra, it

shows that He pervades everything by being present in the heart

(antharyAmi) of everything ("vasudIdi vAsu:"). But it does not

speak of who/what is being pervaded. It speaks of His guNas only

by the use of another word ("bagavate"). It does not explain why

He pervades (that is, the fruit of the pervasiveness). Therefore,

the DvAdasAkshari and Shadakshari manthras are incomplete.

 

Such incompleteness does not qualify the ThiruvashtAkshara mahA

manthra. The nAra part explains the nature of who/what is being

pervaded. The nArAyaNa part explains that He pervades all

("antharyAmithvam") and that He supports all ("thAragathvam").

The ayana part explains that He is the means ("upAyam") and the

end ("upEyam"), for all. Thus, this manthra is complete as it

explains what is being pervaded, how it is being pervaded, the

effect of the pervasiveness, and the nature of He who pervades

all.

 

Pillai Lokacharyar Thiruvadigale Saranam

Azhvar Emperumanar Jeeyar Thiruvadigale Saranam

adiyEn madhurakavi dAsa

TCA Venkatesan

 

Mumukshuppadi Sarartha Deepikai Series:

http://www.acharya.org/vyakyanam/mumukshuppadi/index.html