sthOthra rathnam 1 - part 1

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Sri:

Srimathe Ramanujaya nama:

Srimad Vara Vara Munaye nama:

 

|| sri bhagavad yAmuna muni bhiranu grhItham sthOthra rathnam ||

 

namO acinthya adhbhutha akliShta j~nAna vairAgya rAshayE |

nAThAya munayE agADha bhagavadh bhakthi sinDhavE || - SR 1

 

Literal meaning:

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acinthya - beyond comprehension; adhbhutha - marvellous,excellent,

wonderful; akliShta - easily acquired(innate) by God's grace; j~nAna -

embodiment of knowledge; vairAgya - embodiment of renunciation;

rAshayE - divine love; munayE - who meditates on bhagavAn; agADha

bhagavadh bhakthi sinDhavE - deep ocean of divine love; nAThAya -

to saint nAThamuni; nama: - offering obeisance.

 

avathArikai:

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A poet eulogizes a person by referring to his wealth(aishwaryam) and

other material extravaganzas in his poetry. What is the wealth of a

sri vaiShNavite? Bhakthi etc. So,srI yAmunAcArya praises SV by

mentioning his j~nAna,vairAgya,bhakti as his wealth or property.

 

poikai AzhvAr mentions this in his mudhal thiruvandhAdhi(MT).43

(NDP.2124) "DhanamAya thAnE kai kUdum"

 

Detailed meaning:

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"obeisance to Saint nAThamuni,whose devotion is like an

ocean,whose depth cannot be measured,who is an unfathomable ocean of

divine love,who is the embodiment of knowledge and renunciation,which

are marvellous and have been so easily acquired but beyond our

comprehension".

 

sri yAmunAcArya is offering obeisance to his grandfather srI

nAThamuni. In the introduction, we saw that it was nAThamuni who

weaned away srI yAmunA to the spiritual path. This first shlOka

explains "what sort of a person is srI nAThamuni?". His

knowledge,renunciation nad devotion are not like those of others.

they are all "acinthya"- beyond one's comprehension. they are

marvellous(adhbhutha). They are "akliShta" easily acquired or innate.

Sages like vyAsa,parAshara and others also had knowledge and

vairAgya. But they were acquired through severe penance. In the case

of srI nAThamuni(like "mayarvaRa mathi nalam aruLap peRRa AzhvArs" by

the nirhEthuka krpa of emperumAn/bhagavAn),they were conferred by the

Lord Himself and therefore acquired with ease.

 

srI nAThamuni is like a deep ocean of divine love(agADha

bhagavadh bhakthi sinDhavE). It is not possible to measure the depth

of the ocean. It is not possible to agitate or disturb the ocean. The

devotion(rAshayE) of srI nAThamuni is of the same nature. We can

infer two different meanings from this shlOka. One may say that he

was an ocean as far as devotion to the Lord is concerned or one can

say that he had within him,the ocean called divine love. We notice

that devotion(divine love) is mentioned separately so as to emphasize

that devotion is the product of j~nAna and vairAgya.

 

This has been explained by the Lord in Chapter 12,Bhagavad

Gita(BG). The Lord had explained the path of knowledge and devotion

to the manifest and to the unmanifest. Arjuna has a doubt. He asks

the Lord,"those devotees,who, ever integrated,who meditate on you,and

those who meditate on the Imperishable and the Unmanifest - which of

these have greater knowledge of Yoga? - BG 12.1". The Lord

replies "those, who,ever integrated wth Me and possessed of supreme

faith and worship Me,focussing their minds on Me - I consider these

devotees the highest among the yOgins - BG 12.2".

 

sri yAmunAcAriar thiruvadigaLE sharaNam

AzhvAr emperumAnAr jIyar thiruvadigaLE sharaNam

NC Nappinnai