Ashtasloki - 1 - Bhattar's Tanian and Verse1

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In the first four slokas, Sri Bhattar explains the meaning of theThirumantram

"Om Namo Naaraayanaaya". comprising three words:

om, namaha and Naaraayanaaya.In sloka five and six, Sri Bhattar teaches the

meaning of theDvaya-mantra. This mantra consists two parts:Purva Khandam:

SrimanNaaraayana Charanau Saranam Prapadye

Uttara Khandam: Srimathe Naaraayanaaya namahaIn sloka seven and eight, Sri

Bhattar explains the important CharamaSloka. This is the essence of Srimad

Bhagavad-Gita as given by LordKrishna.'Om' is the Pranavam and 'Namo

Naaraayanaaya' is Manthrasesham.

Pranavam (om) is expanded upon by Manthrasesham. Manthrasesham isfurther

expanded by Dvayam. Dvayam is expanded upon by Charama Slokam.We now start with

the Tanian of the Sri Parasara Bhattar who has given

us this kula-dhanam (Ancestral Treasure). Swami Sri PARASARA BHATTAR's Thanian

Sri Parasara Bhattaryaha Sri Rangesa purohithahaSrivatsanga sutha sriman

sreyasey mesthu bhooyaseyMay Sri Parasara bhattar, son of Srivatsanka (Sri

KoorathAzhvan),

who was dedicated in the service of Lord Ranganatha as purohitha

(one who reads the panchangam before the lord every morning),

may he grant the knowledge which will give me shreyas.Verse No.1.akaraarthoo

vishnuhu jagadudaya rakshaa pralaya krthmakaaraarthoo jeevaha tadupakaranam

vaishnavamidam

ukaaroonanyaarham niyamayati sambandhamanayohtrayee saaraha tryaatmaa pranava

imamartham samadishathJagat udaya raksha pralaya krithu one who creates,

sustains and

destroys all of the

worldsVishnu all pervading LordAkarartha ha is

the meaning of the letter 'ah' contained in

the pranavam 'Om'

Jeevaha the jeeva who is the embodiment of

knowledgeMakararth tha ha is the meaning of the letter

'ma'Tat idam the above mentioned 'jeevatma'

the soul.Vaishnava upakaranam is

subservient only to the Lord. This is

borne out of the forth case ending which

disappeared as per a

technical grammar rule.ookaraha

the letter 'ooh' which is in the middle of the pranavam 'om'Anayoho

sambandam the relationship among the Paramatma and jeevatma

(the Lord and the

Soul).Ananyarham niyamayathi is binding firmly.

For example in this life as in the relation

between Husband and wife.Imam artham

the meanings thus explainedTra-yi-sara ha

they represent the essence of the three Vedas.

Tri-atmas representing three letters as well

as three wordsPranavaha sama-dhi-sat the 'om' syllabal conveys to

usThis verse explains the meaning of "om", the first word of

'Thirumantram'.

Thirumantram has eight letters and three words.

The first word is 'om' consists of three letters 'ah','ooh' and 'ma''.

'ah' + 'ooh' makes the 'oh' and 'm' is joined to 'oh' to make the 'om'.A doubt

may arise about the exact number of letters contained in thePranavam, 'om'. Is

it only one letter as mentioned in the Vedas?

'omithi ekaksharam', or is it three letters as shown in the aboveparagraph?

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Continued in the next post.

Azhvar Emberumanar Jeeyar Thiruvadigale SaranamRamanuja DasanVP Srinivasa Varadan

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