tri-mUrti in tiruvAimozhi - Part 11.

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tri-mUrti in tiruvAimozhi - Part 11.

 

11.3.6.2 (24):

 

mUvar Agiya mUrtiyai mudal mUvarkkum mudalvan tannai

cAvam uLLana nIkkuvAnai taDam kaDal kiDantAn tannai

dEva dEvanai ten-ila’nkai eri ezhac-ceRRa villiyai

pAva nASanai pa’ngayat taDam kaNNanai paravuminO.

 

AzhvAr is unequivocally identifying the Only object of worship â€"

taDam kaDal kiDantAn tannai (He Who lay in the Milk Ocean), ten

ila’nkai eri ezhac ceRRa villiyai (Lord rAma, who is an incarnation

of Lord vishNu), pa’nkayat taDam kaNNanai (One Who has beautiful

lotus-like eyes â€" again a reference to Lord vishNu). He points out

that this same bhagavAn is “mudal mUvarkkum mudalvan†â€" The Lord of

the three primary devatA-s, and the Creator of these three â€"

referring to brahmA, rudra and indra. He is deva devan â€" The Lord of

all the gods. Thus, the message of the pASuram is clear and

unambiguous with respect to the title of our write-up. Now we will

see the beautifiul anubhavam-s contained in this pASuram.

 

mUvar Agiya mUrtiyai â€" He Who is the cause of the tri-mUrti-s. This

can be taken to be a reference to brahmA, vishNu and rudra. If it is

asked how can Lord vishNu be the cause of Himself, it is explained

that He is His own Cause because there is no other cause for Him.

Just as He is the Lord of Himself (AtmeSvaran â€" with no other Lord

over Himself), He is also the cause of Himself, since there is no

other cause for Him.

 

Alternately, the reference can be to brahmA, rudra, and indra, as

pointed out in the previous pASuram. When a statement is made that

He became brahma, rudra and indra â€" (sa brahmA sa SivaH sendraH), and

at the same time it is said that He is the Lord of all and is

worshipped by all the deva-s etc., it should be understood in the

proper perspective. SrImad tirukkuDanthai ANDavan gives us a real-

life example that can drive the point home to those of us who can’t

comprehend the truth embedded here. It is common for us to hear

statements like: “Don’t take tarrowroot, it is vAyuâ€, “Take

tomatoes, it is all bloodâ€, we all know that neither the root is

vAyu, nor the tomato is blood. Even though the root (the cause)

causes vAyu (the result), and the tomato (cause) facilitates increase

in healthy blood (effect), it is common to equate cause and effect,

and make statements as given in the examples, such as sa brahmA sa

SivaH sendraH. The same logic applies here, when it is said that the

Lord became the three mUrti-s â€" that He is the Cause of brahmA,

rudra, indra, and all the others. This is called samAna adhikaraNam

in samskRt parlance.

 

SAvam uLLana nIkkuvAnai - He Who removes all the curses and other

serious problems encountered by the deva-s. ‘SAvam’ here refers to

all sins such as the curses and other difficulties that the different

deva-s get into. Examples where bhagavAn ends up removing the curses

of the oother deva-s are: the help to brahmA when he ends up losing

the veda-s to the asura, the curse which rudra incurs when he plucked

off one of the heads of his own father - brahmA, the trouble that

Siva got into when he carelessly gave a boon to padmAsura that led to

the asura turning against Siva himself right away and trying to

destroy him, etc.

 

taDam kaDal kiDantAn tannai â€" He Who is lying in the Milky Ocean.

BhagavAn is lying in the Milky Ocean, so that He is easily accessible

to them whenever they need help. If He is only in SrIvaikunTham,

these deva-s won’t be able to access Him because of their karma-s.

This is one more example of bhagavAn’s saulabhyam, or being easily

accessible.

 

ten ila’nkai eri ezhac ceRRa villiyai â€" This is a reference to the

Lord rAma incarnation, and is one example of where He gets up from

His Milk Ocean to address the plea for help from the deva-s. He

carried His bow and arrow and performed His function of assisting the

deva-s, under circumstances where even the likes of agni (fire) were

afraid to rise against the cruel rAvaNa. He raised fire wherever He

wished, with the power of His bow.

 

pAva nASanai â€" He Who is the remover of sins. The very thought of

bhagavAn with His bow and arrow in His hands is sufficient to remove

all our sins. In other words, meditating on bhagavAn and His kalyANa

guNa-s or auspicious qualities will immediately remove all our sins.

In SrImad rAmAyaNam, uttara kANDam, sage agastya praises rAma

thus: “pAvanaH sarva lokAnAm tvameva raghunandana†â€" O Lord rAma!

You are verily the Purifier of all the worlds. Also recall the nAma-

s “pAvanaH, pApa nASanaHâ€, etc. in SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam..

 

dEva dEvanai â€" He Who is the Lord of all the deva-s. He Who is the

One and Only Supreme Lord.

 

pa’nkayat taDam kaNNanai paravuminO â€" Praise Him Who is uniquely

identified by His beautiful lotus-like eyes. There are some aspects

of bhagavAn that are unique to Him and to no other devatA. Among

these are lakshmI patittvam â€" Being the Lord and Consort of Lakshmi,

the SrIvatsa mark on His chest, etc. His beautiful reddish lotus-

like eyes are another distinguishing mark of His that uniquely

identify Him, and this is what AzhvAr is using here to praise

bhagavAn.

 

It should be noted that nammAzhvAr explicitly refers to Lord rAma’s

incarnation in this pASuram. In his tAtparya ratnAvaLi, svAmi

dESikan keys in on the words “pAva nASan†for special emphasis in

this pASuram. SrI uttamUr svAmi links this to Lord rAma’s

incarnation, where He set an example for all time to come, by His

strict observance of the varNASrama dharma-s. Lord rAma’s life in

this world, with His strict observance of dharma, and His giving

moksha to even the grass in ayodhyA by removing all sins that came in

the way of moksham, clearly shows that Lord rAma is “pAva nASanâ€.

Contemplation on Lord rAma’s exemplary life in this world will lead

to the removal of all our sins.

 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan

 

-To be continued.