tri-mUrti in tiruvAimozhi – Part 15-19.

[Guest guest]

(Note: Please ignore the numbering for this submission as part 15-

19. This has been done to take care of some administrative problem I

got myself into because of inadequate planning on my part. The

sequence numbering will be correct from the next write-up -

kRshNamAcAryan).

 

 

tri-mUrti in tiruvAimozhi – Part 15-19.

 

tiruvAimozhi – SRS Part

19. (Ramanuja Mission – Part 15-19).

 

 

3.10.9 (28):

 

duhkam il j~nAnac cuDar oLi mUrti tuzhAi ala'ngal perumAn

mikka pan mAya'ngaLAl vikirutam Seidu vENDum uruvu koNDu

nakka pirAnODu ayan mudalAga ellArum evaiyum tannuL

okka oDu'nga vizhu'nga vallAnaip peRRu onRum taLarvilanE.

 

In this pASuram, AzhvAr again emphasizes the Supremacy of emperumAn,

and points out that He is One endowed with blemishless knowledge, a

tirumEni that shines with divine luster and decorated with the tirut-

tuzhAi garland, and One Who takes different forms as He chooses and

performs different actions that are not normally encountered amongst

us. He is the same One who swallows everything in this world

including rudra and his creator brahmA during pralaya, and keeps them

all in His stomatch safe until the next cycle of creation. AzhvAr

declares that by surrendering to Him as the only Supreme Deity,

AzhvAr does not have the slightest concern about his choice.

 

duhkam il – As One who has no sorrow or unhappiness of any kind

j~nAnac cuDar – As One who is the all-knowing; sarvaj~nan

oLi mUrti – As One Who is resplendent with the tejas (effulgence)

that is natural to Him

tuzhAi ala'ngal – As One Who is uniquely identified by His tirut-

tuzhAi garland

perumAn – The Lord of all

mikka – exceeding everyone

pal – (with His) countless

mAya'ngaLAl – powers

vENDum uruvu koNDu – assuming whatever form He needs for the

particular actions

vikirutam Seidu – performing extraordinary actions

nakka pirAnODu ayan mudalA ellArum evaiyum okka tannuL oDu'nga

vizhu'nga vallAnai – (such as) the capablility of swallowing

everything and everyone starting from rudra and brahmA and containing

them in a small corner of His stomach

peRRu – by choosing Him as My Lord

taLarvu onRum ilan – I have the least concern.

 

One of the rahasya-s of bhagavAn's incarnations that is referred to

here is that He assumes whatever form He wishes out of His own free

Will, and He is not subject to the effects of karma. His tirumEni is

not made of prakRti the way our body is made of (His tirumEni is

naturally effulgent, free of any defects, made of suddha sattva that

does not undergo any modifications of any kind whatsoever, etc.).

 

duhkam il – "without any sorrows" resulting from His actions:

BhagavAn performs all His wondrous acts without having to suffer

sorrow of any kind in the least. When He steals butter from the

gopis' houses and gets bound to the mortor, or when He gets into

trouble with the gopi-s by stealing their bangles etc., these are all

His plays, and He does not in the least undergo any sorrow because of

whatever He does. By resorting to this Lord, His devotees attain

equality with Him in all respects, and so they also are totally free

of any sorrow by surrendering to Him completely. This is the message

given by AzhvAr in this pASuram – peRRu taLarvu onRum ilanE – by

resorting to Him as the Supreme Deity I do not have the slightest

cause for concern of any kind.

 

As an example of bhavavAn's extraordinary actions, AzhvAr gives the

example of BhagavAn swallowing the whole of cetana-s including rudra

and brahmA, and all the acetana-s, and keeping them in a small corner

of His stomach - "nakka pirAnODu ayan mudalA ellArum evaiyum okka

tannuL oDu'nga vizhu'nga vallAnai". This incident also brings out

BhagavAn's main concern for all the jIva-s – one of protection. At

the time of praLaya, He keeps them safe in His stomach so that they

can be given a body in the next cycle of creation to enjoy the

effects of their karma. He is the Protector of even the deva-s,

rudra, brahmA and indra.

 

AzhvAr reflects the same thought in another pASuram – in

tiruvASiriyam (7).

 

naLir madic-caDaiyanum nAn-mugak kaDavuLum

taLiroLi imaiyavar talaivanum mudalA

yAvagai ulagamum yAvarum agappaDa

……………………….Or Alilaic-cErnda em

peru mA mAyanai alladu

oru mA daivam maRRuDaiyamO yAmE.

 

(Lord SrIman nArAyaNa hid everything and everyone - including the one

who has the crescent moon as an ornament on his head - a reference to

rudra, the four-faced god (brahmA), the chief of all the deva-s

(indra), all the five elements, and everything else in all the

worlds, and then lied down in a small banyon leaf as a small child.

Why would I ever consider anyone other than this Lord with such

wonders beyond imagination as the Supreme Deity? Never ever).

 

In his dramiDopanishad tAtparya ratnAvaLi, svAmi deSikan captures

this pASuram through bhagavAn's guNa of taking whatever form He

wishes whenever He chooses, for the benefit of His devotees, through

the words "chandavRtteH" – One Who has the habit or vyApAra of

choosing whatever form He wishes". This is expressed by nammAzhvAr

in the second pAda of the pASuram - mikka pan mAya'ngaLAl vikirutam

Seidu vENDum uruvu koNDu.

 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan

 

(To be continued)