tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Part 6 - Slokam 4.

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tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Part 6 - Slokam 4.

 

Slokam 4:

 

bhAshA gItiH praSastA bhgavati vacanAt rAjavac-copacArAt

sA cAgastya-prasUtvAtviti parijagRhe bhUmikAbheda yogyA |

yat-tat-kRtyam SrutInAm munigaNa-vihitaiH setihAsaiH purANaiH

tatrAsau tattva-sImnaH SaTha paThana muneH samhitA sArva-

bhaumI || (4)

 

It was pointed in the Introduction that in svAmi deSikan's time,

samskRt was the accepted language for philosophical discussions,

devotional writings etc., and was accepted through the north and the

south as the language of the King's courts etc. Languages other than

samskRt were considered acceptable for use only by women, SUdra-s,

etc. for use in singing His Glory. After all, the brAhmaNa-s had the

Sruti, smRti-s, itihAsa-s etc. available to them (in samskRt), and

some people argued that there was no justification to resort to works

such as tiruvAimozhi. This feeling was prevalent to the point that

any work in Tamil was not considered appropriate for devotional

writings, chanting etc. Even though svAmi deSikan chose the samskRt

language for the current work just to reach out to people who did not

understand or speak Tamil, and to bring out the nectar contained in

tiruvAimozhi to the non-samskRt knowing devotional scholars, he also

speaks out against those who held the Tamil language in an inferior

position. This is the subject of this Slokam.

 

praSastA – praSasta means lauded, commended, eulogized.

Bhagavat – glorious, illustrious.

bhUmikA – tirumeni, SarIram.

 

SvAmi deSikan notes that any language is appropriate for singing the

praise of the Lord. There is an injunction against using languages

other than the deva bhAshA (samskRt) by BrAhmaNa-s only in vedic

ceremonies; it is sanctioned that any language can be used in

singing hari kIrti. This is declared in matsya purANam:

 

hari kIrtim vinaiva anyat brAhmaNena narottama |

bhAshA gAnam na gAtavyam tasmAt pApam tvayA kRtam ||

 

These are the words of yama to a king who had driven out a brAhmaNa

from his kingdom because the latter had sung the Glory of the Lord in

a language other than samskRt. yama says that the king had sinned,

because it is perfectly acceptable to sing the praise of the Lord in

any language, and the restriction on the brAhamaNa-s is using other

languages only comes in when it is for purposes other than for

singing the praise of the Lord. SrI bhAshyakArar also has

said: "yAj~ne karmaNi niyamaH, anyatra a-niyamaH" – the restriction

that samskRt alone should be used is applicable only for the vedic

sacrificial rituals, not otherwise.

 

There is also a rule that bhagavAn should be offered all upacAram-s

(honors, worship, entertainment) befitting the great kings, He being

the King of all kings. Kings are offered honors in any language in

which the servants and the citizens can communicate their praise of

the kings. By this rule also, it is perfectly allowed to entertain

or sing the praise of the Lord in any language.

 

Having thus established that the praise of the Lord can be done in

any language, svAmi deSikan next sets out to establish the special

superiority of the tamizh language. The tamizh language originated

from the great sage agastya, who was a BrAhmaNa himself, in addition

to being a highly reputed sage. He would not have initiated this

language if it were not sanctioned by the vedic pramANa-s to use this

language in the praise of the Lord.

 

The tamizh language also has its greatness at the same level as the

itihAsa-s, purANa-s, and the upanishads, since the compositions of

the AzhvArs in this language serves the same purpose that the itihAsa-

s, purANa-s and the veda-s perform, namely, clarifying the message of

the upanishads. In this respect, it is not in any way inferior or

subordinate to these other sources that support the messages of the

veda-s; the work of nammAzhvAr in tamizh does not claim to stand

independently of the veda-s, but instead, of all the works in tamizh,

nammAzhvAr's tiruvAimozhi is superior to even the itihAasa-s and the

purANa-s since it very clearly explains the message of the veda-s in

a way that can be easily understood and enjoyed.

 

Thus, svAmi deSikan puts forth a great case for tamizh being a very

worthy language for praising the Lord, and refutes the incorrect view

held in his time by some that the Brahmin community whose duty it was

to devote their time to the study and practice of the veda-s, should

not be devoting time to the study of tiruvAimozhi.

 

- bhagavati vacanAt, bhAshA gItiH praSastA – Any language, not

just samskRt, is appropriate for praising the Lord. Any form of

music is appropriate as well. This is supported by declarations in

the Sruti and smRti-s. Just like sAma veda, music in praise of

bhagavAn is declared to be a path for moksham.

- rAjavat ca upacArAt – It is well-known that the servants of a

king will, and can, only praise their king in the language that they

know. emperumAn is the king of all kings (rAjAdirAjan), and thus

deserves to be praised in whichever form His servants (which includes

everyone) are able to praise Him.

- agasya prasUtAt – Of all these `other' languages, the

dramiDa bhAshA – the tamizh language, is unique in that it was

originated by the great agastya muni, who was well-versed in veda-s

and SAstra-s. Obviously, he won't originate a language unless it

fulfilled the requirement of being fit for singing the praise of the

Lord.

- bhUmikA bheda yogyA parijagRhe - Based on this, the AcArya-s

have determined and accepted that the tamizh language is fit for use

by those belonging to all the different varNa-s, including the

brAhmaNa-s.

- muni gaNa vihitaiH SrutInAm sa itihAsaiH purANaiH yat-tat

kRtyam – Whatever service has been rendered to the Sruti-s by all the

itihAsa-s and purANa-s composed by the different sages (in other

words, these works are considered upa-brahmaNa-s or those that

explain the message of the veda-s)

- SaTha pathana muneH sattva sImnaH samhitA tatra asau sArva

bhaumI – nammAzhvAr's work – tiruvAimozhi, reflects the ultimate

limit of that service; it is the limit of the sAttva guNa, and is

thus seated on the throne compared to all the itihAsa-s and purANa-s

(the best of all in explaining the message of the veda-s).

 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan

 

(To be continued)