nArAyanIyam

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SrIman nArAyaNIyam is a famous poetical work by the great devotee poet

melpathur nArAyaNa bhaTTatiri who lived in Kerala in the 16th century. It is

a masterly condensation of the gem among purANas, SrImad bhAgavatam. It

consists of 1034 verses divided into 100 cantos known as daSaka's.

 

The first verse of the first canto contains the essence of all the

upanishads. The following is an extract from the English translation of

SrIman nArAyaNIyam by S.N.Sastri published by the Central Chinmaya Mission

Trust, Mumbai- 400 072.

 

*daSaka1, verse 1. *

 

brahman which is pure Existence-Consciousness-Bliss, which is without

parallel, which is absolutely free from the limitations of time and space,

which is always free from the control of Maya, which is very well explained

by innumerable statements in the upanishads, but is yet not clearly grasped

(by a mere study of the upanishads), but the realisation of whose identity

with one's own self is what constitutes the highest purushArtha, namely,

liberation from the cycle of birth and death; that very brahman is present

in concrete form in the temple of guruvAyur (in the form of Lord kR^shNa).

This is indeed a great good fortune for the people.

 

 

 

NOTES :

 

In this verse the poet describes brahman in both Its aspects,

namely as the Impersonal Absolute (nirguNa) and as the Personal God

(saguNa), the latter by implication. brahman is then identified with the

image of Lord kR^shNa in the guruvAyur temple. This identification runs like

a thread throughout this work. Every verse is addressed directly to the

Lord, who is manifest in the image and the Lord is believed to have given

his approval by nodding His head from time to time. In the last canto of

SrIman nArAyaNIyam the poet gives a vivid description of the living presence

of the Lord as he saw before him. To bhaTTatiri, the image is not just

something composed of gross matter, nor merely a symbol for God, but the

Lord Himself as a living presence. In other words the image is an

incarnation of the Lord, known as archAvatAra in the vishvaksena samhita. It

is a Descent of the Lord out of His boundless compassion for man and is as

much a live incarnation as those of SrI rAma and SrI kR^shNa. There are many

temples in India where the image is looked upon by devotees as a living

incarnation of the Lord and

 

worshipped as such. Great saints have actually experienced the presence of

the Lord in these images.

 

 

 

EXISTENCE-CONSCIOUSNESS-BLISS : brahman is defined in the taittirIya

upanishad as satyam jnAnam anantam, -- Existence, Consciousness, Infinite (

II.1). brahman is also described as Bliss (Ananda) in the same upanishad (

III.6). Taking these together, Brahman is described in vedAnta as

sat-Cit-Ananda or Existence-Consciousness-Bliss. This is how brahman is

described in this verse also. This is the svarUpalakshaNa, the essential

nature of brahman as the Impersonal Absolute (nirguNa).

 

(to be continued)