tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Submission 8 - Slokam 6 of avatArikA.

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SrImate SrI ra'nga rAmAnuja mahA deSikAya namaH.

tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Submission 8 - Slokam 6 of avatArikA.

 

Submission 8

Slokam 6:

 

prAcye sevAnuguNyAt prabhumiha Satake'mamsta mukter-upAyam

mukta prApyam dvitIye munir-anububudhe bhogyatA vistareNa |

prApyatva upAya bhAvau Subha subhaga tanor-ityavAdIt tRtIye

ananya prApyaS-caturthe samabhavat itarair-ap-yananyAd-

yupAyaH ||

 

In this Slokam, svAmi deSikan proceeds to give the gist of the

message communicated by nammAzhvAr through each of the ten `pattu'-s

or Sataka-s - the group of 100 pASuram-s.

 

- munih prAcye Satake prabhum sevA AnuguNyAt mukteh upAyam

amamstah - In the first Satakam (hundred pASuram-s), nammAzhvAr

tells us that bhagavAn is the means for moksham because He is One who

is fit to be worshiped. The key words here are `sevAnuguNyAt'

and `prabhum'. `sevAnuguNyAt' - BhagavAn is full of infinite kalyANa

guNa-s including the key guNa-s of sauSIlyam, saulabhyam, vAtsalyam,

etc., that are very essential for the jIva-s to approach Him to seek

liberation. Only such a One with these kalyANa guNa-s can be the

upAyam or means for salvation. His infinite kalyANa guNa-s are of

immense help to the devotees, and so He is the surest means of

liberation. `prabhu' – `Lord, Master, One who possesses power'.

BhagavAn is the Lord and Master of all without exception. There is

no one equal to Him or above Him in any aspect. It is His Lordship

that comes into play in His svAtantRyam or absolute independence to

do whatever He wishes, including forgiving all the sins of the

devotees who unconditionally surrender to Him, and bestowing

salvation on the qualifying devotees. Thus, both His kalyANa guNa-s

and his prabhuttvam come into play in His being the upAyam.

 

- dvitIye, bhogyatA vistareNa mukta prApyam anububudhe – In the

second Satakam, nammAzhvAr explains in detail that bhagavAn is fit

to be enjoyed, and He is one who is enjoyed by those who have

attained moksham or salvation. Thus, He is the Ultimate goal to be

attained, because He is the Supreme Bliss, and performing eternal

kainkaryam to Him is the bliss that the nitya-s and mukta-s are

enjoying in SrIvaikunTham. prApyattvam.

 

- tRtIye prApyatva upAya bhAvau Subha subhaga tanoh iti

avAdIt – In the third Satakam, AzhvAr points out that the upAyattvam

(the fitness to be the upAyam for moksham), and the prApayattvam (One

who is fit to be sought and attained) that are mentioned above, are

attributes that can be fitting only to the One Who has the auspicious

tirumEni that can remove the sins of all, and that can involve the

devotees in the non-satiating enjoyment of His tirumEni, and immerse

them in eternal kainkaryam to Him. divya ma'ngala vigraha

viSishTan. Note that the viSisTAdvaita sampradAyam clearly declares

that bhagavAn is endowed with an auspicious tirumEni that captivates

the bhakta and that can remove all the sins of the jIva-s by the very

sight of His tirumEni, and that permanently engages the mind of a

sincere devotee in the desire to render nitya kainkaryam to Him –

divya ma'ngala vigraha viSishTan.

 

- caturthe ananya prApyaH – In the fourth centum, AzhvAr

declares that he has chosen emperumAn with the infinite kalyANa guNa-

s and with the auspicious tirumEni as his only goal; nothing else

whatsoever interests him, including any aiSvaryam, kaivalyam, etc.

This is the mark of a true devotee. In other words, none but this

Lord is worthy of being sought, worshipped, etc. (No other goal

except Him). – ananya prApyattvam.

 

- itaraih ananyAd-yupAyah samabhavat – In the remaining Sataka-

s, AzhvAr reinforces that there is no other means for liberation and

no other purpose in life other than meditating on the kalyANa guNa-s

of emperumAn. These remaining Sataka-s elaborate on the guNa-s of

bhagavAn that were sung in the first Satakam in support of His being

the upAyam, in greater detail. (No other means except Him). – ananya

upAyattvam.

 

Thus, tiruvAimozhi reveals to us that bhagavAn is both the means to

attain Him, and the end to be attained also.

 

Feedback:

 

I received the following feedback from one of my greatest well-

wishers, and wanted to share it with all of you.

" I find the excerpt below equally or more applicable to the AcAryar,

who is the anupravESa bhagavAn. BhagavAn for nammAzhvAr, but AcAryar

for us " .

 

The feedback is that the term " prabhu " etc. refer to emperumAn as

sung by nammAzhvAr, but as far as we, the mumukshu-s and prapanna-s

are concerned, our thoughts should always be fixed at the holy feet

of our AcAryan. Our AcAryan is the pratyaksha bhagavAn for us.

SvAmi deSikan lists 14 AcArya lakhshaNa-s in the first Slokam of his

nyAsa vimSati, and in the second Slokam, he points out that these are

the same lakshaNa-s that emperumAn has, and that AcAryan should be

worshipped same as emperumAn (devavat syAt upAsyah). In fact, he is

above emperumAn for us because he is pratyaksha daivam for us, and

available to us with all his sauSIlyam, saulabhyam, vAtsalyam, etc.,

unlike bhagavAn who is not available to us except through

meditation. (The nyAsa vimSati Sloka-s referenced here are

elaborated in my write-up available in the bhakti archives).

Obviously, we should resort to our AcAryan through prapatti, and

without AcAryan's anugraham we cannot attain Him. I bow to my

AcAryan for having blessed me with the feedback through a well-wisher

of mine.

 

–dAsan kRshNamAcharyan

(To be continued)