tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Submission 9 - Slokam 7 of avatArikA.

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SrImate SrI ra'nga rAmAnuja mahA deSikAya namaH.

 

tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Submission 9 - Slokam 7 of avatArikA.

 

Slokam 7:

 

deva: SrImAn sva-siddheh karaNamiti vadan ekam artham sahasre

sevyatvAdIn daSArthAn pRthagiha Satakair vakti tat

sthApanArthAt |

aikaikaSyAt paratvAdishu daSaka guNeshvAyatante tathA te

tat-tad gAthAguNAnAm anuvidadhati tat-pa'nktayah pa'nkti

sa'nkhyAh ||

 

In this Slokam, svAmi deSikan elaborates further on the organization

of the grantham (in terms pASuram-s building into tens, and these

building into the Satakam-s or hundred pASuram-s, and the whole

grantham consisting of the 1000 pASuram-s) in describing emperumAn's

guNa-s.

 

The message that bhagavAn who is inseparably associated with SrI

(devah SrImAn) is both the means and the goal to be attained – the

principal guNa of emperumAn extolled by the grantham, could have been

expressed through just one pASuram by AzhvAr. Why did he choose to

sing this one message (ekam artham) through a thousand pASuram-s?

It is because of AzhvAr's intense desire in enjoying the guNa-s of

bhagavAn that he chose to sing them through a thousand pASuram-s

instead. The superb tattvam that bhagavAn who is inseparably

associated with lakshmi is both the ultimate goal and the means to

attain Him, is extensively elaborated by AzhvAr through the thousand

pASuram-s – `sva-prAptiyilE svayameva upAyam Avan'. We already saw

in the previous Slokam of svAmi deSikan, that AzhvAr keys in on one

principal guNa of bhagavAn in each Satakam (group of 100 songs). In

other words, AzhvAr proceeds to identify ten guNa-s such as

sevyattvam (the quality that makes Him uniquely fit to be worshipped)

that facilitate His being the upAyam and upeyam, at the Satakam

(hundreds) level. He then elaborates on each of the guNa-s such as

sevyattvam through ten guNa-s such as parattvam (Supremacy, Lordship

over everything and every one) at the daSakam (ten-s) level. Thus,

at this stage, the ten guNa-s have been expanded into 100 guNa-s and

explained by them. Then, the guNa sung in each ten is further

elaborated by the ten pASuram-s of the daSakam, and thus we have 1000

guNa-s of bhgavAn sung in the grantham, explaining and elaborating on

the one supreme truth that bhagavAn is both the means and the end to

be attained.

 

One can think of AzhvAr's organized approach to singing bhagavAn's

guNa-s in the form of a `tree structure', as we call it in computer

language. One could imagine this tree formation growing upwards,

starting at the `thousand' level at the root, with ten `branches'

growing from the main trunk and representing the ten Sataka-s or the

hundreds level, ten further branches from each of the Sataka levels

branching into ten daSaka-s or ten-s level, and on to the level of

the thousand pASuram-s as the leaves.

 

- devah srImAn sva-siddheh karaNam iti vadan ekam artham

sahsre – Through the thousand pASuram-s, AzhvAr declares the one

truth that bhagavAn inseparably associated with SrI or lakshmI serves

as the sole means to attain Him who is also the One Supreme goal to

be attained.

- tat sthApanArthAt sevyatvAdIn daSArthAn pRthak iha Satakaih

vakti – To establish the above, AzhvAr proceeds to enumerate the ten

guNa-s such as sevyattvam (the quality of being fit to be worshipped)

at the Satakam level (grouping of hundred songs)

- aikaikaSyAt paratvAdishu daSaka guNeshu tathA te Ayatante -

Each of the above ten guNa-s are then further elaborated by the ten

daSaka-s or ten-s (also called tiruvAimozhi-s) associated with the

given Satakam.

- tat-tad gAthAguNanAm anuvidadhati tat-pa'nktayah pa'nkti

sa'nkhyAh – The guNa-s sung in the ten daSaka-s of the first Satakam

are a different set of guNa-s than the ones sung in the second

Satakam, and so on. They follow each other in a `sequence', as it

were, and each set evolves from the previous ones (tad pa'nktayah

pa'nkti sa'nkhyAh anuvudadhati).

 

It never gives me a feeling of repetition when writing on the topic

of bhagavad guNa-s. R. Rangachari has translated the tAtparya

ratnAvaLi Sloka-s into English in the form of English poems. I am

including his translation for the current Slokam below:

 

" The Lord, Consort of SrI, is attainment's supreme end

for all, and He Himself is the means therefor " –

This, the burden of the song, in all the thousand hymns!

To establish this, the Sage doth dwell, in turn, in his

centuries –

On each of the ten noble qualities of the Lord –

" Worthy to be cherished " and so forth;

Lo, these gracious attributes derive from the other Supreme

qualities,

Expounded in the Decads, Centuries, and the whole thousand

hymns!

Ah, what expanding numbers, parallel!

 

Additional thoughts:

 

SrI UV delves into the basis behind the tradition of enjoying

tiruvAimozhi, consisting of over a thousand pASuram-s, through groups

of 100 pASuram-s (Sataka-s), each of them through ten groups of ten

(daSaka-s), etc. One could take the position that AzhvAr just sang

the guNa-s of emperumAn ramdomly as they came to his mind, and there

is no need to assign one main guNam as being sung by the whold

grantham, and then subdividing it into many subunits elaborating guNa-

s that stand to support the guNa at the higher level, etc., in an

organized way. But we clearly see that this is not the case.

 

Grouping of pASuram-s into 10 ten's (daSaka-s) is obvious, since

AzhvAr himself has included a concluding phala Sruti pASuram at the

end of each of the daSaka-s. But one can legitimately question the

organization of the 1000 pASuram-s into ten Sataka-s. What is the

basis for saying that these ten emphasize ten guNa-s, that these ten

guNa-s together support a mahA guNam at the grantham level, and on

the other side, that each pASuram stresses one guNa, that the ten

guNa-s of the ten pASuram-s of a given daSakam stand in support of

the one guNa that is the subject matter of this daSakm, etc., etc., -

which is the subject matter of the current Slokam by svAmi deSikan.

Is this all just creative thinking by svAmi deSikan? These questions

are rhetorically raised by SrI UV in his avatArikai for

tiruvAimozhi.

 

SrI UV presents the following in support of the structured

organization of tiruvAimozhi as stated in the current Sloka. He

points out that na'njIyar and others have established that

tiruvAimozhi has a main subject matter at the grantham level, just as

there are other specific and unique subject matters for the three

other aurLic-ceyals of nammAzhvAr.

 

AzhvAr concludes each tiruvAimozhi consisting of ten pASuram-s with a

uniue pASuram containing a specific phala Sruti; this not only

supports the grouping of the whole grantham into 100 tiruvAimozhi-s,

but also that each tiruvAimozhi addresses a specific subject, this

being a specific guNam of emperumAn in each dAsakam (group of ten

pASuram-s). tiruk kurugaip pirAn piLLAn has commented at the

conclusion of the first tiruvAimizhi, that " this tiruvAimozhi is

devoted to revealing emperumAn who is `ubhaya vibhUti viSisTan', thus

indicating that each tiruvAimozhi is devoted to describing a specific

guNa of emperumAn. For the third tiruvAimizhi, he has used the

words " ASrita sulabhataiyai aruLic ceyyat toDa'ngi " , and thus has

indicated that saulabhyam is the subject of this tiruvAimozhi. These

clearly support the organization of the grantham at the dAsakam

level, and also the concept of the assignment of different guNa-s as

the topic of the different daSakam-s.

 

AzhvAr himself has used the words " pattu nURRuL ip-pattu avan SEr

tiruk-kOLUrkkE " at the end of tiruvAimozhi 6.7 (uNNum SORu:

tiruvAimozhi), thus explicitly stating that he considers the grantham

as consisting of ten Sataka-s (ten hundreds). SrI periya AccAn

piLLai also has indicated in his vyAkhyAanam at the conclusion of the

first Satakam, that the first Sataka consisting of ten daSaka-s has

expounded ten guNa-s establishing that bhagavAn is One who has the

Divine Feet that once and for all removes the sorrow of samsAra, and

asking his mind to resort to those Divine Feet of His: " tuyar aRu

SuDar aDi tozhudu ezhu en mananE " . The IDu vyAkhyAnam also gives

the same interpretation. These support the tradition of viewing the

organization of the whole grantham into ten Satakam-s or groups of

hundred songs.

 

Thus, both the summary at the grantham level, and the expounding of

guNa-s at the Satakam and daSakam levels are supported. The aspect

that is noteworthy is that svAmi deSikan points out in his tAtparya

ratnAvaLi that the guNAnubhavam extends to the level of the

individual pASuram-s. Support for this is found in AzhvAr's SrI

sUkti itself - AzhvAr uses the words `SIr toDai Ayirattu " in pAsuram

1.2.11 (the concluding pASuram of tiruvAimozhi 1.2), and this is

given the meaning " bhagavad guNa sandharbha rupamAna sahasrattilum " -

the thousand pASurams that are strung together in singing the guNa-

s of bhagavAn (sandharbham – stringing together). Thus, AzhvAr

himself has declared that each of the pASuram-s sings the guNa of

bhagavAn, and they are garlanded together to form one chain.

 

It is possible to derive multiple guNa-s from any one pASuram when

one goes through the pASuram word by word. However, svAmi deSikan is

examining each pASuram in the context of the `string' of guNa-s

(sandharbam referred to above), and identifies the guNam that is most

relevant in the context and presents it in tAtparya ratnAvaLi. (We

will see further elaboration of this in Slokam 9).

 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan

(To be continued)