tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Submission 11 - Slokam 9.

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SrImate SrI ra'nga rAmAnuja mahA deSikAya namaH.

tAtparya ratnAvali - Submission 11 - Slokam 9.

 

 

Slokam 9:

 

brute gAthA sahasram mura mathana guNa sthoma garbham

munIndrah

pratyekam cAtra gAthAh prathita vibhu guNAh spashTam

adhyakshayAmah |

tatrAsa'nkIrNa tad-daSaka guNa Sata sthApanaucitya yuktAn

aidamparyAvaruddhAn agaNita guNitAn tad-guNAn udgRNImah ||

 

In the previous Slokam, svAmi deSikan gave us the ten guNa-s that he

has identified as the subject of the ten Sataka-s (groups of 100

pASuram-s). He declares in the current Slokam that in the rest of

his work, tAtparya ratnAvaLi, he will proceed to desribe the 100 guNa-

s such as paratvam, that are established in the 100 daSaka-s (groups

of 10 pASuram-s), and the thousand guNa-s thar are described in the

1000 pASuram-s of tiruvAimozhi (note that the thousand pASuram-s

referred to here are those excluding the 100 phala Sruti pASuram-

s). He also notes that the 100 guNa-s are distinct and non-

repetitive. However, when it comes to the thousand guNa-s at the

pASram level, he points out that he chooses the guNa that is most

relevant in the guNa at the daSakam (ten) level taking the context

into consideration; while this may lead to repetition of some guNa-s

at the pASuram level, he points out that the context is what is

significant in choosing the guNam that is significant for the pASuram.

 

- munIndrah – AzhvAr who is the leader among all the sages

- brute – has sung

- gAthA sahasram – the thousand pASuram-s

- mura mathana guNa sthoma garbham – such that they have buried

in them the kalyANa guNa-s of emperumAn.

- pratyekam ca atra gathAh prathita vibhu guNAh spashTam

adhyakshayAmah – We also clearly see these pASuram-s explicitly

singing the praise of bhagavad guNa-s.

- agaNita guNitAn – These guNa-s are countless

- asa'nkIrNa tat-tad daSaka guNa sthApaucitya yuktAn – These

guNa-s (will be selected such that they) will be non-repetitive, and

will be chosen such that they explain the guNa-s such as parattvam

that are selected at the daSakam (10) level or the tiruvAimozhi level

- aidamparyAvaruddhAn – They also will be chosen such that they

stand out naturally for any given pASuram

- tad-guNAn udgRNImah – We will present these kalyANa guNa-s in

the succeeding Sloka-s.

 

(The meaning given above for the phrase `agaNita guNitAn' -

countless, represents the interpretation of SrI PBA. SrI UV

interprets the phrase as " guNitAn – repeated, agaNitam – should not

be considered relevant " ; in other words, even though the same guNa

may repeat iself in more than one pASuram, attention should be paid

to the context in which a guNa is selected for a given pASuram, and

not to the mere fact that the guNa is repeated. In other words, if

the same guna establishes or supports the guNa of paratvam in one

tiruvAimozhi and saulabhyam or sauSIlyam in another, then it should

not be considered as redundancy. Thus, some guNa-s may be repeated

since they establish or support a different guNa at the higher

level. So also, if there are many guNa-s in one pASuram, the

principal guNa that stands out in the context should be the one

chosen, and the others should be understood as supporting this guNa

that is relevant to the context). SrI UV's interpretation conforms

to the interpretation given by SrI ve'nkaTeSAcArya.

 

With this interpretation, note that there is a subtle point made in

the Slokam – that at the daSakam (group of 10 pASuram-s) level, the

100 guNa-s are a-sa'nkIrNa or `not mixed up', in other words there is

no punarukti at this level. It is only when it comes to the pASuram

level that there is likely to be repetition, and svAmi deSikan points

out that this is not an issue, for the reasons explained above.

 

aidamparyam – refers to the process of selecting the one particular

guNam that a given pASuram stresses, taken in context for the given

daSakam (grouping of ten pASuram-s).

 

Thus, svAmi deSikan elaborates further on the approach that he is

taking to identify the guNa-s for each daSakam (group of 10 pASuram-

s) and each pASuram, using the great ocean of knowledge that he has

gained from his AcArya-s, and using the analytical skills that he has

been gifted with by His AcAryas' blessings, etc., as he has described

earlier in Slokam 2.

 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan

(To be continued)