tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Submission 13 - Slokam 11 Part 1.

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SrImate SrI ra'nga rAmAnuja mahA deSikAya namaH.

tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Submission 13 - Slokam 11 Part 1.

 

 

Slokam 11:

 

nis-sIma-udyad-guNatvAt amita-rasatayA ananta-leelAspadatvAt

svAyattAsesha-sattA-sthiti-yatatabhitAvaibhavAt vaiSva-rUpyAt |

tRyaksha-brahmAtva-bhAvAt sad-asad-avagateh sarva-tatveshu-pUrteh

paSyan-yogI-param tat-pada-kamala-natAvat-vaSAt-Atma-cittam ||

 

 

paratvam is the guNa chosen at the daSakam level for tiruvAimozhi 1.1

by svAmi deSikan. This is found in the 4th pAda (last line) of

Slokam 11 (paSyan yogi param tat….). The ten guNa-s identified by

svAmi deSikan for pASuram-s 1.1.1 to 1.1.10 through this Slokam, are

guNa-s that support the guNa pf paratvam at the daSakam level.

 

· pASuram 1.1.1 (`uyarvaRa uyar nalam' pASuram): nis-sIma

udyat guNatvAt - nis-sIma = unlimited, udyad-guNatvAt = having

superior guNa-s; One Who has unlimited kalyANa guNa-s (uyarvaRa uyar

nalam uDaimai). `mayarvaRa madi nalam aruLudal' and `amarargaL

adhipatiyAi iruttal' are additional guNa-s sung in this pASuram, but

the guNa that svAmi deSikan has chosen as the principal guNa that

goes to support the guNa of paratvam at the higher level is `uyarvaRa

uyar nalam uDaiyavan', or nis-sIma udyat guNavAn.

 

· pASuram 1.1.2 (`mananaga malamaRa' pASuram): amita rasatayA –

In this pASuram, AzhvAr refers to three of bhagavAn's principal guNa-

s: " muzhu uNar " – fully j~nAna svarUpan – personification of

absolute flawless knowledge, " muzhu nalam " – totally Ananda svarUpan –

total Bliss, and " edir nigazh " – He has none that can equal Him or

surpass Him in any aspect in the past, present and future. Of these,

the j~nAna and Ananda svarUpatvam are of a different category than

the last one. Given His j~nAna and Ananda svarUpatvam, the third

guNa - that He has none that is equal to Him, easily follows.

Between the j~nAna and Ananda svarUpatvam, Ananda svarUpam already

implies j~nAna sva rUpam (note the taittirIya Upanishad – the

sequence of anna maya, prANa maya, manomaya, vij~nAna maya, and the

final stage of Ananda maya, in increasing order of subtlety). svAmi

deSikan selects the Ananda svarUpatvam as the guNa of import for this

pASuram – " muzhu nalam " – amita rasatayA. One could argue that the

jIva also in its nature is of Ananda svarUpam. To distinguish

bhagavAn's Ananda svarUpam from that of the Ananda svarUpam of the

jIva-s (which is not fully manifested because of the effects of karma-

s), svAmi deSikan adds the word amita – unlimited, flawless -

niravadhika Ananda svarUpan.

 

Remember that that these guNa-s chosen at the pASuram level are all

guNa-s that support the guNa at the daSakam level – paratvam, and the

guNa at the Satakam level –sevyatvam. This concept that is

fundamental to tAtparya ratnAvaLi, should be kept in mind when

meditating on the guNa for each pASuram as we go along. Also note

the extent of thought and analysis that have gone into the choice of

the principal guNa for this pASuram. This is an example of the

rigorous analytical thought process that has gone into the selection

of one principal guNa for each pASuram by svAmi deSikan, which is the

unique contribution of tAtparya ratnAvaLi.

 

Also recall that this is a ratnAvaLi – a garland, that has a thread

of sequence embedded in it. There is a connection between the guNa

in the previous pAsuram with that in the current pASuram and so on.

The first pASuram talked of His infinte kalyANa guNa-s; the current

pASuram gives the basis for that – namely, that His divya Atma

svarUpam is flawless, and of the nature of Infinite Bliss – there is

no room for any negatives.

 

· pASuram 1.1.3 (`ilan adu uDaiyan idu ena ninaivu ariyavan'

pASuram): ananta leelAspadatvAt – " nilaniDai viSumbiDai uruvinan

aruvinan " – He Who has as His possession everything both sentient and

non-sentient, in all the worlds above and below – This refers to His

leelA vibhUti. SrI ve'nkaTeSAcArya describes this as " pAtAlam

Arabhya parama pada paryantamAga uNDa cetanAcetana vibhUtikan " .

 

BhagavAn' possessions are being sung here, as one more aspect of His

paratvam (guNa at the daSakam level). He owns everything in His

nitya vibhUti (in SrI vaikunTham), as well as in His leelA vibhUti.

The current pASuram specifically praises His Lordship of all things

in His leelA vibhUti.

 

When we say that He owns all the things –cetana-s and acetana-s that

are imperfect and full of deficiencies, one could argue that this

conflicts with His being `uyar nalam uDaiyavan' – (pASuram 1.1.1).

This is not so. He is not in the least affected by our deficiencies,

and on the contrary, He removes all our sins.

 

Note the other guNa-s in the pASuram – ilan adu uDaiyan idu ena

ninaivu ariyavan, pulanoDu pulan alan, and an-nalanuDai oruvan. The

first two are further elaborations of `nilaniDai viSumbiDai uruvinan

aruvinan' (2nd pAda) – the guNa chosen by svAmi deSikan. The third

one is a reference to His kalyANa guNa-s that we saw in pASuram

1.1.2 – muzhu nalam.

 

We will continue with pASuram 1.1.4 in the next posting.

 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan

(To be continued)