tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Submission 15 - Slokam 11 Part 3.

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SrImate SrI ra'nga rAmAnuja mahA deSikAya namaH.

 

tAtparya ratnAvaLi -Submission 15 – Slokam 11 – Part 3.

 

· pASuram 1.1.7: pASuram starting with " tiDa viSumbu eri

vaLi " – vaiSva rUpyAt – One who has the whole Universe as His body.

viSvam refers to `world', and rUpam means `body'. In this pASuram,

AzhvAr points out that the relationship between bhagavAn and

everything else is that of SarIri-SarIra bhAvam – the Soul-body

relationship, with Him being the Controller. It is not one of

aikyatvam or identity between the Lord and the rest, as the ku-dRshTi-

s would like us to believe.

 

Some people try to interpret AzhvAr's words in the previous three

pASuram-s as declaring identity between Him and the jIva-s. For

instance, pASuram 1.1.4 states: " nAm avan ivan uvan… Ay ninRa

avarE " – All the things in this Universe are none but Him " . Even

though antaryAmitvam is what is indicated here, some ill-informed

people argue that the world and bhagavAn are identical. AzhvAr

clarifies in the current pASuram that all things have a body-soul

relationship to Him, with bhagavAn being the soul of everything, and

everything being part of His body – avai avai toRum uDal miSai uyir

enak karandu e'ngum paranduLan – He is hidden as the soul in the

bodies of everything, and exists everywhere inside and out. Just as

the jIva-s have their own bodies, bhagavAn has everything as His

body, and He is the Soul of everything.

 

The soul controls the body, and the body is purely at the command and

service of the soul. Thus, the guNa of His being viSva-rUpan and

everything else being His body, goes to support His paratvam over

everything.

 

tirukkurugaip pirAn piLLAn in his ARAyirappaDi vyAkhyAnam gives close

to 60 supports from the Sruti, smRti-s, purANa-s, itihAsa-s etc.,

that echo the thought conveyed in this pASuram.

 

· pASuram 1.1.8: pASuram starting with " Surar aRivaru nilai

viN mudal muzhuvadum " – tryaksha brahmAtma bhAvAt. tryaksha – one

wth three eyes, a reference to rudra; brahmA – refers to the four-

faced brahmA. Atma bhAvAt – because He is the AtmA or antaryAmi for

rudra and brahmA.

 

Since there are those who incorrectly argue that brahmA is the

Supreme Deity because he has the function of creation, or those who

incorrectly argue that rudra is the Supreme Deity because he controls

samhAra, nammAzhvAr clarifies in this pASuram that brahmA and rudra

get their power purely because of bhagavAn, and the true Creator,

Destroyer and Protector is only BhagavAn. This is the guNa that

svAmi deSikan captures as the gist of this pASuram - " tri-aksha

brahmA Atma bhAvAt " .

 

A more detailed explanation for this pASuram is given in the write-up

under the series `tri-mUrti in tiruvAimozhi' that has been posted

separately.

 

Recall the guNa of parattvam at the daSakam level, the guNa of

sevyatvam at the Satakam level, and the gUna of bhagavAn being the

only One worthy of worship and attainment at the grantham level. The

guNa of His being the antaryAmi and controller of everything

including the likes of brahmA and rudra, that is identified by svAmi

deSikan as the key guNa sung in this pASuram, explains and supports

all the above guNa-s at the different levels.

 

· pASuram 1.1.9 – pASuram starting with " uLan enil uLan " : sat-

asat-avagateh – He Who stands irrefutably established by pramANa-s

whether He is considered `sat' or `asat'; He Who is covered by the

terms sat as well as a-sat. BhagavAn has as His possession all the

cetana-s and acetana-s at all times – both at the times when they

have bodies to enjoy the effects of their karma (in their sthUla

form), and at the time of pralaya when they have only their sUkshma

form, and He protects them in His stomach. `sat' and `a-sat' refer

to these two forms of His respectively.

 

The following Sruti declarations, when correctly interpreted, clearly

establish that He always exists, and is the Owner and Protector of

all that ever existed and exist, either in their sUkshma form at the

time of pralaya (referred to as a-sat), or as objects with names and

forms (sat).

 

o " asad vA idam agra AsIt | tato vai sat ajAyata | tad

AtmAnam svayam akuruta | tasmAt tat sukRtam ucyata iti | " (taitt.

Ananda. 7.1) – All this was in the beginning unmanifested Brahman

(without articulation of names and forms). From that the manifested

came into existence. That Brahman created Itself by Itself. So

Brahman is called the one of good deed " .

 

o asad eva idam agra AsIt | idam vA agre naiva ki'ncana AsIt |

tat sadAsIt | tat samabhavat | " – (chAnd. 3.19.1) - Prior to

creation, all this universe was without differentiation of names and

forms, the avyAkRta. That was the `sat' tending towards the division

of names and forms. That assumed a gross form. That became

manifested " .

 

SrI ve'nkaTeSAcArya's vyAkhyAnam is: " evam bhUtanAna

ISvaranai `illai' enRu SUnya vAdikaLAlE Solli muDikka oNNAda paDi

avasthA bhedattAlE sat asat vAcyanAi aRiyap paDuvadAlum " . Even

though the SunyavAdi-s (a branch of Buddhists called mAdhyamika-s)

claim that ISvaran does not exist, they are clearly proven wrong by

pramANa-s. The words sat and asat both refer to bhagavAn's existence

according to pramANa-s. When we say bhavAn exists (sat), we mean

that He has as His belonging everything that exists in sthUla form –

with names and forms, after creation. They all form His body. Whe

He is referred to as asat, it means that He has as His possession all

the things that are in sUkshma form, at the time of pralaya, when

they do not have any names or forms; but He still exists, and has all

these in their sUkshma form as His belonging, and protects them in

His stomach. He exists with all the things that don't exist in their

sthUla form, with their own bodies etc. This is what is meant by His

a-sat form.

 

· pASuram 1.1.10 – pASuram starting with " paranda taN

paravaiyuL " – sarva tattveshu pUrteh – He who is present integrally

in all the tattva-s without exception, with His full power. He Who

is present in everything without exception, including all the cetana-

s and acetana-s in all the worlds, at all times, with His full Sakti

(Powers). The One who destroyed this world, is in every minute part

of the waters after the Great Deluge - pralaya, in the minutest part

comprising every drop of the ocean. And He is in them hidden without

being recognizable. Ther is no place where He does not exist, good

or bad. There is no body in which He is not present, tiny or huge.

In fact, the presence of a body is not a requirement for Him to be

present in it ( e.g., the jIva etc.). There is no world in which He

is not present in everything, whether it is this world or the upper

worlds or the lower worlds. He is present in every cetana and

acetana in all of these worlds in the past, present or future,

without exception. In fact, existence is defined by His being present

in them and giving them the ability to exist. The term pUrNam

sigifies that He is integrally present in even the minutest thing

with all His Sakti, without the minutest diminution of any kind,

without the slightest discomfort or inconvenience.

 

There are three tattva-s (Reals) that describe everything that exists

in all the worlds, including SrI vaikunTham. These three are ISvara,

cetana (sentient, those endowed with the ability to think etc.), and

acetana-s (non-sentient or those that do not possess independent

thinking capability). The cetana-s are categorized into three – the

baddha jIva-s or bound souls (including the deva-s, human beings, the

animals, and the trees and plants), the mukta jIva-s or liberated

souls, and the nitya jIva-s or the eternally liberated souls. The

acetana-s are of three categories: matter or prakRti subject to the

three guNa-s of sattva, rajas and tamas, time or kAla, and Suddha

sattva which is of pure sattva nature. BhagavAn is present as their

Contorller in all these cetana-s and acetana-s in their entirety,

without exception. The use of the word pUrNa (filled, complete) is

signicant. The requirement of a body for the purpose of pervasion,

the relative size (for instance, the atomic-sized jIva vs. Brahman -

implying `big') etc., are not concerns in His being present as an

integral part of the existence of everything. He exists with His

full Sakti in everything – pUrNatvam.

 

The last line of Slokam 11 of svAmi deSikan: param paSyan yogI –

nammAzhvAr who has thus seen emperumAn as sarvasmAt paran – Supreme

above all; tat-pada kamala natau Atma cittau anvaSAt – is ordering

his mind to prostrate at emperumAn's feet.

 

This concludes the ten guNa-s of the first tiruvAimozhi 1.1, and

these ten guNa-s go to support and illustrate His parattvam or

Supremacy, that is the guNa sung in this first tiruvAimozhi.

 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan

(To be continued)