tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Submission 18 - Slokam 12 Part 3, pASuram 1.2 continued.

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SrImate SrI ra'nga rAmAnuja mahA deSikAya namaH.

 

tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Submission 18 - Slokam 12 Part 3,

tiruvAimozhi 1.2 continued.

 

 

· pASuram 1.2.7 starting with " aDa'ngu ezhil sampattu " .

 

aDa'ngu ezhil sampattu aDa'ngu ezhil ahdu enRu

aDa'ngak kaNDu ISan aDa'nguga uLLE. (1.2.7)

 

aDa'ngu ezhil sampattu aDa'ngak kaNDu ahdu ISan adA'ngu ezhil enRu uL

aDa'nguga – Realize that all the wealth in both the leelAvibhUti and

nitya vibhUti are totally under His control, and become totally

subservient to Him, realizing that you are all part of His wealth.

 

svAmi deSikan describes the guNa that stands out in this pASuram

as " Subha vibhavatayA " – Because all His belongings are auspiciously

disposed to our reaching Him. (vibhava – wealth, Subha –

auspicious).

 

In the previous pASuram we saw that bhagavAn is a suhRt (well-wisher,

friend) for everyone without bias. But He has as His wealth, both

the nitya vibhUti and the leelA vibhUti. In His nitya vibhUti He

has the nitya sUri-s who are far above us in realization. Some of us

might feel hesitant to approach Him, feeling that these nitya sUri-s

may laugh at us because of lowly status. BhagavAn also has as His

possession the devatA-s in His leelA vibhUti, and they are known to

create obstacles to our approaching Him as evidenced by the Sruti.

BRhadAraNyaka upanishad (1.4.10) says: tasmAt eshAm tan-na priyam

yadetan-manushyA vidyuh – The gods do not like us to know Brahman.

This is because the deva-s consider that we are all like animals that

should toil for them alone, and if we worship bhagavAn and stop

worshipping them, it causes pain to them. This is also declared in

the bRhadAraNyaka Upanishad – yathA paSurevam sa devAnAm | yathA ha

vai bahavah paSavo bhu~njyuh | evamekaikah purusho devAn bhunakti |

ekasminneva paSavAdIyamAne'priyam bhavati " . But we should

remember that the nitya sUri-s in His nitya vibhUti and the gods in

His leelA vibhUti are both His belongings, and are subject to His

will. They will have no choice except being auspicious to us if He

wills so, as declared in the same mantra in bRhadAraNyaka upanishad –

tasya ha devASca na abhUtyA ISate. If we surrender to Him with the

realization that we are also part of His vibhUti just as these deva-s

etc. are, and if we realize that it is our birthright to perform

eternal kai'nkaryam to Him, nothing can interfere with that. And

His wealth is available for all of us to enjoy, as we are all His

children, just as a father's wealth is there for the son to enjoy.

This is the message conveyed by the phrase " Subha vibhavan " .

 

AzhvAr's instruction to us in this pASuram is that we should clearly

realize that all that exists is under His control, and we should

therefore surrender to Him with mahA viSvAsam without the slightest

doubt – ISan aDa'ngu ezhil ahdu enRu uL aDa'nguka.

 

· pASuram 1.2.8 starting with " uLLam, urai, Seyal " .

 

uLLam urai Seyal uLLik keDuttu iRai

uLLa im-mUnRaiyum uLLil oDu'ngE. (1.2.7)

 

uLLa uLLam, urai, Seyal idu mUnRaiyum uLLi, keDuttu, iRai uLLil

oDu'ngu - Divert your thought, word and deed from involvement in

external diversions, realize that that these instruments that we have

already been gifted with are purely for service to Him, and devote

them totally to Him.

 

Whatever we need for worshipping Him is available to us all, without

our having to look for something new – our thoughts, words, and

actions. svAmi deSikan reflects this through the guNa " mAnasAdi

arcya bhAvAt " . – He who is to be worshipped through our thought, word

and deed. To meditate on Him, to sing His praise though our words,

and to prostrate to Him – these are means that are available to

everyone equally. One does not have to undertake any effort

whatsoever to acquire these three; He has given these to us all, and

this again illustrates that He is sarva saman, or equally accessible

to all without any distinction. These three instruments – thought,

word and deed, are given to us for the sole purpose of devoting them

to His kai'nkaryam. AzhvAr's message to us that we should realize

this simple truth, turn these three from the pursuit of worldly

interests, and devote them to His worship instead. AzhvAr

explicitly tells us to think – uLLi, as to why we have been the mind,

the body and the ability to speak, and realize that these are all

given to us for His kai'nkaryam. Once we have realized this, the

next step is `keDuttu' – removing them from the external

materialistic distractions and turning them inwards, and iRai uLLil

oDu'ngu – get them immersed in thoughts about Him.

 

AzhvAr describes the activities of his own " uLLam, urai, Seyal " in

pASuram 8.10.4 –

 

po'ngEzh pugazhgaL vAyavAi pulan koL vaDivu en manattAi

a'ngEi malargaL kaiyavAi vazhi paTTODa aruLilE? (tiruvAi.

8.10.4)

 

" Being immersed in eternal kai'nkaryam to the Lord, my mouth will

utter the infinite kalyANa guNa-s of emperumAn. His captivating

tirumEni's beauty that would madden my senses will remain in my mind,

and my hands will offer flowers at His Lotus Feet " – note uLLam,

urai, Seyal – manasAdi arcya bhAvAt.

 

BhUtattAzhvAr echoes the same thoughts in his 2nd tiruvantAdi pASuram

21.

 

tAm uLarE; tam uLLam uL uLadE; tAmarayin

pU uLadE; Ettum pozhudu uNDE – vAman

tiru maruvu tAn maruvu SenniyarE SevvE

aru narakam SErvadu aridu. (2nd tiruvanTAdi – 21).

 

" We have been given this body and the indriya-s for His worship; We

have been given our minds to think of Him; He has created the lotus

flowers that we can offer to Him; There is plenty of time to worship

Him; We have the head so that we can bow to Him. When we have been

given everything needed to worship Him, there is no narakam for us "

(if only we use all these for His worship!).

 

poigai AzhvAr conveys the same message in his 1st tiruvantAdi pASuram

95 –

 

nA, vAyil uNDE; namo nAraNA enRu

OvAdu uraikkum urai uNDE; - mUvAda

mAk-kadikkaN Sellum vagai uNDE; en oruvar

tIk-kadikkaN Sellum tiRam?

 

" We have been given a tongue inside our mouth for praising Him; We

have been given the ashTAkshara mantra that we can repeat

continuously without interruption; we have been the easy path to SrI

vaikuNTham from which we never have to return; When we have all

this, why is it that some people insist on following only the path to

narakam? "

 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan

(To be continued)