tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Submission 20 - Slokam 13 Part 1 - tiruvAimozhi 1.3.

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SrImate SrI ra'nga rAmAnuja mahA deSikAya namaH.

tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Slokam 13 Part 1 - tiruvAimozhi 1.3.

 

Submission 20:

 

tAtparya ratnAvaLi Slokam 13 – tiruvAimozhi 1.3:

 

bandhArhatvAt sva-bhaktaih (1.3.1) adhikatara guNa ananta divya

avatArAt (1.3.2)

sarveshu AsattimatvAt (1.3.3) nata sugamatayA (1.3.4) sva-prabodha-

pradatvAt (1.3.5) |

khyAtAbhikhyAdi-cihnAt (1.3.6) sva-ruci-vitaraNAt (1.3.7) sarva-

kAla-ASrayatvAt (1.3.8)

SarvAdeh-sva-a'nga-dAnAt (1.3.9) prahita-padatayA (1.3.10) ananta-

saulabhyam (1.3) Aha ||

 

The guNam that is being emphasized in this tiruvAimozhi (i.e., at the

daSakam level) is captured by svAmi deSikan as " ananta-saulabhyam " –

Infinite Ease of access " . (svAmi deSikan has included the guNa

emphasized at the daSakam level at the end of the corresponding

Slokam for each tiruvAimozhi, as can be noticed from the above Slokam

as an illustration). We will see that the guNa that is chosen for

each individual pASuram of tiruvAimozhi 1.3 by svAmi deSikan stands

out to support this guNa of anata-saulabhyam at the daSakam level.

 

pASuram 1.3.1:

 

pattuDai aDiyavarkku eLiyavan piRargaLukku ariya

vittagan malar magaL virumbum nam arum peRal aDigaL

mattuRu kaDai veNNai kaLavinil uraviDai yAppuNDu

ettiRam uralinODu iNaindirundu E'ngiya veLivE

(tiruvaA. 1.3.1)

 

peRal arum, malar magaL virumbum nam aSigaL, pattuDai aDiyavarkku

eLiyavan, piRargaLukku ariya vittagan, mattuRu kaDai veNNai kaLavinil

uram iDai yAppuNDu uralinODu iNaindirundu E'ngiya eLivu ettiram! – It

is impossible to describe the saulabhyam of emperumAn, the Consort of

SrI, who is easily accessed by His true devotees, and who is beyond

reach for the non-devotees, as illustrated by His act of remaining –

as if helpless, tied to the mortar after stealing butter from the

gopis' houses.

 

svAmi deSikan identifies the guNa sung in pASuram 1.3.1 as `sva-

bhaktaih bandanArhatvAt' – He who lets Himself be bound by His

devotees. It was no9t just yaSodA who was able to thus bind Him

through love; all His deovtees can bind Him through love – He is

such a sulabhan – easy to attain through devotion.

 

Paratvam alone is not sufficient in order to enable the jIva-s to

surrender to Him with the full confidence that He will accept the

jIva. saulabhyam is equally essential. It is this guna of

saulabhyam of emperumAn that is sung in tiruvAimozhi 1.3. bhagavAn

is difficult to access only for those who do not have devotion to

Him; for His devotees, He is sulabhan. yaSodA tied Him with a tiny

stretch of rope, and He stood powerless, just pretending to cry –

mattuRu kaDai veNNai kaLavinil uraliDai yAppuNDu ettiRam uralinODu

iNaindirundu E`ngiya eLivE! " . Many gopi-s tied Him up with their

love for Him. The guNa to be enjoyed is that He submits Himself to

easy access and lets Himself be tied by their devotion.

 

In the first tiruvAimozhi, bhagavAn's paratvam was pointed out; in

the second, AzhvAr advises us to surrender to Him with devotion. The

natural question that arises is: Given that He is sarvasmAt paran,

is it even possible to approach Him? This is like asking someone who

has lost both his hands, to climb on an elephant. In the current

tiruvAimozhi, AzhvAr points out that bhagavAn is easily accessible to

those who truly want to attain Him – He is like the elephant that

kneels down so that the person without both hands can still climb on

it. He takes incarnations so that He is available to those of us who

want to access Him. He takes incarnations such as the kRshNa

incarnation that are filled with saulabhyam. It is up to us to

meditate on Him and attain Him.

 

SrImad tirukkuDanthai ANDavan points out that `pattu' in " pattu uDai "

is not a reference to bhakti yoga that is very difficult to follow

for even the most intense practitioners; it is a reference

to `paRRu' - `ASA lESam' – the tiniest amount of desire to reach

Him. Some even interpret the word `pattu' to mean `advesham – lack

of love to Him'; in other words, He is a sulabhan to those who do not

have hatred towards Him; that is all what He looks for. It is His

nature to not forsake anyone who approaches Him with genuine love –

" mitra bhAvena samprAptam na tyajeyam " . He is One who declared that

He is the `servant' of sage viSvAmitra when He accompanied him to

protect his yAga – imau sma muni SardUla ki'nkarau samupasthitau. He

tells arjuna that it is His nature that He is easily accessed by a

truly devoted one, just as the complexion of an individual (being

dark, fairm etc,) is natural to that individual. BhagavAn has

demonstrated this by being a messenger, by being a Charioteer, etc.

Perhaps more illustrative is the fact that rAvaNa could not even as

much as move lakshmaNa when he had lost conscience in the

battlefield, whereas devotee hanuman just easily carried away the

same lakshmaNa with no difficulty whatsoever. He is One who let the

cowherd girl yaSodA tell Him – " Now, if You are capable, release

Yourself from this mortar to which You are tied " – " yadi Saknoshi

gaccha tvam " ; She tells this Infinite Power above all powers – " If

You are capable " . He just remains tied - such is His saulabhyam to

His devotee. She says " Shut up! " , and He just stands without

crying, without moving. All we need to do is to have the faintest

amount of desire to attain Him (ASA leSam, to use SrImad ANDavan's

words).

 

SrI UV points out that, consistent with AzhvAr's use of the plural –

" paTTuDai aDiyavarkku " , svAmi deSikan uses the plural " bhaktaiH " .

He also gives another interesting meaning to the words " bhaktaih

bandha arhatvAt " of svAmi deSikan – He Who has made Himself easily

availabale to mix with His devotees.

 

 

· pASuram 1.3.2, starting with " eLivarum iyalvinan " :

 

eLivarum iyalvinan nilai varambu ila pala piRappAi

oLi varum mazhu nalam mudal ila kEDu ila vIDAm

teLi taru nilaimaiyadu ozhivilan muzhuvadum iRaiyOn

aLivarum aruLinODu agattanan purattanan amarndE (1.3.2)

 

" iRaiyOn eLivarum iyalvinan; nilai varambu ila pala piRappAi oLi

varum mudal ila kEDu ila, muzhu nalam vIDAm teLi tarum adu nilaimai

muzhuvadum ozhivilan, aLi varum aruLinODu amaindu agattanan

purattanan " – bhagavAn is One who has saulabhyam as a natural guNam;

This is evidenced by His taking different incarnations in different

forms, while being in no way constrained by the limitations of any of

these forms; on the other hand, He is of Infinite effulgence in

these incarnations, endowed with Infinite Bliss, and bestows the

ability for His devotes to enjoy Him fully (SrI vaikunTham), and at

the same time He is inaccessible to those who are not devoted to Him.

 

svAmi deSikan captures the primary guNa to be enjoyed in this pASuram

through the phrase: " adhikatara guNa ananta divya avatArAt " – He is

ananta-sulabhan as revealed by His taking many divine births, in many

forms, with all His kalyANa guNa-s, and thus being easily accessible

to everyone who desires to attain Him.

 

pUrvAcArayas' anubhavam is that when nammAzhvAr sang His sulabhatvam

in the previous pASuram by being tied to the mortar, AzhvAr lost

consciousness because of His deep meditation in this extreme

simplicity of emperumAn, and when he recovered after six months, he

continues with his anubhavam of bhagavAn's sulabhatvam once again in

pASuram 1.3.2, and now he sings about how bhagavAn makes Himself

easily available to those who desire to attain Him through His divine

incarnations.

 

sulabhatvam is bhagavAn's nature – eLivarum iyalvinan. There is no

constraint to the varNa in which He will take His incarnation; there

is no constraint to the acts that He will perform durimg His

incarnations; He will take His incarnations in human forms, or as

fish, tortoise, or anything else that He chooses, but He will not be

subject to any limitations of any kind in any of His incarnations –

nilai varambu ila pala piRappu. The veda declares this as –

ajAyamAno bahudhA vijAyate. In particular, He will bestow moksham

to those who deserve it during these incarnations as well – as

exemplified by His giving moksham to the maruda trees. He will show

His viSva rUpam, and at the same time He will bend down and be a

chariteer for His devotee. But His guNa of moksha pradatvam will

never be away from Him – vIDu Am teLi tarum adu nilaimai muzhuvadum

ozhivilan. Thus, bhagavAn is agattanan – antara'ngam or One Who is

intimate to those who are devoted, and at the same time, purattanan –

inaccessible to the others.

 

SrI UV notes that His divine incarnations are of more benefit for the

devotees than even His form in SrI vaikunTham, in the sense that more

of His kalyANa guNa-s are revealed for us to enjoy during His

incarnations in our midst. This is the significance of the word

adhikara-tara in svAmi deSikan's description of emperumAn's guNa for

this pASuram – adhika-tara guNa ananta divya avatArAt.

 

svAmi deSikan sings the avatAra rahasyam (the six rahasya-s about

bhagavAn's incarnations) of bhagavAn in Slokam 17 of his SaraNagati

dIpikA. The explanation for this Slokam can be easily found in the

bhakti list archives and other sources.

 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan

(To be continued)