tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Submission 39, Slokam 17 Part 1, tiruvAimozhi 1.6, pASuram 1.6.1.

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SrImate ra'nga rAmAnuja mahA deSikAya namaH. tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Submission 39, Slokam 17 Part 1, tiruvAimozhi 1.6, pASuram 1.6.1. · Slokam 17 – tiruvAimozhi 1.6: akrItair-arcya bhAvAt (1.6.1) anihita vividhAbhyarcanAt

(1.6.2) alpa-tushTeh (1.6.3) prahva Avarjya ISa bhAvAt (1.6.4) sva-vishaya niyateshu AdarAt (1.6.5) svAdu-bhUmnA (1.6.6) | pAda Asakta-prasakteh (1.6.7) sakRd-upasadane mokshaNAt (1.6.8) dharma-sausthyAt (1.6.9) kshipra kshipta ahitatvAt (1.6.10) sukara bhajanatAm madhavasyAbhyadatta (1.6) || The central theme of all the pASuram-s in this tiruvAimozhi is identified by svAmi deSikan as ‘the ease with which mAdhavan can be worshiped’. This is captured in the last half of the last line in the above Slokam – su-kara bhajanatAm mAdhavasya abhyadatta. For ease of understanding, I am giving here the summary of this Slokam as given by Sri R. Ra’ngAchAri in English: No need to buy anything to adore Him - Water, herb, leaf or flower will do; (1.6.1) Yea, no prescribed ritual too – one can cherish Him in his own way; (1.6.2) Strange, He is pleased with ever so little! (1.6.3) He is the Master charmed by our good feeling! (1.6.4) To those who are lost in Him, He is all support! (1.6.5) His greatness is ambrosia – sweet! (1.6.6) To the devotees who adore His feet, He is passing dear; (1.6.7) Let them but once cherish Him, Salvation is sure for them! (1.6.8) He is rooted in dharma and is its fruit as well! (1.6.9) In an instant, He would wipe out clear all our sins; (1.6.10) So, mAdhava (the Lord of SrI) is most easy to adore. (1.6) The first 10 lines capture the thoughts identified by svAmi deSikan for the first 10

pASuram-s of this tiruvAimozhi, and the 11th line is the sAram of this tiruvAimozhi as a whole. In his bhagavad vishaya sAram, SrImad tirukuDanthai ANDavan notes that through these pASuram-s, AzhvAr points out that for bhagavAn’s worship, there is no constraint of materials, no constraint on time, no constraint on who has the right to worship Him, no constraint on tools, etc. AlavandAr’s stotratnam-28, which is referenced in the next section, emphasizes the same points – kadA’pi, kenacit, yathA tathA vA’pi, etc. · pASuram 1.6.1: parivadu il ISanaip pADi virivadu mEval uruvIr ! pirivagai inRi nal nIr tUy purivaduvum pUgai pUvE. Some of you might think that bhagavAn who is without any flaw should be only worshiped through perfection by singing sAma gAnam properly, etc. Not true! Even if you sprinkle some water with devotion, any incense, any flower at all, He will gladly accept them. svAmi deSikan identifies the guNam sung in this pASuram as ‘akrItaih arcya bhAvAt’ – ‘He can be worshiped with materials that do not even have to be bought by paying money – those that are available for free will do just fine, such as by ‘sprinkling’ a tiny amount of water – nal nIr tUy. The pASuram declares that there is no ‘drvay nyAyam’ for bhagavAn’s worship – devotion is the sole requirement for worship of bhagavAn, and there are no constraints regarding the materials that need to be offered to Him; there is no excuse for one to keep away from Him on this pretext. SrI UV quotes the following Sloka that echoes the same thought (note the words ‘akrIta labhyeshu’): patreshu pushpeshu phaleshu toyeshu akrIta-labhyeshu sadaiva satsu | bhaktyeka-labhye purushe purANe muktyai katham na kriyate prayatnah || (MahAbhArata) "The Ancient Purusha is easily attainable by devotion alone, with the offer of just leaves, flowers, fruits, and even water, that are always attainable without cost. When such is the case, how

is it that people do not even want to try to work towards emancipation?" SrI UV also gives reference to stotra ratnam – 28, which conveys the praying with folded hands is all that is needed to worship Him: tvad an’ghrim uddiSya kadA’pi kenacit yathA

tathA vA’pi sakRt kRto’njalih | tadaiva mushNAti aSubhAnyaSeshatah SubhAni pushNAti na jAtu hIyate || “Oh Lord! When one thinks of Your sacred feet as upAyam

and phalan and folds his hands in a’njali mudrA even once at any time, all his ancient and sorrow-giving karmAs are destroyed without any left-overs, and he enjoys Eternal Bliss at Your supreme abode, Sri VaikunTham”. There are several beautiful points to be enjoyed in this pASuram in the context of the ease of worshiping bhagavAn. nal nIr tUy – mere sprinkling of a tiny bit of plain water is sufficinent, if that act is done with devotion; the water does not even have to be scented with cardamam etc. (The word ‘nal’ here is to be understood as ‘plain’, rather than ‘good’, which brings out the emphasis that nothing special is needed to worship bhagavAn). The order - Pugai and pU as given in the pASuram is contrary to the SAstric injunction that pU (flower) is offered first, followed by incense. AzhvAr gives the reverse order, signifying that there is no constraint whatsoever in worshiping Him, and there is no excuse for not worshiping Him; the only requirement is that the worship should be offered with devotion. There is a SAstric injunction that flowers with thorns are not to be offered to perumAL (na kaNTakAri pushpam devAya vinivedayet); the anubhavam of AcArya-s is that this restriction is not because He will not accept the offering of thorny flowers, but the restriction is so that the devotee does not get the thorn pricking his hand and thereby getting hurt! So, it is His concern for the deovtee that explains the SAstric restriction on the unsuitability of thorny flowers for worship!-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan (To be continued).