tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Submission 42, Slokam 17 Part 4, tiruvAimozhi 1.6, pASuram-s 1.6.7 to 1.6.8.

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SrImate Ra'nga RAmAnuja mahA deSikAya namaH. tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Submission 42, Slokam 17 Part 4, tiruvAimozhi 1.6, pASuram 1.6.7, 1.6.8. · pASuram 1.6.7: nIL kaDal SUzh ila’ngaik kOn tOLgaL talai tuNi SeidAn tALgaL talai vaNa’ngi nAL kaDalaik kazhiminE. “Pass the ocean of time in this birth by worshiping the Lotus Feet of the Lord who

severed the shoulders and the heads of rAvaNan who was the chief of La’nkA surrounded by the vast oceanâ€. svAmi deSikan captures the aspect of sukara bhajanatvam in this pASuram with the words “pAda Asakta prasakteh†– He who is attached to those who are devoted to His divine Feet (Asakti – devotion, attachment; prasakti – attachment, devotion) – tALgaL talai vaNa’ngi nAL kaDalaik kazhiminE. Those who possess the knowledge about Him will realize that this samsAra is like an ocean. But they pass this ocean easily by meditating on His great valor in

destroying the likes of the mighty rAvaNa. For those who are devoted to His Feet, the ocean of time in this samsAra passes very easily. SrImad tirukkuDanthai ANDavan explains svAmi deSikan’s words - ‘pAda Asakta praskatan’ - as ‘tan tiruvaDigaLait talaiyAl vaNa’ngugiravargaLiDam anugraham uLLavan’ – He who is benevolent to those who worship Him with bowed heads. SrI UV comments that rAvaNan with 10 heads and 20 shoulders wouldn’t even bow with just one of those heads, and so the Lord had to kill him; all we need to do is surrender to Him with humility and

with bowed head at His Feet, and He takes care of getting us over the ocean of samsAra and to His abode. The aspect to enjoy in this pASuram is the extreme mercy that bhagavAn displayed towards even the likes of rAvaNan. BhagavAn gave ample opportunity to rAvaNan to realize his mistake and surrender to Him. One day at the end of the day’s fight, when He could have finished off rAvaNan easily, bhagavAn told him instead: “Go and recoup some strength and come back; then we will continue the fight†– gaccha! anujAnAmi,

ASvAsya niryAhi†. Even though several well-wishers of rAvaNan advised him to surrender to Lord Rama, he came back to fight and refused to surrender. Even then, the Lord severed his head only one at a time, leaving behing the remaining heads and thus giving him an opportunity to surrender till the last moment - such is His mercy. In the current pASuram, AzhvAr advises us to spend our time meditating on the great story of Lord RAma and on all His brave deeds that show His enormous mercy also simultaneously; our time in this samsAra will pass very easily with His

Grace. SrI UV points out that bhagavAn keeps aiming the arrow of viveka (discernment) at the devotee and thereby removes the confusion caused by the ten indriya-s and the mind, and the devotee is thus able to attain Him easily - 'daSa indriya Ananam ghoram yo mano rajanIcaram viveka Sara jAlena Samam nayati yoginAm' (SASvata samhitA). · pASuram 1.6.8: kazhimin toNDIrgaL kazhittu tozhumin avanai, tozhudAl vazhi ninRa val vinai mALvittu, azhivinRi Akkam tarumE. toNDIrgaL! kazhimin; kazhittu avanait tozhumin; tozhudAl, vazhi ninRa val vinai mALvittu azhivinRi Akkam tarum – Devotees! Desist from attachment to things other than Him. Worship Him and surrender to Him. As soon as you do, He will remove all the enormous sins that stand in the way of rendering kai’nkaryam to Him, and offer the eternal wealth of nitya kai’nkaryam to Him. svAmi deSikan captures the gist of this pASuram through the words “sakRd upasadane mocanAt†– He who bestows moksham even if one surrenders just once (sakRt – once, on one occasion; upasadana – approaching, sitting at the feet) - avanait tozhudAl azhivinRi Akkam tarumE. Surrendering to Him not only enables the devotee to cross the ocean of time in this world easily (pASuram 1.6.7), but it also will give the devotee the eternal abode of SrI vaikunTham at the end of this life (current pASuram). The pATham used by SrI

ve’nkaTeSAcArya and others is “sakRd upasadana mokshaNAtâ€, whereas SrI UV has preferred “sakRd upasadana mocanAtâ€. The first would mean that bhagavAn gives moksham, and the second would mean He gives liberation. SrI ve’nkaTeSAcArya explains svAmi deSikan’s words as “orukkAl upasatti paNNinArkku virodhi nirasana pUrvamAga a-punarAvRtti lakshaNa mokshattaik koDukkaiyAlum†– For those who approach Him even once, He gives the eternal moksham from which there is no return to this world again.

The basic message of AzhvAr is: First give up all other attachment; then surrender to Him; He takes care of the rest;

you are guaranteed mokshamâ€. It is as simple as that – sukara bhajanatvam – ease of worship. Having a part of us involved in vishaya sukham – attachment to worldly pleasures, and the other part in trying to devote to Him does not work well; inevitably, more time and more births are involved in attaining Him that way. -dAsan kRshNamAcAryan (To be continued) Narasimhan Krishnamachari <champakam wrote: SrImate Ra'ngarAmAnuja MahAdeSikAya namaH.

tAtparya ratnAvaLI - Submission 41, Slokam 17 Part 3, tiruvAimozhi 1.6, pASuram 1.6.5, 1.6.6. · pASuram 1.6.5: koLgai koLAmai ilAdAn eLgal irAgam ilAdAn

viLgai viLLAmai virumbi uL kalandArkku Or amudE. BhagavAn does not discrimate between different persons when it comes to His antara’nga kai’nkaryam; He does not have love for one and lack of love for another; He only distinguishes between those who seek Him for some benefit and then move away from Him, and those who seek Him with steadfastness and never move away from Him; He is the insatiable Nectar to those who seek Him as their only goal. svAmi deSikan describes the sukara bhajanatvam aspect sung in this pASuram through the words “sva vishaya niyateshu AdarAt†– virumbi uL kalandArkku Or amudE – To those who seek Him as their only goal, He makes Himself available as insatiable Nectar to them. SrImad tirukkuDanthai ANDavan explains this as “tannaip payanAgak karudugiRa paramaikAntigaLiDam Adaravu uLLavan†– He is One who is attached to those who seek Him as their only benefit, and who do not seek any other benefit from other deities. SrI UV notes that the more the devotee is attached to Him, the more He is also attached to them. For the others who seek trivial pleasures, He bestows those pleasures to them and then

moves away from them. AzhvAr is reflecting bhagavAn’s words from the following giTA Slokam literally in his pASuram: samo’ham sarva bhUteshu na me dveshyo’sti na priyah | ye bhajanti tu mAm bhaktyA mayi te teshu cA’pyaham || (9.29) “I consider all beings equal. There is none hateful or dear to Me. But those who worship Me with devotion abide in Me, and I do abide in themâ€. Bhagavad rAmAnuja explains that the meaning is that bhagavAn does not accept anyone based on considerations such as birth, race, etc.; the

only consideration is if the person has taken refuge in Him. The sukara bhajanatvam is reflected in His becoming subservient to the devotee who unequivocally seeks Him. Another bhagavad gIta Slokam that is relevant in this context is: teshAm satata yuktAnAm bhajatAm prIti pUrvakam | dadAmi buddhi yogam tam yena mAm upayAnti te || (10.10) “To those who desire to be constantly united with Me and who worship Me with immense love, I lovingly grant that mental disposition by which they come to Meâ€. In

this tiruvAimozhi, earlier it has been pointed out that bhagavAn does not distinguish between the items that ae used for His worship, as long as they are offered with devotion. In this pASuram, it is pointed out that bhagavAn does not distinguish between the worship of people based on birth etc. SrI UV notes that still one should follow the injunctions of the SAstra-s in performing the worship, and the meaning here is that bhagavAn accepts all of these offerings as equal when they are performed with devotion, and according to the SAstric injunctions. · pASuram 1.6.6: amudam amararkku Inda nimir SuDar Azhi neDumAl amudilum ARRa iniyan nimir tirai nIL kaDalAnE. amararkku amudam Inda nimir SuDar Azhi

neDumAl nimir tirai nIL kaDalAn amudilum ARRa iniyan – He who gave the nectar to the deva-s, and holds the cakra that glows with shooting flame, is the Supreme Lord with glory beyond words, and is sweeter than the nectar that came out of the churning of the broad Milk Ocean with rising waves, in which He is reclining. svAmi deSikan captures the gist of this pASuram with the words ‘svAdu bhUmnA’ – Because He is sweet as a result of the abundance of auspicious qualities (svAdu – sweet, pleasant to taste; bhUman – a great quantity, abundance, plenty, large number) –

bhUmnA rasAnam gahanAh prayogAh - the term bhUmA is used to denote the depth and abundance of His auspicious qualities. SrI N. S. ananta ra’ngAcArya translates from SrI ra’nga rAmAnuja muni’s vyAkhyAnam for the chAndogya Upanishad mantram – yo vai bhUmA tat sukham (7.23.1) – He who has plentitude is Infinite Bliss, and points out that bhUmA means abundance, plentitude. It is of the form of the celebrity of auspicious qualities. Thus, the phrase ‘svAdu bhUmnA’ by svAmi deSikan should be undersood as: One who

is sweet because of the abundance of auspicious qualities. There is nothing sweeter than Him, and His sweetness is beyond measure. If it is asked why the deva-s asked for just the nectar rather than ask for Him, it is because they just were not capable of realizing His greatness. -dAsan KrishNamAcAryan (To be continued) Be a better pen pal. Text or chat with friends inside Mail. See

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