tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Submission 45, Slokam 18 Part 2, tiruvAimozhi 1.7, pASuram-s 1.7.3, 1.7.4.

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SrImate ra'nga rAmAnuja mahA deSikAya namaH. tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Submission 45, Slokam 18 Part 2, tiruvAimozhi 1.7, pASuram 1.7.3, 1.7.4. · pASuram 1.7.3: Ayar kozhundAi avarAl puDai uNNum mAyap pirAnai en mANikkac cOdiyai tUya amudaip parugip parugi en mAyap piRavi mayarvaruttEnE. Being a child of the cowherds clan, He got beaten up by those cowherds for stealing butter; He provides wonderful help and support to everyone (He is full of wonderful leelA-s); He is my Shining Light, and one who has a wonderful brilliant form; He is the unblemished and insatiable Nectar; By enjoying Him constantly, I have got rid of all the ignorance accumulated over all my countless births. In this pASuram, AzhvAr declares that the continuous thought of emperumAn automatically removes the sorrows resulting from samsAra. SrImad tirukkuDanthai ANDavan comments that this Nectar is something that can be enjoyed without any niyamam – there are no constraints or requirements of any kind to enjoy Him and think of Him and His leelA-s. There is no kAla niyamam, deSa niyamam or daSA niyamam (no constraint of time, place, state, or any other constraint). The sorrow that is removed is the ignorance about the body-soul relationship, the desire for materialistic benefits, the ignorance of our eternal relationship with Him as that of the Seshan to the SeshI or the servant to the Lord, etc.; the benefit is the realization of the true nature of our eternal subservience to Him, and the realization that He is both the means and the end to be attained. svAmi

deSikan captures the essence of this pASuram through the phrase “nitya bhogya amRtasya” – Because He is the eternal and insatiable Nectar to be enjoyed (recall ‘sevanam svAdu’ at the tiruvAimozhi level) – tUya amudaip parugip parugi en mAyap piRavi mayarvu aruttEnE. He is not just the Nectar that gives long life to the deva-s, but also the Nectar that destroys the ignorance of the jIva-s and their bondage to samsAra in this world. SrI UV points out that AzhvAr is singing bhagavAn’ss sarva-rasatvam (enjoyable in all aspects) in this pASuram

– kozhundu (saundaryam or beauty), puDai uNDu (sauSIlyam or His ability to mix with everyone at their level), pirAn (vAtsalyam or His attachment to His children – the jIva-s like that of the mother cow to its calves), en mANikkac cOdi (aujvalyam – His eternal effulgence), etc. SrI PBA adds saulabhyam and ASrita pAratantRyam – His ease of attainability and His becoming subservient to His devotees (avarAl puDai uNNum mAyap pirAn). Every word of every pASuram – not just this pASuram, is full of Nectar. · pASuram 1.7.4: mayarvaRa en manattE manninAn tannai uyarvinaiyE tarum oN SuDark kaRRaiyai ayarvil amarargaL Adik kozhundai en iSaivinai en Solli yAn viDuvEnO. What fault can one find with my sweet Lord who permanently stays in my mind and removes all ignorance, who only keeps on elevating me higher and higher in my knowledge and devotion with His supreme brilliance, and who is the eternal sustenance and the Lord for all the deva-s? (There is no fault of

any kind that can be found in Him that can justify my leaving Him.) svAmi deSikan captures the gist of this pASuram through the words “tyAge hetu ujjhitasya” – He who is devoid of any reason whatsoever that can justify someone leaving Him - en Solli yAn viDuvenO? (tyAga – to leave, to abandon; hetu- reason; ujjhita – to abandon, leave, quit; to avoid, escape from). AzhvAr points out why it is impossible to move away from Him, even if he wanted to. BhagavAn has

entered his mind of His own accord, and has removed his ignorance and filled it with true knowledge (mayarvaRa manattE manninAn); bhagavAn only keeps elevating the enjoyment of Him by AzhvAr (uyarvinaiyE tarum); He keeps illuminating AzhvAr’s mind ever more by His unexcelled brilliance, and in fact He shines brilliantly as if He has derived immense benefit by occupying AzhvAr’s mind (oN SuDark kaRRai); the joy He gives is equal to the joy that the deva-s derive from worshipping Him (ayarvu il amarar Adik kozhundu); and, bhagavAn is occupying AzhvAr’s heart and mind exactly as AzhvAr desires (en iSaivinai). Thus, there is no cause or ground on which AzhvAr sees that one can even consider not worshiping Him. AzhvAr can’t see a justification for anyone leaving Him by saying that their aj~nAnam continues, or that He is too far away to attain, or that He is really interested in someone

else, or that He is not helping us, or that His Supremacy is not adequate enough and there is someone else who is truly more supreme, or that He is looking for some help in return from us. There is absolutely no cause for not worshiping Him - He is a delight to worship – sevanam svAdu. -dAsan kRshNamAcAryan To be continued.

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