tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Submission 51, Slokam 20 Part 1, tiruvAimozhi 1.9, pASuram-s 1.9.1 - 1.9.2.

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SrImate ra'nga rAmAnuja mahA deSikAya namaH. tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Submission 51,Slokam 20 Part 1 tiruvAimozhi 1.9, pASurams 1.9.1, 1.9.2 · Slokam 20: paryante [dRshTam] (1.9.1) atke ca dRshTam (1.9.2) sva-viraha-vidhuram (1.9.3) Dimbhavat pArSva lInam (1.9.4) citte klRpta praveSam (1.9.5) bhuja Sikhara gatam (1.9.6) tAlu simhAsanastham (1.9.7) | cakshur-madhye nivishTam (1.9.8) sthitam alikataTe (1.8.9) mastake tasthivAmsam (1.9.10) pratyAhAroktarItyA vibhum anububhuje sAtmya bhoga pradAnAt (1.9) || sAtmittal - enjoy to the fullest extent; digest completely. svAmi deSikan describes the message of this tiruvAimozhi as reflecting bhagavAn's guNam expressed as 'sAtmya bhoga pradAnAt' - 'Because He gives the enjoyment of Himself to His devotee in small doses at a time such that the devotee completely enjoys, digests, and assimilates every instance of His revealing Himself' - in other words, in small steps at a time. In our tradition, it is considered that bhagavAn does not reveal Himself completely to a devotee all at once, because such an experience could be unbearable for the devotee in one dose. This is the explanation given for ANDAL having gone through great agony and suffering being separated from Him

(nAcciyAr tirumozhi); He reveals Himself to her only in gradual steps, before She ultimately unites with Him. We will see the ten pASuram-s of this triruvAimozhi supporting this aspect. In his introduction to this tiruvAimozhi in his 'bhagavad vishaya sAram', SrImad tirukkuDandai ANDavan notes that bhagavan interacts with AzhvAr in different roles each time: as He would with pirATTi - His consort, as He would with garuDan - His vehicle, as with AdiSeshan - His bed, and as with yaSodA - His

mother. In each case, He lets AzhvAr completely digest that experience and enjoy it, and AzhvAr is describing these different experiences in this tiruvAimozhi. AzhvAr sang in pASuram 1.8.5 - "poi kalavAdu en mei kalandAnE" - 'He mingled with my body in actual fact'. In the current tiruvAimozhi, AzhvAr describes the different ways and the different steps in which bhagavAn mingled with him. · pASuram 1.9.1: ivaiyum avaiyum uvaiyum ivarum avarum uvarum yavaiyum yavarum tannuLLE Agiyum Akkiyum kAkkum avaiyuL tani mudal emmAn kaNNa pirAn en amudam Suvaiyan tiruvin maNALan ennuDaic cUzhal uLAnE. KaNNa pirAn who is my Lord, who is like nectar to me, and who is the Consort of LaksmI, is making His appearance all around me, displaying all His wealth and greatness without hiding them from me - He who has swallowed all the sentient and insentient objects of the whole universe without exception at the time of pralaya, and gives them all bodies again in His

next cycle of creation and protects them, who is the antaryAmI in everything, and who performs His creation by being the Material Cause in the creation Himself while undergoing no change of any kind and without recourse to any other material cause. AzhvAr's experience is given in graphic detail, step by step, in steps that are fully assimilated and digested. First, bhagavAn just comes in the regions near AzhvAr - not yet too close, but He appears, along with pirATTi, in the regions surrounding AzhvAr, as if trying to decide from which side to approach AzhvAr - ennuDai cUzhalil

uLAnE. svAmi deSikan describes this as 'paryante dRshTam' - He who is making His appearance in the adjoining regions. SrImad tirukuDandai ANDavan comments that bhagavAn coming around AzhvAr looking for an entry is like His seeking the friendship of sugrIvan - the monkey-king, though He is the loka-nAthan Himself: 'loka nAthah purA bhUtvA sugrIvam nAtham icchati', 'yasya prasAde sakalAh prasIdeyuh imAh prajAh sa rAmo vAnarendrasya prasAdam abhikA'nkshate' - rAma whose blessing will make all the

citizens rejoice, is seeking the favor of the monkey-king sugrIvan. · pASuram 1.9.2: Suzhal pala pala vallAn tollai am kAllattu ulagaik kEzhal onRAgi iDanda kESavan ennuDai ammAn vEzha maruppai oSittAn viNNavarkku eNNal ariyAn Azha neDum kaDal SErndAn avan en arugalilAnE. avan en arugalilAnE - He who is far, far away is getting closer to me - He is the same Lord who takes many different incarnations in the forms of different species with the aim of attracting His devotees, the same keSavan who took the incarnation as the Great Boar to retrieve the Earth from below the seas, My own Lord kaNNan, the same One who broke the tusk of the elephant kuvalayApIDam, One who is beyond the comprehension of even the deva-s, and One who is reclining in the Milky Ocean - is getting closer to me after having shown all His kalyANa guNa-s and His divya ceshTita-s (His wonderful acts) to me and thus having attracted me to Him. AzhvAr's anubhavam is that bhagavAn takes different beautiful incarnations in which He performs many incomprehensible acts - such as retrieving the Earth from the depth of the ocean, easily breaking the tusk of the powerful elephant by name kuvalayApIDam, etc., just to attract the devotees. He shows His infinite kalyANa guNa-s to AzhvAr and attracts him first, and then gets even closer to AzhvAr. svAmi deSikan describes AzhvAr's experience in this pASuram through the words 'atke ca dRshTam' - avan en arugal ilAnE - He is getting closer to me, after attracting me with his wonderful acts and His infinite kalyAna guNa-s - after these experiences have been digested. (SrI UV gives one interpretation where he uses the pATham 'arugal il' - il meaning 'dwelling' - One who has His

dwelling place closer to me). Note that the word 'Suzhal' was used in the previous pASuram to indicate 'surroundings', and in this pASuram it is used to denote 'incarnations' - taken to 'surround' or attract the devotee to Him. -dAsan kRshNamAcAryan (To be continued)

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