tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Submission 55, Slokam 21 Part 1, tiruvAimozhi 1.10, pASuram-s 1.10.1 - 1.10.2.

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SrImate ra'nga rAmAnujA mahA deSikAya namaH. tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Submission 55, Slokam 21 Part 1, tiruvAimozhi 1.10, pASurams 1.10.1, 1.10.2. · Slokam 21 (tiruvAimozhi 1.10): vishvag vikrAnti dRSyam (1.10.1) vigaNana sulabham

(1.10.2) vyakta pUrvopakAram (1.10.3) svAntasya aikAgRya hetum (1.10.4) svayam udaya jusham (1.10.5) bandha mAtropayAtam (1.10.6) | cintA stutyAdi lakshyam (1.10.7) nata jana satata SleshiNam (1.10.8) darSitArcam (1.10.9) smRtyai citte mishantam (1.10.10) sva vitaraNa mahaudArya tushTah (1.10) abhyacashTa || In the previous tiruvAimozhi, AzhvAr described his samSlesahm with PerumAL which was initiated by PerumAL. In the current tiruvAimozhi, he is describing the great joy that he is

experiencing because of that samSlesham - 'ak-kalaviyaik koNDADugiRAr'. SrImad tirukkuDandai ANDavan explains the subject of this tiruvAimozhi through the words: it-tiruvAimozhiyil kuRRamillAda audArya guNam pESap paDugiRadu. upAyattin SiRumaiyaiyum, koDukkiRa purushArthattin mEnmaiyaiyum, vA'ngik koLgiRavanuDaiya tAzhmaiyaiyum pArAmal tannaiyE koDukkum guNam 'anagha viSrANanam' enbadu pESap paDugiRadu - BhagavAn's guNam of bestowing Himsself without any restraint to the devotee - unmindful of the triviality of the means adopted by the devotee, the greatness of the benefit bestowed by Him, and the lowliness of the recipient. This guNam of emperumAn is described as His 'anagha viSrANana parattvam' - His flawless Supremacy of giving Himself without limit or constraint to His devotee'.

AzhvAr is expressing his joy at bhagavAn's having bestowed the unique experience of samSlesham with Him. What is bhagavAn's guNam that is revealed here? It is BhagavAn's guNam of coming forward to bestow this kind of blissful experience on His devotee. svAmi deSikan describes this as 'sva-vitaraNa mahA audArya tushTah' - AzhvAr's happiness at the greatness of emperumAn giving Himself to the devotee of His own free will (vitaraNa - granting, bestowing, donation, crossing over). 'tannait tAnE

tanda kaRpagamAgai' enRa audAryattaik kATTum guNa'ngaLai aruLic ceigiRAr - AzhvAr is singing the guNa-s revealing BhagavAn's magnanimity through which He offers Himself to His devotee without any constraint or requirement. (It should be remembered that the simple and essential requirements remain - that the person should be His devotee with ananya bhakti - no devotion to other deities for any benefit, without any dvesham towards Him, and sincere devotion to Him. SrI UV refers us to the following pramANam from the mahAbhArata: patreshu pushpeshu

phaleshu toyeshu akrIta-labhyeshu sadaiva satsu | bhaktyeka-labhye purushe purANe muktyai katham na kriyate prayatnaH || "The Ancient Purusha is easily attainable by devotion alone, with the offer of leaves,

flowers, fruits, and even water, which 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?" Thus, sincere effort with the spirit of sAtvika tyAgam is the basic requirement in

attaining Him. Some hold the view that the message of this tiruvAimozhi is that BhagavA'n mercy is nirhetukam - not based on anything the devotee does. We will now see the different aspects of bhagavAn's 'sva-vitaraNa mahA audArya' guNam through the ten pASurams of this tiruvAimozhi. · pASuram 1.10.1: poru mA nIL paDai Azhi Sa'ngattODu tiru mA nIL kazhal Ezh ulagum tozha oru mANik kuraLAgi ak- karu mANikkam en kaNNuLaDAgumE. oru mANik kuraLAgi poru mA nIL paDai Azhi Sa'ngattODu tiru mA nIL kazhal Ezh ulagum tozha nimirnda ak-karu mANikkam en kaN uLadAgum - BhagavAn who appeared as a beautiful BrahmacAri in the form of vAmana, and who grew as trivikrama with His divine weapons and with His unique marks of Sa'nkha and cakra on His feet that measured all the three worlds and that were worshipped by all, and whose tirumEni resembles a beautiful blue diamond, is now visible to my eyes. svAmi deSikan describes BhagavAn's guNam conveyed in this pASuram through the words 'vishvag-vikrAnti dRSyam' - (vishvak - all-pervading, going or being everywhere; vikrAnti - step, stride) - He whose all-pervading strides were extended everywhere where there was a devotee during His trivikrama incarnation. His trivikrama incarnation. In the SabdArtham for this pASuram, SrI sAkshAt svAmi describes His divine feet as - ASritar irunda iDamaLavum nINDu varak kUDiyadAna tiruvaDi - His feet could extend to

wherever there was a devotee who wanted to worship them. Not only that - now He is granting that same vision to AzhvAr (en kaNNuLaDAgumE). · pASuram 1.10.2: kaNNuLLE niRkum kAdanmaiyAl tozhil eNNilum varum en ini vENDuvam? maNNum nIrum eriyum nal vAyuvum viNNumAi viriyum em pirAnaiyE. kAdanmaiyAl tozhil, kaNNuLLE niRkum; eNNilum varum; maNNum eriyum nal vAyuvum viNNumAi viriyum em pirAnai ini en vENDuvam? - If we worship Him with devotion, He will present Himself to us in person;

if we meditate Him, then again He will appear to us; For the sake of the jIva-s, He Himself has become the five elements - earth, water, agni, air, and the vast expanse of space; What more do we need to ask of Him? svAmi deSikan describes bhagavAn's guNam sung by AzhvAr in this pASuram, and that supports bhagavAn's guNam of 'sva-vitaraNa mahA audArya guNam' - His magnanimity of giving Himself freely and without restraint to His devotee - through the words 'vigaNana sulabham' - eNNilum varum.

VigaNana is given the literal meaning 'computing, calculation'; or, 'considering, deliberating'. To understand the meaning of 'vigaNana asulabham' correctly, one should look at the multiple interpretations that have been given by AcArya-s for AzhvAr's words - 'eNNilum varum'. - He will come as soon as one thinks of Him with pure devotion

(One is reminded of gajendra moksham, draupadi vastrApaharaNam, etc.) - He will appear when one meditates on Him with devotion e.g., as when doing mantra japa with the counting beads - Even when one is only counting numbers starting with 1 and sequentially counting, when the person reaches the number 26, BhagavAn will

be willing to consider that the the person really was thinking of Him as the 26th tattva, and will appear to that devotee (this is per na'njIyar). SrI ve'nkaTeSAcArya offers this as his interpretation for svAmi deSikan's description - vigaNana sulabhan. - He who exceeds all expectations of His devotee in conferring bliss. This is given as the main gist of this pASuram in PiLLAn's vyAkhyAnam - sarva jagadISvaranAna emperumAn tannuDaiya abhiniveSattAlE ennuDaiya manorathattai vi'njum paDi ennuDaiya kaNgaL tuDakkamAga uLLa sarva karaNa'ngaLukkum bhogyamAga, ini namakku

vENDuvadunDO engiRAr. Of the above interpretations, SrI UV comments that svAmi deSikan's words 'vigaNana sulabhan' best corresponds to na'njIyar's interpretation - the third in the list above. Alternately, if vi- is taken as negation, and gaNanam is 'cintanam' - thinking, expectation, manoratham, - then 'vigaNana sulabhan' could be taken to mean that He is sulabhan who exceeds all expectations of the devotee (the last interpretation above). The interpretation that bhagavAn is esily attainable through meditation and repeated chanting of His nAma-s with devotion seems to fit in well with words 'eNNilum varum' - vigaNana sulabhan, which is close to

the secomd interpretation above. SrI UV describes this as 'japa kAlattil mantra japa eNNikkaiyilum varuvAn. -dAsan kRshNamAcAryan (To be continued)

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