tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Submission 57, Slokam 21 Part 3, tiruvAimozhi 1.10, pASuram-s 1.10.5 - 1.10.7.

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SrImate Ra'nga RAmAnuja MahA DeSikAya namaH. tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Submission 57 - Slokam 21 Part 3, tiruvAimozhi 1.10, pASuram-s 1.10.5 to 1.10.7. · pASuram 1.10.5: kaNDAyE ne'njE! karuma'ngaL vAikkinRu Or eN tAnum inRiyE vandu iyalumARu unDAnai ulagu Ezhum Or mUvaDi koNDAnaik kaNDu koNDanai nIyumE. ne'njE! ulagu Ezhum uNDAnai, Or mUvaDi Ezh ulagum koNDAnai, nIyum kaNDu koNDanai. karuma'ngaL vAikkinRu Or eN tAnum inRiyE vandu iyalumARu kaNDAyE - Oh my mind! You are enjoying along with me the empirAn who swallowed all the seven worlds and kept them in His stomach during the pralaya, and took over all the seven worlds by measuring them with His three strides. Now you have seen for youself the way by which untold benefits are bestowed on us without our even thinking about them. svAmi deSikan describes BhagavAn's guNam sung in this pASuram with the words - svayam udaya jusham - He who chooses to appear of His own choice (svayam - By Himself; udayam - appearance; jush - to choose) - Or eN tAnuminRiyE vandu iyalumARu. AzhvAr tells his mind: I was not expecting or counting on having His darSanam, nor were you. But both of us saw Him in person. This is just like His keeping all things in His stomach during pralaya, which no one was expecting; and also similar to His extending the purification extended to all the jIva-s by the touch of His feet during His trivikrama incarnation, which nobody knowingly sought or expected. These are proofs that He is One who offers His protection of His own choice without our least expecting it. It should be kept in mind that the benefits that one derives certainly are related to one's karma-s, and not independent of it - karuma'ngaL vAikkinRu. The time when they bear fruit is purely up to Him - they will come when we least expect it - Or eN tAnum inRiyE vandu iyalum. It is not independent of our karma-s or actions. So one should strive for good karma-s all along. Also, it is not worthwhile comtemplating and worrying about all our karma-s in our countless previous births, but instead, we should dedicate ourselves to devotion to Him uninterruptedly here and now. He will give the benefits without any constraints at the most unexpected time, and they will exceed all our expectations. · pASuram 1.10.6: nIyum nAnum in-nEr niRkil mEl maRROr nOyum SAr koDAn ne'njamE SonnEn tAyum tandaiyumAi iv-ulaginil vAyum ISan maNivaNNan endaiyE. ne'njamE! nIyum nAnum in-nEr niRkil, mEl tAym tandaiyumAi iv-ulaginil vAyum ISan endai maNivaNNan maRROr nOyum SAr koDAn SonnEn - Oh my mind! If you and I stand steadfast resorting to Him, then He who is our Mother and Father, retrieves us from the ocean of samsAra, the Lord of all, and is blue-hued like a shining blue precious stone, will ensure that no negative attributes such as desire, anger, etc., come anywhere even close to us - and that is a promise. If we hold on to Him, then He will never let go of us. Even though the true devotee will have the natural disease of longing for union with Him constantly, the real diseases such as kAma and

krodha - lust, anger, etc., won't come even near that devotee. He will do what is pleasing to us like a mother, and what is good for us like a father. He takes incarnations in which He has His powers intact, just to be accessible to us. His tirumEni is beautiful like a beautiful, precious, blue diamond, just to attract us to Him. He is maNi vaNNan, beautiful and easy to handle - like a small beautiful bead. svAmi deSikan describes the key aspect of this pASuram that reflects BhagavAn's

guNam of "His magnanimity in giving Himself without constraint to His devotees" - 'sva vitaraNa audAryam' - through the words 'bandha mAtra upayAtam' - He who helps us purely based on His connection to us like the mother and father help their child - tAyum tandaiyumAi iv-ulahinil vAzhum ISan. A mother or father who see their child falling in a well will jump into the well instantly, without thinking about their safety. Similarly, BhagavAn will ignore all our faults, and help us just because He is our Lord and we are His possession (the Sesha-SeshI relationship, He being the Lord and we being His possessions). Again, note that AzhvAr stresses the need for our devotion to Him - nAnum nIyum in-nEr niRkil - if we continue to be steadfast in our devotion to Him, then He will not let anything happen to us. Otherwise, does He not help? Of course, He does - He gives us another opportunity through another birth and a fresh body, with its sense organs, etc., according to our karma. But what AzhvAr is talking about is the state where one's thought, word and deed are unswervingly dedicated to Him; for those, He ensures that the disease of being infected with desire and anger, and all other such diseases do not come anywhere near them. · pASuram 1.10.7: endaiyE enRum em perumAn enRum SindaiyuL vaippan Solluvan pAviyEn endai

em perumAn enRu vAnavar SindaiyuL vaittuc collum SelvanaiyE. VAnavar endai em perumAn enRu SindaiyuL vaittuc collum Selvanai, pAviyEn endaiyE enRum em perumAn enRum SindaiyuL vaippavan Solluvan - The same Lord whom the nitya sUri-s call their Father and Master and are meditated upon in their minds, is being called by me as "my Father" and "my Master", and being meditated upon by me also and sung about, though I am a lowly sinner myself. svAmi deSikan captures the essence of this pASuram through the words - cintA stutyAdi lakshyam - He who will be visible through the thoughts and praises of the bound souls in this world at the same level that He is accessible to the nitya sUri-s of SrI vaikunTham - . vallavarAna vAnavarin cintnaikkum stutikkum pOla nam cintA stutikkum vishayamAginRavanai . In other words, He is easily accessible to the mind and thought of the true devotee, irrespective of whether it is nitya sUri or a bound soul. SrI UV prefers the pATham - nIca stutyAdi lakshyam - He who is recognized by the praise and worship of even the lowly people, to the same extent that He is accessible to the nitya sUri-s of SrI

vaikunTham. In this pASuram, AzhvAr sings the saulabhyam (easy accessibility) of the Lord of the nitya sUri-s, towards even the lowlist of bound souls of this world. The nitya sUri-s who are equal to BhagavAn in most respects, and who can't separated from Him even for a moment, feel free to address Him as 'Our Father', "Our Lord', etc., and that is a reflectionos His unlimted

aiSvaryam - wealth. AzhvAr notes that this greatness of His extends to the level that He gladly gives the same levelof liberty of closeness to the lowliest of the bound souls of this world as well. -dAsan kRshNamAcAryan (To be continued)

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