tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Submission 58, Slokam 21 Part 4, tiruvAimozhi 1.10, pASuram-s 1.10.8 - 1.10.10.

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SrImate Ra'nga RAmAnuja MahA DeSikAya namaH. tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Submission 58, Slokam 21 Part 4, tiruvAimozhi 1.10, pASuram-s 1.10.8 to 1.10.10. pASuram 1.10.8: Selva nAraNan enRa Sol kETTalum malgum kaN paNi nADuvan mAyamE allum naR-pagalum iDai vIDinRi nalgi ennai viDAn nambi nambiyE. Selva nAraNan enRa Sol kETTalum kaN pani malgum; nADuvan; mAyamE. nambi nal allum pagalum iDai vIDu inRi nambi nalgi ennai viDAn - My eyes fill with tears of joy the moment I hear the name SrIman nArAyaNan, and I keep seeking Him. BhagavAn who is overflowing with infinite kalyANa guNa-s is trying day and night without stopping, with great attachment to me, and with full confidence, to get me under His control. The word nambi occurs twice in the pASuram. The first nambi means 'paripUrNan' - One who is full in all respects; the second nambiyE means 'trusting'. Even when a devotee feels that he is too flawed and inferior to aspire for BhagavAn's feet, BhagavAn won't rest, and will ceaselessly hold on to that devotee and

take Him to His feet. svAmi deSikan captures the principal bhagavad guNam sung in this pASuram as 'nata jana satata SleshINam' - BhagavAn seeks His devotees and holds on to them without any let-up (nata jana - those who have bowed to Him, who have surrendered to Him; Slesha - clinging to, adhering to; satata - always, without interruption - allum naR-pagalum). SrI UV suggests the alternate pATham - pravaNa jana bhRSa SleshiNam' - (pravaNa - favorably disposed; bhRSa - intensely), which seems to give the same meaning. pASuram 1.10.9: nambiyai ten-kuRu'nkuDi ninRa ac- SemponE tigazhum tiru mUrtiyai umbar vAnavar Adi am-SOdiyai empirAnai en Solli maRappanO. ten-kuRu'nkuDi ninRa nambiyai, ac-SemponE tigazhum tiru mUrtiyai, umbar vAnavar Adi am-SOdiyai, empirAnai, en Solli maRappan? - What flaw can I attribute to forget that great nambi (paripUrNan - One who is full in all respects) who resides in ten-kuRu'nkuDi, shines with the tirumEni that shines like freshly molten pure gold, is the cause of eternal joy for the nitya sUri-s, and keeps helping me always? None. One cannot find any excuse to forget Him -

One cannot say that He is not full in all auspicious qualities - because He is; one cannot say that His tirumEni is not beautiful - because It is; one cannot say that He is too far away to access - because He stands right here in tirukkuRu'nkuDi and other places; one cannot say that He does not help His devotee - because He always does. So there is no justifiable reason one can conjure up to keep away from Him. svAmi deSikan expresses the gist of this pASuram with the words 'darSita arcam' - He who displays all His attributes to the people of this world by taking the

arcA tirumEni such as in ten-kuRu'nkuDi - ten-kuRu'nkuDi ninRa ac-SemponE tigazhum tiru mUrtiyai. pASuram 1.10.10: maRappum j~nAnamum nAn onRu uNarndilan maRakkum enRu Sen-tAmaraik kaNNoDu maRappaRa ennuLLE manninAn

tannai maRappanO ini yAn en maNiyaiyE. maRappum j~nAnamum onRu nAn uNarndilan; maRakkum enRu maRappaRa Sen-tAmaraik kaNNoDu ennuLLE manninAn tannai, en kaN maNiyai ini yAn maRappanO! - I did not get my dharma bhUta j~nAnam - my ability to recognize or forget the outside objects - by my own free will; BhagavAn with the beautiful red lotus eyes, has taken His seat in my mind to ensure that I will never forget Him, and He is in me as if He is subservient to me. Based on both counts, there is no way that I, who am only interested

in full and uninterrupted enjoyment of Him, will ever forget that dear and precious Gem of mine. svAmi deSikan captures BhagavAn's guNam sung in this pASuram as 'smRtyai citte mishantam' - BhagavAn keeps eternally glittering in the mind of the devotee so that the devotee always thinks about Him - maRappaRa en uLLE manninAn tannai (mishantam - mish - to shine, to glitter; mannudal - to stay permanently). Most of us have only imperfect memory; btu in the case of His devotee, BhagavAn keeps eternally glittering in the mind of the

devotee and ensures that the devotee will always think of Him, and the flaw of lack of memory won't come in the way and make the devotee ever forget Him - such is His udAra guNam - generosity of giving Himself freely to His devotee. Summarizing the subject of this tiruvAimozhi, AzhvAr sings BhagavAn's guNam of "His magnanimity in giving Himself without constraint to His devotees" - 'sva vitaraNa audAryam' - through the following guNa-s of BhagavAn in the ten pASuram-s of this tiruvAimozhi: - BhagavAn extended His sacred feet to as far out as it was necessary to cover wherever there was a devotee in His trivikrama incarnation and sanctified them (1.10.1) - He is a sulabhan for those who chant His nAma-s repeatedly with devotion (e.g., while doing japa mantra-s) (1.10.2) - BhagavAn has been providing help and sustenance to all of us and to all our ancestors for time immemorial (1.10.3) - BhagavAn helps the devotee's mind to be fully concentrated on Him with full dedication (1.10.4) - BhagavAn is One who bestows benefits without the least expectation from us with regard to the timing when He bestows the benefits, the extent of the benefits etc. (1.10.5) - BhagavAn offers His help to all His devotees because of His inseparable relationship with them, just as a mother and father offer their help to the child because of that relationship between them (1.10.6). - BhagavAn provides the same ease of accessibility to the lowliest of bound souls of this world when they meditate on Him and sing His praise with devotion, as He provides to the nitya sUri-s of SrI vaikunTham who constantly think of Him without interruption, and who are almost equal to Him in most respects (1.10.7). - BhagavAn will not allow Himself to be separated from His devotee even for a moment (1.10.8) - BhagavAn displays all His kalyANa guNa-s to the people of this world by taking the arcA tirumEni in different places, and is close to His devotees and keeps attracting them to Him (1.10.9) - BhagavAn keeps eternally glittering in the mind of His devotee, and ensures that there is no way that the devotee will have any problem of not remembering Him even momentarily (1.10.10). -dAsan kRshNamAcAryan (To be continued)

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