tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Submission 66 - Slokam 24 Part 2, tiruvAimozhi 2.2, pASuram 2.2.3 to 2.2.5.

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SrImare Ra'nga RAmAnuja MahA DeSikAya namaH.

tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Submission 66, Slokam 24 Part 2,

tiruvAimozhi 2.2, pASuram-s 2.2.3 to 2.2.5.

 

 

· pASuram 2.2.3:

 

ERanaip pUvanai pUmagaL tannai

vERinRi viN tozhat tannuL vaittu

mEl tannai mIdiDa nimirndu maN koNDa

mAl tanin mikkumOr dEvum uLadE.

 

Is there any deity more Supreme than the Lord who was gracious enough

to give a place in His tirumEni to BrahmA and Rudra at an equal status

with MahA LakshmI so that all nitya sUri-s will worship them as well,

and who took the tri-vikrama incarnation so that He could include

everyone in all the worlds under the protection of His feet because of

His concern for all without distinction?

 

SvAmi DeSikan captures the message of this pASuram with the words

'vAmanatve mahAntam' - He who grew to the most unimaginable trivikrama

form from the tiny vAmana form - mEl tannai mIdiDa nimirndu maN koNDa.

'vAmanatve mahatvam' is the guNa sung here - BhagavAn is revealing His

Supremacy over all through His vAmana incarnation, where he grew to

trivikrama incarnation, in which Rudra and BrahmA had association with

His feet in more than one way - by having the divine blessing through

the touch of His feet (BrahmA, Rudra, and all the other beings) -

BrahmA by offering worship, and Rudra by bearing the water that flowed

from His feet in the form of Ganges.

 

BhagavAn's parattvam (Supremacy), saulabhyam(ease of accessibility),

vyAmoham (attachment to all), etc., are all sung here. PirATTi is

equal to Him in all ways, while BrahmA and Rudra are but jIva-s; and

yet, He gives them equal treatment by giving them a place on His divine

body. In His trivikrama incarnation, BrahmA and Rudra were all

included under His feet; the water from His feet fell on Rudra's head

and flowed as Ganges; BrahmA offered worship to His feet during the

trivikrama incarnation. Is He the Supreme Deity, or are they? AzhvAr

asks: Shouldn't the answer be obvious to everyone?

 

A more detailed write-up on this pASuram can be found in the web in the

series " tri-mUrti-s in tiruvAimozhi. "

 

· pASuram 2.2.4:

 

dEvum epporuLum paDaikka, pUvil nAnmuganaip paDaitta

dEvan emperumAnukku allAl, pUvum pUSanaiyum tagumE.

 

Would it even be appropriate to make flower offerings and other worship

to any deity other than our NarAyaNan who created the four-faced BrahmA

in His navel and entrusted him, under His direct control, with the

function of creating all the other deities and the other different

entities?

 

SvAmi DeSikan describes the guNa sung in this pASuram with the words

'nAbhI padmottha viSvam' - He from whose navel the BrahmANDa was

created along with BrahmA, who then created everything else inside the

BrahmANDa with BhagavAn being his Guide and antaryAmi (uttha - arising

or orinating from, born or produced from) - dEvum ep-poruLum paDaikka,

pUvil nAnmuganaip paDaitta. SrI PBA explains svAmi DeSikan's words as

' nAbhik kamalattilE (saddvArakamAga) sakalattaiyum paDaittavan'.

NammAzhvAr makes it clear in his pASuram 2.2.9 (kAkkum iyalvinan kaNNa

perumAn) later in this tiruvAimozhi, that BhagavAn is the true Creator

of everything, just using BrahmA as the medium, but being his antaryAmi

and guide.

 

The vedAnta declares that Brahman is the One who is responsible for

creation of the world, its sustenance and destruction - 'yato vA imAni

bhUtAni jAyante, yena jAtAni jIvanti, tat-prayantabhisamviSanti, tad

vijij~nAsasva | tad brahmeti | (taitt. bhRgu. 1)'. AzhvAr points out

that it was from His navel that the BrahmANDa came into being. BrahmA

was created by Him in this, and then subsequent creation took place.

Thus, He is the Supreme Deity, and no one else.

 

Note AzhvAr's use of words - dEvu to refer to all the other deities,

and dEvan to refer to emperumAn, clearly distinguishing that He is

above all, and the Lord of all. The word dEvan (from div - krIdE - to

indulge in sports) signifies that He indulges in the sports of

Creation, protection, and destruction.

 

 

· pASuram 2.2.5:

 

tagum SIrt tan tani mudalinuLLE migum dEvum epporuLum paDaikka

tagum kOlat tAmaraik kaN en ammAn migum SOdi aRivAr yavarE.

 

tan tani mudalil uLLE migum dEvum ep-poruLum paDaikka tagum SIr tagum

kOlam tAmaraik kaNNan en ammAn migum Sodi mEl evar aRivAr? - No one can

even comprehend the immense beauty and greatness of the tirumEni -

divine form - of our Lord who has all the knowledge and the power to

create all the great gods and everything else by His mere will and

without any other accessories, and who has the beautiful lotus-like

reddish eyes that befit His Supreme Lordship.

 

SvAmi DeSikan identifies the key aspect that is presented in this

pASuram in support of BhagavAn's Supreme Lordship as the beauty of His

eyes - 'tad-anuguNa dRSam' - He is One with beautiful lotus-like eyes

that befit His Supreme Lordship - tagum kOlat tAmaraik kaNNan.

 

There are some unique aspects of BhagavAn that do not apply to anyone

else - the SrIvatsam mole on His chest, His being the Consort of

LakshmI, His beautiful lotus-like eyes, etc. AzhvAr specifically sings

about His beautiful eyes here - tagum kOlat tAmaraik kaN en ammAn. It

is not just the beauty of the eyes that stands out about His eyes; the

very sight of His eyes falling on anyone will wipe out all their sins.

 

 

The beauty of His eyes are sung in the veda-s. In the Upanishad, when

the process of creation is described, the word 'aikshata' is the one

that is used: sad eva saumyedam agra AsId ekam eva advitiyam tad

aikshata bahu syam prajayeya (taitt. 2.1.1), and also in the subsequent

description. Even though the word is generally translated as 'It

thought', it really is derived from the word 'Iksha' - to see.

 

By the very beauty of His eyes, He can conquer anyone. 'jitam te

puNDarIkAkaksha namste viSva bhAvana' - The Creator of the Universe,

SrIman NarAyaNan, wins over the devotee by His very lotus-eyes.

 

HanumAn describes rAma to sItAdevi through a reference to His

lotus-like eyes that steal the minds of all devotees - " rAmah kamala

patrAkshah sarva sattva manorathah'.

 

In chAndogya upanishad (1.6.7), we have the description -

 

ya esho'ntarAditye hiraNmayaH purusha ucyate |

tasya yathA kapyAsam puNDarIka evamakshiNI..||

 

He shines like gold in the middle of the Sun, and His eyes shine like

the blossoming lotus.

 

The write-ups for the nAma-s SubhekshaNah (395), padma nibhekshaNaH

(346), and aravindAkshaH (348) in the SrI VishNu sahasra nAma series

contain a lot more detail about the mahimA - greatness of BhagavAn's

lotus eyes, with many additional supports from the Sruti and smRti-s.

The material is not reproduced here in the interests of brevity.

 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan

(To be continued)

 

 

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