Thiruvaimozi-Pasuram8and9

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Pasuram -8

 

Surar arivaru nilai viNmudhal muzuvadhum

Varan mudhal Ay avai muzudhundaparaparan

Puramoru moonreritthu amararkkum ariviyandhu

Aran ayan ena ulagazittha maitthuLanE

 

Narayana synonymous with Brahman of the Upanishads, is the Supreme Lord of all,parAparan, being the first cause of the universe varan mudhal Ay, which is incomprehensible even to the devas, surar arivaru nilai. Not only He is the cause thus the creator but also He is the annihilator. Avai muzudhunda parAparan, one who devours all. Thus He is the creator and the giver of knowledge to devas like Brahma, ayan ena amararkkum arivu iyandhu and He is also the annihilator, Rudra who burnt the three cities, aran ena puramoru moonreritthu.

 

Here it should be remembered that the words Brahma and Rudra denote the trinities and not the Supreme Being. Srimadbhagavatha and Vishnu purana describe the creation of the Universe and Brahma sprung from the lotus in the navel of Narayana and Rudra was born from Brahma. Narayana assuming the rajo guNa becomes the creator and when He assumes thamo guna he is Rudra, the annihilator and He becomes Vishnu when He is all satthva.

 

 

 

 

Pasuram -9

 

uLanenil uLan avan uruvam ivvuruvugaL

uLanalan enil avan aruvam ivvaruvugaL

uLan ena ilan ena ivai guNam udainmaiyil

uLaniru thagAimaiyodu ozivilan parandhE

 

uLan avan enil uLan- If it is claimed that He exists, He does.

 

Avan uruvam ivvuruvugal- In which case all the forms are His.

 

uLan alan enil- If it is contended that He is not, then He becomes all that is unmanifest, avan aruvam ivvaruvugaL

 

uLan ena----udaimaiyil- He has both manifest and unmanifest as His modes.

 

Hence He is ozindhilan parandhuLan, all-encompassing, and all-pervading.

 

The existence and non-existence, both are His modes. In visishtadvaita everything is real and the sentient and the insentient exist in the manifest state after the creation of the Universe and in the unmanifest state before creation destruction does not mean non-existence but only that the thing exists in another state. When a pot is destroyed it does not cease to exist but continues to exist as potsherds. What has been destroyed is only the form and not the substance. It never ceased to exist even before its creation but existed in the form of mud. Even those who deny God cannot deny Him altogether but only deny Him as such.

 

BhAva is being and abhAva is non-being, both are only he modes of Brahman. Abhava can either be prAgabhAva, prior nonexistence or pradhvamsAbhAva , posterior non-existence or destruction , both of which has been denied in Brahman who is eternal and all those with form and those which are formless are nothing but Brahman. Neither mutual nonexistence , anyonya abhAva, as when we say that the pot is not the cloth is appropriate with Brahman because there is nothing else except Him everywhere. Lastly the fourth kind of abhava, namely athyanthaabhAva, absolute non-existence, like that of skyflower, could be said of Brahman because it is the sole reality.

 

That is why Azvar says that He is both form and the formless. When He is not it is because He is not cognized by the normal means of knowledge. Moreover to say a thing does not exist is possible only when assuming that thing to be capable of existence as it is absurd to say that the horn of a hare does not exist. When one says God is not he first assumes a thing called God and then denies it because a thing that never existed cannot be denied.

 

Both existence and non-existence acquire their meaning because of Brahman because He pervades all and exists as form and formless both of which are His attributes.