tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Submission 21 - Slokam 13 Part 2, tiruvAimozhi 1.3 contd.

[Guest guest]

SrImate SrI ra'nga rAmAnuja mahA deSikAya namaH.

tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Slokam 13 Part 2 - tiruvAimozhi 1.3 Contd.

 

· pASuram 1.3.2, starting with " eLivarum iyalvinan " :

 

eLivarum iyalvinan nilai varambu ila pala piRappAi

oLi varum mazhu nalam mudal ila kEDu ila vIDAm

teLi taru nilaimaiyadu ozhivilan muzhuvadum iRaiyOn

aLivarum aruLinODu agattanan purattanan amarndE (1.3.2)

 

" iRaiyOn eLivarum iyalvinan; nilai varambu ila pala piRappAi oLi

varum mudal ila kEDu ila, muzhu nalam vIDAm teLi tarum adu nilaimai

muzhuvadum ozhivilan, aLi varum aruLinODu amaindu agattanan

purattanan " – bhagavAn is One who has saulabhyam as a natural guNam;

This is evidenced by His taking different incarnations in different

forms, while being in no way constrained by the limitations of any of

these forms; on the other hand, He is of Infinite effulgence in

these incarnations, endowed with Infinite Bliss, and bestows the

ability for His devotes to enjoy Him fully (SrI vaikunTham), and at

the same time He is inaccessible to those who are not devoted to Him.

 

svAmi deSikan captures the primary guNa to be enjoyed in this pASuram

through the phrase: " adhikatara guNa ananta divya avatArAt " – He is

ananta-sulabhan as revealed by His taking many divine births, in many

forms, with all His kalyANa guNa-s, and thus being easily accessible

to everyone who desires to attain Him.

 

pUrvAcArayas' anubhavam is that when nammAzhvAr sang His sulabhatvam

in the previous pASuram by being tied to the mortar, AzhvAr lost

consciousness because of His deep meditation in this extreme

simplicity of emperumAn, and when he recovered after six months, he

continues with his anubhavam of bhagavAn's sulabhatvam once again in

pASuram 1.3.2, and now he sings about how bhagavAn makes Himself

easily available to those who desire to attain Him through His divine

incarnations.

 

sulabhatvam is bhagavAn's nature – eLivarum iyalvinan. There is no

constraint to the varNa in which He will take His incarnation; there

is no constraint to the acts that He will perform durimg His

incarnations; He will take His incarnations in human forms, or as

fish, tortoise, or anything else that He chooses, but He will not be

subject to any limitations of any kind in any of His incarnations –

nilai varambu ila pala piRappu. The veda declares this as –

ajAyamAno bahudhA vijAyate. In particular, He will bestow moksham

to those who deserve it during these incarnations as well – as

exemplified by His giving moksham to the maruda trees. He will show

His viSva rUpam, and at the same time He will bend down and be a

chariteer for His devotee. But His guNa of moksha pradatvam will

never be away from Him – vIDu Am teLi tarum adu nilaimai muzhuvadum

ozhivilan. Thus, bhagavAn is agattanan – antara'ngam or One Who is

intimate to those who are devoted, and at the same time, purattanan –

inaccessible to the others.

 

SrI UV notes that His divine incarnations are of more benefit for the

devotees than even His form in SrI vaikunTham, in the sense that more

of His kalyANa guNa-s are revealed for us to enjoy during His

incarnations in our midst. This is the significance of the word

adhikara-tara in svAmi deSikan's description of emperumAn's guNa for

this pASuram – adhika-tara guNa ananta divya avatArAt.

 

svAmi deSikan sings the avatAra rahasyam (the six rahasya-s about

bhagavAn's incarnations) of bhagavAn in Slokam 17 of his SaraNagati

dIpikA. The explanation for this Slokam can be easily found in the

bhakti list archives and other sources.

 

o pASuram 1.3.3:.

 

amaivuDai aRa neRi muzhuvadum uyarvaRa uyarnda

amaivuDai mudal keDal oDiviDai aRa nilam aduvAm

amaivuDai amararum yAvaiyum yAvarum tAnAm

amaivuDai nAraNan mAyaiyai aRibavar yArE? (tiruvAi. 1.3.3)

 

amaivuDai muzhuvadum aRam neRi uyarvaRa uyarnda amivuDai mudal keDal

iDai oDivu aRa nilam aduvAm amaivuDai amararum yAvaiyum yAvarum tAnAm

amaivuDai nAraNan mAyaiyai yAr aribavar? - Lord SrIman nArAyaNan

is the antaryAmi (Inner Controller) of all the cetana-s (sentients)

and acetana-s (insentients) in all the worlds; This includes all the

deva-s including brahmA and rudra, who have attained their superior

postions of creation and destruction respectively through their

superior dharma-s, to the point that one sometimes wonders whether

they themselves are the supreme beings. BhagavAn has all of them as

His body. Who will ever be able to comprehend the avatAra rahasyam

of Lord nArAyaNan?

 

SrI UV points to two versions for svAmi deSikan's description of the

primary guNa to be enjoyed in pASuram 1.3.3 – " sarveshu AsattimatvAt "

and " sarveshu AsaktimatvAt " , and prefers the first version. SrI

ve'nkaTeSAcArya has used the second pATham. Asatti means " intimate

union, close contact " ; and " Asakti " means " attachment, devotion,

fondness " . The first version – sarveshu AsattimatvAt, is

interpreted in terms of His being the AtmA of everything starting

from brahmA and rudra, extending all the way to all the cetana-s and

acetana-s. The second version is interpreted in terms of His being

attached with fondness to all the souls starting from brahmA and

rudra, all the way to all the other cetana-s and acetana-s.

 

The phrase in the pASuram tht corresponds to either of these

interpretations is " amaivuDai amararum yAvaiyum yAvarum tAnAm " –

tAnAm – He Who is all these things Himself, in the sense that they

are all His body. If we interpret the phrase as " tAn amararum

yAvaiyum yAvarum Am " , then it can mean that He is the antaryAmi of

everything – Asatti.

 

Given that the guNa at the daSakam level is bhagavAn's ananta-

saulabhyam, His being attached with fondness and with the same

affection to all, no matter whether it is the deva-s or the lowliest

of acetana-s, is more appealing than His being the AtmA and guiding

force of all the deva-s as well as all the other cetana-s and acetana-

s. SrImad tirukkuDanthai ANDavan summarizes the essence of the

pASuram 1.3.3 and says that it the nature of nArAyaNan to consider

that everything starting from brahmA, rudra etc., all the way down to

all the other cetana-s and acetana-s, are part of His body, and He is

their AtmA. They are all very dear to Him, and He loves all

equally.

 

amaivuDai amararum yAvaiyum yAvarum tAnAm amaivuDai nAraNan - He is

ananta-sulabhan because He is the AtmA or the Guiding Soul for

everything from the more accomplished souls such as the deva-s, to

the less evolved souls including the acetana-s etc., without

distinction, and they are all part of His body. It is significant

that nammAzhvAr uses the nAma `nArAyaNan' in the pASuram to describe

this guNa. SrI UV points out that the meaning for the nArAyaNa

Sabdam that is brought out here is that He is One who is the Cause

for all sentient and insentient objects, and One who is worshipped by

all including the likes of bramA, rudra etc. – " nArAj-jAtAni tattvAni

nArANIti vidur budhAh | nArANAm ayanam yena tena nARAyaNah Srutah " .

 

 

· pASuram 1.3.4:

 

yArum Or nilaimaiyan ena aRivariya emperumAn

yArum Or nilaimaiyan ena aRiveLiya emperumAn

pErum Or Ayiram piRa pala uDaiya emperumAn

pErum Or uruvamum uLadillai iladillai piNakkE (1.3.4)

 

" He is One whose greatness is beyond realization by those who are

opposed to Him, and He is also One whose greatness is easily realized

by His devotees; for those devoid of devotion to Him, it is a matter

of constant argument whether our emperumAn has in fact infinite guNa-

s and nAma-s to be praised, or He is One who is devoid of forms and

names " .

 

svAmi deSikan captures the main guNa from this pASuram through the

phrase " nata su-gamatayA - He who is easily accessed by those who

prostrate to Him – yArum Or nilaimaiyan ena aRiveLiya

emperumAn. " Or nilaimaiyan " emphasizes that He is of the unique

ease of accessibility to all His devotees without any distinction.

His svarUpam and nature could be easily understood by a monkey

(hanumAn), a cowherd woman (yaSodA), a huntress ( SabarI), etc. This

same idea is coneyed by AlavandAr - " namo namo vA'ng-

manasAtiIbhUmaye namo namo vA'ngmanasaika bhUmaye " - You are not

accessible either through words or through thought to those who try

to comprehend You by their own efforts, while You are easily

accessible through words and through thought to those to whom You

wish to reveal Yourself " . What is it that the devotee easily

realizes? It is the realization that He is One who is endowed with

infinite kalyANa guNa-s, and who takes countless incarnations each

with its own divine form.

 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan

(To be continued)