tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Submission 24, Slokam 13 Part 5, tiruvAimozhi 1.3 concluded

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SrI ra'nga rAmAnuja mahA deSikAya namaH.

tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Submission 24, Slokam 1.3 Part 5,

tiruvAimozhi 1.3 concluded.

 

· pASuram 1.3.9:

 

valattanan tiri-puram erittavan iDam peRat tundit-

talattanan ezhu tiSai-mukan paDaitta nal ulagamum tAnum

pulappaDap pinnum tan ulagattil agattanan tAnE

Solap pugil ivai pinnum vayiRRuLa ivai avan tuyakkE.

 

tundit-talattu ezhu tiSai mukan paDaitta nal ulagamum tAnum tundit

talattu iDam peRa, tiri-puram erittavan valattanan; pinnum tan

ulagattil pulappaDa tAnE agattanan; Solap pugil, pinnum ivai

vayiRRuLa; ivai avan tuyakkE. –

The four-faced brahmA who was born from the navel of bhagavAn has a

place of sustenance at that same lotus navel, along with the worlds

that he created; rudran who is credited with destroying the three

cities in the form of the three asura-s, has a place of protection on

the right side of emperumAn. While He is thus Supreme above all

else, still He takes incarnations and presents Himself in that same

world for all of us to see. If we are to list His kalyANa guNa-s,

there are infinte such guNa-s that we don't even realize. Our

inability to realize Him fully is just another of His mAyA-s.

 

svAmi deSikan captures the essence of this pASuram through the

words " SarvAdeh svA'nga dAnAt " - Because He has offered a place of

protection for rudra etc. in His body. SrImad tirukkuDanthai ANDavan

refers us to the following from moksha dharma, which converys the

same message: paSya ekAdaSa me rudrAn dakshiNam pArSvam ASritAn

(moksha dharma 36.11). Even when bhagavAn shows His extreme

saulabhyam by offering places of protection to rudra and brahmA in

His own tirumEni, and even though He has given them the same

treatment as He has given tio pirATTi by offering a place in His

tirumeni to them (refer to nammAzhvAr's pASuram ERALum iRaiyOnum

tiSai muganum tirumagaLum kURALum tiru uDamban – tiruvAi. 4.8.1), and

even when He has revelaed His superiority over all through His

incarnations, still there are those who are confused about who the

Supreme Deity is (ivai avan tuyakkE). The fact that bhagavAn is a

sulabhan in not only revealed by His offering a place of protection

to brahmA and rudra in His body, but also by His taking incarnations

in the world in which even the likes of brahmA and rudra don't set

foot, just to be accessible to His devotees.

 

· pASuram 1.3.10:

 

tuyakkaRu madi-il nal j~nAnattuL amararait tuyakkum

mayakkuDai mAyaigaL vAnilim periyana vallan

puyal karu niRattanan peru nilam kaDanda nal aDip pOdu

ayarppilan, alaRRuvan, tazhuvuvan, vaNa'nguvan amarndE.

 

tuyakkaRu madi il nal j~nAnattuL amararai tuyakkum mayakkuDai vAnilim

periyana mAyaigaL vallan , puyal karu niRattanan, peru nilam kaDanda

nallaDip pOdu amarndu, ayarppilan, alaRRuvan, tazhuvuvan,

vaNa'nguvan. – I will stay put at the Lotus Feet of that dark-hued

emperumAn who measured the three worlds, and who can control the

minds of even the likes of rudra and brahmA who are endowed with

superior knowledge and with clear minds beyond confusion, through His

leelA-s that are more huge even than the sky itself, and I will not

be distracted from my enjoyment of the greatness of those Lotus Feet,

I will brag about their greatness incessantly, I will embrace them,

and I will prostrate to them.

 

svAmi deSikan captures the most noteworthy guNa of bhagavAn from this

pASuram through the words " prahita padatayA " – Because He gave the

shelter of His extended Feet to all (during His trivikrama

incarnation) - peru nilam kaDanda nal aDi. The word `prahita'

means `Placed, extended, stretched out, dispatched, directed'. One

derivation given by SrI UV for the word prahita is `prakRshTam hitam

pra-hitam', stressing tht it is for the hitam or good of all. It is

not just those who are not devoted to Him that have difficulty

realizing His true nature; even the likes of brahmA and rudra, who

know that He is the Supreme Deity, get distracted by their desires,

and get confused about His true nature. If this is the case with the

likes of brahmA and rudra, there is nothing to wonder about the state

of confusion in which ordinary people find themselves in, when it

comes to realizing who the Supreme Deity is, and in following the

sure and correct path to redeem themselves from the bondage of

samsAra. To redeem these countless jIva-s, bhagavAn in His Infinite

Mercy, decided to take the tri-vikrama incarnation, decided to extend

His Feet to reach all these jIva-s and became accessible to them

without any effort on their part. Those Lotus Feet are the resort

that nammAzhvAr reveals to us in this pASuram. Through this act,

bhagavAn who is the utmost sulabhan (recall the guNa at the daSakam

level) shows His deep attachment to all the jIva-s who are His

possession.

 

As noted earlier, svAmi deSikan concludes the Sloka 13, identifying

the 10 key guNa-s of the ten pASuram-s of tiruvAimozhi 1.3, with the

summary for this tiruvAimozhi – ananta saulabhyam Aha – AzhvAr is

revealing the infinite saulabhyam (infinite ease of access to the

true devotee), through the ten pASuram-s of tiruvAimozhi 1.3

(pattuDai aDiyavarkku eLiyavan).

 

This concludes Slokam 13.

 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan

(To be continued)