tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Submission 26, Slokam 14 Part 2, tiruvAimozhi 1.4 contd.

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SrImate ra'nga rAmAnuja mahA deSikAya namaH.

 

tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Submission 26, Slokam 14 Part 2,

tiruvAimozhi 1.4 contd.

 

· pASuram 1.4.3:

 

vidiyinAl peDai maNakkum men-naDaiya anna'ngAL!

madiyinAl kuRaL mANAi ulagu iranda kaLvarkku

madiyilEn val-vinaiyE mALAdO enRu orutti

madiyellAm uL kala'ngi maya'ngumAl ennIrE.

 

vidiyinAl peDai maNakkum mel naDaiya anna'ngAL! madiyinAl kuraL

mANAi ulagu iranda kaLvarkku orutti madiyilEn val-vinaiyE mALAdO enRu

madi ellAm uL kala'ngi maya'ngumAl ennIr – O swans who are fortunate

enough to enjoy yourself in the company of your female partners!

Please convey my status as of one who is extremely sad because of the

immensity of my sins, and who is completely confused as to whether my

sins will ever be eradicated, to the One who tricked mahAbali as a

dwarf brahmacAri and usuped all the three worlds from him.

 

svAmi deSikan captures the principal guNa of bhagavan sung in this

pASuram as " svArtha lAbhe arthitva bhAvAt " – He who stoops to the

level of begging for His own wealth from one to whom it does not

belong in the first instance – madiyinAl kuraL mANai ulagu iranda

kaLvar " . The reference is to bhagavAn's vAmana incarnation. He

forgave mahAbali's aparAdham and re-took His possession from mahAbali

by appearing in front of Him as a dwarf brahmacAri and begging for

three feet of land from Him. Here AzhvAr in the nAyakI bhAvam, says

that similarly, He will forgive all the aparAdha-s of His devotees

(recall the guNa at the daSakam level – kshamA, aparAdha sahatvam).

Note how nicely the AvaLi is being strung for us by svAmi deSikan by

establishing a nice connectivity between the message of all the

pASuram-s.

 

SrI UV nicely describes how emperumAn skillfully thought about how to

take back the three worlds from mahAbali without killing him, without

causing any harm to mahAbali's fame for giving when anyone seeks

anything from him, by going as a brAhmin who looked harmless in the

form of a dwarf, etc. – madiyinAl iranda kaLvar. He goes and seeks

alms from mahAbali, for the wealth that belongs to Him to start with -

Such is the extent to which He goes to forgive the aparAdha-s of

devotees. Thus, even though the jIva commits enormous mistakes for

which there is no end and no limit, and which cannot be fully

expiated in infinite number of future births even, yet He will find

an excuse to forgive all these sins in one swoop under some pretext

(vyAjam).

 

· pASuram 1.4.4:

 

en nIrmai kaNDu ira'ngi idu tagAdu ennAda

en nIla mugil vaNNarkku en Solli yAn SollugEnO

nan nIrmai ini avarkaN ta'ngAdu enRu oru vAic-col

nan nIla maganRilgAL nalgudirO? nalgIrO?

 

en nIrmai kaNDu ira'ngi, idu tagAdu ennAda en nIla mugil vaNNarkku en

Solli yAn SolluvEn? nal nIla maganRilgAL! nal nIrmai avarkaN ini

ta'ngAdu enRu oru vAi Sol nalgudirO? nalgIrO? – He has personally

witnessed my condition in the state of separation, and still He does

not realize that I do not deserve to be left in this state of

separation. What is it about my condition that my Lord with the hue

of the water-laden dark clouds does not know, for me to communicate

that condition through a messenger? Oh blue-colored maganRil birds!

(krau'nca pakshi - a kind of water-bird, the male and female of which

never live separated). Will you, or will you not, communicate to Him

without any hesitation that a good jIvan (one that is totally

dedicated to Him) will not live if it is separated from its Lord.

 

svAmi deSikan captures the principal guNam of emperumAn brought out

in this pASuram through the phrase " timyan-megha-svabhAvAt " - He who

has the nature of water-laden clouds - en nIrmai kaNDu ira'ngi. The

root is tima – ArdrI-bhAve – to become wet. SrI UV explains that the

dark water-laden cloud will not desist from showering its waters

(ellArkkum peyyum mazhai); so also, bhagavAn is bound to forgive the

sins of His devotees (The only delay is because the messenger has

not gone and delivered the message!). SrI UV brings out the

importance of the AcAryan for attaining Him, by pointing out that for

the rain to shower, the assistance of the wind is needed; so also,

the messenger (read AcArya) is needed for bhagavAn to shower His

mercy.

 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan

(To be continued)