tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Submission 35, Slokam 16 Part 1, tiruvAimozhi 1.5, pASuram 1.5.1, 1.5.2.

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SrImate ra'nga rAmAnuja mahA deSikAya namaH. tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Submission 35, Slokam 16 - Part 1 tiruvAimozhi 1.5 - pASuram-s 1.5.1, 1.5.2. · Slokam 16 –

tiruvAimozhi 1.5: kshudra AhvAna AbhimukhyAt (1.5.1) nija mahima tiraskAraka arcA priyatvAt (1.5.2) sarvatra api a’nghri dAnAt (1.5.3) savidha Sayanatah (1.5.4) svA’nghri sakta aikarasyAt (1.5.5) | gopAdyApteh (1.5.6) aSesha IkshaNa vishayatayA (1.5.7) bhakta vastu prasakteh (1.5.8) Slishyan-nASa vyapohAt (1.5.9) tad ahita SamanAt (1.5.10) prAha nAtham su-Silam (1.5) || The guNa of bhagavAn that is sung in this tiruvAimozhi is identified by svAmi deSikan as sauSIlyam – His ability to be able move with even the lowliest of lowly beings without any differentiation (indicated by ‘prAha nAtham su-Silam’ at the end of the above

Slokam). As in previous Slokam-s, svAmi deSikan identifies the guNa-s sung in the ten pASuram-s of tiruvAimozhi, and show that all of these lend support to perumAL’s guNam of sauSIlyam sung at the daSakam level. · pASuram 1.5.1: vaLa Ezh ulagin mudalAna vAnOr iRaiyai aru vinaiyEn kaLavEzh veNNai toDu uNDa kaLvA enban, pinnaiyum taLavEzh muRuval pinnaikkAi vallAn Ayar talaivanAi

iLa Ezh ERum tazhuviya endAi enban ninaindu naindE. vaLam Ezh ulagin mudalAya vAnOr iRaiyai aruvinaiyEn kaLavEzh veNNai toDu uNDa kaLvA enban; pinnaiyum ninaindu naindu, taLavEzh muruval pinnaikkAi vallAn Ayar talaivanAi iLa Ezhu ERum tazhuviya endAi enban – bhagavAn is the Lord of all the seven worlds, as well as the Lord of all the beings in nitya vibhUti; but I, full of all sins, call Him a cheat who stole butter in AyarpADi. Then again I think of His greatness, and realize that He is my Lord who took birth among the

cowherds, and as the Leader of the cowherds, destroyed the seven mighty young bulls through His valor for the sake of the sweet smiling nappinnai. svAmi deSikan presents the guNam enjoyed by AzhvAr in this pASuram through the words “ kshudra AhvAna AbhimukhyAtâ€; kshudra means ‘lowly’; AhvAna means ‘bing calledâ€; Abhimukhyam means ‘favorable disposition’. The phrase means that He brings Himself down to the level where many call Him lowly names such as “kaLvA†- a butter thief, ‘Ayar

taliavan’ – chief of a bunch of (illiterate) cowherds, etc.; yet He treats them as His friends, interacts with them at their level, and blesses them. This is because of His extreme sauSIlyam. SrI ve’nkaTeSAcArya explains svAmi deSikan’s words as “akhila jagad eka kAraNa bhUtanAi, ayarvaRum amarargaL adhipatiyAnavanai, veNNai kaLavu koNDu amudu Seyda kRtrimanE enRu kshudramAna pErAlE Solla, adu koNDu abhimukhan AgaiyAlum – When this Lord of all worlds and Lord of all the gods and nitya sUri-s gets called by lowly names such as “the mischievous one who stole butter’, He still is favorably disposed to

them. This behavior is clearly indicative of His sauSIlyam. Other well-known instances of His sauSIlyam are His letting Himself be tied to the mortar by yaSodA with a rope, and then feigning fear and crying after He got tied just to satisfy her; His introducing guhan to pirATTi as His friend, and introducing pirATTi to guhan as ‘Your friend’. svAmi deSikan gives a few other instances in his dayA Satakam Slokam 65: nishAdAnAm netA kapi-kulatapaih kA’pi SabarI kucelah kubjA sA vraja-yuvatayah mAlya-kRt iti || amIshAm nimnatvam vRsha-giri-pateh unnatimapi prabhUtaih srotobhih prasabham anukampe samayasi || (dayA. 65) Instances mentioned in the above Slokam are: His closeness to guhan – the chief of hunters, sugrUvan – the leader of monkies, SabarI – a huntress, the hunch-backed woman, the utterly poor kucelar who did not have decent cloths to wear, the gopi-s who were too ignorant to be even capable of distinguishing their right hand from their left hand, the poor mAlAkArar who lived by making flower garlands, etc. svAmi deSikan points out that the greatness (unnati) of emperumAn on the one hand, and the lowliness (nimnatvam) of the likes of us, are just made equal (samayasi) by dayA devi’s anukampA (dayA). That is His sauSIlyam. Kshudra – lowly; Abhimukhyam – favorable disposition; AhvAnam – invitation, summons. · pASuram 1.5.2: ninaindu naindu uL karaindu urugi imaiyOr palarum munivarum punainda kaNNi nIr SAndam pugaiyODu Endi vaNa’nginAl ninainda ellAp poruLgaLukkum vittAi mudalil SidaiyAmE manam Sei j~nAnattu un perumai mASUNAdO mAyOnE! mAyOnE! ninainda ellAp poruLgaLukkum vittAi mudalil SidaiyAmE manam Sei j~nAnattu un perumai, imaiyOr palarum munivar palarum ninaindu naindu uL karaindu urugi punainda kaNNi nIr SAndam pugaiyODu Endi vaNa’nginAl mASUNAdO? - The Lord of prakRti! Your paratvam (Supremacy) that is evidenced by Your being the Material cause of everything that exists through Your sheer will, while not

undergoing the slightest change Yourself, is beyond the comprehension of all gods and Rshi-s. No matter what kind of superior and well-planned worship is offered by all these imperfect beings – using flowers, water, sandalwood paste, incense etc., they can’t do justice to Your greatness, and it will end up being totally inadequate. (Yet you willingly take the arcA form as desired by them, and make Yourself available to them for worship). Ideally, it would make sense if emperumAn takes into consideration the fact that the ‘worship’ offered by even the best of gods and Rshi-s is only going to end up being at so low a level

that it will end up being an ‘insult’ to His true greatness, and He desists from taking His arcA form and being ‘insulted’ with lowly and inadequate worship. But on the other hand, because of His sauSIlyam, He makes Himself available to us through His arcA incarnation, because He wants to come and be in our midst and be accesible to us easily. It is this aspect that svAmi deSikan captures as the essence of this pASuram – nija-mahima-tiraskAraka arcA priyatvAt – He gladly accepts the arcA form, even though the worship offered to Him totally abuses His Supremacy. This is in the same category as the ‘insult’ to His greatness by His being called a ‘thief’, ‘the leader of a set of uneducated cowherds’, etc., that AzhvAr referred to in the previous pASuram. In both

instances, it would be appropriate if bhagavAn decides to keep away from the likes of us, but on the other hand, because of His sauSIlyam, He loves to come down to our level, associate with us and bestow His blessings on us. Even abandoning the ArAdhanam performed by the nitya sUri-s who truly know His greatness, He comes down to us samsAri-s, and accepts our inadequate worship with delight – a reflection of His unlimiteds sauSIlyam. -dAsan kRshNamAcAryan (To be continued)

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