SrI UpakAra Sangraham - 8

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srI: SrI upakAra sangraham – 8 --- adikAram – 1 poorva upakAra paramparai (The Foremost Series of Favours) (continued) --- Text:- “Ini aRindEn”, “kaNNpuram ondRudaiyaanukku adiyEn oruvarkku uriyEnO” ithyAdhikaLin padiyE, samSyAdhi-rahitha-mAna sadhasath-vivEkam piRanthu ……” In the text of the Rahasyam, SwAmi Desikan mentions, “samSyAdhi-rahitham”. samSyam means, doubt. rahitham means, removed. Earlier, the jIvA had some doubt, perhaps regarding the ultimate cause of the entire creation. This has been cleared by the good AchAryA’s upadhEsam. He is now clear in his mind that SrIman nArAyanA is that Ultimate Cause. But, we notice that SwAmi Desikan has attached an additional word, “Adhi” (etc.), after the word, “samsSayam”. What does he mean by “Adhi” (etc.)? It may be confusion or a lack of clarity or even about one’s conduct after knowing the ultimate fact. SwAmi Desikan, who is the most

knowledgeable and the most compassionate AchAryA, does not want to leave the disciple in a state of uncertainty. Though he has not specified what he meant by “Adhi”, he clears all these that we mentioned above, by referring to another pAsuram, beginning with “kaNNpuram ondRudaiyaanukku adiyEn oruvarkku uriyEnO ?”. This phrase occurs in the pAsuram of Periya thirumozhi of SrI Thirumangai AzhwAr, in 8-9-3:- “kaNNpuram ondRudaiyaanukku adiyEn oruvarkku uriyEnO?”. The meaning of this phrase is “I, a devotee of the Lord of KaNNapuram, will not be an ardent devotee to any one else” This reveals the further improved knowledge of the jIvA, who, according to the earlier pAsuram of Sri Thirumazhisai AzhwAr, had acquired the knowledge that the Lord SrIman nArAyaNa is the sole cause of everything. All the gods are His

creations. Some of them appear to be equal to SrIman nArAyaNa Himself. One may be required to worship any one of them also. Or, he may have the confusion about the status of these gods. However, the continued guidance of the sAtvic AchAryA, sadhAchAryA, clears this confusion also from his mind. This is what SwAmi Desikan wants to indicate through this second quotation. The jIvA himself asks how he can be a sesha for any other god, once he has come to know who is the Ultimate Lord? This will be fully revealed when we study the second pAsuram indicated by SwAmi Desikan’s quotation, “kaNNpuram

ondRudaiyaanukku adiyEn oruvarkku uriyEnO? ” The full pAsuram is:- vidaiyEzh andRu adartthu vekuNdu vilangaluRa padaiyAl Azhithatta paraman pranchOthi madaiyAr neelam malkum vyalchoozh kaNNapuramonRu udaiyAnukku adiyEn oruvarkku uriyEnO? (Periya Thirumozhi, 8-9-3) The phrase quoted by SwAmi Desikan, taken from the last line of the pAsuram, is the crux of the idea which SwAmi wants to highlight. However, if we study the entire pAsuram, we will know the reason for the AzhwAr saying this expression. This is from the commentary of SrI Utthamoor VeerarAghavAchAriyar SwAmi. andRu – That day, (when nappinnai’s devotion was known). vekuNdu – enraged (against the bulls) Ezh vidai -- seven bulls adartthu -- (were) conquered and killed; andRu -- Then, (when His Consort SeethA was in misery) padaiyAl -- with the help of

the army of monkeys vilangaluRa -- collecting the mountain rocks Azhi thatta -- blocked the sea; paraman -- the Supreme (who doesn’t have another superior to Him) pranchOthi -- Para vAsudEvan madai -- reservoirs Ar -- full of neelam malkum vyalchoozh -- surrounded by the fields full of dark-blue flowers kaNNapuramonRu udaiyAnukku -- to the One who has chosen of all others, this one, namely, kaNNapuram, for stay adiyEn -- devoted as I am, oruvarkku uriyEnO? -- will I become a devotee of any other being? (Never) Here, Sri Thirumangai AzhwAr makes clear that the Lord protects those who are very dear to Him, taking all efforts and overcoming any obstructions that may arise, as He did in the cases of Nappinai and Sita. In the case of Nappinai, he encountered seven big bulls single handedly and killed them. In the case of His Consort, Sita, who had been abducted and kept a prisoner by the rakshasa RAvana, the Lord took greater efforts by laying a bridge to Lanka with the help of the army of monkeys and restored Her. He is the Lord without an equal or a superior. Compared to Him, all other gods are like tiny flies before the sun. He is unreachable by ordinary souls. Such a Lord has come down to stay at this place, known as kaNNapuram, to be accessible to His devotees. I have become a

slave-devotee of Him. Will I turn towards any other god? Will not. Similar firmness will develop in the mind of the jIvA who has become a disciple of a great scholar of sAtvic nature. There will not be any doubt or confusion in his mind as he has acquired such wisdom – discriminative knowledge – with the ability to distinguish the good from the bad. This is what indicated by SwAmi Desikan in the expression, “samSyAdhi-rahitha-mAna sadhasath-vivEkam piRanthu ……”

What happens next? We shall take up next. (to continue) dAsan Anbil SrInivAsan ------------

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