tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Submission 56, Slokam 21 Part 2, tiruvAimozhi 1.10, pASuram-s 1.10.3 - 1.10.4.

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SrImate Ra'nga RAmAnuja MahA DeSikAya namaH. tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Submssion 56 - Slokam 21 Part 2, tiruvAimozhi 1.10 - pASuram-s 1.10.3, 1.10.4.

pASuram 1.10.3: empirAnai endai tandai tandaikkum tam pirAnait taN tAmaraik kaNNanai kombarAvu nuN nEr iDai mArbanai empirAnit tozhAi maDa ne'njamE. maDa ne'njamE! empirAnai, endai tandai tandaikkum tam pirAnai, taN tAmaraik kaNNanai, kombu arAvu nuN nEr iDai mArbanai, empirAnait tozhAi! - Oh my mimd that is under my control! Continue to worship that empirAn who is my Lord, the Lord of all my ancestors, has beautiful lotus-like reddish beautiful eyes, and has pirATTi with the slender waist on His chest. svAmi deSikan captures the gist of this pASuram through the words - vyakta pUrvopakAram

- endai tandai tandaikkum tam pirAn - He who is known to have been One who has provided help and sustenance to our ancestors from time immemorial. Note the mention of pirATTi by AzhvAr in this pASuram where he sings the praise of bhagavAn's guNam of being a paropakAran - always helping His devotees. AzhvAr meditates on the cause for this Mercy of His, and sings about pirATTi who is the cause of this mercy. · pASuram

1.10.4: ne'njamE nallai nallai unnaip peRRAl en SeyyOm, ini enna kuRaivinam? maindanai malarAL maNavALanait tu'njum pOdu viDAdu toDar kaNDAi. Oh my mind! Since I possess you who were good (by seeking Him alone with full dedication) even before I asked you to be good, and since you continue to be good after I asked you, there is nothing that is beyond my ability to accomplish. I have no unfulfilled wish whatsoever. Even when I sleep or can't worship Him for any reason, I ask you to be with the ever-youthful Consort of PirATTi. svAmi deSikan describes the gist of this pASuram with the words 'svAntasya aikAgRya hetum

( 'svAnta - mind, heart; aikAgRyam - intentness on one object) - BhagavAn who is the cause for our mind to be with Him without interruption (again because malarAL or pirATTi is with Him) - ne'njamE malarAL maNavALanai tu'njum pOdum viDAdu tuDar kaNDAi. The interpretations given by different AcArya-s for svAmi deSikan's words to describe the gist of this pASuram differ slightly, and are given below: - Ve'nkaTeSAcArya - manas tanniDattilE tAnE aikAgRyattai aDaivadaRku hetu bhUtanAi - He who facilitates the mind of the devotee to dwell on Him with full devotion. - SrImad TirukkuDandai ANDavan - manasu avaniDattil aikAgRyattai aDaivadaRkuk kAraNa bhUtan - He who is the Cause that drives our mind to meditate with full dedication on Him. - PBA - manam eppOdum viDAdu toDarum paDi iruppavan - He who has the guNam that ensures that the devotee's mind is fixed on Him without interruption. - tanniDattil ASritaruDaiya manassu vandu vizhum paDi Seigai - He who makes the devotee's mind get drawn to Him and fall at His feet naturally (handwritten manuscript by SrI V. K. Ramanujachariar, kindly provided by SrI Srinivasan of

Delhi) Several examples of His drawing the mind towards Him come to mind. The fact that BhagavAn is a sulabhan who ensures that the mind of the devotee is directed towards Him at the time of the final parting of the soul from the body is convyed in the varAha carama Slokam - aham smarAmi mad-bhaktam nayAmi paramAm gatim - where PerumAL assures BhUmi PirATTi that even if the devotee is unable to have last thoughts on Him while leaving this body, He will enter the devotee's thoughts and ensure that the devotee has the last thoughts about Him and attains His feet. While BhagavAn will ensure that the devotee attains His feet as assured to BhUmi PirATTi, note that there is a small requirement - 'madbhaktam' - to My devotee. We should be devoted to Him with ananya bhakti, with advesham, with the five a'nga-s of prapatti as instructed by svAmi deSikan in his nyAsa daSakam etc. While nammAzhvAr's mind was totally subservient to him - as he reveals in this pASuram (ne'njamE nallai nallai), the minds of most of us are 'anything but nallai'. This pASuram should remind us of the importance of training our minds and getting them under control to think of

His divine feet constantly. The importance of training one's mind to meditate on Him while we are in good physical and mental condition itself, is emphasized by many AzhvAr-s. PeriyAzhvAr sings "…appOdaikku ippOdE Solli vaittEn ara'ngattu aravaNaip paLLiyAnE! (4.10.1) - Oh Lord! I am seeking Your protection at the time of the final moment right now, since I won't be able to remember you at the final moment". In fact, in all ten pASuram-s of this tirumozhi, PeriyAzhvAr directs his mind to think of Him while it is in a p;osition where it can think of Him, so that BhagavAn will ensure that the mind thinks of Him in the last moment. Similar feelings are echoed by SrI Kulasekhara AzhvAr in his Mukunda mAlA stotram: KRshNa tvadIya pada pa'nkaja pa'njrAntam adyaiva me viSatu mAnasa rAjahamsaH | prAna prayANa samaye kapha vAta pittaiH kaNThAvarodhana vidhau smaraNam kutaste || 'When I am in my final moment, I am sure I won't be able to think of You. Therfore, my Lord KRshNa! Let my mind dwell on your lotus feet right now.' In his PerumAL tirumozhi 4.5 - taru tuyaram, Kulaseshara AzhvAr again sings the need for thinking of His divine feet always - 'there is no other choice'. For those who thus make effort to think of

Him constantly and who are devoted to Him with simple but unswerving devotion, He displays His 'sva-vitaraNa mahA audAryam' - He reveals Himself to them because He is a sulabhan when it is a devotee who is seeking Him. -dAsan kRshNamAcAryan (To be continued)

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