tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Submission 72 - Slokam 25 Part 3, tiruvAimozhi 2.3, pASuram 2.3.6 and 2.3.7.

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SrImate Ra'nga RAmAnuja MahA DeSikAya namaH.

tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Submission 72, Slokam 25 Part 3,

tiruvAimozhi 2.3, pASuram-s 2.3.6 and 2.3.7.

 

 

 

· pASuram 2.3.6:

 

SErndAr tIvinaigaTku aru na'njait tiN madiyai

tIrndAr tam manattutp piriyAdavar uyirai

SOrndE pugal koDAc cuDarai arakkiyai mUkku

IrndAyai aDiyEn aDaindEn mudan munnamE.

 

From time immemorial, I have been fortunate to become the servant of

One who is like destructive poison to the sins of those who have taken

refuge in Him, bestows the strong will to be dedicated to Him, does not

ever leave the minds of those who have realized that He is both the

goal to be attained and the means to attain It, has the divine tirumEni

(beautiful divine form) that ensures that they will never ever leave

Him, and the One who bloodied the nose of SUrpaNakhA.

 

SvAmi deSikan describes the guNam sung in this pASuram as 'bhakta

cittaika bhogyam' - He who becomes the only object of enjoyment in the

minds of His devotees; He who does not ever leave the minds of His

devotees - tIrndAr tam manattutp piriyAda avar uyirai aDiyEn aDaindEn.

Once the devotee realizes His eternal servitude to BhagavAn, He

occupies the mind of the devotee and gives Him the feeling that it was

from time immemorial that the jIva has been the servant of the Lord,

and makes him forget all the eons of suffering that the jIva had spent

while being immersed in the ocean of samsAra. It is like the feeling

of someone who has attained huge wealth suddenly, and will forget that

he had been poor earlier. Recall that in the previous pASuram, AzhvAr

sang - 'nuna pAdam SErndEnE - I have attained Your feet. In the

current pASuram, he says that he had attained BhagavAn for as long as

his soul has existed, not just now - aDiyEn aDaindEn mudan munnamE.

In other words, the joy experienced on realizing that He is both the

final Goal to be attained and the means to attain the Goal and

surrendering to Him, is so great that it removes all previous suffering

of not having experienced Him - such is the depth of the joy that the

devotee gets. SrI UV explains this as " BhaktargaLin cittattil orE

bhogyamAi vERonRum vERu samayattil idaRku mun anubhavittu tOnRAda paDi

anubhavikkap paDugiravan " . SrImad ANDavan gives the following quote

that captures the spirit of this anubhavam: 'prAcIna duHkhamapi me

sukhayanniva tvatpAdAravinda paricAra rasa pravAhaH' (svAmi deSikan's

varadarAja pa'ncAsat 41) - 'The unobstructed flood of joy that results

from kai'nkaryam performed at Your divine feet will make all my

previous sufferings look like joy also (they will drown out all the

previous sorrows)'.

 

BhagavAn achieves this 'bhakta cittaika bhogyatvam' by giving the

devotee the tiN mati - the strong mind to remain steadfast in his

devotion, by being the 'SOrndE pugal koDAc cuDar' - the guiding light

that will keep the devotee from falling back into the ocean of samsAra,

and by removing all obstacles to devotion to Him - arakkiyai mUkku

IrndAyai.

 

 

· pASuram 2.3.7:

 

mun nal yAzh payil nUl narambin mudir SuvaiyE!

pal nalAr payilum paranE! PavittiranE!

kannalE! amudE! KAr mugilE! en kaNNA!

nin alAl ilEn kAN ennai nI kuRikkoLLE.

 

My Lord! You are the pleasing sound that comes out of the strings of

the vEENA when it is played as declared in the SAstra-s! You are the

Superior Being that is sought after and enjoyed by the exalted beings

all over! You are One who purifies all! You are sweet as sugarcane

and Nectar! You are like the showering clouds that pour out their rains

for the benefit of all! You are One who has blessed me by giving

Yourself to me! Without You I can't survive! Please bless me with

Your sight!

 

SvAmi deSikan captures the gist of this pASuram with the words

'sarvAksha prINanArham' - He who is sweet to be enjoyed by all the

indriya-s (senses) (aksha = indriya-s, senses); in other words, He is

parama bhogyan - One who is Supreme Delight in all ways. PiLLAn

captures this guNam with the words 'sarva karaNa'ngaLukkum niravadhika

bhogya bhUtanAi' - He is the limitless joy in all ways in which we can

enjoy Him. AzhvAr points out that BhagavAn is absolute unadulterated

delight no matter whichever way we wish to enjoy Him - sweet for the

ears like sound from the veeNA played by the likes of Sage NArada,

sweet for the tongue - like sugarcane juice that is devoid of the

tasteless parts of the sugarcane stem etc., cool and fragrant like

Nectar from kshIrabdhi - cool for the sense of touch and fragrant for

the sense of smell, and 'kAr mugilE' and 'en kaNNA' - sweet for the

eyes as well. In other words, He is pure delight with no flaw, and

nothing left to be desired for the devotee. All the above ideas are

packed into three words 'sarva aksha prInanArham' by svAmi deSikan.

 

 

SrI UV brings out even more deep thoughts embedded in the pASuram - the

sequence 'pavittiranE! KannalE! amudE!' signifying that He first

purifies the devotees' minds, then gives the delight to the devotees

through their worship of Him - bhajanam, and then gives them moksham -

amudE!'; also, He gives these benefits to all devotees without

distinction - like the rain clouds that pour the rain for the benefit

of all without distinction - kAr mugilE!. SrI PBA points out that

'pannalAr payilum paranE!' signifies that what has been enjoyed by the

nitya sUri-s by their kai'nkaryam to BhagavAn is only a tiny fraction

of what there is to be enjoyed - He is such an Infinite source of

delight.

 

-dAsan kRshnamAcAryan

(To be continued)

 

 

 

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