SrI UpakAra Sangraham -- III (17)

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srI:

 

SrI UpakAra Sangraham - III (17)

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niryANa adikAram

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Section - 10: SrI NammAzhvAr reveals all these so far described, in the first

verse of his work, Thiruviruttham.

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Sub-section: 1- Word-by-word meaning of the first verse (continued)

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SwAmi Desikan takes up the text further in the AzhvAr’s verse:

“kEttaruLAi adiyEn ceyyum viNNappamE.†– Please listen to the submission

being made by me.

On this, SwAmi Desikan gives an explanation:

“nee mayarvu aRa mathi nalam aruLukaiyAlE†-- As You grant me the

knowledge and devotion which are devoid of any confusion,

SwAmi Desikan uses the words of the Azhvar sung in the first verse of his

ThiruVaimozhi, where he says, it was the Lord Who graced him with a j~nAna that

is free from any confusion. He also graced him with devotion. The AzhvAr could

have said, the Lord gave him a clear knowledge instead of ‘knowledge, devoid

of confusion’. We have seen in the world that a person may have a clear vision

of knowledge, but at any point of time, there is a possibility of his getting

confused. Such a situation will not arise in the case of the AzhvAr, as he was

graced by the Lord a knowledge which never gets confusion at any time. That is

why the AzhvAr used a negative term which is stronger than a positive term.

By way of confirming this, SwAmi Desikan says further:

“nirupAdhika-dAsyatthilE nitya-pratishThita-bhuddhiyAna nAn†–

Here, Swami Desikan explains the word, “adiyEn†used by the AzhvAr in his

verse.

We have seen earlier the correct definition of “adiyEn†as ‘the servant

of the Lord and His devotees.’ This is known as ‘dAsya-bhAvam’. All of us

are the servants of the Lord and His devotees, no doubt. But, most of the time,

we do not realize this and behave in such a manner as though we are master of

all others or we are totally and unquestionably independent. Only after we get

the true knowledge, we realize we are only servants; and not masters. Our being

servants has no cause. It is our natural and essential quality. But it is

covered by the dirt of misconception. Only when we remove the dirt, our true

nature will shine. That is our true nature, which is not due to any cause. This

is what SwAmi Desikan says by the expression, “nirupAdhika-dAsyatthilEâ€.

Here ‘upAdhi’ means deception, disguise, limitation, and condition due to

time, place etc. and effect. Because of these conditions, the real and original

nature of an object is

hidden. It is restored only after the object is subjected to the cleansing

process. In the case of our soul also, its true nature is hidden due to some

reasons listed above and it requires to be cleansed so that the true nature

becomes visible.

But, in the case of the AzhvAr, there is no need for any cleansing, because his

soul shines in its original nature, which is stated by the term,

“nirupAdhika-dAsyatthilE†– His dAsya-bhAvam is not conditioned at all.

So, his intellect is ever stable in this attitude of service, which is stated

by the term, “nitya-pratishThita-bhuddhiyAna nAn†-- The AzhvAr says,

“Since adiyen’s servitude is not due to any motive or cause, adiyEn’s

intellect has become steady on a regular basis. Such a person being adiyEn has

also obtained another feature. Swami Desikan speaks about this in the following

words:

“ennAlE unnai inkavi pAda oruppatta†– Through me, You desired to get

sweet poetry about Yourself.

The Azhvar does not claim authorship for whatever he is going to sing in praise

of the Lord, through sweet Tamil verses. Here, it is worthwhile to recall the

determination of the AzhvAr to sing only about the Lord and none else:

“ennAvil inkavi yAnoruvarkkum kodukkilEn

ennAnai ennappan emperumAn uLanakavE.†(Thiruvaimozhi, 3-9-1)

The Azhvar says, “I will not sing sweet poetry through my tongue about any

one else, when my Lord is there.â€

He also does not claim authorship for the verses he composed on the Lord. He

has spoken about this in detail in ten verses in Thiruvaimozhi- 7-9. We may see

a sample of what he said:

“anRaikennaith thannAkki ennAl thannai

inthamizh pAdiya eesanai….. †(7-9-1)

(That day, He made me His own and through me got sweet poems sung on Himself.)

The AzhvAr now tells the Lord further, as reported by Swami Desikan:

“nirapEksha-svatantra-nAna unnAlE prEritanAik koNdu paNNukiRa

vij~nApaNa-kainkaryang-kaLAkiRa nAlu prpanthang-kaLaiyum thirucchevi

cARRi,†–

SwAmi Desikan qualifies the Lord with an adjective, “nirapEksha-svatantranâ€

– The Lord is independent but at the same time He is also without any desire

un-fulfilled.

Still, the Lord impels the AzhvAr to sing poetry. The AzhvAr too obliged Him by

singing four poetic works, as a service to the Lord, making only submissions;

and the Lord also listened to them keenly. The four works are: Thiruviruttham,

ThiruvAsiriyam, Periya ThiruvanthAthi and ThiruvAimozhi.

As a preliminary to do this service of singing on the Lord, the AzhvAr now

submits to the Lord requesting Him to listen to him:

“sruti-vishayang-kaLAna itthai ‘thoNdarkku amuthu uNNa’ lAmpadi paNNi

aruLavENdum enRu thiruvuLLamAm.†–

SwAmi Desikan says all these works of the AzhvAr are full of VEdic tenets and

it is the wish of the AzhvAr that these should be made nectar-like by the Lord

by listening to them, so that they are enjoyed by His devotees. The AzhvAr

himself says it in a verse:

“kaNdu koNdu enkaNNiNai Arak kaLitthu

paNdai vinaiyAyina paRROdaRutthu

thoNdarkkamuthuNNac colmAlaikaL connEn

aNdatthamarar peruman adiyEnE.†(ThiruvAimozhi, 9-4-9)

The AzhvAr feels that if he is able to make the Lord’s devotees to enjoy the

bliss, it would be more enjoyable than he alone enjoying it. He says: “By

seeing the Lord, my eyes have derived full gratification; the longing is

fulfilled; all my sins of the past have been totally effaced without leaving

even a trace of smell. Can I enjoy alone? I should share with Bhagavatas for

whom I, the devotee of the Lord of this Universe, have served a delicious meal

of these verses, for them to enjoy.â€

SwAmi Deisikan wonders: “Is this the intention of the AzhvAr in requesting

the Lord to stay for a while, and listen to his garland of verses?

 

(To continue)

dAsan

Anbil S.SrInivAsan

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