SrI sArasAram -- I (35)

[Guest guest]

NOTE: Readers having difficulty in reading the text may need to change their

encoding to UTF-8.  

--------------

srI:

SrI sAra sAram – I (35)

--

I – ThirumantrAdhikAram

--

The Significance of ‘namah’ (continued)

---

SwAmi Desikan supports the above tenet with a point about the basic requirement

expected of a jIva who is endowed with some intelligence. The basic requirement

is that the jIva should conduct as per the command of the Lord.. This is

revealed by SwAmi Desikan in his own words:

“ippadi svatantra SwAmi iTTa vazhakkAna thanakku avan naDatthina nal

vazhiyAlE avanaip prasannanAkkip purushArtham peRa vENDukaiyAlE yathAdhikAram

dvayatthilum carama-SlOkatthilum conna vaSeekaraNam ingE artha-siddham.†–

The deep message of the middle word, ‘namah’, in the Tirumantiram, is that

the jIva has to please the Lord by putting into action the advice given by Him.

The advice is ‘surrender unto Me’. The jIva has to abide by the command of

the Lord Who is his Master (Seshi) totally independent without any restrictions.

The jIva has to perform the upAya that is the best one as advised by the Lord.

This has to be done by all according to the qualification and the status of

each. By doing so, the jIva will only earn the pleasure of the Lord Who is sure

to confer the benefit on him. The only way to get the attention of the Lord is

to surrender to Him. This means of surrender is spoken of in the dvaya mantiram

as “caraNam prapadhyE†(I surrender) and in the carama-SlOka, as “mAm Ekam

SaraNam vraja†(surrender to Me alone). When the jIva adopts the means of

surrender, the Lord is immensely pleased and is ready to confer the best of the

benefits on the

jIva. This is conveyed by the word, ‘namah’ of the Tirumantiram.

SwAmi Desikan further points out that this ‘namah’ indicates the

surrendering of all the responsibilities of the self to the Lord. This surrender

has to be absolute, as the jIva who performs the prapatti, has to cut off his

own role of protecting himself! In this context SwAmi Desikan gives some

particular instances from the scriptures. We shall study them one by one:

“‘SaraNam prati dEvAnAm prAptakAlamamanyata’

enkiRa iDatthilE damayantI namassai prayOgitthAL enkaiyAlum†–

Not only through this inner message, but also openly does the word, ‘namah’

indicates ‘saraNAgati’ – surrender. In order to explain this SwAmi

Desikan refers to instances from the great epic, the MahAbhArata. He quotes a

part of a SlOka pertaining to an episode involving DamayantI as mentioned above.

Let us see the whole SlOka and the next one to understand the full significance:

‘sA viniScintya bahudhA vicArya ca punah punah /

SaraNam prati dEvAnAm prAptakAlamamanyata //

vAcA ca manasA caiva namaskAram prayujya sA /

dEvEbhyah prAnjalirbhootvA vEpamAnEdamabravIt //’(AraNya Parva, 48-16)

(She (DamayantI) pondered over different aspects and concluded that the time had

come to seek refuge of the dEvas. So, she did the namaskAram physically and also

with her speech and mind.)

In this context, it is said that DamayantI applied ‘namah’ in to action.

Now, the second instance, as shown by SwAmi Desikan:

‘gacchadhvamEnam SaraNam SaraNyam purusharsharbhAh’ enRu upadEsikka

‘namaScakruh janArdanam’ enRu pANDavarkaL namas-saip paNNinArkaL

enkaiyAlum,†–

This is another context in the MahAbhArata mentioning how the pANDavas adopted

prapatti. They did it following the instruction by sage mArkaNDEya. SwAmi

Desikan has quoted only the relevant part of the SlOka as shown in the text

above. However, we shall study the SlOkas in entirety:

‘sarvEshAmEva lOkAnAm pitA mAtA ca mAdhavah /

gacchadhvamEnam SaraNam SaraNyam purusharshabhAh //’, (MahAbhArata, AraNya

Parva, 161-55)

(MAdhava is both the father and the mother of all the worlds. Oh, the best of

men, seek refuge under that Saviour by surrendering to Him.)

This was the advice given by the sage, MArkaNDheya, to the PANDavas. They also

acted according to the advice, says the next SlOka, points out SwAmi Desikan.

Here is the SlOka in full:

‘EvamuktAsrayah pArthA yamau ca bharatarshabha /

draupadyA sahitAh sarvE namaScakruh janArdanam //’ (MahAbhArata, AraNya

Paruva, 161-56)

(When MArkaNDheya gave them this advice, the three sons of Kunti and the twins,

Oh the best of the Bharatas, made namaskAra to JanArdana along with Draupadi.)

Thus, after the advice given by the Sage asking the PANDavas to surrender to

SrI KrishNa, the PANDavas uttered ‘namah’. It becomes clear that SaraNAgati

is the meaning of the word, ‘namah’.

Next, SwAmi Desikan shows another authoritative text to emphasize that

‘namah’ means surrender:

In the MantrarAja-pada stOtra, it is mentioned that by uttering the word,

‘namah’, one performs the Atma samarpaNam – surrendering of one’s Self

to the Lord. The relevant Sloka is:

‘namaskArAtmakam yasmai vidhAyAtmanivEdanam /

tyaktaduhkhOkhilAn kAmAn aSnutE tam namAmyaham //’(MantrarAja-pada

stOtram-11)

(I bow to the Lord to whom, having surrendered his self which is what is meant

by ‘namaskAra’, a man gets rid of his suffering and enjoys whatever he

desires.)

SwAmi Desikan points out that the word ‘namah’ in the Tirumantiram has

several implied meanings including the SaraNagati which is to be adopted by us:

“sAdhya-upAya-viSEsha-paramAna yOjanA-viSEshatthAlum†–

The word ‘namah’ has a special significance related to a particular means

to be adopted by us, that is, SaraNAgati. This has been dealt with SwAmi Desikan

in depth in his magnum opus, SrImad RahasyatrayasAram. Here is one such

reference:

‘namas-su Atma-samarpaNa-param ennmiDam,

“samit-sAdhankAdeenAm yaj~nAnAm nyAsamAtmanah /

namasA yOkarOddEvE sa svadhvara iteeritah //†(ahirbhudhnya Samhita, 37-37)

……….. ityAdikaLilum prasiddham.’

Meaning:- That the word, ‘namas’ indicates the surrender of self (Atma

samarpaNam) is also well-known from the SlOkas such as: “Of all yaj~nas which

are performed with samit and such like as an aid, the man who has surrendered

his self to the Lord with the word ‘namah’ is said to have performed the

best yaj~naâ€.

SwAmi Desikan the topic further by saying:

“abhiyktarum ‘namah Sabdah pradAnArthah svAhA-Sabda ivEshyatE’

enkaiyAlum†–

Even the elders have stated that just as the word, ‘svAhA’ indicates the

meaning of pouring the havis into the yaj~na fire, the word, ‘namah’ too

indicates the surrendering of self (Atma samarpaNam) to the Lord.

After giving these authoritative references, SwAmi Desikan concludes:

“intha namah Sabdam thanE than thuvakkaRa sAnga-bharanyAsatthaik

kATTukiRathAkavumAm.†–

This word, ‘namah’ automatically indicates without any doubt the

performance of prapatti (Atma samarpaNam) with all its auxiliaries..

 

 

(To continue)

dAsan

anbil S.SrInivAsan

----------

 

 

 

 

 

 

Messenger blocked? Want to chat? Go to

http://in.messenger./webmessengerpromo.php