tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Submission 23 - Slokam 13 Part 4, tiruvAozhi 1.3 contd.

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SrImate ra'nga rAmAnuja mahA deSikAya namaH.

tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Submission 23, Slokam 13 Part 4,

tiruvAimozhi 1.3 contd.

 

· pASuram 1.3.7:

 

onRu ena, pala ena aRivarum vaDivinuL ninRa

nanRezhil nAraNan nAnmugan aran ennum ivarai

onRa num manattu vaittu, uLLi, num iru paSai aRuttu

nanRena nalam Seivadu avaniDai nammuDai nALE.

 

onRu ena, pala ena, aRivu aru vaDivinuL ninRa nanRu ezhil nAraNan,

nAnmugan, aran ennum ivarai num manattu onRa vaittu, uLLi, num iru

paSai aRuttu, nammuDai nAL avaniDai nanRu ena nalam Seivadu -

" Oh,You souls! These three forms – nArAyaNan, the four-faced

brahmA, and rudra all have divine forms that are disntinguished;

(with superficial analysis) it is difficult to figure out whether

these forms all have one soul controlling them, or whether they each

have different souls, etc. You should thoroughly analyze their

complete attributes in your mind based on all available pramANa-s,

analyse and understand them completely, completely remove any

attachment to the two who are inferior out of the three, and then

completely dedicate your devotion to the One Supreme Deity within

your lifetime, without any delay, realizing that this is the best

thing for you.

 

svAmi deSikan identifies the guNa of emphasis in this pASuram through

the phrase sva-ruci vitaraNAt – Because He bestows the desire in

Him. One meaning for the word vitaraNa is gift, donation. Because

bhagavAn is sulabhan, once we start meditating on Him with devotion,

He takes care of removing any confusion in our mind about who the

Supreme Deity is, and creates the desire in our mind to be totally

devoted to Him. All one needs to do is start with an unbiased mind

on the three forms, and then deeply analyse all the scriptural

evidence, the guNa-s of the three mUrti-s, etc., and He will take

care of creating the desire in us for exclusive devotion to Him, by

removing all our confusion. This is how the likes of mArkaNDeya,

ghaNTa karNa, etc. realized the supremacy of SrIman nArAyaNa over the

other two.

 

A more detailed write-up for this pASuram can be found in the

anaubhavam for this pASuram in the series – " tri-mUrti in

tiruvAimozhi " .

 

· pASuram 1.3.8:

 

nALum ninRu aDu pazhamai am koDu vinai uDanE

mALum; Or kuRaiu illai; mananagam malamaRak kazhuvi

nALum nam tiruvuDai aDigaL tam nalam kazhal vaNa'ngi

mALum Or iDattilum vaNakkoDu mALvadu valamE.

 

mananagam malam aRak kazhuvi, nam tiruvuDai nam aDigaL tam nalam

kazhal vaNa'ngi, nALum ninRu, nama pazhamai am koDu vinai uDanE

mALum; nALum Or kuRaivu illai; mALum Or iDattilum vaNakkoDu mALvadu

valamE. – By removing all other desires from our mind completely,

and meditating on the Lotus feet of our Lord who is ever associated

with our Divine Mother mahA lakshmI, all our eternal and huge sins

will be immediately destroyed, and all our desires will be fulfilled;

even when our soul leaves the body, it is best to die having

surrendered thus to Him, over the path of bhakti yoga.

 

svAmi deSikan captures the essence of the pASuram as `sarva kAla

ASrayatvAt' – mALum Or iDattilum vaNakkoDu mALvadu valamE – He who

can be surrendered to at any time in this birth, even including at

the time of death, with complete redemption from all the sins

accumulated over uncountable prior births). AzhvAr points out that

bhagavAn is such a sulabhan that He will accept our surrender at any

time, and redeem us from all our accumulated sins over countless

births – uDanE mALum, tIyinil tUSAgum, and we need not be worried

that we have such huge sins accumulated to our credit. SrImad

tirukkuDanthai ANDavan refers us to the following:

- " meru madara mAtro'pi rASih pApasya karmaNah keSavam vaidyam

AsAdya durvyAdhiriva naSyati " (vishNu dharmam 69.110) - One might

have accumulated sins the size the meru mountain; however if he

worships keSava, the sins disappear just as the worst diseases

disappear when treated by a good vaidya or doctor.

- na vAsudeva bhaktAnAm aSubham vidyate kvacit (vishNu sahasra

nAmam – phala Sruti) - Nothing inauspicious ever occurs to the

devotees of vAsudeva.

 

SrI UV quotes the upanishad text: " iha ced avedIt atha satyamasti na

cedihAvedIt mahatI vinashTih: " (keno. 2.5) – If one has realized

(Brahman) in this birth itself, then he becomes worthy of having

existed. If one has not realized, then it is a great loss.

 

Every single word that AzhvAr has chosen is full of significance:

mananam malamaRak kazhuvi – leaving behind all attachments to anya

devatA-s completely; Or kuRaivu illai – There is nothing that is left

to be desired or accomplished; mALum Or iDattilum – SaraNAgati at

His Lotus feet can be performed even at the time of death, and He

will offer His protection; tiruvuDai nam aDigaL – bhagavAn is to be

worshipped together with SrI or mahA lakshmi;

uDanE mALum – You don't have to wait for another birth after

surrendering to Him; nalam kazhal – His Lotus feet will never fail

anyone who has surrendered to Him once. These are the guNa-s of

emperumAn that make Him a sulabhan (recall the guNa identified by

svAmi deSikan at the daSakam level).

 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan

 

(To be continued)