tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Submission 29, Slokam 14 Part 5, tiruvAimozhi 1.4 contd.

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SrImate ra'nga rAmAnuja mahA deSikAya namaH.

tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Submission 29, Slokam 14 Part 5,

tiruvAimozhi 1.4 continued.

 

· pASuram 1.4.9:

 

nADAda malar nADi nAL torum nAraNan tan

vADAda malar aDik-kIzh vaikkavE vagukkinRu

vIDADi vIRRirundu vinai aRRadu en SeivadO?

UDADu pani vADAi! Uraittu IrAi en uDalE.

 

UDu ADu pani vADAi! nAL tORum nADAda malar nADi nAraNan tan vADAda

malar aDik kIzh vaikkavE vagukkiRu, vIDu Adi vIRRiruttal vinai aRRadu

en SeivadO? uraittu en uDal IrAi – Oh cool breeze with a sweet

fragrance who keeps roaming the space between me and my Lord!

Instead of using my body and mind to worship Him through flowers such

as j~nAnam, tapas, etc., I have ascended the throne of non-

performance of devoted kai'nkaryam to Him because I am separated from

Him; I do not know where else this sin of mine will lead me into. If

your informing Him of my plight does not evoke His forgiveness for

me, then you might as well shatter this body of mine into pieces.

 

svAmi deSikan stresses bhagavAn's relationship to us in multiple ways

as another cause for His kshamA - nAnA bandhaih – nAraNan tan – mAtA

pitA bhrAtA ityAdigaLin paDiyE sarva vidha sambandhattai

uDaittAgaiyAlum – Because He is associated with us as our Mother,

Father, Brother, and all else . In sulabhopanishad, we have - mAtA

pitA bhrAtA nivAsah SaraNam suhRt gatih nArAyaNah (subAlaopanishad 6)–

nArAyaNa is the Mother, Father, Brother, Abode, Refuge, Friend, and

the Final goal. He puts up with our excesses just as our own father

and mother put up with our mistakes. SrI UV explains this through

the words – " kAraNattva, svAmittva, AdhArattva, niyantRttva,

upAyattva AdigaLAna pala bandha'ngaLAl pizhai porukkum " - He who

forgives our sins because He is our Cause, our Lord, our Support, our

Controller, the means to attain Him, etc. SrI PBA refers us to

tiruma'ngai AzhvAr's pASuram, describing the various relationships we

have with the Lord - " empirAn entai ennuDai SuRRam, enakku araSu,

ennuDai vANAL " (periya tirumozhi 1.1.6) – " My Lord, my Father, my

relative, my king, my entire life " .

 

· pASuram 1.4.10:

 

uDal Azhip piRappu vIDu uyir mudalA muRRumAi

kaDal Azhi nIr tORRi adanuLLE kaN vaLarum

aDal Azhi ammAnaik kaNDakkAl idu Solli

viDal Azhi maDa ne'njE! vinaiyOm onRAm aLavE.

 

Azhi maDa ne'njE! uDal Azhip piRappu, vIDu uyir mudalA muRRumAi, Azhi

nIrk kaDal tORRi, adanuLLE kaN vaLarum aDal Azhi ammAnaik kaNDakkAl,

idu Solli, vinaiyOm onrAm aLavu viDal (viDEl) – O my deep mind who is

ever subservient to Him! At least you don't give up on me as He has

done, until I who am loaded with the heavy burden of prior karma-s,

am united with Him – He who is the Cause for the cycles of our

infinite births and deaths, is in the form of all our diverse objects

of enjoyment as well as the means to enjoy them, and is reclining in

the deep Milky ocean in His yoga nidrA with His powerful discus ever-

ready to protect His devotees.

 

svAmi deSikan describes the aspect of kshmA that is reflected in this

pASuram through the words " sva-rakshA avahita-tamatayA " . avahita –

gavanam uLLa – One who is intent on; avahita taman – One who is the

best among those who is always intent on protecting all that is His,

which includes all the cetana-s and acetana-s in al the worlds

(avahitan, avahita taran, avahita taman – the best) . AzhvAr's words

that refer to this attribute of bhagavAn are " kaDal Azhi nIr tORRi,

adanuLLE kaN vaLarum aDal Azhi ammAn " . The words of SrI

ve'nkaTeSAcArya are: " tirup pARk kaDalilE loka rakshaNattilE

avahitanAik koNDu kaN vaLarndu aruLugaiyAlum " . One is repeatedly

reminded of AzhvAr's pASuram " kAkkum iyalvinan kaNNa perumAn

(tiruvAimozhi 2.2.9). SrI PBA explains svAmi deSikan's words here

as " tannuDaiyavargaLin rakshaNattilE migavum jAgarUkan " – One who is

ever watchful in the protection of His property – which is the

universe of all that exists, has existed, and will ever exist.

 

To summarize, the ten pASuram-s of this tiruvAimozhi covered above

sing the guNa of kshamA and aparAdha sahatvam of emperumAn:

 

- 1.4.1: He has as His flag garuDan who is very powerful in

eliminating anyone who is opposed to His devotees.

- 1.4.2: He is endowed with auspicious eyes that bestow His

blessings on us.

- 1.4.3: He stoops to the level of begging for His own wealth

even from someone like mahAbali, to whom the wealth did not belong in

the first instance.

- 1.4.4: He is of the nature of the water-laden clouds – He

who showers His Mercy on one and all without distinction.

- 1.4.5: He delights Himself in creating and protecting all

the beings of the world.

- 1.4.6: He is a relative and a friend to everyone out of His

sheer mercy.

- 1.4.7: He is endowed with an ever-forgiving nature because

of His inseparable association with pirATTi.

- 1.4.8: He has extreme attachment to all of us.

- 1.4.9: He is associated with us as our Mother, Father,

Brother, and all else.

- 1.4.10: He is the best among those who is always intent on

protecting all that is His.

 

All the above aspects of His guNa reveal to us that it is the Nature

of bhagavAn to forgive our mistakes, once we seek His protection.

(The intent of AzhvAr is to persuade those among us who are unsure of

the value of surrender to seek His Divine feet, to desist from

seeking protection from anya-devatA-s, and to realize the

unquestionable Supremacy of Lord SrIman nArAyaNa).

 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan

(To be continued)