NenjamE: Maanasa sambhOdhanam of the AzhwArs

[Guest guest]

Dear BhakthAs:

 

Sri Sampath Rengarajan has started writing now on

the individual paasurams of Sri RaamAnuja NooRRandhAthi.

In his coverage of the first paasuram ,He has focused

on Thiruvarangatthu AmudanAr " s plea to his mind (Nenju ):

 

" nenjE solluvOm avan naamangalE "

 

Sri Rengarajan has pointed out the fine aspects

behind this appeal of Thiruvarangatthu AmudanAr to his

mind to recite AchArya RaamAnujan's name and Taniyans.

 

Those who wish to receive regualrly Sri Rengarajan's

original postings now on a private list are requested

to contact him at srengara

 

I would like to share with you some thoughts that

arose in my mind on reading Sri Rengarajan's comments

on AmudanAr's appeal to his Nenju .

 

Maanasa sambhOdhanam or a conversation with one's mind

(manas or nenju or heart ) is common with AzhwArs and AchAryAs .

They routinely appeal to their minds to cooperate with them ,

beg the nenju not to go astray or be tempted by avaishNavaa

doctrines or by Veda Baahya Mathams.

 

For instance , in the very first paasuram of ThiruvAimozhi(TVM),

Swamy NammAzhwAr has a serious appeal to his nenju or Manas:

 

" ThuyaraRu Sudaradi thozhuthezhan mananE " -TVM:1.1.1

 

(Meaning of the whole paasuram ): Oh My Mind ! Worship

the matchless holy feet of the Lord , who is the Sarva Rakshakan,

Sarva Aadharan, SarvantharyAmin, Sarvaj~nan and Sarva Sakthan.

NenjE ! Worship those parama paavana ThiruvdigaL for being lifted

out of the SamsAric sorrows ! Lord DEvarAjan will

remove our sufferings . He is the One , who possesses

anantha kalyANa guNams that can not be excelled .He is

the One , who will bless us with Jn~AnA and Bhakthi to

overcome the deficencies of the intellect , which has

doubts , confusions on the true tatthvams and goes astray .

Oh My Mind! Elevate Yourself out of the SamsAric mire by

worshipping Lord VaradarAjan , the Lord of DevAs !

 

In TVM 1.1.7 , Swamy NammAzhwAr points another fundamental

VaishNavite doctrine to his nenju ,which is the corner stone of

VisishtAdvaitham:

 

paDar poruL muzhuvathumAi avaiyavayavaai thORum

uDan misai uyirenak karanthengum paranthuLan

 

Here AzhwAr tells his mind that the entire prapancham

( Jeevans and Prakruthi) is Sathyam (real) and the Lord with

His anantha KalyANa GuNams is its aadharam(base) . He points

out that the Lord as the " uyir " and is present pervasively

in all chethanams and achEthanams as antharyAmi Brahmam

(Yasya sarvANi bhUthAni SarIram , Yasya pruthvI sarIram --

BruhadhAranya Upanishad). He advises his mind to have

this Sambhadha Jn~Anam (sEshathva Jn~Anam ).

 

This sambhandha Jn~Anam has to be explained by an AchAryan.

As an AchAryan , Swamy NammAzhwAr explains therefore to us

this central doctrine of VisishTaadhvitham using his mind

as a vyAjam just as GeethAchaaryan did in the battle field of

KurukshEthram using ArjunA as a vyAjam to bless us with

the Charama slOkam .

 

In the TVM 1.4.10 , Swamy NammAzhwAr has another dialog

with his nenju:

 

" aDalAzhi ammAnai kanDakkAl ithu solli

viDalAzhi mada nenjE vinayOmonRAmaLavE "

 

(Meaning ): Oh My foolish Mind ! Now You go to that

Lord , who is the supreme Lord of ALL ,and beg Him

to grant us (both You and me) the Kaimkarya SaamrAjyam

as revealed in His scriptures. If He does not respond to

your request , please persist and tell Him about my

pitiable state. Do not give up and throw the towel

and return in disgust . Stay with Him and plead my

case unitl He accepts my prayerful request.Afterwards

return to me and cooperate with me to stay on course

meditating on Him .

 

The ThiruvAimozhi paasurms ( 1.10.3-6) are four

examples of additional Maanasa sambhOdhanams :

 

EmpirAnait thozhAi MaDa nenjamE --1.10.3

 

(Meaning ): Oh my mind ! How fortunate I am that you are

cooperating with me! Please keep on worshipping

our Lord !

 

nenjamE nallai nallai unnaip peRRAl --1.10.4

 

(Meaning ): Here the pleased AzhwAr gives a vote of thanks

to his nenjam tha thas cooperated with him . He says:

" Oh my sweet mind ! well done! You have commenced

worship of our Lord , even before I have started. I am

fortunate to have you , my mind (heart) cooperate with me.

 

KaNDAyE nenjE karumangaL vaayikkinRu--1.10.5

 

(Meaning ): Oh my mind ! have you noticed our

Lord , the SarvEswaran, has become available to us

for enjoyable anubhavam of His dhivyAnga Soundharyam

and anantha kalyANa guNams? Do You know how this happened?

We did not dream of such a soubhAgyam.

 

In the TVM 1.10.6 , Swamy NammAzhwAr's conversation

takes an intensively sweet touch :

 

neeyum naanum innEr niRkil mEl maRROr

nOyumc chArkodAn nenjamE sonnEn

thAyum tanthaiyumAi ivvulahinil

vaayumeesan MaNivaNNan yenthayE

 

(Meaning ) : Oh My mind ! our Lord does dear things

to us like a caring Mother. He does hitham to us like

an affectionate Father. This blue-gem hued Lord has

enslaved me and caught me under His spell. He is indeed my

Prabhu and Rakshakan . If You and me join together in

praising this most merciful Lord , no inauspicousness will

come our way . Diseases like desire, anger will not

torment us .He will chase them all away .

 

These paasuram passages of NammAzhwAr are the highest

level of Maanasa SambhOdhanam of AzhwAr with SarvEsvaran.

 

Thiruvarangatthu AmudanAr takes a cue from here to

frame His AchArya Bhakthi for Sri RaamAnujA and

adresses his Nenjam to recite the sanctifying names

of his ParamAchAryan thru the recitation of his Taniyans.

 

SrimathE RaamAnujAya nama:

Daasan, V.Sadagopan