geethA sAstramum nedunthAndaka sAstramum!!!

[Guest guest]

Sri Parthasarathi thunai

Srimathe Ramanujaya Namaha

Sri Vara Vara munayE Namaha

Sri vAnAchala mahA munayE Namaha

 

The topic itself will be puzzling for many. Bhagavat geetha is famous and it is

available today in almost all languages of the world. Bhagavat geetha finds its

greatness (as shown in its very name) “svayam padmanAbhasya mukamAseeth” it has

come out from the divine mouth of padmanabhan, emperuman Sri Krishnan. Geetha

appears in the great itihasam, mahAbharatham, which is celebrated by mahA jnanis

as “bharatham panchamO vEda:” Why do we consider the vedas and dharma sastras as

main pramanams to substantiate our sampradayam? It is because perumal himself

declares “sruthi smrithi mamai vAgyA”. Then is there any doubt in considering

bhagavat geetha that has been given by emperuman himself directly has the mukya

pramanam? Emperuman, Sri Krishnan due to his divine grace has showered this

mahA sastram to all of us in order to make us understand the essence of the

Upanishads in a simplified manner. “vEdEshu powrusham sooktham; dharma

sAstrEshu mAnavam; bhArathE bhagavat geetha;

purAnEshu cha vaishnavam” this verse shows the greatness of bhagavat geetha.

Among the vedas the purusha sooktham has its own merit; among the dharmasAstras

manu dharma sastram reserves its special place; in mahAbharatham bhagavat geetha

is the essence; and among the puranas Vishnu puranam has a special place.

 

Nammazhvar adorns emperuman as “neriyellAm eduththuraiththa nirai jnanaththoru

moorthi”. Who is that “nirai jnanaththoru moorthi”? He is none other than our

dear Parthasarathi, geethacharyan who blessed us with the great sastram,

bhagavat geetha. Further another rishi clearly states the greatness of geetha

as follows,

“sarvOpanishadhO gAvO thOkthA gOpAla nandhana:

pArthO vatsa: sudheer bhOkthA duktham geethAmrutham mahath”

[All the Upanishads are personified as cows; the person who takes care of the

cows is the gopalan, Krishnan; the calf here is arjuna; the cow secretes milk

for the calf but does the calf alone enjoy the milk? No all of us drink the

cow’s milk and enjoy. Similarly the milk here is the geetha sastram that was

extracted from the cow, the Upanishads. Though it appeared for the purpose of

clearing arjuna’s worries still it is enjoyed by each one of us today.]

 

Anyone can say the greatness in many number of ways but there is one azhvar who

establishes his thoughts in the strongest way that after his words there can

arise no doubt. That one azhvar is none other than our “vuraiyilidAdhavar”

bhakthisArar, Sri thirumazhisai pirAn. See how azhvar puts forth the greatness

of bhagavat geetha,

“sEyan aniyan siriyan migapperiyan

Ayan tvarai kOnAi nindra-mAyan andru

Odhiya vAkkadhanai kallAr vulagaththil

A-dhilarAm mei jnAnamil” (nan. ThiruvandhAdhi-71)

[We will enjoy the vyakhyanam to this paasuram in our nanmugan thiruvandhAdhi

series]

 

Thereby we have now seen the greatness of this geetha sastram to an extent. The

greatness has actually be realized by emperuman only after giving all the arthas

to arjuna and that is why he regrets a little bit at the end and advices arjuna

atleast to be careful before delivering the aforesaid arthas to anyone who do

not have interest in it or to those who do not have bhakthi towards emperuman

and the acharya who is preaching him the same.

 

“edham tu thE nAdhabhaskAya nAbhakthAya kadAchana I

na chAsussrooshavE vAchyam na cha mAm yObbyasooyathi II”

 

In this posting we have seen about the first part of our topic. In the next

posting we will see about the next half and then proceed to see how these two

sastras are linked to each other.

 

Azhvar EmperumAnAr Jeeyer thiruvadigalE sharanam

 

Adiyen ramanuja dAsee

Sumithra Varadarajan

 

 

 

 

 

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