geethA sAstramum nedunthAndaka sAstramum-18

[Guest guest]

Sri Parthasarathi thunai

 

Srimathe Ramanujaya Namaha

 

Sri Vara Vara munayE Namaha

 

Sri vAnAchala mahA munayE Namaha

 

 

 

In the previous posting we enjoyed emperuman as 'ponnuru'. Next azhvar

attributes the qualities of precious gems to emperuman - 'maNiyuruvil bhoodham

IyindhAi'. Emperuman is like a precious gem and he is the five bhoodhas, Akasam

(sky), vayu (air), agni (fire), jalam (water), bhoomi (earth). Sri kulasekara

perumal in his divine work 'mukunda malai' beautifully portrays emperuman as

'maNi' as follows:

 

 

 

" bhakthApAya bhujanga gArudamaNi:

 

trilOkya rakshAmaNi:

 

gOpeelOchana sAdhakAmbhudhamaNi:

 

soundarya mudrA maNi: I

 

ya: kAnthAmaNi rukmini ka nagucha

 

dvanthvaikka bhooshAmaNi:

 

srEyO dEvasikAmaNi: dishatu nO

 

gOpAla choodAmaNi: II

 

 

 

Keeping the same in mind Thirumangai azhvar calls emperuman to be 'maNiyuruvil

bhoodham IyindhAi'. Emperuman stays as the body made of pancha bhoodhas and has

the qualities of the gems. Sri Periya vAchan pillai compares the qualities of

emperuman and the gems as 1) vadivil tEjOmayan- emperuman glitters like the gems

2) mAnikka seppilE pon pOlE tanakkAsrayamAna svaroopaththikkum svaroopAsrayamAna

guNangalukkum thAn suddha sattvamaya mAgaiyAlE prakAsakamAyirukkai- Take for

example a gem studded plate decorated with gold. Emperuman being suddha sattva

mayan his glory spreads to both the svaroopa that gives him form and also the

qualities that depends on the svaroopam. 3) thAn svaroopaththai kAttilum

bhOkyamAyirukkai - highly enjoyable. So there by azhvar showed that emperuman

is someone much different from the chit and the achit and is a supreme tattva.

Thereby the tattva traya knowledge was clearly imparted by azhvar following

which another doubt arises in our minds. Then is emperuman such a high tattva

that cannot be reached by us? The answer follows in the next line.

 

 

 

Meanwhile let us see what geethAcharyan has to say about the above words of

azhvar.

 

 

 

" bhoomirApO nalO vAyu: kam manO bhuddi rEvacha I

 

ahankAra etheeyam mE bhinnA prakruthirashtathA II " [7-4]

 

 

 

[know that this nature spread as panchabhoodhas earth, water, fire, air and sky

and manas, mahan and ahankAram, so totally 8 different things all belong to me]

 

 

 

" mayi sarvamidham prOktham sootrE manikaNA eva " [7-7]

 

 

 

[All these things are joined to me like the beads connected with a string]

 

 

 

In this example, geethacharyan shows his sAmyam (similarity) with the

thread/string that connects all the beads in a chain of beads. Like the thread

all the chetanas and achetanas are connected with emperuman. The thread goes

into the beads and binds all of them together. Similarly all the chetanas and

achetanas remain as the body and emperuman their athma. A single thread holds

all the beads similarly emperuman alone supports all the chits and achits. The

thread is hidden at the back of the beads still it doesn't need the support of

the beads. Similarly emperuman is hidden by the other tattvas but he doesn't

need the support of the other tattvas. If the thread is removed then the beads

fall down which indicates that only the thread holds the beads and the thread is

independent. Similar is the case with emperuman and the other two tattvas.

Though all these similarities hold good between the thread example and emperuman

they lays one difference. As per the sastric verse, " anthar bahischa tat

sarvam vyApya nArAyaNa: stita: [in all the objects in this world narayaNa:

remains inside and outside] which doesn't suit the thread case.

 

 

 

" rasOhamapsu kowthEya prabhAsmi sasisooryayO: I

 

pranavas sarva vEdEshu saptha: kE powrusham nrushu II " [7-8]

 

 

 

[Kunteeputra! Iam the taste in water, light of the sun and the moon, pravanam

among all the vedas, the sound characteristic of the sky, and the maleness of

the males. ]

 

 

 

Let us enjoy the sowlabhyam of emperuman in the next posting.

 

 

 

(To be continued)

 

 

 

Azhvar EmperumAnAr Jeeyer thiruvadigalE sharanam

 

 

 

Adiyen ramanuja dAsee

 

Sumithra Varadarajan