nAnmugan thiruvandhAdhi-63

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Sri Parthasarathi thunai

Srimathe ramanujaya Namaha

Srimad Vara Vara munayE Namaha

Sri vAnAchala mahA munayE Namaha

 

Paasuram-54

 

“dEvarAi nirkkum ath dEvum athdEvaril

moovarAi niRkum mudhu puNarppum-yAvarAi

niRkindradellAm nedumAlendru OrAdhAr

karkindRadellAm kadai”

 

Azhvar’s inglorious words towards rudra and other devas (“pollAdha devarai”) made a few enquire, “Is your lord also not counted one among the devas as upEndran; is he not called as Vishnu among the tri moorthis? So whatever disgraceful words you say towards the devas is it not applicable to your lord too?”

Infuriated by the above query thirumazhisai piran answers “Oh you fools! The sastras do talk about upendran and Vishnu. But without realizing that the antharyami to these devas is none other than Sriman Narayanan all your erudition becomes utter waste

 

(dEvarAi niRkum athdEvum) Surprisingly Vishnu is one among the 12 Adhityas (son of adhiti, the dEva mAtha). Moreover he took incarnation as upEndra (vamana)

 

(ath dEvaril moovarAi niRkum mudhu puNarppum) The first and foremost among the devas are the mumoorthis (Brahma, Vishnu and siva) Even among them Vishnu plays a primordial role.

 

(moovarAi niRkum) One interpretation is that Vishnu is one among the mummoorthis. But our acharyas here aptly interpret that Sriman Narayanan himself resides as antharyAmi inside all the three moorthis.

 

(mudhu puNarppum) the primordial incarnation with the name Vishnu (mudhumai-ancient; puNarppu- sankalpa, thought)

In his Srirangaraja stava 2-5 Sri Parasara bhattar says,

“madhyEvirinja girisam prathamAvadhAra” [Oh! ArangA! You took the first incarnation between the brahma rudras. Probably it was to befuddle the jeevatmas thinking you to be equal to the brahma rudras. If you wanted to hide your svaroopa doing so then why did you in the same avatara show your paratva through sattva guna pravarthanam and also protecting the brahma rudras through your goodwill?]

Sri periyavachan pillai aptly chooses this pramana to explain the above part of this paasuram.

 

Is he the antharyami of Vishnu alone? Oh! No He is the antharyami of all chetanas.

 

(yAvarAi niRkindradhu ellAm) In all forms whether it is devas (immortal beings), manushas (human beings), triyak (fauna) or stavaram (flora) resides a jeevatma.

Bhagavat geetha declares, “avinAsi tu tat vidhdhi yEna sarvamidham tatam” [2.17] (understand the sentient object inside all the insentient objects to be immortal)

 

(dEvarAi….ellAm nedumAl)Here Appillai comments,”dEvas, primarily the brahma rudras and all other creations are servient to the lord-prakAramAi sEsham”

 

(yAvarAi niRkindradellAm nedumAl endru OrAdhAr) One who doesn’t realize the omnipresent nature of Sriman Narayanan residing in all the created objects including upendran and Vishnu;

 

(nedumAl endru OrAdhar karkindradellAm kadai) whatever they have learnt is barren. This illiteracy and ignorance will push them more and more into this dreadful ocean of samsAram. “vidhyA anya silpanaipuNyam” [All other learning are equal to learning to stitch a slipper] states the Vishnu purana.

 

(To Be Continued)

 

Azhvar emperumAnAr Jeeyer thiruvadigalE sharaNam

 

Adiyen ramanuja dAsee

Sumithra Varadarajan