Thirucchandhaviruttham- 98th verse- Please show me the way to attain Your abode forever..

[Guest guest]

SrI:

SrImathE Gopaladesika mahadesikaya namah:

Dearest Srivaishnavas,

 

How do you think that you may have qualifications for

other means (other than Saranagati – Prapatti)? AzhwAr

explains: Had I thought so or had I known, I would not

have sought from Supreme Lordship to tell me one

upAyam.. Hence please bless me the same.

 

maRamthuRanthu vaNYchamaaRRi

yaimpulan_ka Laasaiyum

thuRanthu,nin_ka NaasaiyEtho

darnthun^inRa naayinEn,

piRanthiRanthu pEridarchchu

zhikkaNinRu neenkumaa,

maRanthidaathu maRRenekku

maaya!nalka veNdumE. (98)

 

Controlling and avoiding anger, removing the

pretension [posing as if good- deceitful- kapaTa

dhaari]; getting rid of the strong pulls and traps of

sense (karmEndriyas] and thereby seeking subject

desires of the senses; holding onto only Your Lotus

feet for very many births, [i have been blessed to be]

born in this lowliest birth of this one; and at the

end of this life (after death), please bless a way for

me to escape the turbulent swift swirls of deep, huge

sorrows (of further more births), Oh Ascharya

bhUthanE!- Most wonderful and mysterious Lord!

 

When someone takes up bhakti yoga and practices the

same, then he should have performed Karma yoga (and

perhaps jnAna yoga) for various earlier births,

avoiding anger; focusing his mind, action and speech

on the same One- namely the Lord (and not each one

doing its own contradicting each other- and be a great

actor showing and talking to the outside world as if

he is a jnAni, anushtAthA while he does completely

opposite or thinks wrongly inside;); Controlling the

five sense- not going or running behind the sensual

desires and let the senses go where they would like

to; All desires were kept and are kept only on Your

most beautiful divine Lotus Feet and nothing else; and

being like that even adiyEn is able to realize [due to

Your grace] and in spite of that, adiyEn is born [is

brought up] in this lowliest caste in this birth [due

to which I am not able to continue my bhakti yoga due

to varnAsrama dharma] and feel unfortunate and

remorseful for that. I am not able to enhance and let

the bhakti yoga continue in this lowly birth. I can

not firmly say that adiyEn can perform this bhakti

yoga in next births as it is very much possible that

adiyEn can get even lowlier births as insects,

animals, plants, trees, etc.. I am very much scared

that adiyEn will get caught in swirl whirl pools of

very many lowest births and will be beyond redemption.

Please bless me without forgetting me- a way to get

rid of such whirl pools (either with my accrued bhakti

yoga- which is not completed or some other sort).

 

When a person realizes his self through the discipline

or Karma yoga (and jnAna yoga), he becomes qualified

for bhakti yoga. Karma yoga is the performance of a

particular karma that is possible for him, without

having the attachment of kartrutva and phala and

sambandha along with the performance of the ordained

duties, namely Nithya, naimitthika karma, with the

essenitial knowledge of jeevan and Paraman. jnAna

yoga is the unceasing remembrance of the essential

nature of the jeevathman who is different and distinct

from the matter and who is also the sareera of

Paramathman by virtue of being supported, ruled over

and used for His own purpose invariably. Thus jnAna

yoga is the rfeclection upon the pure nature of Jeevan

and not the dhyAnam of Paramathman which is bhakti

yoga. One gets qualified for bhakti yoga, only when he

realizes that he is sehsa bhUtha (servant) to the

Lord. Thus bhakti yoga is the continuous loving

devoted remembrance of the essential nature, divine

form, kalyANa gunAs of the Lord and His glories.

 

This verse- and next two verses- AzhwAr clearly

mentions that he was a yogi before and based on that

Sri UttamUr Swamy attempts to write his commentary in

such a way that it synchronizes with AzhwAr’s flow of

thoughts and his life.

 

There is also other school of thought that AzhwAr

declares his Akinchanyam alone here and pleads to the

Lord for His blessing him.

 

This meaning no doubt does make sense; But Sri UttamUr

Swamy’s special commentary adds flavor and it is to be

read also in conjunction with KulasekarAzhwAr pAsuram-

(1.7)

 

maRanthigazhum manamozhitthu vanjammaaRRi aimpulangaL

adakki idar baaratthunbam

thuRandhirumppozhudhEtthi yellaiyillAt thenneRikkaN

nilaininRa thoNdaraana

niRanthigazhum mAyOnai kaNdu yen kaNgaL neermalga

yenRu kolO niRku naaLE…

 

Second line talks about the anushtAna vailakshaNyam

[practicing the daily duties required and mandated per

saasthrAs which would be more meaningful for the

thraivarnikars- namely Brahmins, Kshathriya and

Vaisyars, and little bit on Sudras]; first line

mentions being without any blemish (kuRRam aRRu

irukkai)

 

Thus Thirumazhisai AzhwAr is remorseful that he does

not have the great birth [as not being born in any of

four varnas] and does not have anushtAna vailakshaNyam

[maRanthuRandhu] (due to his birth) and feels bad

about it- referring KulasekarazhwAr Pasuram. [same

word maRanthUrandhu is the first word of this verse as

well].

 

Though AzhwAr out of his naichyAnusandhaanam mentions

all this, it is not to be forgotten that AzhwArs are

basically avatars or reincarnation of NithyasUris

(Lord’s paraphernalia). Also the sequence in which

these verses have been sung by AzhwAr is enjoyed in

such a way that the commentaries should follow

orderliness and it is not just some random singing of

AzhwAr. It is Sri UttamUr Swamy’s genius and Sri

Periya Vacchaan Pillai’s great vyAkhyAnam that has

helped us understand the sequence and the logic in the

orderliness of these verses. Without these

commentaries, our (dull heads) can naturally not

follow any head or tail. It is Acharyas’ grace that

has made it possible.

 

Thirumazhisai Piraan ThiruvaDigaLE SaraNam

Regards

Namo narayana

dAsan

 

 

 

 

 

 

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