Sri Alavandhaar's SthOthra Rathnam- verse 4 - Saga Paraasarar clearly established Tattva thrayam, Parama hitham and Paramapurushaarttham...

[Guest guest]

SrI:

SrImathE Gopaladesika mahadesikaya namah:

 

Dearest Srivaisnavas,

 

Thus having described the dhEha sambandham (physical

relationship namely grand father), the Athmasambandham

(being his praprAcharyan) and the srisookthi

sambandham (thorugh his works); OR for his jnAna,

bhakti and vairAgyam and his intense devotion on

Achutha, Alavandhar praises Sriman NAthamuni with

three verses. Three times he performs his

mangaLAsasanam to Sriman Nathamuni; and now he goes on

to pay his obeisance in two verses on other key Sage,

AzhwAr whose greatest works had appealed to him

immensely. We think of Sage Vyasa, Vaalmeeki,

Parasara, Sukha, maharishis who bless us with

Ithihasa, PurANas. Sage Vaalmeeki bleesed us with the

greatest epic Srimad Ramayanam which clarfies to us,

Sri Rama, Saranagathi and establiusjed that finally

everyone and everything in the city of Ayodhya

attained Srivaikuntam; but Sri UttamUr Swamy writes

that mOksham concept was not the pivotal one in this

epic. Vyasa described the battle of Pandavas and

Kauravas an also glrofied the birth and deeds of

Kannan in Srimad Bhagawatham; here too, the mOksham

was not given importance in detail though he touched

upon at the end; He did not leave writing and mixing

with other purANas and did not establish crystal clear

the tattva traya. Sage Sukha too elaboratelyt

described only the deeds of Krishna; but Srimad

Bhagawatham failed to establish all relevant tattva

traya, hitham (way) and the Goal (Purushartham)

clearly. Subject matter of other purANAs are all

drowned with stories. But Sage Paraasara (who is the

ancestor of all these sages Vyasa, Sukha) blessed us

with the wonderful crystal clear purANa namely Vishnu

purANa; It clears all doubts and shows us truly the

Paratvta, Paramahitham Purusharthams. Hence it is

called purANa rathnam [jewel among purANAs]; Thus Sri

Alavandhar through this sthOthra rathnam praises the

composer of purANa rathnam; The name itself is sweet

VISHNU PURAANAM. The composer is Sage Paraasarar; Due

to the grace of Vasishta, Pulasthya maharishis, he

blessed us with crystal clear Vishnu purANa and

established Vaishnava matham- Supremacy of Sri Vishnu.

He crushed the other mathams that do not acknowledge

of Supremacy of Vishnu. Thus He was ParamakaaruNikar

(most compassionate One in blessing us with this

divine saatvika purANa); His purANa is the forerunner

and reference material for all sages like Vyasa,

AzhwArs and other Acharyas; Hence Sri Alavandhar now

pays his obeisance to the MAIN one Sage Parasarar.

 

tattvEna yachidhachdhiswara thath swabhAva

bhOgOpavarga tadhupAya gatheerudhAra:

sandharsyan niramimeetha puraaNa rathnam

thasmai namO munivaraaya paraasaraaya

 

ya- the sage who

udhAra- becoming the most benevolent one

chith, achith, Iswara tattsvabhAva- sentient;

non-sentient; the Supreme Tattva (Bhagawaan) – the

three entities’s nature, guNAs;

bhOga- Chith [Jeevaathma’s) anubhavam (expereicne-

enjoyment), achith’s anubhavam (experience- enjoyment)

– namely Kaivalyam (enjoying its own self by

Jeevaathma) and Aishwarya [material, worldly]

pursuits;

apavarga- Bhagavath prApthi- attaining the Lord’s

abode- namely mOksha purushaartham (as the Ultimate

goal);

tadhupAya- to attain the above bhOgApavarga (three

goals)-i.e. the ways

gathi- the destination

- all these

tattvEna- as it is- as it exists in saasthrAs crystal

clear;

sandharsayan- in clear terms- segregates and

establishes them one by one individually[in order to

show that manner]

purANa rathnam- the gem of all purANAs- the most

wonderful of all purANAs;

niramimeetha- [who] composed

thasmai- to such greatest One

Paraasaraaya munivaraaya- Sage Parasara maharishi-

Nama: my obeisance

 

In such clear categorical, simple, word by word form,

such brilliant fashion in verse form- coming to think

of, no one has composed like that as Sri Alavandhar

has done- we can certainly and assertively say- Says

Sri UttamUr Swamy. Obeisance to Sae Parasara maharishi

chief among the saints, who most mercifully composed

the gem among purANAs in order to present truly and

correctly the jeevan, achethanam, and Iswara (the

Lord) – tattva thraya, together with their true and

real natures, swraoopam roopa, sthithi pravrtthi, and

also the kaivalya, aishwarya, mOksha purushartthams.-

means of attaining them, and the path taken by

Jeevans.

 

bhOgaapavarga- bhOgam- means experience- enjoyment;

bhOgamaathrasaamyalingAccha- even mOkshAnubahavm is

construed as bhOgam; Despite, it is ok to exclude

mOksham and refer to only worldy pleasures and

kaivalyam here when referring to bhOgam. Chith, achith

and Iswara were first referred to; and hence the

Purusharthams also can be interprested to be three;

Kaivalyam (which is Jeevan’s) and Aishwaryam (for

achitha- the body comforts); and apavarga- as Bhagavad

prApthi (moksham). Sri Periya vaacchaan Pillai has

considered Kaivalyam in apavargam along with mOksham

as Kaivalyam is also referred as mOksham at few places

/ statements.. ; though it doesnot actually mean

mOksham in strict sense says Sri UttamUr Swamy. Swamy

also adds that both Kaivalyam and Aishwaryam (namely

Chith’s and Achith’s) need to be avoided and hence

apavargam should exclude both of them and what is left

(apavargam) is only mOksham- Bhagavad prAPthi. Thus

Swamy Desikan had analysed and considered both

Aishwaryam and Kaivalyam as bhOgam in his sthOthra

rathna bhAshyam. Whatever may be the commentary, it is

clear that moksham is Bhagavad prApthi and should be

sought after and not other two – as viewed by both Sri

Periyavachan Pillai and Swamy desikan. Sri PVP had

considered na cha punaraavartthathE in ChathuslOkI

vyAkhyAnam and he considered only mOksham as never to

return and NOT Kaivalyam as never to return phenomenon

and hence apavargam is thus mOksham alone.

 

Also bhOga upAyams are VarnAsrama anushtAnams; jnAna,

karma yOgas and moksha upAyam is Bhakti yoga and

Prapatti.

 

Sandharsayan- Clearly shown; - Sage Vaalmeeki and

Vyasa also have shown in their works; But not in such

crystal clear manner the tattva, hitha, purusharthams.

AzhwAr too has clearly shown the upAya, the path of

archirAdhi maargam (where the mukthan is welcomed and

honoured and how Piraatti and perumAL (Dhivya

dampathi) become the upAyam and upEya (the way and the

Goal); Sri Alavandhar thus, having been impressed with

such womderful purANa rathnam, AzhwAr’s Thiruvaymozhi,

take this opportunity to pay his obeisance to them;

also implying that his sthOtra rathnam is going to

mention clearly what these Sage and AzhwAr have

established and written. Thus asserting here - only

the Best ones are taken, referred to here.

 

Alavandhar ThiruvaDigaLE SaraNam

Regards

Namo Narayana

dAsan