Naradabhakthisuthra 4

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Suthra-4-yallabDHvA pumAn siddhObhavthi amrthObhavathi thrupthObhavathi

 

yath=that which(bhakthi); labDhvA=having gained;pumAn=man; bhavathi=becomes siddhah=perfect;amrthah=eternal;thrupthah= contented

Attaining bhakthi a devotee becomes perfect being, becomes immortal and contented.

 

Bhakthi is the only thing a devotee asks for, but the Lord gives him mukthi as well, which is denoted by the word amrtha.Bhakthi alone gives full satifaction to the devotee and hence he become thruptha, contented.The word siddha does not mean the ashtamAsiddhis, the occult powers which are eight in number, but it means that the devotee becomes perfect in all respects. When one is an aspirant he is a sadhaka and when he attains the goal he is siddha.It is in this sense the word siddha is used here. He feels a krthkrthya, one who has accomplished what has to be accomplished.

 

Shankara in his sivanandhalahari says in a beautiful sloka,

 

narathvam dhevathvam nagavanamrgathvam maSakathA

paSuthvam keetathvam bhavathu vihagathvAdhijananam

sadhA thvadpAdhAbjasmaraNparamAnandhalaharee

vihArAsaktham cheth hrdhayamiha kimthEna vapushA.

 

'Let me be born as a man or god, animal or a tree, a mosquito, a worm, a bird. If my heart is immersed in the waves of bliss of remembering your lotus feet what do I care for the kind of body I have?'

 

Kulasekhara in Mukundamala expresses the same idea in praying for bhakthi alone, irrespective of where he is , in heaven or in hell or on earth.'avismrtih tvaccharaNAravindhE bhavE bhavE mE asthu thava prasadhAth,may I have the remembrance of your lotus feet by Your grace, in all my lives to come.' And 'dhivi vA bhivi va mamAsthu vaso narakE vA , whether I am in heaven, earth or hell.'

 

In srimadbhagavatham Krishna tells Uddhava that the one who has surrendered his heart to the Lord will not desire either the post of Brahma, Indra or to become a ruler on earth or in netherworld,nor will he desire yoga siddhi or moksha, except the Lord Himself.

 

The word pumAn is significant in as much as the qualification for attaining devotion is being a pumAn or a man, which includes woman, as the word denotes a human being in general. It eliminates the necessity of being a brahmin or kshathriya or a srothriya, wellversed in vedas, to be a devotee and includes all who have faith in, and love for, the Lord.

 

Krishna says in Bhagavatgita, 'mAmhi pArTha vyapAsrithya yepi syuh papayOnyah; sthriyO vaisyAh thaTHASudhAh thEpi yAnthi parAm gathim.' This means, those who resort to the Lord will attain salvationmay they be of low birth or women or visya , implying that they need not be brahmins or kshathriyas for whom alone the learning of the vedas is prescribed. Many saints and women like Meera and Andal are examples of this.

 

Thruptha means one who is perfectly sarisfied and a devotee is so, with his devotion alone and does not seek anything else except the smaraNam, kirthanam and padhasevanam as the Azvar in Thirumalai puts it,

pacchaimamalai pol Eni pavazavAi kamalacchengaN

achuthA amarar ErE Ayar tham kozundhE ennum

icchuvai thavir yAn pOy indhirlokam ALum

acchuvaiperinum vEnDEn rangamAnagaruLAne

 

I do not want even the rulership of heaven except singing your glory, your form like the green mountain, coral lips, lotus like eyes, and your names Achyutha, Lord of devas, and the child of yadhavas, Oh the Lord of Srirangam.