The Meaning of Gayatri Mantram : Blessed by Sriamd Azhagiya Singar during His PoorvAsramam days

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SrI:

 

Dear AasthikAs:

 

Srimad Azhagiya Singar has blessed us with an important upadEsam on the Meaning of Gaayatri Mantram , which was reproduced in the most recent issue of Tamil Version of Sri Nrisimha Priya ( Oct 2008) .

 

AdiyEn has translated and added some background information points at the end

of the straight translation .

 

Srimad Azhagiya Singar's original Text

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tEja: param tatsaviturvarENyam dhAmnA parEnaapraNakhAt suvarNam

ThvAm PuNDareekEkshaNam Aamanati Sri RanganAtham upAsisheeya

 

Many know about the Gaayatri Mantram. AntarAditya Vidhyai is one of the 32 Brahma Vidhyais. This is a famous VidhyA covered in the ChAndhOgya Upanishad .

 

In this slOkam , Swamy ParAsara Bhattar states that the meaning of the Gaayatri Mantram and the object of upAsanai ( meditation) in the AntarAdhitya Vidhyai is one and the same , namely , Sri RanganAthan ( Periya perumAL) .

 

" tath savithur varENyam bhargO dEvasya dheemahi" is part of the Gaayatri mantram . The padhams from this section of Gaayatri mantram are recognized as we read the slOkam of Bhattar . There is however new aspects in the meanings , when one studies the padhams carefully .

 

Oh RanganAtha! The padhams of Gayathri mantram state that the lofty tEjas which is fit for upAsana is indeed You . The AntarAdhitya Vidhyai mantram states the same:ya yEshOantaraadhityE hiraNamaya: PurushO dhrusyatE --AapraNakhAt sarva yEva suvarNa:

 

This upanishad vaakyam state that the Lord ( RanganAthan here) with lotus eyes is the One with matchless tEjas from head to the nails of His sacred feet. Therefore , it states : " May adiyEn perform upAsana on You , Lord RanganAtha , who is pointed out by the Gaayatri mantram and AntarAdhitya Vidhyai.

 

Here, AchArya Saarvabhoumar , ParAsara Bhattar equates Lord RanganAthA's tEjas with that of the tEjas of Savitha . In this world , the ParamaikAnthis will not meditate ( perform upAsana) on the celebrated ( Prasiddhan) Sooryan or His tEjas.

Therefore SavithA's ( Suryan's) tEjas was identified with that of the tEjas of Lord RanganAtha. This leads us to conclude that easily that Savitha is indeed Ranganathan. The name Savitha meaning one who create this universe belongs to Lord Ranganathan as a KaaraNa name ( peyar). Thus Bhattar extolls RanganAthan as the meaning of Gaayatri mantram an as the One in the middle of the orbit of Aadityan.

 

Swami Desikan was born in the gOtram of Gaayatri. It is important therefore to appreciate in this context ,the clear meaning of Gaayatri mantram provided by Swamy Desikan in the 23rd Vaadham of Sata DhUshaNi. Through his explanation , Swamy Desikan rejects the views of Para Mathams and establishes the Bhagavad RaamAnuja SiddhAntham:

 

pratipurusham anEkA: pratyavastham vichitrA:

Subhagathishu dhiyO ya: chOyatyajn~asA na:

akhilachidhachidhantaryAmi tadh VishNusamjn~am

SaviturahamupAsE tasya dEvasya: bharga:

---23rd Vaadham of Sata DhUshaNee

 

Adhvaithins have the anumAnam that anubhUti Jn~Anam is only one and not many.Swamy Desikan rejects this view and establishes anbhuthikaL and Jn~Anams are many in this vaadham. Swamy Desikan uses Gaayatri as PramANam in support of our SiddhAntham .

 

We mentioned earlier that Gaayatri Devi and Swamy Desikan were born in the same gOtram . Sage Viswaamitrar was the mantra dhrushtA and helped the world with Gayatri mantram . We should not conclude that there was no Gayatri Devi before the birth of Sage Viswaamitrar . There is a ViswAmitrar in each kalpam.

 

In this Viswaamitra gOtram was born Swamy Desikan :

 

janma dhviteeyam Rishibhi: kathitam yatassaa Devee cha viswajananee yadhananya-gOtrA

 

Gayatri Devi gives the second birth for Brahmins. Swamy Desikan states that She ( Gayatri Devi) belongs to my gOtram in Sankalpa SooryOdhayam . Therefore , Swami Desikan uses Gayatri mantram to establish the siddhAntam .

 

When we look closely at the portion of Gayatri mantram ( dhiyO yO na: prachOdhayAt) , we infer that AnubhUtis-Jn~anams are many . "Dhee: " is singualar. "dhiya:" is plural. "dhiya:" is the plural for the second case . The " dhee" saBdham refers to Jn~Anam . "dhiyO yO na: prachOdhayAt" points to the One , who blesses us all with Jn~Anam . Therefore , it becomes clear that Jn~Anam is not of one kind but varies appropriately with individual jeevAtmAs.The adhvaitic view of

" anubhUthi: na naanA "is rejected by Gaayatri mantram.

 

Now , let us understand the full meaning of Gayatri before studying the meaning of the Sata dhUshaNee slOkam . The fourth paadham of the slOkam ( Savituraham upAsE Tasya Devasya bharga:) reminds us of the front portion of Gaayatri mantram ( Savitu: bharga: dEvasya dheemahi) .In both of them , the words are quite similar.

 

SatadhUshaNee slOkam says; " I perform upAsanA on the tEjas of that dEvan known as SavitA ". Gayatri states that we perform upAsanA on Savita"s tejas , which is upAsyam . In the slOkam , the verb in singular ( upAsE) is used. In Gaayatri ,"dheemahi" is sued , which is verb ( kriyA padham) in plural . In Gaayatri , the doer ( kartA saBdham ) is not mentioned.

 

In the SlOkam , KartA is refered to as "aham" and SavitA , the dEvan , is referred to Tasya ( Tat saBdham/ adai mozhi ). In Gaayatri , Savita , the dEvan , is referred to as " dEvasya savitu: ".There is something noteworthy to remember here. The point is: at the end of Gayatri , " dhiyO: yO na: prachOdhayAt" . This means One who kindles Jn~Anam and one who empowers us to acquire dhaarmika karmAs linked to sadh-vishayams.It is the practise to have tath saBdham , whenever Yath

saBdham is used . They are related. If however Yath saBdham is placed in the latter section , then Tath saBdham need not appear in the front section . One can see such usage of Tath sabdham in many places . For instance, in DaSAvatAra stOtra slOkam starting with " PratyAdhishta purAdhana " , uttara bhAgam contains the yath sabdham ( Yath PrAthurbhavanAth) . In the poorva Bhaagam , there is no inclusion of Tath saBdham . Similarly , In Gaayatri , the Yath sabdham ( dhiyO yO na: prachOdhayAt) is in the latter portion and consequently there is no Tath saBdham in the Poorva BhAgam .

 

In the sataDhUshaNi slOkam however Swamy Desika used Yath sabdham in the poorva bhAgam to explain the meaning of Gaayatri and therefore he had to use Tath saBdham in the latter section ( Ya: chOdhayatyajn~asA in the front and tadh VishNu Samjn~am in the latter section ( Pirppahuthi) .

 

" dhiyO yO na; PrachOdhayAth" is in the latter section of the Gaayatri mantram. In the Sata DhUshaNee slOkam in the second of the four paadhams ( in the front section as " subhagathishu dhiyO ya: chOdayAthajn~asaa na:" ).In Gaayatri , it is "PrachOdhayAth" and "ChOdhayati " in the slOkam . "Dhiya: , Ya: and na; " are used as such in the mantram and slOkam . PrachOdhayAth suggests One who will bless us with Jn~Anam . " ChOdhayathi " of slOkam suggests One who grants and does not say that it grants Jn~Anam like the Gaayatri mantra padham.The slOkam refers to "subhagatishu" (i-e) May He kindle the mangaLa Jn~Anam that is linked to auspiciousness :

 

" yO dEva: SavitAsmAkam dhiyO dharmAdhigOcharaa:

prErayEtasya yadhgarbha: tadhvarENyam upAsmahE "

 

The meaning of Gaayatri is explained by this Sata DhUshaNee slOkam .

" DharmAdhigOcharaa: dhiya: " deals with Jn~Anam linked to dharmam as the subject matter. In the sata dhUshaNee slOkam , Swamy captures the essence of this meaning through the Padha PrayOgam : " Subhagathishu dhiya: ". These Jn~Anams are different for different AathmAs. Even for the same Aatmaa, this Jn~Anam can vary in different states:"Pratipurusham anEkA: prathyavastE vichitrA:"

 

Thus Swamy Desikan rejects the para matha doctrines , which assert that there is only one Jn~Anam and anubhUthi , since it is clear that many Jn~Anams and anubhUthis from the clear meanings given by the Padhams of Gaayatri Mantram.

 

Neither in Gaayatri or in the small slOkam describing its meaning ( yO dEva: SavitAsmAkam dhiyO dharmAdhi gOcharA: ---tadhvarENyam upAsmahE ") , there is no explantion who is that Devan and what is that Bhargam. To address this vagueness , Sri ParAsara Battar and Swamy Desikan explain these specifics. Bhattar says : " tEja: param tath SriranganAtham upAsmahE " . That tEjas ( bharga:) is Sri RanganAthan says Battar. Swamy Desikan follows this line of thought : The Bharga: is the indweller of all chEtanAchEtanms , VishNu (Sri RanganAthan) . Swamy Desikan describes : " akhila chidachidantaryAmi tath VishNusamjn~am ". The tath sabdham here is the same as the Tath sabdham in the Gaayatri Mantram :

"TadhvarENyam". It celebrates the loftiness (Prasiddhi) of the "Tath"( VarENyam tath).

 

SavithA is the One who gives swiftly different Jn~Anams based on dharmams for different AathmAs . He has a tEjas , which is antaryAmi of all the sentients and Insentients. It has the name of VishNu . The meaning of the full slokam then is: adiyEn meditates on the tejas of that DEvan with the name of SavithA . If the tejas of Savitha is VishNu , then we have to understand the meaning of the word SavithA .

 

Abhinava Desikan , UtthamUr Swamy provides this meaning in his DhippaNi of Sata DhUshaNee : If SavithA refers to the prasiddha ( celebrated ) Sooryan , then His udhayam (arising) gives Sadh Jn~Anam to all AatmAs. His Bharga: (tEjas) is the the indweller of Sooryan , JyOthirmaya ParamAtmA . adiyEn performs upAsana of Him is the meaning. In reality , Savitha is none other than the cause of this universe ( Jagath KaaraNa bhUtan) , Sriya: Pathi, the ParamAtma . His tEjas( bharga:) is the tEjOroopa dhivya MangaLa vigraham .

 

The Lord's divine auspicious ThirumEni ( Dhivya MangaLa vigraham) is saluted as "SubhASrayam". This ThirumEni has Subhatvam and Aasrayatvam. Subhatvam or auspiciousness is linked to the removal of samsAra bhandhams and conferral of Moksham . Aasrayathvam is becoming the subject of upAsana for those engaged in UpAsanai. Therefore , the meditation on the tEjOroopa dhivya MangaLa vigraham confers all MangaLams on the upAsakan . Therefore , Swamy Desikan says that he

meditates on it ( bharga:) .

 

Thus , a clear understnading of the meaning of Gaayatri mantram helps us to gain an understanding of our Bahgavath RaamAnuja SiddhAntam . We understand the deficiencies in Para Matams . Sri ParAsara Bhattar states that the meaning of Gaayatri and the subject matter of AantrAtma Vidhyai is Sri RanganAthan and we should understand this tattvam and meditate on the Lord of Srirangam .

 

Srimad Azhagiya Singar ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,

Daasan , Oppliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan

 

Notes: (1) Sata DhUshaNee is a polemical classic of VisishtAdhvaitha VedAntha blessed to us by Swamy Desikan created for Para Matha nirasanam and Sva Paksha SthApanam . Sundara Simham series ebook #88 covers the Swamy Desika

Sahasra Naamams ( 101-168) pertaining to the essence of Sata DhUshaNee:

http://www.sundarasimham.org

 

(2) Swamy ParAsara Bhattar was the son of KurEsar and the PurOhithar of Lord

RanganAtha . His monumental work , Sri RangarAja Stavam prays moving tribute to the Lord of Srirangam . The uttara BhAgam of Sri RangarAja stavam deals with Paramata Nirasanam and Sva Paksha StApanam .