tri-mUrti in tiruvAimozhi - Part 13.

[Guest guest]

SrI:

 

Dear Sriman Krishnamacahri :

 

This series is most enjoyable .

Thank you very much .

 

May I request you to consider starting a series of articles on

the individual slOkams of Sawmy Desikan's Taathparya RathnAvaLi and

DhramidOpanishad Saaram ? Thank you .

 

V.Sadagopan

 

-

champakam

Oppiliappan

Tuesday, June 20, 2006 8:22 PM

tri-mUrti in tiruvAimozhi - Part 13.

 

 

tri-mUrti in tiruvAimozhi - Part 13.

 

3.6.9 (26):

 

ta'njamAgiya tandai tAyoDu tAnumAi avai allanAi

e'njal il amarar kula mudal mUvar tam uLLum AdiyAi

a'nji nIr ulagattu uLLIrgaL! avan ivan enRu kUzhEnmin

ne'njinAl ninaippAn yavan avanAgum nIL kaDal vaNNanE.

 

The main theme of this pASuram is to emphasize the saulabhyam and

sauSIlyam of His arcA incarnation.

 

" ulagattu uLLIrgaL! ta'njamAgiya tandaiyoDu tAi tAnumAi avai allanAi

e'njal il amarar kulam mudal mUvar tam uLLum AdiyAi nIr a'nji avan

ivan enRu kUzhEnmin ne'njinAl ninaippAn yavan avan nIlL kaDal vaNNan

Agum " .

 

" O! You people of the world! I have described the greatness

(parattvam) of the ocean-hued One who is the Lord of all the deva-s

including brahmA, rudra, and indra. He is also the Protector of all

the beings of all the three worlds, as well as our Creator (our

Father and Mother, and in addition, all the other relatives is He

alone). Such is His immense and infinite greatness. I have also

described His vibhava forms such as Lord rAma, Lord kRshNa, and Lord

nRsimha, who took their incarnations at various times long back, and

are not accessible today to us. Based on these, don't be confused

that this emperumAn is beyond your reach. This same emperumAn has

chosen to be present Himself in arcA form in any material in which

you choose to consecrate Him, and He is very much physically present

in these forms that you choose to assign to Him. (So, devote

yourself to His easily accessible arcA form with all your heart, and

He will redeem you all). "

 

The key phrase of this pASuram is " ne'njinAl ninaippAn yavan avan

Agum " - He accepts as His divya rUpam any form that we assign to Him

for worship as the arcA mUrti. It is true that He is the Protector

of all, in the form of the mother, the father, the self, etc. It is

true that He is the One who is the object of meditation by the likes

of rudra, brahmA and indra, and their antaryAmi as well (mUvar tam

uLLum Adi). Because of His Supremacy as revealed by the above, don't

be confused that He is inaccessible to you (kUzhEnmin). Don't also

be confused as to who the Supreme Deity is - for example, whether it

is vishNu, rudra or brahmA. The nIL kaDal vaNNan is the Supreme

Deity, and He is present in all the arcA forms in which we invoke Him

for worship, since He is a great soulabhyan. Thus, don't be confused

that He is inaccessible to us in His form in His abode in

SrIvaikunTham, nor be confused about the inaccessibility of His

vibhava forms (like SrI rAma, SrI kRshNa etc.) to us now. His arcA

forms are just as real, and He is thus accessible to us and is very

much within our reach.

 

This pASuram is considered the essence of this tiruvAimozhi by the

commentators, and the previous eight pASuram-s of the xurrent

tiruvAimozhi serve as the prelude leading to this pASuram. In

previous pASuram-s, nammAzhvAr describes emperumAn as SrI vaikunTha

nAthan (3.6.1), Lord rAma (3.6.2, 3.6.8), Lord kRshNa (3.6.3, 3.6.5,

3.6.7), and Lord nRsimha (3.6.6). From all these pASuram-s, one may

get the feeling that emperumAn is inaccessible to the likes of us,

since the para-, vyUha, and vibhava forms are not within our reach

now. So nammAzhvAr points out to us that this same emperumAn wills

and gets into the arcA forms that we create and consecrate, and thus

He is physically present in these arcA forms, and is easily

accessible to us, and thus there is no need to be confused that He is

not accessible to us in the para, vyUha and vibhava forms.

 

- ta'njamAgiya tandai tAyoDu - He is the permanent Father and

Mother to all the beings of all the worlds. The father and mother

who are responsible for our birth in the current janma are only

related this way to us in this birth, but He alone is the Eternal

Father and Mother to us. The father and mother through karma may

even abandon the children for various reasons (kAkAsura was abandoned

by his father when he got into trouble with rAma, jarAsandhan was

abandoned in the middle of the road because his parents felt that the

time of his birth was inauspicious, and there are parents who sell

their children for what they consider financial necessity). Such is

not the case with emperumAn. He is described as " bhUtAnAm yo'vyayaH

pitA " , " sarveshAmeva lokAnAm pitA mAtA ca mAdhavaH " etc.

- ta'njamAgiya tAnumAi - Even our own self is supported by Him,

and not by our efforts. Left to ourselves, we would only exclusively

indulge in material benefits that are not for our ultimate good.

- avai allanumAi - BhagavAn is not only the Father, Mother, and

the self, but He is everything else as well - such as the brother,

the sister, the friend, etc. (mAtA pitA bhRAtA nivAsaH SaraNam

suhRd gatiH nArAyaNaH - SElEi kaNNiyarum perum Selvamum nan makkaLum

mElAt tAi tandaiyum avarE ini AvArE).

o PitR mAtR suta bhrAtR dArAH mitrAdayopi vA ekaika phala

lAbhAya, sarva lAbhAya keSavaH - All the relatives are of use for

some one thing (and that too, because He is their antaryAmi), but

kESava is One Who is the ultimate source of support as all).

- e'njal il amarar kula mudal - He Who is the Lord of all the

nitya sUri-s who are endowed with unlimited bhagavad anubhavam.

Without Him they cannot live.

- mUvar tam uLLum Adiyai - He Who is the object of meditation

of brahmA, rudra, and indra. He Who always resides in the hearts of

the three, and Who is their antaryAmi.

- avan ivan enRu kUzhEnmin -

o Based on all the above attributes, do not be confused that

since He is the Lord of the nitya sUri-s, the antaryAmi of brahmA,

rudra and indra, etc., He is inaccessible to you. (He is very much

accessible to you through the arcA mUrti form).

o Or, if the reference to " mUvar " is taken as reference to

brahmA, vishNu and rudra, don't be confused as to whether `avan'

(rudra, brahmA etc.) are same as or different from `ivan' (Lord

vishNu), or whether one is supreme or the other is supreme. Beyond

doubt, `nIL kaDal vaNNan' is the Supreme Deity.

o Or, don't be confused as to who is the Lord of the nitya

sUri's, the ultimate Mother and Father and all other relatives for

all of us, the One who is worshipped by the likes of indra, brahmA

and rudra etc. It is none other than the nIL kaDal vaNNan, Lord

vishNu.

o -Or, don't be confused as to how Lord vishNu, who has the

aprAkRta SarIram in His form in SrI vaikunTham, can reside in the

bimbam made of gold, silver, etc., and thus limited by space, time,

etc. Because of His infinite saulabhyam and sauSIlyam, He has chosen

to accept this form and is present in the consecrated bimbam of your

choice with all His kalyANa guNa-s.

- ne'njinAl ninaippAn yavan - Even though He is not limited by

space, time, and objects, He chooses to get into the bimbam that you

choose to consecrate Him in. Don't think that He has now become

constrained by space, time and objects. He chooses to get into any

bimbam of your choice with all His kalyANa guNa-s, just to bless you

all and be accessible to you. In other words, this term refers to

His bimbam in gold, silver, etc., that has been consecrated for His

worship (this is not to be interpreted as the worship of anya-devatA-

s). (kRtvAtmanaH prItikarIm suvarNa rajatAdibhiH - He enters into the

bimbam of gold, silver, etc., of His own will, with all His kalyAna

guNa-s, for the benefit of His devotees.

- nIL kaDal vaNNanE - Here the term `vaNNam' refers to His

svabhAvam or inherent nature. nIL vaNNam refers to His nature of

vAtsalyam; kaDal vaNNam refers to the depth of His nature that is not

easily understood by everyone - for example, His saulabhyam of being

present in His full form in the arcA mUrti-s in which He is

consecrated.

 

The anubhavam of SrImad tirukkuDanthai ANDAn is that we should look

at the pASuram as " ne'njinAl ninaippavan evan? avanE nIL kaDal vaNNan

Agum " - " The One whom you consecrate in the arcA form is the same One

who is present in SrI vaikunTham " , rather than " The One Who is in SrI

vaikunTham is the same One who is in the acrA form " . In other words,

let us enjoy His arcA form as His primary Form of choice, and His

form in SrI vaikunTham as One of His vibhUti-s or extensions, rather

than the other way around.

 

Lord kRshNa conveys the same thought that is conveyed in this

pASuram, through the following Sloka in the gItA:

 

- ye yathA mAm prapadyante tAns-tathaiva bhajAmyaham |

mama vartmAnuvartante manushyAH pArtha sarvaSaH ||

(gItA 4.11)

 

" Whoever resorts to Me in any manner, in the same manner do I favor

them; men experience Me alone in different ways, O arjuna! "

 

svAmi deSikan summarizes this pASuram in his dramiDopanishad tAtparya

ratnAvaLi as " bhavya-dhI-vRtti-bhA(a)vyAm " . This quality of

bhagavAn accepting any form in which the devotee wants to consecrate

Him, is the limit of His saulabhyam - His ASrita saulabhya kAshThA or

the extreme limit of His quality of being easily accessible to His

devotees.

 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan

 

-To be continued.