AthimAnusa Sthavam

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SlOkam 7 :

 

yEkAntha mangaLa guNAspadham asthahEyam

nithyam padham Tava yathastatha yEva dEva !

AamnAyathE tadhiha viswa viroopa-roopam

tEnaiva nanvidham asaaBdham aroopam aahu:

 

(Meaning) : Oh Lord RanganAthA ! The VaidhikAs rooted in

the VedAs declare Your dhivyAthma svaroopam as formless

and extending beyond description through any particular

names . This dhiyAthma svaroopam ( padham) of Yours defies

definition thus through individual names and descriptions .

This uniqueness arises because of Your infinite KalyANa

guNams that are exclusive to You and take abode in You ;

further , this padham of Yours is totally devoid of any blemishes

and inauspicious guNams . Therefore VedAs declare that

Your dhivyAthma svaroopam can not be circumscribed by

the various defining words ( chOdhaka vaakyams) and

as such Your dhivyAthma savroopam is quite different

from anything else that can be described as this or that .

 

(Commentary ) : KurEsar refers here to the DhivyAthama svaroopm

or the inherent nature of the divine spark within (Brahman)

as opposed to the dhivya MangaLa vigrahm of the Lord with

sacred feet and other beautiful limbs that we can reflect on

and enjoy . This dhivyAthma savroopam has been saluted by

Upanishads as " asaBdham asparsam aroopam avyayam " and

" yath tath adhrEsayam agrAhyam " . That dhivya Aathma Svaroopam

is pervasively present everywhere and is totally devoid of any

hEya guNams( /asthahEyam/ blemishes ) as recognized by

the UbhayalingAdhikaraNam of Brahma Soothrams .

Brahman possesses the two fold charactrestrics ( ubhaya lingam) :

(1) Freedom from imperfections and (2) possession of infinite auspicious

guNams . The unique auspicious guNams associated with Brahman is

saluted by KurEsar here as " yEkAntha MangaLa gUnAspadham " .

Vedas declare that dhivyAthma svaroopam is " nithyam vibhum

sarvagatham susookshmam " ( eternal , Lord of all , all pervasive

and the subtlest of the subtle ). Kuresar relates to this Veda Vaakyam

and Ubhaya Lingam with the choice of words : " yEkAntha mangaLa

guNAspadham asthahEyam nithyam Padham " . That Padham of Yours

(DhivyAthma Svaroopam ) is the abode of all auspicious guNams that

are unique to You and at the same time it is free from any any taint of

inauspiciousness .

 

SlOkam 8

 

saBdhAdhi hEyamiha gOchara indhriyANAm

tathprathyaneeka vibhava: Thvam athIndhriyOasi

tEnaiva tE na Bhatha darsanam asthi kinchith

vaachO dhiyasccha tata yEva na gOcharOasi

 

(Meaning ) : Oh Lord ! In this materialistic world ( Prakruthi

MaNDalam ) , the five despicable entities ( sound, touch , sight ,

taste and smell ) become objects of cognition by the indhriyams .

You , my Lord is the opposite of the latter and can not be related to

by the indhriyams and hence You are known as atheendhriyan

( beyond the power of Indhriyams to ken ).Therefore , one can not have

the direct darsanam of Your dhivyAthma svaroopam .It is a pity that

we can not fully grasp your dhivyAthma svaroopam by mind

or speech .

 

(Commentary ) : Here KurEsar elaborates on the asaBdham

(Can not be heard) , agrAhyam ( can not be clasped ), adhrEsyam

(Can not be seen) aspects of this divine Aathma svaroopam

( Padham) beyond what he covered in the previous slOkam . That

Padham can not be reached thru speech , can not be seen or grasped

by touch ( achakshu-SrOthram) . One can not directly visualize

(SaakshAthkAram) of that dhivyAthma svaroopam . We can not

see that svaroopam with maamsa chakshus ( physical eyes) . Yogis

however with yOga Nayanam ( eyes) can experience that svaroopam

inside their heart lotuses .Thus this dhivyAthma svaroopam is beyond

the experience of our senses ( na chakshushaa gruhyathE ,naapi vaachaa ) .

 

SlOkam 9

 

yEvam sTithE Thvadh-upasamsrayaNa-abhyupAyO

mAnEna kEnachidh-alapsyatha nOpalabhdhum

nO chEdh amarthya-manujAdhishu yOnishu Thvam

icchA-vihAra vidhinA samavAtharishya:

 

(Meaning ): Oh Ocean of Mercy ! Inspite of Your difficult-to-experience

dhivAthma svaroopam , You sportingly enter into births as devAs,

humans et al ( icchA vihAra vidhinA amarthya manujAdhishu yOnishu

samavAtharishya: ) . If that were not to happen and You stayed only

with Your dhivyAthma svaroopam , You would prove to be beyond

our comprehension by any means at our disposal ( through our

indhriyams) .

 

(Commentary ) : Until now , KurEsar dwelt on the Para , VyUha,

antharyAmi and archA forms of the Lord . He did not touch upon

the fifth form (viz): Vibhava avathArams like Raama and KrishNa ,

which is the central topic of AthimAnusha Sthavam .

 

In the second slOkam ( SrEya: kiranthu--) , KurEsar saluted

the Para form as Para VaasudEvan . In the third slOkam

( Srimath ParAnkusa ---) , he identified with antharyAmi

svaroopam and in the fifth slOkam ( Sri RangarAja charaNou--)

related to the archa roppam . In the sixth slOkam ( Jn~Aanm Balam--) ,

he saluted the VyUha Moorthys. Now , KurEsar shifts to the central

theme of AthimAnusha Sthavam (Viz) ., Vibhava avthArams . He wonders

how impoverished we would have been , had the merciful Lord chosen to

remain in His dhivyAthma svaroopam alone . Thanks to the compassion of

the Lord taking avthArams in Deva-Maanusha-thiryak ( animals) -sthAvara

yOnis , we gained the means to relate to Him and reach Him ( Thvath

upasamSrayaNa apyupAya: ) .

 

SlOkam 10 :

 

Seelaka yEsha Tava hantha! DayaikasindhO !

kshudhrE pruTakjanapadhE jagadhaNDamadhyE

kshOdheeyasOapi hi janasya kruthE krutee Thvam

athrAvatheerya nanu lOchana gOcharOabhU:

 

(Meaning ) : Oh Lord with matchles compassion! You have

accomplished every thing and there is nothing for you to desire

as AvAptha Samastha kaamar . Inspite of it , You have incarnated in

the middle of this huge universe amidst us , the ignoramus

and people of limited intellect ( Kshudhra Janam ).Your incarnation

amidst us , the insignificant ones , and became visible to our eyes .

Your souseelyam in blessing us this way and it has no comparison .

We are truly blessed !

 

(Commentary) : Oh Lord ! We are Kshudhra Janams , who run all

the time after food, clothing , wife and children and other nonlasting

riches . We do not think of You . We sink deeper and deeper into

the SamsAric ocean . Inspite of it , out of Your incomparable

souseelyam , You incarnate amidst us , the most undeserving ones ,

to lift us out of our accumulated miseries . Rg Vedam comments in

this context : " na tE VishNO! jaayamAnO na jAthO Deva ! mahimna:

ParamanthamApa " ( Oh VishNu ! There is no one born yet , who has

understood precisely Your vaibhavam ) . Through Your avathArams ,

You came within reach of the eyes of all including the fools and lowly

( Kshudhra Janam and KshOdheeyasa: Janam ) . How can we praise

adequately Your souseelyam towards these PruTak Janam( those different

from the righteous and noble souls) ?

 

Let us understand the Lord's guNam of Souseelyam, which is tied

to Vaathsalyam . Swamy Desikan has explained that Souseelya guNam

of the Lord creates visvAsam for the Lord and mkes them rid of their fear

and seek the Lord's protection . Our Lord is the loftiest of all and yet

during Raama- KrishNa vibhava avathArams , he mixed with not so lofty

people like the hunter ( Guhan), Monkeys and cowherd boys & girls .

That is souseelyam . When one seeks His refuge and approaches Him ,

He will drive their chariot ( as ParthasArathy ) , serve as a Messenger

( PaaNDava DhUthan) . His behavior makes Him Suseelan . Swamy

NammAzhwar wonders about this GuNam : The Lord is the most powerful

One holding His Chakram ; I am a lowly one and yet He graces me

out of His souseelya guNam ( YemmAn AazhippirAn . Avan yevvidatthAn ?

Yann Aarr? ). I am a lowly one ( neechan) and He is not easily approachable

even by the eternally liberated ( nithya Sooris) and yet He mixes with me .

Such is His souseelyam !

 

SlOkam 11

 

yamm pAthakAth sumahathOapyudhadhArayasthvam

Thvath pAdhavAri paripootha sirAsccha yOabhUth

tamm vandhasE kila , tathasccha varam vruNeeshE !

kreeDaavidhirBhatha vilakshaNa lakshaNastE

 

(Meaning ) : Oh Lord with Incomparable compassion !

Your delightful pursuit of activities are quite different than

those of the human beings ( VilakshaNa lakshaNa: ) . Those

activities performed in a sportive manner fills us with wonderment .

One such activity of Yours as Sriman Narayana was that of

destroying the gigantic sins that Rudran acquired from plucking

one of the heads of his father , Brahma dEvan . That Rudran partook

the water ( SrI Paadha Theertham) used by Brahma to wash Your

sacred feet and got released from his heinous sins . Later ,

in Your VibhavaavathAram as KrishNa , You bent before that

Rudran (Your seshan) and sought from him the boon of progeny .

This is not what a human being will do under such circumstances .

Your souiseelyam here is incomparable for those , who are dear

to You . Strange and wonderous indeed are such activities of Yours !

Tey display Your athimAnushathvam .

 

(Commentary ): There was a time when both Brahma dEvan and

his son , Rudran had five heads . Parvathy , the wife of Rudran

mixed up once the identity between the two and offered her

Kaimkaryams to her father-in-law under the mistaken notion

that it was her husband . Rudran flew into a rage, when he

witnessed Parvathy's behavior and plucked away one of the five

heads of his innocent Father , the accomplished Master of

the four vedaas . Rudran acquired a bundle of sins as a result .

Brahma also cursed his son to wander around the world begging

for food , while Brahma's skull got stcuk to Rudran's palm . Later , Sriman

NarayaNan freed Rudran from the curse of Brahma dEvan thru His

anugraham at KaNdiyUr dhivya dEsam . On another occasion ,

Rudran absorbed the Holy water that flowed as the sacred Ganga

from the lotus feet of the Lord and that absolved all his sins . From

these acts , Your supermacy ( parathvam ) over Rudran is clearly

established . Yet , when you incarnated as KrishNa , the son of Devaki

and VasudEva , You sought the boon of progeny from Rudran . This is

truly a sport on Your part indicating the limit of your souseelyam .

 

SlOkam 12

 

kreeDAvidhE: parikarastava yaa thu maayaa

Saa MOhinee na kathamasya thu hantha! janthO:

hai! marthya simha vapushastava tEjasOamsE

Sambhur-bhavan hi Sarabha: sSulabhO BhabhUva

 

(Meaning): Oh Lord ! Your wonderous Maayai (Moola Prakruthi)

is the instrument of Your sportive acts. That Maayai made up of

thriguNams can delude anyone it wishes . For instance , that VishNu

Maayaa deluded even the omniscient (Sarvajn~an ) Sivan and made

him take the form of the Sarabha animal to kill Narasimhan . In the fight that

ensued , Sivan was destroyed by JwAlA Narasimhan like a fire fly

that flew into a mighty flame . Bhagavan Himself has commented on

His Maayai as invincible and tough for anyone to cross in Gita :

" dhaivee hEyshaa guNamayee Mama maayaa dhurathyathaa " .

The fierce anger of Lord Narasimhan was such that the attacking

Rudran in the Sarabham form got decimated instantaneously

like a salabham (fire fly) flying into a naked flame.

 

SlOkam 13:

 

yasyAthmathAm Thripurabhangavidhou adhAvasthvam

Thvath sakthi tEjithaSarO vijayee cha yOabhUth

dakshakrathou tu kila tEna vinirjithasthvam

yukthO vidhEya vishayEshu hi kaamachAra:

 

(Meaning ): Oh Lord of Matchless KaaruNyam ! In the battle of

Rudran against the ThripurAsurans , You stayed as the arrow

in the bow of Rudran , empowered Rudran thru anupravEsam

( inner presence) and helped Rudran destroy the three asurans .

Your valour and Parathvam was very clearly revealed here .

 

In the Yaj~nam of Daksha prajApathy , You pretended however

as though You were frightened by the ferocity of Veerabhadran sent by

Rudran and ran away from the Yaj~nam taking the form of a crow .

How can we relate this odd behavior with Your Parathvam ?

 

How could this contradictory happenings be reconciled ?

The explanation is : " VidhEya vishayEshu kaamachAra: yuktha hi ? " .

It is appropriate to act in the case of dependents according to the pull

of one's mind . This is just Your chosen sport . Even if the Lord is

nirapEksha svatantran ( Supremely endowed independent One) ,

He becomes Aaasritha Paaratantran ( Obdient to those , who seek

His protection . In the case of those , who are dear to Him ,

the Lord sets aside His parathvam (Supermacy) and SvAtantryam

(independence) and becomes Bhaktha Paratantran ( totally controlled

by those who seek His refuge / AasrithAs ) .