SrI sArasAram -- I (60)

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srI:

SrI sAra sAram – I (60)

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I – ThirumantrAdhikAram

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The Meaning of the Thirumanthiram as a Whole

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SwAmi Desikan now explains how by realizing the significance of the three words

in the Thirumanthiram, different kinds of egoism of the jIva are removed. He

takes up the first word, the praNava:

“ithil pratham-pada-ththil thruthIya-aksharaththAlE dEhAdikaLilum

tadanubanidhikaLilum varm ahangkAra-mamakArangkaLaiyum†---

In the first word of the Thirumanthiram, which is the pranava, the third

syllable, ‘m’ indicates the jIva who has knowledge as his form and also his

attribute. One who realizes the significance of this syllable gets rid of the

ahamkAram, the misconception that his body is identical with his self and the

mamakAram, the wrong notion that things connected with the body belong to him.

“prathama-aksharaththil caturthiyAlE thAn thanakkuriyanAkivarm

ahangkAra-mamakArangkaLaiyum†---

We have already seen that the first syllable of the praNava has the fourth-case

suffix, ‘Aya’ which is hidden and that it indicates the servitude of the

jIva. By realizing the truth of being a servant to the Lord, one gets rid of the

ahamkAram, that is, the thought, ‘I belong to myself’; and the mamakAram,

that is, the thinking of one’s qualities as his own.

“madhyma-aksharaththil avadhAraNaththAlE nAn vERoruvankku

nirupAdhika-SeshanenRum enakku vERoru nirupAdika- SeshiyuNdenRum varum

ahangkAra-mamakArangkaLaiyum†–

As the middle syllable of the praNava, ‘u’ indicates that the jIva is the

exclusive belonging of the Lord alone, the realization of this syllable removes

the ahangkAram, which is in the form of thinking oneself as a natural servant of

any one other than the Lord; and the mamakAram, that is, the thinking of some

one other than the Lord as one’s natural master.

SwAmi Desikan now takes up the middle word, ‘namah’ in the Thirumanthiram:

“madhyama-padaththil nishedha-viSEshangkaLalE svarakshaNa-vyApArAdikaLaip

paRRa nirapEksha-svantranenRum nirupAdhika-SeshiyenRm varum

ahangkAra-mamakArangfkaLaiyum†---

The negation in the middle word, ‘namah’, indicates the rejection of

certain attitudes on the part of the jIva. Its components are: ‘na’ and

‘mah’, which stress the denial of self-responsibility for self-protection,

bereft of the dependence on the Lord. It is a fact that one cannot protect

himself independent of the Lord’s grace. The thought that one can protect

himself without the help of the Lord is a type of ahangkAram, which is removed

when one realizes the significance of this word. When this happens, he will also

be free from the type of mamakAram, in the form of thought, ‘The other is my

servant (Sesha) and I am his master (Seshi).’ Similarly the mamakAram, that

is, the feeling, ‘I am the master of actions done by me’, will also

disappear as a result of the realization of the significance of this middle

word.

SwAmi Desikan now takes up the third and last word, ‘nArAyaNAya’ of the

Thirumanthiram:

“in nishEdh sAmarthyam thannAlE NaRaYAnA Sabdaththil caturtthin karuththAn

kainkarya-anbhavaththil phalAnthara-anubhava-nyAththAle varun

svadhina-kartrutva-bhOktrutva, svArtha-karrutva-bhrama-roopangkaLAna

ahangkAra-mamakArangaLaiyum SAbdamAkavum ArthamAkavum aDiyaRuththu niRkiRAn.â€

–

This negation in the middle word, ‘namah’, has more to convey. We know that

the third word, ‘nArAyaNAya’ is composed of the name of the Lord,

‘nArAyaNa’ and the fourth-case suffix, ‘Aya’. This suffix is indicative

of the service one has to render to the Lord.

In the worldly life, when one does some action and consequently enjoys the

fruit of such action, he experiences ahangkAram in the form of, ‘I performed

the action independently and I enjoy its fruit independently’ and also a

mamkAram in the form of, ‘The fruit of the action is my own’ and ‘I

experience its fruit for my own sake.’ We may doubt whether such ahamgkAram

and mamakAram will be there in SrIvaikuNTam too where the mukta is rendering

service to the Lord. But, when one realizes the significance of the middle word,

‘namah’, it will result in the removal of such ahamgkAram and the mamkAram.

He will not even utter the words ‘I’ and ‘mine’, as the significance of

‘namah’ gets enshrined in his mind.

 

(To continue)

dAsan

anbil S.SrInivAsan

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