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srI:

SrI  sAra  sAram â I (6)
-- 
I â ThirumantrAdhikAram 
-- 
The Eminence of Thirumantra (continued) 
--- 

        After highlighting the eminence of the Thirumantram as established by 
Scriptures from ten angles, SwAmi Desikan, now strengthens this with references 
from AzhvArsâ works: 
 âAzhvArkaLum, ânin thiruveTTezhuththum kaRRuâ, âeTTezhuththum 
OthuvArkaLâ, âeTTezhuththum vAramAka OthuvArkaLâ enRu immoola 
mantraththaiyE parama-purushArththa-moolamaka aruLic ceithArkaL. 
anukoola-pratikoola sAdhAraNa-mAna janmam pOlanRikkE âpiRanthapin 
maRanthilEnâ enkiRa SrEshTha janmam AchAryan upadEciththa 
thirumantram-adiyAka varukiRathu.â â 
        AzhvArs too praised the Thirumantram as the means for the highest goal. 
SwAmi Desikan first quotes from Periya Thirumozhi: 
ânin thiruveTTezhuththum kaRRuâ.âLearning the eight letters of Your name.
        Let us study the verse in full:
 âmaRRum Or deivam uLathenRu  iruppArOdu
  uRRilEn, uRRathum unnadiyArkkadimai.
  maRRellAm pEsilum, nin thiru-veTTezhutthum
  kaRRu nAn kaNNapuratthuRai-yammAnE.â  (Periya Thirumozhi, 8-10-3)

        Here, we have to study the beautiful commentary given by SrI Uttamoor 
SwAmi for this verse:- 
        In his avathArikai (introductory remarks), SrI SwAmi says: 
The Lord questions the AzhvAr: âOh Azhveer! You have just said that you will 
not think of any other god even for a moment. But, you may have some dealings 
with some people who worship other gods. How can you avoid such persons even 
for a moment?â In reply to this query from the Lord, the AzhvAr submits this 
pAsuram, as above. 
Meaning: âOh the Lord of Kannapuram! adiyEn will not move with those who 
think that there is a different dEvatA for worship. Since adiyEn has learnt SrI 
ThiruvashTAkshara mantra which You have taught me directly, and its various 
meanings, adiyEn remains dedicated to Your devotees.â

The gist of the explanation given by SrI Uttamoor Swami: 
The AzhvAr submits:  There may be many so-called dEvatAs. They are not, really. 
âdivyO dEva EkO nArAyaNahâ, EkO dEvah sarvabhootEshu goodahâ etc. 
establish You as the only God, known as SrIman nArAyaNa. You alone are to be 
worshipped. adiyEn does not join the devotees of Siva etc. This adiyEn learnt 
from the ThiruvashTAksharam which You Yourself instructed me directly, besides 
revealing it in BadarikASrama. Hence, You need not think that adiyEn may 
abandon Your devotees. From that mantra, what adiyEn learnt is, adiyen is a 
servant of Your devotees. It is also a part of the service to You. This the 
foremost of the various messages adiyen learnt from this mantra. If You ask me 
what are the other messages, they include, that about myself, that about this 
world, that You are the means and that You are the goal to be attained. But the 
best of them all is being the servant of Your devotees. 

        Here, the Lord intervenes and questions the AzhvAr:

The Lord: âIn the ashTAksharam, the praNavam and nArAyaNa contain many 
messages which do not exclude any jIvAtma. Is it not?â
AzhvAr: âOh Lord! Even if they convey many other meanings (maTRellAm 
pEsilum), adiyEn is firm about this meaning alone.â
The Lord: âBy the âu-kAramâ in the praNava, you are prohibited from being 
the servant any one else but Me. How can you say you are a servant of My 
devotees also?â
AzhvAr: âEven though it negatives servitude to others, the service to 
Bhagavatas is an exception, as it comes within the service rendered to You.â
The Lord: âOk. But, take the word, nArAyaNa. ânAraâ which is a part of 
it, means all jIvas who are part of My body. When that is the case, how can you 
exclude some from your service? How can you say, âmaTRum Or deivam uLathenRu 
iruppArOdu uTRilEnâ?â
AzhvAr: âEven though the word ânAraâ indicates all the jIvas, here that 
meaning will not apply, Lord!â
The Lord: âHow? Please explain.â
AzhvAr:  âThat is a general meaning. But, when we pin-point âSEshatvaâ 
which is the ultimate message, it certainly pertains only to You and those who 
are attached to You only. So, along with the Bhagavad service, exclusive 
service to Your devotees (BhAgavatas) is the ultimate message that is intended 
in this word. For, they cannot be separated from You. Those who say there is 
another god besides You, are not with You mentally, though they may be with You 
physically. Hence, for me, who is exclusively sticking to the correct sense of 
the terms, âaâ in the praNava and ânArAyaNaâ, they as well as their so 
called dEvtas fall outside this exclusive zone.â 

        Here, a conversation between Nanjeeyar and NampiLLai is worth 
mentioning. 
Nanjeeyar: âWe are all claiming ourselves as servants solely of the Lord. If 
we tell Him that we will not stop at that; we are servants of Your devotees 
also, how will He take it?â 
NampiLLai: âallik kamalanAkiRAnâ. 
That is, on hearing this, the Lordâs eyes blossom like the Lotus flower.â 

        NampiLLai meant that the Lord will feel happy to hear that we are 
servants of His devotees too, because, that is the essence of this 
Thirumantram. 

        
(To continue)
dAsan 
Anbil S.SrInivAsan
------ 
   
                         



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