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             tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Part 9 - Slokam 7.

Slokam 7:

        deva: SrImAn sva-siddheh karaNamiti vadan ekam artham sahasre
        sevyatvAdIn daSArthAn pRthagiha Satakair vakti tat 
sthApanArthAt   |
        aikaikaSyAt paratvAdishu daSaka guNeshvAyatante tathA te
        tat-tad gAthAguNAnAm anuvidadhati tat-pa'nktayah pa'nkti 
sa'nkhyAh  || 

In this Slokam, svAmi deSikan elaborates further on the organization 
of the grantham (in terms pASuram-s building into tens, and these 
building into the Satakam-s or hundred pASuram-s, and the whole 
grantham consisting of the 1000 pASuram-s) in describing emperumAn's 
guNa-s.

The message that bhagavAn who is inseparably associated with SrI 
(devah SrImAn) is both the means and the goal to be attained ? the 
principal guna of emperumAn extolled by the grantham, could have been 
expressed through just one pASuram by AzhvAr.  Why did he choose to 
sing this one message (ekam artham) through a  thousand pASuram-s?  
It is because of AzhvAr's intense desire in enjoying the guNa-s of 
bhagavAn that he chose to sing them through a thousand pASuram-s 
instead.  The superb tattvam that bhagavAn who is inseparably 
associated with lakshmi is both the ultimate goal and the means to 
attain Him, is extensively elaborated by AzhvAr through the thousand 
pASuram-s ? `sva-prAptiyilE svayameva upAyam Avan'.    We already saw 
in the previous Slokam of svAmi deSikan, that AzhvAr keys in on one 
principal guNa of bhagavAn in each Satakam (group of 100 songs).  In 
other words, AzhvAr proceeds to identify ten guNa-s such as 
sevyattvam (the quality that makes Him uniquely fit to be worshipped) 
that facilitate His being the upAyam and upeyam, at the Satakam 
(hundreds) level.  He then elaborates on each of the guNa-s such as 
sevyattvam through ten guNa-s such as parattvam (Supremacy, Lordship 
over everything and every one) at the daSakam (ten-s) level.  Thus, 
at this stage, the ten guNa-s have been expanded into 100 guNa-s and 
explained by them.  Then, the guNa sung in each ten is further 
elaborated by the ten pASuram-s of the daSakam, and thus we have 1000 
guNa-s of bhgavAn sung in the grantham, explaining and elaborating on 
the one supreme truth that bhagavAn is both the means and the end to 
be attained.

One can think of AzhvAr's organized approach to singing bhagavAn's 
guNa-s in the form of a `tree structure', as we call it in computer 
language.  One could imagine this tree formation growing upwards, 
starting at the `thousand' level at the root, with ten `branches' 
growing from the main trunk and representing the ten Sataka-s or the 
hundreds level, ten further branches from each of the Sataka levels 
branching into ten daSaka-s or ten-s level, and on to the level of 
the thousand pASuram-s as the leaves.   

-       devah srImAn sva-siddheh karaNam iti vadan ekam artham 
sahsre ? Through the thousand pASuram-s, AzhvAr declares the one 
truth that bhagavAn inseparably associated with SrI or lakshmI serves 
as the sole  means to attain Him who is also the One Supreme goal to 
be attained.
-       tat sthApanArthAt sevyatvAdIn daSArthAn pRthak iha Satakaih 
vakti ? To establish the above, AzhvAr proceeds to enumerate the ten 
guNa-s such as sevyattvam (the quality of being fit to be worshipped) 
at the Satakam level (grouping of hundred songs)
-       aikaikaSyAt paratvAdishu daSaka guNeshu tathA te Ayatante -  
Each of the above ten guNa-s are then further elaborated by the ten  
daSaka-s or ten-s (also tiruvAimozhi-s) associated with the given 
Satakam.
-       tat-tad gAthAguNanAm anuvidadhati tat-pa'nktayah pa'nkti 
sa'nkhyAh ? The guNa-s sung in the ten daSaka-s of the first Satakam 
are a different set of guNa-s than the ones sung in the second 
Satakam, and so on.  They follow each other in a `sequence', as it 
were, and each set evolves from the previous ones (tad pa'nktayah 
pa'nkti sa'nkhyAh anuvudadhati).

It never gives me a feeling of repetition when writing on the topic 
of bhagavad guNa-s.  R. Rangachari has translated the tAtparya 
ratnAvaLi Sloka-s into English in the form of English poems.  I am 
including his translation for the current Slokam below:

        "The Lord, Consort of SrI, is attainment's supreme end 
        for all, and He Himself is the means therefor" ? 
        This, the burden of the song, in all the thousand hymns!
        To establish this, the Sage doth dwell, in turn, in his 
centuries ? 
        On each of the ten noble qualities of the Lord ?
        "Worthy to be cherished" and so forth;
        Lo, these gracious attributes derive from the other Supreme 
qualities,
        Expounded in the Decads, Centuries, and the whole thousand 
hymns!
        Ah, what expanding numbers, parallel!

Aditional thoughts:

SrI UV delves into the basis behind the tradition of enjoying 
tiruvAimozhi, consisting of over a thousand pASuram-s, through groups 
of 100 pASuram-s (Sataka-s), each of them through ten groups of ten 
(daSaka-s), etc.  One could take the position that AzhvAr just sang 
the guNa-s of emperumAn ramdomly as they came to his mind, and there 
is no need to assign one main guNam as being sung by the whold 
grantham, and then subdividing it into many subunits elaborating guNa-
s that stand to support the guNa at the higher level, etc., in an 
organized way.  

Grouping of pASuram-s into 10 ten's (daSaka-s) is obvious, since 
AzhvAr himself has included a concluding phala Sruti pASuram at the 
end of each of the daSaka-s.  But one can legitimately question the 
organization of the 1000 pASuram-s into ten Sataka-s.  What is the 
basis for saying that these ten emphasize ten guNa-s, that these ten 
guNa-s together support a mahA guNam at the grantham level, and on 
the other side, that each pASuram stresses one guNa, that the ten 
guNa-s of the ten pASuram-s of a given daSakam stand in support of 
the one guNa that is the subject matter of this daSakm, etc., etc., - 
which is the subject matter of the current Slokam by svAmi deSikan.  
Is this all just creative thinking by svAmi deSikan?  These questions 
are rhetorically raised by SrI UV in his avatArikai for 
tiruvAimozhi.  

SrI UV presents the following in support of the structured 
organization of tiruvAimozhi as stated in the current Sloka.  He 
points out that na'njIyar and others have established that 
tiruvAimozhi has a main subject matter at the grantham level, just as 
there are other specific and unique subject matters for the three 
other aurLic-ceyals of nammAzhvAr.  

AzhvAr concludes each tiruvAimozhi consisting of ten pASuram-s with a 
uniue pASuram containing a specific phala Sruti; this not only 
supports the grouping of the whole grantham into 100 tiruvAimozhi-s, 
but also that each tiruvAimozhi addresses a specific subject, this 
being a specific guNam of emperumAn in each dAsakam (group of ten 
pASuram-s).  tiruk kurugaip pirAn piLLAn has commented at the 
conclusion of the first tiruvAimizhi, that "this tiruvAimozhi is 
devoted to revealing emperumAn who is `ubhaya vibhUti viSisTan', thus 
indicating that the first tiruvAimozhi is devoted to describing the 
guNa of parattvam of emperumAn.  For the third tiruvAimizhi, he has 
used the words "ASrita sulabhataiyai aruLic ceyyat toDa'ngi", and 
thus has indicated that saulabhyam is the subject of this 
tiruvAimozhi.  These clearly support the organization of the grantham 
at the dAsakam level, and also the concept of the assignment of 
different guna-s as the topic of the different daSakam-s.

AzhvAr himself has used the words "pattu nURRuL ip-pattu avan SEr 
tiruk-kOLUrkkE" at the end of tiruvAimozhi 6.7 (uNNum SORu: 
tiruvAimozhi), thus explicitly stating that he considers the grantham 
as consisting of ten Sataka-s (ten hundreds).  SrI periya AccAn 
piLLai also has indicated in his vyAkhyAanam at the conclusion of the 
first Satakam, that the first Sataka consisting of ten daSaka-s has 
expounded ten guNa-s establishing that bhagavAn is One who has the 
Divine Feet that once and for all removes the sorrow of samsAra, and 
asking his mind to resort to those Divine Feet of His:  "tuyar aRu 
SuDar aDi tozhu ezhu en mananE".   The Idu vyAkhyAnam also gives the 
same interpretation.  These support the tradition of viewing the 
organization of the whole grantham into ten Satakama-s or groups of 
hundred songs.  

Thus, both the summary at the grantham level, and the expounding of 
guNa-s at the Satakam and daSakam levels are supported.  The aspect 
that is noteworthy is that svAmi deSikan points out in his tAtparya 
ratnAvaLi that the guNAnubhavam extends to the level of the 
individual pASuram-s.  Support for this is found in AzhvAr's SrI 
sUkti itself - AzhvAr uses the words `SIr toDai Ayirattu" in pAsuram 
1.2.11 (the concluding pASuram of tiruvAimozhi 1.2), and this is 
given the meaning "bhagavad guNa sandharbha rupamAna sahasrattilum"  -
  the thousand pASurams that are strung together in singing the guNa-
s of bhagavAn (sandharbham ? stringing together).  Thus, AzhvAr 
himself has declared that each of the pASuram-s sings the guNa of 
bhagavAn, and they are garlanded together to form one chain.

It is possible to derive multiple guNa-s from any one pASuram when 
one goes through the pASuram word by word.  However, svAmi deSikan is 
examining each pASuram in the context of the `string' of guNa-s 
(sandharbam referred to above), and identifies the guNam that is most 
relevant in the context and presents it in tAtparya ratnAvaLi.  (We 
will see further elaboration of this in Slokam 9).  

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan

(To be continued)








 
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