SrImate SrI ra'nga rAmAnuja mahA deSikAya namaH.
Slokam 8:
sevyatvAt bhogya bhAvAt Subha-tanu vibhavAt sarva-
bhogyAdhikatvAt
Sreyas-tad hetu dhAnAt Srita vivaSatayA svASritAnishTa
hRtvAt |
bhaktac-chandAnuvRtteh nirupadhika suhRd-bhAvatah sat-padavyAm
sAhAyyAc-ca sva-siddheh svayamiha karaNam SrIdharah
pratyapAdi ||
In this Slokam, svAmi deSikan gives the ten guNa-s that are to be
enjoyed at the Satakam level, which stand to establish the one guNa
identified and enjoyed at the grantham level. This was the subject
of Slokam 6 at a different level of detail. We will discuss the
relation between Slokam 6 and Slokam 8 after looking at the meaning
of the current Slokam.
The subject matter of the ten Sataka-s as given in this Slokam, is
listed sequentially below:
- sevyatvAt ? bhagavAn is worthy of being worshipped ? guNa of
sevyatvam
- bhogya bhAvAt ?He is fit to be enjoyed ? guNa of bhogyatvam
- Subha tanu vibhavAt ? He has an auspicious tirumEni that can
erase all sins of those who meditate on It ? guNa of SubhASraya divya
vigrahaSAlitvam
- sarva bhogyAdhikatvAt ? He is the Ultimate Bliss above all
objects that can be enjoyed ? guNa of sarva bhogyAdhikatvam
- Sreyah tad-hetu dAnAt ? He bestows the best among all the
purushArtha-s or things that are sought by the devotees - namely
moksham, as well as the means to attain it ? guNa of purushArtha tad-
upAya hetutvam
- Srita vivaSatayA ? Easily accessible to those who have
surrendered to Him ? guna of prapadana sulabhatvam or prapatti
sulabhatvam
- sva ASrita anishTa hRtvAt ? Remover of all the sorrows of
those who have taken refuge in Him ? guna of ASrita anishTa
nivartakatvam
- bhaktac-candAnuvRtteh ? He is subject to the wishes of His
devotees ? guNa of ASrita chandAnuvartitvam
- nirupadhika suhRd-bhAvah ? Being a bandhu (relative, well-
wisher) to everyone by nature, without any reason or expectation ?
guNa of nirupAdhika suhRtvam
- ?sat-padavyAm sAhAyyAc-ca ? Helping and guiding on the right
path ? guNa of sat-padavI sahAyatvam (SrI PBA's words are: tAL
aDaintOr tan'gaTkut tAnE vazhit tuNaiyAm avan emperumAn).
- SrIdharah sva-siddheh svayamiva karaNam ? (Because He is
endowed with all the above guNa-s), The Lord of SrI is Himself the
means to attain Him
- pratyapAdi ? This, SrI nammAzhvAr establishes unambiguously.
SrI P. B. aNNa'ngrAcArya svAmi (hereafter referred as SrI PBA)
comments that the statement in the last pAda of the current Slokam ?
sva-siddeh svayamiha karaNam SrIdharah pratyapAdi ? is the theme that
is established in the thousand pASuram-s of the grantham; this is
also stated in the first pAda of the previous Slokam - deva: SrImAn
sva-siddheh karaNamiti vadan ekam artham sahasre.
Possible relation between Sloka-s and 8:
To understand the possible relation between Sloka-s 6 and 8, it is
first necessary to understand the importantce of the first 3 Sataka-s
in the context of the whole grantham. It is held by pUrvAcArya-s
that the first 3 Sataka-s contain the essence of the whole grantham,
at a higher level. (Additionally, it is also considered that the
first 3 tiruvAimozhi-s or daSaka-s also contain the essence of the
grantham in them, and in fact, the first three pAda-s or lines of the
1st pASuram also state the essence of the grantham (upAyatvam,
upeyatvamm, and divya ma'ngaLa vigrahatvam).
As if to signify this point, AzhvAr declares the Ultimate benefit ?
the moksha phalan, at the conclusion of the third Satakam itself ?
?????????????????????. avan
nADum nagaramum na'nguDan kANa nalaniDai Urdi paNNi
vIDum peRuttit tan mU ulagukkum tarum oru nAyagamE (3.10.11)
Keeping this point in mind, we wil lnow look at the possible relation
between Sloka-s 6 and 8 of tAtparya ratnAvaLi, and see how there is
no redundancy, but an organization built in here. It was noted
earlier that Slokam 6 dealt with the same topic as the current Slokam
does, but at a different level. The guNa-s identified in Slokam 6
were: upAyatvam, mukta prApyatvam, and Subha subhaga tanutvam for the
first three Sataka-s. The guNa identified for the fourth Satakam was
ananya-prApayatvam, which is a further extended description of the
guNa of prApyatvam identified in the second Satakam. Then for the
remaining Sataka-s, the guNa identified in Slokam 6 is ananya-
upAyatvam, which is related to the guNa identified for the first
Satakam. Thus, one can notice that three principal guNa-s are
identified in Slokam 6 in the first three Sataka-s, signifying that
the first three Sataka-s contain the essence of the whole
tiruvAimozhi. The current Slokam then extends and expands the three
principal guNa-s identified in Slokam 6 into ten guNa-s for the ten
Sataka-s. (In a tree-structure, Slokam 4 expands on the guNa
described in Satakam 2, and Slokas 5 to 10 expand and support the
guNa expressed in Sstakam 1.
Additional thoughts:
There are differences in the way that different vyAkhyAna kartA-s
interpret the ten Sataka-s as explaining the main theme of
tiruvAimozhi. The IDu vyAkhyAnam gives the subject matter of the ten
Sataka-s as:
- bhagavat kainkaryam alone is the ultimate goal.
- Removal of the obstacles to attaining this goal.
- Bhagavad kainkaryam extends all the way to kainkaryam to
bhAgavata-s.
- The obstacles to kainkaryam are aiSvaryam, kaivalyam etc.
- BhagavAn alone is the One who can remove these obstacles to
attaining Him.
- Surrendering to Him for the removal of these obstacles.
- Feeling sorry that even after surrendering to Him, there is
no union with Him, and one has to suffer in samsAra
- Getting rid of all attachment to this samsAra
- Enjoying the Grace of nArAyaNa who willingly comes forward to
protect the jIva-s
- BhagavAn fulfilling the desire of AzhvAr.
vAdi kesari has given yet another interpretation, and gives the
following as the subjects covered by the ten Sataka-s: rakshakatvam,
bhogyatvam, jIva as one who should enjoy paramAtman alone, this alone
will give true joy to the soul, emperumAn as the upAyam, His being
chosen as the upAyam, the obstacles to this, removal of these
obstacles, the resulting benefits, and attaining these benefits.
Both the above interpretations deal with the Satakam level; these
works do not aim at identifying a central theme for the grantham as a
whole, or identification of guNa-s at the daSakam level or at the
level of the individual pASuram-s. In addition to giving us the
central theme for the grantham as a whole, and the guNa-s extolled by
Azgvar at the Satakam level, svAmi deSikan identifies and presents
the guNa-s at the daSakam level and at the pASuram level as well, and
also gives a natural connectivity between all these towards one
central theme for the whole grantham. This is the unique
contribution of tAtparya ratnAvali.
(To be continued)
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