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Oppiliappan List Archive: Message 00027 Mar 2006

 
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Dear svami,

A small clarification.
Sri ANDAL has come a long way and talked about the means in the 28th pAsuram of 
ThriuppAvai. The 29th is one where the 'end' is being spelt out explciitly.

2. Sri Azhagiaya maNavALap perumAL-The commentator of the ARAyirappaDi 
vyAkyanam- questions whether Sri ANDAL would request the Lord at this juncture 
to remove other desires. Their only desire now is service at the feet of the 
Lord -nE kuThEval engaLaik koLLAmal pOgAdhu.

3. Then what does maThai nam kAmangaL maThu at this juncture cannotes?
a. Sri PeriyavAchAn PilLLai's nAlayirappaDi 
nAngaL 'engaLukku' enRu irukkumadhuvum, , nEyum 'ivargaLukku' enRu irukkum 
adhuvum -ivai iraNdum-virOadhi AgaiyAlEa , athai thavirthu thara vEaNum 
engiRargaL.

The Service should not be done with a self motive. This is being requested to 
be removed by the terms ' mathai nam kAmangaL mAThu'

b. Sri Azhagiay maNavALap perumAL nAyanAr's ARAyirappADi.

Apart from pont 2 above, the term kAmangaL is explained in this context.
..vishaya vaiLakshanyathAlum Asrayathin inimaiyAlum, migavum prEthi rupamAyiREa 
parimARRam iruppadhu. adhil svarUpathukku virOdhiyAna ahankAra garpamAna 
adimaiyum apurushArthamiREa.

Due to the greatness of the subject matter and the sweetness the excange 
between the jEvAthmA and the ParamAtmA is bound to be very emotional and 
joyful. However, during the excange and service there is a possiblity of 
emergence of ego during the service. This ego and self-conscious service is 
sought to be removed by the terms 'maRRai nam kAmangaL maRRu'

4. This is being corroborated by coherence of the 28th and 29th pAsuram at a 
macro level by Sri Azhagiya maNavALap PerumAL nAyanAr in the ARAyirAppaDi.

'kaRavaigaL pin senRu' enRu--upAyAnthrithalEA anvyama sollugaiyAlum....svarUpa 
virOdhi kazhindha padi solliRRu.

in the 28th pAsuram namely -kaRavaigaL pin senRu -the means procedure is 
clearly detailed and the hurdles/defects in the means stage is removed.

ippATTil -muRkURRAl -mARRai nam kAmangaL mARRu - engiRadhAL -pala virOdhiyai 
kazhikkiRadhu

That is, in the 29th pAsuram namely, SiRRam siRu kAlEa - by the words -mARRai 
nam-kAmangaL mARRu- the defects at the end/goal stage is remvoed.That 
is the end stage being Service to the Lord -which has also been clearly spelt 
out as 'kuRREaval' and the defect in the end stage being egotism and 
self-conscous act of service is sought to be removed.


5. This is further, correlated to Thriumandhiram.

GovindhA -vunakku -           AkArathai sollugiRadhu.

vunakkEa --------------vukArathai sollugiRadhu.

nAm ------------------enRu makArathai sollugiRadhu.

vundhannOADu vuRRomEAvOm-----------nArAyaNa padhathin artham solliRRu

eRRaikkum yEzh yEAzh piRavikkum ---engaiyAlEa chadurthiyiartham sollithu.

maRRai nam-kAmangaL mARRu ---engaiyAlEa namassil artham solliRRu

'nam' refers to not for me but for Him and for His sake. That is service for 
Him and not for ourselves.



Summary: Therefore, going through the abvoe vyAkyAnam-s the terms 'maRRai 
nam-kAmangaL mARRu ' in the 29th pAsuram of ThriuppAvai refers to seeking of 
removal of defects at the stage of Service to the Lord and not removal of other 
desires.

adiyEan

rAmAnuja dAsan
vanamamalai padmanabhan

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: sudarshan madabushi 
  To: tiruvenkatam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ; srirangasri@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ; 
oppiliappan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
  Sent: Saturday, March 04, 2006 6:20 PM
  Subject: [Oppiliappan] "maRRai nam kaamangaL maaRRu"- (PART 22)


     The Story of Saint Poosalar: Conquest of "kaama"
     ------------------------------------------------ 
           through Sublimation of Desire -- 
           ---------------------------------
                     "bhakti yOga"
                      -----------

  The third "mArga" (pathway) in the Vedantic theory of
  "hita" is called "bhakti": it is the way of
  sublimating selfish human Desire ("kaama") in order to
  reach the highest pinnacle of Bliss  recognized in
  Vedantic philosophy as true "purushArtha" (i.e.
  "inbam", "kaama"). 

  The sublimation of "kaama" -- i.e. Desires of ordinary
  flesh -- in fact, is the central theme of the whole of
  the TiruppAvai. It lies too at the very core of the
  expression "maRRai nam kaamangaL maaRRu". 

  The English word 'sublimate' is derived from the Latin
  "sublimarE". It means "to direct the energy of an
  impulse (or desire) from its primitive or gross aims
  to one that is ethically or culturally higher"
  (Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary). The
  idea of "sublimating" the energy or power latent in
  human desire, by re-directing it away from "primitive
  aims" towards "culturally higher" ones in life,
  through undivided Love and Devotion to a personal
  Deity, is at the core of Vedantic "bhakti". This idea
  is not mere lofty philosophy. It translates into a
  whole way of life. It is a fine and great "art of
  living". 

                 ***************

  Such an art is well illustrated in the life of a great
  Tamil saint who belonged to the mystic order called
  "nAyanmAr-s". 

  The "nAyanmAr-s" were "63" in number (known
  collectively in popular Tamil as "aaru-pathu-moovar")
  and in the rich cultural and religious history of
  Tamilnadu, they are regarded as the Saivite
  counterparts of the "12" Vaishnavite "AzhwArs". The
  "nAyanmArs" were mystic saints who were the
  chronological seniors of the AzhwArs. They too, like
  the "AzhwArs", devoted their lives, wholly and
  exclusively, to the experience of Godhead in that
  elevated emotion called "parama-bhakti" (intense love
  and devotion to a personal Deity, who in their case
  was "Shiva", while it was "Vishnu" in the case of the
  AzhwArs). 

  Like the "AzhwArs" again, the "nAyanmArs" too poured
  out their "bhakti" in thousands of heartfelt and
  mystic Tamil verses that have been handed down the
  centuries and to this day celebrated and cherished by
  millions in the Tamilian laity. The lives and works of
  these saintly "63" were made famous by a Tamil
  classical work of hagiography called "peria-purANam"
  written by a great literary figure, Sekkizhar, who
  lived more than 1200 years ago in the Tamil country.

  In the "peria-purANam" one finds the story of one such
  "nayanmAr" who was called Poosalan or Poosalar. 

  When we read the life of Poosalan, we are not only
  moved by his example of extraordinary "bhakti" but,
  more importantly, we are also able to grasp the
  Vedantic principle of how the power of "bhakti" can be
  harnessed by us to transform, through improvement or
  refinement, the basic quality of our desires in life.
  It is exactly the sort of transformation conceived in
  the phrase of the TiruppAvai: "maRRai kaamangaL
  maaRRu". Poosalar's life is a shining example of how
  "bhakti" can be used by Man to sublimate "primitive"
  "kaama" and then re-invent and redefine it into
  another qualitatively different "kaama"  --- "one that
  is ethically or culturally higher" or, to use a
  Vedantic term, one that leads to the ultimate goal of
  life ("parama-purushArtha").... In other words, once
  again, "maRRai nam kaamangaL maaRRu". 

                    **************

  Now, in some SriVaishnavite "die-hard" circles
  ("veera-Srivaishnava"), it is generally frowned upon
  to make even the vaguest allusion to examples drawn
  from Tamilian hagiography other than those of the holy
  AzhwArs themselves. Such circles even regard it as
  blasphemeous to speak of the Nayanmars and the AzhwArs
  in the very same breath. Likewise, the vice versa may
  perhaps be the case too with hard-core Saivites
  ("veera-Saiva"). 

  For the purpose of this series of postings, however, I
  am going to ignore the great and ancient sectarian
  divide amongst Saivites and SriVaishnavites. My aim is
  to concentrate solely on the common bond of "bhakti"
  that is the hallmark of saints within both sets of
  pantheon. I believe there is no such thing as "saivite
  bhakti" or "srivaishnavite bhakti" nor anything
  remotely like "advaitic bhakti" or "visishtAdavaitic
  bhakthi". When one reads the hagiographic accounts of
  the saints on both sides of the sectarian divide, one
  cannot help being convinced that the emotion of pure
  "bhakthi" itself --- that which took possession indeed
  of the hearts of both the Saivite and SriVaishnavite
  saint -- was somehow essentially of the same nature,
  intensity and fervor wherever you looked. 

  Hence, for the limited purpose of our ongoing inquiry
  into the subject of "kaama", and its conquest through
  "bhakti", it is my view that it is equally profitable
  to take examples from both sides of the sectarian wall
  of the Vedantic faith and subject them to study.

  In the last few postings, we enjoyed the life of Sri
  Tondar-adi-podi AzhwAr. Now let us turn to the life of
  another great saint, Poosalan, who centuries ago lived
  in the little town of "tiru-ninnravoor" (very near
  Chennai, India).
             
                  **************
                 (to be continued)   
  Regards,
  dAsan,
  Sudarshan


























              
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