tri-mUrti in tiruvAimozhi - Part 10.
3.6.1: (23)
Seyya tAamraik kaNNanAi ulagu Ezhum uNDa avan kaNDIr
vaiyam vAnam maniSar daivam maRRum maRRum maRRum muRRumAi
Seyya Suzh SuDar j~nAnamAi veLip paTTu ivai paDaittAn pinnum
moi koL SOdiyODu AyinAn oru mUvar Agiya mUrtiyE.
In this pASuram, AzhvAr reminds us that bhagavAn is the Supreme Being
who is the Cause of the whole Universe and everything that exists in
it, that He is the One Who swallowed everything at the time of
pralaya just for saving everything from the great floods â?" that He is
the One who protects at the time of danger, and that He is the One
who is the Lord and antaryAmi of everything including brahmA and
rudra. He is One with beautiful lotus eyes (Seyya tAmaraik kaNNan);
He is One who helps all the creatures by saving them in His stomach
at the time pralaya (ulagam Ezhum uNDa avan); He created everything
(ivai paDaittAn) just out of compassion for the jIva-s, so that they
can have a body and indriya-s to enjoy and function; He is One who
controls the functions of brahmA and rudra by being their antaryAmi
(oru mUvar Agiya mUrti); In addition, He has infinite other kalyANa
guNa-s (moi koL SodiyODu AyinAn). Thus AzhvAr reminds us of His guNa-
s that are of benefit to all the jIva-s, and tries to motivate those
who do not worship Him with full devotion, to start changing ways and
start resorting to Him.
The first two pAda-s (quarters) of this pASuram sing the praise of
bhagavAnâ??s vAtsalyam or affection to the jIva-s, in the form of His
functions of creation, and preservation of the jIva-s at the time of
pralaya. The second half of the pASuram refers to His parattvam.
The emphases in this tiruvAimozhi are bhagavAnâ??s kalyANa guna-s of
sauSIlyam and saulabhyam; His parattvam will always be evident in
the background.
In the previous tiruvAimozhi (3.5) that we did not cover, AzhvAr
deplores the majority of people who just eat and enjoy, do not
realize the greatness of emperumAn, and do not sing His praise. He
repeatedly asks: Those of you who do not worship Lord nArAyaNa â?" of
what use is it that you occupy the space in this world? - (3.5.1).
Of what use is your birth in this world? - (3.5.4). Do you deserve
to live in the same place that the people who are learned in the veda-
s live? â?" 3.5.5, etc. In the current tiruvAimozhi, he takes pity on
these people, and tries to again reveal to them with kindness the
Glory of emperumAn, hoping that they will heed his words to resort to
Him and worship Him. Our AcArya-s compare this situation to the way
that sItA pirATTi tried to deal with rAvaNa. First She rebukes him
for his sinful behavior, but then, as the Mother, she tries to advise
him to listen to Her and follow the good and dhArmic path and
surrender to Lord rAma and be saved. AzhvAr is taking the same
approach here â?" deploring our behavior in tiruvAimozhi 3.5, but then,
out of sheer kindeness, trying to advise us to mend our ways and
resort to Him.
Seyya tAmaraik kaNNanAi â?" He with eyes that are beautiful like the
freshly blossomed lotus flowers (Sei â?" to resemble)
- chAndogya Upanishad declares the purusha with eyes resembling
the full-blown red lotus â?" tasya yathA kapyAsam puNDarIkAksham evam
akshiNI (1.6.7)
- The vishNu dharma describes Lord vishNu as One with Lotus-
eyes:
SrUyatAm tu naravyAghra veda vedAnta niScayaH |
ya~jneSo ya~jna purushaH puNDarIkAksha samj~nitaH |
sa vishNuH paramam brahma yato nAvartate punaH ||
ulagu Ezhum uNDa avan â?" He Who swallowed all th seven worlds at the
time pralaya (in order to protect the jIva-s from the great floods)
Seyya SUzh SuDar j~nAnamAi -
- Seyya â?" one of the meanings for this word is â??correct,
perfect, soundâ??. SrImad tirukkuDanthai ANDavan translates this
as â??Seyya â?" RjuvAna; SUzh â?" vyAptamAna; Sudar j~nAnamAi â?" sva-prakASa
j~nAnaSAliyAiâ??. The meaning is thus â??One Who is endowed with all-
encompassing knowledge that is natural to Him, and that shines out
with effulgenceâ??.
BhagavAn is the embodiment of all-encompassing (SUzh) knowledge
(j~nAnam) that is unbounded, unblemished and immeasurable (SuDar)
An alternate interpretation for this is that in addition to the leelA
vibhUti that has been described thus far in this pASuram (His acts of
creation etc.), these words describe His nitya vibhUti in SrI
vaikunTham - He is also the One who is in the most splendrous and
effulgent SrI vaikunTham as SrI vaikunTha nAthan.
paDaittAn â?" He created
veLip paTTivai â?"all these are there for everyone to see (pratyaksha
pramANa siddhamAna ivaigaLai), that includes
- vaiyam, vAnam â?" the earth, the sky and the worlds above
- maniSar, daivam â?" the people in this world and the gods in
the worlds above
- maRRum â?" all the animals, birds, trees, etc.
- maRRum â?" The paâ??nca bhUta-s or the five elements that
constitute all the above
- maRRum â?" The tattva-s such as mahAn that are the causes for
the five elements
- muRRumAi â?" all of the things above, without any exception.
pinnum â?" In addition
moi koL SOdiyODu AyinAn â?" He shines with the multitude of Infinite
kalyAna guNa-s that are meant for the protection of all that He has
created â?" tejaH-prabhRti guNa yuktan.
oru mUvarAgiya mUrti â?" He is also the Supreme Deity Who performs the
functions of protection, creation and destruction in the form of the
tri-mUrti-s (with Himself performing the protection, and having
brahmA and rudra perform the functions of creation and destruction by
being their antaryAmi and their Lord). This is clarified further in
the next pASuram â?" mudal mUvarkkum mudalvan.
- An alternate interpretation given is that the reference to
the â??mUvarâ?? is to brahmA, rudra, and indra. BhagavAn has these three
mUrti-s as His body. This has been discussed in previous pASuram-s.
mUrtiyE â?" He is the Lord of all.
A few additional points are worth noting.
- This pASuram starts with a reference to Lord vishNu â?" Seyya
tAmariak kaNNan, ulagu Ezhum uNDa avan etc., and thus, Lors vishNu is
the sole object of praise in this pASuram, as is the case with all
other 1101 pASuram-s.
- mUrti literally means â??that which has a definite bodily shape
or figureâ??. AzhvAr refers to Him as â??oru mUvar Agiya mUrtiyEâ?? â?" He
is One with One form of which the â??threeâ?? are part. The question
is â??Who are the three referred to here?â??. A few alternate
interpretations are available from our AcArya-s.
If we interpret the words â??oru mUvar Agiyaâ?? together, it can mean
that Lord vishNu is the â??unique â?" oruâ?? One among the three, since He
is not subject to the cycle of karma etc. unlike brahmA and rudra.
In this case, the interpretation is that bhagavAn has His form as
vishNu (recall that the pASuram is on Lord vishNu, as indicated in
the first dashed item above, and AzhvAr is referring to His One form â?"
our mUrti), with brahmA and rudra being part of His body. In fact,
all of us, and the other cetana-s and acetana-s, are part of His
body. (â??Being part of the bodyâ?? means that all of these are under
His control, and are meant for His service and benefit, and operate
under His Will).
Or, the term â??mUvarâ?? can refer to the trio of brahmA, rudra and
indra, who again are all part of His body. In the veda-s, we see
reference to these three together â?" sa brahmA, sa SivaH, sendraH
(nArAyana sUktam, a part of tattirIya AraNyakam). In pAsuram 3.6.4,
which we will study later, AzhvAr refers to these three together â?"
vAnavar tannai ALum avanum (indra), nAnmuganum (brahmA), and SaDai
muDi aNNalum (rudra), who all worship bhagavAnâ??s lotus feet
(SemmaiyAl avan pAda paâ??nkayam Sindittu Ettit tirivarE).
SvAmi deSikan singles out bhagavAnâ??s lakshaNa ass puNDarIkAkshan, or
being endowed with the beautiful reddish lotus-like eyes, as the
distinguishing aspect of this pASuram â?" padmAkshIm. This aspect is
common to all the incarnations of bhagavAn. As pointed out earlier,
the upanishads, vishNu dharma etc., declare this as a unique and
distinguishing mark of Lord vishNu. svAmi deSikan describes the
beautiful eyes of bhagavAn in His matsyAvatAram, in his daSAvatAra
stotram also.
The word â??padmAkshImâ?? being in femine gender catches oneâ??s eye in the
above description by svAmi deSikan to describe emperumAnâ??s eyes. The
Slokam in tAtparya ratnAvaLi that maps this tiruvAimozhi, uses the
term â??tanumâ?? to describe bhagavAnâ??s tirumeni. SrI uttamUr
vIrarAghavAcArya svAmi comments that the use â??padmAkshImâ?? is
consistent with â??tanumâ?? etc.
-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan
-To be continued.
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