SrImate SrI ra'nga rAmAnuja mahA deSikAya namaH.
tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Slokam 13 Part 2 - tiruvAimozhi 1.3 Contd.
· pASuram 1.3.2, starting with "eLivarum iyalvinan":
eLivarum iyalvinan nilai varambu ila pala piRappAi
oLi varum mazhu nalam mudal ila kEDu ila vIDAm
teLi taru nilaimaiyadu ozhivilan muzhuvadum iRaiyOn
aLivarum aruLinODu agattanan purattanan amarndE (1.3.2)
"iRaiyOn eLivarum iyalvinan; nilai varambu ila pala piRappAi oLi
varum mudal ila kEDu ila, muzhu nalam vIDAm teLi tarum adu nilaimai
muzhuvadum ozhivilan, aLi varum aruLinODu amaindu agattanan
purattanan" ? bhagavAn is One who has saulabhyam as a natural guNam;
This is evidenced by His taking different incarnations in different
forms, while being in no way constrained by the limitations of any of
these forms; on the other hand, He is of Infinite effulgence in
these incarnations, endowed with Infinite Bliss, and bestows the
ability for His devotes to enjoy Him fully (SrI vaikunTham), and at
the same time He is inaccessible to those who are not devoted to Him.
svAmi deSikan captures the primary guNa to be enjoyed in this pASuram
through the phrase: "adhikatara guNa ananta divya avatArAt" ? He is
ananta-sulabhan as revealed by His taking many divine births, in many
forms, with all His kalyANa guNa-s, and thus being easily accessible
to everyone who desires to attain Him.
pUrvAcArayas' anubhavam is that when nammAzhvAr sang His sulabhatvam
in the previous pASuram by being tied to the mortar, AzhvAr lost
consciousness because of His deep meditation in this extreme
simplicity of emperumAn, and when he recovered after six months, he
continues with his anubhavam of bhagavAn's sulabhatvam once again in
pASuram 1.3.2, and now he sings about how bhagavAn makes Himself
easily available to those who desire to attain Him through His divine
incarnations.
sulabhatvam is bhagavAn's nature ? eLivarum iyalvinan. There is no
constraint to the varNa in which He will take His incarnation; there
is no constraint to the acts that He will perform durimg His
incarnations; He will take His incarnations in human forms, or as
fish, tortoise, or anything else that He chooses, but He will not be
subject to any limitations of any kind in any of His incarnations ?
nilai varambu ila pala piRappu. The veda declares this as ?
ajAyamAno bahudhA vijAyate. In particular, He will bestow moksham
to those who deserve it during these incarnations as well ? as
exemplified by His giving moksham to the maruda trees. He will show
His viSva rUpam, and at the same time He will bend down and be a
chariteer for His devotee. But His guNa of moksha pradatvam will
never be away from Him ? vIDu Am teLi tarum adu nilaimai muzhuvadum
ozhivilan. Thus, bhagavAn is agattanan ? antara'ngam or One Who is
intimate to those who are devoted, and at the same time, purattanan ?
inaccessible to the others.
SrI UV notes that His divine incarnations are of more benefit for the
devotees than even His form in SrI vaikunTham, in the sense that more
of His kalyANa guNa-s are revealed for us to enjoy during His
incarnations in our midst. This is the significance of the word
adhikara-tara in svAmi deSikan's description of emperumAn's guNa for
this pASuram ? adhika-tara guNa ananta divya avatArAt.
svAmi deSikan sings the avatAra rahasyam (the six rahasya-s about
bhagavAn's incarnations) of bhagavAn in Slokam 17 of his SaraNagati
dIpikA. The explanation for this Slokam can be easily found in the
bhakti list archives and other sources.
o pASuram 1.3.3:.
amaivuDai aRa neRi muzhuvadum uyarvaRa uyarnda
amaivuDai mudal keDal oDiviDai aRa nilam aduvAm
amaivuDai amararum yAvaiyum yAvarum tAnAm
amaivuDai nAraNan mAyaiyai aRibavar yArE? (tiruvAi. 1.3.3)
amaivuDai muzhuvadum aRam neRi uyarvaRa uyarnda amivuDai mudal keDal
iDai oDivu aRa nilam aduvAm amaivuDai amararum yAvaiyum yAvarum tAnAm
amaivuDai nAraNan mAyaiyai yAr aribavar? - Lord SrIman nArAyaNan
is the antaryAmi (Inner Controller) of all the cetana-s (sentients)
and acetana-s (insentients) in all the worlds; This includes all the
deva-s including brahmA and rudra, who have attained their superior
postions of creation and destruction respectively through their
superior dharma-s, to the point that one sometimes wonders whether
they themselves are the supreme beings. BhagavAn has all of them as
His body. Who will ever be able to comprehend the avatAra rahasyam
of Lord nArAyaNan?
SrI UV points to two versions for svAmi deSikan's description of the
primary guNa to be enjoyed in pASuram 1.3.3 ? "sarveshu AsattimatvAt"
and "sarveshu AsaktimatvAt", and prefers the first version. SrI
ve'nkaTeSAcArya has used the second pATham. Asatti means "intimate
union, close contact"; and "Asakti" means "attachment, devotion,
fondness". The first version ? sarveshu AsattimatvAt, is
interpreted in terms of His being the AtmA of everything starting
from brahmA and rudra, extending all the way to all the cetana-s and
acetana-s. The second version is interpreted in terms of His being
attached with fondness to all the souls starting from brahmA and
rudra, all the way to all the other cetana-s and acetana-s.
The phrase in the pASuram tht corresponds to either of these
interpretations is "amaivuDai amararum yAvaiyum yAvarum tAnAm" ?
tAnAm ? He Who is all these things Himself, in the sense that they
are all His body. If we interpret the phrase as "tAn amararum
yAvaiyum yAvarum Am", then it can mean that He is the antaryAmi of
everything ? Asatti.
Given that the guNa at the daSakam level is bhagavAn's ananta-
saulabhyam, His being attached with fondness and with the same
affection to all, no matter whether it is the deva-s or the lowliest
of acetana-s, is more appealing than His being the AtmA and guiding
force of all the deva-s as well as all the other cetana-s and acetana-
s. SrImad tirukkuDanthai ANDavan summarizes the essence of the
pASuram 1.3.3 and says that it the nature of nArAyaNan to consider
that everything starting from brahmA, rudra etc., all the way down to
all the other cetana-s and acetana-s, are part of His body, and He is
their AtmA. They are all very dear to Him, and He loves all
equally.
amaivuDai amararum yAvaiyum yAvarum tAnAm amaivuDai nAraNan - He is
ananta-sulabhan because He is the AtmA or the Guiding Soul for
everything from the more accomplished souls such as the deva-s, to
the less evolved souls including the acetana-s etc., without
distinction, and they are all part of His body. It is significant
that nammAzhvAr uses the nAma `nArAyaNan' in the pASuram to describe
this guNa. SrI UV points out that the meaning for the nArAyaNa
Sabdam that is brought out here is that He is One who is the Cause
for all sentient and insentient objects, and One who is worshipped by
all including the likes of bramA, rudra etc. ? "nArAj-jAtAni tattvAni
nArANIti vidur budhAh | nArANAm ayanam yena tena nARAyaNah Srutah".
· pASuram 1.3.4:
yArum Or nilaimaiyan ena aRivariya emperumAn
yArum Or nilaimaiyan ena aRiveLiya emperumAn
pErum Or Ayiram piRa pala uDaiya emperumAn
pErum Or uruvamum uLadillai iladillai piNakkE (1.3.4)
"He is One whose greatness is beyond realization by those who are
opposed to Him, and He is also One whose greatness is easily realized
by His devotees; for those devoid of devotion to Him, it is a matter
of constant argument whether our emperumAn has in fact infinite guNa-
s and nAma-s to be praised, or He is One who is devoid of forms and
names".
svAmi deSikan captures the main guNa from this pASuram through the
phrase "nata su-gamatayA - He who is easily accessed by those who
prostrate to Him ? yArum Or nilaimaiyan ena aRiveLiya
emperumAn. "Or nilaimaiyan" emphasizes that He is of the unique
ease of accessibility to all His devotees without any distinction.
His svarUpam and nature could be easily understood by a monkey
(hanumAn), a cowherd woman (yaSodA), a huntress ( SabarI), etc. This
same idea is coneyed by AlavandAr - "namo namo vA'ng-
manasAtiIbhUmaye namo namo vA'ngmanasaika bhUmaye"- You are not
accessible either through words or through thought to those who try
to comprehend You by their own efforts, while You are easily
accessible through words and through thought to those to whom You
wish to reveal Yourself". What is it that the devotee easily
realizes? It is the realization that He is One who is endowed with
infinite kalyANa guNa-s, and who takes countless incarnations each
with its own divine form.
-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan
(To be continued)
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