SrImate SrI ra'nga rAmAnuja mahA deSikAya namaH.
tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Part 15 - Slokam 11.3.
pASuram 1.1.7: pASuram starting with "tiDa viSumbu eri vaLi" ?
vaiSva rUpyAt ? One who has the whole Universe as His body. viSvam
refers to `world', and rUpam means `body'. In this pASuram, AzhvAr
points out that the relationship between bhavAn and everything else
is that of SarIri-SarIra bhAvam ? the Soul-body relationship, with
Him being the Controller. It is not one of aikyatvam or identity
between and the rest, as the ku-dRshTi-s would like us to believe.
Some people try to interpret AzhvAr's words in the previous three
pASuram-s as declaring identity between Him and the jIva-s. For
instance, pASuram 1.1.4 states: "nAm avan ivan uvan? Ay ninRa
avarE" ? All the things in this Universe are none but Him". Even
though antaryAmitvam is what is indicated here, some ill-informed
people argue that the world and bhagavAn are identical. AzhvAr
clarifies in the current pASuram that all things have a body-soul
relationship to Him, with bhagavAn being the soul of everything, and
everything being part of His body ? avai avai toRum uDal miSai uyir
enak karandu e'ngum paranduLan ? He is hidden as the soul in the
bodies of everything, and exists everywhere inside and out. Just as
the jIva-s have their own bodies, bhagavAn has everything as His
body, and He is the Soul of everything.
The soul controls the body, and the body is purely at the command and
service of the soul. Thus, the guNa of His being viSva-rUpan and
everything else being His body, goes to support His paratvam over
everything.
tirukkurugaip pirAn piLLAn in his ARAyirappaDi vyAkhyAnam gives close
to 60 supports from the Sruti, smRti-s, purANa-s, itihAsa-s etc.,
that echo the thought conveyed in this pASuram.
pASuram 1.1.8: pASuram starting with "Surar aRivaru nilai viN
mudal muzhuvadum" ? tryaksha brahmAtma bhAvAt. tryaksha ? one wth
three eyes, a reference to rudra; brahmA ? refers to the four-faced
brahmA. Atma bhAvAt ? because He is the AtmA or antaryAmi for rudra
and brahmA.
Since there are those who incorrectly argue that brahmA is the
Supreme Deity because he has the function of creation, or those who
incorrectly argue that rudra is the Supreme Deity because he controls
samhAra, nammAzhvAr clarifies in this pASuram that brahmA and rudra
get their power purely because of bhagavAn, and the true Creator,
Destroyer and Protector is only BhagavAn. This is the guNa that
svAmi deSikan captures as the gist of this pASuram - "tri-aksha
brahmA Atma bhAvAt".
A more detailed explanation for this pASuram is given in the write-up
under the series `tri-mUrti in tiruvAimozhi' that has been posted
separately.
Recall the guNa of paratvam at the daSakam level, the guNa of
sevyatvam at the Satakam level, and the gUna of bhagavAn being the
only One worthy of worship and attainment at the grantham level. The
guNa of His being the antaryAmi and controller of everything
including the likes of brahmA and rudra, that is identified by svAmi
deSikan as the key guNa sung in this pASuram, explains and supports
all the above guNa-s at the different levels.
pASuram 1.1.9 ? pASuram starting with "uLan enil uLan": sat-asat-
avagateh ? He Who stands irrefutably established by pramANa-s whether
He is considered `sat' or `asat'; He Who is covered by the terms
sat as well as a-sat. BhagavAn has as His possession all the cetana-
s and acetana-s at all times ? both at the times when they have
bodies to enjoy the effects of their karma (in their sthUla form),
and at the time of pralaya when they have only their sUkshma form,
and He protects them in His stomach. `sat' and `a-sat' refer to
these two forms of His respectively.
The following Sruti declarations, when correctly interpreted, clearly
establish that He always exists, and is the Owner and Protector of
all that ever existed and exist, either in their sUkshma form at the
time of pralaya (referred to as a-sat), or as objects with names and
forms (sat).
- "asad vA idam agra AsIt | tato vai sat ajAyata | tad
AtmAnam svayam akuruta | tasmAt tat sukRtam ucyata iti |" (taitt.
Ananda. 7.1) ? All this was in the beginning unmanifested Brahman
(without articulation of names and forms). From that the manifested
came into existence. That Brahman created Itself by Itself. So
Brahman is called the one of good deed".
- asad eva idam agra AsIt | idam vA agre naiva ki'ncana AsIt |
tat sadAsIt | tat samabhavat | " ? (chAnd. 3.19.1) - Prior to
creation, all this universe was without differentiation of names and
forms, the avyAkRta. That was the `sat' tending towards the division
of names and forms. That assumed a gross form. That became
manifested".
SrI ve'nkaTeSAcArya's vyAkhyAnam is: "evam bhUtanAna
ISvaranai `illai' enRu SUnya vAdikaLAlE Solli muDikka oNNAda paDi
avasthA bhedattAlE sat asat vAcyanAi aRiyap paDuvadAlum". Even
though the SunyavAdi-s (a branch of Buddhists called mAdhyamika-s)
claim that ISvaran does not exist, they are clearly proven wrong by
pramANa-s. The words sat and asat both refer to bhagavAn's existence
according to pramANa-s. When we say bhavAn exists (sat), we mean
that He has as His belonging everything that exists in sthUla form ?
with names and forms, after creation. They all form His body. Whe
He is referred to as asat, it means that He has as His possession all
the things that are in sUkshma form, at the time of pralaya, when
they do not have any names or forms; but He still exists, and has all
these in their sUkshma form as His belonging, and protects them in
His stomach. He exists with all the things that don't exist in their
sthUla form, with their own bodies etc. This is what is meant by His
a-sat form.
pASuram 1.1.10 ? pASuram starting with "paranda taN paravaiyuL" ?
sarva tattveshu pUrteh ? He who is present integrally in all the
tattva-s without exception, with His full power. He Who is present
in everything without exception, including all the cetana-s and
acetana-s in all the worlds, at all times, with His full Sakti
(Powers). The One who destroyed this world, is in every minute part
of the waters after the Great Deluge - pralaya, in the minutest part
comprising every drop of the ocean. And He is in them hidden without
being recognizable. Ther is no place where He does not exist, good
or bad. There is no body in which He is not present, tiny or huge.
In fact, the presence of a body is not a requirement for Him to be
present in it ( e.g., the jIva etc.). There is no world in which He
is not present in everything, whether it is this world or the upper
worlds or the lower worlds. He is present in every cetana and
acetana in all of these world in the past, present or future, without
exception. In fact, existence is defined by His being present in them
and giving them the ability to exist. The term pUrNam sigifies that
He is integrally present in even the minutest thing with all His
Sakti, without the minutest diminution of any kind, without the
slightest discomfort or inconvenience.
There are three tattva-s (Reals) that describe everything that exists
in all the worlds, including SrI vaikunTham. These three are ISvara,
cetana (sentient, those endowed with the ability to think etc.), and
acetana-s (non-sentient or those that do not possess independent
thinking capability). The cetana-s are categorized into three ? the
baddha jIva-s or bound souls (including the deva-s, human beings, the
animals, and the trees and plants), the mukta jIva-s or liberated
souls, and the nitya jIva-s or the eternally liberated souls. The
acetana-s are of three categories: matter or prakRti subject to the
three guNa-s of sattva, rajas and tamas, time or kAla, and Suddha
sattva which is of pure sattva in nature. BhagavAn is present as
their Contorller in all these cetana-s and acetana-s in their
entirety, without exception. The use of the word pUrNa (filled,
complete) is signicant. The requirement of a body for the purpose
of pervasion, the relative size (for instance, the atomic-sized jIva
vs. Brahman - implying `big') etc., are not concerns in His being
present as an integral part of the existence of everything. He
exists with His full Sakti in everything ? pUrNatvam.
The last line of Slokam 11 of svAmi deSikan: param paSyan yogI ?
nammAzhvAr who has thus seen emperumAn as sarvasmAt paran ? Supreme
above all; tat-pada kamala natau Atma cittau anvaSAt ? is ordering
his mind to prostrate at emperumAn's feet.
This concludes the ten guNa-s of the first tiruvAimozhi 1.1, and
these ten guNa-s go to support and illustrate His parattvam or
Supremacy, that is the guNa sung in this first tiruvAimozhi.
-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan
(To be continued)
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