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Slokam 10
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Today , adiyEn will cover the Tenth slOkam
of Sri SaraNAgathi DhIpikai , where Swamy Desikan
pays tribute to the Lord ViLakkoLi PerumAL (The siddha
upAyan) who grants Prapannan (one has done prapatthi/
Saadhya UpAyam at His Sacred feet) the boon of
Moksham(Freedom from Births and Deaths):
SatthA STithi prayatana pramukhair-upAttham
svArTam sadhaiva BhavathA svayamEva Visvam
DhIpaprakAsa tadhiha tvadh-aapthayE ThvAM
avyAja siddham anapAyam upAyam aahu:
--SrI SaraNAgathi DhIpikai: SlOkam 10
(Meaning): Oh ViLakkoLi EmperumAnE ! The svaroopam
(satthA),sustenance(sTithi) and activities (prayatana)
of all the sentients and insentients are controlled by You
and You alone(svayamEva upAttham). You do all these,
all the time (sadhA yEva upAttham).You also enjoy
the fruits coming out of these activities of Yours
(svArTam upAttham).As a result of these operations
being under Your control , You become the upAyam for
the jeevans to attain MOksham. For enjoying
paripoorNa brahmAnandham in Your Supreme abode ,
the jeevan has to perform the SaadhyopAyam of Prapatthi.
For one ,who has performed prapatthi, You stand in
the place of SiddhOpAyam . You do not expect anything else
from the chEthanan beyond his/her prapatthi. You stand as
the eternal and ancient upAyam ( avyAja siddham anapAyam
UpAyam) to bless him/her with Moksha Sukham. The learned
ones understand and remember these Vedic truths.
Comments on the SlOkam
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We have to understand the early creation of
the SrI Sookthi of SrI SaraNAgathi DhIpikai
and connect it to the SrI Sookthis completed
later in the life of Swamy Desikan.
Towards the end of His life on this earth ,
Swamy Desikan blessed us with two magnum opus
granthams.He had already completed 120 plus
granthams including SaraNAgathi DhIpikai ,
NyAsa Dasakam , NyAsa Tilakam , NyAsa Vimsathi
and other granthams dealing with saraNAgathy .
One of the two magnum opus granthams completed
in his advanced age is the Srimath Rahasya Thraya Saaram
(RTS) with 32 chapters dealing with the three esoteric
manthrams of VisishtAthvaitha Darsanam .The other is
a companion piece known as VirOdha ParihAram ,
which answers the doubts that one may have from
the study of the advanced doctrines discussed in RTS.
As a compassionate AchAryan concerned with our need
to understand all these important doctrines correctly ,
Swamy Desikan posed number of questions that would
cross our mind and answered them in his SrI Sookthi ,
VirOdha ParihAram.
Quite early in his life however , Swamy Desikan
created SaraNAgathi DhIpikai and brought out
the cardinal points related to SaraNAgathy anushtAnam
and the tatthvams behind the magnificent upAyam
of SaraNAgathi to recieve the blessings of Moksham
from SrIman NaarAyaNan .
It is amazing to hear the echos of the earlier
SrI Sookthi of SrI SaraNAgathy DhIpikai in
the later SrI Sookthi like RTS . There is
atleast 60 years in between these two
SrI Sookthis.
In this 10th slOkam of SaraNAgathi Dhipikai ,
Swamy Desikan focused on the upakArams done by
the Lord as a part of the elaborations on the doctrine
of SaraNAgathy and the Lord's role as our most
merciful protector. He focussed in particular
on the SaraNAgathi tatthvams in the 10th slOkam.
In the magnum opus of RTS ,he devoted many
chapters to upadEsams on the doctrines of
Prapatthi/SaraNAgathi/Aathma nivEdhanam .
One of the chapters relevant to this Tenth slOkam
is the Third chapter of RTS named PradhAna-
prathitantra-adhikAram dealing with the unique doctrines
associated with the VisishtAdvaitha SiddhAntham:
(1) SarIraathma BhAva Sambhandham : The Sentients
and the insentients are the body of the Lord ,
who is the indweller for them .This relationship is
known as SarIrAthma BhAvam.
(2) The definition of SarIram (body made up of
chEthanams and achEthanams) and SarIri (AathmA
for that body ).
(3) The subtle aspects related to the doctrines of
Taarakthvam-Niyanthruthvam and Sarva SEshithavm of
SarvEsvaran , which makes the Lord Swami and
the jeevan(ChEthanam) as His bonded servant (SEshan).
The Lord is the Sarva Swami and Sarva SEshi
and the Jeevan is His SEsha BhUthan.
(4) The benefits accruing to the sentients ( ChEthanams)
from the aadhAra-aadhEya BhAvams (Relation between the Lord
as the Supporter and the Jeevan as the one being supported).
(5) The establishment of the fact that the ChEthanan
is ananyAdhAran, ananya prayOjanan and ananya SaraNan.
through the correct understanding of the Three rahasyams
of VaishNava SiddhAntham (Moola manthram , Dhvayam and
Charama SlOkam).Jeevan is not supported by anyone
other than the Lord ( ananyAdhAran); Jeevan has no
recourse other than the Lord (ananya SaraNan) and
has no prayOjanam (purpose) other than the Lord
(ananya-prayOjanan).
In addition to the third chapter of RTS , there are
lengthy chapters devoted to the Lord standing in place
as siddhOpAyam and Prapatthi as the SaadhyOpAyam .
Let us briefly comment on the conclusions of
the above third chapter of RTS in the context of
the above five points :
(1)Only VisishtAdvaitha Siddhantham accepts that Isvaran is
the Aathma for the ChEthanams(Sentients/Jeevans) and
achEthanams ( insentients) ; latter two constitute His
body .This is the unique doctrine (PradhAna Prathitantram)
not common to other SiddhAnthams.
(2)The svaroopam and the sustenance of the ChEthanams and
the achEthanams are under the control of the Lord (Isvaran).
This doctrine is named aadhEyathvam .
(3)The svaroopam , sustenance (continued existence) and
the activities (pravrutthi) of the chethanams and
achEthanams are under the control of Isvara sankalpam
This doctrine is known as vidhEyathvam.
(4)The chEthnams and the achEthanams have as their prayOjanam
Isvaran only. This is known as SEshathvam.PrayOjanam here
is the derivative of the root Prayuj meaning "to be yoked
to" as " the bonded servant " to the Lord .This
doctrine is known as the SEshathvam of the Jeevan
to the Lord (SEshi).
5) AadhEyathvam , VidhEyathvam and SEshathvam together
constitute the defining attributes (LakshaNam ) of SarIram.
The Lord becomes the AathmA for that SarIram and is known
as SarIri. The relationship between SarIram and SarIri
is known as SarIrAathma BhAvam , the unique defining
doctrine of VisishtAdvaitha Darsanam. Bhagavath SEshathvam
is common to both sentients and insentients. Since Jeevan
is ChEthanan , his SEshathvam ends in Daasathvam. EmperumAn
is " Parama ChEthanan " and therfore His SEshithvam ends in
Swamithvam ( Lordship).The Lord becomes the Swamy for
the ChEthanan and the ChEthanan becomes the Daasan for
the Lord.
All of these deep thoughts are brought up in
the first two lines of the tenth slOkam of
SrI SaraNAgathy DhIpikai and the First two lines
of the introductory slOkam of the Third chapter of
RTS .Here they are side by side to appreciate
their closeness . One hears the echos of one in
the other:
"SatthA STithi prayatana pramukhair-upAttham
svArTam sadhaiva BhavathA SvayamEva Visvam "
--SrI SaraNAgathi DhIpikai: SlOkam 10
AadhEayathva-prabhruthi niyamai: Aadhikarthu: SarIram
SatthA STEma Prayatana phalEshvEthadhaayattham yEthath
visvam pasyannithi Bhagavathi vyApakAdarsadhrushtE
gambhIrANAm akruthakagirAm gAhathE chittha Vruthtim
--First SlOkam of the Third Chapter of RTS
The 10th sOkam of SaraNAgathi DhIpikai says:
" SatthA STithi prayatana pramukhair upAttham".
The RTS slOkam expresses almost verbatim the same
thoughts: " SatthA-STEma prayatana phalEshvEtdhAyattham
yEthath" The "STithi " and " STEma " are one and the same.
adiyEn will conclude with the translation of the meaning of
the RTS SlOkam as an elaboration of the same doctrines
housed in the 10th slOkam of SaraNAgathy DhIpikai:
(meaning ): When EmperumAn is seen in the mirror of
Moola Manthram , One understands clearly the meanings
of the ancient and apourushEya Vedams. What the Vedam
says is: (1) That this world (chEthanam and achEthanam)
is under the full control of the Lord regarding its
existence, sustenance , activities and fruits thereof .
(2) The concepts of AadhEyathva, VidhEyathva and
SEshathva possessed by the ChEthanams marks it as
the body of the Lord , who is the indweller of
that SarIram . One who understands this SarIraathama
Bhavam fully comprehends the deep upadEsams of Vedam,
which are timeless and not created by humans.
Such is the lofty thoughts housed in
the 10th slOakm of SrI saraNAgathi DhIpikai.