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Slokam 11
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Today , adiyEn will cover the Elevnth slOkam
of Sri SaraNAgathi DhIpikai , where Swamy Desikan
pays tribute to the Lord ViLakkoLi PerumAL
in the context of the three tatthvams:
" BhOgyam , BhOkthA , PrEritha ".
BhOgyam Mukundha guNa-bhEdham achEthanEshu
bhOgthruthvam aathmani nivEsya nijEcchayaiva
paanchAlikA suka vibhUshaNa bhOgadhAyee
SamrADiva Aathma samayA saha mOdhasE Thvam
--SrI SaraNAgathi DhIpikai: SlOkam 11
(Meaning): Oh DhIpa PrakAsa PrabhO! You have created
the three guNams (Satthva-Rajas-Tamas) in insentient
objects and have made it possible for the chEthanams
to enjoy them as bhOgyam. The "enjoying " jeevan
is the BhOkthA , who enjoys the BhOgyam. You stay
as the One , who commands this anubhavam of Jeevan
as PrErithA .The achEthanmas ( insentients) like
fruit et al are for the enjoyment of the chEthanan
(sentients).This arrangement or niyathi has been made
possible because of Your sankalpam. You consider
the creation of the ChEthanams and achEthanams
as part of Your sport (leelai). A king of this world
decorates a doll with jewelery to derive pleasure
from seeing that doll in the decorated state.
The doll is still a jada vasthu. In a similar
vein of enjoyemnt , the king raises a parrot
and feeds it with milk and fruits for its nourishment.
The king takes great joy in the sport of decorating
the inanimate doll and the animate parrot . He shares
these pleasures with his queen. Oh Lord of ThirutthaNkA !
You derive such a pleasure by watching the activities
(seyalkaL ) of the sentient and insentients-- the objects
of Your creation-- with Your PirAtti Maragatha Valli ,
who is equal to You in every aspect.
Additional Comments on the first two paadhams of this slOkam:
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Swamy Desikan addresses the Lord of ThirutthaNkA here
as "Mukundhan" . He reminds us that He is the Moksha-
Dhaayakan or the grantor of Moksham for the chEthanams .
He is the PrErithA , Niyanthru (Commander )of ChEthanams
and achEthanams. What sports does he engage in ? He creates
guna bhEdham among achEthanam ( guNa bhEddham achEthanEshu).
The guNa bhEdhams(differentaitions among GuNams) are
caused by different admixture of Satthva-Rajas and
TamO GuNams in prakruthi.
What sports does He engage with Jeevans? " Aathmani
BhOktruthvam" is what He chooses as His sport with
the jeevAthmAs. He creates the capacity to enjoy
in the jeevans , who become bhOkthAs of the bhOgyam
of achEthanam. He does this through His own sankalpam
(Icchai or wish ) in His role as the PrErithA ".
Isvaran is the PrakAri ("substance") and the Jiva-jagath
(chEthana-achethanams) are the prakaaraas or modes.
The mode (prakArA) of a substance is ONLY a projection
of " the substance" and can not have any independent
existence apart from " the substance"( PrakAri).
The prakArAs (modes ) are manifested in the state of
Srushti and are present in a latent state during
the praLyam . In both states (Srushti and PraLayam ) ,
the Jiva-Jagath are distinct from the whole and this
relationship is described as "aprathak-siddhi "
( pirikka mudiyAtha uRavu between chith-achith
and Isvaran).Swamy Desikan pays tribute here to
this aprathak siddhi , the Body-Soul realtion
of the Universe (ChEthanams and achEthanams), with
Isvaran . This SarIra-SarIrI relationship is
the central doctrine of VisishtAdhvaitham.
Additional comments on the last two lines of this slOkam:
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Swamy Desikan hails the Lord DhIpa PrakAsan as " SaamrAD Thvam "
(Thou art the Chakravarhty!). You enjoy Your sports in
the company of Your Divine Consort , Sri Maragatha Valli,
who is equal to You in all respects. You are BhagavAn
with the six pradhAna guNams and She is Bhagavathi with
identical (matching ) guNams . You enjoy these sports
with Your Dhivya Mahishi , who has auspicious attributes
that match Yours in every way (" Bhagavan NaarAyaNa
abhimathAnuroopa Svaroopa-Roopa-GuNa-Vibhavaisvarya--
asankhEyaya kalyANa guNa-gaNAm BhagavathIm ").The passage
quoted above is from SrI SaraNAgathi Gadhyam of
AchArya RaamAnujA . This gadhyam is recognized as
the elaboration of Dhvaya manthram . Hence one can
also identify this slOkam with dhvya manthram.
This joint enjoyment of the sport of the Lord by
His Divine consort is described by Swamy Desikan
this way: " Thvam Aathma samayA Saha mOdhasE".
To comprehend fully the MahA lakshmi Tatthvam in
this context and to gain a better understanding of
Her Roopa-anroopa guNams, we have to study the slOkams
of ParAsara Bahttar's SrI GuNa Rathna KOsam .