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srI:

SrI  UpakAra  Sangraham - III (17)
-- 
niryANa adikAram
-- 
 Section - 10: SrI NammAzhvAr reveals all these so far described, in the first 
verse of his work, Thiruviruttham.
---- 
Sub-section: 1- Word-by-word meaning of the first verse (continued)
----  
        SwAmi Desikan takes up the text further in the AzhvArâs verse: 
 âkEttaruLAi adiyEn ceyyum viNNappamE.â â Please listen to the submission 
being made by me. 
        On this, SwAmi Desikan gives an explanation:
 ânee mayarvu aRa mathi nalam aruLukaiyAlEâ  -- As You grant me the 
knowledge and devotion which are devoid of any confusion, 
SwAmi Desikan uses the words of the Azhvar sung in the first verse of his 
ThiruVaimozhi, where he says, it was the Lord Who graced him with a j~nAna that 
is free from any confusion. He also graced him with devotion. The AzhvAr could 
have said, the Lord gave him a clear knowledge instead of âknowledge, devoid 
of confusionâ. We have seen in the world that a person may have a clear 
vision of knowledge, but at any point of time, there is a possibility of his 
getting confused. Such a situation will not arise in the case of the AzhvAr, as 
he was graced by the Lord a knowledge which never gets confusion at any time. 
That is why the AzhvAr used a negative term which is stronger than a positive 
term. 
        By way of confirming this, SwAmi Desikan says further:
 ânirupAdhika-dAsyatthilE nitya-pratishThita-bhuddhiyAna nAnâ â 
        Here, Swami Desikan explains the word, âadiyEnâ used by the AzhvAr 
in his verse. 
        We have seen earlier the correct definition of âadiyEnâ as âthe 
servant of the Lord and His devotees.â This is known as âdAsya-bhAvamâ. 
All of us are the servants of the Lord and His devotees, no doubt. But, most of 
the time, we do not realize this and behave in such a manner as though we are 
master of all others or we are totally and unquestionably independent. Only 
after we get the true knowledge, we realize we are only servants; and not 
masters. Our being servants has no cause. It is our natural and essential 
quality. But it is covered by the dirt of misconception. Only when we remove 
the dirt, our true nature will shine. That is our true nature, which is not due 
to any cause. This is what SwAmi Desikan says by the expression, 
ânirupAdhika-dAsyatthilEâ.  Here âupAdhiâ means deception, disguise, 
limitation, and condition due to time, place etc. and effect. Because of these 
conditions, the real and original nature of an object is
 hidden. It is restored only after the object is subjected to the cleansing 
process. In the case of our soul also, its true nature is hidden due to some 
reasons listed above and it requires to be cleansed so that the true nature 
becomes visible. 
        But, in the case of the AzhvAr, there is no need for any cleansing, 
because his soul shines in its original nature, which is stated by the term, 
ânirupAdhika-dAsyatthilEâ â His dAsya-bhAvam is not conditioned at all. 
        So, his intellect is ever stable in this attitude of service, which is 
stated by the term, ânitya-pratishThita-bhuddhiyAna nAnâ  -- The AzhvAr 
says, âSince adiyenâs servitude is not due to any motive or cause, 
adiyEnâs intellect has become steady on a regular basis. Such a person being 
adiyEn has also obtained another feature. Swami Desikan speaks about this in 
the following words:
 âennAlE unnai inkavi pAda oruppattaâ â Through me, You desired to get 
sweet poetry about Yourself. 
        The Azhvar does not claim authorship for whatever he is going to sing 
in praise of the Lord, through sweet Tamil verses. Here, it is worthwhile to 
recall the determination of the AzhvAr to sing only about the Lord and none 
else:
 âennAvil inkavi yAnoruvarkkum kodukkilEn
 ennAnai ennappan emperumAn uLanakavE.â   (Thiruvaimozhi, 3-9-1)
        The Azhvar says, âI will not sing sweet poetry through my tongue 
about any one else, when my Lord is there.â
        He also does not claim authorship for the verses he composed on the 
Lord. He has spoken about this in detail in ten verses in Thiruvaimozhi- 7-9. 
We may see a sample of what he said:
 âanRaikennaith thannAkki ennAl thannai
  inthamizh pAdiya eesanaiâ.. â (7-9-1)
(That day, He made me His own and through me got sweet poems sung on Himself.)
        The AzhvAr now tells the Lord further, as reported by Swami Desikan:
 ânirapEksha-svatantra-nAna unnAlE prEritanAik koNdu paNNukiRa 
vij~nApaNa-kainkaryang-kaLAkiRa nAlu  prpanthang-kaLaiyum  thirucchevi  
cARRi,â â 
        SwAmi Desikan qualifies the Lord with an adjective, 
ânirapEksha-svatantranâ â The Lord is independent but at the same time He 
is also without any desire un-fulfilled. 
Still, the Lord impels the AzhvAr to sing poetry. The AzhvAr too obliged Him by 
singing four poetic works, as a service to the Lord, making only submissions; 
and the Lord also listened to them keenly. The four works are: Thiruviruttham, 
ThiruvAsiriyam, Periya ThiruvanthAthi and ThiruvAimozhi. 
        As a preliminary to do this service of singing on the Lord, the AzhvAr 
now submits to the Lord requesting Him to listen to him:
 âsruti-vishayang-kaLAna itthai âthoNdarkku amuthu uNNaâ lAmpadi paNNi 
aruLavENdum enRu thiruvuLLamAm.â â 
        SwAmi Desikan says all these works of the AzhvAr are full of VEdic 
tenets and it is the wish of the AzhvAr that these should be made nectar-like 
by the Lord by listening to them, so that they are enjoyed by His devotees. The 
AzhvAr himself says it in a verse:
 âkaNdu koNdu enkaNNiNai Arak kaLitthu
  paNdai  vinaiyAyina paRROdaRutthu
  thoNdarkkamuthuNNac colmAlaikaL connEn
  aNdatthamarar  peruman adiyEnE.â  (ThiruvAimozhi, 9-4-9)
        The AzhvAr feels that if he is able to make the Lordâs devotees to 
enjoy the bliss, it would be more enjoyable than he alone enjoying it. He says: 
âBy seeing the Lord, my eyes have derived full gratification; the longing is 
fulfilled; all my sins of the past have been totally effaced without leaving 
even a trace of smell. Can I enjoy alone? I should share with Bhagavatas for 
whom I, the devotee of the Lord of this Universe, have served a delicious meal 
of these verses, for them to enjoy.â
        SwAmi Deisikan wonders: âIs this the intention of the AzhvAr in 
requesting the Lord to stay for a while, and listen to his garland of verses? 

(To continue)
dAsan 
Anbil S.SrInivAsan
------     



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