tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Part 9 - Slokam 7.
Slokam 7:
deva: SrImAn sva-siddheh karaNamiti vadan ekam artham sahasre
sevyatvAdIn daSArthAn pRthagiha Satakair vakti tat
sthApanArthAt |
aikaikaSyAt paratvAdishu daSaka guNeshvAyatante tathA te
tat-tad gAthAguNAnAm anuvidadhati tat-pa'nktayah pa'nkti
sa'nkhyAh ||
In this Slokam, svAmi deSikan elaborates further on the organization
of the grantham (in terms pASuram-s building into tens, and these
building into the Satakam-s or hundred pASuram-s, and the whole
grantham consisting of the 1000 pASuram-s) in describing emperumAn's
guNa-s.
The message that bhagavAn who is inseparably associated with SrI
(devah SrImAn) is both the means and the goal to be attained ? the
principal guna of emperumAn extolled by the grantham, could have been
expressed through just one pASuram by AzhvAr. Why did he choose to
sing this one message (ekam artham) through a thousand pASuram-s?
It is because of AzhvAr's intense desire in enjoying the guNa-s of
bhagavAn that he chose to sing them through a thousand pASuram-s
instead. The superb tattvam that bhagavAn who is inseparably
associated with lakshmi is both the ultimate goal and the means to
attain Him, is extensively elaborated by AzhvAr through the thousand
pASuram-s ? `sva-prAptiyilE svayameva upAyam Avan'. We already saw
in the previous Slokam of svAmi deSikan, that AzhvAr keys in on one
principal guNa of bhagavAn in each Satakam (group of 100 songs). In
other words, AzhvAr proceeds to identify ten guNa-s such as
sevyattvam (the quality that makes Him uniquely fit to be worshipped)
that facilitate His being the upAyam and upeyam, at the Satakam
(hundreds) level. He then elaborates on each of the guNa-s such as
sevyattvam through ten guNa-s such as parattvam (Supremacy, Lordship
over everything and every one) at the daSakam (ten-s) level. Thus,
at this stage, the ten guNa-s have been expanded into 100 guNa-s and
explained by them. Then, the guNa sung in each ten is further
elaborated by the ten pASuram-s of the daSakam, and thus we have 1000
guNa-s of bhgavAn sung in the grantham, explaining and elaborating on
the one supreme truth that bhagavAn is both the means and the end to
be attained.
One can think of AzhvAr's organized approach to singing bhagavAn's
guNa-s in the form of a `tree structure', as we call it in computer
language. One could imagine this tree formation growing upwards,
starting at the `thousand' level at the root, with ten `branches'
growing from the main trunk and representing the ten Sataka-s or the
hundreds level, ten further branches from each of the Sataka levels
branching into ten daSaka-s or ten-s level, and on to the level of
the thousand pASuram-s as the leaves.
- devah srImAn sva-siddheh karaNam iti vadan ekam artham
sahsre ? Through the thousand pASuram-s, AzhvAr declares the one
truth that bhagavAn inseparably associated with SrI or lakshmI serves
as the sole means to attain Him who is also the One Supreme goal to
be attained.
- tat sthApanArthAt sevyatvAdIn daSArthAn pRthak iha Satakaih
vakti ? To establish the above, AzhvAr proceeds to enumerate the ten
guNa-s such as sevyattvam (the quality of being fit to be worshipped)
at the Satakam level (grouping of hundred songs)
- aikaikaSyAt paratvAdishu daSaka guNeshu tathA te Ayatante -
Each of the above ten guNa-s are then further elaborated by the ten
daSaka-s or ten-s (also tiruvAimozhi-s) associated with the given
Satakam.
- tat-tad gAthAguNanAm anuvidadhati tat-pa'nktayah pa'nkti
sa'nkhyAh ? The guNa-s sung in the ten daSaka-s of the first Satakam
are a different set of guNa-s than the ones sung in the second
Satakam, and so on. They follow each other in a `sequence', as it
were, and each set evolves from the previous ones (tad pa'nktayah
pa'nkti sa'nkhyAh anuvudadhati).
It never gives me a feeling of repetition when writing on the topic
of bhagavad guNa-s. R. Rangachari has translated the tAtparya
ratnAvaLi Sloka-s into English in the form of English poems. I am
including his translation for the current Slokam below:
"The Lord, Consort of SrI, is attainment's supreme end
for all, and He Himself is the means therefor" ?
This, the burden of the song, in all the thousand hymns!
To establish this, the Sage doth dwell, in turn, in his
centuries ?
On each of the ten noble qualities of the Lord ?
"Worthy to be cherished" and so forth;
Lo, these gracious attributes derive from the other Supreme
qualities,
Expounded in the Decads, Centuries, and the whole thousand
hymns!
Ah, what expanding numbers, parallel!
Aditional thoughts:
SrI UV delves into the basis behind the tradition of enjoying
tiruvAimozhi, consisting of over a thousand pASuram-s, through groups
of 100 pASuram-s (Sataka-s), each of them through ten groups of ten
(daSaka-s), etc. One could take the position that AzhvAr just sang
the guNa-s of emperumAn ramdomly as they came to his mind, and there
is no need to assign one main guNam as being sung by the whold
grantham, and then subdividing it into many subunits elaborating guNa-
s that stand to support the guNa at the higher level, etc., in an
organized way.
Grouping of pASuram-s into 10 ten's (daSaka-s) is obvious, since
AzhvAr himself has included a concluding phala Sruti pASuram at the
end of each of the daSaka-s. But one can legitimately question the
organization of the 1000 pASuram-s into ten Sataka-s. What is the
basis for saying that these ten emphasize ten guNa-s, that these ten
guNa-s together support a mahA guNam at the grantham level, and on
the other side, that each pASuram stresses one guNa, that the ten
guNa-s of the ten pASuram-s of a given daSakam stand in support of
the one guNa that is the subject matter of this daSakm, etc., etc., -
which is the subject matter of the current Slokam by svAmi deSikan.
Is this all just creative thinking by svAmi deSikan? These questions
are rhetorically raised by SrI UV in his avatArikai for
tiruvAimozhi.
SrI UV presents the following in support of the structured
organization of tiruvAimozhi as stated in the current Sloka. He
points out that na'njIyar and others have established that
tiruvAimozhi has a main subject matter at the grantham level, just as
there are other specific and unique subject matters for the three
other aurLic-ceyals of nammAzhvAr.
AzhvAr concludes each tiruvAimozhi consisting of ten pASuram-s with a
uniue pASuram containing a specific phala Sruti; this not only
supports the grouping of the whole grantham into 100 tiruvAimozhi-s,
but also that each tiruvAimozhi addresses a specific subject, this
being a specific guNam of emperumAn in each dAsakam (group of ten
pASuram-s). tiruk kurugaip pirAn piLLAn has commented at the
conclusion of the first tiruvAimizhi, that "this tiruvAimozhi is
devoted to revealing emperumAn who is `ubhaya vibhUti viSisTan', thus
indicating that the first tiruvAimozhi is devoted to describing the
guNa of parattvam of emperumAn. For the third tiruvAimizhi, he has
used the words "ASrita sulabhataiyai aruLic ceyyat toDa'ngi", and
thus has indicated that saulabhyam is the subject of this
tiruvAimozhi. These clearly support the organization of the grantham
at the dAsakam level, and also the concept of the assignment of
different guna-s as the topic of the different daSakam-s.
AzhvAr himself has used the words "pattu nURRuL ip-pattu avan SEr
tiruk-kOLUrkkE" at the end of tiruvAimozhi 6.7 (uNNum SORu:
tiruvAimozhi), thus explicitly stating that he considers the grantham
as consisting of ten Sataka-s (ten hundreds). SrI periya AccAn
piLLai also has indicated in his vyAkhyAanam at the conclusion of the
first Satakam, that the first Sataka consisting of ten daSaka-s has
expounded ten guNa-s establishing that bhagavAn is One who has the
Divine Feet that once and for all removes the sorrow of samsAra, and
asking his mind to resort to those Divine Feet of His: "tuyar aRu
SuDar aDi tozhu ezhu en mananE". The Idu vyAkhyAnam also gives the
same interpretation. These support the tradition of viewing the
organization of the whole grantham into ten Satakama-s or groups of
hundred songs.
Thus, both the summary at the grantham level, and the expounding of
guNa-s at the Satakam and daSakam levels are supported. The aspect
that is noteworthy is that svAmi deSikan points out in his tAtparya
ratnAvaLi that the guNAnubhavam extends to the level of the
individual pASuram-s. Support for this is found in AzhvAr's SrI
sUkti itself - AzhvAr uses the words `SIr toDai Ayirattu" in pAsuram
1.2.11 (the concluding pASuram of tiruvAimozhi 1.2), and this is
given the meaning "bhagavad guNa sandharbha rupamAna sahasrattilum" -
the thousand pASurams that are strung together in singing the guNa-
s of bhagavAn (sandharbham ? stringing together). Thus, AzhvAr
himself has declared that each of the pASuram-s sings the guNa of
bhagavAn, and they are garlanded together to form one chain.
It is possible to derive multiple guNa-s from any one pASuram when
one goes through the pASuram word by word. However, svAmi deSikan is
examining each pASuram in the context of the `string' of guNa-s
(sandharbam referred to above), and identifies the guNam that is most
relevant in the context and presents it in tAtparya ratnAvaLi. (We
will see further elaboration of this in Slokam 9).
-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan
(To be continued)
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