tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Part 13 - Slokam 11-1. SrImate SrI ra'ga rAmAnuja mahA deSikAya namah. Having completed the avatArikA in the first ten Sloka-s, svAmi deSikan now starts the description of the guNa-s sung by nammAzhvAr in each pASuram of tiruvAimozhi. It may be recalled that the emphasis of the first Satakam (group of 100) is the guNa of sevyatvam ? One who is worthy of being surrendered to. Sloka-s 11 to 22 are devoted to describing the hundred guNa-s that are contained in the 100 pASuram-s of this first Satakam. Sloka 11 contains the description of the ten guNa-s that are the principal subject of the first tiruvAimozhi (tiruvAimozhi 1.1), of the first Satakam, consisting of the first ten pASuram-s. Similarly, Sloka 12 describes the ten guNa-s sung in the ten pASuram- s of tiruvAimozhi 1.2, and so on. In general, one pASuram is dedicated to each tiruvAimozhi; however, there are exceptions, and in some cases, svAmi deSikan dedicates more than one Slokam to a given tiruvAimozhi. In the case of the first Satakam, there are 12 Sloka-s dedidcated for describing the guNa-s sung in the ten tiruvAimozhi-s. Slokam 11: nis-sIma-udyad-guNatvAt amita-rasatayA ananata-leelAspadatvAt svayattAsesha-sattA-sthiti-yatatabhitAvaibhavAt vaiSva-rUpyAt | tRyaksha-brahmAtva-bhAvAt sad-asad-avagateh sarva-tatveshu-pUrteh paSyan-yogI-param tat-pada-kamala-natAvat-vaSAt-Atma-cittam || paratvam is the guNa chosen at the daSakam level for tiruvAimozhi 1.1 by svAmi deSikan. This is found in the 4th pAda (last line) of Slokam 11 (paSyan yogi param tat?.). The ten guNa-s identified for pASuram-s 1.1.1 to 1.1.10, that are the subject of the current Sloka, are those that are identified by svAmi deSikan as supporting the guNa pf paratvam at the daSakam level. o pASuram 1.1.1 (`uyarvaRa uyar nalam' pASuram): nis-sIma udyat guNatvAt - nis-sIma = unlimited, udyad-guNatvAt = having superior guNa-s; One Who has unlimited kalyANa guNa-s (uyarvaRa uyar nalam uDaimai). `mayarvaRa madi nalam aruLudal' and `amarargaL adhipatiyAi iruttal' are additional guNa-s sung in this pASuram, but the guNa that svAmi deSikan has chosen as the principal guNa that goes to support the guNa of paratvam at the higher level is `uyarvaRa uyar nalam uDaiyavan', or nis-sIma udyat guNavAn. o pASuram 1.1.2 (`mananaga malamaRa' pASuram): amita rasatayA ? In this pASuram, AzhvAr refers to three of bhagavAn's principal guNa- s: "muzhu uNar" ? fully j~nAna svarUpan ? personification of absolute flawless knowledge, "muzhu nalam" ? totally Ananda svarUpan ? total Bliss, and "edir nigazh" ? He has none that can equal Him or surpass Him in any aspect in the past, present and future. Of these, the j~nAna and Ananda svarUpatvam are of a different category than the last one; Given His j~nAna and Ananda svarUpatvam, the third guNa - that He has none that is equal to Him, easily follows. Between the j~nAna and Ananada svarUpatvam, Ananda svarUpam already implies j~nAna sva rUpam (note the taittirIya Upanishad ? the sequence of anna maya, prANa maya, manomaya, vij~nAna maya, and the final stage of Ananda maya, in increasing order of subtlety). svAmi deSikan selects the Ananda svarUpatvam as the guNa of import for this pASuram ? "muzhu nalam" ? amita rasatayA. One could argue that the jIva also in its nature is of Ananda svarUpam. To distinguish bhagavAn's Ananda svarUpam from that of the Ananda svarUpam of the jIva-s (which is not fully manifested because of the effects of karma- s), svAmi deSikan adds the word amita ? unlimited, flawless. niravadhika Ananda svarUpan. Remember that that these guNa-s at the pASuram level are all guNa-s that support the guNa at the daSakam level ? paratvam, and the guNa at the Satakam level ?sevyatvam. This concept that is fundamental to tAtparya ratnAvaLi, should be kept in mind when meditating on the guNa for each pASuram as we go along. Also note the extent of thought and analysis that have gone into the choice of the principal guNa for this pASuram. This is an example of the rigorous analytical thought process that has gone into the selection of one principal guNa for each pASuram by svAmi deSikan, which is the unique contribution of tAtparya ratnAvaLi. Also recall that this is a ratnAvaLi ? a garland, that has a thread of sequence embedded in it. There is a connection between the guNa in the previous pAsuram with that in the current pASuram and so on. The first pASuram talked of His infinte kalyANa guNa-s; the current pASuram gives the basis for that ? namely, that His divya Atma svarUpam is flawless, and of the nature of Infinite Bliss ? there is no room for any negatives. o pASuram 1.1.3 (`ilan adu uDaiyan idu ena ninaivu ariyavan' pASuram): ananta leelAspadatvAt ? "nilaniDai viSumbiDai uruvinan aruvinan" ? He Who has as His possession everything both sentient and non-sentient, in all the worlds above and below ? This refers to His leelA vibhUti. SrI ve'nkaTeSAcArya describes this as "pAtAlam Arabhya parama pada paryantamAgavuNDa cetanAcetana vibhUtikan". BhagavAn' possessions are being sung here, as one more aspect of His paratvam (guNa at the daSakam level). He owns everything in His nitya vibhUti (in SrI vaikunTham), as well as in His leelA vubhUti. The current pASuram specifically praises His Lordship of all things in His leelA vibhUti. When we say that He owns all the things ?cetana-s and acetana-s that are imperfect and full of deficiencies, one could argue that this conflicts with His being `uyar nalam uDaiyavan' ? (pASuram 1.1.1). This is not so. He is not in the least affected by our deficiencies, and on the contrary, He removes all our sins. Note the other guNa-s in the pASuram ? ilan adu uDaiyan idu ena ninaivu ariyavan, pulanoDu pulan alan, and an-nalanuDai oruvan. The first two are further elaborations of `nilaniDai viSumbiDai uruvinan aruvinan' (2nd pAda) ? the guNa chosen by svAmi deSikan. The third one is a reference to His kalyANa guNa-s, that we saw in pASuram 1.1.2 ? muzhu nalam. We will continue with pASuram 1.1.4 in the next posting. -dAsan kRshNamAcAryan (To be continued) Yahoo! 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