Sri Parthasarathi thunai Srimathe Ramanujaya
Namaha Sri Vara Vara munayE
Namaha Sri vAnAchala mahA munayE
Namaha We have already seen that our
sampradayam is a tattvatraya sampradayam.
That is we accept that there are three tattvas viz., achit, chit and
Ishvaran. Thirumangai azhvar
started the prabhandam with the tattva vivEkam as done by bhagavan Sri Krishna
in the starting of bhagavat geetha chapter 2. Till now we have seen about the achit
that is seen before us with our eyes ?minnuru. Now azhvar starts to talk about the next
tattva that cannot be seen with our eyes but has to be visualised within us
(through Athma sAkshAtkaram). The
ways to attain this athma sAkshAtkaram has been largely explained by
geethAcharyan in the first six chapters (?jnAnakarmAthmikE nishtE yOgalakshE
susamskruthE I AthmAnubhoothi sidhyarthE poorvashatkEna shOdhithE II? declares
aalavandaar the essence of the first six chapters in his geethArtha
sangraham). Is attaining the Athma
sAkshAtkaram the final result? No.
Bhagavan Sri Krishna further continues with the next stage of development
that is the bhakthi yoga in the 7th chapter. As an introduction to the same
(avadhArikai) bhagavan ends the sixth chapter with ?yOginAmapi sarvEshAm
mathgathE andharAthmanA I shraddhAvAn bhajathE yOmAm samE yuktha thamO matha:
II? [More than the earlier said yogis and tapasvis that person who is mentally
involved with me and he who whole heartedly strives to attain me by worshiping
me with love (bhakthi) that upAsakan (bhakthan) is considered closer to
me]. After attaining the athma sAkshAtkaram,
(thingal thAnAi) one comes to know about the soul well. What is the nature of the
soul? (pinnuruvAi) The soul is different from
that we see with our eyes. It is
beyond the 24 tattvas that come under the category of achit. Like the front end and back end in the
modern computer world there is one tattva that is see in front of us but the
actual tattva that governs is at the back (inside, pinnuru). This is shown by the ?makAram? in the
omkaram. (munnuruvil pinimoopillA
pirappiliyAi) We see that the body
takes birth one day and it dies one day.
In between in the lifetime many doubles like happiness-sorrow,
victory-defeat, good health-disease etc are all faced. Does the soul or the body experience all
these? Many of us have an illusion
that the body and the soul are same and hence we call ourselves to be the body
and concentrate most of the time in taking care of our body. But none of us care about the upliftment
of the soul. (athmAvai vaiyililE vaiththu vudambai nizhalilE vaiththal). Now azhvar clarifies this doubt and
declares that the soul that is the 25th tattva is not affected by
anything that is faced by the body (munnuru). All the pini (sorrow ?indicates to all
the ignorance,agyAnam), mooppu (old age)- pirappu (birth) etc (indicates the
shatbhAvavikAram (six stages of changes in anybody) are only for the body, the
soul is not affected by any of these.
It just moves on from one body to another. This has been explained beautifully by
geethacharyan in 2 slokas. ?dEhinOsmin yathA dEhE gowmAram yowvanam
jarA I tathA dEhAntara prApthi: dheerastatra na
muhyathi II? [2-13] dEhina: -For the
athma; asmin dEhE ? (Inside) this
body; gowmAram ?
teens; yowvanam - youth; jarA-old
age; yathA (bhavanthi) ?how it happens; (the
change is only to the body but the soul remains without any change, but it
appears to have changed due to its existence
inside); tathA ?
similarly; dEhAntara prApthi: - (it leaves this
body) and attains another body dheera: - One who is
intelligent; tattra na muhyathi- doesn?t get confused (mayakkam
adaivathillai) about leaving this body and taking
another. The same meaning has been indicated by
thirumangai azhvar?s words, ?pinimoopillA?. Further azhvar says ?pirappiliyAi? Sri
Krishna explains, ?na jAyathE mruyathE vA kadhAchin nAyam
bhoothvA bhavithA vA na bhooya: I ajO nithya: shAsvathOyam purAnO na
hanyathE hanyamAnE sareera II? [2-20] This athma is never created nor
destroyed; it is not that the soul is created in the starting of the kalpa and
that he will be destroyed at the end of the kalpa. He is without a start or end. He is permanent without any change. Though he is ancient he is new. Hence when the body is destroyed the
soul remains without any harm.
[This reminds all of us the scientific
theory that matter can be neither created nor destroyed it can be changed only
from one form to another. Here the
soul is neither created nor destroyed it only moves from one body to
another.] Next azhvar says ?erappadarkkE
ennAdhu?. All along it has been
said that there is no birth or death for the soul then what is azhvar trying to
convey saying ?not thinking to die? lets see in the next
posting. (To be
continued) Azhvar EmperumAnAr Jeeyer thiruvadigalE
sharanam Adiyen ramanuja
dAsee Sumithra
Varadarajan
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