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Oppiliappan List Archive: Message 00329 Jan 2008

 
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srI:
SrI  upakAra  sangraham ? 69
--- 
adikAram ? 1
poorva upakAra paramparai
(The Foremost Series of Favours) 
---   
SECTION ? 5 (24)  
(27 Favours of the Lord leading to the means for
MOKSHAM)  
-----   
        The highly firm kind of discriminatory knowledge
about the ever lasting bond between the jIva and the
Lord was described in the previous sub-section by
SwAmi Desikan. It is another favour done by the Lord
for the sAttvika jIva. Acquiring such knowledge does
not stop there. As a result of it, the evolved jIva
desires nothing else other than a permanent connection
with the Lord, says SwAmi Desikan in this sub-section:
  

(24) ?patyuh prajAnAmaishvairyam?, ?oonERu celvatthu?
ithyAthikaLinpadiyE paramapuruShArtthatthilE 
prayOjanAnthara-nirapEkShamAka  prathiShtithamAna
sangatthai  janippitthathuvum; 

        To make clear what sort of relationship the jIva
longs for, SwAmi Desikan gives two quotes, one from a
Sanskrit verse and the other from one of the verses of
the Divya Prabandam. If we study in detail both the
verses, we may understand the nature and the depth of
such longing. First, the Sanskrit sloka (the source of
which is not known):

 ?patyuh prajAnAm aishvaryam pashoonAm vA na kAmayE / 
  aham kadambO bhooyAsam kundO vA yamunA taTE //?

(If Sovereignty of Brahma or ShivA is to be given to
me, I will not aspire for it. I would prefer to be
born as a kadamba tree or kunda tree on the banks of
Yamuna river where SrI KriShNa put His footprints.) 

        The author of this verse longs to be in a place where
the Lord had moved about once upon a time. He does not
desire the sovereignty held by any of the top gods; he
does not even want to be in closeness to the Lord in
His abode, SrIvaikuNtam; he does not even aspire to be
a great scholar or a yogi with ever lasting life to
constantly meditate upon the Lord; he does not even
want to be born as a human being with ample
opportunities to master the scriptures about various
incarnations of the Lord; neither he wanted to be
always doing worship to the Lord in a temple. He wants
to be born as an unintelligent plant standing on the
sands of the River Yamuna, where SrI KriShNa spent his
childhood days long time ago. This kind of
parama-puruShArtam, the highest benefit is his desire.
No other benefit. This is what SwAmi Desikan referred
to as  ?prayOjanAnthara-nirapEkShamAka? -- not
desiring any other benefit. In this he is very firm,
as mentioned by SwAmi Desikan in these words:
?prathiShtithamAna sangah? -- a firmly established
contact: This is what his desire is.  He wants to be
ever in physical touch with a thing that has a
connection with the Lord, not at this moment, not
today or yesterday, nor a few days before, nor a year
ago, nor some years ago, or not even long ago, not a
century ago but at a time not known when. The soul
taken a tree as its body will not be able use its
senses or intellect or to speak out. According to our
theory, the dharma-bhoota-j~nAna
(attributive-knowledge) in an non-sentient object is
close to zero. But the only point on which he is firm
is the constant touch with a place even remotely
connected with Him.  This is an extreme state of
realization. Understanding it will be almost
impossible for us. 

        The second quotation is from a verse of SrI
KulashEkara AzhvAr in his Prabandam, PerumAL
Thirumozhi. Before considering the verse under
reference, it would be better to know about the mental
state of the AzhvAr which made him to say the verse
referred to above. This pAsuram reflects the mind of
SrI KulashEkara AzhvAr:

?emparatthAr allArodum koodalan
  umbar vAzhvai onRAkak karuthilan
  thambirAn amararkku aranganakar
 empirAnukku ezhumaiyum pitthanE?                  
         (PeriyAzhvAr Thirumozhi,3-6)
 
(I do not consider the heavenly life as a puruShArtam.
Therefore, I will not move with those who have not
renounced the material life in totality; I will remain
an ardent servant of the Lord in SrIrangam, Who is the
Lord of the nitya sooris.)
        
In response to this statement of the AzhvAr, he was
asked: ?How are you sure that you will be born as a
human being in this material world? Do you like to get
a birth as an animal or a bird or even a plant all of
which have little capacity of knowledge?? As if
replying to this question the Azhvar declares thus, in
the next Thirumozhi, ?I can take birth in
ThiruvEnkadam either as a human servant or any of the
things mentioned by you. In the very opening verse, he
says he is ready to be born as a bird: 
 
?oonERu celvatthu udan piRvi yAn vENdEn 
 AnEREzh venRAn  adimait thiRamallAl,
 koonERu cangamidanthAnthan vEnkadatthu
 kOnERi vAzhum kurukAi piRappEnE."                    
    
  (PerumAL Thirumozhi, 4-1)

(I do not want a birth in human flesh which is after
material wealth, unless it is a slave of he Lord who
won over seven bulls for the sake of Nappinnai
PirAtti. I shall get a birth of a bird which would
live in the pond in ThiruvEnkadam of the Lord Who is
holding the Conch in His left hand.)              
        
The AzhvAr says that unless it is a birth in the
service of the Lord, he doesn?t want to be even a
human being: ?AnEREzh venRAn  adimait thiRamallAl? .
What kind of a servant? The Azhvar perhaps has in his
mind what LakShmaNa wanted in rAmAyaNa: 

?bhavAmstu saha vaidEhyA girisanAShu ramsyatE /
  aham sarvam kariShyAmi jAgratah svpatashca tE // ?  
                  (ayOdhyAkANda, 31-27)

(You will sport at will with VaidEhee on
mountain-tops. I shall do everything for you whether
you are awake of sleeping.)[This, LakShmaNa tells SrI
RAma] 

srI KulashEkara AzhvAr speaks in the same tone as SrI
nammAzhvAr, who wanted to serve the Lord for ever at
ThiruvEnkadam:
        ?ozhivil kAlamellAm udanAi manni
              vazhuvilA adimai ceyya vENdum nAm
          thezhikural aruvit thiruvEngkadatthu
              ezhilkoL chOthi
enthaithanthaithanthaikkE.?                     
(ThiruvAimozhi, 3-3-1)

(I shall perform blemish-less service at all times, at
all states, remaining without separation, to the
brilliant fore-father of my family, Whose presence in
ThiruvEnkadam adds to the beauty of the hills which
are full of water-falls.) 
        
In the remaining verses also, SrI KulashEkara AzhvAr
expresses his aspiration to be a fish in the pond in
ThiruvEngkadam, or a servant, or a flowering tree, or
a useless plant, or a hill top, or a wild river, or a
pedestrian-path, or a stepping stone or any thing on
the Thirumala mountain. 

        This kind of a desire for a link, either direct or
indirect, with the Lord as the highest  goal, without
aspiring any other benefit, is born in the mind of the
disciple, as a result of the favour done by the Lord,
says SwAmi Desikan.

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



      
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