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              tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Part 4 - Slokam 2.

Slokam 2 of avatArikA:

paraj~nAkhye mantha Saile prathita guNa rucim netrayan sampradAyam
tat-tal-labdhi-prasaktaiH anupadhi vibhudahiH arthito ve'nkaTeSaH  |
talpam kalpAnta yUnaH SaThajit Upanishad dugdha sindhum vimathnan
grathnAti svAdu gAthAlahari daSa-SatI nirgatam ratna jAtam   ||

Having thus declared the greatness of nammAzhvAr' tiruvAimozhi as one 
that uplifts us from the cycle of birth and death, svAmi deSikan 
proceeds to outline his next step.  Given that all works about 
bhagavAn deal with the enjoyment of His guNa-s, and given that a 
simple study of AzhvAr's pAsuram-s should reveal these guNa-s,  svAmi 
deSikan tells us what he plans to achieve through this work of his, 
in this second Slokam.  

The rationale for undertaking this work is given in this Slokam.  
There have been vyAkhyAna-s for tiruvAimozhi prior to svAmi deSikan, 
and specific guNa-s have been identified for the pattu-s, for the 
tiruvAimozhi, and even for specific pASuram-s.  tirikkurugaip-pirAn 
piLLAn has identified guNa-s associated with each tiruvAimozhi in his 
ARAyira-paDi vyAkhyAnam.  PeriyavAccAn piLLai has identified guNa-s 
sung in each tiruvAimozhi for the first pattu.  The IDu vyAkhyAnam 
describes the guNa-s sung by the different pattu-s in different 
places.  However, there is no consistency between these different 
sources.  Thus, the need was felt by the elders at the time of svAmi 
deSikan for an analysis of the guNa-s of bhagavAn that are 
specifically sung in each aspect of tiruvAimozhi.  It is to fulfill 
this need that svAmi deSikan undertook this effort.


-       ve'nkaTeSah ?  (The author) tUppul ve'nkaTa nAthan
-       tat-tal-labdhi prasaktaih anupadhi vibudhaih arthitah ? 
having been requested by scholars who were greatly desirous of 
knowing the principal guNa of bhagavAn that is sung by the AzhvAr in 
each pattu, in each tiruvAimozhi, and in each pASuram
-       praj~nAkhye ? using the ocean of knowledge received from his 
illustrious AcArya-s
-       manthaSaile ? as the churning rod that is huge like a 
mountain 
-       prathita guNa rucim sampradAyam netrayan ? using the sacred 
tradition imparted by the AcArya-s in specifically enjoying the 
kalyANa guNa-s of emperumAn as the rope to churn this mountain of 
knowledge
-       SaThajit upanishad dugdha sindhum vimathnan ? churning the 
Milk-ocean in the form of AzhvAr's tiruvAimozhi that is an upanishad 
(vedAntic work)
-       svAdu gAdhA lahari daSa SatI nirgatam ratna jAtam ? and using 
the most enjoyable thousand precious stones that came out through the 
thousand waves that rose in the form of the thousand pASuram-s of 
AzhvAr
-       grathnAti ? has strung them together (in the form of this 
composition.  Thus, this work becomes a ratnAvaLi).

The term `guNa-ruci' in the Slokam means `the desire to know and 
enjoy the specific guNa that is primarily brought out in each 
pASuram, in each tiruvAimozhi, and in each pattu'.  `sampradAyam 
netrayan' can be understood as `using strictly traditional methods of 
analysis'.  `tat-tal-labdhI prasaktaih'    refers to the situation 
that the gunanubhavam (enjoyment of bhagavASn's guNa-s) is scattered 
in a few grantha-s, and is incomplete and inconsistent, and hence has 
led to the desire to know and enjoy the complete set of guNa-s of 
bhagavAn that are sung in tiruvAimozhi.  This is explained further in 
the next paragraph. 

It is well-known that bhagavAn acceded to the request of the deva-s 
for amRtam, and using the mandara mountain as the churning rod and 
vAsuki as the churning rope, He churned the Milk Ocean that serves as 
the support for His bed, and got the amRtam (nectar) for the deva-s.  
Similarly, svAmi deSikan accedes to the request of the learned elders 
of his time, uses the mountain of knowledge that has been acquired by 
him from his AcArya-s as the churning rod, uses the strict methods of 
analysis based on sampradAyam (tradition) passed on to him by his 
AcArya-s as his churning rope, churns the milk ocean called 
tiruvAimozhi that serves as the support for Him like a comfortable 
bed for all time, and draws out the 1000 gems (ratna-s) from the 
thousand pASuram-s which are the nectar coming out of this ocean.  
BhagavAn gives the nectar He got to all the deva-s;  svAmi deSikan 
gives this ratnAvaLi to all the devotees.

The deep regard that svAmi deSikan had for tiruvAimozhi grantham is 
revealed by his use of the term `SaThajit upanishad dugdha sindhu' to 
refer to tiruvAimozhi ? AzhvAr's work is an upanishad itself (the 
dramiDopanishad), that gives the summary of all the veda-s.  

One cannot but help notice the deep devotion that svAmi deSikan has 
for his AcArya-s.  This is an important part of our sampradAyam.  
SvAmi deSikan credits his AcArya-s for the knowledge he possesses, 
and he credits his AcArya-s for the analytical principles and 
approach that he is going to follow in digging out the gems from 
AzhvAr's pASuram-s.  AcArya bhakti is the key requirement for all of 
us in attaining emperumAn.

There are those who are confused as to who the Supreme deity is 
according to nammAzhvAr AzhvAr.  This is partly based on an incorrect 
understanding of the meaning of AzhvAr's words such as `muniyE! nAn 
muganE! mukkaNNappA!', `ariyai ayanai aranai alaRRi' etc.  Though the 
question that is raised by some may seem strange to us, AzhvAr 
himself points out that there is lot of confusion on who the Supreme 
Deity is in the minds of people, and repeatedly points out that 
SrIman nArAyaNa is the only One who can be the Supreme Deity, and no 
one else.  svAmi deSikan points out in his very first Slokam that 
AzhvAr's tiruvAimozhi reveals to us the wealth that is `emperumAn who 
is inseparably associated with SrI' ? ramA sannidhAnam nidhAnam'.  In 
this second Slokam, he is pointing out that tiruvAimozhi is the milk 
ocean in which the never-aging SrIman nArAyaNa who is a youth even at 
the time of pralaya, reclines for all time ? SaThajit Upanishad 
dugdha sindhu: kalpAnta yUnah talpam.    

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan

(To be continued)






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