SrImate SrI Ra'nga RAmAnuja MahAdeSikAya namaH.
tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Submission 77 - Slokam 26 Part 4;
tiruvAimozhi 2.4 - pASurams 2.4.9, 2.4.10.
z PASuram 2.4.9:
paTTa pOdu ezhu pOdu aRiyAL, virai maTTu alar taN tuzhAi ennum; SuDar
vaTTa vAi nudi nEmiyIr! numadu iTTam en kol iv EzhaikkE.
This daughter of mine does not know the difference between day and night any
more; she just keeps meditating on the cool and fragrant honey-dripping tulasI
garlands that You wear. You with the piercing sharp cakra with its circular
mouths spittng flames all around in Your hand! What is Your plan regarding
this daughter of mine who has no other go but You!
SvAmi DeSikan captures the guNam reflected in this pASuram in support of
BhagavAQnâs vyasana nirasana vyakta kIrti â His well-demonstrated trait of
removing the distress of the devotee â with the words âdIpta hetimâ â
SuDar vaTTa vAy nudi nEmiyIr â One who carries the flame-spitting sharp-edged
cakra in His hand, ever ready to protect His devotee from their enemies (heti
â a missile weapon; hetirAjan â the King of heti-s is a reference to
cakrAyudham; dIpta â flaming).
Does He really need the cakra or any other weapon for the purpose of protecting
His devotee? Far from it â He can protect anyone from any harm whatsoever
just by His mere will. But still He carries the divine weapons in order to
instill confidence in the devoteeâs mind. Another anubhavam is that He is
ever ready with the weapons in His hand just so there is no time lost in
looking for them if they are ever needed for protecting the devotee.
This aspect of BhagavAnâs aspect of protection of the devotee is also
reflected in the following pASuram of AzhvAr in periya tiruvantAdi (87):
o eppOdum kai kazhalA nEmiyAn nam mEl vinai kaDivAn â He is never
separated from His divine cakra in His hand, which He carries for our
protection;
and also in Sri Raânga Raja stavam (12):
o â pAtu praNata rakshAyAm viLambam ashanniva sadA paâncAyudhIm
bibhrat sa naH SrI RaânganAyakaHâ - May Lord Ra~nganAtha - who ever stands
ready with five weapons on His arms, as if to demonstrate that He cannot bear
any delay in offering protection to the devotee - grant us protection!
z pASuram 2.4.10:
Ezhai pEdai irAp pagal tana kEzh il oN tana kaNNa nIr koNDAL kiLar
vAzhvai vEva ila~nkai SeRRIr ivaL mAzhai nOkku onRum vATTEnminE.
âEzhai pEdai irAp pagal kEzh il oN tan kaNNa nIr koNDAL; ila~nkai vEva kiLAr
vAzhvaic ceRRIr! ivaL mAzhai nOkku onRum vATTEnmin â This poor girl of mine
keeps longing for You, without realizing that You are very difficult to attain,
and has beautiful eyes that are brimming with tears all the time. You who
destroyed the life of ill-begotten pleasures of RAvaNa of La~nka by burning it
to ashes! For Your own sake, make sure You protect the beauty of her eyes that
are incomparable in their beauty.â
Loking at the detailed interpretations of our pUrvAcArya-s for this pASuram, a
coiuple of points stand out:
1. kiLar vAzhvu ila~nkai SeRRIr - BhagavAn destroyed La~nka with all its
prosperity, and in doing so, He left nothing stand in His way. So also, He
will let nothing stand in His way when it comes to removing the obstacles of
His devotees. This is conveyed in sAkshAt svAmiâs vyAkhyAnam -
pratibandhaângaLaiyum nIrE pOkkik koNDu INDena vandu rakshittu aruLa vENDum.
2. mAzhai nOkku onRum vATTEnminE - Donât ruin the beauty of her eyes
that are incomparable in their beauty, for her sake as well as for Your own
sake. The idea here is that for BhagavAn, the welfare of the devotee is the
most important. The notion that BhagavAn subjugates Himself willingly to the
devotee who surrenders to Him is well known and well established (through
instances such as His being the charioteer for arjuna, His letting Himself be
tied up ny YaSodA, etc.).
The above thoughts that are conveyed in this pASuram stand out to support the
guNam of âvyasana nirasana vyakata kIrtiâ that is the subject of this
tiruvAimozhi. SvAmi deSikan captures the specific guNam sung in this pASuram
with the words âsat prekshA rakshitAramâ â âHe who protects the way of
life of those who are dedicated to following the prescribed code of conductâ.
SrI UV explains prekshA as âSAstrAdi mUlamAip peRRa teLivuâ â the
clarity of knowledge that those of righteous conduct have attained through
means such as the SAstra-s.
To recapitulate, the guNam sung in this tiruvAimozhi - namely, that BhagavAn is
One whose fame in relieving the distress of the devotees has been well
demonstrated - is supported by the following ten guNa-s sung in the ten
pASurams of this tiruvAimozhi:
- BhagavAn appeared at an instant in the pillar as Lord nRsimha to make
prahlAda's word come true, and thus relieved the ordeals to which PrahlAda was
subjected (2.4.1)
- He relieved the distress of aniruddha, His grandson, by severing the
thousand shoulders of BANAsuran when the latter was imprisoned by the asura
(2.4.2).
- He destroyed RAvana who was causing enormous distress to the deva-s and
to the other devotees, and He went further and destroyed all the other evil
rAkshasa-s as well (2.4.3)
- He has the mighty garuDan who can remove even the worst poison
afflicting the devotee, on His flag (2.4.4).
- He is endowed with the beautiful divine tirumEni, decorated with the
sacred tulasI garlands that will remove all the distress of the devotee at the
very sight of them (2.4.5).
- He provides uninterrupted courage and sustenance to the inner soul of
the devotee and keeps the hope alive that the devotee will ultimately attain
Him (2.4.6).
- He is intensely concerned about the protection of the devotees as His
primary function, by reclining in tiruppARkkaDal to be within easy reach of the
deva-s when they need to go to Him to seek His protection; or, He protects and
guides all the jIva-s by being their antaryAmi (2.4.7)
- He will eliminate all the obstacles that stand in the path of His
devotees, as demonstrated by His act of eliminating the evil Kamsan (2.4.8)
- He ensures that the path chosen by those who observe the proper code of
conduct as laid down in the SAstra-s is preserved and protected (2.4.10)
AzhvAr sings BhagavAnâs well-demonstrated trait of relieving the distress of
the devotees readily through several examples in this tiruvAimozhi, and
concludes by recalling His vAmana incarnation, where He begged for His own
belongings in order to bless MahAbali and the rest of the jIva-s along with
him. This single act of His alone stands out as a reinforcement of His
âvyasana nirasana vyakta kIrtiâ, and no one can ever say that BhagavAn does
not have concern for His devotees â vATTam il pugazh vAmanan (2.4.11).
-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan
(To be continued)
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