NOTE: Readers having difficulty in reading the text may need to change their encoding to UTF-8. ------------------- srI: SrI sAra sAram â I (58) -- I â ThirumantrAdhikAram -- The Meaning of the Thirumanthiram as a Whole --- After explaining the significance of each letter and part of this great Thirumanthiram, SwAmi Desikan now gives the meaning of the mantra as a whole. First, the five principles, known as âartha-panchakamâ are revealed in the Thirumanthiram: âippaDi prathama-aksharAdi-kaLilE prApyamAna brahma-svaroopamum, trutIya-akasharAdikaLilE prAptAvin svaroopamum, madhyama-padatthilE virOdhyum upAyamum, chaturthiyilE phalamm, yathA sambhavam padangkaLilE sambandhamum prakASitamAyiRRu.â The artha-panchakam reveals the five principles that should be known to every seeker after mukti. This is mentioned in the following SlOka: âprApyasya brahmaNO roopam prAptuSca pratyagAtmanah / prAptyupAyam phalam caiva tathA prApt-virOdhi ca / vadanti sakalA vEdAh sEtihAsa-purANakAh //â (HArIta Samhita) Meaning: The Vedas, along with the itihAsAs and purANAs, speak of these five: The nature of the goal to be attained, namely, Brahman, the nature of the individual jIva who is the seeker of the attainment, the means of attainment (upAya), the fruit resulting from it and also the hindrances to the attainment of Brahman. The same is revealed in the Thirumanthiram in the following manner: These five principles are revealed in the Thirumanthiram in the following manner: 1) The syllable âaâ in the praNava, the words ânaraâ and ânArAyaNaâ indicate the nature of Brahman which is to be attained; 2) The syllable âmâ in the praNava and the word ânAraâ indicate the jIvaâs nature; 3) & 4) By the middle word ânamahâ, the inimical factor which blocks the jIva from attaining the Lord and the means of surrender to attain Him; and 5) The fourth-case suffix âAyaâ to the word ânArAyaNaâ reveals the fruit of service to the Lord. Besides indicating these five truths, the Thirumanthiram as a whole reveals the fact of the Lord being the soul and all other things being His body. SwAmi Desikan next analyzes the message conveyed by the Thirumathiram as a whole: âithil vAkya-yOjanai irukkumpaDi â âakAra-vAcyanAna nArAyaNanukkE nAn ananyArha-Sesh-bhoothan, enakku uriyEnallEnâ enRu silar thirumathram muzhukka svaroopa-paramenpArkaL.â Some say, the Thirumanthiram as a whole explains the nature of jIva. Then, the mantra will mean: âOnly to nArAyaNa indicated by the syllable âaâ, I, the jIva indicated by the syllable âmâ, am a servant and not to anyone else. I do not belong to myself either.â Another view held by some others: âpraNavam svaroopa paramAi namssilE anishTa nivrutthi-prArthanaiyAi mEl ishTaprApti-prArthanai enRum solluvArkaL.â â Some others say, the PraNava indicates âI am a Sesha exclusively to the Lord. ânamahâ indicates the prayer pleading for the removal of my misfortune. The word ânArAyaNAyaâ indicates the prayer for begetting the fruit of rendering service only to nArAyaNa. Yet another message that is conveyed by the Thirumanthiram is: âiraNdu padamum svaroopa-paramAi mEl purushArtha-prArthanA-param enkiRa yOjanai, âakArArthAyaivaâ enkiRa SlOkaththilE sollappaTTathu.â â There is a third meaning of the Thirumanthiram, that is supposed to have been explained by SrI ParAsara Bhattar SwAmi: The first two padams, that is, the PraNava and ânamahâ indicate the jIvaâs nature. While the praNava indicates the servitude of the jIva to the Lord, the second word, ânamahâ emphasizes that the jIva has no claim over himself. This is taken as one part. The second part consisting of the word, ânArAyaNAyaâ, aims at conveying the prayer for begetting the fruit of doing service to the Lord, SrImaN nArAyaNa. This interpretation is given by SrI ParAsara Bhattar in the third SlOka of his AshTaSlOkee, says SwAmi Desikan. We have already seen the meaning of this SlOka. (To continue) dAsan anbil S.SrInivAsan ------------ Get an email ID as yourname@xxxxxxxxx or yourname@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Click here http://in.promos.yahoo.com/address ------------------------------------ Oppiliappan Koil Varadachari Sadagopan http://www.sadagopan.org Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Oppiliappan/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Oppiliappan/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:Oppiliappan-digest@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx mailto:Oppiliappan-fullfeatured@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: Oppiliappan-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
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