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At 02:59 AM 3/27/02 -0000, you wrote:
>Is "matinalam" the Tamil word for "bhakti"
>
>If so, does it exactly mean "bhakti"?
>
>If not what does "matinalam" mean?

Dear Devotee:

You have asked a very profound question for which
the ThiruvAimozhi commentators have answered in depth. 

You have to study this word "mathinalam "
in the context of the second line of
the First paasuram of ThiruvAimozhi
of Swamy NammAzhwAr, where it is found: 
"Mayarvara MATHINALAM aruLinan yavanavan".

The literal meaning of this passsage is:

The One who blessed us with the power of faculty 
(aRivu = discriminating intellect )that chases away 
aj~nanam (nescience and ignorance )as well as 
the auspicious attribute of Bhakthi towards Him 
born out of His limitless DayA.

He has Uyarnalam and He blessed us with
MATHINALAM . That great and compassionate Lord 
"endowed us with JN~ANA-BHAKTI FACULTY /MATHINALAM, 
which effaces the weakness of the intellect 
that CONSTANTLY doubts ,confuses and fails to see 
what ought to be seen CLEARLY ".

MATHINALAM THEREFORE COVERS BOTH THE JN~ANAM AND 
BHAKTHI. Both are intertwined.This Mathinalam is 
"MayarvaRa mathinalam",the Jn~Ana Bhakthi faculty 
that banishes ajn~Anam and viparItha Jn~Anam. 

Earlier in His first Prabhandham (Thiruviruttham ) , 
Swamy NammAzhwAr referred to the opposite of Mathinalam as
"poy ninRa Jn~Anam ". That Poy ninRa Jn~Anam is
of many kinds: (1)viparItha Jn~Anam (2) Soonya Vaadham 
(3) naasthIkam (4)athmaa is independent/svathanthran
(Kaivlyam state), (5)deham and aathmaa are one and 
the same (dEhAthma Bramam),(6)Isvaran and Jeevan 
are one and the same (Jeeva-Berahma Eikya Vaadham) 
(7)forgetting that the jeevan is the leige
of the Lord (sEsha bhUthan) and not having
Seshathva Jn~Anam (8) dEvathAnthara
worship through the lack of knowledge
about the Supermacy of SrIman NaaraayaNan 
as the one and only Moksham- granting Lord
(Moksha-DhAyaka Mukundhan) .

Swamy NammazhAr appeals in this First paasuram of 
Thiruviruttham to the Lord to banish all these
"Poy ninRa Jn~Anam" and bless him with
"MayarvaRa Mathinalam "( Jn~Ana -Bhakthi faculty ). 
This is the context to understand "mayarvaRa Mathinalam ".

You can ask the question: Are Mathi and Nalam one and
the same? The first commentator on ThiruvAimozhi gives
the answer to this question and the other commentators
elaborated on that view. The First commentator ( Thirukkurahi
PirAn PiLLAn ) said: " Tannai uLLapadi aRivitthu, 
Tamm ThiruvadigaLil niravathika bhakthiyai uNDAkkinaan". 
The Lord gave the Jn~Anam about His true self and
generated matchless Bhakthi for Him .Bhattar is
attributed to have described this "Mathi " as
"Bhakthi Roopaapanna Jn~Anam ".This Jn~Anam sprouting out 
in the form of Bhakthi ;Jn~Anam about the Lord 
did not come first and then grew gradually to Bhakthi.
The pramANam is : "BhakthyA SaasthrAth Vedhmi JanArdhanam".
Bhakthi is the reason (KaaraNam )for mathi and Bhakthi is 
the purpose/activity (Kaaryam ) for Mathi. AzhwAr did not say 
that he was a bhakthan of the Lord and therfore He(the Lord) 
blessed him with Mathi. He blessed the AzhwAr with Jn~Anam as well
as parama Bhakthi in the form of Bhakthi RoopApanna Jn~Anam
simultaneously .

>From the definition point of view, Bhakthi is different
from Bhakthi Yogam.Bhakthi is defined as pious faith ,
reverential worship , unassailable devotion to the Lord etc.
Bhakthi Yogam , the difficult anushtAnam leading to
Moksham is some thing else. The entire Twelfth Chapter of
Bhagavath Githai is devoted to the Lord's Upadesam on 
Bhakthi Yogam.

The anubhavam of the BhakthA thru uninterrupted
meditaion on His Form (Roopam ), GuNam , Svaroopam ,
the many moods that Bhakthan experiences to have 
the constant company of the Lord thru darsanam ,Keerthanam
of His attributes, SravaNam of His glories , sEvanam 
(kaimkaryam to Him ) , nirvEdam when he does not have
samslesham , dhainyam ( helplessness), VisvAsam inspite
of the delay in getting the anugraham of the Lord, 
Vaathsalyam to Him , aathma SamarpaNam , Kruthajn~athai
and MangaLAsAsanam are vast subjects in themselves. 
Swamy NammazhwAr's ThiruvAimozhi paasurams help us 
understand these moods (BhAvams) of a Parama Bhakthan 
and his attainment of liberation from samsAric afflictions. 

We started with the intent of having a short discussion
on "Mathinalam" and the profound nature of your question
propelled me to respond at this length. 

AzhwAr's and AchAryA's words are so precise and
so deep that one can never comprehend them fully
by intellectual analysis alone .

Swamy NammAzhwAr ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,
Oppiliappan Koil V.Sadagopan 












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