SrI:
Dear
AasthikAs:
Srimad
Azhagiya Singar has blessed us with an important upadEsam on the Meaning of
Gaayatri
Mantram , which was reproduced in the most recent issue of Tamil Version of
Sri Nrisimha
Priya ( Oct 2008) .
AdiyEn has
translated and added some background information points at the end
of the straight
translation .
Srimad Azhagiya
Singar's original Text
**************************************
tEja: param
tatsaviturvarENyam dhAmnA parEnaapraNakhAt suvarNam
ThvAm PuNDareekEkshaNam Aamanati Sri RanganAtham
upAsisheeya
Many know about the
Gaayatri Mantram. AntarAditya Vidhyai is one of the 32 Brahma Vidhyais. This is
a famous VidhyA covered in the ChAndhOgya Upanishad .
In this slOkam ,
Swamy ParAsara Bhattar states that the meaning of the Gaayatri Mantram and
the object of upAsanai ( meditation) in the AntarAdhitya
Vidhyai is one and
the same , namely , Sri RanganAthan ( Periya perumAL) .
" tath savithur varENyam bhargO dEvasya dheemahi" is part of the Gaayatri mantram . The padhams from this section of
Gaayatri mantram are recognized as we read the slOkam of Bhattar . There is
however new aspects in the meanings , when one studies the padhams
carefully .
Oh RanganAtha! The
padhams of Gayathri mantram state that the lofty tEjas which is fit for
upAsana is indeed You . The AntarAdhitya Vidhyai mantram states the
same:ya yEshOantaraadhityE hiraNamaya: PurushO
dhrusyatE --AapraNakhAt sarva yEva suvarNa: These upanishad vaakyam state that the Lord ( RanganAthan
here)
with lotus eyes is the One with matchless tEjas from head to the
nails of His sacred feet. Therefore , it states : " May adiyEn perform
upAsana on You , Lord RanganAtha , who is pointed out by the Gaayatri mantram
and AntarAdhitya Vidhyai.
Here, AchArya
Saarvabhoumar , ParAsara Bhattar equates Lord RanganAthA's tEjas with that of
the tEjas of Savitha . In this world , the ParamaikAnthis will not meditate (
perform upAsana) on the celebrated ( Prasiddhan) Sooryan or His
tEjas.
Therefore SavithA's
( Suryan's) tEjas was identified with that of the tEjas of Lord RanganAtha. This
leads us to conclude that easily that Savitha is indeed Ranganathan. The name
Savitha meaning one who create this universe belongs to Lord Ranganathan as a
KaaraNa name ( peyar). Thus Bhattar extolls RanganAthan as the meaning of
Gaayatri mantram an as the One in the middle of the orbit of
Aadityan.
Swami Desikan was
born in the gOtram of Gaayatri. It is important therefore to appreciate in this
context ,the clear meaning of Gaayatri mantram provided by Swamy Desikan in the
23rd Vaadham of Sata DhUshaNi. Through his explanation , Swamy Desikan rejects
the views of Para Mathams and establishes the
Bhagavad
RaamAnuja
SiddhAntham:
pratipurusham anEkA: pratyavastham
vichitrA:
Subhagathishu dhiyO ya: chOyatyajn~asA
na:
akhilachidhachidhantaryAmi tadh
VishNusamjn~am
SaviturahamupAsE tasya dEvasya:
bharga:
---23rd Vaadham of
Sata DhUshaNee
Adhvaithins have the anumAnam that anubhUti Jn~Anam is only one and
not many.
Swamy Desikan
rejects this view and establishes anbhuthikaL and Jn~Anams are many in this
vaadham. Swamy Desikan uses Gaayatri as PramANam in support of our SiddhAntham
.
We mentioned
earlier that Gaayatri Devi and Swamy Desikan were born in the same gOtram . Sage
Viswaamitrar was the mantra dhrushtA and helped the world with Gayatri
mantram . We should not conclude that there was no Gayatri Devi before the birth
of Sage Viswaamitrar . There is a ViswAmitrar in each
kalpam.
In this Viswaamitra
gOtram was born Swamy Desikan :
janma dhviteeyam Rishibhi: kathitam yatassaa Devee cha
viswajananee yadhananya-gOtrA
Gayatri Devi gives
the second birth for Brahmins. Swamy Desikan states that She
( Gayatri Devi)
belongs to my gOtram in Sankalpa SooryOdhayam . Therefore , Swami
Desikan
uses Gayatri mantram to establish the siddhAntam .
When we look
closely at the portion of Gayatri mantram ( dhiyO yO na: prachOdhayAt) , we
infer that AnubhUtis-Jn~anams are many . "Dhee: " is singualar. "dhiya:" is
plural. "dhiya:" is the plural for the second case . The " dhee" saBdham refers
to Jn~Anam . "dhiyO yO na: prachOdhayAt" points to the One , who blesses us all
with Jn~Anam . Therefore , it becomes clear that Jn~Anam is
not
of one kind but
varies appropriately with individual jeevAtmAs.The adhvaitic view of
" anubhUthi: na
naanA "is rejected by Gaayatri mantram.
Now , let us
understand the full meaning of Gayatri before studying the meaning of the Sata
dhUshaNee slOkam . The fourth paadham of the slOkam ( Savituraham upAsE Tasya
Devasya bharga:) reminds us of the front portion of Gaayatri mantram ( Savitu:
bharga: dEvasya dheemahi) .In both of them , the words are quite
similar.
SatadhUshaNee
slOkam says; " I perform upAsanA on the tEjas of that dEvan known as SavitA ".
Gayatri states that we perform upAsanA on Savita"s tejas , which is upAsyam
. In the slOkam , the verb in singular ( upAsE) is used. In Gaayatri
,
"dheemahi" is sued
, which is verb ( kriyA padham) in plural . In Gaayatri , the
doer
( kartA saBdham )
is not mentioned.
In
the SlOkam , KartA is refered to as "aham" and SavitA , the dEvan
, is referred to Tasya ( Tat saBdham/ adai mozhi ). In Gaayatri , Savita , the
dEvan , is referred to as " dEvasya savitu: ".There is something noteworthy to
remember here. The point is: at the end of Gayatri , " dhiyO: yO na:
prachOdhayAt" . This means
One who kindles
Jn~Anam and one who empowers us to acquire dhaarmika karmAs linked to
sadh-vishayams.It is the practise to have tath saBdham , whenever Yath
saBdham is used .
They are related. If however Yath saBdham is placed in the latter section , then
Tath saBdham need not appear in the front section . One can see such usage
of Tath sabdham in many places . For instance, in DaSAvatAra stOtra
slOkam starting with " PratyAdhishta purAdhana " , uttara bhAgam
contains the yath sabdham ( Yath PrAthurbhavanAth) . In the poorva Bhaagam ,
there is
no inclusion of
Tath saBdham . Similarly , In Gaayatri , the Yath sabdham ( dhiyO yO na: prachOdhayAt) is in the latter portion and
consequently there is no Tath saBdham in the Poorva BhAgam
.
In the sataDhUshaNi
slOkam however Swamy Desika used Yath sabdham in the poorva bhAgam to explain
the meaning of Gaayatri and therefore he had to use Tath saBdham in the latter
section ( Ya: chOdhayatyajn~asA in the front and
tadh VishNu
Samjn~am in the
latter section ( Pirppahuthi) .
" dhiyO yO na;
PrachOdhayAth" is in the latter section of the Gaayatri mantram. In the Sata
DhUshaNee slOkam in the second of the four paadhams ( in the front section as "
subhagathishu dhiyO ya: chOdayAthajn~asaa na:" ).In Gaayatri , it is
"PrachOdhayAth" and "ChOdhayati " in the slOkam . "Dhiya: , Ya: and na; "
are used as such in the mantram and slOkam . PrachOdhayAth suggests One who
will bless us with Jn~Anam . " ChOdhayathi " of slOkam suggests One who
grants and does not say that it grants Jn~Anam like the Gaayatri mantra
padham.The slOkam refers to
"subhagatishu"
(i-e) May He kindle the mangaLa Jn~Anam that is linked to
auspiciousness :
" yO dEva: SavitAsmAkam dhiyO dharmAdhigOcharaa:
prErayEtasya
yadhgarbha: tadhvarENyam upAsmahE "
The meaning of
Gaayatri is explained by this Sata DhUshaNee slOkam .
"
DharmAdhigOcharaa: dhiya: " deals with Jn~Anam linked to dharmam as the subject
matter. In the sata dhUshaNee slOkam , Swamy captures the essence of this
meaning through the Padha PrayOgam : " Subhagathishu dhiya: ". These Jn~Anams
are different for different AathmAs. Even for the same Aatmaa, this Jn~Anam can
vary in different states:"Pratipurusham anEkA: prathyavastE
vichitrA:"
Thus Swamy Desikan
rejects the para matha doctrines , which assert that there is only one Jn~Anam
and anubhUthi , since it is clear that many Jn~Anams and anubhUthis from the
clear meanings given by the Padhams of Gaayatri Mantram.
Neither in Gaayatri or in the small slOkam describing its meaning
( yO dEva:
SavitAsmAkam dhiyO dharmAdhi gOcharA: ---tadhvarENyam upAsmahE ")
, there is no explantion who is that Devan and what is that Bhargam. To address
this vagueness , Sri ParAsara Battar and Swamy Desikan explain these specifics. Bhattar says : " tEja: param tath
SriranganAtham upAsmahE " . That tEjas ( bharga:)
is Sri RanganAthan
says Battar. Swamy Desikan follows this line of thought : The Bharga: is the
indweller of all chEtanAchEtanms , VishNu (Sri RanganAthan) . Swamy Desikan
describes : " akhila chidachidantaryAmi tath VishNusamjn~am
". The tath sabdham here is the same as the Tath sabdham in
the Gaayatri Mantram :
"TadhvarENyam". It
celebrates the loftiness (Prasiddhi) of the "Tath"( VarENyam tath).
SavithA is the One
who gives swiftly different Jn~Anams based on dharmams for different AathmAs .
He has a tEjas , which is antaryAmi of all the sentients and Insentients. It has
the name of VishNu . The meaning of the full slokam then is:
adiyEn meditates on
the tejas of that DEvan with the name of SavithA . If the tejas of Savitha is
VishNu , then we have to understand the meaning of the word SavithA .
Abhinava Desikan ,
UtthamUr Swamy provides this meaning in his DhippaNi of Sata DhUshaNee : If
SavithA refers to the prasiddha ( celebrated ) Sooryan , then
His udhayam
(arising) gives Sadh Jn~Anam to all AatmAs. His Bharga: (tEjas) is the the
indweller of Sooryan , JyOthirmaya ParamAtmA . adiyEn performs upAsana of
Him is the meaning.
In reality , Savitha is none other than the cause of this universe
( Jagath KaaraNa
bhUtan) , Sriya: Pathi, the ParamAtma . His tEjas( bharga:) is the tEjOroopa
dhivya MangaLa vigraham .
The Lord's divine
auspicious ThirumEni ( Dhivya MangaLa vigraham) is saluted as "SubhASrayam".
This ThirumEni has Subhatvam and Aasrayatvam . Subhatvam or auspiciousness is
linked to the removal of samsAra bhandhams and conferral of Moksham .
Aasrayathvam is becoming the subject of upAsana for those engaged in UpAsanai.
Therefore , the meditation on the tEjOroopa dhivya MangaLa vigraham confers all
MangaLams on the upAsakan . Therefore , Swamy Desikan says that
he
meditates on it (
bharga:) .
Thus , a clear
understnading of the meaning of Gaayatri mantram helps us to gain an
understanding of our Bahgavath RaamAnuja SiddhAntam . We understand the
deficiencies in Para Matams . Sri ParAsara Bhattar states that the meaning of
Gaayatri and the subject matter of AantrAtma Vidhyai is Sri RanganAthan and we
should understand this tattvam and meditate on the Lord of Srirangam
.
Srimad Azhagiya
Singar ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,
Daasan , Oppliappan
Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan
Notes: (1) Sata
DhUshaNee is a polemical classic of VisishtAdhvaitha VedAntha blessed to us by
Swamy Desikan created for Para Matha nirasanam and Sva Paksha SthApanam .
Sundara Simham series ebook #88 covers the Swamy Desika
Sahasra Naamams (
101-168) pertaining to the essence of Sata DhUshaNee:
(2) Swamy ParAsara
Bhattar was the son of KurEsar and the PurOhithar of Lord
RanganAtha . His
monumental work , Sri RangarAja Stavam prays moving tribute to the Lord of
Srirangam . The uttara BhAgam of Sri RangarAja stavam deals with Paramata
Nirasanam and Sva Paksha StApanam .
Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required) Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe __,_._,___ |
Home Page
http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia |
srirangasri-subscribe@yahoogroups.com To subscribe to the list |