the essential thoughts of Swamy AlavanthAr in His Sanskrit Sri Sookthi of
the same name .
Postings from Sri
Oppiliappan Koil Varadachari Sadagopan
Oppiliappan
Koil or the Temple of Oppliappan, is dedicated to Sri Venkatachalapathy Swamy at
Thirunageswaram. Situated 5
miles east of Kumbakonam, in Tamil Nadu, Oppiliappan Koil
is one of the 108 sacred temples of Sri Vaishnu.
Sri
V.Sadagopan hails from this famous temple town and from a family devoted to
Vedic Studies. He has a Doctorate degree in Material Science from Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, USA.
He
underwent extensive traditional courses in Veda, Upanishads, Bhagavath Gita, the
divine works of Acharya in Tamil and Sanskrit as well as Bharata Naatyam
and Indian Classical Music.
He
is a retired Executive of IBM T.J. Watson Research center and has travelled
widely during his service with IBM . He has also served at the New York and
European Head Quarters of the United Nations and spent three years on
assignment with IBM Europe. He is currently living in USA and moderates
three e-list groups : Oppiliappan, Saranagathy and Raama Bhakthi. He writes
extensively on Hindu religion and Philosophy in the above and other sister
lists.
Gîtârtha
Samgraha of Sri Yamuna Acharya
1)
Introduction
2)
The essence of First
Chapter
3)
Essence of second
chapter
4)
The Essence of the Third
Chapter
(to continue)
1)
Introduction
Today, we
will commence the study of Vedanta Desika's Tamil Prabhandham entitled Gîtârtha
Sangraham. Vedanta Desika, follower of Sri Râmânuja and advocate of
Vishishta Advaita Philosophy wrote his works in Sanskrit and Tamil. The
book under study (Gitârtha Samgraha) is one of his Tamil works. It is also
called Prabandham as it is considered as one of the important and main Tamil
works.
Originally, Sri Âlavandâr blessed us with the Sri Sukthi
known as "Gitârtha Sangraham " in Sanskrit. It contains the essence of
Lord Parthasarathy's teaching to us using Arjuna as an excuse or pretext
(Vyâjam) at Kurukshetram. Sri Krishna
is addressed here as Pârthasarathy, because he is Arjuna’s charioteer.
Kurukshetram is the place, near Delhi, where the Maha Bhâratha war took
place.
Sri Râmânuja, the founder of Vishishta advaita school of
Vedanta, wrote a commentary in Sanskrit for Âlavandâr’s Sri Sukthi (Sri Gîta
Bhâshyam) to make sure that the meanings housed in Sri Âlavandâr's Sri Sukthi
are preserved without any distortions.
Sri Âlavandâr
is one of the philosophical saints of Vishishtâdvaita.
Sri
Vedanta Desika followed the footsteps of Sri Râmânuja and blessed us with his
detailed commentary on Gîta Bhâshyam named "Tâthparya Chandrika ". Vedanta
Desika rejected the detailed commentary (viparîtha vyakhyâna) for Gîta
by resting his commentary on Âchârya Râmanuja's commentary. Vedanta Desika
went further and created a short commentary on Gitârtha Sangraham named Gitârtha
Sangraha Raksha in Sanskrit. Finally, out of his infinite compassion for
us, Vedanta Desika blessed us with a Tamil Prabhandham called Gitârtha Sangraham
for us to become conversant about the quintessence of Bhagavad Gîta. All
the Tamil Pâsurams of Gitârtha Sangraham are set in Kattalai
Kalitthurai metre.
There are two benedictory verses
(Taniyans) for Vedanta Desika's Tamil Prabhandham. One is set in
the metre of nerisai vennpâ and the other is set in the shorter
Kural Vennpâ. The different metres mentioned are the poetic
styles used by Sri Vedanta Desika. Each style is set to a melody, a time
scale and a corresponding rhythm of singing, all the three in harmony with the
content of poem.
Taniyan 1:
katta porul
virittha kâsiniyil nânn marayin
ittap-porul iyampum inn porulaic-chittar
thozhum
Vedântha Desikanai mevuvâr tangal
Thirup-
paadhâmbhuyam adiyen parru
Meaning:
The lotus feet of Sri Vedânta Desikan, who is worshipped by pious scholars with
Bhakti, are my refuge. He is delectable to us through the experience
(Anubhava) of His Sri Sukthis. He gave us the inner meanings
of the difficult passages of the four Vedas for the residents of this world
through his divines poems (Divya Sukthis).
Taniyan 2:
Gîtha mozhintharulum Vedântha Desikanar
paadhâra
vinthamalar parru
Meaning: The lotus feet of Sri Vedânta Desikan who
blessed us with the divine prabhandham of Gitârtha Sangraham (the essence of
Bhagavad Gîta) are the refuge for us all.
General Introduction
Through that Charama
Shloka, Bhagavân (the Lord) performed teaching (upadesham) for
us by using Arjuna as an excuse or pretext (Vyâjam). This
charama Shloka containing the method to observe total surrender to God
(Prapatthi) is easy to practise for gaining the fruit of Liberation
(Moksha Phalan). The principle of Total Refuge in God
(Sharanâgathi Shastram) is housed in the Charama
Shloka of Bhagavad Gîta, which is the essence of Upanishads. Gîta
was blessed to us directly from the lips of Lord Krishna Himself for our
betterment. All of our ancient masters (Purvâchârya) have
therefore helped us to understand the true meaning of Gîta with their
comprehensive commentaries. Sri Âlavandâr was the first among our
ancient masters to open our spiritual eyes with his Sri Sukthi
of Gitârtha Sangraham. With His incisive intellect, Sri
Âlavandâr captured the essence of Gîta Shastram in 32 poems (Shloka)
and opened the doors for other Vaishnavite Masters (Âchâryas) to
elaborate on the most important divine science (Bhagavad
Shastram).
Vedanta Desika with his superb genius captured
the essence of the 32 Sanskrit verses (Shloka) of Sri Âlavandâr in
21 Tamil verses (Pâsurams) including the benefits of reciting these
verses (Phala shruthi).
There are 18 chapters in
Srimad Bhagavad Gîta. Our ancient masters divided these 18 chapters into
three subsets consisting of six chapters (Shathakams). The first
set of six deals with Karma and Jnâna Yoga. The second six chapters covers
Bhakti Yoga. The first half of the third six chapters deals with the forms
(Svarupams) and nature (Svabhâvam) of embodied soul
(Chethana), matter (Achethanam) and the created world
(Prapancham) resulting from their union as well as the true state of
the Supreme Lord (Sarweshvaran). The second half of the third six
chapters (Shathakam) covers the ways to observe Karma, Jnâna, Bhakti
Yoga and the dependence on Shâstra for an embodied soul (Chethana) like
Arjuna to understand clearly that Sriman Nârâyanan is the Supreme Brahman
(Para Brahmam) celebrated in Vedanta.
Sri
Âlavandâr's summary of the above meanings relating to the entire Gîta
Shastram has taken the form of the first verse
(Shloka):
Svadhârama-Jnâna
-VairAgya saadhya-bhakthyEka gOchara:
Nârâyana : Param Brahma GîtasAsthrE
Sameeritha:
Vedanta
Desika's First Pâsuram of Gîtârtha Sangraham is a wonderful echo of the above
summary of Sri Âlavandâr.
The Essence of the Meaning of the
Science of Githa (Gîta
Shâsthram)
******************************************************
karumamum Jnâmum kondu yezhum kâthalukku ohr ilakku
yenru
aru marai ucchiyul aadharitthu othum arum biramam
Thirumahalodu
varum Thirumai yenru Thânn uraitthân
dharumam uhantha Dhananjayanukkavan
Saaratiye (1)
(meaning): After anushtânam of Karma Yoga to control
one's mind, Jnâna Yoga has to be practised for direct visions of the Soul
(Âthma Sâkshâthkâram) to pave the way for the application of
the principles (anushtânam) of Bhakti Yoga. The entire assembly
of Vedânta declare that the target of this Bhakti Yoga is the Parabrahmam
celebrated as Sriman Nârâyanan. For Arjuna rooted in Dharma,
Kannan (familiar way of addressing Sri Krishna) revealed that He is
indeed that Parabrahmam.
In this Pâsuram, the progression
of Karma, Jnâna, Bhakti Yoga referred to by Sri Âlavandâr is covered with
the following references :
1. Karumamum
Jnânamum kondu = based on Karma and Jnâna Yoga which are covered
in the First Shathakam (Chapters 1 to 6 of Bhagavad Githa).
2. yezhum
Kaathalukku = Bhakti Yoga, the topic of the second Shathakam is dealt
with here. (Chapters 7 to 12 of Bhagavad Githa).
3.
arum Brahmam = the Brahmam, which is distinctly different from
Chethana and Achethana categories (varigams) is the
topic of the first half of the third Shathakam. This Brahmam is the One
celebrated in Upanishads (aru Marai ucchiyul aadaritthu odhum arum
Brahmam). This Brahmam is Sriman Nârâyanan appearing with the Goddess
Maha Lakshmi (Thirumahalodu varum Thirumai).
4. Dharumam uhantha = to be bound by the Shâstra
is hinted here. This covers the second half of the third Shathakam. (Chapters 13 to 18 of Bhagavad Githa)
5. To
that Arjuna (Dhananjayan) rooted in righteousness or Dharmam
(dharumam uhantha Dhananjayan), Lord Pârthasârathy
revealed that Sriman Nârâyanan is none other than Himself (arum Biramam
ThirumahaLODu varum ThirumAl yenRu ThAnn uraitthAn).
6.
Lord revealed that He is indeed the lakshyam (gochara:) of
that Bhakti Yoga (yezhum kaathalukku ohr ilakku yenru uraitthân).
2)
The essence of First
Chapter
uhavai adaintha uRavuDayar poraluRRa annAL
tahavudan
anbu karai puraLa dharumatthu aLavil
miha uLam anji vizhunthu adi sErntha
VisayanukkOr
nahayudan uNmai uraikka amainthanan NaaraNanE---(2)
Meaning: Arjuna saw the dear relatives like Bhîma, Masters
(âchâryas) like Drôna assembled opposite him to engage in battle
with him. Arjuna's love and compassion (Daya) for them overflowed
although they had no fitness for that display of affection. As a result,
Arjuna concluded that the righteous war with them befitting his status as a
Kshathriya was unrighteous (Adharma). He was overcome with
weakness. He threw down his bow and arrows and sat down with dejection at
the foot of his chariot. Next, Arjuna appealed to Lord, his
charioteer to show him the right way. With smile on His face, Lord
Pârthasârathy (Sri Krishna) commenced His teaching (upadesham) for
Arjuna on the real nature of the embodied soul (Svarupams of
Jîvâthma), of the Supreme Soul or God (Paramâthma), the means
to reach God (Paramâthma) and related esoteric meanings of
Vedânta. Lord's teaching (upadesham) was like nectar for
Arjuna and easy to understand.
Sri Âlavandâr's summary of the First
chapter takes this form:
asthâna sneha Kaarunya Dharmâdharmadhiyâ-aakulam
Paârtham
prapannam uddhisya Shâstrâvathârâm krutham (5th Shloka).
Arjuna arrived
at the battlefield with the Lord as his charioteer. He directed the Lord
to position the chariot in the middle of the armies assembled to battle each
other so that he can see all those assembled to fight him and his side.
Lord obliged and positioned the chariot in such a place so that Arjuna can have
a good look.
As Arjuna looked on and saw his relatives, Masters
(Âchâryas) and other kinsmen eager to engage in the battle with him,
his limbs got weakened, his mouth became dry and he began to tremble. His
mind began to reel over the thought of killing his kinsmen, Masters
(Âchâryas) and others dear to him in the ensuing battle. He told
the Lord, His Charioteer, that such a battle is not worth fighting. He
threw down his bow and arrows and sat down on the chariot as though he was ready
to fast to death.
Arjuna was overwhelmed by compassion for
those who did not merit it. He got confused about what is righteous
(Dharmam) and what is unrighteous (Adharmam) and was taken
over by sorrow. His mind swirled in the high wind of grief over the
prospect of killing his Âchâryas, former friends, and kinsmen. Arjuna
declared now that he will not fight them because of the unbearable sorrow
over the expected loss of those dear to him.
The third poem
(pâsuram) of Swamy Desikan's Gîtârtha Sangraham deals with the second chapter
(adhyâyam) of Srimath Bhagavath Gîta. This chapter has 72 poems (shloka).
3)
Essence of second
chapter
Udalam
azhinthidum uLL uyir onRu azhiyAthu yenaippOl
vidhumathu paRRu vidAthathu
adaittha kirisaikaL
kaduka unakku uyir kAttu(m) ninaivu athanAl
uLathAm
vidu mayal yenRu Visayanait-tERRinAn VitthakanE
----(3)
(Meaning): Oh Arjuna! I am Eternal and the Lord of all
(Sarweshvaran).
There is no question about this matter. Similarly,
there is no question
about the eternal status of the souls (Jîvâthma).
They have no death. Souls (âthma) inside the body does not age. It
does not cease to exist as it moves from one body to the other. It is eternal
(nithyan), ever present. No one should think it is non-eternal (anithyam) and
sorrow over that thought. The soul (âthma )can not be cut up by
weapons. It can not be burnt by fire nor dried by the wind. The soul
(jîvan) is capable of penetrating through every thing in a subtle manner.
This soul (Âthma) cannot be killed.
The soul or Âthma is
indestructible. It is the height of ignorance for one to think that he is
the killer of the Âthma and that it (âthma) is capable of being killed. The term
death in the worldly parlance is nothing but the departure of the soul (âthma)
from one body to enter into another body. Oh Arjuna ! It is appropriate to
think that the soul (âthma), which resided in the physical body of your
enemies will go to the world of paradise (svarga loka), gain a body better than
that it had on this earth and enjoy all the pleasures (bhoga) there. You
should be happy reflecting over that thought. Does anyone
really regret over casting aside the old and torn clothes for the good
fortune of wearing clean and brand new attire?
Oh Arjuna ! You might
grieve over the death of the body instead of the sout (âthma). Even that
thought is not proper. This body is constituted by the five elements
(Pancha Bhuta: prithvi, ap, tejas, vâyu and âkâsha). It is the abode of
the eternal soul (jîvan) to experience the fruits of its Karmas. When the
Karmas are exhausted, the physical body has no reason to continue its
existence. It falls down. It is absolutely natural for the
physical body to undergo changes. Oh Arjuna! Even if you do not destroy
the body during your war with the enemies, their body (sharîra) will die sooner
or later. Therefore, there is no reason for sorrowing over the death of
the physical body, the temporary home of the souls (jîvan) in samsâric state
(the state of rebirths owing to past actions).
Additional
Comments:
1. Lord Pârthasârathy (Sri Krishna) is saluted as
vitthakan here. He is addressed so as the mysterious One here because, He
performed the teaching (upadesham) for Arjuna here on the battle field, while
serving as his charioteer and staff.
2. " vidumathu paRRu
vidAthathu adaittha kirisaikaLE ": With the benefit of Shâstra Jnânam, the
Chethanan should comprehend clearly the true nature (svarupa of the soul or
âthma and perform one's Karmas with no attachment to their fruits and treat
their performance as bhagavath kaimkaryam in the mode of Nishkâmyam (desireless
actions). One should only detatch from the fruits of the Karmas
and should never abandon the prescribed Karmas. To engage in just wars is
the duty of a warrior (kshathrian). There is no other lofty Karma for a
warrior (kshathrian). Therefore, Oh Arjuna, you should engage in performing this
just war, cast aside the fruits of victory (or loss) arising from such a
war. When you do so, you will be performing Karma Yoga and will obtain
liberation (moksha) at the end.
3. "
kaduha unakku uyir kAttum nianivu athanAl uLathAm " : After gaining control of
your mind through the practice of this Karma Yoga, you will progress to the
stage of Jnâna Yoga, which is an experience (anubhava) of unrelenting reflection
on the true nature (svarupa) of the soul (âthma). The subsequent stage is direct
experience of the soul (âthma sâkshâthkâram).
Therefore consider that
this just war (Karma Yoga) is an aid to the lofty goal of direct experience of
the soul (âthma sâkshâthkâram also called kaivalyam) and as a result remove your
confusion that the perishable body made up of the five elements is the same as
the eternal, imperishable soul (âthma).
4. Swamy Âlavandâr's
summary of the 72 Shloka of this Second Adhyâyam takes the following
form:
nithyAthma-sanga karmEhAgOcharaa Saankhya-Yogadhee:
dhvitheeyE
sTitha-dhee-lakshA prOkthA tann-mOhasAnthayE
" The Knowledge of
Sânkhya and Yoga, which comprehend in their scope , the eternal Self and
disinterested activity respectively, leading to the state of steady wisdom, is
taught in the second chapter for removing Arjuna's delusion ".
5.
Âchârya Râmânuja's commentary : Arjuna fell at the feet of the Lord and appealed
: " Oh My Lord ! My mind is befuddled with compassion for my relatives and
teachers. I am bewildered about my duties. Instruct me, Your
disciple (sishyan), who has sought Your protection as a protégé (Prapannan), and
teach me what is certainly auspicious for me to do.
For the benefit
of Arjuna, who was totally confused about what is dharmam and what is adharmam
due to love and compassion in an inappropriate situation, Gîtâchâryan (the
Master of Gîta, another name for Sri Krishna) began the introduction to this
science (shastram) to dispel his ignorance. Starting from the Gîta Shloka,
II. 12 ("There never was a time, when I did not exist ") to the last poem
(charama shloka), XVIII. 66 (" I will release you from all your sins, grieve
not"), Lord Pârthasârathy instructed Arjuna about Karma, Jnâna and Bhakti Yoga
as " the means for obtaining the highest spiritual fulfillment. (Owing to
its importance, this poem is considered the last (charama shloka), even though
there are some more poems till the end of the chapter).
Lord
Pârthasârathy instructed that the soul (âthma) is "eternal, stable,
immovable
and primeval, unchanging, unshakable and ancient".
Important poems
(shloka) of this Chapter
" To
work alone, you have the right and not to the fruits. Do not be impelled
by the fruits of work. Nor have attachment to inaction". Acts
performed with a desire to fruits (phalan) lead to bondage. The opposite way
that is, actions without desire for fruits (nishkâmya karamam) leads to your
release from the bonds of Karmas.
Yoga: Karmasu kousalam --II.
50
(Meaning): Yoga is skill in action. Therefore strive for Yoga,
develop evenness of mind, discard good and evil as well as the here and
now. Relinquish the fruits from action and free yourself from bondage of
rebirth and ascend to My supreme abode!
Poem (shloka) II. 56
"He
whose mind is not perturbed in pain, who has no longing for pleasures, who is
free from desire, fear and anger--he is called a sage of firm wisdom ".
Poem (shloka) II. 63
" From anger (krodhâth) there comes
(bhâvathi) delusion (sammOha:); from delusion, the loss of memory (smruthi
vibhrama:); from the loss of memory, the destruction of discrimination
(buddhi nâsha); and with the destruction of discrimination, he is lost
(pranashyathi) ".
Poem (shloka) II. 69
"What is night
(nisha) for all beings (sarva bhuthânâm), in it the controlled one is
awake. When all beings are awake, that is the night to the sage who
sees.”