SrI:
Dear BhakthAs of Swamy
AlavanthAr :
Today , we will conclude the
final part of the commentaries of
Swamy Desikan and
PeriyavAcchAn PiLLai on the 21st slOkam of
the SthOthra Rathnam of Swamy
AlavanthAr with FOUR NamaskArams
that includes 8 Nama:
sabdhams .
The first of the four
namaskArams are : " Vaang-manasAthibhUmayE
namO nama:". The word "Thubhyam "( to you ) is hidden in
this and
the other three NamaskArams
. To You , who is
unreachable by mind
or speech by those , who wish to comprehend
You with their own
efforts (Sva-yathnam) . He becomes the
abhUmi for them . "yathO vaachA
nivartantE aprApya manasA saha "
(TaittirIya AaraNyakam 9.1). For those with
ahankAra Svaroopam , He is far from reach
by mind or speech . When one has
the svaroopam free from ahankAram denoted
by the Nama: sabdham , He becomes
within easy reach . VishNu PurAnam ( 1.9.59
) salutes the Lord , who is the abode
of the Universe and who is the PrApyam
(Goal to be attained) with ahankArm free
Nama: sabdham :
YannAyam BhagavAn BrahmA jAnAthi Paramam
padham
tannathA: sma JagaddhAma Tava
sarvagathAchyutha
Oh Achyutha! Oh all pervasive Sarva VyApi
! We salute Your Svaroopam
that is the supreme abode of the Universe
and its entities and which is not
known even by BrahmmA as the most lofty PrApyam
.
"AthibhUmayE " really means athikrAntha
bhUmayE or the limitless Svaroopam ,
which is beyond the ken of the mind and
speech according to Swamy Desikan .
" parama yOginAmapi vaang-manasAbhyAm
aparicchEchEddhyam ".
It is beyond the mental and oral efforts of
even Parama Yogis unless they
are freed from ahankAram .
Swamy AlavanthAr wants to point out thru
the first namaskAram how difficult it
is to reach Him by mind or speech ;
He does not mean that the Lord is totally
unattainable . If that were to be so , it
would clash with Sruthi : " SarvE VedA
yathraika Bhavathy " ( TaittirIya
AaraNyakam:3.11.29) , " SarvE VedA Yath padham
aamananthy " ( KatOpanishad 1.2.15) ,
" NathA: sma SarvavachasAm prathishDA ,
yathra Saasvathee " (Ahirbudhnya Samhithai)
. Further , the Lord says :
"Vedaisccha Sarvai: AhamEva Vedhya: "
( Geethai 15.15) . Now Swamy AlavanthAr
rushes with the second
namaskAram to reveal that there is a sure way to experience
His
blissful svaroopam by our Manas and Vaak : " Vaang manasa yEka bhUmayE
namO nama:
". Yes, He is
experiencable by those who have no interest
in anything other
than Him . He is
comprehendable by those , who are
blessed to be
shown the way by Him to
establish their foundation of
blissful experience of Him with mind and speech . Even for the Gopis ,
who did not know
the right hand from the
left hand , He became
available thru their ego
free approach that led them
to their SaraNAgathy
at His sacred feet
.
Swamy Desikan comments about the the state of mind
of the Gopis : " aprasAdha-
bhAjAm Gopa-gOpikAdheenAmapi " VaangmanasayO: yEka
vishayam bhUtAyEithyarTa:
VishayAnthara-vaimukhya-vyanjanArTamyEka padham ".
Our Lord was the only
object of their contemplation ( yEka vishayam) ,
nothing else ( vishayAnthara
Vaimukhyam- - ) .PeriyavAcchAn PiLLai
comments further : ' Kaatak-kaaNpArudaya
vaang-manasuhaLukku nilamAy irukkiRa unakku ' ( He
becomes within the reach of
the mind and speech of those ,
who have been shown the way by Him and His AchAryAs) .
In Bhagavath Geethai ( 10.5) ,
the Lord stresses this tattvam : " Bhavanthy bhAvA bhUthAnAm
mattha yEva pruTakvidhA : " ( The manObhAvams of the Jeeva
Raasis like Jn~Anam arise from My sankalpam alone )
.
Bhagavan"s Anukoola
sakthi sankalpam is referred to here as the basis of
Vaang-manasaika bhUmi .
Third NamaskAram : " Ananatha
mahA vibhUtayE NamO Nama; " . NamaskArams to You ,
who is " aparicchEdhya Ubhaya
MahA VibhUthi Naathan " . The Iswaryams of the Lord
( Leelaa and Nithya VibhUthis
) are anantha ( limitless) and anavadhikaa. Swamy Desikan
quotes Brahma Soothram (
3.2.21) here : " PrakruthaithAvathvam prathishEdhathi tathO
Braveethi cha bhUya: " (
The text denies that-muchness of Brahman(described
earlier)
and says more than that )
.There is nothing greater
to Brahman either by nature or by
Qualities . His Iswaryam (VibhUthi) is
limitless . So are His Svaroopam and GuNams .
He is anantha MahA VIbhUthi Naathan .
SaraNAgathy is made to Him through the nama:
Sabdham .
Fourth NamaskAram : " anantha
dayaika sindhavE namO Nama: " NamaskArams to Your
aparicchEdhya ( limitless) Daya ,which makes You yEka bhUmi for Vaak
and Manas .
PeriyavAcchAn PiLLai refers to the VishNu
PurANa slOkam here( 5.6.14) to illustrate
that anavadhika dayaa of the Lord :
"----yati saknOshi gaccha thvam
athisanchala chEshtitha"
Yasodhai chided the crawling KrishNan , who
was annoying her .She tied Him , the Lord of all
worlds , the Ubhaya VibhUthi Naathan with a
piece of rope to the mortar and threatened Him:
" Oh Little One with all sanchala
chEshtais! Try if you can to free Yourself from this
mortar
and go " . Out of His limitless Daya ,
SarvEswaran let Himself bound ( KaNNInuNN siRu tAmpinAl
kattuNNappatta perumAyan " . This is the
niravatikathvam (endlessness) of His Krupaa .
NamaskArams to that unique Dayaa ! Once
again SaraNAgathi is made here with that
Nama: sabdham .
This Dayaa is described as the mighty ocean
(Sindhu:) that can not be agitated ( kalakka
mudiyAthathu ) .It is firm (sTiram) .That
sindhu is the abode (aasrayam) for Dayaa . That Dayaa
destroys the asurAs and protects the
aasrithaas . It is like the removal of the weed from
the crop to keep latter protected
.
Repeating Four times, the
NamaskaraNam ( NamO Nama:)
***************************************************************************
Swamy Desikan comments that
the repeating of the NamaskaraNam four times
is to ceebrate the Lord's (1)
Parathvam / matchless Superiority over all (2) Soulabhyam
/
ease of access inspite of His
Parathvam (3) Praapyathvam ( Being the ultimate Goal for
attainment ) and (4)
SaraNyathvam ( Being SarvEswaran and Sarvarakshakan ) .
These are the four Svaroopa
sOdhanams for the four namaskArams . The Nama:
sabdham is associated with
the Phalan from the SaraNAgathy to the Dayaika Sindhu.
BharanyAsa roopa Prapatthi is
succinctly referred to by the Nama: sabdham .
Swamy Desikan blessed us with
a slOkam in the anushtup meter to explain
the significance of
NamOshtakam ( using Nama: eight times) :
adhikArE
prapithsoonAm-upAyOttharakruthyayO:
phalE cha paaratnatryAdhi BhOdhyamathra
NamOshtakE
Swamy Desikan points out here that the
SaraNAgathi with its 5 angams is being
done here thru the 8 Nama: sabdham . He
observes that the goal of following
Nivrutthi dharmam (viz)., gining Tathva
Jn~Anam and Nirmamathvam is firmed up thru
the utterance of " NamO Nama: " four times
and PanchAnga Prapatthi is thus performed .
One may ask : Why there are multiple
SaraNAgathis here , when SaraNAgathi is
to be done only once ? Why so many
aavrutthis (repetition ) ? Swamy says
that the situation is like, when Sage VyAsa
lifted his hand and said "sathyam "
three times for asserting ( sThireekaraNam)
the greatness of VedAs and
the Supermacy of the Lord : "Sathyam
Sathyam Puna: sathyam -- na dhaivam
KesavAth Param " . Repeated usage of "Nama:
" sabdham is for SthireekaraNam
of the SaraNAgathy anushtAnam and not for
multiple performance .
Swamy Desikan concludes His masterly
vyAkhyAanam with profuse
quotations from many ParvAs of MahA
BhAratham and Ahirbudhnya
Samhithai dealing with the power of Nama;
sabdham standing in for
SaraNAgathy : Damayanthi , Dhroupathy
and MaarkandEya vruthAnthams .
Swamy's quotation from Ahirbudhnya
Samhithai (37.37) serves as a crown for
the commentary on this profound slOkam of
Swamy AlavanthAr :
" Samith-saadhanakAdheenAm Yaj~nAnAm
nyAsamAthmana:
namasA yOakarOdh
dEvE sa svadhvara:ithiritha: "
One can perform yaagams
(adhvaram) with samith ; the Yaj~nam
performed with namaskAram as aahUthi (
samith) is by far the most excellent
and auspicious adhvaram among all adhvarams
(Su: + adhvaram) .
Nama: sabdham has the
meaning of Phalan here ( PrArTayishmANa parama
PhalOpakshEpArTOyam Nama: ithi ) . This is
the " MaRRai namm KaamangaL
MaaRRu " prayer of ANDAL in Her ThiruppAvai
Paasuram .
In the Next slOkam , Swamy
AlavanthAr performs direct SaraNAgathy
at the sacred feet of the
Lord :
na dharmanishtOsmi , na
chAthmavEdhee ,
na
bhakthimAmsthvaccharaNAravindhE
akinchanO-ananyagathi:
SaraNya !
ThvathpAdhamoolam SaraNam
PrapadhyE
Swamy AlavanthAr ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam
,
Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri
SadagOpan
P.S : adiyEn's dhandavath PraNAmams to
HH Srimath
Srirangam PeriyANDavan for His most
beautiful KaalkshEpam
on this important slOkam of SthOthra
Rathnam .
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