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             ?Tattva?, ?Hita? and ?pUrUshArtha
             ----------------------------------

The whole of Vedantic philosophy of the Upanishads
revolves around well-structured and robust inquiry
into many of the central and perplexing questions of
human existence. ?Who am I?? ?Where did I come from??,
?Where am I going??, ?What are the true ends or
purpose of my existence?? ?What is life??, ?What is
death?? etc. This rigorous and structured inquiry is
technically termed as pursuit after the truth of
?tattva?, ?hita? and ?purushArthA?, the 3-fold Wisdom
of Vedanta which is the principal and profound
subject-matter of the ?brahma-sUtras?, Sage VyAsa?s
(or Badarayana?s) seminal commentary on the
esotericism of the Upanishads.

Anyone who begins serious inquiry into any subject or
field of knowledge must encounter 3 fundamental
questions: 

(1) ?WHAT can I KNOW from the inquiry?? 
(2) ?WHAT OUGHT I TO DO in order to attain what I have
set out to inquire?? and 
(3) ?WHAT WILL BE THE FRUIT OR RESULT to be had once I
attain the object of inquiry??

In the vast and sometimes very dense field of Vedantic
inquiry, where one can quite easily fall into
trap-doors of intellectual confusion or minefields of
moral doubt, questions such as the above invariably
assume perennial significance to Man. There are simply
no instant, formula-driven or rule-determined answers
to such daunting questions of life. Any one who
chooses to undertake the Vedantic journey has to be
really prepared to labor and persevere all one?s life.
That is why the intellectually rigorous system of
thought called ?vEdanta-vichAra? in India has always
been known as ?the Perennial Philosophy? or ?sanAtana
dharma?. A true Vedantin in dogged pursuit of Wisdom
and Truth must possess both the passion of an amateur
and the commitment of a professional.

                     ******************

Now, in Vedanta, the answer to the first question
-- ?WHAT can I KNOW?? -- is said to constitute the
whole of the subject of ?tattva?; the answer to the
second ?- i.e. ?WHAT OUGHT I TO DO?? -- is said to be
the subject-matter of ?hita?; and answer to the third
? ?WHAT WILL BE THE FRUIT OR RESULT? -- is said to be
?purUshArtha?. 

What is ?tattva?? The knowledge of ?tattva?
(?tattva-gnyAna?) is the beginning of Vedantic wisdom.
It lies in deep-felt conviction, more personal and
intuitive than plainly intellectual, that there exists
a Reality beyond Appearance. It is an immeasurably
greater reality than that of the perceptible world. It
is the Reality of Brahman or Isvara, the ?Supreme
Being? who is the immanent ground of all existence, as
well as the inner self or spirit of all things.
Unfortunately, "tattva-gnyAna", the knowledge or
conviction about a greater-than-human Reality is a
rare commodity amongst men of the world. It varies
widely in degree from human to human, depending upon
character and the circumstances of birth and living.

?Hita? is all about how a Vedantin with genuine
?tattva-gnyAna? goes about in life determining the
moral and spiritual means (?sAdhana?) of somehow
realizing Brahman, that larger and truer Reality
extant beyond the phenomenal. These ?sAdhanA-s? may be
one or more, in permutation or combination, of the 3
principal Vedantic ?mArgAs?, or spiritual Pathways,
popularly known as ?gnyAna-yOga?, ?karma-yOga? and
?bhakthi-yOga? (?prappathi-mArga?, the Way of
self-surrender included therein). The sacred Vedantic
text of India, the Srimadh Bhagavath-Gita is the
finest and most authoritative manual or compendium of
the 3 principal Vedanta ?mArgAs?. 

And finally, there is ?pUrUshArtha?. It constitutes
the fruition to which a spiritual seeker?s (a
?brahma-sAdhaka?) efforts ultimately reach. It is what
happens to him/her upon attainment of Brahman. It is
the ?summum bonum? of human existence, by realizing
which everything he/she wished to realize in life is
realized and there is nothing left unrealized.

              **************

     The 29th Verse of TiruppAvai and ?tattva?, ?hita?

     -------------------------------------------------
                 and ?pUrUshArtha?
                 -----------------

The lofty themes of ?tattva?, ?hita? and ?pUrushUrtha?
-- which ordinarily one would find expounded only in
the long, inscrutable texts of the ?brahma-sUtras? or
in the extremely difficult passages of an Upanishad
?bhAshya? or commentary of a Vedantic master -- have
been captured and condensed in a charmingly simple
manner in but a couple of deft, sweet and richly
evocative lines of Tamil poetry in the TiruppAvai?s
29th Verse. 

In the verse we see AndAl invoking the ?nAma? of
?gOvindhaa?, one of the most hallowed names of Vishnu.
Actually, it is more than merely a sacred name. It is
AndAl's poetic allusion to the whole of the theme of
?tattva? i.e. the ?Supreme Being? Narayana, or
Brahman, personified in ?paurAnic? terms as the avatar
of Sri Krishna who was well-known as ?gOvindhaa?, the
cow-herd.

                     ****************

When we look closely at the next phrase in the Verse
i.e. ?maRRai nam kaamangaL maaRRu?, we see that it
sums up the whole of the Vedantic theme of ?hita?. It
is AndAl's poetic symbol for the spiritual ?sAdhanas?
that are known to lie along the ?mArga? or pathway of
?bhakti-yoga?. The inner transformation (?maaRRudhal?)
that one?s personality must necessarily undergo while
following the way of Bhakti or ?bhakti yOga? -- the
Way of pure God-Devotion; the various practices and
efforts a "bhakta" undertakes; how a traveler on the
pathway of Bhakti will soon have the character of
his/her desires in life (?kaamangaL?) turned
inevitably from the mundane to the sublime; all these
fine but lofty Vedantic concepts find their echo in
AndAl?s pithy but exceptionally beautiful phrase. 

                      ******************

Lastly, AndAl?s phrase ?un thannOdu
uRROmE aavOm unakkE naam aatcheyvOm? (?Bound to Thee
in kinship eternal/Slaves to Thee, we shall remain/Now
and forever?) is unmistakable reference to the highest
ideal of Vedantic ?pUrUshArtha?, to the summum-bonum,
the ultimate and everlasting Joy in God?s kingdom
(?parama-padam?) that is the birthright of every
spiritual seeker (?sAdhaka?). AndAl?s phrase describes
it as ?eternal servitude? to Brahman, the Lord of All
Creation. 

The conception of personal salvation as being
?servitude in the eternal realms of Joy? is one of the
greatest and most unique contributions of the school
of VisishtAdvaita to the history of Vedantic thought
and theology. In the parlance of SriVaishnava laity,
it is known as ?nithya-kainkarya-prApthi?. It is
cherished as the highest ?pUrUshArtha?, the only
desirable object of all spiritual effort ?- the object
by realizing which one has nothing more left in the
world to be realized. It is the exalted state of
existence which the Upanishads have described
variously as ?brahmAnandam?, ?mOkshAnandam?,
?pari-pUrnatvam?, ?brahma-sAyUjyam??. 

                      ******************
                        (to be continued)

Regards,

dAsan,
Sudarshan 


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