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           SrImate Ra'nga RAmAnuja MahA DeSikAya namaH.
        tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Submission 67, Slokam 24 Part 3,
             tiruvAimozhi 2.2, pASuram-s 2.2.6, 2.2.7.


·       pASuram 2.2.6:

yavarum yAvaiyum ellAp poruLum kavarvinRit tan uLLE oDu'nga ninRa
pavar koL j~nAnac cuDar veLLa mUrti avar em Azhi am-paLLiyArE.

am Azhi paLLiyAr em avar;  yavarum yAvaiyum ellAp poruLum kavarvu inRi
tannuL oDu'nga ninRa pava koL j~nAna veLLac cuDar mUrti - Our KaNNa
PirAn who reclines in the beautiful Ocean is the same One who saves all
the sentient and non-sentient objects in His stomach without their
being crowded to the slightest extent;  He always exists and pervades
everything and is everywhere, and is the Supreme Deity who is
all-knowing and effulgent.

SvAmi DeSikan presents the key aspect of this pASurm with the words
'kalpa talpI kRtAbdhim' - He who reclines in the ocean at the time of
pralaya (talpa - bed, abdhi = ocean; kalpa refers to the end of the
world) - avar em Azhi am paLLiyArE (em = Our own Lord; am = beautiful,
sundaram; paLLi = reclining; Azhi = ocean).  When everything else was
submerged in the great deluge, He alone was reclining in the ocean
waters, with all the sentient and insentient objects preserved in His
stomach, without the least crowding between them.  

Several interpretations are possible for the guNam reflected through
the words 'kalpa talpI kRtAbdhim'.  One is BhagavAn's concern for all
the souls and other objects of His creation - He protected all of them
in Himself so that they could be given new bodies at the next cycle of
creation.  The reference to His reclining in the ocean can be
interpreted in two ways:  it could be a reference to His reclining in
the flood waters at the time of the avAntara praLayam (intermediate
pralayam at the end of each day of BrahmA) when the three worlds -
bhUH, bhuvaH and suvaH get submerged in the flood waters; or, it can be
a reference to the mahA pralayam, where BrahmA's life ends, all the
seven worlds become submerged under water, and BhagavAn is reclining on
a tiny banyaon leaf, as if brooding over the next cycle of creation
starting from BrahmANDa etc.  

Or, the words ''kalpa talpI kRtAbdhim' could refer to His reclining in
the Milk Ocean throughout the duration of the kalpa (BrahmA's
lifespan), so that He is easily accessible to the deva-s - to BrahmA
and all the other deities - whenever they need protection; the guNam
sung in this case is His being easily accessible to the deva-s
throughout the kalpa. 

Or, the guNam sung could be His aghaTita ghaTanA sAmarthyam - His sheer
skill in achieving the unimaginable and the impossible, namely, to
float in the waters of the deluge keeping all the sentient and
non-sentient objects within Himself, while all the worlds are submerged
under water.   Even though the words directly referring to His aghaTita
ghaTanA sAmarthyam arre not found in the pASuram, AzhvAr's words '
yavarum yAvaiyum ellAp poruLum kavarvinRit tan uLLE oDu'nga ninRa'
certainly reflect that.  

Or, the guNam being sung may be His being endowed with the Supreme
knowledge that makes it possible for Him to preserve the totatlity of
sentient and insentient objects in all the worlds within Himself
without their even bumping and crowding aginst each other, and then be
able to recreate life again in the next cycle of creation, reflecting
AzhvAr's words - pavar koL j~nAnac cuDar veLLa mUrti.  

BhagavAn's concern for the protection of the jIva-s as well as all the
other objects rings through every one of the interpretations above for
the phrase 'kalpa talpI kRtAbdhim'; however, AzhvAr talks explicitly
about BhagavAn's extreme concern for protection in pASuram 2.2.9 -
kAkkum iyalvinan kaNNa perumAn - which we will study soon.  Given this,
one of the other interpretations, such as His aghaTita ghaTanA
sAmarthyam - of His reclining in the waters of the deluge with all the
sentient and non-sentient objects protected within Himself, or His
being equipped with the fullness of knowledge that enables Him to
achieve the protection of all the worlds within Him and the recreation
of all these in the next cycle of creation, are more appealing for the
current pASuram.   Of these, AzhvAr explicitly sings about BhagavAn's
fullness of knowledge as He reclines on the ocean waters - pavar koL
j~nAnac cuDar veLLa mUrti, His effulgence and fullness of knowledge
that enables Him to protect all the objects and recreate them, in this
pASuram.   Thus, in the context of this pASuram, this is the more
appealing guNam that reflects the fact that He is the only One who can
be called sarveSvaran - which is the topic of this tiruvAimozhi.  This
fullness of knowledge is a mark of the Supreme Deity - sarveSvaran
only, and does not apply to any other diety.  Thus, SrIman NarAyaNan
alone is the Supreme Deity by this lakshaNam - mark of identification -
as well.  

In his ARAyirap paDi vyAkhyAnam, PiLLAn comments that asambAdhamAgat
tannuLLE vaikkap paTTa sarva jagattai uDaiyavanAi, svAbhAvika sArva
j~nAnattai uDaiyavanAi, kshIrAraNava niketanAna vaN tuvarap perumAnE
sarveSvaran engiRAr  - BhagavAn KaNNan has all the worlds inside Him
without their getting the least crowded, has infinite and unbounded
knowledge to accomplish this and to perform His next cycle of creation,
and is reclining in the Milk Ocean ready for this.  BhagavAn's guNam
that is directly referred to here is 'svAbhAvika sArvaj~natvam' -
infinite and unbounded knowledge that is natural to Him, and this
qualifies Him as the only Supreme Deity.

·       pASuram 2.2.7:

paLLi Alilai Ezh ulagum koLLum vaLLal val vayiRRup perumAn
uLLuL Ar aRivAr avan tan kaLLa mAya manak karuttE.

Who would even be able to comprehend the intricate plans of emperumAn
who is reclining as a tiny baby on a banyan tree and who has swallowed
all the seven worlds and kept them in His tiny stomach?  

SvAmi DeSikan captures the Supremacy of BhagavAn revealed in this
pASuram through the phrase 'nyagrodha patre suptam' - He who is
reclining on a tiny banyan tree at the time of pralaya - paLLi Alilai
Ezh ulagum koLLum vaLLal.  

As in the previous pASuram, the question arises as to what specific
guNam of BhagavAn is related to His unique Supremacy, and is reflected
through the words 'nyagrodha patre suptam'.   The same qualities that
applied to the last pASuram apply here also as possibilities - His
concern for protection of the jIva-s at the time of pralaya, His
magnanimity in protecting everything at the time of the ultimate
deluge, His aghaTita ghatanA sAmarthyam, etc.  However, AzhvAr's words
in the pASuram - 'uLLuL Ar aRivAr avan tan kaLLa mAya manak karuttE' -
suggest the guNam of His being deep in His designs that are beyond
comprehension of anyone and inscrutable in His thoughts.  SrI UV refers
to the Slokam from SrImad RamAyaNam - samdura iva gAmbhIrye dhairyeNa
himavAn iva (bAla. 1.17) - deep as the Ocean and strong and firm as
HimavAn.  These are two among the attributes of BhagavAn SrI RAma that
Sage NArada tells ValmIki.  Thus, the unimaginable depth of thoughts of
KaNNan that are beyond anyone's comprehension as He is reclining on the
tiny banyon leaf is the guNam that is sung here as another sign of
sarveSvaratvam - as identified by Sage Narada himself.    

In ARAyirap paDi vyAkhyAnam, PiLLAn comments - 'sarveSvaratva cihna
bhUta divya ceshTita'ngaLukku oru muDivu unDO' engiRAr' - His divine
leelA is beyond comprehension.  His reclining on the tiny banyon leaf
in the form of a child, with all the worlds inside His stomach, is one
of His leelA-s that AzhvAr gives as one example of His depth that is
beyond anyone's comprehension.  Why He destroyed everything first, why
He preserved everything in His stomach afterwards, why He chose to be a
child, why He chose a banyon leaf, etc., etc., are all beyond our
comprehension, and only He, the sarveSvaran, knows the answers.  
SAkshAt svAmi expands on this, and says: 'sarveSvaratvamAna vaTa dala
Sayana rUpa ceshTitattai Sollik koNDu, manak karuttai yAr aRivAr enRu
muDukkaiyAlE, manak karuttu engiRa Sabdam tAdRSa ceshTita param Agai
ucitam enRu karuttu. -  Beginning with the example of His reclining on
a tiny banyon leaf as an example of His sarveSvaratvam, and ending by
saying that His divine acts are beyond comprehension, PiLLAn is
indicating that all such divine acts of His establish His Supremacy -
paratvam.  In his SabdArtham - word-for-word meaning, he uses the
words:  'atyanta agAdhamAna, aparicchedyamAna, oruvarukkum teriyAdE
irunda, terindaduvum AScariyamAi irunda, manassAlE sa'nkalpikkap paTTa
ceshTita'ngaLai, oruvarum aRiya mATTAr' - No one can know His divine
leelA-s that He accomplishes just by His will, are immensely deep in
scope, beyond anyone's comprehension, not known to anyone and are
absolutely astounding when known.      

Thus, through the words 'nayagrodha patre suptam', BhagavAn's Supremacy
is established because of His inscrutable acts such as His sleeping on
a tiny banyon leaf with al the worlds contained in His stomach, which
are only possible for sarveSvaran. 

For those who have difficulty comprehending how this small KaNNan on a
banyan tree could keep all the seven worlds in His stomach, think how
we are all born from something tiny that we cannot even see or predict
when and if anything will come out of it,  to what we are when we are
born.  SrI UV surmises that maybe emperumAn is giving an indication of
how the Jiva-s are going to be 'born' with a body in this world, by His
keeping all the things in His stomach.  Who can comprehend what His
thoughts are!  'samudra iva gAmbhIrye' - 'deep as the ocean and beyond
comprehension'  - another aspect of sarveSvaratvam.  

-dAsan kRshnamAcAryan
(To be continued)


      
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