Sri Parthasarathi thunai Srimathe Ramanujaya
Namaha Sri Vara Vara munayE
Namaha Sri vAnAchala mahA munayE
Namaha For the past 23 postings we have been
enjoying the similarity in the words of the geethacharyan in his Srimad
bhagavath geetha and the kadai kutti azhvar, Sri Thirumangai azhvar in his
charama prabhandam thirunedunthAndakam.
But at the end of the previous posting we had a small doubt are they both
contradicting in the last line?
No, azhvar will never talk against emperuman?s words. Let us see how they both convey the same
meaning. Prappathi or saranagathi is of two types
say our acharyas. It can be either
svagatha sveekAram (we holding on to his feet) or paragatha sveekAram (emperuman
catching us and putting us into his divine feet). Both types of prapaththi have been
conveyed by our dear geethAcharyan in the 18th chapter of the
bhagavad sAstram. In the 62nd sloka
Sri Krishna says, ?tamEva sharaNam gachcha sarva bhAvEna
bhAratha I tat prasAdhAt parAm sAnthim stAnam
prApsyasi sAshvatham II (18-62) [Oh! the one born in bharatha kula
consider the paramatma (myself) to be your soul saviour in all ways. Due to his divine grace you will get
away from this sAmsAric pressures and will also attain the divine abode of
emperuman, the paramapadam] In the previous sloka, Krishna said that
only that emperuman vAsudevan rules over all the jeevatmas and due to his maya
makes them act held in the cycle of
the three gunas sattvam, rajas, tamas and act accordingly . In the next sloka he advises arjuna to
fall to the divine feet of emperuman and get rid of the samsAric hurdles and
attain moksha by the divine grace of emperuman. Immediately in the next sloka he says,
?yethEchchasi tatA guru? I have told you all the ways to attain moksha viz.,
karma, jnana, bhakthi and prapaththi yogas all these are prime secrets but since
you are very close to me I have disclosed all these secrets to you now. Now it is your chance to choose the
suitable method for you to attain moksha and act accordingly. Here Lord Krishna gives arjuna an
independence to choose the way in which he wants to attain emperuman. This is svagatha sveekaram by which the
jeevatma holds on to emperuman. If
arjuna was interested in prapathi he would have immediately said ?karishyE
vachanam tava? [18-73] and would have fallen to the divine feet of
emperuman. But all along he has
been in the pravriththi mArkam (used to do something) and hence he wasn?t
interested with the nivriththi mArkam (Just leave everything and fall to
emperuman?s feet, ?mArpilE kaivaiththu vuranga prApthi? is the essence of
sharanAgathi according to our acharyas).
So arjuna felt highly confused and didn?t know what to do. Earlier his confusion was due to
ignorance but now that emperuman has given him all the knowledge still he was
confused not knowing what to do.
Understanding arjuna?s state of mind,
Parthasarathi emperuman continues to show the path that would interest arjuna at
the same time make him attain the ultimate result. This is the path of bhakthi yoga that
emperuman has already shown arjuna in the 9th chapter. Emperuman repeats the same sloka in the
18th chapter, ?manmanA bhava math bhakthO mathyAjee
mAm namaskuru I mAmEvaishyasi sathyam thE prathijAnE
priyOsi mE? [18-65] [Meditate on me with deep concentration
on my divine qualities, develop a deep love for me, further do pooja to me, fall
to my feet with all your three karanas (mano, vak, kayam). By this you will attain my divine
feet. I promise that this is truth
as you are so close to me] In the next sloka, Krishna gives the
ultimate rahasya, the essence of geethA sAstram, charama slokam, to arjuna and
instructs arjuna to leave all dharmas and fall to his
feet. ?sarva dharmAn parithyajya mAm Ekam
sharaNam vraja ahamtvA sarva pApEbhyO mOksha ishyAmi
mAsucha: ? [18-66] Here emperuman orders arjuna to leave
all dharmas and fall to his feet as a rule. This is paragatha sveekAram. Here Parthasarathi says, ?Leave all your dharmas and consider me
alone to be your soul protector (upayam and upEyam) and I will realise you from
all your sins and grant you the divine moksha. Don?t worry? There have been a
lot of discussion between our acharyas on the interpretation of this sloka
mainly what all dharmas the word ?sarva dharmAn? includes and what all sins are
removed by the lord whether this is anga prapaththi or svathantra prapaththi
etc. There is a slight
interpretational difference between the thennAcharyas and swamy desikan in this
sloka also. All these are not dealt
by us here in detail as it is better to be learnt from a well versed acharya to
avoid any unwanted confusion.
What is necessary for us now here is
Lord Krishna says fall to my feet and I will remove your sins and grant you
moksha and Azhvar says, ?talir puraiyum thiruvadi en thalai mElavE? That lord
who has stood in my form now has placed his divine feet on my head. So without azhvar trying to do anything
emperuman himself has done all the necessary things (?bhakthi vuzhavan? is the
name given by thirumazhisai azhvar to emperuman) and now finally has even placed
his divine feet on top of azhvar?s head. Azhvar says, ?Emperuman sowed the seed
of bhakthi in the heart of azhvar, he put the necessary fertiliser and watered
the plant regularly and now that the tree has grown adiyen is enjoying the fruit
that is the sweet divine feet of emperuman on top of my head. What did I do to attain this fruit? Nothing all was done by that karunA
sindhO! (Ocean of mercy!)?. This is
only termed as ?paragatha sveekAram?.
As geetha was given by emperuman himself he puts it as a rule to educate
all of us using arjuna as the medium.
But since thirunedunthAndakam is the words of azhvar he shows us the
result he has obtained by the divine grace of geethAcharya. That is why our acharyas regard the
words of azhvars (tattvadarisi vachanam) more important and valid than even the
words of emperuman (tattva vachanam).
Hope now it is clear that there is no
contradiction in the words of thirumangai azhvar and geethAcharyan Sri
Parthasarathi emperuman. (To be
continued) Azhvar EmperumAnAr Jeeyer thiruvadigalE
sharanam Adiyen ramanuja
dAsee Sumithra
Varadarajan
Yahoo! Groups Links
|
Home Page
http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia |
oppiliappan-subscribe@yahoogroups.com To subscribe to the list |