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
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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