SRIMATHE RAMANUJAYA NAMAHA.
Disclaimer:- The following is entirely an explorative exercise and not against any established views but only to arrive at a better understanding of viNNuLAr, by method of deduction by sifting data / information from various sources.
Some observations:-
(1) The term nithya soori appears in vyakhyanams only and not in any paasuram in prabhandham.
(2) The term nithya soori, though a Sanskrit one, has not been adopted in Tamil as no Tamil work of yore contains this term, nor is it found in olden Tamil dictionaries. In contrast, there are a number of Sanskrit words, accepted in Tamil, like sodhi (jyothi), vidhaatha, bhagavan, seemaan (Srimaan), seepathi (srIpathi), amalan, nimalan. etc . to name a few.
(3) There are 26 pro-nouns for devas as found in different sutras of ChoodamaNi nigamdu, one of the oldest thesaurus of Tamil lexicon, whose author is not known. Of these there is not even one as an adaptation / equivalent of nithya soori. But if by meaning, nothya soori is one who is always luminous like the sun, (may I be corrected, if this is wrong), then the very term ?devan? or ?deva? is the exact synonym of this, for deva means the one who is luminous, (prakaasham udaiyavar)
(4) Even in vyakhyanams, it is found that this term is loosely used, and not strictly to mean garudan, chakrathaazhwar etc as nithya suris. The description by PBA Swamy starting from ?ImayOr adhipathi? for verse 212 of Acharya hrudhayam and the subsequent vyakhyanam for verse 216, wherein it is stated that nithya suris have this ?piNangiya-maar pidhatrrum guNam? goes to show that all those who are ?imayOr?, ?ayarvaru amararrgaL? etc are sooris, the ever luminous ones. This is perhaps about ?muppatthu mokkOdi? devas (33 crore devas) who soon after creation attained Him and started to be with Him.
(5) That devas also are born as such is established by the fact that there are ?chathur vida deham? (Acharya hrudhayam 16) such as deva, manushya, dhiryak and sthavara. This means Devas are born as such, just as manushyas are born as such. But manushyas can attain deva-land such as swarga, but will be born again on earth (as manushyas obviously) once the good karma responsible for elevating them to swarga are spent (Gita). As such swarga can only be a bhoga bhoomi, not a place of permanent residence to manushyas. Swarga is a permanent abode for devas only. That is why ?achchuvai perinum vEdaen? ? here the reference is to the abode of ?indra lokam? mentioned in previous line, not Vaikuntham. This lokam is peopled with suris ? who are luminous beings also known as devas. They can not be said to be leaving Vaikuntham (as residents there) and coming to leela vibhoothi, because there is absolutely no pramana to this effect. The Brahma sutras, declared as pramana by Githacharyan Himself in BG and as the foremost one to be read, understood and followed by followers of Dharshanam as ordained by Emperumaanar clearly do not support this view.
(6) This is further strengthened by the write-ups of yore from Nachchinaarkkiniyaar to ParimElazhagar in Tamil. ParimElazhagar in his opening urai to Thirukkural characterises the 4 (dharma, arththa, kaama, moksha or aRam, pOruL, inbham, veedu) as means of reaching two abodes, 1) the abodes of devas like Indra (?Indran mudhaliya iraiyavar padhangaLum?) and 2) the permanent abode of mOksham (?andamil inbhaththu azhivil veedum?). Thus a distinction is being made between the abode of devas and the permanent abode, popularly known in Tamil as veedu.
The inference from this is that
(1) even the devas (though exalted) are not residents of Permanent abode. This means they too have to ?plough? their way to attain ?piravaamai? even as a deva.
(2) Since theirs is not a permanent abode, they too come under prakruthi sambhandam of created world. This is established in verse 5 of Neeththar perumai of Kural,
? Aindhavitthaan aattral agal visumbuLaar kOmaan
IndiranE saalum kari?.
(Indran is supposed to have controlled the 5 senses as He is Lord of devas. Yet he could not control. Indran is the best example for how even the amarar-pati falls prey to senses as in Ahalya episode.) The reference in the text to ViNNuLar, that Smt Vedavalli pointed out perhaps refers to this. Since Indran is a prakaashan, a devan, he has been referred to as nithya suri.
(7) In contrast to imayOr padham, we do have Tamil words for permanent residence. Like Veedu. The Veedumin muttravum 10 of mudhal patthu, is crystal clear about the non-return. Particularly verse 8 & 9 reflects the final verses of Brahma sutras. Ullam, urai and seyal are all given up when the mukhthan attains Him (1-2-8) . Then from where can he get them, if he were to come to the created world? If at all he is given the 3, it then means that he has gotten into the cycle of creation, even if it means taking up a deva-deham. But pramanas clearly discount this notion.
(8) In contrast, veedu menas ?viduthalai? or ?viduthal?, ?mudivu? etc. Veedu seidhal means ?viduthalai seidhal?, ?thuratthal? and ?arpaNam seidhal?. In tamil lexicon, Veedu is synonym for ?mutthi? or ?mukhthi?. This also means ?vidu padugai? and ?viduthalai? or liberation. The mention of various types of devas in ?Soozh visumbhu? 10 must be about those that have attained Him. (They are different from those others mentioned in other paasurams as in VinnuLar, who are in their created worlds.)
A pramana for this is as follows:-
Verse 3-3-31 of Brahma sutras ? ? Those who hold certain offices (like vasishta etc., ) have to remain a s long as their offices last.? Even though great souls like Vasishta have attained eligibility to attain Moksham, they are not released immediately. Their particular offices do not come to an end. As long as their offices last, the karma which generated that office remains. There is no movement on the path of Light for them even after the fall of their bodies.
Similar logic to be applied in the case of Nithya suris or devas or call them whatever you may. They have their particular offices which they can not demit at will. As long as they are there holding the office, the karmas which caused the office also remains. This means there is a possibility to add karma as they are still endowed with the 3 - ullam, urai and seyal (Veedumin..-8) . The shedding of the 3 happens only when they merge with Him (Ullil vodungi)
This above notion is supported by verse 3-4-51 of Brahma sutras which says that even Final Release can not be automatically granted if there exists an obstruction to such fruit. As in the case of Indra, in the case of other ViNNuLar, if there is some karma, their Release is delayed. It is also note worthy that an Indra does not remain an Indra throughout all the manvanthrs. Indras change, meaning, when a particular Indra?s office comes to an end and there exists no obstruction to gaining Veedu, he reaches Him in Vaikuntham, only to not to return. Someone else, eligible to hold the office becomes Indra then.
from
Jayasree saranathan
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