SrimatE Raamaanujaaya Namaha //
SrimatE Nigamaanta Mahaa Desikaaya Namaha //
SrIman! SrI Ranga Sriyam anupadravam anudhinam Samvardhaya/
SrIman! SrI Ranga Sriyam anupadravam anudhinam Samvardhaya//
KAvEri VardhathAm kAlE, kAlE varshathu vAsava: /
SrI RanganAthO jayathu Sri Ranga Sri cha VardhathAm//
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SRI RANGA SRI VOL.06 / ISSUE # 07 dated 12/015/04
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EDITORIAL:
Dear Bhagavatas:
Bhagavatas in Atlanta have arranged for Tiruppaavai KaalakshEpams by aDiyEn
on Saturdays (5.00pm to 6.30 pm). The first session is scheduled for 18th
December 2004. Due to Christmas holidays, there will be no kaalakshEpam 25th
December 2004.
The classes will be continued from the following Saturday.
Bhagavatas residing in Atlanta area on the occasion are cordially invited to
attend the event.
Date and time: Saturday, 18th December at 5.00 PM to 6.30 PM
Address:
Residence of Sri M.K. Shrinath and Smt. Hema Shrinath
510 Sessingham Court, Alpharetta, GA 30005
Phone: 770-622-3797 H
E-Mail: mk_shrinath@xxxxxxxxx
For directions etc., please contact the above
Moderator
======================================================
IN THIS ISSUE:
1. IMPORTANT DAYS IN MARGAZHU (DHANUR) MONTH
2. WHO IS THIS AZHWAR? ? GLORY OF GARUDAZHWAR Part 6 (CONCLUDED)
(ANBIL RAMASWAMY)
3. NAMMAZHWAR SNIPPETS- TIRUVOIMOZHI Part ? 12
(ANBIL RAMASWAMY)
4. ?TRIMURTIS?- IN NAMMAZHWAR?S TIRUVOIMOZHI- PART 4
(SRI N. KRISHNAMACHARIAR SWAMI OF CHICAGO)
======================================================
153 Regular issues have been released, so far besides several Special
Issues) ?
- 27 Issues of Vol. 1
- 15 Issues of Vol. 2
- 42 Issues of Vol. 3
- 35 Issues of Vol. 4
- 28 Issues of Vol. 5 &
- 06 Issues of Vol. 6
These issues have been archived for public view at -
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/srirangasri
by Sri Diwakar Kannan (diwakark@xxxx)
You may also view the archives at http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia maintained
by Sri Srinivasan Sriram (ajiva_rts@xxxx)
We strongly urge you to kindly peruse the "Regular Issues" archived in the
?Files? Section and view the Contents at ?srsindex.html? (Not the individual
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IF you are satisfied with the quality and contents of
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Ever at your service
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Anbil Ramaswamy,
Editor & Publisher,
?Sri Ranga Sri?
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1. IMPORTANT DAYS IN MARGAZHU (DHANUR) MONT
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DATE/ENGLISH)/DAY/NAKSHATRAM/ (THITHI)/ EVENT/ REMARKS
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01/12.16.04/Thursday/Avittam/Panchami/DHANUR MAASA POOJA
Begins, TIRUPPALLI EZHUCHI
03/12.18.04/Saturday/Purattadi/Saptami/Nachiyar Koil Kal
GaruDa Sevai, Lakshmi Nrisimha Satakopa YMD (AM)
06/12.21.04/Tuesday Aswini/Dasami/NAACHIYAAR TIRUKKOLAM
07/12.22.04/Wednesday/ BharaNi/Sukla Paksha Ekadasi/
SARVA BHEESHMA VAIKUNTA EKAADASI, TIRUVOIMOZHI TIRUNAAL
11/12.26.04/Sunday/Mrigaseersham/POURNAMI VRATAM
13/12.28.04/Tuesday/Punarpoosam/Dwiteeyai/PARASURAMA JAYANTI
16/12.31.05/Friday/Magam/Panchami/ TIRUVOIMOZHI TIRUNAL SAATRUMURAI
17/01.01.05/SaturdayPooram/ShashTi/IYARPAA SAATRUMURAI,
English New Year Day (2005)
21/01.05.05/Wednesday/Swati/Dasami/ValayapETTai VRMD
22/01.06.05/Thursday/Visaakam/Ekaadasi/KrishNa Paksha
Ekaadasi, RSYMD (AM)
24/01.08.05/Saturday/KETTai/TrayOdasi/TONDAR ADIPPODI AZHWAR,
Periya Tirumalai NambigaL, Srirangam Narayana Jeeyar, Nalloor
Aachaan piLLai
25/01.09.05/Sunday/Moolam/Chaturdasi/BODAAYANA AMAAVAASYA
26/01.10.05/Monday/Moolam-PooraaDam/AMAAVAASYA/HANUMAT JAYANTI,
27/01.11.05/Tuesday/UtraaDam- TiruvONam/Prathamai/SRAVANA VRATAM
29/01.13.05/Thursday/Avittam/Triteeyai/BHOGI PANDIGAI,
Azhagiya ManavaaLa PerumaaL Naayanaar
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AM: Ahobila MaTam, YMD: Yatindra Mahaa Desikan, VRMD: Vedanta Ramanuja Mahaa
Desikan, RSYMD: Ranganatha Satakopa Mahaa Desikan
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2. WHO IS THIS AZHWAR? ?
GLORY OF GARUDAZHWAR Part 6 (CONCLUDED)
(ANBIL RAMASWAMY)
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SOME HISTORICAL REFERENCES TO GARUDA:
VIDISA AND GARUDA:
A stone inscription at Vidisa shows that in the tear 140 BC, a stone pillar
was erected in Vidisa (Gwalior) and this transformed itself into a ?GaruDa
Sthambam? ??GaruDa Pillar?
HELIODORUS AND GARUDA:
The Greek King who lived in Takshasila was a Bhaagavata who raised a pillar
dedicated to VaasudEva, with the figure of GaruDa adorning the top of the
pillar.
MAURYAS AND GARUDA:
The Maurya dynasty considered GaruDa as the most auspicious deity who they
believed brought good luck to them.
SAMUDRA GUPTA AND GARUDA:
History reveals how the Gupta dynasty especially Kumaara Gupta and Samudra
Gupta minted gold coins with the image of GaruDa embossed on them and
believed that this would bestow prosperity on them.
GAJENDRA MOSHAM AND GARUDA:
During the 4th to 6th Centuries AD, Guptas are known to have inscribed the
?GajEndra mOksham? episode in which GaruDa was prominently chiseled with the
Lord riding on his shoulders.
CHANDRAGUPTA VIKRAMAADITYA AND GARUDA:
Chandragupta Vikramaadityan was the first to erect a GaruDa Sthoopam in
Delhi for blessing his kingdom with prosperity.
DEVAGIRI YAADHAVAS AND GARUDA:
The flag and the emblem of Devagiri Yaadhavas was GaruDa.
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GARUDA IN ALIEN LANDS:
NEPAL AND GARUDA:
A very famous festival in Nepal called ?GaruDa- Naaga Yuddham? is celebrated
every year. During this festival, perspiration would appear on the face of
the image of GaruDa. The priests would wipe off the perspiration with silk
cloth and send the cloth to the King of Nepal. The King would save every
strand of that cloth. It is believed that when the thread from the cloth is
tied around the wrist of anyone suffering from snakebite, miraculously, the
venom would lose its virulence and the patient would survive. This is
another mystery that Science has not been able to explain to this day.
U.S.A. AND GARUDA:
We all know the national bird of America is the ?bald eagle? with a white
band on its neck. This is none other than our very own GaruDa, as 44th
PaTTam Azhagiya Singhar used to say. Thus, GaruDa is one more aspect that
links India and America!
HOMER?S ILIAD AND GARUDA:
IN the great Roman epic ?Iliad? written by Homer, there is a reference as to
how GaruDa bird circled over the skies holding a huge snake in its mouth.
KALSAN AND GARUDA:
He was considered a world famous astrologer. He held that the sighting of
GaruDa was the most auspicious omen for all.
MATHEW AND GARUDA:
The Christian apostle, St. Mathew in 6.2 of his Gospel advises his followers
to look for GaruDa flying across the skies, as a good omen.
KAMBOJA AND GARUDA:
People in Cambodia (Kamboja) used to make the image of GaruDa first before
constructing anything, because they believed that it was GaruDa who would
bring to fruition any construction work.
BOUDDAS AND GARUDA:
GaruDa is a favorite deity with even the Buddhists. In Amaraavati, Buddhist
sculptures, we find the image of GaruDa holding a flower bud like sphere on
his right palm. This ball is believed to be the reputed pot of nectar
?Amrita Kalasam?.
MATHANGA LEELA AND GARUDA:
?Mathanga Leela? a work written in North India (author unknown) mentions
that GaruDa and SuparNa appeared at the dawn of time along with the wheel of
time - ?Kaala Chakram?.
SRILANKA AND GARUDA:
There is a belief that Lanka (the present day Sri Lanka) is a chip off the
block of MEru Mountain that GaruDa pulverized and which accidentally fell in
mid sea. WE do not know, however, whether this is a fact or mere fiction!
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3. NAMMAZHWAR SNIPPETS ?
TIRUVOIMOZHI Part ? 12 (CONCLUDED)
(ANBIL RAMASWAMY)
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Paasuram 8.3.3
AaLum aaLaar, aazhiyum sangum sumappaar taam
VaaLum villum koNDu pinselvaar matrillai
TaaLum tOLum kaikaLai aaraat tozhak kaaNEn
NaaLum naaLum naaDuvan aDiyEn jnaalathE
This decad is said to describe Azhwar?s ?MangaLaasaasanam?.
This is also known as Nammaazhwar?s ?Tirup PallaaNDu?.
?Oh! Lord! How come you carry the entire load of your disc and conch and
other weapons all alone with none to accompany or assist you in this? Cannot
someone share your burden by carrying at least your sword, bow or arrows??
Like LakshmaNa, he would like to assist the Lord to get an opportunity to
admire the shoulders and arms of the Lord at close quarters all the time.
The Azhwar seems to feel sorry for the lack of assistants for the Lord in
this regard.
================================================
Paasuram 9.6.10
Vaarik koNDu unnai vizhunguvan KaaNil enru
Aarvutra ennaiozhiya- ennil munnam
Paarithu taan ennai mutrap paruguinaan
Kaarokkum kaaTkaraiyappan - kaDiyanE
The Azhwar expresses a peculiar Bhakti experience in which he portrays
vividly how the devotee is within God and God is within the devotee each
devouring the other almost an instance of ?cannibalism? in which ?the eater
is eaten? as A.K. Ramanujam puts in his ?Hymns for the drowning?
?Oh! Lord! As soon as I saw you, I wanted to devour you whole. But, you
overtook me and completely drank me up?
In 9.6.5 the Azhwar said that under the pretext of showering His grace, the
Lord entered his body, mind and soul and devoured his life.
?TiruvaruL seibavan pOla ennuL puguntu uruvamum aaruyirum uDanE uNDaan?
NAMPILLAI explains the word ?Paruginaan? to mean that while in 9.6.5, He
ate, here HE drank. While the Azhwar was considering KaNNan as his ?uNNUm
sORu, parugu neer etc?, it was now the Lord?s turn to reverse the roles
considering the Azhwar as His uNNum sOru, parugu neer etc. BY exhibiting His
qualities, He literally liquefied the mind of the Azhwar and drank it even
before the Azhwar could devour the Lord. It can be inferred that between the
two, the Lord seems to be more hungry and thirsty than the Azhwar in this
game of eating up each other!
IN 10.8.2, the Azhwar says that Bhagavaan, who entered his mind as a
non-immigrant visitor, fully occupied it and is now refusing to move out and
claims citizenship on the grounds that ?possession is nine points of law?!
A strange predicament indeed! How strange that the Lord who with His huge
belly felt insatiable even after devouring the seven worlds, seven seas and
seven mountains ? sought mere tenancy but was held virtually a prisoner
without parole, in the heart of the Azhwar! A case of ?Container contained?!
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Paasuram 10.8.2
SaraNam aagum tanataaL aDiantaakku ellaam
MaraNamaanaal vaikuntam koDukkum piraan
Aran amainda madil soozh tiruk kaNNapurathu
TaraNIyaaLan tanatanbarkku anbaagumE
This verse confirms that the Lord out of His infinite compassion grants to
ALL PRAPANNAS who surrender at His feet, mOksham INSTANTLy ON THEIR DEATH.
This gives the lie direct to the concept of ?Jivan Mukti? contended by some.
The Azhwar exhorts us to surrender at the feet of the Lord of
TirukaNNapuram.
NAMPILLAI Says that except when he is in a trance like state of devotion,
the Azhwar during his awakened state never tires of exhorting us to reach
for the Lord?s feet since that alone can ensure salvation AFTER the current
life.
===================================================
Paasuram 10.5.1
kaNNan kazhalinai eNNUm manam uDaiyeer
ENNUm tiru naamam tiNNam naaraNamE
The great Aacharyas of yore used to give invaluable and rare advice to near
and dear ones right about the time when they are about to give up their
mortal coils. Similarly, the Azhwar tenders his sage advice to all of us in
this deacd, which represents the grand finale of his immortal work.
?Oh! Those who desire to attain the feet of the Lord, who is renowned for
His accessibility to His devotees! The ONLY name you ever need to remember
and meditate is that of NARAYANA and NOTHING ELSE. This is THE ONLY TRUTH.
Take this seriously and in right earnest?
This is like Vyaasa?s swearing- ?Satyam Satyam punah Satyam?? etc?
NAMPILLAI comments on the word ?NaaraNam? thus:
Unlike other mantras in which mutilation of pronunciation or variation in
intonation etc. are likely to result in disastrous repercussions like the
perpetrator being born as BrhmaRaakshasa etc. the efficacy of Narayana
mantra never gets affected by any distortions if and when the letters ?na,
ra and na? are uttered whether with or without the ending ?m? or the fourth
case ending, so long as they are uttered with sincerity and a pure heart.
How reassuring, this!
The Azhwar carefully avoids the word ?mantra?; instead, he uses the word
?Tirunaamam? to indicate that there are no restraints or constraints either
in the matter of ?adhikaari? (fitness of the person) or ?anganyaasa,
karannyaasa (gestural invocations) etc. It is like a child calling its
mother in its ?baby talk? and the mother feeling happy over this.
?First do this ?Sabda anusantaanam?? ?artha anusantaanam? will follow? the
Azhwar seems to advise.
------------------------------------------------------------------------CONCLUDED)
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4. ?TRIMURTIS?- IN NAMMAZHWAR?S TIRUVOIMOZHI- PART 4
(SRI N. KRISHNAMACHARIAR SWAMI OF CHICAGO)
1.5.4: (6)
tAn Or uruvE tani vittAi tannil mUvar mudalAya
vAnOr palarum munivarum maRRum maRRum muRRumAi
tAn Or peru nIr tan uLLE tORRi adanuL kaN vaLarum
vAnOr perumAn mA mAyan vaikuntan en perumAnE.
nammAzhvAr describes bhagavAn?s role in Creation in more detail in this
pASuram. He points out that bhagavAn is the Sole Creator of everything in
all the Universes, without any other external aid of any kind (tAn Or uruvE
tani vittAi). He created brahmA and rudra as part of the trio with Him
being the first, or the Creator (tannil mUvar mudalAya).
In the first two pASuram-s of this tiruvAimozhi (1.5.1 and 1.5.2), which we
did not cover, AzhvAr sings the praise of bhagavAn?s parattvam ? Supremacy
or mEnmai. Then, in pASuram 1.5.3, which we just covered, he praises His
sauSIlyam or nIrmai, and indicates that bhagavAn is equally great in His
sauSIlyam as He is in His parattvam. In the current pASuram, AzhvAr points
out that His sauSIlyam is indeed His dominant guNa, and His parattvam is
only subservient to His sauSIlyam. This is amply evident in His process of
creation as described below.
BhagavAn created this whole Universe, all by Himself, by being Himself the
upAdAna, nimitta and sahakAri kAraNa-s (the Material, Instrumental, and
Supporting causes); He chose to be the Sole Cause so that nothing goes amiss
unexpectedly for the creation, by depending on other external causes; He
made all the living and non-living beings part of His body; He became the
antaryAmi of all beings so that He resides with each being always, and He
did all this by descending down from SrI vaikunTham ? His Supreme Abode,
where the nitya sUri-s are performing constant and uninterrupted kainkaryam
to Him. In addition, He created the great Ocean in Himself, and is
reclining in this Ocean, and waiting there so that He is accessible to the
deva-s whenever they want His assistance. All this is because He is the
embodiment of sauSIlyam.
The start of every cycle of creation involves a samashTi sRshTi - aggregate,
and a vyashTi sRshTi ? distinctive, individual. The first two pAda-s (the
first two quarters of the four-lines) of the pASuram describe the vyashTi
sRshTi, and the third pAda describes samashTi sRshTi. BhagavAn is
responsible for both the steps.
tAnE Or tani uru vittAi ? This refers to bhagavAn being the sole Origin of
all the Universes Himself: i) The Material cause or the upAdAna kAraNa ?
like the mud for making a mud pot, ii) the Instrumental cause or the nimitta
kAraNa? like the pot maker in making the pot, and iii) the Supporting cause
or sahakAri kAraNa ? like the wheel, water etc. in making the pot. ?uru?
means ?beautiful? ? He alone beautifully becomes all the three causes.
PurvAcArya-s explain the above ideas through the following grouping of
words:
vittAi ? He is the Material Cause or upAdAna kAraNa ? like the mud for
making the mud pot.
tani vittAi ? He is the Instrumental Cause or nimitta kAraNa ? like the pot
maker for making the pot.
Or tani vittAi ? He is also the Supporting Cause or sahakArI kAraNa ? like
the wheel, water, etc. that are needed for making the pot.
Note that in all matters of any man-made creation such as the pot in this
example, the material cause, instrumental cause and the supporting cause are
different; not so in bhagavAn?s Creation ? He is the Sole Cause for all
aspects of Creation.
Or uruvE ? He of beautiful form, with no change of any kind in Him because
of all this, which is another wonder in itself.
We have an analogous declaration in the upanishad: sadeva somya idam agra
AsIt; ekameva advitIyam (chAn. 6.2.1) ? ?Good looking one! All this
universe of diverse names and forms was, prior to creation, only one sat,
the ever-existent Reality, ParamAtman, and Non-second?. Note the terms
?sadeva?, ?ekameva?, and ?a-dvitIyam? in the Upanishad mantra above.
?ekameva? refers to His being the sole Material cause; ?sadeva? refers to
there being no other ?sahakAri kAraNam?; and ?advitIyam? refers to there
being no other ?nimitta kAraNam?. He is the First Cause or upAdAna kAraNam
because cit and acit are part of Him. He is the nimitta kAraNam because of
His sankalpam to create. He is the sahakAri kAraNam because of His Infinite
j~nAna and Sakti to achieve this wonder that is creation.
Why does He choose not to use anything other than Himself as the upAdAna,
nimitta or sahakAri kAraNa-s? It is because He loves the jIva-s so much,
that He does not want anything to go wrong in His creation by using anything
that is not part of Himself. So He, Who is the embodiment of sauSIlyam,
decides to become the Sole cause for everything from His One form, that of
vAsudeva. From this form, He then creates the other deities and devatA-s,
Rshi-s and other great souls, and all the other cetana-s and acetana-s. He
becomes their antaryAmi, and permanently resides in them to guide them in
whatever path they choose to follow while they are embodied, and this is how
His great guNa of sauSIlyam expresses itself.
tannil mUvar mudalAya: This phrase has been interpreted in different ways
by different AcArya-s. SrImad tirukkuDanthai ANDavan has given two of
these interpretations in his vyAkhyAnam titled bhagavad vishayam:
tannODu mUvarAna tri- mUrtigaL tuDakkamAna ? starting with the
tri-mUrti-s that includes Him. ?Piramanukkum rudranukkum antaryAmiyAi
irundu sRshTi samhAra?ngaLaic ceigiRAn. tAnAgavE irundu rakshaNam SeigiRAn?
? He performs the function of rakshaNam or protection Himself, and He
performs the functions of creation and destruction by being the antaryAmi of
brahmA and rudra respectively.
The question can be asked: ?Why does He present Himself as ?one among the
three?? Would it not be a negative reflection on His parattvam, by just
being ?one among the three??? To understand that His parattvam is not in
the least affected because of this, all we have to do is to look at His rAma
incarnation, His kRshNa incarnation etc., where He took incarnations among
ordinary folks. Just by taking incarnation as one among the ikshvAku
family, He does not become just another ordinary ikshavAku, but He is
emperumAn in all senses, even though He is an ikshvAku for our eyes. Just
by taking incarnation in the yAdava clan, He does not become just another
yAdava. He is still the paramAtmA. So also, His being counted as ?one of
the three? does not in any way diminish His parattvam. svAmi deSikan
explains that bhagavAn does not in any way lose any of His kalyANa guNa-s in
the least in any of His incarnations (SaraNAgati dIpikA Slokam 17, where the
avatAra rahasyam of perumAL is described).
- The second interpretation given by SrImad ANDavan is: brahmA, rudra,
indran mUvarkkum kAraNa bhUtan ? He Who is the Cause of the three principal
deva-s, namely brahmA, rudra and indra (followed by the creation of all the
other deva-s etc. ? vAnOr palarum ? muRRumAi).
This second interpretation is supported by reference to this ?trio? in the
upnaishad - ?sa brahmA, sa SivaH, sendraH so?ksharaH paramaH svarAT? (mahA
nArAyaNa upanishad). Here, ?mudalAi? can be taken to mean ?mudalAya ? et
cetera?, instead of meaning ?Supreme - mudal?. In addition, ?il? in tamizh
means ?house, meaning ?in Him??. So, ?tan il mUvar mudalAi? can mean ?He
Who has His body as the residing place or Origin for brahmA, rudra, indra,
etc.?, or, He Who has their bodies as His residing Place, namely, He is
their antaryAmi.
An alternate interpretation for ?tannil mUvar mudalAi? is that He manifested
Himself in the forms of sa?nkarshaNa, pradyumna, and aniruddha ? the vyUha
incarnations, all of whom are manifestations of the same Supreme Deity,
vAsudeva, and form the base for all the other deva-s etc?. (tannil ? in
Himself; that is, svAntargatamAna, sva avatAra?ngaLAna ? Not different from
Himself in any sense, His own incarnations).
The following are the different anubhavam-s of the words ?tannil? and
?mUvar?:
? the three including Him; tannODu SErndu mUvar (na?njIyar)
? in His sankalpam, in His mental resolve. He decided He will
be many, and then He proceeded with the creation of the many, and He became
their antaryAmi. This is described in taittirIya upanishad, in the mantra
starting with ?so?kAmayata | bahu syAm prajAyeyeti |??. (taittirIya. upa.
BrahmAnanda. 6).
? il ? house. He who has made the three (indra, rudra, and
brahmA, and all the other deva-s, etc.) as the house for Him ? in other words,
He is the antaryAmi of all of these.
? tannai viDa vERu paDAda mUvar ? referring to sankarshaNa,a
pradyumna and aniruddha ? the three vyUha emanations from the para vAsudeva
form.
? With Him being the first and foremost among the trio.
maRRum maRRum muRRumAi ? He decided to create everything, including the
humans, animals, and acetana-s, etc., in addition to the others mentioned
earlier ? namely, vAnor palarum, munivarum, etc., without exception.
Everything is His creation.
tAn Or peru nIr tannuLLE tORRi adanuL kaN vaLarum ? He creates this big
Ocean in Himself, and then is reclining on it. Again, multiple anubhavam-s
are available for our enjoyment, for this phrase.
The last syllable ?Ai? in ?muRRumAi? can mean ?Aga ? ?to become?, or ?Agi? ?
?having become?.
- If ?muRRum Aga? is taken as the meaning, then the
interpretation is that bhagavAn is reclining in the waters of pralaya prior to
the creation of brahmANDam in the small fig-tree leaf (Al ilai), contemplating
on how to protect the jIva-s that are to be created ? all the cetana-s and
acetana-s described in the first two lines of this pASuram. Note that
protection of the jIva-s is His main concern (kAkkum iyalvinan kaNNa perumAn ?
2.2.9).
- If the meaning is taken as ?muRRum Ai? ? ?having become all
of the things outlined in the first two lines?, then the interpretation is that
He is reclining in the Milk Ocean, after the creation, for the benefit of
the deva-s etc., so that He can help them whenever they need His help. He
reclines in it and patiently waits just in case the deva-s etc. need His
help in times of trouble from the asura-s.
- Not being content with thus ensuring that all the jIva-s get
all they need for recovering themselves from the ocean of samsAra, He creates a
big Ocean in Himself, and lies in this great ocean and keeps meditating on
what else He can do to help the jIva-s overcome their cycle of birth and
death.
vAnOr perumAn ?The Lord of all the deva-s and all the other deities. He is
the Seed from which everything originates.
mA mAyan ? One Who conceals His identity superbly such that even those who
consider themselves very learned, do not figure out His mAyai (ivai avan
tuyakkE ? 1.3.9).
vaikunthan ? He Who is the Lord of SrI vaikunTham - SrIman nArAyaNan.
kunTha in samskRt denotes obstacles to union (kuThi ? gati pragAthe ?
obstructing the path). Since bhagavAn removes the obstacles to union with
Him, namely the sins of His devotees, He is called vai-kunThan. His Abode
is SrI vaikunTham, where the nitya sUri-s are performing constant, eternal
and unblemished service to Him. He leaves His Supreme Abode of SrI
vaikunTham, and involves Himself in all the above-mentioned actions, just
for the sake of redeeming the jIva-s, once again an expression of His
limitless sauSIlyam.
em perumAn ? He is My Lord and Master. ?em? ? My own. Because of His
infinite sauSIlyam, He is the Master to whom AzhvAr feels intensely
dedicated to perform kainkaryam without interruption.
The best analogy to explain the message of this pASuram is to think of a
seed that contains in it all the extensive branches, leaves, fruits, etc.
When the tree grows out of the seed, we see all of these branches, leaves,
etc. displayed. So also, Lord SrIman nArAyaNa has all the beings of all
the Universes inside Him ? including brahmA and rudra who form the trinity
along with Him, and all the deva-s, the Rshi-s, and all the other cetanas
and a-cetana-s. It is from Him that everything arises
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