rI:
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//
=========================================================
SRI RANGA SRI VOL.08 / ISSUE # 10 dated 7th January 2007
==========================================================
EDITORIAL
Dear Bhagavatas:
As Sri Anbil Ramaswamy Swami is in Cleveland, I am sending this on
his behalf.. Swami is available at:
25807 Iris Court, Westlake, OH-44145
Phone # (440) 716- 0771 Cell # (770) 876- 9188
You may contact him at Ramanbil@xxxxxxxxxxx
Regards
Namo narayana
dAsan Madhava Kannan
==========================================================
INTHIS ISSUE:
1. "DRAMIDOPANISHAD TATPARYA RATNAVALI" ? PART- 10":
BY SRI N. KRISHNAMACHARIAR SWAMI OF CHICAGO.
2. MAAL UGANDHA AASIRIYAR- Swami Nammazhwar -life and works
BY V. Madhavakkannan ? Singapore
=========================================================
ISSUES RELEASED
With this issue, about 233 Regular issues of SRS have been released
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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
30 Issues of Vol. 6
50 Issues of Vol. 7 and
09 Issues of Vol. 8
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1. TAATPARYA RATHNAVALI ? SUBMISSION 10- SLOKAM 8 OF AVATARIKA
by Sri N.KRISHNAMACHARI SWAMI
SrImate SrI ra'nga rAmAnuja mahA deSikAya namaH.
tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Submission 10 - Slokam 8 of avatArikA.
Slokam 8:
sevyatvAt bhogya bhAvAt Subha-tanu vibhavAt sarva-bhogyAdhikatvAt
Sreyas-tad hetu dhAnAt Srita vivaSatayA svASritAnishTa hRtvAt |
bhaktac-chandAnuvRtteh nirupadhika suhRd-bhAvatah sat-padavyAm
sAhAyyAc-ca sva-siddheh svayamiha karaNam SrIdharah pratyapAdi ||
In this Slokam, svAmi deSikan gives the ten guNa-s that are to be
enjoyed at the Satakam level (groups of hundred pASurams), which
stand to establish the one guNa identified and enjoyed at the
grantham level. This was the subject of Slokam 6 at a different level
of detail. We will discuss the relation between Slokam 6 and Slokam 8
after looking at the meaning of the current Slokam.
The subject matter of the ten Sataka-s as given in this Slokam, is
listed sequentially below:
- sevyatvAt ? bhagavAn is worthy of being worshipped ? guNa of
sevyatvam
- bhogya bhAvAt ?He is fit to be enjoyed ? guNa of bhogyatvam
- Subha tanu vibhavAt ? He has an auspicious tirumEni that can erase
all sins of those who meditate on It ? guNa of SubhASraya divya
vigrahaSAlitvam
- sarva bhogyAdhikatvAt ? He is the Ultimate Bliss above all objects
that can be enjoyed ? guNa of sarva bhogyAdhikatvam
- Sreyah tad-hetu dAnAt ? He bestows the best among all the
purushArtha-s or things that are sought by the devotees - namely
moksham, as well as the means to attain it ? guNa of purushArtha tad-
upAya hetutvam
- Srita vivaSatayA ? Easily accessible to those who have surrendered
to Him ? guna of prapadana sulabhatvam or prapatti sulabhatvam
- sva ASrita anishTa hRtvAt ? Remover of all the sorrows of those who
have taken refuge in Him ? guna of ASrita anishTa nivartakatvam
- bhaktac-candAnuvRtteh ? He is subject to the wishes of His
devotees ? guNa of ASrita chandAnuvartitvam
- nirupadhika suhRd-bhAvah ? Being a bandhu (relative, well-wisher)
to everyone by nature, without any reason or expectation ? guNa of
nirupAdhika suhRtvam
- ?sat-padavyAm sAhAyyAc-ca ? Helping and guiding on the right path ?
guNa of sat-padavI sahAyatvam. SrImad tirukkuDanthai ANDavan explains
that the `right path' here refers to the arcirAdi mArgam through
which the jIva wo has attained liberation (mukta jIvanI is led to SrI
vaikunTham. (SrI PBA's words are: tAL aDaintOr tan'gaTkut tAnE vazhit
tuNaiyAm avan emperumAn).
- SrIdharah sva-siddheh svayamiva karaNam ? (Because He is endowed
with all the above guNa-s), The Lord of SrI is Himself the means to
attain Him
- pratyapAdi ? This, SrI nammAzhvAr establishes unambiguously.
SrI P. B. aNNa'ngrAcArya svAmi (hereafter referred as SrI PBA)
comments that the statement in the last pAda of the current Slokam ?
sva-siddeh svayamiha karaNam SrIdharah pratyapAdi ? is the grand
theme that is established through the thousand pASuram-s of the
grantham; this is also stated in the first pAda of the previous
Slokam - deva: SrImAn sva-siddheh karaNamiti vadan ekam artham
sahasre.
Possible relation between Sloka-s 6 and 8:
To understand the possible relation between Sloka-s 6 and 8, it is
first necessary to understand the importantce of the first 3 Sataka-s
in the context of the whole grantham. It is held by pUrvAcArya-s that
the first 3 Sataka-s contain the essence of the whole grantham, at a
higher level. (Additionally, it is also considered that the first 3
tiruvAimozhi-s or daSaka-s also contain the essence of the grantham
in them, and in fact, the first three pAda-s or lines of the 1st
pASuram also state the essence of the grantham (upAyatvam, upeyatvam,
and divya ma'ngaLa vigrahatvam).
As if to signify this point, AzhvAr declares the Ultimate benefit ?
the moksha phalan, at the conclusion of the third Satakam itself ?
?????????????????????. avan
nADum nagaramum na'nguDan kANa nalaniDai Urdi paNNi
vIDum peRuttit tan mU ulagukkum tarum oru nAyagamE (3.10.11)
Keeping this point in mind, we will now look at the possible relation
between Sloka-s 6 and 8 of tAtparya ratnAvaLi, and see how there is
no redundancy, but an organization built in here. It was noted
earlier that Slokam 6 dealt with the same topic as the current Slokam
does, but at a different level.
The guNa-s identified in Slokam 6 were: upAyatvam, mukta prApyatvam,
and Subha subhaga tanutvam for the first three Sataka-s. The guNa
identified for the fourth Satakam was ananya-prApayatvam, which is a
further extended description of the guNa of prApyatvam identified in
the second Satakam. Then for the remaining Sataka-s, the guNa
identified in Slokam 6 is ananya-upAyatvam, which is related to the
guNa identified for the first Satakam. Thus, one can notice that
three principal guNa-s are identified in Slokam 6 in the first three
Sataka-s, signifying that the first three Sataka-s contain the
essence of the whole tiruvAimozhi. The current Slokam then extends
and expands the three principal guNa-s identified in Slokam 6 into
ten guNa-s for the ten Sataka-s. (In a tree-structure, Slokam 4
expands on the guNa described in Satakam 2, and Slokas 5 to 10 expand
and support the guNa expressed in Sstakam 1.
Additional thoughts:
There are differences in the way that different vyAkhyAna kartA-s
interpret the ten Sataka-s as explaining the main theme of
tiruvAimozhi. The IDu vyAkhyAnam gives the subject matter of the ten
Sataka-s as:
- bhagavat kainkaryam alone is the ultimate goal.
- Removal of the obstacles to attaining this goal.
- Bhagavad kainkaryam extends all the way to kainkaryam to
bhAgavatas.
- The obstacles to kainkaryam are aiSvaryam, kaivalyam etc.
- BhagavAn alone is the One who can remove these obstacles to
attaining Him.
- Surrendering to Him for the removal of these obstacles.
- Feeling sorry that even after surrendering to Him, there is no
union with Him, and one has to suffer in samsAra
- Getting rid of all attachment to this samsAra
- Enjoying the Grace of nArAyaNa who willingly comes forward to
protect the jIva-s
- BhagavAn fulfilling the desire of AzhvAr.
vAdi kesari has given yet another interpretation, and gives the
following as the subjects covered by the ten Sataka-s: rakshakatvam,
bhogyatvam, jIva as one who should enjoy paramAtman alone, this alone
will give true joy to the soul, emperumAn as the upAyam, His being
chosen as the upAyam, the obstacles to this, removal of these
obstacles, the resulting benefits, and attaining these benefits.
Both the above interpretations deal with the Satakam level; these
works do not aim at identifying a central theme for the grantham as a
whole, or identification of guNa-s at the daSakam level or at the
level of the individual pASuram-s. In addition to giving us the
central theme for the grantham as a whole, and the guNa-s extolled by
Azgvar at the Satakam level, svAmi deSikan identifies and presents
the guNa-s at the daSakam level and at the pASuram level as well, and
also gives a natural connectivity between all these towards one
central theme for the whole grantham. This is the unique contribution
of tAtparya ratnAvali.
-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan
(To be continued)
===================================================
2. MAAL UGANDHA AASIRIYAR ? SWAMI NAMMAAZHWAAR ?Life and works
by Sri V. Madhavakkannan
SRI:
SrImathE Gopaladesika Mahadesikaya nama:
Dearest all
Let us not worry or bother and attach importance to the time period of
nammAzhwAr as it has different time periods; some theories claim 3100
B.C (5000 years ago) and others claim 8 th century A.D. However, the
pAsurams composed by nammAzhwAr contain the depths and visions of
philosophy equal to vEdAs, (or even more). These pAsurams along with
those of other azhwArs were onlt compiled by nAthamuni and later
propagated by embermAnAr (Sri Ramanujar) and hence, is even
considered as the foster mother of ThiruvAimozhi (nammAzhwAr's 1102
pAsurams).
nammAzhwAr's parents, kAri (a veLLALa agriculturist) of
Thirukkurugoor and udhayanangai, the childless couple, after praying
to the Lord AdhinAthA, (who himself had announced through the archakA
that his amsam would be born to them soon) were blessed with a male
child with a divya tEjas in the year pramadhi, vaikAsi tamil month
and visAkam nakshatram on a Friday (an incarnation of VishvaksEnA,
the Chief administrator of MahAvishNu). The parents' happiness was
short-lived only as the baby did not even cry, move or open its eyes
or mouth. Since the baby was different from others it was
named "mARan" (later called kArimARan).
It may be noted that this Divine baby AzhwAr did not eat/move; but
did grow like other healthy kids (similar to baby Thirumazhisai
AzhwAr). The grief-stricken parents, due to this unusual uncommon
child went to Lord AdhinAthA, put the "immobile" baby in an emerald
cradle under a tamarind tree besides the temple. This puLiyamaram
(tamarind tree) also is supposed to be "AdhisEshan" (the Serpent of
mahAvishNu) which grew here before the azhwAr's birth. This tree has
flowers, which tield unripened "puLiyngAi" and not a ripened one
(puLiyampazham). This tree, unlike other tamarind tree does not fold
its leaves in the nights; and it is still called uRangAp puLiyamaram
(the tree which does not sleep), like LakshmaNa. (Even today one can
witness this phenomenon ay AzhwArthirunagari. The parents observed
penance by putting the kid in the cradle at the temple daily.
One day when they relaxed by closing their eyes and fell into a short
nap, the "little azhwAr" crawled towards the tree bottom and sat down
crosslegged and closed its eyes. From then on, the divine child grew
in the same state of meditation for 16 years. Needless to say, all
sorts of people in that region from all walks of life; and from all
religions came to see this marvel. The boy was a 16 year old divya
tejas, Golden hued divine form. People affectionately named him
nammAzhwAr(our azhwAr), satakopan, paraankusar, etc. (Brothers, It is
very clear and certain that it is nothing but His grace and order to
bless us with this marvellous AzhwAr who has composed pAsurams whose
depths of meanings will vary with the readers' capabilities and
GnAna /Bhakti to the AzhwAr- A GREAT AZHWAR, REALLY)
The Elephant comes after; while the bell sound can be heard before.
Like that the Graceful Lord had sent a brahmin saint by
name "Madhurakavi" before this azhwAr's birth. This madhurakavi of
Thirukkoilur was on his pilgrimage tour (by walk, of course) to North
India and was fascinated by the Beauty of ayOdhyA. He chose to stay
there. Suddenly one night madhurakavi saw a very bright star (a new
one which was not there before; nor was it seen by others even when
madhurakavi saw it) in the southern direction.
He was pulled by the magnetism of this light (in the nights) and
started his journey back to south following the course and guided
only by THIS SOUTHERN STAR. He found himseld at Lord AhinAthA temple
and the star's brightness in nammAzhwAr's tEjas. He was simply
excited and deeply attracted by the Divine figure and Golden hue of
AzhwAr's face. Since he was a sanskrit and Tamil scholar and a great
philosopher, too he wanted to test the azhwAr, without knowing that
the azhwAr does not talk or open his eyes.
He just threw a small stone into a nearby pond and for that splash
sound, our azhwAr opened his lotus eyes. Madhurakavi asked in tamil
"Seththathin vayiRRil siRiyadhu piRandhAl yetthai thinRu engE
kidakkum?"
(meaning: If the small is born in a dead's body(or stomach), what
will it eat and where will it stay?)
nammAzhwAr, the one who has not opened his mouth since his birth (not
even for food) opened his lips and answered
"aththaith thinRu angE kidakkum" (meaning: It will eat that and stay
there). (Too abstract-Is it not?
The small one refers to the individual soul and the dead one refers
to the gross matter, the body. When the soul enters the body, the
body comes into life; and when it leaves, it becomes a corpse. The
soul experiences the pleasures and pains through the body and its
senses and reaps only what it has sown quite unaware and unconscious
of its true nature of its being part of the Almighty, as His body. So
the soul will eat that and stay there;
When the soul realises its true nature and does prapatti to Him Srman
nArAyaNan (realizing the body/mind and intellect as not attached to
its nature), it will eat His thoughts. verses and pAsurams as
his "annam" and will stay there( at His abode as His servant
rendering service to Him).
Madhurakavi was greatly impressed at AzhwAr's depth of answer and his
philosophy. He prostrated at the feet of AzhwAr and with tears in his
eyes said " O, southern sun! Please take me as your disciple: Please
make me cross the ocean of Births and deaths. Please protect me".
Seeing him at his feet, nammAzhwAr said " Stay with me and write my
pAsurams on Sriya:patih".
>From then on nammAzhwAr sang with utmost Bhakti, pAsurams on Sriman
nArAyaNan and The Lord along with MahAlakshmi on His Garuda appeared
before nammAzhwAr and blessed him. Not only that, my dear brothers.
It is also told that all perumAls from various thiruthalams (Divya
Desams) appeared one by one before him and got their quota of
pAsurams. Such is the Greatness of "our AzhwAr". nammAzhwAr stayed
under that tamarind tree for 35 years. His pasurams are compared to
essence of Rig, yajur, sama adharvaN vEdAs. After living for 35 years
he wished to reach His abode (and so did the Lord, too).
Madhurakavi's eyes were welled with tears and was immensely pleased
and excited when he saw his AchAryA became one with the Lord and
united with Him. Simulataneously, he was also blessed with a swarNa
vigrahA (Golden statute) of nammazhwAr which he consecrated at the
Tamarind tree.
He performed daliy ArAdhanA to his AzhwAr and even ignored the Lord
Sriman nArAyaNana since then.
Swami NammAzhwAr was always a favorite for Sri RamAnujA , Sri vEdAntha
dEsikA and all seers of visishtAdvaita, due to its essence of our
great
vaishNavA philosophy and the doctrine of saraNAgathi.
NammAzhwAr composed the following:
1.Thiruviruttam (100 verses as the essence of Rg vEdA)
2.ThiruvAsiriyam (7 verses as the essence of yajur vEdA)
3.Periya ThiruvandhAdhi (87 verses as the essence of atharvaNa vEdA)
4.ThiruvAimozhi (1002 verses as the essence of sAma vEdA)
The sentiments expressed in every single pAsuram of nammAzhwAr reflect
Bhakti ecstasy of nammAzhwAr and will take us to such an interest and
Bhakti for Sriya:pathih sriman nArAyaNa. It is impossible to select
the
best verse as all are equally excellent
parAsara bhattar's thanian on nammAzhwAr:
vAn thigazhum sOlai madhil arangar vAn pugazh mEl/
Aanra thamizh maraigal Ayiraum- EenRa/
mudhal thAi sadagOpan moymbAl vaLarttha/
Edhat thAi ErAmAnujan/
" ThiruvAimozhi' 1000 verses are the vEdAs which declare the
auspicious
qualities of Sri RanganAthA. The natural mother is SatakOpan
(nammAzhwAr) and the foster mother is Sri RamAnujA, since he based
his entire kAlakshEpams on ThiruvAimozhi.
mikka iRainilaiyum meyyAm uyir nilaiyum/
thakka neRiyum thadaiYAgi -thokkiyalum/
Oozh vinaiyum vAzhvinaiyum Odhum kurugaiyOr kOn/
yAzhin isai vEdaththiyal.
"The ThiruvAimozhi(tamil Vedam) composed by kurugaiyOr kOn nammAzhwAr,
contains the five realities namely.,
1. the nature of the Eternal ParamAtma
2. the nature of the Eternal jeevAtma
3. the means for the jeevAtma to
attain the goal of ParamAtma
4. the blocks and hurdles on the way and
5. the goal of life i.e mokshA.
Let us conclude with Sri AlavandhAr's sthOthra rathna verse paying
tribute to Swami NammAzhwAr:
mathA pithA yuvathayas tanayA vibhUthi:
sarvam yadhEva niyamEna madhanvayAnAm
Adhyasya Na: Kulapather VakuLAbhirAmam
Srimath Tadhangri YugaLam praNamAmi MoordhnA
For me and all those associated with me, Swamy NammAzhwAr is always
the Mother, Father, progeny, spouses and all other wealth. At the most
beautiful pair of Thiruvadis of the emperor of our Kulam [Kula
pathi], Swamy NammAzhwAr adorned with the most fragrant divine VakulA
flower garland, adiyEn salutes those holy feet with my head.
Swamy Desikan's tribute in UpakAra Sangraham:
"anthamilA pErinbham arundha yERkkum
adiyOmai aRivudanE yenRum kaatthu
munthai vinai nirai vazhiyil ozhuhAthemmai
munnilayAm Desikar tamm munnE sErtthu
manthiramum manthiratthin vazhiyum kaatti
Vazhippadutthi vaann yERRi adimai koLLa
Tanthai yena ninRa Tanit ThirumAl thALil
talai vaitthOm SATAKOPAN ARULAALE
----Mudal AdhikAram of UpakAra Sangraham
We bow unto the matchless thiruvadigaL of ThirumAl solely due to the
Krupai of Swamy NammAzhwAr, who made us fit to enjoy the measureless
aanandham of Moksham , who protected our eternal Dharma bhUtha
Jn~Anam , who saved us from being swept away by the ancient torrent
of karmaas by placing us at the feet of sadAchAryans, who in turn
initiated us in to Thirumanthiram and Saranagati [Prapatthi] UpAyam
and then helped us climb the steps to Sri Vaikuntam for nithya
Kaimkaryam to Sriya: pathi. [Translation by Sri V Satakopan Swami,
USA]
Swami Nammaazhwaar ThiruvaDigaLE SaraNam
Regards
Namo Narayana
dAsan Madhavakkannan
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