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                 Sriman Naaraayanaya Namaha: 
                    Srimathe Ramaanujaya Namaha:
                 Srimathe Vedaantha Desikaaya Namaha:

                 
      AzhwArs seeing the Jyothi and Brahmam as Sriman nArAyana

We saw earlier Sri SudarSanA or the Lord is in general praised as 
the Veda, kAla, jyoti swarUpi that we all can see.  
The Lord seems to have willed that he should somehow make himself 
visible out of mercy for all of us, especially for those 
(even gopas) least capable of perceiving him. 

We indicated his will to make Him visible through a verse 
from the vedam.  We retell the famous lines in verse 1.8 of 
Sri rudra praSna namakam since the verses indicate to us 
figuratively why the Lord is seeable in some sense. 
  
`asau yo(a)vasarpati ..
utainam gopA adruSannadruSannuda hArya: 
utainam viSwA bhUtAni sa drushTo mrudayAtina:'
 
asau: the Lord as this Sun
avasarpati - rises and goes around
enam: this suRya rUpi
gopa: uta: - even the cow herders
adruSan - see
utaharya: - even the girls bringing water
adruSan - see
eNam - this suRya rupi
viSwabutAno uta: all other beings also
druShta: seen and worshipped thus
sa: this sUraya swarUpe
na: us
mrutayAti: make happy or let live happily.

We read the chAndogya upanishat 3.1.1 would say  

Om asau va Adityo devamadhu.

The rishis worshipped Him also as sUrya and gAyatri 
in the main parts of Vedas.

Then the upanishat would equate Aditya and gAyatri and declare
that here is even greater and more preceding one and it is the 
purusha.

tato jyAyAgumca purusha:

Thus after gradually elevating the concept,  it would declare in 
section 
3.7:

asmin anta: purushe jyothi.
 
Also he verse 1.6.8 in this upanishat would say in utgIta upAsana: 

Ata ya esho antaraditye hiraNmayam purusho druSyate|

The Lord who shines like gold in the Sun is pointed out to be sriman 
nArAyana:

tasya yathA kapyAsam puNdarIka meva...

The Lord's eyes are red like lotus... There is no doubt that the 
Sriman nArAyana is pointed out here since He is known as 
punAdarIkAksha.
This is one of the lines that caused a rift between Sri Ramanuja 
and Sri yAdhava prakAsa.

Thus the Lord is in intense brightness(also).

How does he reside in intensely bright objects such as Sun?

Not very differently from the way he resides everywhere else.

There was a need to make this argument as a part of establishing 
the concept of Brahma upasana.

Hence the Brahma sutram in antarAdhikaranam will expound the 
antaryAmi 
tatvam as follows:

antastaddharmopadeSAt:  ( Br. Su. 1.20 )

'because of being in the eye and the Sun 
with His essential attribute according to upadeSam'

antah: - being within the sun and the eye as the antatyAmi
tat dharma: - his essential attribute or nature
upadeSAt - the sruti preaching thus

The chAndogya upsanishat in section 1,6,7 will preach the wonderful 
bhagAvAn as the seeable light residing in the Suns as well as the 
eye. 
We saw some references above. And it is also why we say that 
the brightness of a person is seen in his eyes.  
Thus He is established to be same everywhere 
by bringing things as diverse as the Sun and the eye 
and connecting them through Him.

But how same is he in such diverse objects? 
Can we all become or are already Him?

'Stop it. do not rush to become the Brahmam,' exhorts the next 
sUtram.

bhedavyapadeSaccAnya: ( Br. Su. 1.21 )

'There is really another one on account of 
the declaration of distinction'

bheda: - difference
vyapadeSaT - because preached as
ca: - and
anya: - is different from all the Jivas including 
        the shining principle in the Sun

The Brihadaranyaka upanishat 7.3 would declare:

ya: pridivyAm tishtam pridivyA antaro yam pridivI na veda 
yasya pridivI Sariram ya pridivimantare 
yamayatyesha ta AtmAntaryAmyamruta:

He who resides in the Sun, who the Sun does not know, 
he who has Sun as the body, and he who rules from 
within the Sun is your Atma, antaryAmi, and amrutham.

The fact that even the powerful sun does not know Him supports 
the observation that He is at least one step beyond the Sun. 
What we cannot know is His true rUpam and intention. 
He completely rules us in that sense. 
But we do know him in many ways otherwise. Hence the brahmopaSana.

This is emphasized in the another slokam 3.1.15 
in Brihadaranyaka upanishat:

ya: sarveshu bhuteshu tishDan sarvebhyo bhutebhyo(a)ntare yam 
sarvANi bhutani na viduryasya sarvAni bhutAni Sariram ya: 
sarvANi bhutAnyantaro yamayatyesha ta AtmAntaryAmyamruta. 

However it is accepted that He is the paramjyoti and viSwa 
and vishnu and worshipped as Sriman nArAyana, since he alone 
is suitable for ekAnta worship in this life.

Thus we will study how our azhwArs saw Him.  Especially our interest 
is 
in finding out how much respect they paid to the Vedas and 
what aspects of Vedas they emphasized a lot.

Let us first understand that all Veda sampradAyams
accept Vedas as an authority. However different parts 
are emphasized to establish different schools of thought. 
Sri Vaishnavam philosophically respects all parts of 
the Vedas equally in order to avoid extreme interpretations 
that will void this or that part of the Vedas prima facie.

In this context, the azhwArs took all the Vedas 
as a source of inspiration and also took the parts of Vedas
that will help them worship Sriman Narayana alone 
as the parabrAhmam.  Why? all the differences merge into him since
He created everything else, as we saw in the bhedaupadeSA sUtram
and various other supporting statements from the sruti.

Sri nammAzvar would mention in TiruvAimozhi 9 
in 'orAyiramAi' section in Prabandam verse 3579 as 
follows:

avane yakal nyAlam pataitidantAn
avane yahtuNdumizhn tAnaLantAn
avane yavanu mavanu mavanum
avane marollAmu marintaname.
 
He exhorts us to realize the Lord is this 
thing, that thing, and everything else. Thus all the 
power and brilliance of the stars and Sri SudarSana is Him only, 
though it is a visible form for all of us to see.

In PerumanIlpatai, Prabandam verse 2782, 
Sri namAlwar would sing as follows:

nambi yaitten kurunkuti ninra, ach
cenpo netika zhumtiru mUrtiyai
umpar vAna r**Adiyam Jyoti**yai
yempi rAnaiyen solli marappano

He would address Him as the sheen in the gold, and Adi paramjyoti.

We saw Him as all brillance and happiness and residing 
in the Vaikuntam per the quote from TripAd vidhuthi 
Narayanopanishad. (TripAd vibhudhi is another name for vaikunta 
vibhudi). 

In 'UnilvAzh', Prabandam verse 2815, Sri namAlwAr would 
extol how happy he feels when he sings about him:

kativAr taNNantuzhAik kaNNanviN NavarperumAn
pativA namiranta **paraman pavitiran**sIr
cetiyAr noikalketap patintu kutaintAti
adiyen vAimatuttup parukik **kalittene**

The azhwAr would call him as param pavithram just as the Vedas would.

In 'aNivathu', Prabandam verse 2866, Sri namAlwar would label Him 
as all the trimUrthis put together. 

punarkum **ayanAm** azhikum **aranAm**
punartatan  **unthi**yo tAkattu manni
punartta tiruvAkit tanmArvil tAncer
punarpan perumpunarp pengum pulane

Why? The vedam says 

sa: brahma sa: shiva: sa: hari:

Sri namAlwar would also praise the beauty of this Jyoti swarUpi 
in Prabandam verse 2898 in 'mudiJyoti' section:

katuraikkil tAmarainin kaNpAtam kaiyovvA
**cuturaita nan ponnul tirumEni oLiovvAtu**
otturaittiv vulakunnaip pukazhvellAm perumpAlum
patturaiyAip purkenre kAttu**mAl paramJyoti**

He would address Him as 'tiruMal paramJyoti' whose shine is 
incomparable and trancends even the gold shining 
hot and beautiful under the melting process.

Sri namAlwar would praise this Jyoti swarUpi just as much as 
the Vedas would in 'pukazhul oruvan' section
in Prabandam verse 2930:

pukazhu oruvan enko! poruvilcIrp pumi enko!
tikazhumtaN paravai enko! tIeNko! vAyu enko!
nikazhumA kAsam enko! nILsutar eranDum enko!
ekazhvilv vanaittum enko kaNNanai kUvumare!

The azhwAr would address Him as his king and mention that He is the
one best praised and well-known, He is the famous earth, 
fire, vAyu, AkAsam, two kinds of jyoti, 
and all that are highly valued.

Note that AkAsam is another name for the Brahmam not the simple sky.

Sri namAlwar would praise this Jyoti swarUpi just 
as much as the Vedas and puranas would
in the section in Prabandam verse 2932:

pangayak kaNNan enko! pavaLaccv vAyan enko!
ankathir adiyan enko! anjana vaNNan enko!
cenkathir mudiyan enko! tirumArvan enko!
cankucak karatan enko! cAthimAnikkat taiye!

Here the Lord is praised in a personal form as worshipped 
in the puranas.

Sri namAzhwar would call Him first among the first 
just as much as the Vedas would in 'seya tAmarai' section 
in Prabandam verse 2953:

mUva rAkiya muRtti yaimutal mUvark kumutal vanrannai
cAva muLLana nIkku vAnait tatanka talkitan tAnrannait
deva devanait tenni lankai eriyaccherra villiyai
pAva nAsanaip panga yattadan kaNNa Naippa vumino

Here the azhwAr asks us to sing Him having 
the following characteristics:
He is the three murthis, also the first before 
all the three murthis, he would remove all the sins, 
He is ksheerabdi sayanan, deva devan, and pApa nAsan.

Sri namAzhwar would start a set of verses in 'payilum cutaroLi' 
by addressing Him as a 'Jyothi' in Pradandam verse 2963:

payilum cutaroLi mUrthiyaip pangayak kaNNanai 
payilum iniyanam pArkatal cernta paramanai
payilum tiruvutai yaryava relum avar kanDIr 
payilum perappitai toremmai yALum paramare.

Here also the AzhwAr would address using the various meaning of the
word 'payil'. In short he addresses him as jyoti, kaNNan, 
ksherabdi sayanan, etc. 

Sri namAzhwar would bring out the unity of the three murthis 
in Sriman nArAyana in the beginning of the section called 'muniye'
in Prabandam verse 3766:

muniye! nAnmukane! mukkaN NappA, en pollAk 
kanivAit tAmarak katkaru mAnikkame! en kaLvA
taniyen Aruyire! entalai misaiyAy tavantittu
eninAn pOgalot tenonrum mayamsey yelennaiye

He would address him as 'nAn mugan' the brahma, 
mukkanNappa, the Siva, and karu mAnikkam,
the shining nIlamega shyAmaLan, the vishnu. 
He would also address him as the 'thief' who stole him heart, 
and also as his very life.

Sri PeriAzhwAr in pallAndu verse 11 would address Him 
as 'pavitirane'.He would also describe the Lord kaNNan 
walking toward him as the lightning and the merciful cloud  
in acchoparuvam  verse 97: 'minniyal megam'. 

There is also beautiful aligory. The Sri SudarSana 
tatvam taking over simple Aditya upASana is described by a story 
in which the bhagaVan covering the sun with his cakra. 
This is known as 'Azhiyodu sUriyanai maraital.' There are 
various references to this tatvam by many AzhwArs. 

Sri tirumangai AzhwAr would resonate with namAzhwAr and also 
with the Vedas when he mentions the the Lord is cit, acit, 
(the meaning of) the Vedas, and three mUrthis, and the 
jeshta (first) murthy in verse 1249 in 'potalarda' section:

yAvarumA yAvaiyumA yezhilvedap porulkaLumAi
moovarumAi mudalAya mUrthyamarn turaiyumidam
mAvarumtiN pataimannai venrikoLvAr mannunAnkai
devarumcen riraincupozhil tirutdeva nartokaiye.

Thus seeing the brahmam through Sriman nArAyanan and other 
jyoti swarUpi forms is an **established** tradition. 
The Lord is the material jyoti, the jyoti within 
the jyoti, and the jyoti in all that is not jyoti.

Let us joyously recite the following verse from the vedam and 
perform saranAgati under His feet - 
this verse praises Him is pavitram, paramam, amrutham, jyoti, 
etc. in just a few lines:

caraNam pavitram vitatam purANam 
yena putastarati dushkrutani
tena pavitrena Sudhdena putA:
atipApmAnavarAtintarema
lokasya dvaramarcimat pavithram
jyotishmatbhrAjamAnam mahasvat
amrudasya dhAra bahudha dohamAnam
caraNanno loke sudhitAndadhAtu|


adiyen,
Ramanuja dasan
U. Ve. R. T. V. Varadarajan










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