SrI UpakAra Sangraham -- III (14)

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srI:

 

SrI UpakAra Sangraham - III (14)

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niryANa adikAram

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Section - 10: SrI NammAzhvAr reveals all these so far described, in the first

verse of his work, Thiruviruttham.

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Sub-section: 1- Word-by-word meaning of the first verse (continued)

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The word-by-word commentary by SwAmi Desikan continues further:

“uyiraLippAn†– unakku ananyArha-SEshamAi vaitthu, asatkalpamAik kidantha

Atmasvroopatthai ‘dAsabhootOham’ enkiRapadiyai nithyamAka anubhavikkap

paNNuvAn.

The expression of “uyiraLippAn†in the verse is beautifully commented by

SwAmi Desikan. Our Atma exists only as a dAsa of the Lord and His devotees. In

the absence of such feeling or awareness, it is equal to non-existence. When we

were not aware of the difference between the Atma and our physical body, then

also we were not in existence, as the Atma-j~nAnam did not blossom then. After

our accidental contact with an AchArya or a devotee of the Lord, we started

learning about ourselves. Slowly we learnt, even though theoretically, that we

are not the body, but the Atma that has taken residence in the body. That

knowledge was enough to give us life, in real term. But, by the grace of the

Lord, we started to listen to the discourses of our AchAryas or their learned

disciples. We had the opportunity to learn the Divya Prabandam, in particular,

Thiruvaimozhi of SrI NammAzhvAr, which grasped our attention fully and deeply.

When we started studying his

verses, we found the expressions, “adiyEnâ€, “dAsan†and the like. We

learnt that these words refer to the AzhvAr, whenever he mentioned about

himself. We also came to know that the essential nature of the Atma is

‘j~nAna’, knowledge. But only when studied the second verse in the 8th

Thiruvaimozhi in the Eighth Centum, we learnt the word, “adiyEnâ€, is the

true definition of the Atma. That is, the dAsya bhava, being the servant of the

Lord and His devotees is the true definition of our Self. Only after that

revelation, we got the life in fact.

Till then, we had been just as an acit – insentient – a material thing.

Now, when we recall the earlier existence, it appears we were no different from

a life-less stone!

This is what the AzhvAr means by the expression, “uyiraLippAnâ€. Now we

study SwAmi Desikan’s commentary in detail:

unakku ananyArha-SEshamAi vaitthu –

Here, “unakku†means the Lord. “ananyArha-SEshamAi vaitthu†means:

despite the fact that we are servants of You alone and none else, we remained

like a lifeless matter (asatkalpamAik kidantha)

“Atmasvroopatthai ‘dAsabhootOham’ enkiRapadiyai nithyamAka anubhavikkap

paNNuvAn.â€-- In order to make us realize the essential nature of the Atma

(Atma-svaroopa) as the servant of You. Not merely to make us realize this, but

to make the realization a permanent one – “nityamAka anubhavikka†– To

make us experience this awareness for ever.

For this, what the Lord did? The AzhvAr answers it next:

“enninRa yOniyumAi piRanthAi!†– You took births in all types of beings.

We now see SwAmi Desikan’s commentary:

“dEva-tiryak-manushya-sthAvarangkaL enkiRa ellAp prakAratthAlum

pramANa-siddhangkaLAi ninRa bhoota-jAtangkaL nAlilum avaRROdu sajAteeyan

ennalAmpadi SrIjanma-rahasyatthiRpadiyE, satyamAi,

j~nAna-sankOcAdi-dOsha-prasanga-rahita-mumAi,

nitya-nirdOsha-Suddha-sattvamaya-divyamangala-vigraha-pariNAma-Atmaka-mumAi,

svEcchA-mAtra-hEtuka-mAi, karma-kruta-kAla-niyama-rahita-mAi,

sAdhuparitrANAdi-mAtra-prayOjana-mAi,

vyooha-vyoohAntara-vibhava-vibhavAntara-roopa-mAyuLLa avatAra-varga-tthAlE,

‘nilavarampila pala piRapAi oLivaru muzhunalam’ ennumpadi piRanthAi.â€

Now, we take up the detail study of the commentary:

“dEva-tiryak-manushya-sthAvarangkaL enkiRa ellAp prakAratthAlum

pramANa-siddhangkaLAi ninRa bhoota-jAtangkaL nAlilum†–

We know, from the scriptural authorities as well as in direct perception, that

there are mainly four types of beings. They are: devas, animals, humans and

plants. The Lord took births in all these types; and

“avaRROdu sajAteeyan ennalAmpadi†– He took birth in these types of

beings in such a manner that He remained without any distinction from them. He

appeared the same others in that class of life.

“SrIjanma-rahasyatthiRpadiyE

nitya-nirdOsha-Suddha-sattvamaya-divyamangala-vigraha-pariNAma-Atmaka-mumAi,â€

--

“SrIjanma-rahasyatthiRpadiyE†-- According to the secret of the Lord’s

incarnations.

This refers to the Bhagavadgita SlOkas spoken by the Lord Himslef revealing the

secret of His incarnations. There are four Slokas (5 to 8) in the fourth

Chapter. To make our job easy, Swami Desikan himself summarizes the message

conveyed by these verses:

“satyamAi, j~nAna-sankOcAdi-dOsha-prasanga-rahita-mumAi,†---

All His births are real, (satyam). The Lord says in the first Sloka:

“bahooni mE vyateetAni janmani tava ca arjuna /†– Many births of Mine

have passed away, Oh Arjuna, as well as many of yours!

By this, the Lord confirms the reality of His births. They are not myth or

illusion or mAya or untrue. This is what SwAmi Deikan emphasizes by the

expression: “satyamAiâ€.

“j~nAna-sankOcAdi-dOsha-prasanga-rahita-mumAi,†– The Lord is born out of

His own free will, without in the least giving up any of the special qualities

of His. There is no shrinkage in His consciousness or awareness; He Who is not

being born, is born: The AzhvAr says: “piRappiliyAi pal piRavip peru-mAyanâ€

– though not being born, yet, He takes many births as He is wonderful! So,

there is no question of death for Him, even though He takes births. This is

revealed by Him in the next Sloka:

“ajOpi san avyayAtmA bhootAnAm eeSvarOpi san /

prakrutim svAmadhishThAya sambhavAmi AtmamAyayA //â€

(Though I am unborn and inexhaustible in My own nature, though I am the Lord of

all beings, yet abiding in My own nature, I am born of My own free will.)

This is conveyed by Swami Desika thus:

 

“nitya-nirdOsha-Suddha-sattvamaya-divyamangala-vigraha-pariNAma-Atmaka-mumAi,â\

€ –

His births are real; devoid of any bit of blemish; they are of suddha-sattva

(pure sattva quality, without the touch of rAjasa and tAmasa qualities). The

bodies He assumes during these births are divine forms, though ordinary people

will not be able to see His true form with their material eyes; as His form is

beyond the grasp of our sensual perception.

SwAmi Desikan further says:

“svEcchAmAtra-hEtuka-mAi,†– We have already noted the Lord’s own words

in the Gita, where he says. “I am born of My own free will.†He is not under

the control of any one else, as He alone is the Master of masters –

sarvESvaran.

SwAmi Desikan continues:

“karma-kruta-kAla-niyama-rahitamAi†-- His births are not subject either to

any act of His or karmas, unlike in our case. He is also not subject to the

control of time; that is, no one can decide that He should be born at such a

time or for such a duration etc.

According to the scriptures, this prAkruta universe is under the control of

time. Our births are pre-determined; the duration of our life is also

pre-decided on the basis of our previous karmas. The Lord is beyond such

limitations. He Himself decides the time of His birth, the duration etc., as He

says in the Gita:

“yadA yadA hi dharmasya glAnirbhavati Bharata /

abhyutthAnam adharmasya tadA AtmAnam srujAmyaham //â€

In this, the Lord indicates the reason for His decision to take births in the

world.

He says: “I create Myself in the world, whenever there is decline of dharma,

and rise of adharma, Oh BhArata!â€

It is clear that there is no restriction as to the time of His birth. Whenever

people abandon the duties assigned to them by scriptures in accordance with the

four castes and four stages of life; and whenever there is rise of opposition to

the dharma, ‘I Myself decide to take birth out of My own will.’ This is to

set right things and to restore order in the society. For example, His

incarnations as VAmana, Narasimha, ParsurAma, SrI RAma, SrI KrIShNa etc.

It is not only for restoring dharma, but for something a more important

purpose, the Lord takes births in the world, says SwAmi Desikan:

“sAdhuparitrANAdimAtra-prayOjanamAi,†– For the protection of good people

and the like.

The Lord is so powerful that He can restore dharma even from sitting in His

abode, without taking births. But, there are good people here, who are deeply

devoted to Him. For their sake, He takes births, as He Himself says in the Gita:

“paritrANAya sAdhoonAm vinASAya ca dushkrutAm /

dharmasamsthApanArthAya sambhavAmi yugE yugE //â€

(For the protection of the good, also for the destruction of the evil-doers and

for the firm establishment of dharma, I am born from age to age.)

All these purposes can be achieved by the all-powerful Lord even while being in

His abode. There is no need for him to come down to this earth. Here, we must

recall the excellent explanation given by SrI-bhAshyakAra as to why He decides

to come down for the protection of the good:

‘They are the foremost among the Vaishnavas, who have taken refuge in Me.

These devotees cannot get support, sustenance etc., for themselves without

perceiving Me. They regard even a moment’s time without Me as a thousand

Kalpas. They become broken in every limb because of the separation from me. So I

am born from age to age in the forms of gods, men etc., for protecting them by

affording them the opportunity to behold My form and acts and to converse with

Me.â€

The other purposes like the destruction of evil-doers are incidental and minor

compared to the protection of His devotees.

SwAmi Desikan indicates the various types of incarnations of the Lord:

“vyooha-vyoohAntara-vibhava-vibhavAntararoopamAyuLLa avatAra-vargatthAlEâ€

–

According to the scriptures, in particular, SrI PAncharAtra, the Lord’s

incarnations are of four five kinds: His primary form is Para – in SrI

Vaikuntam, where he is known as Para VAsudEva. Then, for the sake of creation,

protection and destruction of the universe, He takes the vyooha form, known as

Vyooha VAsudEva. Thereafter, He descends into other vyooha forms, known as

vyoohAntara forms, which are three in number. SankarshNa, Pradhyumna and

Aniruddha – each for the three purposes just mentioned. Following these, he

takes births in various forms which are known as vibhavAntAra. They include the

main ten avatAras: Matsya, Koorma, VarAha, Narasimha, VAmana, BhArgava RAma, SrI

Dasaratha RAma, BalarAma, SrI KrishNa and Kalki (which he is yet to take in

future). Besides these, He is present in the hearts of all beings as antharyAmi.

Finally, He takes the form of idols in the Temples and homes, known as archa

avatAra. So the number of His births is

countless. Here, SwAmi Desikan quotes a passage from a verse of SrI NammAzhvAr:

‘nilaivarambila pala piRappAi oLivaru muzhunalam’ ennumpadi piRanthAi.’,

--

We may see the verse in full:

“eLivarum iyalvinan nilaivarmbila palapiRappAi

oLitharu muzhunalam muthalila kEdila veedAm

theLitharu nilaimaiyathu ozhivilan muzhuvathum iRaiyOn

aLivarum aruLinOdu akatthanan puRatthanan amainthE.†(Thiruvaimozhi, 1-3-2)

(The Lord takes births for which there is no rule; nor high or low in regard to

the state. But in every incarnation, He shines with His countless auspicious

qualities. However, He maintains simplicity and lowliness despite being the

highest of the highest. He confers on His devotees a clear vision and liberation

too. He grants these out of great compassion. He is the easiest to approach for

His devotees while inaccessible for others.)

With all these aspects, You took births in every form of life, including that

of the lowest, in order to save His devotees, says SrI NammAzhvAr. This much so

far.

 

(To continue)

dAsan

Anbil S.SrInivAsan)

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