SrI sArasAram -- I (3)

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srI:

 

SrI sAra sAram – I (3)

--

I – ThirumantrAdhikAram

--

Introduction (continued)

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SwAmi Desikan now gives a general introduction in regard to the Dvaya mantra:

“ithil, padangkaLilE SEshiyumAi, SaraNyamumAi prApyamumAith thORRina

para-tattvaththaip patnI-vigraha-viSEshangkaLAlE viSishTamAka veLiyidukaiyAlum,

madhyama-padaththil Sabda-artha-svabhAvangkaLAlE samkshiptamAith thORRina

upAya-viSEshaththai anushTaAna mukaththAlE kATTukaiyAlum, mantramAi,

ashaT-karNamaka upadEsikka vENdina cErththiyAlum, thirumantraththilE piRanthu

dvayaththilE vaLarnthu enkira kramaththAlum, anantharam dvayam anusandEyam.â€

 

Meaning:

 

Once the jIva has learnt practicing meditation on the Thirumantra, he should

then take up this Dvaya mantra for learning to practice.

“ithil, padangkaLilE†-- From the words of this Thirumantra.

SwAmi Desikan gives a gist of the knowledge obtained from the words

constituting this mantra:

“SEshiyumAi, SaraNyamumAi prApyamumAith thORRina para-tattvam†--

The Ultimate Principle is known as the Master of all, the Protector and the Goal

to be attained.

Once these are known, the Dvaya mantra teaches us the special features of this

Lord, says SwAmi Desikan:

“patnI-vigraha-viSEshangkaLAlE viSishTamAka veLiyidukaiyAlum†--

The special features of the Lord that we come to know in the Dvaya are: He has

SrI as His Consort; He has a special form.

SwAmi Desikan next takes up the word that constitutes as the middle of the

Thirumantra:

“madhyama-padaththil Sabda-artha-svabhAvangkaLAlE samkshiptamAith thORRina

upAya-viSEshaththai anushTaAna mukaththAlE kATTukaiyAlumâ€--

The middle constituent of the Thirumantra reveals the best means to be adopted,

that is, prapatti, in a precise manner, directly through the utterance of the

word, and indirectly through the sense of the word. The Dvaya mantra teaches the

practical aspect of this means.

SwAmi Desikan refers to other features of the Dvaya:

“mantramAi,†-- It is also a mantra to be taught and learnt by the teacher

and the disciple respectively.

Dvaya is also a mantra because it is taught in an exclusive manner, as in the

case of the Thirumantra:

“ashaT-karNamaka upadEsikka vENdina cErththiyAlum,†– This mantra also is

to be taught in the one-to-one manner, so that it does not reach the ears of a

third person. The term, ‘ashaT-karNa’ means not to be heard by six ears.

Every one of us has two ears. When the teacher instruct a mantra secretly to his

disciple, besides the two ears of the teacher, it is heard by the disciple’s

two years, the total number being four. If another person is close by, then the

mantra will be heard by two more ears, bringing the total to six. According to

the rule of mantrOpadEsa, if a mantra is heard by three persons, it no more

remains a mantra. Three becomes a crowd, that is, a crowd of six ears. Such a

situation should be strictly avoided while an important mantra is being

instructed by a teacher to a student as a formality. This point is conveyed by

SwAmi Desikan in the above-mentioned expression.

Swami Desikan makes yet another significant revelation:

“thirumantraththilE piRanthu dvayaththilE vaLarnthu enkira kramaththAlumâ€

--

When the first-ever mantra is received by a disciple from his AchArya, he is

supposed to have been born. There is no mystery in this. All of us are aware

that a person who has undergone upanayana, when he is taught the GAyatri mantra,

he is called ‘dvijA’, twice-born. The first birth is when he comes out of

the womb of his mother. At the stipulated time, if he gets GAyatri mantrOpadEsa,

it is becomes another birth for him. This is for all. But, in the case of a SrI

VaishNavite, he is considered truly born only when he becomes a vaishNavite, a

devotee of the Lord VishNu. This occurs as soon as he gets upadEsa of the

Thirumantra, after the samAsryaNam. When he receives the second mantra, that is,

the Dvaya, from the AchArya, he is considered to have taken another birth, as in

the case of Gayatri-upadEsa. On such a high pedestal is placed this Dvaya

mantra. That is why it is called, mantra-ratnam, a precious gem among mantras.

As this is the order in which, this Dvaya mantra is taught, while practicing

the japa too, the same order is to be followed. This is what SwAmi Desikan says

through these words:

“anantharam dvayam anusandEyam.†-- The practice of the Dvaya mantra follows

immediately after the Thirumantra anushTAnam.

 

Explanation:

In this paragraph, Swami Desikan gives the reasons for the Dvaya coming only

after the Thirmantra. The reasons are four, according to SwAmi Desikan:

1) In the Thirumantra, by the first word (praNava), that the Lord is the SEshi

is established; by the second word (namah) is shown that the sentient being is

taking the responsibility of surrendering as the means; by the third and last

word, (nArAyaNAya), it is known that the Lord is the ultimate goal

(parama-purushArtha), the Bliss to be enjoyed by the cEthana (the sentient

being). Such a Lord along with His Consort, SrI and His beautiful form is

revealed by the Dvaya mantra.

2) The Dvaya mantra shows the way to practice the prapatti, which the second

word in the Thirumantra reveals, both directly and indirectly, is the best of

means.

3) As the Thirumantra is to be instructed by the AchArya to his disciple in

seclusion without the presence of a third person, the same rule is applicable in

the case of the Dvaya mantra too.

4) Since one gets the knowledge about his essential nature from the

Thirumantra, elders used to say that one is considered as truly born only after

he gets this knowledge. As he learns the method of adopting the means from the

Dvaya mantra, the sentient being is said to grow in the Dvaya mantra. It is

because of this order, that is, growth is possible only after the birth of a

person, the Dvaya mantra follows closely the Thirumantra.

 

(To continue)

dAsan

Anbil S.SrInivAsan

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