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Sri PVP vyakhyanam of Prathama Jitante stotram shlokam 12.

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M.N.Ramanuja • December 2, 2002 


Sri PVP vyakhyanam of Prathama Jitante stotram shlokam 12.


            		Srimate Ramanujaya Nama:

               Sri PeriyaVachchan Pillai tiruvadigaLE sharaNam 


              shrImat kriShNa samAhvAya namO yAmunasUnavE ;

            yatkaTAkShaika lakShyANAm sulabha: shrIdhara: sadA.


**12.     durgatAvapi jAtAyAm tvadgato mE manoratha:
          yadi nAsham na vindEta tAvatA(a)smi kritI sadA**


Meaning::-- --tvad gata:-- firmly attached to You. --mE-- my. 
--manOratha:-- aspiration. --durgatau jAtAyAm api-- even when born in a 
woeful bad low category of life or even in the worst circumstances. 
--nAsham na vindEta yadi-- if it does not get destroyed. --tAvatA-- by 
this much. --sadA-- for ever. --kritI asmi-- I am satisfied.


Introduction::-- (durgatAvapi etc) God asks "neither retirement from this 
sorrowful samsAra is wanted  nor the attainment of that land which is full 
of happiness is wanted. Will it be a sufficient puruSAhArtha if there is 
merely that eligibility criterion of jnAna and adherance to Him as the 
means and goal (see shlokam 11.). Besides, as in "janmAntarE(a)pi", is it 
not contra-indication to the soul, to sanction more births which prevent 
early reunion with god". Then I say, "Well, do not sanction anything asked 
for in the earlier shlokams. Even if I remain as a samsAri, and more over,  
get entangled in most unenviable circumstances,  and again  not 
materealising the cherished  jnAna (regarding Your divine feet) and 
adherance to it, my aspiration remains only a dream, still I consider 
myself as satisfied as one who has done his duty and is in self control.


VyakhyAnam::-- (durgatAvapi jAtAyam) What is durgati? -- it is a state in 
which all organs except the mind are uncooperative in the body.  That is 
-- owing to debility, as in "aiyyAr kanThamadaikkilum" 
(TiruVaiMozhi-2-9-3),  in the state of soul exiting from the body, in the 
dream state when all the external organs are senseless due to sleep, etc. 
In any of these states of debility.

(tvadgata:) my aspirations  involved in the feet of Yours who is saturated 
with svarUpa rUpa guna and vibhUti. 

(mE manoratha:) the aspirations of mine who am unable to wiggle physically 
out of my indulgence in mundane desires and work for attaining the goal. 

What is manOratha?  It means the action of keeping thinking about an 
object of desire or puruShArtham even if that did not materialize, out of 
deep attachment to that object.

If one asks, "if an aspiration does not materialize, can the action of 
just thinking about it be a source of solace? can the thinking of 
unfulfilled aspiration itself be a source of pleasure?", Well,  a person, 
who enjoyed for a long time in the company of Urvashi, and later lost her 
company owing to the exhaustion of his punya (punya kshayam), even if 
provided with other sources of pleasure, his mind will not cherish them 
and will find comfort in merely thinking about her only and consider it as 
his purushArtham. The same applies here too.

  It is rather sweeter to merely nurture (unfulfilled) aspirations of 
higher distinguished objects than to physically enjoy trivial objects. 

What is the nature of aspirations in respect of god? Well, as in "pitA 
tvam mAtA tvam...", desiring that He alone should be all types of 
relations to me, as in "uNNum shORu paRugu nIr tinnumveRRilaiyumellAm" He 
alone should be all sustenance, nourishment and enjoyment for me, and 
desiring that the means for obtaining  Him should be He alone.  

(yadi nAsham na vindEta) If this aspiration does not suffer a 
discontinuity owing to distraction by other sense objects. "yadi" is used 
here because it is so impossible and rare to come by an unbroken 
continuity in the  aspiration in respect of god in this samsAra where 
trivial sense objects are beckoning all and ruling the roost. The 
inference here is that,  just like the obtainment of happiness by reaching 
a special land (vaikuntham), or like the elimination of sorrow of this 
samsAra, or like the obtainment of the jnAna, even the instilling of this 
aspiration in respect of god is totally dependent on the grace and mercy 
of the lord. 


(tAvatA(a)smi kritI sadA) I consider my duties discharged for all time to 
come, just by harbouring such aspiration with respect to god. Irrespective 
of whether one is in a state of sound health or in a state of diseased 
body, whether one is sitting or sleeping or standing anywhere, or in 
various different births, I am satisfied fully by merely  harbouring such 
an aspiration as much as by attaining the goal itself 
(prApyasiddhiyiRpOlE). This is reflected in the nAradIya sUkta vachanam...


**AsInA vA shayAnA vA tiShThanto yatra kutra vA.
 namo nArAyaNAyEti mantraika sharaNA vayam**     


Meaning:: Whether sitting or sleeping or standing anywhere, we always 
adopt the mantra called "namo narAyaNAya" as the only resort.    


In the previous shlokam, as much sweet as attaining the God tastes, even 
so much sweet does merely having the jnAna also tastes. In this shlokam, 
that concept is pushed to the boundary of sweetness by saying that even 
having that jnAna is not necessary ; it is adequate if merely the 
(unfulfilled) aspiration for that jnAna is harboured in the mind. After 
all, the essence of sweetness of the object worth remembering, is found 
and experienced in the remembering or recalling activity itself. Thus, the 
unboundedness or the limitlessness of the sweetness of the object worth 
remembering (god) is also described.  See "ninaindennuLLE ninRu, nekkum 
kaNgaL ashum pozhuga, ninaindirundE  shiramam thIrndhEn nEmi nediyavanE" 
graced by periyAzhvAr based on this concept alone. 

Also read "nAhantu sakhyo bhajato (a)pi jantUn.....tadva: pratiyAtu 
sAdhunA" in  BhAgavatam 10-32-21,22,23. 

Meaning:::--  Krishna said to gopis "Oh friends! Just to make their 
meditation of mine uninterrupted, I do not show up before the living 
beings who are devoted to me. Girls!  just as a moneyed man who loses all 
his riches becomes filled with the thought of the lost riches and so does 
not think of anything else, so also, I vanished from your sight, so that 
you who left behind all your family world,  may develop stronger thoughts 
regarding Me. Oh dears! you should not feel jealous and dejected with me 
on that account. I can not fully well repay you all even by the ages of 
angels, for mingling with me without any sort of crookedness. Let your 
chains of bondage to samsAra get unlocked for having cut asunder your 
bondages to your families, houses and husbands and children and having 
come to enjoy my company. That is my gift to you." 


---- continued


Adiyen dasan

Ramanuja




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