AndAl tiruppAvai - "vedamanaittukkum vittu"
From the Bhakti List Archives
• August 18, 1999
contd .. "nArAyananE nammakkE parai taruvan" - we saw how vedAnta, gItA and this verse give the same meaning. Now let us see how AndAl explains something more in the same verse. In chapter 2 , 12th verse Krishna preached the difference between the "Reals", paramAtma and jIvAtma. In his caramaslOka - chapter 18, 66th verse - he says "mAm Ekam saranam vraja" , meaning - surrender "only" to me. By specifying "mAm Ekam - only me", whom does he negate. Is it the various others means like karma yOga or gnAna yOga, or other deities like brahma or indra. Not both. Because, by saying "sarva dharmAn parityajya" he advices to abandon all the other means. By saying "mAm saranam vraja" he advices us to abandon the other gods. When both these are cleared then what does he mean by adding the word "Ekam - only me" "ittAl swIkArattil upAya bhAvattai tavirkiradu". This is a very subtle meaning in our sampradaya. Even when we surrender absolutely to the Lord, there will be a small feeling at one corner of our mind that "WE SURRENDERED" to the Lord i.e. we feel that "SaranAgati is a way I have selected to reach the Lord". This feeling is dangerous. We must be devoid of this feeling also. We must understand that "the Lord himself made me surrender". TirumAlai 38th verse - "kAmbara talai Siraittu". Here "talai Siraittu" would mean abandoning other means like karma or gnAna yOga. "kAmbara" would mean without even root of the hair - without even the feeling that "I surrendered". Swami Desikan beautifully explains this as "swAmin swaSEsham swavaSam swabharatvE nirbharam, swadattam swadIya swartham swasmin nyasyasi mAm swayam". "Me - your servitude, your controlled,your protected, body given by you, knowledge given by you,for your sake, you made to surrender in your lotus feet" Is there anything which is left to us here ? Nammalwar's divine words are " en unarvinulle iruttinEn - aduvum avanadu innarule" - that I meditate and focus on my Lord- is also due to his grace and not my effort. This is meant by "Ekam " in gIta. All these meanings where just included in AndAl's verse by a single syllable "E" - "nArAyananE". If she has said "nArAyanan parai taruvAn" it would not have negated our thinking that we surrendered. By adding the syllable "E" - (Evakaram - avadhAranam), it means "He and only He - not even the SaranAgati which I perform, would be the means for attaining His feet" The same meaning is explained in the following also : nAganamiSai nambiran saran"E" saran, mAm"Eva" ye prapadyante, Arenakku nin pAdam"E" saranagattandu ozhindAi. Sastra and gIta have put these meanings (difference between jIva and para, that the Lord fulfills desires,and that the Lord only is the means not even our thinking) in different places. But our incomparable andAl has neatly explained all these meanings in just 4 words in the same place "nArAyananE nammakkE parai taruvAn" andAl tiruvadigalE Saranam. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
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