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From the Bhakti List Archives

Parthasarati Dileepan • February 18, 1995 


In this continuing series of twelve posts, twelve of the
many guNaas that are innate to Brahman is discussed
with illustrations from aazhvaar paasurams.  These
twelve guNaas demonstrate God's eternal love for us
jeevaathmaas.  They are sowseelyam, vaathsalyam,
maardhavam, aarjavam, sowhaartham, saamyam,
kaaruNyam, maadhuryam, gaambeeryam, owdhaaryam,
chaathuryam, and sthairyam.  The subject of this post is
aarjavam.

aarjavam: Consistency among thought, speech, and
          action.  Manam, vaakku, kaayam orumitthu
          irukkai.

This kalyaaNa guNam encourages us to develop mahaa
visvaasam that our Lord will save us, consistent with the
promise he made in the carama slokam of sri bhagavath
geethai.

Sarva dharmaan parithyajya maamEkam saraNam vraja
ahamthvaa SarvapaapEbyO mOkshayishyaami maa@uca:

One really needs to understand the full import of the
above from an aachaaryaa.  In short, the Lord responds
to arjunan's desperation that it would be almost
impossible for him to pursue karma, NYaana, bhakti, ..,
by saying, "don't you worry; abandon all of these
methods and simply surrender to me, I will save you
from all your sins and grant you mOksham."

This promise comes from our Lord's manam, vaakku,
and kaayam in unison, thus revealing aarjavam.  Now, let
us examine these three aspects.

Manam:
--------
Nammaazhvaar maintains in periya thiruvandhathi that
the Lord is always thinking of rewarding his devotees,
"un adiyaarkku en seyvathu enRE irutthi nee."


onRuNdu seNGkaNmaal! yaanuraippathu, unnadiyaark
kenseyva NnenRE yiriththin^ee,-ninpugazhil
vaiguntham sinthaiyilum maRRinithO, neeyavarkku
vaikuntha menRaruLum vaan?

          --  periya thiruvandhaathi (53)

Aazvaar says to our Lord, "I do declare that the thought
of rewarding your devotees is constantly in your mind;
but is the vaigundham you are offering better than the
blissful delight of dwelling in your divine qualities here
and now?

vaakku:
--------
Sri ANdaaL refers to this promise, verbalized to arjunan,
in "nennalE vaay nErndhaan" (Thiruppaavai 16).

\bt
naayaganaay ninRa nandhagOpan udaiya
kOyil kaappaanE! kodi thOnRum thOraNa
vaayil kaappaanE! maNik kadhavam thaaL thiRavaay
aayar siRumiyarOmukku aRai paRai
maayan maNi vaNNan nennalE vaay nErndhaan
thooyOmaay vandhOm thuyil ezhap paaduvaan
vaayaal munnam munnam maatraadhE ammaa! nee
nEya nilaik kadhavam neekkElOr embaavaay
\et

The first 15 paasurams of thiruppaavai describe how the
young girls of gOkulam have gathered in the morning to
gently awaken Lord Krishna.  In paasuram 16, the group
approaches the gates of the nandhagOpan's palace and
appeals to the gate keeper to open the gate.  They remind
the gate keeper of the Lord's promise to give them an
exceptional musical instrument.  They beseech the gate
keeper not to refuse entry into the palace so that they
could sing His praise and gently awaken our Lord of
deep blue diamond hue."  The "aRaipaRai"  is the
moksham that our Lord promised (vaay nErndhaan),
earlier to arjunan (nennelE.)

kaayam
---------
Finally. the following thiru mangai aazhvaar paasuram
illustrates one instance of emperumaan delivering on his
promise through his direct action.

andhagan siRuvan arasartha marasaR
 kiLaiyavan aNiyizhai yaicchenRu,
`endhamak kurimai sey'enath thariyaadhu
 `emberu maanaruL!' enna,
sandhamal kuzhalaaL alakkaN_nooR Ruvartham
 peNdiru meydhin^oo lizhappa,
indhiran siRuvan thErmun_nin Raanaith
 thiruvallik kENikkaN dEnE.

          --  pariya thiru mozhi   2.3.6

This describes the Drowpathi vasthra abahaaram, her
surrender to the Lord, and our Lord saving her from
humiliation.  The yuddham that follows and the
destruction of dhuryOdhanaathikaL is indicated by
"nooRRuvartham peNdirum eydhi n^ool izhappa."

alakkaN             =     suffering
sandham al kuzhaaL  =     drowpathi with beautiful black hair
nooRRuvartham peNdir =    wives of dhuryOdhanaathikaL
nool izhappa        =     widowed

.... to be continued

----------
This and other posts to follow in this subject are based
on the aruL mozhigaL of the 45th azhagiya singar of sri
aHObila madam, sri vaN satakOpa sri naaraayaNa
yatheendhra mahaa dEsikan, published in sri nrusimhap
priyaa starting with bava varusham, chitthirai maasam,
(April 1994), and commentaries of aazhvaar
prabhandams published by The Visishtadvaita Pracharini
Sabha, 27, Venkatesa Agraharam, Mylapore, Madras,
600 004.


p.s.
----
While I have tried to be faithful to the references given
above the accuracy of my translation is limited by my
modest ability.  Further, I have strayed outside these
references while choosing paasurams for a given topic.
Any and all mistakes in the translations and choice of
paasurams are completely mine.  My intention is to whet
the reader's interest.  Individuals with "genuine" interest
must find suitable texts and study these concepts for
themselves.  Better yet, approach an achaaryaa and
pursue a life long study, along with all the other things
we have to do with our material life.