From the Bhakti List Archives

sadagopan iyengar • Sun Mar 04 2001 - 07:11:55 PST 


Srimate Sri Vedantha Desika Yatindra Maha Desikaya
Nama:
             TheLiyAtha Marai Nilangal TheligindrOmE

              At the very beginning of Srimad
Rahasyatrasaram, Sri Desikan pays a tribute to the
Azhwars, mentioning each by name. He further says that
apparently incomprehensible  Vedic passages are
clarified by a perusal of the Azhwars’ srisooktis. Our
PoorvAchAryAs have clearly indicated that the Divya
Prabandas are indeed the quintessence of the Vedas.
And , of the Azhwars, special mention has been made of
Sri NammAzhwAr, as “Vedam Tamizh seida MAran
SatakOpan”,(“ya:srutE: uttaram bhAgam chakrE drAvida
bhAshayA”) each of his four compositions representing
the essence of  one Veda. Just as the  various Rishis,
Sri SatakOpa Muni is also credited with having
discovered the Veda mantras with his divine perception
( in the words of Sri Bhattar,”Sahasra shAkhAm yo
drAksheet drAvideem brahma samhitAm”). In this
fashion, Thiruvaimozhi is said to be Sama Veda sAram.
Indeed, several pasurams of Thiruvaimozhi and other
prabandas appear to be verbatim translations of the
moola Sruti vAkyAs. In this piece, adiyen would like
to highlight, with the aid of a few Veda vAkyAs, how
Thiruvaimozhi and the other arulichheyal sooktis
closely reflect and clarify the Sruti. Adiyen only
hopes that adiyen’s words do not muddy the clear
waters of  samskrita,drAvida Vedas( “BibhEti alpa
shrutAt vEdO mAm ayam pratarishyateeti”).

                      To take the Purusha Sooktam
first- for it is perhaps the only sooktam to have the
honour of  being recited in all the four Vedas, and is
in itself the essence of the Vedas(“vEdEshu Pourusham
sooktam”)-its uttarAnuvAkam says,”ajAyamAnO bahudhA
vijAyatE”.In a beautiful depiction of EmperumAn’s
soulabhyam, this vAkya wonders at  how He, who is
birthless and without origin, is born time and again
in this world for aasrita samrakshanam and dushkrit
vinAsanam. We turn to 2-9-5 of Tiruvaimozhi, for
enlightenment.
               “Chirappil veedu suvarga narakam
                Irappil eiduga eidarka –yAnum
               Pirappil pal piravi perumAnai
             _  Maroppondru indri endrum magizhwEnE »
The third line above is 
a literal translation of « ajAyamAnO bahudhA vijAyatE
»,and points out how He,without the twin shackles of 
sinful and meritorious karmAs,and hence without the
necessity of a birth in this sAmsAric world, is still
born countless times, solely for the protection of His
bhaktAs. It is noteworthy that Sri PillAn, in his
ArAyirappadi, attributes His avatArAs solely to
protection of the good,( vis a vis the Geeta vakya
which also lists destruction of the wicked as the
purpose of an avatAra.)
    The same theme is elaborated by the Azhwar in the
first pasuram of Thiruviruttam-“Poi nindra gnAnamum
pollA ozhukkum azhukkudambum-Innindra neermai ini yAm
urAmai- uyiraLippAn ennindra yOniyumAi pirandAi imayOr
talaivA”.
                  At the end of the anuvAkam,
describing the Ubhaya NachimAr, the Veda says
“Hreescha tE Lakshmeescha patnyou”.Here is the
relative Azhwar’s srisookti, in Tiruvaimozhi 8-1-1-
“DevimAr AvAr TirumagaL Bhoomi”.               Moving
to the Narayananuvakam, the essence of our
VisishtAdvaitha SiddhAntam is summarized by the lines 
                 
     “Antar bahischa tat sarvam vyApya
Narayana:stittha:”(All sentient and nonsentient beings
are pervaded and transcended by Narayana).Azhwar’s
inimitable lines,in the first Tiruvaimozhi, are « udal
misai uyirena karandu engum paranduLan-sudar migu
surudiyuL ivai unda suranE ».
                 Again, “sa BrahmA sa Siva:sendra :
sOkshara: parama swarAt”
of the Narayananuvakam is reflected by the Azhwar’s
call to “MuniyE NanmuganE MukkannappA”.   

         Similarly, “Narayana Paro Jyoti:”is literally
translated by Sri VakulAbharanA  as “Param sudar
jothi”,”en ParanchudarE”, “Paranchudar udambAi”etc.
                    Adiyen would like to continue the
thread in further posting(s) and would request Sri
Vaishnavas to respond with points adiyen might have
overlooked.-dasan,sadagopan.

                 
            
                 


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