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wonderful concept taught by nammAzhvAr/rAmAnuja

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tavaradhan • October 8, 2001 


dear bhAgavathAs,

the following is a tidbit that we were taught today,
a meaning that is so profound and wonderful, yet so
simple and easy. Many of you might already know 
this, but please forgive me for my desire to share
this profound knowledge given to us by
nammAzhvAr and rAmAnuja.

today, we were being taught the last 50 pAsurams of
thiruvAymozhi, and as thiruvAymozhi is in the andAdi
style poetry, the first pAsuram of thiruvAymozhi was
recited at the end.

As is well known, the first pAsuram of
thiruvAymozhi is "uyarvara uyarnalam udaiyavan".In
that pAsuram, the last line is "thuyar aRu sudar
adi thozudhu ezhu en mananE" - srI rangAchAri svAmi
explained the following regarding that line.

The usual meaning that we laypeople will attribute
to that line will be "thuyar aRukkum sudar adiyaith
thozhudhu ezhu en manamE" - i.e. Oh mind! Worship
the glorious lotus feet that will remove all the
sorrows. And we will take that to mean "our"
sorrows, i.e. the soul's sorrows.

rAmAnuja taught us the *true meaning* - the
removal of sorrow is NOT for the soul, but the lotus
feet of the Lord remove the sorrow of the Lord
Himself! 

The sorrow of the Lord is the fact that there are
countless of His belongings (all of the chEtanAs)
that are NOT with Him in srIvaikuNTa. That is a
cause of great sorrow for Him - This is described
by our pUrvAchAryAs very lucidly as "cEtana lABham
bhagavathpreethi" - The Lotus feet, being the means
of salvation for all the cEtanas, and being the
"thing" that delivers the cEtanAs to the Lord in
srIvaikuNta, *removes* the sorrow of the Lord!

In fact, the third line begins at the end of
the second line - i.e. the last part of the verse 
should be read as

" ayarvu aRum amarargaL adhipadhi yavan -
avan thuyar aRu sudar adi thozhudhu ezhu en mananE"

i.e. Oh! mind! Worship the Lotus feet that removes
the sorrow of the One that is the Lord of the 
nityasUrIs, the One that has limitless auspicious
qualities, the One that bestowed the unblemished
knowledge on me"

The message of AzhvAr is consistent throughout
thiruvAymozhi - In the last decade of
thiruvAymozhi, AzhvAr talks about the "avA",
or desire of perumAL , and He says that his
(AzhvAr's) desire for perumAL is bigger than
the entire universe and all of the knowledge,
but perumAL's desire for all the chEtanAs
is greater than AzhvAr's desire for perumAL.

If one reads the first pAsuram and the 
pemultimate (or the ultimate, for that matter)
pAsuram of thiruvAymozhi, the message that is
conveyed about the love that perumAL has for
us resonates in our minds. 

When svAmi recounted the wonderful concept, 
and the beautiful interpretation of rAmAnuja,
it made us really grateful for having the
good fortune to learn of such a wonderful
Lord, and the beauty and greatness of 
our teachers. 

Where are our miniscule samsAric sorrows 
(need more money, will my children get admission
in a good school? etc..)
compared to the sorrow that He has for our 
misery? When such a powerful person, i.e. the Lord
Himself is so worried about us to feel sorrow,
where is the need for us to fear, or to feel sad?
Wouldn't He ensure that His sorrow is taken away
be taking us to Him, given that He is all 
powerful? Shouldn't we all rest in confidence
that He will take care of us, and spend our time
usefully by doing service to Him and His devotees
in whatever way we can, rather than worry about
"our" salvation?

Ours indeed is such an enjoyable
religion that even the layperson like us
can understand, and be extremely joyous by
understanding the concepts taught by our teachers.


AzhvAr emperumAnAr jIyar thiruvadigaLE saraNam,
adiyEn madhurakavi dAsan,
varadhan


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