Thirumaalai(58)

Sri Parthasarathi thunai,

Srimathe Ramanujaya Namaha

 

“ Mattrondrum vEinda Maname Madhilarangar

  Kattrinum meitha kazhalinai keezh- uttra

  Thirumaalai paadum seer Thondaradipodi Emperumaanai

  Eppozhudum peesu”

 

“ Srimat Krishna samahvaya Namo yaamuna soonave

  yetkadAkshai kalakshyAnAm sulabha: Sridara: sadaa”

 

Pranams,

 
Paasuram-38
 

“mEmporul pOga vittu meimayai migavunarindhu

  Amparisarindhu kondu I-mpulanagaththadakki

  KAmbara thalai siraiththu vunkadai thalai errundhu* vAzhum

  sOmbharai vugaththi pOlum soozh punal arangaththAnE!”

 

Our Acharyas regard this paasuram to be the most important paasuram in
this prabandham.  Like the bhagavat geetha being the essence of
Mahabharatha and charama slokam being the essence of bhagavat geetha, this
paasuram is the essence of this prabandham.  According to our acharyas
this paasuram gives the meaning of the very important dvaya manthram in
our sampradayam.  All the acharyas in our sampradayam were deeply
involved in the arthas of dvayam.  “japthavyam guruparamparaiyum dvayamum” is
our sampradAyic slogan (Always meditate on dvayam and the guru 
paramparai).  It has been the order of Sri Ranganatha himself to our acharya,
Sri Ramanuja in his last days, to stay in Srirangam itself and spend
time as usual mediatating on the dvayam and its meaning. 

 

In thiruvAimozhi, nAmmAzhvar gave the meaning of this dvaya manthra,
generally called the manthra ratnam in 20 paasurams(2 padigams).  One
padigam starting with “vulagamunda peruvAyA…….” (6-10) was a explanation
to the poorva kandam(first line) and another padigam “ozhivil
kAlamellAm”(3-3) was uttara kandArtham (meaning of the second line) of the dvaya
mahA manthram.

 

In thiruppAvai, andal gave two paasurams, “karavaigal pin sendru”(28)
and “chittran siru kAlE”(29) to give the poorva and uttara kandArthas of
dvayam.  Here thondaradi podi Alwar gives the same in just a single
paasuram.  For better understanding let us first see what the dvaya mahA
manthram actually conveys.  This is a rahasyam and a very great topic. 
Adiyen will just give the crux of the same in simple terms limited to
my knowledge.

 

Poorva kandam:  Sriman – the lord sriyapathi: Sri Mahalakshmi stays in
the heart of emperuman and never leaves him (akalakilEn erraiyum endru
alarmEl mangai uraiyum mArbhA); Narayana- he is none other than
narayana who is present inside and outside in everything(narAnAm ayanam
yasya-narayana: or nara: yasya saha- narayana:): charanou- his holy feet ;
sharanam prapathyE- I prostrate. 

I prostrate in the holy feet of the lord Sriman Narayana.

 

Uttara kandam: SrimathE nArAya nAya- I fall into his feet and beg his
kainkaryam when he is along with his sri:.  By this manthra we fall into
the lords feet to do saranAgathi and beg him to grant us the kainkaryam
to the divine couples at all times.  One important term in this
manthram is ‘na ma:’.  This term forms the main base for our whole
srivaishnava sampradAyam.  ma: means ‘for me’ and na means ‘not’.  So nama: means
‘not for me’.  Which is ‘not for me’?  Here our acharyas give a great
explanation.  The kainkaryam, which we are begging from the divine
couples, is not for the sake of us.  It is only for the sake of the divine
couples.  If we consider the kainkaryam to be for our enjoyment then at
one point we may feel that it is enough and stop.  Sometimes when one
kainkaryam is given, we may say that we don’t like it and hence will not
do it.  So ahankAra mamakArams will creep inside.  But if we do it for
the enjoyment of the divya dampathis then we cannot differentiate
between kainkaryams or stop at any point and will have to do any type of
kainkaryam at all times without stopping.  Since we are doing for the sake
of the divine couples there is no possibility of ahankAram or mamakAram
to creep inside.

 

Our acharyas say one interesting story to substantiate the above.  One
shisya used to do fanning service to his Acharya.  He used to do it
because, only this service gave him the mental satisfaction.  Once it was
peak winter and the weather was very cold.  While the acharya was doing
upanyasam, the shisya started fanning with the same force he used to do
regularly.  When asked why he did this in such a cold weather? He
replied, this is my kainkaryam, I cherish doing it and hence will never
stop.  Was it correct on the shisya’s part?  Kainkaryam has to be done to
make the acharya happy but now the shisya has actually made the acharya
ill.  What is the use of doing such a kainkaryam?  So always kainkaryam
should be done for the happiness of emperuman or acharya and not for
the sake of our happiness.  This is the meaning conveyed in the word
‘nama:’.  Hence it is considered as the most important term in our
srivaishnava sampradAyam. 

 

Even in lowkikam when we join a job we have to give the word that we
will work to the satisfaction of the employer.  If we say that we will
work to our satisfaction no one will accept us.  Then one question may
arise.  How to know which kainkaryam will satisfy emperuman?  We are
destined to accept whatever kainkaryam emperuman gives us and not to go and
ask him for doing any specific kainkaryam.  If we do what kainkaryam
emperuman gives us then he becomes happy.

 

Only for this reason, the kainkaryams to acharyas and bhagavatas
becomes easier since they will tell us if they are happy with the kainkaryam
or not directly but emperuman cannot tell us directly though he
indirectly shows us the same.

The above dvayArtham has been explained through this paasuram by our
acharyas.  Let us see how they do it in the next posting.

 

(To be continued)

 

AzhwAr emberumAnAr jeeyar thiruvadigaLE saraNam

Adiyen Ramanuja Dasyai

Sumithra Varadarajan