SaraNAgathi gadhdyam – chUrNais 21 to 23

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21st chUrNai:

mA thE bhUdhathra samSaya: II

Word-by-Word meaning

mA – no
thE – to you
bhUth – to be
athra – here
samSaya: – doubt
anrutham – false
na – no
uktham – said
pUrvam – past
mE – by me
na – no
cha – also
vakshyE – future
kadhAchana – ever
rAma: – SrI rAma
dhvi – two
na – no
abhibhAshathE – utter
sakruth – once
Eva – only
prapannAya – surrender to me
thavAsmi – I belong to you
cha – also
yAchathE – beg or solicit
abhayam – without fear
sarva – all
bhUthebhyO – from living beings
dhadhAmi – I give
Ethath – this
vratham – vow
mama – my
sarva – all
dharmAn – dharmams (paths)
parithyajya – giving up fully
mAm – me
Ekam – only
SaraNam – surrender
vraja – hold onto
aham – I
thvA – you
sarva – all
papEbhya: – sins
mOkshaishyAmi – shall liberate from
mA – no
Sucha – feel sad
ithi – this
mayA – by me
Eva – only
hi – surely
uktham – said
atha – hence;
thvam – you
thava – your
thathvatha: – truly
math – my
gyAna – knowledge
dharSana – vision
prApthishu – attain
nissamSaya: – without any doubt
sukhamAsva – be happy

Explanatory Notes:

mA thE bhUdhathra samSaya: – mA – no;  thE – to you; bhUth – to be; athra – here; samSaya: – doubt.

bhagavAn tells SrI rAmAnuja not to have any doubts at this stage. But why is he saying this when SrI rAmAnuja has not uttered a word? Sri rAmAnuja thinks over whatever has happened so far. He feels that what he has done (surrendering to bhagavAn) is a very small effort. The fruit of this labour, i.e. the benefit accrued out of this is very huge (getting mOksham, SrIvaikuNtam). And, the hurdles in getting there are monstrous (all the ills in samsAram, our world). In this world, even to get  a small benefit, one has to put in lot of efforts. Hence, would such an exalted benefit come to me for such a small effort, wonders SrI rAmAnuja. He doesn’t say this, but only thinks. And, is that not enough for sarvagyan (omniscient) to respond? bhagavAn says that he could expect this from someone who has tried to attain mOksham with his own efforts through upAyAntharams, the other paths (karma, gyAna, bhakthi yOga). But SrI rAmAnuja has given up everything else and surrendered to bhagavAn himself. Why then should he have this doubt? There is no need, says bhagavAn. The basic feature to be noticed here is that the effort that we think we have put in (in surrendering to bhagavAn) is not really our effort, but his mercy.

Let us now move on to the 22nd chUrNai:

anrutham nOktha pUrvam mE na cha vakshyE kadhAchana I
rAmO dhvir nAbhibhAshathE,
sakrudhEva prapannAya thavAsmIthi cha yAchathE I
abhayam sarva bhUthEbhyO dhadhamyEthadh vratham mama II
sarva dharmAn parithyajya mAmEkam SaraNam vraja I
aham thvA sarva pApEbhyO mOkshayishyAmi mA Sucha: II
ithi mayaiva  hyuktham II

Explanatory Notes:

There are three sentences, spoken by three different persons – the first is by namperumAL, the 2nd by SrI rAma and the 3rd by krishNa. In our sampradhAyam, namperumAL is considered to be SrI rAma and periya perumAL is krishNa.

anrutham nOktham pUrvam mE na cha vakshyE kadhAchana: – anrutham – false; na – no; uktham – said; pUrvam – past; mE – by me; na – no; cha – also; vakshyE – future; kadhAchana – ever.

namperumAL says that there has been no falsehood in whatever he has spoken in the past. It is not that it is due to some destiny. He doesn’t have even the smell of falsehood anywhere near him. When there is no connection at all with falsehood, how can he be expected to speak falsehood in future? That is also impossible (one may wonder whether he is presently speaking falsehood since he has ruled out falsehood both in the past and in the future; but then present is future when one is in the time-frame of past and it is past when one is in the frame of future; hence if past and future are mentioned, it goes without saying that present  is also included in these two). But SrI rAmAnuja still wonders that thiruppANAzhwAr had spoken of periya perumAL as krishNa…..And, krishNa has uttered falsehood many times, even ANdAL has said so in nAchchiyAr thirumozhi (143 verses sung by ANdAL)….

rAmO dhvir nAbhibhAshathE – rAma: – SrI rAma; dhvi – two; na – no; abhibhAshathE – utter.

This was uttered by SrI rAma himself amidst the merciful rushis (seers or ascetics) in dhaNadAraNyam (a forest area in present day madhya pradhESam). namperumAL says that he is the representative of SrI rAma and hence he will not say two things. SrI rAma had steadfastly held on to this (not speaking two words) throughout his avathAram (incarnation). SrI rAmAnuja now wonders as to where he had said as SrI rAma which did not require repetition. namperumAL says

sakrudhEva prapannAya thavAsmIthi cha yAchathE
abhayam sarva bhUthEbhyO dhadhamyEthadh vratham mama – sakruth – once; Eva – only; prapannAya – surrender to me; thavAsmi – I belong to you; cha – also; yAchathE – beg or solicit; abhayam – without fear; sarva – all; bhUthebhyO – from living beings ; dhadhAmi – I give; Ethath – this; vratham – vow; mama – my.

SrI rAma says in SrI rAmAyaNam when vibhIshaNa comes to surrender to him at thiruppullANi shore (sEthukkarai) that it is his vow  to grant fearlessness from all living beings to a person who has surrendered to him once and who wholeheartedly feels that he (the person) belongs to him (SrI rAma). Now SrI rAmAnuja further wonders whether this is what he (namperumAL) said? namperumAL says that even as the next incarnation to SrI rAma, as krishNa he had said similarly. What is it that you had said as krishNa, wonders SrI rAmAnuja……

sarva dharmAn parithyajya mAmEkam SaraNam vraja
aham thvA sarva pApEbhyO mOkshayishyAmi mA Sucha: – sarva – all; dharmAn – dharmams (paths); parithyajya – giving up fully; mAm – me; Ekam – only; SaraNam – surrender; vraja – hold onto; aham – I; thvA – you; sarva – all; papEbhya: – sins; mOkshaishyAmi – shall liberate from; mA – no; Sucha – feel sad.

As charioteer for arjun, krishNa had said this charama SlOkam (ultimate verse) in the battlefield of kurukshEthra as part of bhagavadh gIthA. He had told arjun to leave all the other paths and hold on to him as the only path and that he would liberate him from all his sins and that he need not feel sad. Thus, namperumAL quotes from both rAmAvathAram and krishNAvathAram,  the two charama SlOkams. Still doubt lingers in Sri rAmAnuja’s mind as the two avathArams are different (in rAmAvathAram, he spoke only truths; in krishNAvathAram, he had spoken lies too) and would they not cancel each other? bhagavAn says that whether it was truth or lie that he spoke, he did so for his followers who surrendered to him and so long as they hold on to him, he will not let them down. And he further says…

ithi mayaiva hyuktham – ithi – this; mayA – by me; Eva – only; hi – surely; uktham – said.

namperumAL further assures that it was said only by him, whether it was said in vEdhas (scriptures) or by vaidhikas (those who follow scriptures). Since he is the one to whom his devotees surrender, his word is always correct.

Let us now move on to the next, and last chUrNai in this gadhyam, the 23rd:

athasthvam thava  thathvathO magyAna dharSana prApthishu
nissamSayas sukhamAsva II

Explanatory Notes:

athasthvam thava  thathvathO magyAna dharSana prApthishu
nissamSayas sukhamAsva – atha – hence; thvam – you; thava – your; thathvatha: – truly; math – my; gyAna – knowledge; dharSana – vision; prApthishu – attain; nissamSaya: – without any doubt; sukhamAsva – be happy.

bhagavAn tells SrI rAmAnuja that a person such as SrI rAmAnuja who had surrendered himself fully to bhagavAn, will get full knowledge about him, have his dharSan (vision of bhagavAn) and will ultimately reach him (this is parabhakthi, paragyAna, paramabhakthi as we have seen several times). He assures him that this will happen and that he need not have any doubt about this and blesses him to remain happily for ever.

With this we complete SaraNagathi gadhyam.

periya pirAttiyAr samEdha namperumAL thiruvadigaLE SaraNam
bhagavadh rAmAnujar thiruvadigaLE SaraNam
periyavAchchAn piLLai thiruvadigaLE SaraNam
jIyar thiruvadigaLE SaraNam

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Translation by krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan.

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