SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:
Highlights from thirukkurugaippirAn piLLAn‘s introduction
aNaivadhu – AzhwAr with love, establishes the supremacy of emperumAn which was highlighted in thiruvAimozhi 2.7.12 “dhAmOdharanai” pAsuram and mercifully instructs others to take shelter of such sarvESvaran.
Highlights from nanjIyar‘s introduction
In the eighth decad – AzhwAr seeing that emperumAn transformed those who are related to him (AzhwAr) like himself (AzhwAr), mercifully thinks that “this is not sufficient [even others should be blessed by emperumAn]” and thinks that everyone should be transformed to enjoy emperumAn exclusively. AzhwAr became very pleased that emperumAn bestowed his great wealth which is exclusive to him, which includes periya pirAttiyAr (SrI mahAlakshmi), nithyasUris who are all his servitors starting with Adhi SEsha who is his bed, the boundless wealth that cannot be imagined/achieved by even greatly knowledgeable brahmA et al, but that which can be achieved easily by holding on to his divine feet. This wealth that is attained by mukthas (liberated souls) has no trace of sorrow, fully joyful, having unsurpassed auspiciousness, well manifested for those who enjoy it, without any break and top-most. Because SrIman nArAyaNan is sarvESvaran, he has the right to bestow it to anyone who desires it, he bestows the same to AzhwAr and those who are related to him. Being pleased with this situation, AzhwAr desiring to help everyone to get the same benefit, explains bhagavAn‘s “mOksha pradhathvam” (ability to liberate others) and his wealth/ability that makes him liberate others, instructs the same to others. But at the end he completes [the decad] saying “I became exclusively enjoying emperumAn unlike these others [who did not become devoted to emperumAn even after hearing these instructions]”.
Highlights from vAdhi kEsari azhagiya maNavALa jIyar‘s introduction
In the eighth decad – AzhwAr meditates upon emperumAn liberating all those who are related to him and the supremacy of emperumAn which lets him do that, and thinks “the materialistic people cannot miss this opportunity” and instructs them the following aspects:
- emperumAn’s ability to control everyone/everything
- his ability to eliminate the toiling in this material realm and to bestow liberation
- his activities which facilitate such removal of hurdles and bestowing of liberation
- the qualities such as saulabhyam (simplicity) etc which are revealed through such activities are to be eternally enjoyed [by us]
- the many incarnations which reveal such qualities
- even in his incarnations his supremacy is well observed
- while incarnating, due to great love in protecting [his devotees], he performs many activities
- there are not many who comprehend the aspects which reveal his supremacy while he incarnates
- his simplicity towards his devotees is unlimited
- how AzhwAr enjoyed such emperumAn
After explaining these, he becomes self-satisfied and stops his instructions to others. The parathvam (supremacy) explained here is with respect to mOksha pradhathvam (ability to liberate others) unlike the supremacy explained in thiruvAimozhi 1.1 “uyaravaRa” which is focused on explaining his svarUpam (true nature) and thiruvAimozhi 2.2 “thiNNann vIdu” which is focused on his being supreme even in humanly incarnations.
Highlights from periyavAchchAn piLLai‘s introduction
See nampiLLai‘s introduction.
Highlights from nampiLLai‘s introduction
In “kESavan thamar” AzhwAr explained how sarvESvaran‘s attachment towards him extended to his relatives. In this decad, he thinks “since he accepts everyone just due to their relationship to me, let me also establish a connection to the worldly people and make them the target of his mercy” and starts instructing them.
There are some AchAryas who explain this decad as revealing bhagavAn‘s supremacy. But bhattar explains this as revealing mOksha pradhathvam (bhagavAn’s ability to liberate others). Both are related to each other; Isvaran can only be mOksha pradhan (one who can bestow mOksham); similarly if one can liberate others, he must be Isvaran (supreme lord). What did AzhwAr explain in this decad? AzhwAr meditates upon emperumAn‘s many favours such as
- sarvESvaran first creating adhvEsham (non-hatred) in AzhwAr
- making AzhwAr turn towards him and creating liking for him
- continuously pursuing AzhwAr even if AzhwAr turns away from him, and
- not stopping such favours just with AzhwAr but extending the same to all those who are related to AzhwAr
AzhwAr thinks about these aspects of emperumAn and decides “after this being the nature of sarvESvaran, let me help everyone achieve the same result which I got” and looks at the worldly people and explains them that bhagavAn is the one who liberates everyone from the bondage in this material realm.
The great wealth which he got, that he explains to others is – [as explained in nanjIyar’s introduction] that which includes periya pirAttiyAr (SrI mahAlakshmi), nithyasUris who are all his servitors starting with Adhi SEsha who is his bed, the boundless wealth that cannot be imagined/achieved by even greatly knowledgeable brahmA et al, but that which can be achieved easily by holding on to his divine feet. This wealth that is attained by mukthas (liberated souls) has no trace of sorrow, is fully joyful, has unsurpassed auspiciousness, well manifested for those who enjoy it, without any break and is top-most. Seeing that emperumAn is greatly interested in helping him and his relatives, AzhwAr desiring to transform materialistic people also to be fully focused on emperumAn, instructs them with good advice. But even after hearing that, they don’t change their mind like rAvaNa ignored the good advice of mAlvayAn et al. Seeing this AzhwAr thinks “What is the use of giving up my personal joyful experience and wasting my time with these people who ignore this good advice?” and like the ones who fled and escaped with their wealth while being attacked by robbers will feel joyful, AzhwAr meditates upon his own fortune and becomes blissful thinking “I am glad that I did not become like these materialistic people to start with”.
Each pAsuram is discussed subsequently.
- pAsuram 1
- pAsuram 2
- pAsuram 3
- pAsuram 4
- pAsuram 5
- pAsuram 6
- pAsuram 7
- pAsuram 8
- pAsuram 9
- pAsuram 10
- pAsuram 11
adiyen sarathy ramanuja dasan
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