SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:
Essence of thiruvAimozhi 1.1
Introduction
First pAsuram. (uyarvE paran padi…) Here, mAmunigaL is explaining that the meaning of this AzhwAr‘s divine words, i.e. this first decad of thiruvAimozhi, which reveals emperumAn‘s supremacy and which instructs “fall at the divine feet of the supreme lord and be uplifted”, will lead to mOksham (liberation) for chEthanas.
How did he explain? emperumAn is complete in svarUpa (true nature), rUpa (form), guNa (qualities) and vibhUthi (wealth); he is greater than all; he is the divine consort of SrI mahAlakshmi; he is revealed by the Sruthi (vEdham) which is apaurushEya (unauthored) and dhruda pramANa (firm source of knowledge); AzhwAr visualised such emperumAn by the grace of emperumAn himself, to cause pain to bhAhyas (those who reject vEdham) and kudhrushtis (those who misinterpret vEdham), enjoyed him, spoke about such emperumAn who has such wealth, and in the first decad, mercifully instructed his own heart to serve at the divine feet of such emperumAn and be uplifted as said in SrI rAmAyaNam kishkindhA kANdam 4.12 “guNair dhAsyamubAgatha:” (I am his servant due to his auspicious qualities). This meaning is revealed by mAmunigaL in this pAsuram starting with “uyarvE paran padiyil”
pAsuram
uyarvE paran padiyai uLLadhellAm thAn kaNdu
uyar vEdha nEr koNduraiththu – mayarvEdhum
vArAmal mAnidarai vAzhvikkum mARan sol
vErAgavE viLaiyum vIdu
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word-by-word meanings
uyarvu – having greatness
paran – supreme lord’s
padiyai uLLadhu ellAm – everything that is his nature
thAn kaNdu – visualising it himself
uyar vEdham nEr koNdu – in the style of Sruthi which is the top most pramANam
uraiththu – mercifully spoke
mayarvu Edhum – not even a tinge of ignorance
vArAmal – to not occur
mAnidarai – humans
vAzhvikkum – mercifully uplifted
mARan – nammAzhwAr‘s
sol vEr Aga – by the divine words
vIdu viLaiyum – mOksham will be attained.
Simple Translation
Visualising the complete nature of the supreme lord who is having greatness, nammAzhwAr mercifully spoke in the style of Sruthi which is the top most pramANam; nammAzhwAr’s divine words will ensure that humans will not even acquire a tinge of ignorance to have them uplifted and will lead them to mOksham.
Highlights from vyAkyAnam
- uyarvE paran padiyai uLLadhu ellAm thAn kaNdu – In this thiruvAimozhi (decad), emperumAn‘s parthvam (supremacy) in parathvam (his form in paramapadham) is revealed. His parathvam is explained as in thiruvAimozhi 1.1.4 “Am avaiyAy avaiyAy ninRa avar” (bhagavAn is the one which existed in the past, exists now or will come to existence in the future), thiruvAimozhi 1.1.8 “muzhuthuNda para paran” (the supreme lord who consumed everything) and thiruvAimozhi 1.1.11 “aLi poRai Ay ninRa paran adi mEl” (on the lotus feet of cool, forbearing supreme lord who remained as the elements and their attributes). “uyarvE paran padi” means his supremacy which is explained in SvEthASvathara upanishath 6.7 “thamISvarANAm paramam mahESvaram” (the supreme lord of those who are considered as lords) and as in SrIvishNu purANam 1.2.12 “para: parANAm parama:” (The most supreme) – this was explained in the thiruvAimozhi 1.1.1 as “uyarvaRa uyar nalam“. mAmunigaL is mercifully explaining based on that only. The avadhAraNa (restrictive emphasis) in uyarvE highlights that unlike the greatness of others which goes down at times, emperumAn’s greatness keeps rising up. It is said in many pramANams – bruhadhAraNyaka upanishath 4.3 “nEthi nEthi’”(not like this, not like this – emperumAn cannot be understood in any specific way), sthOthra rathnam 19 “nOdhyamathO’thiSErathE” (vEdha vAkyams desiring to see the boundary of your each quality, have not moved forward, crossing over the starting stage), thiruvAimozhi 1.7.2 “nalaththAl uyarndhuyarndhu appAlavan” (His bliss is unreachable by words/mind compared to all jIvAthmAs in all places), thiruvAimozhi 1.1.1 “ayarvaRum amarargaL adhipathi” (the lord of nithyasUris) and thiruvAimozhi 8.1.5 “thEvarkkum thEvAvO” (lord of lords). Alternatively – uyarvu means uchrAyam (greatness), and “E” means fitting well; unlike for others on whom greatness will not fit properly, for emperumAn, the supreme lord. greatness will be fitting naturally. This greatness is the exclusive nature/quality of the supreme emperumAn.
- uLLadhu ellAm – Everything, as explained in each pAsuram of this decad.
- In the 1st pAsuram (verse), bhagavAn’s vilakshaNa guNam (unique qualities), vibhUthi (wealth) and vigraha yOgam (divine forms) are explained.
- In the 2nd pAsuram, bhagavAn‘s vilakshaNa svarUpam (unique nature which is different from souls and matter) on which the previously explained aspects are anchored/resting is explained.
- In the 3nd pAsuram, his relationship with this leelA vibhUthi (material realm), which is as good as the nithya vibhUthi (spiritual realm) [due to both being his property] is explained.
- In the 4th pAsuram, it is explained that the svarUpam (true nature) of leelA vibhUthi is at his disposal.
- In the 5th pAsuram, it is explained that the sthithi (existence) of leelA vibhUthi is at his disposal.
- In the 6th pAsuram, it is explained that the pravruththi (action) and nivruththi (inaction) of leelA vibhUthi are at his disposal.
- In the 7th pAsuram, the SarIra-Athma sambhandham (relationship between body and soul) between jagath (universe) and emperumAn is explained.
- In the 8th pAsuram, the refutation of the principle of three deities (brahmA, vishNu, rudhra) being equal is explained.
- In the 9th pAsuram, the refutation of sUnyavAdha (philosophy of voidness) principle is explained.
- In the 10th pAsuram, bhagavAn‘s vyApthi saukaryam (convenient omnipresence) is explained.
- thAn kaNdu – As said in SrI bhagavadh gIthA 11.8 “… dhivyam dhadhAmi thE chakshu: paSya mE yOgam aiSvaram” (I am giving you a divine set of eyes to behold my universal form which cannot be seen by your material eyes), emperumAn blessed unblemished knowledge and devotion, and AzhwAr saw everything by his grace.
Such aspects which are shown by him,
- uyar vEdha nEr koNduraiththu – Explaining these principles in the style of most authentic pramANam, vEdham which is apaurushEya (unauthored), nithya (eternal), nirdhOsha (faultless) and which cannot be refuted by other reasons like in the case of other pramANams such as prathyaksha (perception) and anumAna (inference). It is explained in this following manner:
- his being with auspicious qualities as explained in thaiththirIya upanishath “sO’SnuthE sarvAn kAmAn saha“, is explained by “nalam udaiyavan” [1st pAsuram].
- his great mercy as explained in thaiththirIyam – nArAyaNa “dhAthu: prasAdhAn mahimAnam“, is explained in “aruLinan” [1st pAsuram].
- his being with divine form as explained in vishNu sUktham “thadhvishNO: paramam padham sadhA paSyanthi sUraya:“, is explained in “ayarvaRum amarargaL adhipathi yavanavan thuyaraRu sudaradi” [1st pAsuram].
- his distinguished divine nature as explained in thaiththirIya upanishath “sathyam gyAnam anantham brahma“, “Anandhamaya:” and “AnandhO brahma“, is explained in “uNar muzhu nalam” [2nd pAsuram].
- his being the lord of ubhaya vibhUthi (spiritual and material realm) as explained in purusha sUktham “pAdhOsya viSvA bhUthAni thripAdhasyAmrutham dhivi” and “pathim viSvasya“, which imply that leelA vibhUthi is also his, are explained in third pAsuram starting with “ilanadhu“.
- his having everything as prakAra (attributes), everything as SarIra (body) and his being worshippable by everyone as explained in chAndhOgya upanishath 3-14-1 “sarvam kalvidham brahma“, katavalli upanishath 2.4.11 “nEhanAnAsthi kinchana” (There is no plurality of entities) and in thaiththirIya upanishath “sa AthmA angAnyanyA dhEvathA” respectively are explained in nAmavan [4th] pAsuram and avaravar [5th] pAsuram.
- his being the controller of all actions and inaction as explained in “thEna vinA thruNAkramapi nachalathi” and SrI bhagavath gIthA 18.61 “ISvara: sarvabhUthAnAm hrudhdhESE’rjuna thishṭathi | bhrAmayan sarvabhUthAni yanthrArUdAni mAyayA ||“, is explained in ninRanar irundhanar [6th] pAsuram.
- his having everything as body as explained in bruhadhAraNyaka upanishath 5.7 “yasya AthmA SarIram yasya pruthivI SarIram“, his all pervasiveness as explained in nArAyaNa sUktham “anthar bahiScha thath sarvam vyApya nArAyaNa: sthitha:” and his Sriya:pathithvam (being the consort of SrI mahAlakshmi) as explained in purusha sUktham “hrISchathE lakshmIScha pathnyau” are explained in thida visumbu [7th] pAsuram.
- his supremacy over everyone as explained in nArAyaNa sUktham “nArAyaNa param brahma thathvam nArAyaNa: para:” with which the equivalence of thrimUrthis (brahma, vishNu, rudhra) is refuted, is clearly explained in “surarari varu nilai” [8th] pAsuram.
- sUnyavAdhi (philosopher who speaks about voidness being truth) who is vEdha bAhya (one who doesn’t accept vEdham) is refuted by “uLan enil” [9th] pAsuram.
- his convenient omnipresence as explained in thaiththirIya upanishath “aNOraNIyAn“, is explained in “parandha thaN paravai” [10th] pAsuram.
- uyar vEdha nEr koNduraiththu [continued] – In this manner, from the first pAsuram, AzhwAr mercifully explained the principles in line with vEdha mArgam [the path shown by vEdham]. It is because of this reason, mAmunigaL mercifully said “uyar vEdha nEr koNduraiththu“; AzhwAr too mercifully recognised the authenticity of Sruthi by saying “sudar migu suruthi” [in 7th pAsuram]. As said in “ahanthA brahmaNas thasya” (pirAtti is the consciousness of brahmam), as pirAtti is part of emperumAn‘s svarUpam, it can be said that where emperumAn is present, pirAtti, who is said to be his prime identity, will also be present.
- mayarEdhum vArAmal – mayarvu – agyAnam (ignorance). To not have even a little tinge of that. Just as emperumAn removed AzhwAr‘s ignorance without a trace as said in “mayarvaRa“, to remove their (humans’) ignorance in bhagavAn’s matters, by eliminating their gyAna anudhaya (lack of knowledge), anyathA gyAnam (understanding an object to be something else) and viparItha gyAnam (understanding the object’s attributes incorrectly) without a trace.
- mAnidarai vAzhvikkum mARan sol – It will uplift those who have human birth through his divine words which contain instructions to others while revealing his own experience. Uplifting means engaging them in bhagavath vishayam to be said as in thaiththirIya upanishat “santhamEnam” (to be existing), as he himself was made to worship and rise [by emperumAn].
- mARan sol vErAgavE viLaiyum vIdu – That is, one will acquire gyAnam about bhagavAn through the divine words of AzhwAr who is focussed on uplifting everyone, and with that gyAnam one will attain liberation; one will acquire liberation only through words [which reveal knowledge]. This is mercifully spoken based on AzhwAr’s words in 11th pAsuram “paran adi mEl kurugUrch chatakOpan sol niraniRai Ayiraththu ivai paththum vIdE” (These 10 pAsurams among the thousand pAsurams, are offered by nammAzhwAr (who is born in AzhwArthirunagari) at the lotus feet of emperumAn who is the supreme lord). Alternatively, mAmunigaL is saying that one will attain liberation by AzhwAr’s divine name itself. It could be either by AzhwAr’s words or by words on AzhwAr. It is said in kaNNinuN chiRuth thAmbu 11 “… thenkurugUr nagar nambikku anbanAy madhurakavi sonna sol nambuvAr pathi vaikuntham kANminE” (SrIvaikuNtam (paramapadham) will be the residing place for the ones who firmly believe in this dhivya prabandham that is spoken with devotion by madhurakavi AzhwAr (me) towards nammAzhwAr who is devoted to all bhAgavathas who are dear to emperumAn who is partial towards his devotees).
adiyen sarathy ramanuja dasan
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