{"id":8070,"date":"2016-03-27T01:04:28","date_gmt":"2016-03-27T01:04:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/divyaprabandham.koyil.org\/?p=8070"},"modified":"2016-03-27T01:04:28","modified_gmt":"2016-03-27T01:04:28","slug":"srivaikunta-gadhyam-1-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/divyaprabandham.koyil.org\/index.php\/2016\/03\/srivaikunta-gadhyam-1-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"SrIvaikuNta gadhyam – 1st chUrNai Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:<\/small><\/p>\n

Full Series<\/a><\/p>\n

<< Previous<\/a><\/p>\n

\"parampadhanathan-art\"<\/a><\/p>\n

avathArikai (Introduction)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Starting with svAdhIna thrividha chEthana<\/em> and ending with nArAyaNam<\/em>, this chUrNai describes the superiority of bhagavAn over the svarUpam<\/em> (basic nature) of chEthana<\/em> (sentient) and achEthana<\/em> (insentient) entities and his qualities aligned to his svarUpam<\/em>.<\/p>\n

svAdhIna thrividha chEthanAchEthana svarUpa sthithi pravruththi bhEdham,<\/em>
\nklESa karmAdhyaSEsha dhOshAsamsprushtam,<\/em>
\nsvAbhAvikAnavadhikAthiSaya gyAnabhalaiSvarya vIrya Sakthi thEja:prabhruthi <\/em>
\nasankhyEya kalyANa<\/em> guNAgaNougha mahArNavam<\/em>,
\nparamapurusham, bhagavantham, nArAyaNam,<\/em>
\nswAmithvEna guruthvEna suhruthvEna cha<\/em>
\nparigruhya aikAnthika (Athyanthika) thathpAdhAmbhujadhvaya paricharyaika manOratha:, <\/em>
\nthathprApthyE cha thathpAdhAmbhujadhvaya prapaththE: <\/em>
\nanyanna mE kalpa kOti sahasrENApi sAdhanamasthIthi manvAna:,<\/em>
\nthasyaiva bhagavathO nArAyaNasya akhila sathvadhayaika sAgarasya<\/em>
\nanAlOchitha<\/em> guNAguNa akhaNdajanAnukUla amaryAdhaSeelavatha:,<\/em>
\nsvAbikAnavadhikAthiSaya guNavaththayA (thu) <\/em>
\ndhEvathiryangmanushyAdhyakhilajana hrudhayAnandhanasya, <\/em>
\nASritha vAthsalyaika jaladhE:, bhakthajana samSlEshaika bhOgasya,<\/em>
\nnithyagyAnakriyaiSvaryAdhi bhOga sAmagrIsamrudhdhasya,<\/em>
\nmahAvibhUthE: SrImatha: charaNAravindhayugalam <\/em>
\nananyAthma sanjIvanEna thadhgatha sarvabhAvEna SaraNam anuvrajEth<\/em> ||<\/p>\n

Word-by-Word meaning<\/h3>\n

sva<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 self
\nadhIna<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 control
\nthrividha<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 three types
\nchEthana<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 sentient entity<\/a>
\nachEthana<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 insentient entity<\/a>
\nsvarUpa<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 basic nature
\nsthithi<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 sustenance (that through which it sustains itself)
\npravruththi<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 activity
\nbhEdham<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 difference
\nklESa<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 suffering
\nkarma<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 past deeds
\nAdhi<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 starting with these
\naSEsha<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 without leaving anything
\ndOsha<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 fault
\nasamprushtam<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 not touching
\nsvAbhAvika<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 of basic nature
\nanavadhika<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 without any limit
\nadhiSaya<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 wondrous, exalted
\ngyAna<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 knowledge
\nbala<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 strength
\naiSvarya<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 control
\nvIrya<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 valour
\nSakthi<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 energy
\nthEjas<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 radiance
\nprabhruthi<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 starting from this
\nasankhyEya<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 countless
\nkalyANa<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 auspicious
\nguNa<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 type of qualities
\ngaNa<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 bundles
\nOgha<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 wave
\nmahArNavam<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 great ocean
\nparamapurusham<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 superior entity
\nbhagavantham<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 One who has the 6 primary qualities of\u00a0gyAna bala aiSvarya vIrya Sakthi thEja:
\nnArAyaNam<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 He is\u00a0nArAyaNan<\/a>, who has no one superior to him
\nswAmithva – owner or master
\nsuhruthvEna –\u00a0suhruth\u00a0means a person with a good heart
\nguruthvEna – refers to his quality of saulabhya\u00a0as he came down from SrIvaikuNtam to become the first\u00a0AchAryan
\nparigruhya<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 to hold on firmly
\naikAnthika \u2013 with single focus
\nAthyanthika \u2013 without end
\nthath \u2013 that
\npAdha \u2013 exalted feet
\nambhuja \u2013 lotus like
\ndhvaya \u2013 two of them
\nparicharyA \u2013 to carry out kainkaryam
\nEka \u2013 only
\nmanOratha\u00a0\u2013 desire of mind
\n<\/em>thath prApthayE<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 to attain that manOratham (desire of mind) of doing kainkaryam.
\ncha<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 also
\nthath<\/em> \u2013 that
\npAdha<\/em> \u2013 foot
\nambhuja<\/em> \u2013 lotus like
\ndhvaya<\/em> \u2013 two of them
\nprapaththE:<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 hold on to firmly or surrender
\nanyath<\/em> \u2013 other
\nna<\/em> \u2013 not
\nmE<\/em> \u2013 to me
\nkalpakOti sahasrENApi<\/em> \u2013 for very long time
\nsAdhanam<\/em> \u2013 means (path)
\nasthi<\/em> \u2013 available
\nithi<\/em> \u2013 like this
\nmanvAna:<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 in thought
\nthasyaiva<\/em> \u2013 as said
\nbhagavathO<\/em>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0bhagavAn<\/a>
\nnArAyaNasya<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 that nArAyaNan
\nakhilasathva dhayaika sAgarasya<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 ocean of mercy for all
\nanAlOchitha<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 not examining whether granting refuge to a person (who wishes to surrender) is advantageous or not
\nguNa aguNa<\/strong> \u2013 qualities which are desired and not desired among\u00a0ASrithars
\nakhaNda jana<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 he does not make a distinction among celestial persons, human beings, animals, plants etc when they approach him as an\u00a0ASrithar. jana: Anyone born.
\nanukUla<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 he guides the ASrithar to go by the correct path and not take difficult paths
\namaryAdha<\/strong> \u2013 here maryAdhA means limit. So, no limit.
\nSeelavatha:<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013
\ndhEva – devas
\nthiryak – animals
\nmanushya – humans
\nAdhi – starting with
\nakhila jana – every living
\nhrudhaya Anandhanasya<\/strong> \u2013 melts heart with happiness.
\n<\/em>svAbhAvika<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 of basic nature
\nanavadhika<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 without any limit
\nadhiSaya<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 wondrous, exalted
\nguNavaththayA<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013
\nASritha \u2013 his followers.
\nvAthsalyaika –<\/strong> treating faults as virtues
\njaladhE:<\/strong> \u2013 ocean
\nbhakthajana<\/em> \u2013 those who are his devotees, who are friendly towards him
\nsamSlEsham<\/em> \u2013 to be together
\nEka<\/em> \u2013 only
\nbhOgasya<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 fit for enjoyment
\nnithya \u2013 completely
\ngyAna \u2013 knowledge about the\u00a0bhOga vasthu<\/em>
\nkriya \u2013 actual act of enjoying the\u00a0bhOga vasthu<\/em>
\naiSvaryAdhi \u2013 wealth (owning the\u00a0bhOga vasthu<\/em>)
\nbhOga \u2013 <\/strong>enjoyable
\nsAmagrI \u2013 implements
\nsamrudhdhasya<\/strong> \u2013 this enjoyment is not something finite or small but huge or plenty
\nmaha<\/em> \u2013 huge
\nvibhUthE<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 wealth
\nSrI<\/em>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0mahAlakshmi<\/a> (his consort)
\nmatha:<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 with
\ncharaNAravindha yugalam<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0<\/em>two lotus-like feet
\nananya<\/em> \u2013 without substitute
\nAthma<\/em> \u2013 soul
\nsanjIvanEna<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 total sustenance
\nthath<\/em> \u2013 that
\ngatha<\/em> \u2013 reach
\nsarva<\/em> \u2013 all
\nbhAvEna<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 manner
\nSaraNam \u2013 to surrender
\nanuvrajEth \u2013 to hold on firmly<\/p>\n

Explanatory Notes<\/strong><\/p>\n

svAdhIna<\/strong> – Unlike chEthana<\/a><\/em> and achEthana<\/em><\/a> entities who are dependent on bhagavAn<\/a> and are controlled by him, bhagavAn is completely independent and is under his own control and nobody else’s. As mentioned in the palaSruthi<\/em> (hymns listing the benefits) of vishNu sahasranAmam<\/em>\u00a0(1000 names of vishNu), jagadhvaSE varthathEdham krishNasya sacharAcharam<\/em> – all the entities in the universe, apart from himself, are under the control of krishNa.<\/p>\n

What are these entities?<\/p>\n

thrividha chEthanAchEthana<\/strong> – three types of AthmAs, namely bhadhdha<\/em> (those who are still bound to samsAram (materialistic realm)), muktha<\/em> (those who were in samsAram<\/em> earlier but who have now been liberated and are in SrIvaikuNtam<\/em>) and nithya<\/em>\u00a0(those who have had no connection with samsAram and who have always been in SrIvaikuNtam). These are the three types of chEthana<\/em> entities. The three types of achEthana<\/em> entities are: prAkrutha, aprAkrutha<\/em> and kAla rUpa<\/em>. \u00a0prAkrutha<\/em> entities are those which are composed of achith (insentient) entities which exist in prakruthi<\/em> (materialistic realm); aprAkrutha<\/em>\u00a0entities are those\u00a0achith<\/em> entities which exist in SrIvaikuNtam (such as lakes, tanks, steps leading to these water bodies, gardens etc). prAkrutha<\/em> entities are composed of mixed saththvam<\/em> (sudhdha sathvam, rAjasam <\/em>and thAmasam<\/em>). aprAkrutha<\/em> entities are composed of sudhdha saththvam<\/em> only (pure good). kAla rUpam is time dimension.<\/p>\n

Are only these six (bhadhdha, muktha, nithya AthmAs and prAkrutha, aprAkrutha and kAla rUpa achEthana) the dependent entities? For knowing this, we have to consider their<\/p>\n

svarUpa sthithi pravruththi bhEdham<\/strong> – the bhEdham<\/em> (difference) in their svarUpa<\/em> (basic nature), sthithi<\/em> (life or sustenance) and pravruththi<\/em> (their activities). SrI periyavAchchAn piLLai<\/a> introduces three terms here to explain these three terms: dharmi svarUpam<\/em> (basic nature of the entity), dharma svabhAvam<\/em> (qualities of the entity) and vyApAram<\/em> (activities of the entity). Thus bhagavAn has under his control, the svarUpam<\/em>, svabhAvam<\/em> (qualities) and vyApAram<\/em> (activities) of the six chEthana<\/em> and achEthana<\/em> entities. We shall now look at the bhEdham<\/em> (difference) in svarUpam<\/em>, svabhAvam<\/em> and vyAparam<\/em> of these entities.
\nFor chEthana<\/em> entities, the difference in their svarUpam<\/em> is caused by difference in levels of happiness and sadness that they possess. Difference in their svabhAvam<\/em> is due to difference in the level of their knowledge, ability to carry out tasks (doing physical kainkaryam to bhagavAn is a measure of this), their level of enjoyment (one may eat once in a day while another may eat 4 times a day), longevity (number of years that the AthmAs live in each birth) etc. Difference in pravruththi<\/em> (activity) is on account of difference in knowledge, desire and effort taken in attaining an objective.
\nFor achEthana<\/em>\u00a0entities, difference in svarUpam is due to various manifestations such as prakruthi<\/em> (primordial matter), mahAn<\/em> (the great state),\u00a0ahankAram<\/em> (individualisation), thanmAthra<\/em> (subtle elements) etc. When it comes to kAlam<\/em> (time), the difference in svarUpam is on account of various measures of time such as kalA, kAshtA, muhUrtham<\/em> etc (these were the units used by our forefathers centuries ago and are still in use in vaidhIka time measurements; today we have seconds, minutes, hours, day, week etc). Difference in svabhAvam<\/em>\u00a0for achEthana<\/em> entities is their being lifeless, constantly changing nature, being permanent (an achEthana entity will change its form from one to another, but it can not be destroyed; it exists in some form or another – for example a tree can exist as a tree, as a furniture, as a stick, as charcoal etc, but it still exists), always existing for the sake of others (like a fruit or sandalwood paste etc), being composed of sAthvic<\/em>, rAjasic<\/em> and thAmasic<\/em> entities. Difference in pravruththi<\/em> (activity) is its being the initiator for various actions (for example the body which an AthmA takes when it is born in samsAram, due to which the AthmA carries out various activities, thus earning pApa or puNya), being the raw material for fabrication of various articles (wood being used to make various types of furniture, door, window etc; gold being used to make different types of jewels; cotton being used to make different types of cloth), its ability to hide bhagavAn’s svarUpam<\/em>\u00a0(just as dust hides the radiance of a gem when it covers the gem, the body of jIvAthmA hides his as well as bhagavAn’s true nature since it is composed of saththvam, rajas<\/em> and thamas<\/em>), its non-radiant nature (it cannot emit any radiance on its own and when someone looks at it, the person will not get any knowledge).<\/p>\n

One may ask, is it only bhagavAn who controls these chEthana<\/em> and achEthana<\/em> entities? Even the king of a country or the head of a family (in a limited way) has control over chEthana<\/em> and achEthana<\/em> entities. Then what is the difference between bhagavAn and others?<\/p>\n

klESa karmAdhyaSEsha dhOshAsamsprushtam<\/strong> – A king or head of a family is affected by faults in him (faults such as klESam<\/em>, karmam<\/em> etc) whereas bhagavAn is not affected by faults such as these. There is a pAthanjala sUthram which says “klESa karma vipAkASayair aparAmsrushta: purushaviSEsha ISwara”. klESa<\/em> is defined as “rAgadhvEsha abhinivESA: klESa:<\/em>“. rAga<\/em> – desire; dhvEsha<\/em> – hatred; abhinivESa<\/em> – greed. These are called as klESa<\/em> (suffering). There are two other faults which are clubbed to these three – avidhya<\/em>\u00a0(ignorance) and asmitha<\/em>\u00a0(ego) to form pancha klESa:<\/em> (five sufferings). bhagavAn is not affected by this klEsa<\/em>.\u00a0karma<\/em>\u00a0is defined as activities resulting from and resulting in puNya<\/em> (good deed or virtue) and pApa<\/em> (bad deed or sin). karma<\/em> does not touch bhagavAn. vipAka<\/em> is the resultant of one’s jAthi<\/em>\u00a0(species which they belong to), Ayush (life expectancy) and bhOga (enjoyment or experience). These will be different for different AthmAs. bhagavAn is not affected by vipAka<\/em>. ASaya<\/em>\u00a0is\u00a0vAsanA<\/em> (impressions left in the mind due to repeated births, which induce certain actions in the jIvAthmA). This is also not applicable to bhagavAn. Thus bhagavAn is not afflicted with any fault.<\/p>\n

Is he just the opposite of all faults? No, he is also the repository of all auspicious qualities.<\/p>\n

svAbhAvikAnavadhikAthiSaya gyAnabhalaiSvaryavIryaSakthithEja:<\/strong> –
\nsvAbhAvika<\/strong> – natural to bhagavAn. He did not get these auspicious qualities by doing any penance or as a gift from any celestial (demi) god or for any limited period of time. These qualities are present in bhagavAn as a part of his nature. Are these qualities limited in their measure?
\nanavadhika<\/strong>\u00a0athiSaya<\/strong>– without any limit. Nobody knows the limit of his qualities – not even he nor his consorts know the limit of his auspicious qualities. periyavAchchAn piLLai cites certain references here such as yathO vAchO nivarthanthE aprApya manasA saha<\/em> (not possible to state either by words or by thoughts), uyarvaRa uyarnalam udayavan evan avan<\/em> (his greatness is so high that the greatness of those that we know in this word would appear infinitesimal when compared to bhagavAn – thiruvAimozhi 1.1.1<\/a>) to prove that there is no limit to his qualities. What are these qualities?<\/p>\n

gyAna bala aiSvarya vIrya Sakthi thEja: prabhruthi asankhyEya kalyANa guNa gaNougha <\/strong>
\nmahArNavam<\/strong> – gyAna<\/em> – bhagavAn’s ability to see right in front of his eyes all the events that (a) have occurred, (b) are occurring and (c) will occur, at all places. bala<\/em> – ability to bear entire universe on a small part of his body. aiSvarya<\/em> – ability to control all chEthana<\/em> and achEthana<\/em> entities and direct their activities. vIrya<\/em> – when he carries the universe on himself, he does not show any distortion in his features or does not sweat. Sakthi<\/em> – ability to protect all entities with no one to oppose him or cause any hurdle in his path. thEja:<\/em> – his radiance is such that his opponents will shiver, just by hearing \u00a0his name. Also, thEja:<\/em> denotes his ability to carry out any activity without any effort.<\/p>\n

Are there only these 6 qualities? No, there are others too…<\/p>\n

prabhruthi<\/strong> – starting from this. While there are many qualities, the above-mentioned six are the primary qualities.<\/p>\n

If there are many others, is there any count for these qualities, just as we say ashtOththara (108) or sahasranAma (1000)?<\/p>\n

asankhyEya<\/strong> – countless. If a person were granted the lifetime of brahmA and also the thousands of tongues that AdhiSEsha has, he can not complete one in 10000 of his auspicious qualities.<\/p>\n

If they are countless, do they also include any dhOsha guNas (faults)? No, he has only…<\/p>\n

kalyANa<\/strong> – auspicious. He has only auspicious qualities and does not have any faults in him. Neither his auspicious qualities nor his faults can be counted. Since there are innumerable auspicious qualities, they can not be counted. Since he does not have even one fault, this also can not counted.<\/p>\n

guNagaNougha<\/strong><\/p>\n

guNa<\/strong> – type of qualities is such that when one hears them, (s)he will not have to close (her) his ears. On hearing the qualities, one’s heart will melt. We have seen that his qualities are countless.<\/p>\n

Can these qualities be grouped and counted?<\/p>\n

gaNa<\/strong> – bundles. His qualities are innumerable and even if they are bundled into different groups, they can not be counted. Here, SrI periyavAchchAn piLLai lists a few of these bundles to describe his qualities.<\/p>\n