<< Previous<\/a><\/p>\n avathArikai (Introduction)<\/strong><\/p>\n This chUrNai describes the archirAdhi mArga<\/em> (the path which starts with archis<\/em>, light) through which a \u00a0jIvAthmA<\/a>, who has thus surrendered to bhagavAn<\/a> and gets liberated from samsAram (materialistic realm) travels and attains SrIvaikuNtam. It also describes the many-splendoured facets of SrIvaikuNtam. This is a very lengthy chUrNai and we shall see it in several parts.<\/p>\n chUrNai<\/strong><\/p>\n chathurdhaSa bhuvanAthmakam aNdam dhaSaguNitha uththarancha<\/em> chathurdaSa<\/em> – fourteen Explanatory Notes<\/strong><\/p>\n chathurdhaSa bhuvanAthmakam<\/strong> – chathurdaSa<\/em> – fourteen; bhuvanam<\/em> – world; Athmakam<\/em> – composed of. There are 7 worlds including bhU:<\/em> (earth) (bhU;, bhuva:, suva:, maha:, jana:, thapa: sathyam<\/em>) which are above, and 7 worlds starting with athala<\/em> (athala, suthala, vithala, nithala, rasAthala, thalAthala, pAthala<\/em>) below. What is it that these 14 worlds constitute?<\/p>\n aNdam<\/strong> – These 14 worlds taken together form an egg-shaped assembly of worlds called aNdam<\/em> (egg). It has an end-to-end spread of 50 crore yOjana<\/em> (one yOjana<\/em> is 10 miles or 16 kms in our parlance).<\/p>\n dhaSaguNitha uththarancha\u00a0AvaraNa sapthakam<\/strong> – dhaSa<\/em> – ten; guNitha<\/em> – times; uththaram<\/em> – above; cha<\/em> – also; AvaraNa<\/em> – wrapper or cover; sapthakam<\/em> – collection or aggregate of 7. Around each such egg (aNdam<\/em>, that we have seen above) are 7 covers, with each succeeding cover being 10 times bigger than the previous cover. What are these 7 covers made of? They are prithvi<\/em>\u00a0(14 worlds in the centre), vAri<\/em> (water), vahni<\/em> (fire), anila<\/em> (air or wind), AkASa<\/em> (open or empty space), ahankAra<\/em> (ego, third source of creation), mahAn<\/em> (great, the 2nd source of creation) and avyaktham<\/em>\u00a0(prakruthi<\/em> or primordial matter<\/a>, primary source of creation ).<\/p>\n samastham<\/strong> – all. All the above mentioned entities put together form one aNdam<\/em>. SrIvishNu purANam says that there are thousands and ten thousands of such aNdam and hundreds of crores of such entities.<\/p>\n kArya kAraNa jAtham<\/strong> – effect and causative factors (those that are produced by and those that produce). For example, avyaktham<\/em>\u00a0(prakruthi<\/em> or primordial matter) that we have seen above is the causative factor for mahAn<\/em>. mahAn<\/em> produces ahankAram<\/em> which in turn gives rise to the five elements sky, wind, fire, water and earth. Thus avyaktham is kAraNam<\/em> while mahAn<\/em> is both kAraNam<\/em> (as it gives rise to ahankAram<\/em>) and kAryam<\/em> (as it came from avyaktham<\/em>).<\/p>\n athIthya<\/strong> – crossing. The liberated jIvAthmA<\/a> crosses all these entities. The crossing is done once and he does not come back to samsAram<\/em>. \u00a0In bhagavadh gIthA<\/a>, krishNa<\/a> says that the AthmA<\/a> who reaches upto sathya lOkam<\/em> (brahmA<\/em>‘s world) returns to samsAram<\/em>. But the AthmA who has spent all his karma<\/em> (both pApa<\/em> and puNya<\/em>, sin and virtue) crosses sathya lOkam<\/em> too and does not return to samsAram<\/em>. What sort of a place does such an AthmA reach?<\/p>\n parama<\/strong> – superior. That which does not have anything \u00a0higher than itself.<\/p>\n vyOma SabdhAbhidhEyE<\/strong> – vyOma<\/em> – sky or ether; Sabdha<\/em> – word; abhidhEyE<\/em> – expressed as. The AthmA<\/a> crosses all the earlier mentioned worlds and reaches the entity that \u00a0is called as parama vyOma<\/em> (superior sky). Unlike karmabhUmi<\/em> (earth, the place where we take a physical form in line with our karma to get rid of prArabdha karma<\/em>) this place does not limit our knowledge, but clears our thoughts. Is this place limited?<\/p>\n brahmA AdhInAm vAngmanasa agOcharE<\/strong> – Unlike simple people such as ourselves who have limited knowledge and power, this place is beyond the reach of highly knowledgeable people such as brahmA, Siva and other celestial beings. It is beyond their speech and thought. Does this place have a name?<\/p>\n SrImathi vaikuNtE dhivyalOkE<\/strong> – it is called as SrIvaikuNtam. Unlike karmabhUmi<\/em> where there are impediments while carrying our kainkaryam, this is permanent and free from any hurdle.<\/p>\n Srimathi<\/strong> here refers to kainkaryam. vaikuNtE<\/strong> – there is no shortage for gyAna<\/em> (knowledge) and Sakthi<\/em> (energy or strength) here as there is no concealment of these by karmA. dhivyalOkE<\/strong> – not mAnushalOkam<\/em> (world inhabited by human beings). Different from it. dhivya<\/em>\u00a0also means\u00a0aprAkrutha<\/em> (not prAkrutha<\/em>, not composed of sathva\/rajas\/thamas<\/em>, but only Sudhdha sathva<\/em>). Having mentioned about the place, the next few words describe about the people who are in it.<\/p>\n sanaka vidhi Sivadhibhir achinthya svabhAva aiSvaryai:<\/strong> – sanaka<\/em> – one of the four mAnasa puthrars<\/em>\u00a0of brahmA<\/em> (the four sons created by brahmA<\/em> through his thoughts); vidhi<\/em> – brahmA; Siva<\/em> – rudhran; Adhibi<\/em> – many other celestial entities, starting from these; achinthya<\/em> – beyond their thoughts; svabhAva<\/em> – as its nature; aiSvaryai:<\/em> – having plenty of wealth. Even highly knowledgeable persons such as brahmA, Siva, sanaka<\/em> and others can not fathom about the glory and type of persons who are inhabiting SrivaikuNtam<\/em> and the wealth of SrIvaikuNtam.<\/p>\n nithya sidhdhai:<\/strong> – unlike mukthAthmAs<\/a><\/em> who are devoted to bhagavAn<\/a>, <\/em>only from the time that they reach SrIvaikuNtam<\/em> after being liberated, the inhabitants of SrIvaikuNtam<\/em> (![\"going-to-paramapadham\"](\"https:\/\/divyaprabandham.koyil.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/going-to-paramapadham.jpg\")
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\n AvaraNasapthakam samastham kArya kAraNa jAtham athIthya<\/em> varthamAnE<\/em>,
\nparamavyOma SabdhAbhidhEyE, brahmAdhInAm<\/em> vAngmansAgOcharE, <\/em>
\nSrImathi vaikuNtE dhivyalOkE, sanaka<\/em> vidhi SivAdhibhirapi achinthya svabhAva aiSvaryai:<\/em>
\n nithya sidhdhai: ananthai: bhagavath AnukUlyaika bhOgai: <\/em>dhivya purushai: mahAthmabhi: ApUrithE,<\/em>
\n thEshAmapi<\/em> iyath parimANam iyath aiSvaryam IdhruSa svabhAvam ithi<\/em> parichchEththum ayOgyE, <\/em>
\ndhivya AvaraNa Satha sahasrair AvruthE<\/em> dhivya kalpakatharu upaSObhithE,<\/em>dhivyOdhyAna Satha sahasra kOtibhirAvruthE, athipramANE, <\/em>
\ndhivya AyathanE kasmimSchith<\/em> vichithra dhivya rathnamayE dhivyAsthAna maNdapE, <\/em>
\ndhivya<\/em> rathna sthambha Satha sahasra kOtibhirupaSObhithE, <\/em>
\ndhivya<\/em> nAnA rathna krutha sthala vichithrithE, <\/em>
\ndhivyAlankAra<\/em> alankruthE, paritha: pathithai: pathamAnai: pAdhapasthaiScha<\/em>
\n nAnA gandha varNai: dhivya pushpai: SObhamAnai: <\/em>
\ndhivya<\/em> pushpa upavanai: upaSObhithE, <\/em>
\nsankIrNa pArijAthAdhi<\/em> kalpadhruma upaSObhithai:, <\/em>
\nasankIrNaiScha kaISchith<\/em> anthastha pushpa rathnAdhi nirmitha <\/em>
\ndhivya leela maNdapa Satha<\/em> sahasrair upaSObhithai:<\/em><\/p>\nWord-by-Word meaning<\/h3>\n
\nbhuvanam<\/em> – world
\nAthmakam<\/em> – composed of
\naNdam<\/strong> – These 14 worlds taken together form an egg-shaped assembly of worlds called aNdam<\/em> (egg)
\ndhaSa<\/em> – ten
\nguNitha<\/em> – times
\nuththaram<\/em> – above
\ncha<\/em> – also
\nAvaraNa<\/em> – wrapper or cover
\nsapthakam<\/em> – collection or aggregate of 7
\nsamastham<\/strong> – all
\nkArya kAraNa jAtham<\/strong> – effect and causative factors
\nathIthya<\/strong> – crossing
\nparama<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 superior
\nvyOma<\/em> \u2013 sky or ether
\nSabdha<\/em> \u2013 word
\nabhidhEyE<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 expressed as
\nbrahmA AdhInAm vAngmanasa agOcharE<\/strong> \u2013 this place is beyond the speech and thought of everyone beginning with brahmA.
\nSrimathi<\/strong> – kainkaryam
\nvaikuNtE<\/strong> \u2013 vaikuntam
\ndhivyalOkE<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 not\u00a0mAnushalOkam<\/em>\u00a0(world inhabited by human beings)
\nsanaka<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 one of the four\u00a0mAnasa puthrars<\/em>\u00a0of\u00a0brahmA<\/em>\u00a0(the four sons created by\u00a0brahmA<\/em> through his thoughts)
\nvidhi<\/em> \u2013 brahmA
\nSiva<\/em> \u2013 rudhran
\nAdhibi<\/em> \u2013 many other celestial entities, starting from these
\nachinthya<\/em> \u2013 beyond their thoughts
\nsvabhAva<\/em> \u2013 as its nature
\naiSvaryai:<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 having plenty of wealth
\nnithya sidhdhai:<\/strong> \u2013 permanently carrying out kainkaryam
\nananthai:<\/strong> \u2013 countless
\nbhagavath AnukUlya bhOgai:<\/strong> \u2013 enjoyed by bhagavAn the way he likes
\ndhivya purushai:<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 divine people
\nmahAthmabhi<\/strong>: \u2013 great people
\nApUrithE<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 filled up
\nthEshAmapi<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 even they
\niyath parimANam<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 these are its dimensions
\niyath aiSvaryam<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 this is the value of its wealth
\nIdhruSa svabhAvam<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 this is its nature or type
\nithi parichchEththum ayOgyE<\/strong> \u2013 even\u00a0nithyasUris<\/em>\u00a0do not have the ability to define these characteristics of SrIvaikuNtam
\ndhivya<\/em> \u2013 aprAkrutha (pure good)
\nAvaraNa<\/em> \u2013 cover (like a compound wall)
\nSatha<\/em> \u2013 hundreds
\nsahasra \u2013 thousands
\nAvruthE<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 filled with
\ndhivya<\/em>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0aprAkrutha<\/em> (sudhdha sathva)
\nkalpaka tharu<\/em> \u2013 a tree which fulfills the wishes of those who wish for something while standing under it
\nupaSObhithE<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 adorned with
\ndhivya<\/em> \u2013 divine
\nudhyAna<\/em> \u2013 garden
\nSatha<\/em> \u2013 hundred
\nsahasra<\/em> \u2013 thousand
\nkOtibhi:<\/em> \u2013 crore
\nAvruthE<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 filled with
\nathipramANE<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 beyond measure
\ndhivya AyathanE<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 divine temple
\nkasmimSchith<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 at some place
\nvichithra<\/em> \u2013 of many types
\nrathnamayE<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 full of gems
\ndhivya<\/em> \u2013 divine
\nAsthAna<\/em> \u2013 assembly
\nmaNdapa<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 hall
\ndhivya rathna sthambha Satha sahasra kOtibhi: upaSObithE<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 the\u00a0maNdapam<\/em>\u00a0(hall) is adorned with hundreds of thousands of pillars (sthamba<\/em>) made of ruby and such gems
\ndhivya nAnA rathna krutha sthala vichithrithE<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 the\u00a0sthala<\/em>\u00a0(floor) is made of different types of divine, wonderful rubies
\ndhivya alankAra alankruthE<\/strong> \u2013 the roof of the hall decorated in an artful way
\nparitha<\/em> \u2013 surround
\npathitha<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 fallen
\npathamAnai:<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 flowers are just dropping from the plants and trees.
\npAdhapasthaiScha<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 flowers that are also (still) on the plants and trees
\nnAnA<\/em> \u2013 different
\ngandha<\/em> \u2013 smell
\nvarNa<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 colour
\ndhivya<\/em> \u2013 divine
\npushpa<\/em> \u2013 flowers
\nSObhamAna<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 adorned with
\ndhivya pushpa upavanai: upaSObhithE<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 the place is adorned with such orchards and gardens
\nsankIrNa pArijAtha Adhi kalpadhruma upaSObhithai:<\/strong> \u2013\u00a0Adorned with mix of kalpaka trees and trees such as pArijAtham, sandalwood etc.
\nasankIrNaiScha kaiSchith<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 also adorned with stand-alone trees (trees that are not mixed with other types).
\nanthastha pushpa rathna Adhi nirmitha dhivya leelA maNdapa Satha sahaasra upaSObhiththai:<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 inside the groves, there are different types of\u00a0maNdapams<\/em>\u00a0(halls) such as\u00a0pushpa maNdapa<\/em>\u00a0(flower hall),\u00a0rathna\u00a0maNdapa<\/em>\u00a0(ruby hall) and which are present in hundreds of thousands of numbers for the divine play of\u00a0bhagavAn<\/a>\u00a0and his consorts<\/p>\n