bhAgavatha vaibhavam- Part 1

 

bhAgavatha vaibhavam- Part 1

sUthram excerpt 1

“mlEchchanum bhaktan AnAl chathurvEdhigaL anuvarthikka arivu koDuththu kuladeivaththOdu okka pUjai kondu pAvana teertha prasAdanam engira thirumughapadiyum”

மிலேச்சனும் பக்தன் ஆனால் சதுர்வேதிகள் அநுவர்த்திக்க அறிவு கொடுத்துக் 'குலதைவத்தோடு ஒக்கப்

பூஜை கொண்டு பாவநதீர்த்தப் பிரசாதனாம்' என்கிற திருமுகப்படியும்

This excerpt constitutes the first portion of swAmi azhagiya manavALA perumAL nAyanAr’s 85^th sUtram. The essence of the thought-provoking words of this excerpt is that even a person of the 5^th varna- mlEchcha caste, if a devotee/bhakta, is to be greatly respected. The caste and flaws (kuraigaL) of such a person are to be disregarded and he qualifies to be glorified and worshipped as a divine personality.

 

bhakti-

Since the fundamental element that qualifies a mlEchchan to be honored as a supreme devotee is his bhakti, swAmi mAmunigaL describes, with pramANA, what type of bhakti is described by shAstrAs. swAmi points out emperumAn’s words in this context- “bhaktir aShTa vidhA hy EshA yasmin mlEchchE ’pi vartatE *”- if the eight types of bhakti (described below) are seen in a person, even if he was born in the mlEchchA  caste, he should be regarded as a topmost bhAgavathOththamA. These eight types of bhakti are summarized below-

 

1) mad bhakta jana vAtsalyam- love, forgiving tendency and mercy upon other devotees ; not pinpointing bhAgavatha dOSham | 2) pUjAyAmsca anumOdanam-  sincerely yearning to perform thiruvArAdhanam  to the Lord everyday | 3) svayam abhyarchanam caiva- desiring to renderpersonal  devotional service to the Lord; “pongum parivu” for one’s perumAL | 4) madarthE Dhamba varjanam- humble in all aspects and not blowing trumpets about one’s kainkaryams | 5)mad kathA shravaNE bhakti: - listens to bhagavath kathA with utmost bhakti and shradhdhA | 6) svara nEtrAnga vikriyA- while absorbed in bhagavth kainkaryam,  eyes are filled with tears,  the voice falters and the hairs on the body stand erect in transcendental happiness  | 7)  mamAnusmaranam nityam – mind/consciousness is always engaged in the thoughts of emperumAn; “sindai matRonRin tiRattadallAt tanmai dEvapiRan aRiyum” |சிந்தை மற்றொன்றின்  திறத்ததல்லாத் தன்மை * தேவ பிரான் அறியும்* TVM 7-10-10 8 ) yacchamAm nOpa jeevati – unconditionally surrendered to emperumAn, with no desires what so ever

 

“sa viprEndO muni: SrImAn,  sa yad sa cha panDita: *” -  Such a mlEchchan practicing the 8-fold path of bhakti is to be regarded as the most revered brAhmaNa, an auspicious saint/ muni, a panDithan and  a true sanyAsI whose mind is detached from material desires and is fixed upon emperumAn.

 

Adversity of a brAhmaNa-

swAmi mAmunigaL explains that the chaturvEdigaL (brAhmaNAs) have a natural flaw (kurai) - the pride arising from abhijana (birth), vidhyA (knowledge), vruhdham (AchAram). This dOSham blemishes a brAhmaNa’s Atma svarUpam. The only way a brAhmaNa can overcome this flaw and cleanse himself of his ahankAra dOSham is by generously accepting the bhAgavathAs born in the mlEchcha caste and by not discriminating them with respect to the give-take gestures described below.

 

Sublime give-take gestures-

“tasmai dEyam tatO grAhyam *” - The bhAgavathan thus described is qualified to be given gyAnam if he so desires (tasmai dEyam)  and on the other hand, can be approached to obtain gyAnam (tatO grAhyam).  This gesture is wonderfully reiterated by thondaradippodi AzhwAr in his thirumAlai pAsuram- “izhi kulaththavargaLElum | em adiyArgaLAgil  |thozhuminIr kodumin koNmin **”. Here the words kodumin and koLmin refer to the give and take of gyAnam to/from the bhAgavathan. These words also denote the give and take of SrIpAda teertham- one can accept SrIpAda teertham from him and one may offer his SrI pAda teertham to the bhAgavatan as well.  The SrIpAda teertham of a bhAgavatan is described as “tad pAda ambu athulam teertham”- it is considered superior to even the holy water of the Ganga and emperumAn’s thirumanjana teertham.

 

“sa cha pUjyO yathA hari: *”, “kuladeivaththOdu okka pUjai kondu”, “enRu ninnOdum okka**”-  swAmi mAmunigaL further explains that the bhAgavatan is as worshipable as emperumAn. The kuladeivam (worshipable Lord of the kulam) for our prappana kulam is the adiyAr gOShTi and hence it is utmost important that we offer utmost respect to bhAgavtAs and in fact worship them.

 

“taduchchiShTam supAvanam *”-  Also, the prasAda remnants of the bhAgvatan are described as “su pAvanam”- utmost purifying/holy and is to be honorably accepted. SrI thondaradippodi AzhwAr emphasizes on this point in his pAsuram “…pOnagam seydha sEdam | tharuvarEl punidhamanRE **”. 

 

*bhagavath shAstram

**  எம் அடியார்களாகில்* தொழுமினீர் கொடுமின் கொண்மின்!* என்று நின்னோடும் ஒக்க*

வழிபட அருளினாய் போல்* மதிள் திருவரங்கத்தானே! (திருமாலை -42).

 

** போனகம் செய்த சேடம் * தருவரேல் புனிதமன்றே

Note: The classic beauty of swAmi mAmunigaL’s vyAkhyAnam for this sUtram is that swAmi never uses the word “mlEchchan” and his choice of words to describe such a bhAgvatha is that of high respect and reverence.

 

 AzhwAr thiruvadiklaey sharanam | azhagiya manavALA perumAL nAyanAr thiruvadikaley sharanam | jeeyar thiruvadikaley sharanam 

 

adiyaen varavaramuni dAsan,

Gopalakrishnan Gomadam Azhagiyamanavalan

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