kiLaroLi iLamai – 4 – svarUpa jnAnam – avoiding sva svAthanthriyam

This act of withdrawing the protest can be explained through the following example. When it is raining and we are holding an umbrella, if we want to get wet, all we need to do is to withdraw the umbrella – we dont need to do anything more. The same way if we want to drench ourselves in bhagavath krupai, we just need to accept it instead of rejecting it – nothing more.

EmperumAn’s supremacy

In ashta slOki – 4th slOkam, parAsara bhattar explains that “By
looking at the ‘akAram’ with the hidden ‘Aya’ in praNavam, we
understand
that emperumAn is the only independent personality and we are
all subservient to
him”. To understand why we should give up sva svAthanthriyam, we have to
understand emperumAn’s supremacy (parathvam) and the true relationship between emperumAn and jIvAthmAs.


AzhwArs in many place declares  emperumAn’s supremacy.

• Thirumazhisai AzhwAr says “NAnmuganai NArAyanNan padaiththAn, NAnmuganum thAn mukamAy chanGkaranai thAn padaiththAn” (“நான்முகனை நாராயணன் படைத்தான், நான்முகனும் தான் முகமாய் சங்கரனை தான் படைத்தான்”).
• NammAzhwAr says “imaiyOr thalaivA” (“இமையோர் தலைவா”), “ayarvaRum amarargaL adhipathi” (“அயர்வறும் அமரர்கள் அதிபதி”), “oththAr mikkArai ilaiyAya mA mAyA” ( “ஒத்தார் மிக்காரை இலையாய மா மாயா”), “muNNIr nYAlam padaiththa en mugil vanNnNA” (“முந்நீர் ஞாலம் படைத்த என் முகில்வண்ணா”), etc.
• ThiruppANAzhwAr says “amalan Adhi pirAn” (“அமலன் ஆதி பிரான்”)

In bhagavath gIthai, gIthAchAryan declares that he is the supreme and everything depends on him.

• In 7.7, he says that there is nothing superior to him and everything rests upon him, as pearls are strung on a thread. This pearls/string analogy is a brilliant one by emperumAn as in this case, since the string is invisible, the less intelligent will think that it does not exist. On the other hand, an intelligent person will understand that pearls cannot hold on together without the string. The same way only an intelligent person will undestand that all jIvAthmAs depend on emperumAn for their existence even.
• In 10.8 – he says that he is the source of everything and everything comes out of him. The intelligent persons who understand this will engage in his serving him.
• In 10.42 – he says with
  a small portion of his shakthi he supports this entire material world. 

Our relationship to emperumAn

Next we should understand his relationship with the jIvAthmAs. He is the true bandhu to all jIvAthmAs. All the other relationships such as father, mother, husband, wife, son, daughter, etc are aupAthikam (came out of our karma and temporary) while relationship between jIvAthma and emperumAn is nirupAthikam (natural and eternal).


piLLai lOkAchAryar, in a rahasya grantham called nava vidha sambandham explains this in an excellent manner. He starts the grantham with a wonderful slOkam which is very simple, should be memorized by everyone of us and to be remembered all the time. 


pithAs cha rakshaka sEshi barthA jnEyO ramApathi:
svAmy adhArO mama AthmA cha bhokthA cha AdhyamanUdhitha:


This wonderful slOkam explains the nine types of relationships (sambandhams) between emperumAn (ramApathi) and jIvAthmA as explained in thirumanthram.

• Father/Son – emperumAn is considered as the eternal father to each jIvAthmA, since he is the one who is always thinking hitham (goodness) for the jIvAthmA.
• protector/protected – emperumAn is the only protector and the jIvAthmA is the protected. This is explained by piLLai lOkAchAryar in prapanna parithrANam in a detailed manner.
• Master/Servant – emperumAn is always the master and jIvAthmA is the servant. 
• Husband/Wife – just like wife is always dependent on husband, jIvAthmA is dependant on emperumAn.
• Known/Knower – emperumAn is the object of knowledge for the jIvAthmA. Real knowledge means knowing emperumAn’s svarUpam (nature), rUpam (forms), guNam (qualities), vibhavam (avathArams), vibhuUthi (wealth), etc.
• svAmy/svam – emperumAn is the proprietor and jIvAthmA is the property.
• AdhAra/AdhEyam – emperumAn is the one who holds every thing and jIvAthmA is held by emperumAn.
• sarIri/sarIram – just like AthmA is inside body and controls it, emperumAn is inside jIvAthmA and controls him.
• bhOkthA/bhOgyam – emperumAn is the ultimate enjoyer and jIvAthma is the enjoyed. But when emperumAn enjoys jIvAthmA, since jIvAthmA has knowledge, he also shares that joy.

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