SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavaramunayE nama:
avathArikai (Introduction)
When asked “Is this principle seen anywhere?” piLLai lOkAchAryar mercifully responds.
sUthram 206
ivvartham, kaiSika vruththAnthaththilum, uparicharavasu vruththAnthaththilum kANalAm.
Simple Explanation
This principle is seen in kaiSika incident and uparicharavasu incident.
vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
ivvartham …
kaiSika vruththAntham
That is – a brAhmaNa named sOma SarmA, born in charaka kulam, vowed to perform a yagya (sacrifice); without performing the yagya as per the rules, he died before completing the yagya; due to this, he was born as a brahma rakshas (a demon who was previously a brAhmaNa) and was roaming around; a bhAgavatha who is identified exclusively by bhakthi towards bhagavAn, who is having natural humility which is due to his birth in an inferior clan as said in varAha purANam “madhbhaktham Svapacham vApi” (Even if my devotee is a dog-eater … I will not tolerate any offense on him), on the night of uththAna (kaiSika) EkAdhaSi, was going towards thirukkuRungudi, which is known as sidhdhASramam, with his vINA in his hands, to sing for nambi emperumAn and be blessed with kainkaryam; brahma rAkshasan came close to the bhAgavatha with the intent to devour him; the bhAgavatha performed many vows saying he will return [after singing for nambi] and took permission of the rAkshasa to go to nambi; he went to nambi and worshipped nambi to his heart’s content and quickly returned to the place where the brahma rAkshasan was present and said “you can eat my body as you please”; the rAkshasa saw the greatness of the bhAgavatha in being truthful etc and said “you give me the result of the songs you sang today; I will let you free”; but the bhAgavatha did not agree to that; subsequently the rAkshasa requested the bhAgavatha to grant the result of songs sung in half of the night, one jAmam and so on; the bhAgavatha stood firm saying “I cannot do that; you can eat me as you desired previously”; the rAkshasa surrendered to the bhAgavatha and prayed “you should help me cross over the result of my sinful situation with the help of your song’s greatness” as said in kaiSika purANam “thvamvai gItha prabhAvEna nistharAyithumAhasi | Evam ukthvAdha chaNdALam rAkshasas SaraNAmgatha: ||“; finally, the bhAgavatha gave the result of the kaiSika tune and eliminated the rAkshasa form which was acquired due to his karma, and helped him regain his brAhmaNa form and subsequently to become a bhAgavatha to be liberated as said in “yanmayA paSchimam gItham svaram kaiSikam uththamam“; in this kaiSika vruththAntham, it is seen that there is no restriction that the relationship with bhAgavathas born in superior clans will lead to liberation and such relationship with bhAgavathas born in inferior clans will not lead to liberation.
uparicharavasu vruththAntham
uparicharavasu is a supreme king who is very knowledgeable that even rishis and dhEvathAs will clarify their doubts on dharma from him; not only does he have a very good conduct, matching his [kshathriya] varNam, he is also an expert in sAthvatha thanthram (a portion of SrI pAncharAthra Agamam) and is with noble conduct due to always performing thiruvArAdhanam to bhagavAn; he is able to roam around aerially due to his thapObalam (strength of penance); when the rishis and dhEvathAs were debating on the topic of animal for yAgam (sacrifice), they saw him in the sky as said in “mArgAgathO nrupaSrEshtas thamdhEvam prApthavAn vasu: | antharikshachara: SrImAn samagra balavAhana: || tham dhrushtvA sahasayAntham vasum thEthavantharikshagam | Uchur dhvijAthayO dhEvA Esha: chEthsyathi samSayam ||” (As uparicharavasu, the best among the kings, was travelling, he reached the place where the debate was happening. The rishis and dhEvathAs saw the king who was roaming in the sky along with his complete armies and his having all wealth and told “he will clear our doubt”) and thought that he will clarify their doubt, approached him and asked “What shall we do?” He said “You tell me both of your views”; the rishis said “our view is to perform the yagya with grains; dhEvathAs say that it should be done with animals; what shall we do? Tell us” as said in “dhAnyair yasthavyamithyEsha pakshOsmAkam narAdhipa – dhEvathAnAmhi paSubhi: pakshO rAjan vadha svana:“. Due to his partiality towards the dhEvathAs as said in “dhEvAnAnthu matham SruthvA vasunA paksha samSrayAth – chAkEnAjEna yashtavyam Eva muktham vachas thathA” (after hearing the view of dhEvathAs, he sided with them and it was said by him that the yagya should be done with animal), he said “yagya should be performed with animal”. The rishis became angry hearing that; seeing the king who had partiality towards dhEvathAs and is still air-borne on his vehicle, they cursed him saying “If your words are contradictory to vEdha sUthrams, you, who were partial towards dhEvathAs and spoke, will fall from the sky; immediately your air travel will stop and you will fall into pAthALam (lowest of worlds); if we had spoken contradictory to vEdham, we will fall into pAthALam” as said in “kupithAs thE thathA sarvE munayas sUryavarchasa: | Uchurvasum vimAnastham dhEva pakshArtha vAdhinam || surapakshO gruhIthas thE yasmAth thasmAth dhiva: patha | adhya prabruthithE rAjannAkASE vihathAgathi: || asmath SApAbhi gAthEna mahIm bithvA pravEkshayasi | virudhdham vEdha sUthrANAm uktham yadhibavEn nrupa || vayam virudhdha vachanAyadhithathra pathAmahE ||”. As said in “thathas thasmin muhUrthEthu rAjO paricharaS thathA | athOvai sambabhUvASu bhUmEr vivaragO nrupa: ||” (Subsequently, at that same time, uparicharavasu, the king, as cursed, fell upside down towards earth and entered through the hole [to reach pAthALam)); in this uparicharavasu incident, as we see that uparicharavasu who is even greater than rishis, due to his knowledge, to have them enquire upon him for doubts in dharma, performed offence towards them and fell down greatly, it is seen that there is no restriction that the offence of bhAgavathas who are inferior by birth, knowledge towards those who are superior by birth, knowledge will lead to fall-down and such offence of bhAgavathas who are superior by birth, knowledge towards those who are inferior by birth, knowledge will not lead to fall-down.
Though rishis are superior by birth, since uparicharavasu is having superiority by knowledge, there is nothing wrong in considering him to be superior to them. When birth and knowledge etc are compared, knowledge etc will be considered superior to birth.
Since kaiSika vruththAntham is mercifully narrated by SrI varAha nAyanAr to SrI bhUmip pirAtti in SrI varAha purAnam, and uparicharavasu vruththAntham is narrated by SrI bhIshma to dharmaputhra in mOksha dharmam of mahAbhAratham which is considered as fifth vEdham, both of these are most authentic evidences.
adiyen sarathy ramanuja dasan
archived in https://granthams.koyil.org/
pramEyam (goal) – https://koyil.org
pramANam (scriptures) – https://granthams.koyil.org
pramAthA (preceptors) – https://acharyas.koyil.org
SrIvaishNava Education/Kids Portal – https://pillai.koyil.org