SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama: SrI vAnAchala mahAmunayE nama:
avathArikai (Introduction)
Subsequently, nAyanAr mercifully explains how even the wisest persons, without being able to identify who exactly AzhwAr is, while wondering “Who is the one who incarnated as AzhwAr in this manner?”, will doubt about AzhwAr’s identity.
chUrNikai 92
athri jamadhagni pankthi ratha vasunandha sUnuvAnavanudaiya yugavarNakrama avathAramO? vyAsAdhivath AvESamO? mUdhuvar karaikaNdOr sIriyarilE oruvarO? munnam nORRa ananthan mEl puNNiyangaL paliththavarO enRu SankippargaL.
Simple Explanation
Is AzhwAr an incarnation in order for the particular yuga in the particular varNa, of bhagavAn who was born as the sons of athri [as dhaththAthrEya], jamadhagni [as paraSurAma], dhaSaratha [as SrIrAma] and vasunandha [as krishNa]? Is he an AvESa [partial] incarnation as in the case of vyAsa et al? Is he one who is the best among the nithyasUris or mukthAthmAs or the residents of SvEthadhvIpam? Or is he the one who became like this by bhakthi yOgam or by the causeless mercy of bhagavAn? In this manner, even the wisest persons will doubt about AzhwAr.
vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
athri jamadhagni pankthi ratha vasunandha sUnuvAnavanudaiya yugavarNakrama avathAramO? – That is – in krutha yugam, bhagavAn was born as the son of brAhmaNOththamas (best among brAhmaNas) athri and jamadhagni, dhaththAthrEya and paraSurAma, respectively; in thrEthA yugam, he was born as SrI rAma, the son of dhaSaratha chakravarthi; in dhvApara yugam, he was born as the son of vasudhEva who is an inferior kshathriya and equivalent to vaiSya, due to being born in yadhu clan which lost the claim for kingdom, by yayAthi’s curse, and SrI nandhagOpa who was a real vaiSya who was having cow-protection etc as his dharma as said in SrI bhagavath gIthA 18.44 “krushigOrakshyavANijyam vaiSyakarma svabhAvajam” (Farming, protecting cows and doing business are the activities acquired by [birth based on] previous karma for vaiSya); in this manner, in the sequence of yugas starting with krutha, did sarvESvaran, who incarnated in brAhmaNa etc varNas, in the fourth yuga, that is, kali yuga, incarnate in the fourth varNa? – This is one doubt regarding AzhwAr’s birth.
Since bhagavAn incarnates in the first three yugas, in sequence in the first three varNas, and since it is said by sages that bhagavAn appeared in kaliyugam in the form of his devotee as in “kalau puna: pAparathAbhibhUthE sa udhbabhUvASritha vathalathvAth, bhakthAthmanA sarvajanAn sukhOpthum viSvAdhikO viSvamayOhi vishNu:” (vishNu who is greater than everyone and has the universe as his form, in this kaliyugam which is surrounded by people who are attached to sins, to protect all people, took birth as his devotee, since he is affectionate towards his devotees), it is apt for those who had seen AzhwAr’s glories to doubt about him in this manner.
vyAsAdhivath AvESamO? – That is – as said in SrIvishNu purANam 3.4.5 “krishNa dhvaipAyanam vyAsam vidhdhi nArAyaNam prabhum” (Know that krishNa dhvaipAyana, also known as vyAsa, to be lord nArAyaNa) and mahAbhAratham “sOyam nArAyaNas sAkshAth vyAsarUpI mahAmuni:” (Such vyAsa, the great sage, is actually that nArAyaNa only), just as emperumAn manifested as vyAsa et al to divide the vEdhams etc, did he manifest himself as AzhwAr to propagate the dhrAvida vEdham? Since bhagavAn can manifest himself as AzhwAr to reform this world, such doubt can arise.
mUdhuvar karaikaNdOr sIriyarilE oruvarO? – That is – as said in thiruviruththam 2 “viNNAttavar mUdhuvar” (The ancient ones in paramapadham), did anyone from the nithyasUris, who are the rulers of paramapadham, incarnate as per the orders of ISvara, to reform the world? Alternatively, as said in thiruvAimozhi 8.3.10 “karai kaNdOr” (mukthAthmAs (liberated souls) who have reached the other shore (after crossing samsAra)), did anyone from the mukthAthmAs, who have crossed over samsAram and reached the other shore of paramapadham, incarnate here to reform the samsAris, based on the orders of bhagavAn? Alternatively, as said in mahAbhAratham SAnthi parvam “mukthAnAm lakshaNam hyEthath SvEtha dhvIpa nivAsinAm” (Those who are residents of SvEtha dhvIpam, and are at par with mukthAthmAs), being mukthaprAya (those who are at par with mukthAthmAs), and as said in thiruviruththam 79 “pARkadal pAmbaNai mEl paLLi koNdaruLum
sIdhanaiyE thozhuvAr viNNuLArilum sIriyar” (He reclines on the divine mattress of AdhiSEshan in the divine thiruppARkadal and has coolness as his true nature. Those who worship him are more eminent than the nithyasUris), did anyone from SvEtha dhvIpam, as per the desires of ISvara, incarnate here to reform the samsAris? If we look at his greatness, since he has everyone’s qualities, each person can doubt his nature in different ways. As said in thiruvAimozhi 6.5.10 “pinnaikol? nilamAmagaLkol? thirumagaLkol?” (Is parAnguSa nAyaki who is born in this manner, nappinnaip pirAtti who is infinitely enjoyable? Is she the laudable bhUmip pirAtti who is the controller of the earth? Is she lakshmi who is the infinite wealth for emperumAn?), while parAnkuSa nAyaki was compared to the divine consorts of bhagavAn, she can be doubted to be different consorts separately; what to speak about other devotees of bhagavAn?
munnam nORRa ananthan mEl puNNiyangaL paliththavarO enRu SankippargaL – That is – instead of being anyone mentioned previously, is he one among the samsAris (bound souls) who became reformed in this manner by the good deeds which were accumulated in past births as said in thiruvAimozhi 6.5.7 “munnam nORRa vidhikolO?” (is it due to her previous fortune?) Or, as said in thiruchchandha viruththam 45 “ananthan mEl kidandha em puNNiyA” (oh one who is my means, who is reclining on top of thiruvanandhAzhwAn (AdhiSEshan)!), is he the one who got reformed by the full glance of sanAthana puNyam (eternal means) who is reclining on anantha and who can change an eternally bound soul to be at par with an eternal servitor, by his unconditional merciful glance? This is how everyone doubts AzhwAr’s birth. That is – even the wisest persons will be unable to determine the real identity of AzhwAr as explained previously and doubt his nature.
adiyen sarathy ramanuja dasan
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