MoondrAm thiruvandhAdhi-Paasuram-38

Sri Parthasarathi thunai  

Srimathe ramanujaya Namaha

Srimad Vara Vara munayE Namaha

Sri vAnAchala mahA munayE Namaha

Vishvaroopa darisanam

Paasuram-38

“thAnE thanakku vuvaman thannuRuvE evvuruvum

  thAnE thavavuruvum thAragaiyum – thAnE

  erisudarum mAlvaraiyum eNdisaiyum aNdath

  thirisudaru mAya eRai”

"தானே தனக்குவமன் தன்னுருவே எவ்வுருவும் 

தானே தவவுருவும் தாரகையும்-தானே 

எரிசுடரும் மால்வரையும் எண்டிசையும் அண்டத் 

திரிசுடரு மாயவிறை ."

ev vuruvum – All objects;

than vuruvE – all that which forms part of His  body;

thavam vuruvum – Brahma and others who got celestial body as a result of their penance;

thAragaiyum – stars;

thAnE – All His forms;

eri sudarum – glittering fire;

mAl varaiyum – gigantic mountains;

eN disaiyum – all the eight directions;

aNdaththu – Inside the cosmos;

eru sudarum – Chandra and surya;

thAnE Aya eRai – The Lord who manifested as all the above;

thanakku thAnE vuvaman – (matchless) He is allegorical to Himself;

Introduction

That special person who has fallen in such great love towards me is not an ordinary personality but the supreme power who cannot be compared to anyone else other than Himself;

Commentary

First azhvar proclaims that nothing in this world is comparable to that supreme Lord and further continues to reason out the same.

(thannuruvE evvuruvum) The sruthis (Vedas) and various other pramanas  (authoritative texts) declare,

“yasya athma sareeram” “yasya pruthvee sareeram” [Bruh 5-7]

“tAni sarvAni tat vapu:” [vi.pu.1-22-86]

“tat sarvam vai harEs tanu: [vi.pu. 1-22-38]

“jagat sarvam sareeram tE” [Ra.yu 20-26]

Everything else other than Himself is part of the divine paramatma’s divine body;

(thAnE thavavuruvum thAragaiyum)

“yugakOti sahasrAni vishnumArAdhya padmabhoo:I

 Punas trailOkya dhAdhruthvam prApthavAnidhi sushruma: II [bha. Sabha 14-8]

[After meditating on Sri mahA Vishnu for thousand crores of yugas brahma once again received the post of Brahma, the master of three worlds]

“mahAdeva: sarvamEdhE mahatma huthvAtmAnam dEvadEvO bhabhoova” [bha.santhi 20-12]

[Siva, called as mahadeva sacrificed himself in the yagna called sarvamEdhan and then became devadevan]

Thus the so called superior demigods viz., Brahma, Rudra and all the glittering stars and astonishing mountains all form part of the divine body of that supreme Lord;

‘thAn’ – He; everything else His prakaras.

Azhvar refers to Brahma, Rudras (superior sentinent beings) and the achetanas (insentient objects) stars and mountains in unison to avoid confusion of trimurthi Ikhyam, devatha Ikhyam, Athma Ikhyam etc.  Thereby azhvar clearly stresses the point of sareera athma bhava in this paasuram;

(erisudarum) that fire which is capable of burning;

(mAl varaiyum) colossal mountains;

(endisaiyum) “disascha nArAyana: vidhisascha nArAyana” (narayanOpanishad)

He is all the four directions and the 4 sub-directions;

(aNdaththu erusudarum thAnE Aya eRai) He is Chandra and surya the most glorious objects in this cosmos;

Here azhvar points to certain objects as a referral to all created objects (kArya nilai) and those behind the creation (kArana nilai) encompassing everything as a whole;

The ‘E-karam’ in ‘thAnE’ stresses the point of oneness and no other person in comparison;

“jyOtheemkshi vishnur bhuvanAni Vishnu:

 vanAni vishnur kirayO disascha

 nadya: samudrAscha sa Eva sarvam

yadhasthi yannAsthi cha vipravaya” [Vi.pu.12-12-38]

Oh Brahmin! Everything glowing is Vishnu; worlds are Vishnu; Forests, mountains, directions, rivers, oceans all are Vishnu; He is unchanging chetanas and changing achetanas declares the Vishnu purana;

Thus the Lord is the sole prakAri (master/owner) and everything else that fall under the category of either kArya (created) or kAraNa (reason for creation) are His prakArAs (inseparable entities); {prakAras – Apruthaksiddha –Inseparable property)

No example can be quoted to explain the supreme Lord as there is no second for Him; (thAnE thanakku vuvaman)

Interesting points from divyArthadeepikai of Sri Kanchi swamy

This poetry contains ‘Ananya alankaram’. Similar to saying ‘the moon is beautiful like the moon’ or ‘The war between Rama and Ravana can be compared only to that same war’

Azhvar emperumAnAr Jeeyar thiruvadigalE sharaNam

Jeeyar thiruvadigalE sharaNam