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NenjamE: Maanasa sambhOdhanam of the AzhwArs

From the Bhakti List Archives

Sadagopan • June 17, 2000 


Dear BhakthAs:

Sri Sampath Rengarajan has started writing now on
the individual paasurams of Sri RaamAnuja NooRRandhAthi.
In his coverage of the first paasuram ,He has focused 
on Thiruvarangatthu AmudanAr"s plea to his mind (Nenju ):

" nenjE solluvOm avan naamangalE "

Sri Rengarajan has pointed out the fine aspects 
behind this appeal of Thiruvarangatthu AmudanAr to his
mind to recite AchArya RaamAnujan's name and Taniyans.

Those who wish to receive regualrly Sri Rengarajan's 
original postings now on a private list are requested 
to contact him at srengara@hotmail.com

I would like to share with you some thoughts that
arose in my mind on reading Sri Rengarajan's comments 
on AmudanAr's appeal to his Nenju .

Maanasa sambhOdhanam or a conversation with one's mind 
(manas or nenju or heart ) is common with AzhwArs and AchAryAs . 
They routinely appeal to their minds to cooperate with them , 
beg the nenju not to go astray or be tempted by avaishNavaa 
doctrines or by Veda Baahya Mathams.

For instance , in the very first paasuram of ThiruvAimozhi(TVM),
Swamy NammAzhwAr has  a serious appeal to his nenju or Manas:

" ThuyaraRu Sudaradi thozhuthezhan mananE "-TVM:1.1.1

(Meaning of the whole paasuram ): Oh My Mind ! Worship
the matchless holy feet of the Lord , who is the Sarva Rakshakan,
Sarva Aadharan, SarvantharyAmin, Sarvaj~nan and Sarva Sakthan.
NenjE ! Worship those parama paavana ThiruvdigaL for being lifted
out of the SamsAric sorrows ! Lord DEvarAjan will 
remove our sufferings . He is the One , who possesses
anantha kalyANa guNams that can not be excelled .He is
the One , who will bless us with Jn~AnA and Bhakthi to
overcome the deficencies of the intellect , which has 
doubts , confusions on the true tatthvams and goes astray .
Oh My Mind! Elevate Yourself out of the SamsAric mire by
worshipping Lord VaradarAjan , the Lord of DevAs !  

In TVM 1.1.7 , Swamy NammAzhwAr points another fundamental
VaishNavite doctrine to his nenju ,which is the corner stone of 
VisishtAdvaitham:

paDar poruL muzhuvathumAi avaiyavayavaai thORum
uDan misai uyirenak karanthengum paranthuLan 

Here AzhwAr tells his mind that the entire prapancham 
( Jeevans and Prakruthi) is Sathyam (real) and the Lord with
His anantha KalyANa GuNams is its aadharam(base) . He points 
out that the Lord as the "uyir " and is present pervasively 
in all chethanams and achEthanams as antharyAmi Brahmam
(Yasya sarvANi bhUthAni SarIram , Yasya pruthvI sarIram --
BruhadhAranya Upanishad). He advises his mind to have
this Sambhadha Jn~Anam (sEshathva Jn~Anam ).

This sambhandha Jn~Anam has to be explained by an AchAryan.
As an AchAryan , Swamy NammAzhwAr explains therefore to us 
this central doctrine of VisishTaadhvitham using his mind 
as a vyAjam just as GeethAchaaryan did in the battle field of 
KurukshEthram using ArjunA as a vyAjam to bless us with 
the Charama slOkam .

In the TVM 1.4.10 , Swamy NammAzhwAr has another dialog 
with his nenju:

" aDalAzhi ammAnai kanDakkAl ithu solli
  viDalAzhi mada nenjE vinayOmonRAmaLavE "  

(Meaning ): Oh My foolish Mind ! Now You go to that
Lord , who is the supreme Lord of ALL ,and beg Him
to grant us (both You and me) the Kaimkarya SaamrAjyam 
as revealed in His scriptures. If He does not respond to 
your request , please persist and tell Him about my 
pitiable state. Do not give up and throw the towel 
and return in disgust . Stay with Him and plead my 
case unitl He accepts my prayerful request.Afterwards
return to me and cooperate with me to stay on course
meditating on Him .

The ThiruvAimozhi paasurms ( 1.10.3-6) are four
examples of additional Maanasa sambhOdhanams :

EmpirAnait thozhAi MaDa nenjamE --1.10.3

(Meaning ): Oh my mind ! How fortunate I am that you are
cooperating with me! Please keep on worshipping 
our Lord !

nenjamE nallai nallai unnaip peRRAl --1.10.4

(Meaning ): Here the pleased AzhwAr gives a vote of thanks
to his nenjam tha thas cooperated with him . He says:
" Oh my sweet mind ! well done! You have commenced 
worship of our Lord , even before I have started. I am
fortunate to have you , my mind (heart) cooperate with me.

KaNDAyE nenjE karumangaL vaayikkinRu--1.10.5

(Meaning ): Oh my mind ! have you noticed our
Lord , the SarvEswaran, has become available to us 
for enjoyable anubhavam of His dhivyAnga Soundharyam 
and anantha kalyANa guNams? Do You know how this happened?
We did not dream of such a soubhAgyam.

In the TVM 1.10.6 , Swamy NammAzhwAr's conversation
takes an intensively sweet touch :

neeyum naanum innEr niRkil mEl maRROr
nOyumc chArkodAn nenjamE sonnEn
thAyum tanthaiyumAi ivvulahinil
vaayumeesan MaNivaNNan yenthayE

(Meaning ) : Oh My mind ! our Lord does dear things
to us like a caring Mother. He does hitham to us like
an affectionate Father. This blue-gem hued Lord has 
enslaved me and caught me under His spell. He is indeed my 
Prabhu and Rakshakan . If You and me join together in
praising this most merciful Lord , no inauspicousness will
come our way . Diseases like desire, anger will not
torment us .He will chase them all away .

These paasuram passages of NammAzhwAr are the highest
level of Maanasa SambhOdhanam of AzhwAr with SarvEsvaran.

Thiruvarangatthu AmudanAr takes a cue from here to 
frame His AchArya Bhakthi for Sri RaamAnujA and
adresses his Nenjam to recite the sanctifying names
of his ParamAchAryan thru the recitation of his Taniyans.

SrimathE RaamAnujAya nama:
Daasan, V.Sadagopan  

  

    
 

 


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