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From the Bhakti List Archives

Parthasarati Dileepan • March 7, 1995 


12/12 sthairyam
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In this continuing series of twelve posts, twelve of the
many guNaas that are innate to Brahman is discussed
with illustrations from aazhvaar paasurams.  These
twelve guNaas demonstrate God's eternal love for us
jeevaathmaas.  They are sowseelyam, vaathsalyam,
maardhavam, aarjavam, sowhaartham, saamyam,
kaaruNyam, maadhuryam, gaambeeryam, owdhaaryam,
chaathuryam, and sthairyam.  The subject of this post is
chaathuryam.

sthairyam:   steadfastness in fulfilling a promise

Emperumaan kaNNan promised His thiruvadi mOksham if
we surrender to Him.  sthairyam being one of His dhivya
guNaas we can be sure that He will fulfil this promise.  At
the prospect of vibeeshNan joining their fold, sugreevan
threatened to return to kishkindhai with his vaanara
sainyam.  Yet, Lord Rama did not vacillate and was
determined to fulfill his promise of granting refuge to
anyone who would surrender to Him.  Such is His
sthairyam that even periya piraatti cannot shake loose His
conviction.  See how periaazhvaar attests to this so
beautifully in the following paasuram.

\bt
thannadiyaar thiRaththakatthuth
     thaamaraiyaaLaakilum sidhakuraikkumEl
ennadiyaar adhu seyyaar
     seydhaarEl nanRuseydhaar enbarpOlum
mannudaiya vibeedaNaRkaam     madhiLilangaith
           thisain^Okki malarkaN vaiththa
ennudaiya thiruvarangaRkanRiyum
     maRRoruvarkku aaLaavarE?

          --  periaazhvaar thiru mozhi 4.9.2
\et

"periya piraatti, i.e. Lakshmi, (thaamaraiyaaL) by nature is
compassionate and tolerant of our misdeeds.  It is She
who recommends to the Lord to grant mOksham for us
(thannadiyaar thiRatthakatthuth).  By chance if She
complains (sidhakuraikkumEl) , perhaps to ascertain the
intent of emperumaan, our Lord will assert, "my devotees
won't do such things, (ennadiyaar adhu seyyaar), even if
they did, I say they did good," (seydhaarEl nanRu
seydhaar enbarpOlum);  such is the determination of our
Lord ranganaathaa; His lotus eyes fixed in the direction of
vibeeshNan's sri lankaa;  why would anyone take refuge
with others?"

     --   This concludes the series of posts on just
          twelve of the infinitely many kalyaaNa
          guNaas that are intrinsic to emperumaan.
          Our poorva aachaaryaas and aazhvaars have
          celebrated these guNaas in many ways.  For
          more on these and other guNaas, interested
          individuals may refer to sri gadhya thrayam
          by sri raamaanujaa and the commentaries on
          gadhya thrayam.


----------
This and other posts to follow in this subject are based
on the aruL mozhigaL of the 45th azhagiya singar of sri
aHObila madam, sri vaN satakOpa sri naaraayaNa
yatheendhra mahaa dEsikan, published in sri nrusimhap
priyaa starting with bava varusham, chitthirai maasam,
(April 1994), and commentaries of aazhvaar
prabhandams published by The Visishtadvaita Pracharini
Sabha, 27, Venkatesa Agraharam, Mylapore, Madras,
600 004.