Mumukshupadi Part 1

THIRUMANTHRAM
Swami Sri Pillai Lokacharya's
MUMUKSHUPPADI
Vedics Foundation: http://www.vedics.net
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Sri PB Annangarachar Swami’s work, based on Muamunikal’s Vyakhyanam
English Translation by Sri TCA Venkatesan
In English Edition 1.0
The Necklace of our Achaarya Lineage
Sri Manavala Mamuni, Sri ThiruvaiymozhiPillai , Sri PillaiLokacharya, Sri Vadakku-
ThiruvidhiPillai, Sri Nampillai, Sri NanJeeyar, Sri ParasaraBhattar, Sri Embar,
Sri Ramanuja,
Sri Parankusa, Sri Yamunacharya, Sri RamaMisra, Sri Pundarikaksha, Sri Nathamuni,
Sri Sattakopaya, Sri Vishvaksena
Sri (Maha Lakshmi, the Divine Mother), Sridhara (SrimanNarayana)
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Sri Pillai Lokacharya's
Mumukshuppadi
thirumanthra prakaraNam
lOkAcArya gurave krishna pAdasya sUnavE

samsAra bhOgi sandaShta jeeva jeevAtavE nama:
Foreword:
All beings who are born repeatedly in this world and suffer in the
samsaric cycle have to understand many things in order to obtain
Moksha (liberation). Of these many things, one of the most
important is the understanding of Artha Pancakam. The
understanding of 1. Nature of the Supreme, 2. Nature of the Jiva, 3.
The means to attaining liberation, 4. The nature of the goal to be
attained, and 5. The obstacles in attaining the goal seeked, are
known as Artha Pancakam.
The knowledge of these five is given clearly by the three rahasyas,
Thirumanthiram, Dvayam and Carama slokam and as such the
understanding of the rahasyathrayam is very important for
Mumukshus.
The origin of the rahasyathrayam is as follows. The

Thirumanthram, also known as Periya Thirumanthram and Moola
Manthram, originated in Badri. It was taught to Nara by Narayana.
Dvayam which is also known as Manthra Rathnam, was revealed
to Sri Mahalakshmi in Vishnu Loka by Sriman Narayana. Carama
Sloka is part of the Bhagavad Gita and as such was told to Sri
Arjuna by Sri Krishna. Thus the originator of all three rahasyas is
Lord Sriman Narayana. Therefore, He is the first acharya in the
Guru parampara. It is thus that Sri Kooraththazhvan said
"Lakshminatha samarambam ... vande guruparamparam".
Therefore this rahasyathraya even though short in words has very

many great, rare and majestic meanings and as such our acharyas
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have studied it extensively and taught their meanings carefully to
their disciples.
Prior to Swamy Ramanuja the acharyas guarded the rahasyathraya

and their meanings and taught them exclusively to select disciples
only. Bhagavad Ramanuja in his broad mind and large sympathy
for those caught in the samsaric cycle, exceeded the norms of the
day, and himself and through his disciples taught the rahasyathraya
and their meanings to all who were interested. This is shown in
Upadesa Raththinamalai as
OrANvazhiyAy upathEsiththAr munnOr,

erAr ethirAsar innaruLAl - pArulagil
AsaiyudaiyOrkkellAm AriyarkAL kURumenRu
pEsi varambaruththAr pin
From the time of Sri Ramanuja the meanings of these rahasyas

were taught but there is no evidence that during his time their
special meanings were recorded in written form by acharyas.
There is a possibility that a rahasyathraya vyakhyanam was made
into a grantha by Sri Koorathazhvan. Sri Vedantha Desikar in his
Rahasyathrayasaram, in the Carama Sloka section talks about the
Carama Sloka vyakhyanam of Azhvan. However, if there was such
a grantha, it is not available now.
Sri Bhattar who is the son of Sri Koorathazhvan wrote the

composition Ashtasloki as the essence of the rahasyathrayam.
Even though this composition is short, Bhattar has included in it
tremendous meanings of these manthras.
Sri Pillai Lokacharyar who is the son of Sri Vadakku Thiruveethi

Pillai and who is considered the avathara of Sri Varadaraja, has
composed the Ashtadasa Rahasyam which is a phenomenal
collection of the meanings of rahasya granthas. Later Sri Achan
Pillai also wrote rahasya arthas through works such as Parantha
Rahasyam.
Amongst the Ashtadasa Rahasyas, Yathruccikappadi, Paranthapadi

and Sriyapathippadi contain the meanings of the rahasyathraya
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vyakhyanams but ti is Mumukshuppadi that has gained fame in
many ways. The other granthas suffer from drawbacks such as
being extensive or being very short or that they contain a mixture
of Sanskrit and Tamil words. Mumukshuppadi does not have any
of these drawbacks. Also, this work contains special and rare
meanings that are not present in the other granthas. Thus, this work
occupies a special place in the purvacharya works and in the minds
of Srivaishnavas.
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Sutra 1:
Óã‡¤×ìÌ «È¢Â §ÅñÊÂ Ã†ŠÂõ ãýÚ.
mumUkshuvukku aRiya vENdiya rahasyam mUnRu.
Meaning:
There are three Rahasyas that one who craves Moksha (liberation)
has to know for sure.
Sri PBA Swami’s Sarartha Deepikai:

A being who has lost interest in this world and has the sole wish of
reaching Sriman Narayana's lotus feet is known as Mumukshu.
Such a person has to most assuredly know three rahasyas. Each
person has to know the nature of self, the means and the purpose.
These three are explained by the Rahasyathrayam and as suc h
mumukshus have to understand these three rahasyas. The
rahasyathrayam are Thirumanthiram, Dvayam and Carama
Slokam. The word mumukshu comes from the combination of
mokthum icchu: That is one who desires liberation from the
samsaric cycle.
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Sutra 2:
«¾¢ø ôÃ¾Á Ã†ŠÂõ ¾¢ÕÁóòÃõ.
athil prathama rahasyam thirumanthram.
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Meaning:
Amongst the three rahasyas the first rahasyam that a mumukshu
has to know is the Thiruvashtakshara mahamanthram.

Amongst the three manthrams that a mumukshu has to know, the
very first rahasyam he has to understand is the Thiruvashtaksharam
known as the Thirumanthram. The reason that this has to be learnt
first is that only after the meanings of the self is understood can
one understand the meanings of the means and the goal. Therefore,
the Thirumanthram which explains the nature of the self has to be
learnt ahead of the other two rahasyas which explain the means
and the goal. A jiva is enslaved to the Lord. He is dependent on the
Lord and He enjoys nothing but his association with the Lord - this
is the understanding of the self. Thirumanthram which explains
this meaning is therefore to be learnt first.
The Thirumanthram is made of two parts: Pranavam and

Manthrasesham. Om is the Pranavam and Namo Narayanaya is
Manthrasesham. Pranavam is expanded upon by Manthrasesham.
Manthrasesham is expanded upon by Dvayam. Dvayam is
expanded upon by Carama Slokam. By this order also
Thirumanthram has to be learnt first.
The word manthram is obtained from "manthAram thrAyathe". It

is that which protects those who recite it. The protection is of two
types: One is via the sound of the manthra and the second is via the
meaning of the manthra.
The benefits that are obtained by those who recite it and use it in
Homas is obtained via the power of the sound of Thirumanthram.
The benefit accrued by the prapannas who look to nothing but the
Lord, is obtained by the power of the meaning of Thirumanthram.
The second meaning is explained by Sri Bhattar in Ashtasloki as

follows. If a person thinks that his body is the same as his soul then
he should look at the makaram of the pranavam. Since it talks
about the soul with knowledge he would understand the
knowledge- less body cannot be the same as the soul. Even if one
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understands this, he may mistake that the soul is not dependent on
the Lord and think that it is fully independent. Such a person
should look at akaram in pranavam. Akaram emphasizes that the
souls are enslaved to the Lord and therefore he will be cleared of
his error. If he understands that a soul is enslaved to the Lord but
thinks that it is similarly enslaved to many others, a fact that is
commonly seen in this world, then he should look at the ukaram in
pranavam. This ukaram shows that the souls are enslaved only to
Sriman Narayana and as such he would correct his mistake. A
person who understands all of this might still think that his own
effort is sufficient to protect himself. Such a person should look at
the nama: term. This term shows that the protection of the souls is
the duty of the Lord and not of the self. If a person begins to
develop great attachment to the people surrounding him, his wife,
children, relatives, then he should look at the Narayana term. This
teaches him that Sriman Narayana is the one and all relation to a
soul. A person who becomes attached to things of this world
should look at the "aya" term (chathurthi vibhakti). As this term
signifies that eternal service to the Lord is the purpose for a soul,
attachment to other things will be broken.
The thirumanthram that contains these meanings is therefore to be

learnt first and is the refuge for all prapannas.
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Sutra 3:
¾¢ÕÁóòÃò¾¢Û¨¼Â º£÷¨ÁìÌô §À¡ÕõÀÊ
ô§ÃÁò§¾¡§¼ §À½¢ «Ñ…ó¾¢ì¸ §ÅÏõ.
thirumanthraththinudaiya seermaikkup pOrumpadi prEmaththOdE
pENi anusanthikka vENum.
Meaning:
This Thirumanthram has to be recited by giving it the respect due
while keeping it hidden from those who are not qualified for it.

The greatness of the Thirumanthra is beginning to be explained from this point on. The first
is the correct method of reciting it and keeping it in one's heart. The meanings of the four
Vedas (Rk, Yajur, Sama and Atharvana) are contained within this manthra. It is considered
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as the best amongst manthras, the best amongst rahasyas, and the best amongst the best
things. As such, a person holding it in his heart should keep it there and recite it daily with
the respect that is due to it, with a melted heart while with-holding it from those who are not
qualified to hold it in their hearts. This also means that it should not be recited when the
heart is not prepared and it should also not be recited in a loud voice.
________________________________________
Sutra 4:
ÁóòÃò¾¢Öõ ÁóòÃòÐìÌûÇ£¼¡É ÅŠÐÅ¢Öõ
ÁóòÃôÃ¾É¡É ¬º¡÷Âý Àì¸Ä¢Öõ ô§ÃÁõ
¸Éì¸×ñ¼¡É¡ø ¸¡÷Â¸ÃÁ¡ÅÐ.
manthraththilum manthraththukkuLLIdAna vasthuvilum
manthraprathanAna AcAryan pakkalilum prEmam ganakka
uNdAnAl kAryakaramAvathu.
Meaning:
If a person develops great affection and love for this manthra, for
the Lord who is the inner meaning of this manthra and for the
Acharya who teaches this Thirumanthra, then this manthra will act
for him.

In the previous choorNai, it was said that a kind and melted heart
was needed for the recital of this manthra. If the question arises,
whether that is sufficent, the answer is no. The manthra's recital
has its effect only when there is love for the manthra, for Lord
Sriman Narayana who is the true meaning of the manthra, as well
as for the Acharya who out of his great kindness taught the
manthra to that person. Only then will the manthra have the true
effect for the person reciting it.
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Sutra 5:
…õ…¡Ã¢¸û ¾í¸¨ÇÔõ ®îÅÃ¨ÉÔõ ÁÈóÐ ®îÅÃ
¨¸í¸÷Âò¨¾Ôõ þÆóÐ þÆó§¾¡¦Áý¸¢È
þÆ×Á¢ýÈ¢ì§¸ …õ…¡ÃÁ¡¸¢È ¦ÀÕí¸¼Ä¢§Ä Å¢ØóÐ
§¿¡×À¼, …÷§ÅîÅÃý, ¾ý ìÕ¨ÀÂ¡§Ä, þÅ÷¸û
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¾ý¨ÉÂÈ¢óÐ ¸¨ÃÁÃï §ºÕõÀÊ ¾¡§É º¢‰ÂÛÁ¡ö
¬º¡÷ÂÛÁ¡ö ¿¢ýÚ ¾¢ÕÁóòÃò¨¾
¦ÅÇ¢Â¢ð¼ÕÇ¢É¡ý.
SamSArikaL thankaLaiyum Isvaranaiyum maRanthu Isvara
kainkaryaththaiyum izhanthu izhanthOmenkiRa izhavum inRikkE
SamSAramAkiRa perunkadalilE vizhunthu nOvupada,
SarvEsvaran, than krupaiyAlE, ivarkaL thannai aRinthu
karaimaram sErumpadi thAnE sishyanumAy AchAryanumAy
ninRu thirumanthraththai veLiyittaruLinAn.
Meaning:
The baddha chetanas who are trapped in this samsaric world,
forget that they are dAsas, forget that Sriman Narayana is their
Lord (that is they forget that they are the seshas and that He is the
seshi), do not live in service of the Lord, are not concerned that
they have lost the most valuable thing that they posessed, and stay
trapped in this samsaric ocean which is difficult to cross. Seeing
this, the Lord out of His kindness (His nirhEduka krupai), in order
to make these jIvas know Him and facilitate their crossing samsara
and reaching Him, Himself became Nara the disciple and Narayana
the acharya and taught the Thirumanthram which is the essence of
Artha Panchakam.

Here the origination of the Thirumanthram is explained to show its
greatness. The samsaric chetanas due to association with this
prakruti which is timeless get trapped in the endless cycle of birth
and death and forget themselves and the Lord. Forgetting
themselves is this: all souls are naturally servile to the Supreme
Soul; without difference whether they are in this world or the other
world their only and true characteristic is that they are enslaved to
the Lord; forgetting this fact of their natural servitude to the Lord
is forgetting themselves. Forgetting the Lord is this: forgetting His
supreme and all encompassing leadership.
Thus forgetting their nature as well as the nature of the Lord they
lose the supreme goal of service to Him. Not only do they lose it,
they even lose the feeling that they have lost such a valuable thing.
Seeing the souls suffer thus and stay trapped in the samsaric ocean,
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He took great kindness in His divine lotus heart toward them. He
thought that they need to know Him so that they can cross this
ocean and reach Him. Thus He Himself became Nara the sishya
and Narayana the acharya and expositioned that Thirumanthra
which holds in it the meaning of all Sastras and which shows
clearly the artha panchakam.
________________________________________
Sutra 6:
º¢‰ÂÉ¡ö ¿¢ýÈÐ - º¢‰ÂÉ¢ÕìÌÁ¢ÕôÒ ¿¡ð¼¡÷
«È¢Â¡¨ÁÂ¡§Ä «ò¨¾ «È¢Å¢ì¨¸¸¡¸.
sishyanAy ninRathu - sishyanirukkumiruppu nAttAr
aRiyAmaiyAlE aththai aRivikkaikAka.
Meaning:
If one wonders why Sriman Narayana who is the first among
acharyas took on the role of a sishya, the answer is, since the jIvas
in this world were not aware of the true nature of a disciple, He
donned the role of one.

There may arise a question that why should He simply not have
released the Thirumanthra as an acharya; why did He also have to
take on the role of a sishya. The answer is that because the souls in
this world did not know the nature of a sishya He took the role of a
sishya and made known the nature of one. A further question might
arise that did He have to actually become a sishya; could He not
have simply advised the nature of a sishya to everyone. Had He
done that it is possible that jIvas might think that He is announcing
the Thirumanthra just to gather fame for Himself. By His
becoming a sishya the jIvas would begin to wish that they too
become sishyas to acharyas.
The nature of a sishya is this: one who is faithful to Sastras, one

whose mind wishes to follow the dharmas detailed in them, one
who has the mental strength to follow them, one who practices
Bhakti to Sriman Narayana, one who does not have pride in him
for having the above, one whose love for his acharya cannot be
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measured by others, one who has no equal in his faith to his
acharya, one who is restless in his service to his acharya. Also, one
who considers himself and everything he has, as belonging to his
acharya is a sishya.
Nyasa Vimshati explains the nature of a sishya thus: a sishya is one

who has the knowledge of what to give up and what to keep as a
means to his higher goal, one who based on this knowledge
surrenders to his elders, one whose every day acts are based on this
knowledge, one who seeks to understand the higher truth, one who
is in the service of his acharya, one without ego, one who bows
with his entire body, one who looks forward to listen and learn,
one who has control of his mind and body, one who has no hatred
toward anyone or anything, one who stays in his acharya's abode,
one who has faith in the Sastras, one who has gratitude, such a
person should be accepted and taught as a disciple.
Sriman Narayana became a sishya to show the above nature of a

sishya.
________________________________________
Sutra 7:
…¸Ä º¡ŠòÃí¸Ç¡Öõ À¢ÈìÌõ ˆ»¡Éõ ŠÅÂÁ¡÷ƒ¢¾õ
§À¡§Ä; ¾¢ÕÁóòÃò¾¡ø À¢ÈìÌõ ˆ»¡Éõ ¨ÀòÕ¸¾Éõ
§À¡§Ä.
Sakala sAsthrankaLAlum piRakkum gnyAnam SvayamArjitham pOlE; thirumanthraththAl
piRakkum gnyAnam paithrukathanam pOlE.
Meaning:
The knowledge gained by a person through Sastras such as Srutis
and Smritis are like the wealth gained by him after much effort
whereas the knowledge gained by a person through the
Thirumanthra upadesam by an acharya is easily obtained like
wealth inherited from his forefathers.

A question might arise that, are there not several Sastras that He
Himself has provided to this world? Why should a person not
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study these works and gather the knowledge held within? Are they
not a way to reach Him; why would one have to try to reach Him
through the recitation of the Thirumanthram? The fact that the
knowledge gained from Thirumanthram is better than that gained
from Sastras is shown here through the use of an example. A
person works hard and gathers wealth; another gains wealth
without any effort by inheriting it from his forefathers. While both
enjoy the wealth, since one person struggled to obtain his wealth it
is tinged with some pain; whereas the other person got his wealth
easily and therefore enjoys it more. Similarly the wealth of
knowledge obtained through Thirumanthram by the grace of an
acharya will be most pleasing.
________________________________________
Sutra 8:
À¸ÅýÁóòÃí¸û ¾¡ý «§¿¸í¸û.
bhagavan manthrankaL thAn anEkankaL.
Meaning:
The manthras that speak of the endless kalyANa guNas of the Lord
and the avatharas that exemplify those guNas are limitless.

Let us accept for a moment that the knowledge obtained via
Sastras is a tiring effort and that it is better obtained from
manthras. However, is it not true that there are several ma nthras.
Why does one have to use the Thiruvashtakshara manthra alone?
To answer this, Sri Pillai Lokacharya begins by pointing out that

there are countless manthras. Then in the next several sutras, he
will break up the manthras into two groups, show that we are not
interested in the first group and that the Thirumanthra has a special
and high status amongst the manthras in the second group.
Sriman Narayana's kalyANa guNas are endless. The avatharas that

bring out those kalyANa guNas are also endless. Similarly the
manthras that speak of His kalyANa guNas are also endless and so
are the manthras that speak of His avatharas. As there is no limit to
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His guNas or His avatharas, so also there is no limit to the
manthras that speak of them.
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Sutra 9:
«¨Å¾¡ý ùÂ¡À¸í¸¦ÇýÚõ «ùÂ¡À¸í¸¦ÇýÚõ
þÃñÎ Å÷ì¸õ.
avai thAn vyApakankaLenRum avyApakankaLenRum iraNdu
varkkam.
Meaning:
These manthras are of two kinds. Those that speak of the Lord in
His limitless and all pervading form are known as vyApaka
manthras. Those that speak of His avatharas, some of His limitless
guNas and some of His leelas are known as avyApaka manthras.

The manthras that speak of the Lord are not all of the same kind.
They are broken up as vyApaka manthras and avyApaka manthras.
Those that show that the Lord's form is all pervading are grouped
as vyApaka manthras. Those that speak of one or a few of His
avatharas, His guNas or His leelas are grouped as avyApaka
manthras.
________________________________________
Sutra 10:
«ùÂ¡À¸í¸Ç¢ø ùÂ¡ô¸í¸û ãýÚõ î§Ã‰¼í¸û.
avyApakankaLil vyApakankaL mUnRum srEshtankaL.
Meaning:
The vyApaka manthras are considered higher than the avyapaka
manthras, and three vyApaka manthras, ashtAkshari,
dvAdasAkshari and shadakshari that contain the Narayana,
Vasudeva and Vishnu namas, are considered high amongst these
vyApaka manthras.
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In the previous sutra, the manthras describing the Lord were
seperated into two groups. Of these two groups, the vyApaka
manthras are considered higher than the avyApaka manthras. Even
amongst the vyApaka manthras, three manthras are considered as
very important. The Vishnu Gayathri manthra is well known:
nArAyanAya vidmahe vAsudevAya dImahi, tanno vishNu:
pracodayAt". In this manthra, three namas of the Lord are said:
Narayana, Vasudeva, Vishnu. These three speak of the all-
pervasiveness of the Lord and as such are vyApaka manthras.
These three manthras are special amongst vyApaka manthras and
are higher than the avyApaka manthras.
These three are namas; so, how can we call them as manthras?
They are namas, but they are the inner meanings of their associated
manthras. Also by adding the words Om, nama: and the chaturthi
vibhakti (Aya) to them, they become manthras. Thus these three
namas in the Vishnu Gayathri manthra are equivalent to three
vyApaka manthras.
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Sutra 11:
þ¨Å ãýÈ¢Öõ ¨ÅòÐì ¦¸¡ñÎ ¦ÀÃ¢Â ¾¢ÕÁóòÃõ
ôÃ¾¡Éõ.
ivai mUnrilum vaiththuk koNdu periya thirumanthram prathAnam.
Meaning:
The Thiruvashtakshara manthra is considered as the first amongst
the three vyApaka manthras that are higher than the avyApaka
manthras.

The three important vyApaka manthras are:
1. Om Namo Narayanaya
2. Om Namo Bagavade Vasudevaya
3. Om Namo Vishnave
Amongst these three, the Ashtakshara manthra which is also

known as the Periya Thirumanthra is considered the highest. Just
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as there is no being superior to Sriman Narayana, so also there is
no manthra superior to the Ashtakshari manthra ("yadA sarveshu
deveshu nAsti nArAyaNAt para: tada sarveshu mantreshu nAsti
sAshtAksharAt para:"). Also, one can see the greatness of this
manthra by the fact that it is the first to be taken in the Vishnu
Gayathri manthra.
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Sutra 12:
Áü¨ÈÂ¨Å þÃñÎìÌõ «º¢‰¼ÀÃ¢ìÃ†Óõ
«â÷ò¾¢ÔÓñÎ.
maRRaiyavai iraNdukkum asishtaparikrahamum apUrththiyum
uNdu.
Meaning:
The two vyApaka manthras, DvAdasAkshari and Shadakshari have
some drawbacks compared to the AshtAkshari vyApaka manthra:
they are supported by kudrushtis and they are also incomplete in
some respects.

Why is the Narayana manthra considered higher than the Vasudeva
manthra and the Vishnu manthra, even though all three are
vyApaka manthras?
Asishta parikraham means they are supported by kudrushtis who claim that the Supreme
Lord is "nirvisesha cinmAtram". ApUrthi means that they do not explain everything that
they seek out to explain and only talk about one part of it.
Why do kudrushtis support the Vasudeva and Vishnu manthras?
They claim that the Lord has no special kalyANa guNas and that
He does not have a special divine form. They only consider His
form as one that pervades everything and nothing more. The
Vishnu and Vasudeva manthras speak mainly of His all pervading
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form and not His guNas or His other forms. As such the kudrushtis
support these manthras to a great extent.
So what if kudrushtis support these manthras? Why do we ha ve to

then consider them lower? Would we stop eating a food item just
because it is being eaten by these people?
To answer, this Pillai Lokacharya also points out that these
manthras are somewhat incomplete.
It is not sufficient that the manthra explains that He is all
pervading. It should also explain what is being pervaded by Him
and what is the effect of such pervasiveness. The nature and guNas
of He who pervades all, has to be shown. The Vishnu manthra does
not do all of this. In the case of Vasudeva manthra, it shows that
He pervades everything by being present in the heart (antharyAmi)
of everything ("vasudIdi vAsu:"). But it does not speak of
who/what is being pervaded. It speaks of His guNas only by the
use of another word ("bagavate"). It does not explain why He
pervades (that is, the fruit of the pervasiveness). Therefore, the
DvAdasAkshari and Shadakshari manthras are incomplete.
Such incompleteness does not qualify the ThiruvashtAkshara

mahA manthra. The nAra part explains the nature of who/what is
being pervaded. The nArAyaNa part explains that He pervades all
("antharyAmithvam") and that He supports all ("thAragathvam").
The ayana part explains that He is the means ("upAyam") and the
end ("upEyam"), for all. Thus, this manthra is complete as it
explains what is being pervaded, how it is being pervaded, the
effect of the pervasiveness, and the nature of He who pervades all.
________________________________________
Sutra 13:
þò¨¾ §Å¾í¸Ùõ Ã¢„¢¸Ùõ ¬úÅ¡÷¸Ùõ
¬º¡÷Â÷¸Ùõ Å¢ÕõÀ¢É¡÷¸û.
iththai vEthankaLum rishikaLum AzhvArkaLum AcAryarkaLum
virumbinArkaL.
Meaning:
This Thiruvashtakshara mahA manthra is loved and supported by
15
the Vedas, the Rishis that came to explain the Vedas, the Azhvars
as well as our Acharyas.

The manthras other than Thirumanthra came to be supported by
kudrushtis because of their incompleteness. Conversely we would
expect that because of its completeness the Thirumanthra would be
greatly supported by the true followers of Sriman Narayana. This
is being shown in this sUtra.
Here the Vedas means the height of the Vedas which are the
Upanishads. In many Upanishads, in the Ithihasas and Puranas
written by great Rishis, in the divine works of Azhvars, and in the
knowledge imparting works of our Acharyas, the greatness of the
Thirumanthra is well spoken about.
________________________________________
Sutra 14:
Å¡îÂôôÃÀ¡Åõ §À¡ÄýÚ Å¡º¸ôÃÀ¡Åõ.
vAcyap prabhAvam pOlanRu vAcakap prabhAvam.
Meaning:
The greatness of the manthra that speaks of the Lord is not the
same as the greatness of the Lord Himself (that is, it is considered
greater than His).

Till now, it was shown that the Thirumanthra is to be considered
higher than other manthras. Now it is being said that it is higher
than even Him.
vAcya: the meaning of the word, who is Him
vAcaka: the word, which is Thirumanthra
16
The greatness of the Thirumanthra is not equal to that of the Lord
of whom it speaks. It is considered greater than His greatness.
________________________________________
Sutra 15:
«Åý àÃŠò¾É¡É¡Öõ þÐ ¸¢ðÊ ¿¢ýÚ ¯¾×õ.
avan dhUrasthananAnAlum ithu kitti ninRu uthavum.
Meaning:
Even if He, who is the meaning of the word, is far away, this
Thirumanthra, which is the word, will stay close and will give that
which those who recite it seek.

How can we say that the the word which speaks of Him is greater
than Him?
It is because of the fact that even at the times that He is far away
and not easily reached, the Thirumanthra stays closeby and gives
to those who keep uttering it what they wish to have.
________________________________________
Sutra 16:
ò¦ÃªÀ¾¢ìÌ ¬Àò¾¢§Ä Ò¼¨Å ÍÃó¾Ð ¾¢Õ¿¡ÁÁ¢§È.
draupadikku AbaththilE pudavai suranthathu thirunAmamiRE.
Meaning:
It was the Govinda nAma that protected and saved Draupadi at her
time of distress, by growing her sarees in the rajya sabha.

This is an example for the sutra that even if He were to stay far
away, His nama will stay close and provide help to those who need
it.
The story of the Pandavas losing Draupadi in a game of dice is

well known. In the rajya sabha, Ducshasana began to remove her
clothes in front of everyone. At that time Draupadi attempted to
17
save herself using her own means and failed. Recalling that Sage
Vasishta had told her that she should think of Sri Hari whenever
she is in great danger, she then surrendered to Him ("sanka chakra
gadApANe! dvAraka nilayAcyuta! gOvinda! puNdareekAksha!
raksha mAm sharaNAgatam" - I seek refuge with you, O Govinda,
one who is adorned with the Conch, the Discus and the Mace, one
who lives in Dvaraka, one who never abandons His devotees, and
one who is lotus eyed). At that time, Sri Krishna was not nearby
("gOvindedi yadAkrantat krushNA mAm dUravAsinam, ruNam
pravruttamiva me hrudayAt nApasarppati" - when Draupadi
begged for my help calling out Govinda, I was far away and that
sadness has never left my heart; it keeps growing like interest on a
loan). Even though, Krishna was far away, His gOvinda nAma
(which stood for the Krishna avatar) grew her clothes and saved
her.
Did we not start to explain the greatness of the Narayana nama?

So, why are we using the example of Govinda nAma?
If the Govinda nAma, which is nothing but the Narayana nAma

associated with one place, can do so much, then does one have to
explain further the greatness of the Narayana nAma.
________________________________________
Sutra 17:
¦º¡øÖõ ìÃÁ¦Á¡Æ¢Âî ¦º¡ýÉ¡Öõ ¾ý ŠÅåÀõ
¦¸¼ ¿¢øÄ¡Ð.
sollum kramamozhiyas sonnAlum than SvarUpam keda nillAthu.
Meaning:
Even if one were to slip on the proper method of reciting it (with
faith and completely surrendered), the Thirumanthra will not slip
from its nature, which is providing full protection to those reciting
it.

This is another way in which the Thirumanthra's greatness is being
celebrated.
18
Previously it was stated that there are countless manthras that
speak of the Lord. Any manthra will work only for those who fully
believe in it, utter it with great bhakti and sraddha and in the proper
manner. But the Thirumanthra will protect everyone who recite it,
no matter how they do it. That is, it never fails in its nature.
________________________________________
Sutra 18:
þÐ ¾¡ý *ÌÄõ ¾Õõ* ±ý¸¢ÈÀÊ§Â ±øÄ¡
«§À‡¢¾í¸¨ÇÔõ ¦¸¡ÎìÌõ.
ithu thAn * kulantharum * engiRapadiyE ellA
abEkshithankaLaiyum kodukkum.
Meaning:
This Thirumanthra will give that which is seeked by devotees, as
told by Thirumangai Azhvar in his pasuram "kulam tharum ...".

The greatness of the Thirumanthra is further explained by the fact
that it will provide to those who recite it what they seek.
Thirumangai Azhvar's pasuram goes thus:

kulantharum selvam thanthidum adiyArpadu thuyarAyinave llAm
nilantharanjseyyum nILvisumbaruLum aruLodu
perunilamaLikkum
valantharum maRRum thanthidum peRRathAyinumAyina seyyum
nalantharunjsollai nAnkAndukoNdEn nArAyaNAvennum nAmam
The meaning of this pasuram is: the Narayana nama will give to
those who recite it, a high class, wealth, it will destroy all that
cause suffering to His devotees, it will give them mOksha, it will
provide them His grace and the strength to remain in His
anubhava, and give all good things that are seeked by them.
Thus, the Thirumanthra will provide all the good things that are
seeked by those who keep reciting it.
19
________________________________________
Sutra 19:
³îÅ÷Â ¨¸ÅøÂ À¸ÅøÄ¡Àí¸¨Ç
¬¨ºôÀð¼Å÷¸ÙìÌ «Åü¨Èì ¦¸¡ÎìÌõ.
aisvarya kaivalya bagavallApankaLai AsaippattavarkaLukku
avaRRaik kodukkum.
Meaning:
The Thirumanthra will act as the upAya in providing to those who
utter it through japa and homa, that which they seek: be it wealth in
this and the next worlds, kaivalya which is ATma bhOga, or His
lotus feet which is the parama purushArththa.

Previously it was stated that Thirumanthra will give to everyone
what they seek when they recite it. That is being explained here.
Wealth is of two kinds. One is the wealth of this world which is

living like a king. Attaining Swarga and being there with some title
and power is wealth of the other world. Kaivalyam is the
realization of the soul; that is attaining Atma jnAna and enjoying
that realization. The parama purushArttha is bhagavat prApti; that
is, attaing His lotus feet and the fruit of kainkarya. The
Thirumanthra will act as the sAdana and through the acts of japa
and homa will give all these fruits to those who seek them
("aihalowkikamaishvaryam svargAtyam pAralowkikam,
kaivalyam bagavantanjca mantroyam sAdayishyati").
________________________________________
Sutra 20:
¸÷Áˆ»¡¿Àì¾¢¸Ç¢§Ä þÆ¢ó¾Å÷¸ÙìÌ Å¢§Ã¡¾¢¨Âô
§À¡ì¸¢ «Åü¨Èò ¾¨Äì¸ðÊì ¦¸¡ÎìÌõ.
karmagnAnabhaktikaLilE izhinthavarkaLukku virOthiyaip pOkki
avaRRaith thalaikkattik kodukkum.
20
Meaning:
For those who are interested in following either the Karma yoga or
the Gnyana yoga or the Bhakti yoga, the Thirumanthra will help
remove the obstacles that prevent them (who have taken its help)
from starting in that path and will help them in completing the ir
journeys in that path.

The Thirumanthra is further celebrated by showing that it will help
support the Karma, Gnyana and Bhakti yogas.
As explained by Sri Alavandar in Gitartha Sangraha "karmayogas

tapastIrtha dAnayagnyAdiasEvanam", the karma yoga is the use of
penance, following rituals such as homas, etc. faithfully,
completely and till the time that they bear the fruit seeked.
"gnyAnayogo jitasvAntai: parishuddhaatmani sthiti:" - gnyAna
yoga is winning over the senses and forever focusing the thought
and meditating on the pure soul. "bhaktiyoga: paraikAntaprItyaa:
dhyaanaadishu sthiti:" - bhakti yoga is having great love only to
the paramapurusha and fixing that love via meditation, archana,
etc.
Amongst these yogas, for those who wish to follow the karma
yoga, if they perform japa and homa with the Thirumanthra, it will
remove the obstacles that prevent them from even beginning this
yoga and continue to help such that they always stay in that path. If
they chose the gnyana yoga, as they recite the manthra, it will
remove all obtsacles in following this path and will help them
fulfill their journey. If they chose the bhakti yoga, and take the
Thirumanthra's help, it will remove the obtsacles to that path and
will keep growing their bhakti all the time.
________________________________________
Sutra 21:
ôÃÀò¾¢Â¢§Ä þÆ¢ó¾Å÷¸ÙìÌ ŠÅåÀˆ»¡¿ò¨¾ô
À¢ÈôÀ¢òÐì ¸¡Ä§‡ÀòÐìÌõ §À¡¸òÐìÌõ
§†ÐÅ¡Â¢ÕìÌõ.
21
prapaththiyilE izhinthavarkaLukku SvarUpagnyAnaththai
piRappiththuk kAlakshEbatht hukkum bOgaththukkum hEthuvAy
irukkum.
Meaning:
For those who are interested in nothing but prapatti to the Lord, the
Thirumanthra will make them understand the nature of their soul
which is that it is enslaved to Him, it will facilitate the passage of
time by its meanings and utterance, and by its own nature will be
very sweet to them.

The yogas talked about before (karma, gnyana and bhakti) are not
easily practised. Prapatti on the other hand is easy and for those
who follow that path, the Thirumantra makes them understand
their true nature of being enslaved to none but the Lord; it also is
useful in passing their time by its utterance as well as learning its
inner meanings; it is also by it's very nature very sweet to study
and recite - as said by Thirumangai Azhvar in the pasuram
"enakkenRum thEnum pAlum amuthumAya thirumAl nAmam,
nAnum sonnEn namarumuraimin namO nArAyaNamE". That is, it
is most pleasing to experience, just as the Lord is ("enakkuth
thEnE pAlE kannalE amuthE thirumAlirunsOlaik kOnE").
________________________________________
Sutra 22:
*Áü¦ÈøÄ¡õ §Àº¢Öõ* ±ý¸¢ÈÀÊ§Â «È¢Â§ÅñÎõ
«÷ò¾¦ÁøÄ¡õ þÐìÌû§Ç ¯ñÎ.
maRRellAm pEsilum engiRapadiyE aRiyavENdum
arththamellAm ithukkuLLE uNdu.
Meaning:
As in Thirumangai Azhvar's pAsuram "nin thiruvettezhuththum
kaRRu maRRellAm pEsilum", this Thirumanthra has in it, all the
meanings that are required for the upliftment of the soul.
22
The Thirumanthra is now being celebrated as one that contains all
the meanings that one needs.
Thirumangai Azhvar sang, "maRRumOr theyvam
uLathenRiruppArOdu uRRilEn uRRathum unnadiyArkkadimai,
maRRellAm pEsilum nin thiruvettezhuththum kaRRu nAn
thirukkaNNapurathtuRai ammAnE".
Its meaning is: O Lord of Thirukkannapuram! I will not be with

those who consider attachment to gods other than You. Your
divine ashtakshara manthra has in it all the meanings that one has
to learn. Yet I will not consider all those meanings and instead
consider that the only meaning of the Thirumanthra is bhAgavata
kainkarya and learn that alone.
Here, by the phrase "maRRellAm pEsilum" it is clear that the

Thirumanthra has in it all the meanings that are necessary for the
upliftment of the soul to His lotus feet.
________________________________________
Sutra 23:
«¾¡ÅÐ «ïº÷ò¾õ.
athAvathu anjarththam.
Meaning:
What are the meanings that are to be understood? Those are the
five known as Arththa Panchakam. They are: nature of the
Supreme, nature of the Jiva, the nature of the means, the nature of
the goal seeked and the obstacles to reaching the goal.

Both the Vedas and their angas profess only five meanings. They
are: the nature of the Lord who is to be attained, the nature of the
soul that strives attain Him, the nature of the means to attaining
Him, tha nature of the goal once He is reached, and the nature of
the obstacles to that goal. These are collectively known as the
Arththa Panchakam.
23
As said in the Thiruvaymozhi taniyan "mikka iRai nilaiyum
meyyAm uyir nilaiyum, thakka neRiyum thadiyAgith thokkiyalum
oozhvinaiyum vAzhvinaiyum Othum kurukaiyarkOn yAzhinisai
vEthaththiyal", it is the meaning of this arththa panchakam that is
being stressed in Nammazhvar's Thiruvaymozhi as well.
In the Thirumanthra, the praNava expresses the nature of the soul,

the nama: expresses the nature of the means as well the obstacles
to the goal, nArayaNa expresses the nature of the Supreme, and the
chaturti vibhakti (Aya) expresses the nature of the purushArththa.
Therefore, the Thirumanthra also stands for the meanings of the
Arththa Panchakam only.
________________________________________
Sutra 24:
â÷Å¡º¡÷Â÷¸û þ¾¢ø «÷ò¾õ «È¢Å¾üÌ ÓýÒ,
¾í¸¨Çô À¢Èó¾¡÷¸Ç¡¸ ¿¢¨Éò¾¢Ã¡÷¸û; þ¾¢ø
«÷ò¾ˆ»¡¿õ À¢Èó¾ À¢ýÒ *À¢Èó¾À¢ý ÁÈó¾¢§Äý*
±ý¸¢ÈÀÊ§Â þò¨¾¦Â¡Æ¢Â §Å¦È¡ýÈ¡ø ¸¡Ä§‡Àõ
Àñ½¢ÂÈ¢Â¡÷¸û.
pUrvAchAryargaL ithil arththam aRivathaRku munbu, thangaLaip
piRanthArgaLAka ninaiththirArkaL; ithil arththa gnyAnam
piRantha pinbu *piRanthapin maRanthilEn engiRapadiyE iththai
ozhiya vERonRAl kAlakshEbam paNNiyaRiyArkaL.
Meaning:
Purvacharyas starting from Sriman Nathamuni thought themselves
as unborn, as in Thirumazhisai Azhvar's pasuram "anRu nAn
piRanthilEn", until the time that they understood the meanings of
the Thirumanthra. Once that knowledge was obtained, again as in
Thirumazhisai Azhvar's pasuram "piRantha pin maRanthilEn" they
would use nothing but the Thirumanthra in spending their time.

The greatness of the Thirumanthra in a general sense is being
presented by Sri Pillai Lokacharya. As in Thirumzhisai Azhvar's
pasuram "anRu nAn piRanthilEn" (I was not born then),
24
purvacharyas such as Sriman Nathamuni, Alavandar and Ramanuja
did not think themselves as born until the time that they understood
the meanings of the Thirumanthra. Once they fully understand its
meanings, as in Thirumazhisai Azhvar's pasuram "piRantha pin
maRanthilEn" (once born I will not forget), they will not use
anything but the meanings of the Thirumanthra in passing their
time.
This pasuram occurs as the 64th in the Thiruccanthaviruttham by

Thirumazhisai Azhvar. It states "anRu nAn piRanthilEn", because
without true knowledge a soul has no essence. Once that
knowledge is obtained from Him ("mayarvaRa mathinalam
aruLinan"), the soul gains upliftment using it and this is stated as
"piRantha pin maRanthilEn". That is, lack of Thirumanthra
knowledge is lacking essence. And having the essence is the non-
stop enjoyment of that knowledge.
Can one say that purvacharyas do not spend their time with
anything but the Thirumanthra - do they not spend time with the
Vedas, Sastras and Azhvars divine works? That is true. However,
even when they spend time with those, it is done using the
meanings of the Thirumanthra. Therefore, it is appropriate to state
that they use only the Thirumanthra.
________________________________________
Sutra 25:
Å¡º¸ò¾¢ü¸¡ðÊø Å¡îÂò¾¢§Ä °ýÚ¨¸ìÌ «Ê
®îÅÃ§É ¯À¡§Â¡§ÀÂ¦ÁýÚ ¿¢¨Éò¾¢Õì¨¸.
vAcakaththiRkAttil vAcyaththilE oonRukaikku adi IsvaranE upAyOpEyamenRu
ninaiththirukkai.
Meaning:
Previously it was shown that the Thirumanthra (vAcakam) is
greater than the Lord (vAcyan) of whom it speaks about. Then,
why were our acharyas attached so much to Him rather than to just
the Thirumanthra?
25
Our acharyas did not seek to attain certain things using the
Thirumanthra, or use other means to a certain end while keeping
the Thirumanthra as supporting means. They considered only Him
as both the means (upAya) and the end (upeya).

In the previous sutras, the importance and power of the
Thirumanthra were greatly talked about. It was said that that the
Thirumanthra helps bring about things that are seeked; also that it
helps support and complete the Karma, Gnyana and Bhakti yoga
paths.
As the Thirumanthra has such greatness, why doesn't everyone

simply be immersed in it alone - instead, why are our acharyas so
deeply attached to Him who is spoken by the Thirumanthra?
It is because of the following reasons. There are many that use the
Thirumanthra as the tool to obtain certain things that they seek.
Others seek Him as the goal and use the Karma, Gnyana and
Bhakti yogas while using the Thirumanthra as a supporting tool in
their path. Our acharyas are unlike either group. They only
consider Him as the means as well as the goal. As such, they are
greatly attached only to Him (vAcya), who is spoken by the
Thirumanthra (vAcaka), rather than on the manthra itself.
Till this sutra, the greatness of the Thirumanthra was explained by

Sri Pillai Lokacharya. From here on, he begins to explain the
meanings of the manthra.
________________________________________
Sutra 26:
þÐ¾ýÉ¢ø ¦º¡øÖ¸¢È «÷ò¾õ - ŠÅåÀÓõ
ŠÅÕÀ¡ÑåÀÁ¡É ôÃ¡ôÂÓõ; ŠÅåÀÓõ ¯À¡ÂÓõ
ÀÄ¦ÁýÉ×Á¡õ.
ithu thannil sollugiRa arththam - SvarUpamum
SvarupAnurUpamAna prApyamum; SvarUpamum upAyamum
palamumennavumAm.
26
Meaning:
The meanings of the Thirumanthra are: the nature of the soul
which is being enslaved to Him and having no refuge but Him; and
the kainkarya goal which is the natural order for the soul. The
meanings are also brought out as: through the praNavam the nature
of the soul is established; through the nama: the means which is the
knowledge that there is no self-dependence is established; and
through nArAyaNAya the goal seeked is established.

From this sutra on, the meanings of the Thirumanthra will be
explained in detail.
First, the meanings of the words making up the Thirumanthra are

explained in two ways. One way is that the Thirumanthra shows
the nature of the soul and the goal; and the other way is that it
shows the nature of the soul, the means, and the goal seeked.
The nature of the soul is that it is enslaved to the Lord and that it
has no other refuge. The goal seeked is the nithya kainkaryam
(eternal service) to Him. The praNavam and nama: in the
Thirumanthra show this svarUpa of the soul and the nArAyaNAya
shows the kainkarya goal seeked.
In the second way, instead of taking that praNavam and nama:

together define the svarUpa of the soul, it is shown that pranaVa
shows the svarUpa of the soul, the nama: shows the means (to the
goal), and nArAyaNAya shows the goal seeked.
How does nama: show the means?
In order to reach Him, one has to lose the thought that one can save
oneself; the knowledge of complete dependence on the Lord is the
way to attaining the kainkarya phala. The false knowledge of self
independence is removed in the the utterance of the nama: and as
such it represents the means.
________________________________________
27
Sutra 27:
ÀÄÁ¢ÕìÌõÀÊ ôÃ§ÁÂ§º¸Ãò¾¢Öõ «÷îº¢Ã¡¾¢¸¾¢Â¢Öõ
¦º¡ý§É¡õ.
palamirukkumpadi pramEyasEkaraththilum arcchirAthigathiyilum
sonnOm.
Meaning:
The end result of the goal seeked by souls has been explained by
Sri Pillai Lokacharya shortly in the rahasya grantha Prameya
Sekharam and in detail in the rahasya grantha Arcchirathigathi.

In the previous sutra, in showing the meanings of the words that
make up the Thirumanthra, it was said that Narayana shows the
result of the goal seeked. If one wishes to know the details of what
this result is, which starts from attaining mOksha and ends in
earning His eternal service, it has been explained in two rahasya
granthas - in short in Prameya Sekharam and in detail in
Arcchirathigathi.
________________________________________
Sutra 28:
þÐ¾¡ý ±ðÎò ¾¢ÕÅ‡ÃÁ¡ö ãýÚ À¾Á¡Â¢ÕìÌõ.
ithu thAn ettuth thiruvaksharamAy mUnRu pathamAy irukkum.
Meaning:
The Thirumathra is made up of eight aksharas (letters) and is of
three parts.

This sutra shows the the number of aksharas and parts that make
up the Thirumanthra. This will be followed by the explanations of
the meanings of these letters and parts.
Some people break up the Thirumathra as follows. They break the

nArAyaNAya as "nAra ayanAya" which then becomes six
aksharas. Then, they drop the praNavam in order to derive the
eight aksharas. However, as this contradicts the sruthi
28
"OmityekAksharam; nama iti dve akshare; nArAyaNAyeti
panjcAksharANi", such break up is not considered appropriate.
________________________________________
Sutra 29:
ãýÚ À¾Óõ ãýÚ «÷ò¾ò¨¾î ¦º¡øÖ¸¢ÈÐ.
mUnRu pathamum mUnRu arthaththais soullgiRathu.
Meaning:
The three parts of the Thirumanthra, praNavam, nama: and
nArAyaNAya, show three meanings.

The three meanings previously talked about (in sutra 26) are
mentioned again as a prelude to further explaining these meanings.
________________________________________
Sutra 30:
«¾¡ÅÐ §º„òÅÓõ, À¡Ã¾óòÃ¢ÂÓõ, ¨¸í¸÷ÂÓõ.
athAvathu sEshathvamum, pArathanthriyamum, kainkaryamum.
Meaning:
The three meanings are: sEshathvam which is defined by the
praNavam, pArathanthryam which is defined by the nama:, and
kainkaryam which is defined by the nArAyaNAya.

The three meanings are being enslaved to the Lord, having no
other refuge but Him and eternal service at His lotus feet.
Seshathvam and pArathantryam together define the nature of the

jIva and kainkaryam defines the goal seeked. Thus the meaning
"SvarUpamum SvarupAnurUpamAna prApyamum" (from sutra
26) is brought out.
________________________________________
29
Sutra 31:
þ¾¢ø Ó¾ü À¾õ ôÃ½Åõ.
ithil muthaR patham praNavam.
Meaning:
Amongst the three parts of the Thirumanthra, the first part is
praNavam.

Om which is the praNavam is the first part of the Thirumanthra.
There are some who use "am" instead of "Om" to make up the
Ashtakshara manthra. Perhaps to correct them, Sri Pillai
Lokacharya is explicitly stating that the praNavam is the first part.
The reason why he says praNavam instead of Om is because the
manthra itself has to be received from an acharya through an
upadesa.
________________________________________
Sutra 32:
þÐ « ±ýÚõ ¯ ±ýÚõ Á ±ýÚõ ãýÚ ¾¢ÕÅ‡Ãõ.
ithu a enRum u enRum ma enRum mUnRu thiruvaksharam.
Meaning:
This praNavam is the combination of the three aksharas "a", "u"
and "m".

Here the aksharas that make up the praNava are being shown
separately. The akAram (a) and ukAram (u) combine by
grammatical rules to form the "O" and therefore the praNavam is
made up of a, u and m.
The sruti shown before says "Omiti EkAksharam", meaning that

the praNavam is just one akshara. So, how can we say that it is
made up of three aksharas?
There are two rules to consider. One is called samhitAkAram and

the other is asamhitAkAram. The AkAram that is formed using the
30
combination rules (sandi) is called samhitAkAram; the AkAram
that is not formed using the combination rules is called
asamhitAkAram. Using asamhitAkAram (non-combination), the
praNavam is made up of three parts (each letter is a part) and gives
three meanings. When samhitAkAram (combination) is used, the
praNavam is one letter making one part and has one meaning. Thus
the sruti "OmityEkAksharam" is based on samhitAkAram.
________________________________________
Sutra 33-34:
ãýÚ ¾¡Æ¢Â¢§Ä ¾Â¢¨Ã ¿¢¨ÈòÐì ¸¨¼óÐ
¦Åñ¦½ö ¾¢ÃðÊÉ¡ü §À¡§Ä ãýÚ §Å¾ò¾¢Öõ
ÓýÈ‡Ãò¨¾Ô¦ÁÎò¾Ð.
¬¨¸Â¡ø þÐ …¸Ä §Å¾…¡Ãõ.
mUnRu thAzhiyilE thayirai niRaiththuk kadainthu veNNai
thirattinARpOlE mUnRu vEthaththilum mUnRu aksharaththaiyum
eduththathu.
AgaiyAl ithu sakala vEtha sAram.
Meaning:
33. This is like collecting buttermilk in three vessels and extracting
the butter from them. The essence of three Vedas has been
extracted in the form of the three aksharas.
34. Therefore, the praNavam is the essence of all Vedas.
Sri PBA Swami's Sarartha Deepikai:

Previously it was said that samhitAkAram can be used to explain
the sruti "OmityEkAksharam", while asamhitAkAram can be used
to break the praNavam into three aksharas. Is the use of
asamhitAkAram acceptable, as it goes against the sruti?
Here it is shown that the srutis accept the breaking up of the

praNavam into three aksharas and that the three aksharas are the
essence of three Vedas.
The aksharas that make up the praNavam are "a", "u" and "m".
These arise out of the Rk, Yajur and Sama Vedas. From these three
31
Vedas come the Bhu:, Bhuva: and Suva: (the three great vyAhRtis)
which were created and run by Him, and He stood within them and
created these three aksharas. Therefore, this is bringing out the
essence of the Vedas, which is like bringing out the butter which is
the essence of buttermilk. Are there srutis to support this? There
are, such as "pUriti rkvEdAt" and others.
________________________________________
Sutra 35:
þ¾¢ø «¸¡Ãõ …¸Ä ºô¾òÐìÌõ ¸¡Ã½Á¡ö
¿¡Ã¡Â½À¾òÐìÌ …íìÃ†Á¡Â¢Õì¨¸Â¡§Ä, …¸Ä
ƒ¸òÐìÌõ ¸¡Ã½Á¡ö …÷ÅÃ‡¸É¡É ±õ¦ÀÕÁ¡¨Éî
¦º¡øÖ¸¢ÈÐ.
ithil akAram Sakala sabthaththukkum kAraNamAy nArAyaNa
pathaththukku SankrahamAy irukkaiyAlE, Sakala jagaththukkum
kAraNamAy SarvarakshaganAna emperumAnais sollugiRathu.
Meaning:
The first akshara amongst the three aksharas of prAnavam, is
akAram ("a"). This akshara is the cause for all the sounds (words);
it also stands for NarAyaNa padam which itself stands for one who
protects all. Thus akAram stands for Him who is the cause of all
and the protector of all.

Here the meaning of the first aksharam is explained. The meaning
of akAram is He who is sakala jagat kAraNabhUta (cause of all
worlds) and sarva rakshaka (protector of all).
How are these brought out by akAram?
There are two rules to consider: prakruti sakthi and dAtu sakthi.
The prakruti sakthi brings out the causal nature and the dAtu sakthi
brings out the protective nature.
Prakruti means natural being. The natural disposition of akAram is

that it is the source of all sounds (as in the Thirukkural "akara
32
muthala ezhuththellAm"). Sriman Narayana has a similar nature,
of being the cause of everything. By this similarity, akAram stands
for Him who is the cause of all.
akAram also represents the dAtu "ava". This dAtu stands for
protection as in "ava rakshaNE". Thus akAram also stands for Him
who is the protector of all.
________________________________________
Sutra 36:
Ã‡¢ì¨¸Â¡ÅÐ Å¢§Ã¡¾¢¨Âô §À¡ìÌ¨¸Ôõ
«§À‡¢¾ò¨¾ì ¦¸¡Îì¨¸Ôõ.
rakshikkaiyAvathu virOthiyaip pOkkukaiyum abEkshithaththaik
kodukkaiyum.
Meaning:
The protection of the chetanas by Him is removing the obstacles in
their way and giving them what they seek.

Earlier it was shown that akAram stands for Him who is the cause
of all and the protector of all. Since rakshaNam is a very important
characteristic, one has to understand what this protection entails.
Protecting a person in this world means removing that which

causes him trouble and providing him what he wants. That is,
rakshagatvam means anishta nivarttagatvam and ishta
prApagatvam. Removing the obstacles that cause grief and
providing the abEkshithams which cause happiness is
rakshagatvam.
________________________________________
Sutra 37:
þ¨ÅÂ¢ÃñÎõ §º¾É÷ ¿¢ýÈ «Ç×ìÌ ®¼¡Â¢ÕìÌõ.
ivai iraNdum chEthanar ninRa aLavukku eedAyirukkum.
33
Meaning:
The obstacles that He removes and the wishes that He grants to the
chetanas would match the status of the chetanas.

The next questions would be, for those who are protected, what are
the obstacles and what are their wishes?
Those who are protected by Him are separated into four categories:
samsAris, mumukshus, muktas and nithyas. The obstacles and the
wishes of these souls depend on the category to which they belong.
________________________________________
Sutra 38:
…õ…¡Ã¢¸ÙìÌ Å¢§Ã¡¾¢ ºòÕÀ£¼¡¾¢¸û, «§À‡¢¾õ
«ýÉÀ¡¿¡¾¢¸û; ÓÓ‡¤ì¸ÙìÌ Å¢§Ã¡¾¢
…õ…¡ÃÀó¾õ, «§À‡¢¾õ ÀÃÁÀ¾ôÃ¡ô¾¢; Óì¾÷ìÌõ
¿¢òÂ÷ìÌõ Å¢§Ã¡¾¢ ¨¸í¸÷Â†¡É¢, «§À‡¢¾õ
¨¸í¸÷ÂùÕò¾¢.
SamSArikaLukku virOthi sathrupeedAthipathikaL, abEkshitham
anna pAnAthikaL; mumukshukkaLukku virOthi SamSAra
Sambantham, abEkshitham paramapatha prApthi; muktharkkum
nithyarkkum virOthi kainkaryahAni, abEkshitham
kainkaryavruththi.
Meaning:
For SamSAris, the problems that come from their enemies are the
obstacles while things like food and water are what they seek. For
Mumukshus who want to break from the SamSAric misery, staying
in this world is the obstacle while being with Him in SriVaikuntam
is what they seek. For Muktas and Nithyasooris, anything that can
cause a break in their service to Him is the obstacle while
uninterrupted continuance of their service to Him is what they
seek.
34
Here the obstacles and goals seeked by the different classes of
souls are explicity explained.
Those who think that their body is everything and do not even
consider that there is something as a soul inside that body and are
forever immersed in worldy matters are Baddha SamSAris. The
obstacles faced by them are the problems caused by their enemies
and problems due to diseases of the body and the mind. The things
that they seek to get are food, water, etc. Thus the protection of
such souls is removing these obstacles and providing them food
and water.
Those who find SamsAra a source of misery (iruL tharumA

nyAlaththuL ini piRavi yAn vENdEn, AthalAl piRavi vENdEn)
and wishing to have nothing more with this world (thAvi vaiyam
koNda thadanthAmaraikatkE kUvik koLLum kAlAm innam
kuRukAthO) seek to reach His abode (nalamanthamilAthathOr
nAdu) are known as Mumukshus. To them being in this world with
this body (poy ninRa nyAna mum pollAvozhukkum
azhukkudambum) is the obstacle. Being with Him and enjoying
Him endlessly is what they seek. Therefore, the protection of
mumukshus is removing the SamSAra bhanda and giving
paramapada prApti.
The muktAs are those who have been in the SamSAra bhanda for a
long time but have broken from it (vinai paRRaRukkum) and have
reached His abode. The nithyasUris are those who never leave Him
and are forver at His abode in His service (ozhivil kAlamellAm
udanAy manni vazhuvilA adimai). To them both, anything that
interrupts their service at His lotus feet is the obstacle and what
they seek is the uninterrupted continuance of that service
(kainkaryAbhivrutti).
Thus, as He removes obstacles and provides what everyone seek,

based on their status, He is known as sarva rakshaka.
________________________________________
Sutra 39:
35
'®îÅÃ¨É¦Â¡Æ¢ó¾Å÷¸û Ã‡¸ÃøÄ÷' ±ýÛÁ¢¼õ
ôÃÀó¿ÀÃ¢òÃ¡½ò¾¢§Ä ¦º¡ý§É¡õ.
'Isvaranai ozhinthavarkaL rakshakarallar' ennumidam prapanna
parithrANaththilE sonnOm.
Meaning:
That no one other than Sarvesvaran is capable of offering
protection was told in the rahasya grantha Prapanna Parithranam.

Is it correct to say that He is the only rakshaka? Don't we see many
people offer protection every day in this world?
The father protects his children; the elder sibling protects the
younger; the husband protects the wife; the king protects the
people; dEvatas such as Indra, Surya and Varuna also offer
protection. This issue has been addressed by Sri Pillai Lokacharya
in the rahasya grantha Prapanna Parithranam.
In this grantha, Sri Pillai Lokacharya shows, using many itihAsas

and purANas, that limited relations such as mother, father, etc or
other dEvatas do not have the power to protect and that He who is
the one and true relation to all souls and one who never abandons
anyone at any time is the only one who can protect. A few
examples from this grantha are shown here.
That brothers are not rakshakas is shown by Vali and Ravana; that
children are not rakshakas is seen with Rudra and Kamsa; that
parents are not rakshakas is shown by Kaikeyi and Hiranya; that
husbands are not rakshakas is shown by Dharmaputra and NaLa.
Devas such as Chandra, Indra, etc are defeated by the likes of
Hiranya and Ravana and become their slaves and as such they
cannot be rakshakas. Brahma is not a rakshaka as Madhu Kaidaba
took away the Vedas from him and he suffered (kaNNizhanthEn
thanamizhanthEn). Rudra had Brahma's head stuck in his hand and
he had to have someone cleanse him of that sin and therefore
cannot be a rakshaka.
________________________________________
36
Sutra 40:
Ã‡¢ìÌõ§À¡Ð À¢Ã¡ðÊ…ó¿¢¾¢ §ÅñÎ¨¸Â¡§Ä,
þ¾¢§Ä ‚…õÀó¾õ «Ñ…ó§¾Âõ.
rakshikkum pOthu pirAtti sannithi vENdukaiyAlE ithilE Sri
Sambantham anuSanthEyam.
Meaning:
At the point where He protects the chetanas, as it is imperative that
pirAtti be with Him, in the akAram that shows Him as sarva
rakshaka Her association has to be included.

Thus far, in establishing the meaning of the first akshara of
praNavam which is akAram, the meaning of akAram which is
Him, the meaning of protection offered by Him, the different types
of protection based on status of the souls, and that He is the only
protector have been shown.
Now, it is shown that Lakshmi sambantham is included in the

akAram.
In providing rakshaNam, while He is capable of providing it

without using any help and all by Himself, the Sastras say that He
does it in the company of Sri MahaLakshmi. There are many
several pramanas for this such as "lakshmyA saha hrushIkesO
devyA kAruNyarUpaya, rakshakas sarva siddhAnte vedAntebi cha
gIyate" (all Sastras show that the Lord protects only along with
Lakshmi who is compassion personified).
There is a possibility, when a chetana comes before Him, due to

the the chetana's countless sins and due to His own svAtantryam
(independence), that He could reject the chetana. Therefore, Her
presence with Him which generates compassion in Him is required
during the time that He provides rakshaNam. Thus, Her
sambandham to Him has to be thought of when the akAram is
explained as showing His rakshgatvam. That is, the meaning of
akAram is Sriman Narayana who is never separated from His
consort.
37
When Narayana is thought of, He is thought of as Sriman
Narayana; so why does it have to be explicitly said that Sri
Sambandham should also be included in that?
This is true; nevertheless, it is appropriate to remind everyone of

that sambandham.
________________________________________
Sutra 41:
«òÃ À¸Åò§…¿¡À¾¢Á¢îÃ÷ Å¡ìÂõ :- "«Åý Á¡÷¨À
Å¢ðÎô À¢Ã¢Â¢ø þùÅ‡Ãõ Å¢ðÎô À¢Ã¢ÅÐ".
athra bagavathSEnApathimisrar vAkyam: "avan mArbai vittup
piriyil ivvaksharam vittup pirivathu".
Meaning:
Here, a quote by Sri Senapathi Jeeyar, a renowned scolar is
mentioned. That is, if Sri Mahalakshmi could leave His divine
chest, then could She leave the akAram in the praNavam.

There was a great bhAgavata known as Sri Senapathi Jeeyar a long
time ago. His assertion is being quoted here. Just as Sri
Mahalakshmi never leaves His divine chest even for a second
("agalakillEn iRaiyumenRu alarmElmagai uRai mArbA"), so too
She does not leave the akAram which stands for Him. That is, She
has nithya sambandham with Him and similarly She has nithya
sambandham with the akAram.
________________________________________
Sutra 42:
À÷ò¾¡Å¢Û¨¼Â ÀÎì¨¸¨ÂÔõ ôÃ¨ƒÂ¢Û¨¼Â
¦¾¡ðÊ¨ÄÔõ Å¢¼¡§¾Â¢ÕìÌõ Á¡¾¡¨Åô §À¡§Ä
ôÃ¾Á ºÃÁÀ¾í¸¨Ç Å¢¼¡§¾Â¢ÕìÌÁ¢ÕôÒ.
38
barththavinudaiya padukkaiyaiyum prajaiyinudaiya thottilaiyum
vidAthE irukkum mAthAvaip polE prathama carama pathankaLai
vidAthE irukkum iruppu.
Meaning:
Just as a mother does not give up either her husband's bed or her
child's cradle, so too Sri Lakshmi does not give up the first akshara
(akAram) or the last akshara (makAram) in the praNavam and is
associated with both.

Tathva thrayam (Ishvara, Chit and Achit) is seen in this world.
Then, which tathvam does Sri Lakshmi belong to? It is
meaningless to even consider that She belongs to the Achit
category. Looking at the previous sutra it would appear that She
belongs to the Ishvara tathvam. However, in that case She would
be seen as Ishvara. Instead our acharyas have said that She belongs
to the chetana tathvam. How does one determine that? Sri Pillai
Lokacharya answers that by showing that She is associated with
both akAram which stands for Him and makAram which stands for
chetanas. That is, She is associatd with both the protector and the
protected.
This meaning is shown using a worldly example. A mother will be
attached to her husband by following him while she remains
attached to her child by protecting the child. Proving her seshathva
nature to her husband she will not let go of his bed, and proving
her rakshakathva nature to her child she will not le t go of the
child's cradle. Similarly pirAtti also does not leave the akAram
which stands for Her consort who is the Lord, while also not
leaving the makAram which stands for the chetanas who are Her
children. Because She has sambandham with both, She will be
attached with Him for His pleasure and will be attached with the
chetanas for their protection. Because Her association with the
protector and the protected is endless, She will neither give up the
akARam nor give up the makAram.
________________________________________
Sutra 43:
39
‚¿ó¾§¸¡À¨ÃÔõ ìÕ‰½¨ÉÔõ Å¢¼¡¾ Â§º¡¨¾ô
À¢Ã¡ðÊ¨Âô §À¡§Ä.
Sri nandagOparaiyum krushNanaiyum vidAtha yasOthaip
pirAttiyaip pOlE.
Meaning:
Just like Yasodha who did not leave her husband Nandagopa or
leave her son Krishna (as in the Thiruppavai pasuram "ambaramE
thaNNeerE").

The simple example shown in the previous sutra, about a mother
not leaving her husband or child, is now shown with a special case.
In the Thiruppavai pasuram "ambaramE thaNNeerE", first Andal

awakens Nandagopa ("emperumAn nandagOpAlA ezhunthirAy"),
then she awakens Yasoda pirAtti ("asOthAy! aRivuRAy") and then
she awakens Krishna ("umbar kOmAnE! uRangAthezhunthirAy").
In this sequence, Yasoda is seen in the middle. It appears that she
is present in between her husband Nandagopa (to please him) and
her son Krishna (to protect him). Similarly, Sri Lakshmi also stays
between the first part of praNavam which is Ishvara and the last
part of praNavam which is the chetanas and never leaves either.
________________________________________
Sutra 44:
´ÕÅÉÊ¨Á ¦¸¡ûÙõ§À¡Ð ìÕ†¢½¢ì¦¸ýÈý§È
¬Å¨½§Â¡¨Ä ±ØÐÅÐ; ¬¸¢Öõ, À½¢¦ºöÅÐ
ìÕ†¢½¢ì¸¢§È; «Ð§À¡§Ä ¿¡õ À¢Ã¡ðÊìÌ
«Ê¨ÁÂ¡Â¢ÕìÌõÀÊ.
oruvan adimai koLLum pOthu gruhiNikkenRanRE AvaNaiyOlai
ezhuthuvathu; Agilum, paNi seyvathu gruhiNikkiRE; athupOlE
nAm pirAttikku adimaiyAyirukkumpadi.
Meaning:
In this world, when a man hires a servant to do work in his house,
he writes a contract that the servant will do his bidding but does
40
not explicitly note that the servant should do the bidding of his
wife. Nevertheless, we see that the servant does the work as
ordered by the wife. Similarly, we are also enslaved to Sri
Mahalakshmi.

Is it not said in the praNavam that the chetana is enslaved to the
Lord - so, how can one say that he is also enslaved to
Mahalaskshmi?
This is answered using an example from this world. When a rich

person hires some servants to do work at his home, there will
usually be a contract written. This contract is called AvaNai Olai.
When this contract is written, the man would typically have it
written in his name and not in his wife's name. Nevertheless, it is
very often seen that the servant ends up doing mostly the bidding
of the wife. Similarly, while the akAram only mentions that we are
enslaved to Him, it does not preclude that we are also enslaved to
pirAtti.
________________________________________
Sutra 45:
¬¸ô À¢Ã¢òÐ ¿¢¨ÄÂ¢ø¨Ä.
Agap piriththu nilaiyillai.
Meaning:
Therefore, there is no separation between Him and His consort.

By using all the reasonings shown in the previous sutras, it is
established that the Divya Dampatis (Sri and Narayana) are forever
together and are never separated.
________________________________________
Sutra 46:
ôÃ¨À¨ÂÔõ ôÃÀ¡Å¡¨ÉÔõ, Ò‰Àò¨¾Ôõ Á½ò¨¾Ôõ
§À¡§Ä.
41
prabhaiyaiyum prabhAvAnaiyum, pushpaththaiyum
maNaththaiyum pOlE.
Meaning:
Take this (the non-separation of Sri and Narayana) as similar to the
non-separation of sun rays and light and that of a flower and its
fragrance.

Two examples are used to show that there is no separation amongst the Divya Dampatis.
Consider the case of rays from the Sun and other light producing
objects. There si no separation of their rays and light. Likewise
there is no separation in the case of fragrance and flowers.
Similarly, it is understood that there is no separation between the
Lord and His consort.
These examples are not new. They have been used by our elders
before. In the Ramayana, at the Asoka Vana when Ravana
presented some silly notions to Sita Piratti, She made Her replies to
a piece of grass that She threw in front. In Her replies, She
mentioned "ananyA rAghavENAham bhAskarENa prabhA yadA",
meaning that Sri Rama is like the Sun rays and She is like the light.
Later after the Agni pravesham of Sita Piratti, Sri Rama also uses
the same example "ananyA hi mayA sItA bhAskarENa prabhA
yadA". The example of flower and fragrance is used by Sri
Parasara Bhattar in SriGunaratnakOsam "prasUnam
pushyandImapi parimaLartthim jigadishU:".
___________________________________
Sutra 47:
¬¸, þî§º÷ò¾¢ ¯ò§¾îÂÁ¡ö Å¢ð¼Ð.
Aga issErththi uththEsyamAy vittathu.
Meaning:
Thus, as there is no separation between Sri and Narayana, it is the
Divya Dampatis that are our refuge.
42
Since the Divya Dampatis do not have any separation, it is them
together that become the refuge for all of us. That is, it is not right
for us to seek them separately. If we do, then we would become
like Ravana and Surpanaka. Only if we become attached to both
will we live like Sri Vibeeshana.
________________________________________
Sutra 48:
þ¾¢§Ä ºÐ÷ò¾¢§ÂÈ¢ì ¸Æ¢Ôõ.
ithilE chathurththiyERik kazhiyum.
Meaning :
It is taken that the fourth case is hidden inside the akAram.

Thus far the meaning of the akAram has been explained. Now, Sri
Pillai Lokacharya takes it that a vibhakti (case) is present in the
akAram and begins to explain its meaning. The fourth case
(chaturtthi vibhakti) is hidden inside the akAram.
________________________________________
Sutra 49-50:
ºÐ÷ò¾¢§ÂÈ¢ÉÀÊ ±ý? ±ýÉ¢ø.
¿¡Ã¡Â½ À¾òÐìÌî …íìÃ†Á¡Â¢Õì¨¸Â¡§Ä.
chathurththi ERinapadi en? ennil.
nArAyaNa pathaththukku sangkrahamAy irukkaiyAlE.
Meaning:
49. While there are sevaral cases (vibhakti, vERRumai) present,
why whould one take it that it is the fourth case that is present
inside the akAram?
50. Because, the akAram is the essence of the nArAyaNAya that
follows in the Thirumantra. And in that term, the fourth case is
explicitly present.
43
As there several cases in grammar, why should it be said that it is
the fourth case that is present in the akAram?
It is because the akAram is the essence of the Narayanaya term that

follows and Narayanaya is the expansion for the akAram. And in
the Narayanaya term, it is the fourth case (chaturthI vibhakti) that
is explicitly present. Therefore, it is correct to take it that the fourth
case is present in the akAram.
________________________________________
Sutra 51:
þò¾¡ø ®îÅÃÛìÌî §º„¦Áý¸¢ÈÐ.
iththAl Isvaranukku sEshamenkiRathu.
Meaning:
Through this hidden fourth case, being enslaved to Him is being
shown.

What is the meaning of this hidden fourth case (chaturthi
vibhakti)?
It stands for bhagavat sEshatvam. That is being enslaved to Sriman

Narayana who is the meaning of the akAram.
________________________________________
Sutra 52-53:
§º„òÅõ Ðì¸åÀÁ¡¸Åý§È¡ ¿¡ðÊü
¸¡ñ¸¢È¦¾ýÉ¢ø.
«ó¾ ¿¢ÂÁÁ¢ø¨Ä; ¯¸ó¾ Å¢„ÂòÐìÌ
§º„Á¡Â¢ÕìÌÁ¢ÕôÒ …¤¸Á¡¸ì ¸¡ñ¨¸Â¡§Ä.
sEshathvam dhukka rUpamAgavanRO nAttil kANgiRathennil:
antha niyamam illai; ugantha vishayaththukku sEshamAy
irukkumiruppu sugamAgak kANkaiyAlE.
44
Meaning:
52. In this world, don't we see that being enslaved to someone is a
matter of sorrow?
53. It is not a rule that being enslaved is always a matter of
unhappiness. In desired situations, it is seen that being enslaved
brings about happiness

Do we not see that being enslaved to another person is a matter of
unhappiness? Therefore, it is something that is to be rejected. So,
how is it that one can say that something that is to be rejected is the
thing to desire.
There is no rule that says all enslavement is a matter of

unhappiness. It is seen in this world that in desired cases, being
enslaved is matter of great happiness. Dushyanta tells Sakunthala
"samvAhayAmi charaNAvuta padmatAmrau". Men tell women in
this world "Would yo u like me to take your feet in my lap and
gently massage them? Would you like me to fan a gentle breeze
toward you?", etc. Thus, as it is seen that in longed for situations
being enslaved is being happy, it is not acceptable as a rule to say
"sEshatvam dhukkarUpam".
________________________________________
Sutra 54:
«¸¡Ãò¾¢§Ä ¸øÂ¡½ Ì½í¸¨Çî ¦º¡øÖ¨¸Â¡§Ä
þó¾ §º„òÅÓõ Ì½ò¾¡§Ä Åó¾Ð.
akAraththilE kalyANa guNankaLais sollukaiyAlE intha
sEshathvamum guNaththAlE vanthathu.
Meaning:
The akAram describes Sriman Narayana as the rakshaka. His
kalyANa guNas are the reason behind His rakshaNam. The
bhagavat sEshatvam that is described by the hidden case is also
because of the kalyANa guNas.
45
It is true that on selected situations being enslaved brings about
happiness in this world. But this is based on certain guNas that are
present in the lord which the person who is enslaved enjoys. So, is
there anything like that in the bhagavat sEshatvam described by the
hidden fourth case in the akAram?
Sri Pillai Lokacharya answers yes. Because the akAram describes

His kalyAna guNas, the sEshatvam also comes out of the same
guNas. Previously, it was shown that the akAram describes the
Lord as rakshaka. This rakshaNam is based on His kalyANa
guNas. Therefore, the bhagavat sEshatvam, that is described by the
hidden fourth case in the akAram, is also the result of His kalyANa
guNas. Therefore (that is, because it arises due to the delightful
kalyANa guNas), the sEshatvam also brings about happiness.
________________________________________
Sutra 55:
§º„òÅ§Á ¬òÁ¡×ìÌ ŠÅåÀõ.
sEshathvamE AthmAvukku SvarUpam.
Meaning:
The sEshatvam described is not a limited quality of the soul;
instead it is it's complete nature.

If the sEshathvam arose out of seeing His kalyANa guNas, then is
it not likely that it is only a characteristic of the soul rising out of a
special situation?
Sri Pillai Lokacharya says that that is not true and that the
sEshatvam is actually the complete nature of the soul. As an
example it was shown that in this world people tend to enjoy
enslavement due to the guNas seen with their lord and therefore it
was told that kalyANa guNas are present with Sriman Narayana.
But irrespective of that example, all Sastras clearly show that
sEshatvam is the nature of the soul.
________________________________________
46
Sutra 56-57:
§º„òÅÁ¢øÄ¡¾§À¡Ð ŠÅåÀÁ¢ø¨Ä.
¬òÁ¡À†¡ÃÁ¡ÅÐ ŠÅ¾óòÃ¦Áý¸¢È ¿¢¨É×:
ŠÅ¾óòÃÁ¡õ§À¡Ð þø¨ÄÂ¡ö Å¢Îõ.
sEshathvam illAtha pOthu SvarUpam illai.
AthmApahAramAvathu Svathanthram enkiRa ninaivu:
SvathanthramAmpOthu illaiyAy vidum.
Meaning:
56. Only through sEshatvam is the nature of the soul to be
determined.
57. The stealing of the soul, which is the thought that one is
completely independent, is the highest sin as per the Sastras. This
assertion of independence is the opposite of sEshatvam and as such
brings great danger to the realization of one's true nature.

Why say sEshatvam is the nature of the soul; does it then mean
that the soul which is knowledge does not have a nature outside of
sEshatvam?
No says Sri Pilla Lokacharya. If there is no sEshatvam then it

brings about the thought that one's nature is independence. Such a
thought is known as stealing one's soul. This thievery is considered
to be the root of all sins. So, as soon as a person thinks that he is
fully self dependent he immediately loses the realization of his true
nature. Therefore it is correct to say "without sEshatvam there is
no svarUpam".
With this the meanings of the akAram are concluded.
________________________________________
Sutra 58:
Š¾¡¿ôÃÁ¡½ò¾¡§Ä ¯¸¡Ãõ «Å¾ÃÃ½¡÷ò¾õ.
SthAnapramANaththAlE ukAram avathararaNArththam.
47
Meaning:
The ukAram is used in place of the word eva (only, exactly) and
therefore it has the meaning of avatAraNam (descent).

The meaning of ukAram has to be taken as the same as if the word
eva had been used. In the Vedas it is in place of eva that ukAram is
usually used ("tadEvAgnis tat vAyus tat sUryas tadu candramA:").
Thus by being used in place of eva the meaning of ukAram can be
taken as avatAraNam.
________________________________________
Sutra 59:
þò¾¡ø À¢È÷ìÌ §º„Áý¦Èý¸¢ÈÐ.
iththAl piRarkku sEshamanRenkiRathu.
Meaning:
With this ukAram's avatAraNam, anya sEshatva nivrutti (not being
enslaved to another) is being shown.

There are two types of cases that arise out of the avatAraNam:
ayOgavyavaccEtam and anyayOgavyavaccEtam. If a statement is
made "the conch has the color white", that is the
ayOgavyavaccEtam case. If a statement is made that "the white
color is no where but in a conch", then it is the
anyayOgavyavaccEtam case. As the second statement is false, the
second case cannot be used there. If one says "Arjuna is the only
archer", the meaning there is that he has no equal in wielding the
bow and therefore the case is anyayOgavyavaccEtam.
In the avatAraNam used for the ukAram, it is the

anyayOgavyavaccEtam case that stands. That is, the ukAram
shows that the sEshatvam shown to the Lord is only toward Him
and cannot be shown anywhere else. Just as "prutviyAm Eva
gantha:" shows that the quality of fragrance is present nowhere but
in the prutivi (that is, anyayOgavyavaccEtam), so too here it is
48
taken as "jIva: Ayaiva") and that the jIva is enslaved only to Him
and no one else.
By the hidden case when it is shown that the soul is enslaved to the
Lord, why even bring up the question whether he is enslaved to
another and prove that he is not?
In this world, we see that something that is owned by one person is

also owned by others. This is seen in the case of a home, a place, a
servant, a son, etc. Therefore it is possible that a doubt might come
up whether that is the situation between the jIvas and the Lord. To
answer that, the case has been taken up and shown that it is not so
here.
________________________________________
Sutra 60:
¦ÀÃ¢Â À¢Ã¡ðÊÂ¡÷ìÌ §º„¦Áý¸¢È¦¾ýÚï
¦º¡øÖÅ÷¸û.
periya pirAttiyArkku sEshamengiRathenRunj solluvarkaL.
Meaning:
Some acharyas determine that the meaning of the ukAram is Sri
Lakshmi and therefore the souls are enslaved to Her.

Previously it was said that the meaning of ukAram was
avatAraNam. Some acharyas say that it means Sri Mahalakshmi.
They determine that the Sri sambandham to Him does not have to
be found inside the akAram and that there are sastric verses that
show explicitly that akAram shows Him and ukAram shows Her
and sEshatvam to Her.
________________________________________
Sutra 61:
«¾¢Öõ «óÂ §º„òÅõ ¸Æ¢¨¸§Â ôÃ¾¡¿õ.
athilum anya sEshathvam kazhikaiyE prathAnam.
49
Meaning:
The meaning of anya sEshatva nivrutti is the better one than the
meaning of Lakshmi sEshatvam.

Rather than taking Lakshmi as the meaning of ukAram, it is better
to take it that avatAraNam is its meaning. That is the meaning that
is to be seeked. Sri Sambandham can be realized through the
akAram itself. Since there is no better place than the ukAram to
show anya sEshatva nivrutti, it is better to take its meaning as
avatAraNam.
________________________________________
Sutra 62:
§¾Å÷¸ÙìÌ §º„Á¡É Ò§Ã¡¼¡ºò¨¾
¿¡öì¸¢ÎÁ¡§À¡§Ä, ®îÅÃ §º„Á¡É ¬òÁÅŠÐ¨Å
…õ…¡Ã¢¸ÙìÌ §º„Á¡ìÌ¨¸.
thevarkaLukku sEshamaana purOdaasaththai naaykkidumaa pOlE,
Isvara sEshamaana aathmavaSthuvai SamSaarikaLukku
sEshamaakkukai.
Meaning:
Enslaving the soul which belongs only to Him, to another samsaari
is like giving the oblation from a yagna which is meant for Indra
and other Devas to a lowly dog.

Why does one have to compulsorily remove sEshatvam to another;
is it really such a terrible thing?
Yes, it is. The soul belongs to Him who is the Lord and to subject
it to slavery to other samsaris is indeed a terrible thing. To do so is
like giving the oblation from a yagna that is due to Indra and other
devas ("vAnidai vAzhum avvAnavarkku maRaiyavar vELviyil
vaguththa avi"), to a lowly dog. Since it is very important that this
terrible thing which is anya sEshatvam be removed, it is better to
take the meaning of ukAram as avatAraNam rather than as
Lakshmi.
50
________________________________________
Sutra 63:
À¸Åò§º„òÅò¾¢Öõ «óÂ§º„òÅõ ¸Æ¢¨¸§Â ôÃ¾¡¿õ.
bagavath sEshathvaththilum anya sEshathvam kazhikaiyE
prathAnam.
Meaning:
More important than being enslaved to Him, is not being enslaved
to another.

The meaning shown in Sutra 61 is being stressed again here. As
shown before, removing of anya sEshatvam which is a terrible
thing is very important for a jIva. Therefore, even more important
than being enslaved to Him is not being enslaved to another. It is
not just that the meaning of ukAram is better taken as avatAraNam
rather than Lakhmi. The removal of anya sEshatvam even more
than having bhagavat sEshatvam, is the most necessary thing.
________________________________________
Sutra 64:
"ÁÈóÐõ ÒÈó¦¾¡Æ¡ Á¡ó¾÷" ±ý¨¸Â¡§Ä.
"maRanthum puRanthozhaa maanthar" enkaiyAlE.
Meaning:
By the divine words of Thirumazisai Azhvar that says
Sriva ishnavas are those who even if they forget His name will not
become enslaved to another.

To explain the previous sutra, the 68th pasuram from Nanmugan
Thiruvanthaathi ("maRanthum puRanthozhA mAnthar") is being
shown as an example here. In Sri Vishnu Purana there is a sloka
"svapurushamapivIkshya paasahaStam vadati yama: kila tasya

karNamUle
51
parihara madhusUdanaprapannaan praburahamanyanruNaam na
vaishNavaanaam".
This has been translated by Thirumazhisai Azhvar as
"thiRambElmin kaNdIr thiruvadi than nAmam

maRanthum puRanthozhA mAntharai iRainjsiyum
sAthuvarAyp pOthuminkaLenRAn namanum than
thUthuvaraik kUvis sevikku".
The interesting phrase here is "thiruvadi than naamam maRanthum

puRanthozhaa maanthar". adi, adikaL, thiruvadi all stand for Him.
What is being shown in this phrase is that it is possible that one can
even forget His divine nama; however, one should not be enslaved
to another. For example, a wife may not have love for her husband;
in time, she may become affectionate with him. But, it is not
correct that she develops love for another. Similarly, in Sri Vishnu
Purana the sage Parasara says "madhusUdana prapannaan" and
Thirumazhisai Azhvar said the same as "maRanthum
puRanthozhaa maanthar". Therefore it is very important, even
more than having bhagavat sEshatvam, that bhaagavatas should
not have anya sEshatvam.
________________________________________
Sutra 65:
þò¾¡ø, ¾ÉìÌõ À¢È÷ìÌõ ¯Ã¢ò¾ý¦Èý¸¢ÈÐ.
iththaal thanakkum piRarkkum uriththanRenkiRathu.
Meaning:
The ukAram that shows anya sEshatva nivrutti says that the soul
neither belongs to another (other than Him) nor does it belong to
itself.

The phrase "anya sEshatvam kazhikai" is further explained here. It
is not just that the soul should not be enslaved to another samsari
who is like itself. It also means that the soul should not be enslaved
to itself. The term anya includes the self as well, as the self belongs
52
to the same category as the anya's. anya seshatva nivr utti includes
the removal of enslavement to the self also; there is no need to
show a separate effort for the same. SvasEshatva nivrutti is
included therefore through the mening of anya sEshatva nivrutti in
the ukAram.
Thus far, the meanings of ukAram have been explained.
________________________________________
Sutra 66:
Á¸¡Ãõ þÕÀò¾ïº¡õ «‡ÃÁ¡ö ˆ»¡¿Å¡º¢ÔÁ¡ö
þÕì¨¸Â¡§Ä ¬òÁ¡¨Åî ¦º¡øÖ¸¢ÈÐ.
makAram irupaththanjAm aksharamAy njAnavAsiyumAy
irukkaiyAlE AthmAvais sollukiRathu.
Meaning:
The makAram that follows the ukAram is the 25th letter (starting
from ka); it also describes knowledge as it arises out of the root for
the word gnAna. Therefore,it stands for the Atma which is the 25th
tattva and whose nature and quality is gnAna.

The third part of praNavam which is makAram is now explained.
It is said that each of the aksharas explains one tattva. The 24

aksharas starting from ka till bha explain 24 tattvas and the 25th
akshara which is ma shows the jivAtma which is the 25th tattva, as
in "pongkaimpulanum poRiyainthum kaurumEnthiriyam
aimbootham, ingivvuyirEy pirakiruthi mAnAngkAra
manangkaLE".
Also, makAram arises out of the root "mana-jnAnE" or "manu-

avabodhane" and as such it stands for the Atma whose nature and
whose quality is knowledge.
________________________________________
Sutra 67-68:
53
þÐ¾¡ý …Á‰Ê Å¡º¸õ.
ƒ¡ò§Â¸Åº¿õ.
ithu thAn Samashti vAsakam.
jAthyEka vacanam.
Meaning:
67. This makAram that speaks of the Atma, is the akshara that
stands for all Atmas.
68. It is in the singular that points to the Atma jAti.

The makAram in the praNavam is in the singular (Eka vacanam)
and therefore stands for one Atma. Therefore, is it correct to say
that the bhagavat sEshatvam described before talks about the
sEshatvam of only one Atma?
Atmas are divided as Baddhas, Muktas and Nityas and bhagavat

sEshatvam is the quality for all Atmas. So, how does that fit into
this singular use of the makAram?
Pillai Lokacharya answers that the makAram here is a jAtyEka

vacanam. That is, the singular used here stands for the type rather
than a single case. For example, if one says "umbrella sold in this
shop", it does not mean a single umbrella. Similarly the makAram
speaks of the Atma jAti rather than a single Atma. Therefore, it
stands for all Atmas.
________________________________________
Sutra 69:
þò¾¡ø, ¬òÁ¡ ˆ»¡¾¡¦ÅýÚ §¾†ò¾¢ø ùÂ¡ùÕò¾¢
¦º¡øÄ¢üÈ¡Â¢üÚ.
iththAl, AthmA njAthAvenRu thEhaththil vyAvruththi
solliRRAyiRRu.
Meaning:
With this makAram, the Atma whose quality is bhagavat
sEshatvam, is shown as the vessel holding knowledge. Therefore,
54
the difference between the Atma and the body which is bereft of
knowledge, is shown.

The Atma has several dharma such as sEshatvam, njAtrutvam,
Ananditvam etc. This makAram which is the 25th akshara and
which speaks of knowledge, speaks of the dharma for the Atma
which is knowledge. By stating this, it is shown that the Atma is
different from acEtana which is the body.
________________________________________
Sutra 70:
§¾†ò¾¢ø ùÂ¡ùÕò¾¢ ¾òÅ§º¸Ãò¾¢ø ¦º¡ý§É¡õ.
thEhaththil vyAvrutti thathvasEkaraththil sonnOm.
Meaning:
The difference between the Atma and the body was explained in
detail in the rahasya grantha Tatvasekaram by Sri Pillai
Lokacharya.

There are some that argue that the body is the soul or that there is
no difference between the soul and the body. Then, how do we
show that the soul is different from the body?
Sri Pillai Lokacharya declines to address that issue here. He has

already explained that in detail, in another work called
Tatvasekaram and he refers to that document here for further
study.
________________________________________
Sutra 71:
Á½ò¨¾Ôõ ´Ç¢¨ÂÔí¦¸¡ñÎ â¨ÅÔõ Ãò¿ò¨¾Ôõ
Å¢ÕõÒÁ¡§À¡§Ä §º„¦ÁýÚ ¬òÁ¡¨Å ¬¾Ã¢ì¸¢ÈÐ;
«øÄ¡¾§À¡Ð "¯Â¢Ã¢É¡ü Ì¨ÈÅ¢Äõ" ±ý¸¢ÈÀÊ§Â
55
òÂ¡ˆÂõ; «Ð §¾¡ýÈ §º„òÅò¨¾î ¦º¡øÄ¢ô
À¢ý¨É ¬òÁ¡¨Åî ¦º¡øÖ¸¢ÈÐ.
maNaththaiyum oLiyaiyum koNdu pUvaiyum rathnaththaiyum
virumbumApOlE sEshamenRu AthmAvai AtharikkiRathu; allAtha
pOthu "uyirinAR kuRaivilam" enkiRapadiyE thyAjyam; athu
thOnRa sEshathvaththais sollip pinnai AthmAvai sollukiRathu.
Meaning:
The flower is liked because of its fragrance and the precious stone
is liked because of its brilliant shine. Similarly the Atma is liked
because of the fact that it is enslaved to the Lord. If the Atma is not
enslaved to Him, then it is to be given up. This is per
Nammazhvar's pasuram "thadam punala sadaimudiyan thaniyoru
kURamarnthu uRaiyum udambudaiyAn kavarAtha uyirinAl
kuRaivilamE".

In explaining something, the correct order is to show the nature of
the being first and then talk about its dharma. If that is the case,
then in the praNavam, it is the Atma that should have come first
and its quality which is sEshatvam should have come after. So,
why does the praNavam have the ukAram first and then the
makAram?
The reason is as follows. In this world, we see that it is due to the

fragrance that a flower is liked and it is due to its brilliant light that
a precious stone is liked. In the same fashion, it is out of the quality
of seshatvam that a soul is liked. If a soul does not possess that
wealth, then it is to be discarded.
What is the pramANam for this?
The answer is Nammazhvar's pasuram: "thadam punala

sadaimudiyan thaniyoru kURamarnthu uRaiyum udambudaiyAn
kavarAtha uyirinAl kuRaivilamE" (Thiruvaymozhi 4-8-10). The
essence of this pasuram is that that soul which is not attached to
Him should be discarded. Alavandar too says the same in his
Stotraratnam.
56
Therefore, to emphasize the importance of sEshatvam which is
spoken about this way by our acharyas who are knowledge
incarnate, sEshatvam is placed ahead and Atma is placed after in
the prAnavam.
________________________________________
Sutra 72:
¬¸ ôÃ½Åò¾¡ø "¸ñ½ÒÃ¦Á¡ýÚ¨¼Â¡ÛìÌ
«Ê§Âý ´ÕÅ÷ìÌÃ¢§Â§É¡" ±ý¸¢ÈÀÊ§Â
ƒ£ÅÀÃ…õÀó¾ï ¦º¡øÄ¢üÚ.
Aga praNavaththAl "kaNNapuram onRudaiyAnukku adiyEn
oruvarkkuriyEnO" enkiRapadiyE jIvaparaSambantham solliRRu.
Meaning:
By what was said thus far, the meaning told by the praNavam is
the relationship between the jIvAtmA and the paramAtma which is
sEsha sEshi bhAva (nature). This is per the Thirumangai Azhvar
pasuram "kaNNapuram onRudaiyAnukku adiyEn
oruvarkkuriyEnO".

Thus far all the meaning of the praNavam was explained in detail.
Now its collected meaning is shown.
The praNavam speaks of the relationship between the jIvAtma and

the paramAtma which is sEsha-sEshi svarUpam.
To show this, Thirumangai Azhvar's divine words "kaNNapuram

onRudaiyAnukku adiyEn oruvarkkuriyEnO" is used. This phrase
from the pAsuram literally looks like the praNavam. The meaning
of the akAram (with the hidden fourth case) is shown by
"kaNNapuramonRudaiyAnukku". The meaning of makAram
which shows the Atma whose quality is sEshatvam is brought out
by "adiyEn". The ukAram which rejects being enslaved to another
is brought out by "oruvarkku uriyEnO".
________________________________________
57
Sutra 73:
þò¾¡ø, *¾¡Á¨ÃÂ¡û §¸ûÅý* ´ÕÅ¨É§Â
§¿¡ìÌÓ½÷¦Å ýÈ¾¡Â¢üÚ.
iththAl *thAmaraiyAL kELvan oruvanaiyE nOkkum
uNarvenRathAyiRRu.
Meaning:
With this praNavam, as per Sri Poygai Azhvar's Srisookti, the
relationship between the jIvAtma and the paramAtma is told.

Previously it was told that when He is protecting the jIvas it is
required that Lakshmi be present and therefore the Sri
sambandham is included in the akAram (sutra 40). Therefore, in
the relationship between the jIvAtma and the paramAtma, the
sEshi is now shown as the Divya Dhampati (Divine Couple).
The praNavam can also be chanted through Poygai Azhvar's divine

words "oNdAmaraiyAL kELvan oruvanaiyE nOkkum uNarvu".
Through thAmaraiyAL kELvan, Sriman Narayana who is the
meaning of akAram and who is the sEshi is told. Through
oruvanaiyE nOkkum, the Atma's sEshatvam to the one Lord and
no one else, which is shown by the fourth case and the ukAram, is
told. Through uNarvu, the Atma which is shown by the makAram,
whose nature is knowledge and whose quality is that sEshatvam, is
told.
Therefore if one wishes to chant the praNavam while bringing out

the Lakshmi sambandham, then they can chant this pasuram of
Poygai Azhvar.
________________________________________
Sutra 74:
«¸¡Ãò¾¡Öõ Á¸¡Ãò¾¡Öõ Ã‡¸¨ÉÔõ ÃŒÂò¨¾Ôõ
¦º¡øÄ¢üÚ; ºÐ÷ò¾¢Â¡Öõ ¯¸¡Ãò¾¡Öõ,
Ã‡½§†ÐÅ¡É ôÃ¡ô¾¢¨ÂÔõ ÀÄò¨¾Ôõ ¦º¡øÄ¢üÚ.
58
akAraththAlum makAraththAlum rakshakaniyum
rakshyaththaiyum solliRRu; chathurththiyAlum ukAraththAlum,
rakshaNahEthuvAna prApthiyaiyum palaththaiyum solliRRu.
Meaning:
The akAram spoke of the Protector; the makAram spoke of that
which is protected; the fourth case spoke of that which is the
reason for the protection; and the ukAram spoke of the result.

In the 72nd and 73rd sutras, the combined meaning of the
prAnavam was shown in one way. There the sEshatvam that is in
the hidden fourth case inside the akAram was kept in focus. Now,
the root of the akAram is used to show another combined meaning
for the praNavam.
The root for akAram is taken as ava-rakshaNE and as the meaning

of that root is protection, that is kept in focus and used to derive
the meaning of the praNavam here.
The akAram shows Him who is the protector. The makAram

shows that which is to be protected which is the Atma. The reason
that He protects is because the Atma is enslaved to Him; therefore
the fourth case speaks of the sEshatvam which is the reason for the
protection. The result of this protection is that the Atma continues
in the service of the same protector and this fact that the Atma is
undeviatingly enslaved only to Him is spoken by the ukAram.
Thus, the praNavam speaks of the rakshaka, the rakshaNeeya, the

rakshaNa hEtu and the rakshana prayOjana.
________________________________________
Sutra 75:
þÉ¢§Áø ôÃ½Åò¨¾ Å¢ÅÃ¢ì¸¢ÈÐ.
inimEl praNavaththai vivarikkiRathu.
59
Meaning:
The parts other than the praNavam in the Thirumanthram explain
the praNavam.

From here on, the nama: part of Thirumathram which is known as
mantra sEsham and the nArAyanAya part have to be explained.
First it is said that the mantra sEsham is an explanation for the

praNavam. Breaking a word or phrase into multiple parts and
showing the meanings of each part is the usual method of
explaining something. So, why would it be said that the mantra
sEsham explains praNavam, when it does not break the praNavam
part by part and show their meanings?
Even if it does not take the parts of the source and explain them, as
it speaks the essential meanings of the source and expands on it,
the mantra sEsham can be said to explain the praNavam. That is,
the collected meanings of the praNavam that were shown before
are explained in great detail by the remaining two parts of the
Thirumanthram.
________________________________________
Sutra 76:
¯¸¡Ãò¨¾ Å¢ÅÃ¢ì¸¢ÈÐ ¿ÁŠ…¤; «¸¡Ãò¨¾
Å¢ÅÃ¢ì¸¢ÈÐ ¿¡Ã¡Â½À¾õ; Á¸¡Ãò¨¾ Å¢ÅÃ¢ì¸¢ÈÐ
ºÐ÷ò¾¢; ¿¡ÃÀ¾¦ÁýÚï ¦º¡øÖÅ÷¸û.
ukAraththai vivarikkiRathu namaSSu; akAraththai vivarikkiRathu
nArAyaNapatham; makAraththai vivarikkiRathu chathurththi;
nArapathamenRum solluvarkaL.
Meaning:
The ukAram which is taken as avatAraNam that removes anya
sEshatvam is explained by the nama: part. The akAram which
shows Him who is the rakshaka is explained by the nArAyaNa
part. The makAram which shows the jIvAtma that has the quality
of sEshatvam, is explained by the fourth case (Aya). It is also said
that the nAra part explains the makAram.
60
Previously it was told that the mantra sEsham explains the
praNavam. This is being shown here.
The ukAram whose meaning is avatAraNam was shown to remove
anya sEshatvam before. SvasEshatvam (enslaved to oneself) is
included inside the anya sEshatvam. Therefore, the nama: which
removes the SvasEshatvam explicitly, explains the ukAram.
NArAyaNa explains in detail the nature of Him who is the

rakshaka, the nature of the chEtanas who are protected by Him, the
guNas which are required for the protection and the method of
giving the protection. Therefore it explains the akAram.
Without doing some service the sEshatva m will not bear fruit and
the fourth case shows this service. This fourth case explains the
makAram which shows the Atma that holds the sEshatvam.
The Atma which is the meaning of makAram has the qualities of

being eternal, one and many. These qualities are shown by the
nAra part and therefore it can also be said to explain the makAram.
Ra comes from the root riJN-kshayE which means that which can
be destroyed. Therefore nara means that which is not destroyed;
that is, it is eternal (nityatvam). Through the meaning of
community, this becomes nAra and shows the quality of many.
Similarly other qualities can be shown.
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Sutra 77:
«¨¼§Å Å¢ÅÃ¢Â¡¦¾¡Æ¢¸¢ÈÐ Å¢§Ã¡¾¢§À¡ö «ÑÀÅ¢ì¸
§ÅñÎ¨¸Â¡§Ä.
adaivE vivariyAthozhikiRathu virOthi pOy anubavikka
vENdukaiyAlE.
Meaning:
Why is the order in the praNavam not followed in the mantra
sEsham that explains it? The nama: that explains the ukAram came
61
ahead because the obstacles such as I and mine have to be removed
first before experiencing Him.

In the praNavam, there is an order which is akAram, ukAram and
then makAram. If the mantra sEsham explains the praNavam,
should it also not follow the same order? That, is the nArAyaNa
part that explains the akAram should have been first. Instead why
do we see that the nama: part is ahead?
The reason is as follows. Through the Narayana part which

explains the akAram one gets the bhagavat anubhavam. There are
obtsacles to this experience which are ahankAram and
mamakAram. As the removal of these through the nama: will lead
to the bhagavat anubhavam being good, it is appropriate that the
nama: be ahead. Just as the bee is removed before the honey is
taken, so too through the nama: the obstacles are removed and
through the nArAyaNa the honey which is bhagavat anubhavam is
taken.
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Sutra 78:
¿ÁŠ…¤ ¿ ±ýÚõ, Á: ±ýÚõ þÃñÎ À¾õ.
namaSSu na enRum, ma: enRum iraNdu patham.
Meaning:
The nama: is made up of two parts - na and ma:.

In order to show the meaning of the nama: part, it is broken up
further into two parts (avAntara vibhAgam). That is, na and ma:.
________________________________________
Sutra 79-80:
Á: ±ý¸¢È Å¢ò¾¡ø, ¾ÉìÌ ¯Ã¢Âý ±ý¸¢ÈÐ; ¿ ±ýÚ
«ò¨¾ò ¾Å¢÷ì¸¢ÈÐ.
62
ma: enkiRa viththAl, thanakku uriyan enkiRathu; na enRu
aththaith thavirkkiRathu.
¬¸, ¿Á: ±ý¸¢È Å¢ò¾¡ø ¾ÉìÌ ¯Ã¢ÂÉý¦Èý¸¢ÈÐ.
Aga nama: enkiRa viththAl thanakku uriyananRu enkiRathu.
Meaning:
79. Through ma:, it is said that it belongs to the self. Through the
na, it is shown that that is to be rejected.
80. Together the nama: shows that it does not belong to the self.

The meanings of the na and the ma: parts are shown. ma: is the
makAram with the sixth case which has the meaning of mine.
Therefore, it carries the idea that I belong to myself. With the na,
that idea is rejected and together it means that "I do not belong to
myself".
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Sutra 81:
À¢È÷ìÌÃ¢ÂÉ¡ÉÅýÚ ¾ý ¨ÅÄ‡ñÂò¨¾ì ¸¡ðÊ
Á£ð¸Ä¡õ; ¾Éì¦¸ýÛÁýÚ §Â¡ìÂ¨¾Ôí Ü¼
«Æ¢Ôõ.
piRarkkuriyanAnavanRu than vailakshaNyaththaik kAtti
meetkalAm; thanakkennumanRu yOgyathaiyum kooda azhiyum.
Meaning:
If a person becomes enslaved to another then it is possible to
shown him the difference between others and the Lord and correct
him. If he is enslaved only to himself (living as I and mine), it is
difficult to bring him to the right path (therefore, it can be taken
that removal of anya sEshatvam is connected to the removal of
svasEshatvam, which is shown by the nama:).

Previously it was told that the nama: explains the ukAram. Also,
that the ukAram removes being enslaved to others (other than
Him) which includes the removal of being enslaved to oneself. If
63
the nama: explains the ukAram, then can it stop at stating that one
does not belong to one's self?
Should it also not show that one does not belong to others?
Between anya sEshatvam and svasEshatvam, it is svasEshatvam

that is more dangerous. If a person is enslaved to another, it means
that the person is agreeable to that idea; then it is easy for Him to
show this person His divine qualities and the difference between
Him and others and enslave him. When a person becomes enslaved
to himself, it is difficult to correct him and make him enslaved to
the Lord.
Therefore, as svasEshatva nivrutti is more important than anya

sEshatva nivrutti, it is that which is shown in the nama: part.
________________________________________
Sutra 82-84:
þò¾¡ø, Å¢§Ã¡¾¢ ¸Æ¢ì¸¢ÈÐ.
Å¢§Ã¡¾¢ ¾¡ý ãýÚ.
«¾¡ÅÐ - ŠÅåÀ Å¢§Ã¡¾¢Ôõ, ¯À¡Â Å¢§Ã¡¾¢Ôõ,
ôÃ¡ôÂ Å¢§Ã¡¾¢Ôõ.
iththAl virOthiyaik kazhikkiRathu.
virOthi thAn mUnRu.
athAvathu - SvarUpa virOthiyum, upAya virOthiyum, prApya
virOthiyum.
Meaning:
82. With the namaS, obstacles are removed.
83. There are three obstacles.
84. They are, SvarUpa virodhi, upAya virodhi and prApya virodhi.

The namaS removes obstacles which are of three type. They are
SvarUpa virodhi, upAya virodhi and prApya virodhi.
64
The SvarUpam was gathered out of the praNavam and the obstacle
to that is SvarUpa virodhi. The means is born out of the meaning
of namaS and the obstacle to that is upAya virodhi. The goal is
described by the nArAyaNAya and the obstacle to that is upEya
virodhi.
It was shown before that the Thirumantra explains the SvarUpam,

upAyam and purushArttham. Since all three have virodhis, the
namaS removes those obstacles.
The SvarUpam which is sEshatvam has the ahankAra mamakAra

obstacles. The upAyam which is looking to no one but Him has the
obstacle which is the belief that the self can be protected by itself.
The purushArttham which is service to Him has the obstacle that
the jIva derives pleasure for itself in that service.
How does the namaS remove these obstacles?
As told by Sri Parasara Bhattar in Ashtasloki "mantrabrahmaNi

madhyamEna namasA pumsa: svarUpam gati: gamyam
shikshitamikshitEna purata: pashcAdapi sthAnata:", the namaS
joins with the parts before and after (kAkAkshi nyAyam)and also
stays by itself, and removes the three virodhis. Joining with the
part before, it becomes "Om nama:"; joining with the part after, it
becomes "nArAyaNAya nama:"; by itself it becomes "namO
nama:".
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Sutra 85:
ŠÅåÀÅ¢§Ã¡¾¢ ¸Æ¢¨¸Â¡ÅÐ *Â¡§É ¿£ ±ýÛ¨¼¨ÁÔõ
¿£§Â* ±ýÈ¢Õì¨¸; ¯À¡ÂÅ¢§Ã¡¾¢ ¸Æ¢¨¸Â¡ÅÐ
*¸¨ÇÅ¡ö ÐýÀõ ¸¨ÇÂ¡¦¾¡Æ¢Å¡ö ¸¨Ç¸ñ
ÁüÈ¢§Èý* ±ýÈ¢Õì¨¸; ôÃ¡ôÂÅ¢§Ã¡¾¢ ¸Æ¢¨¸Â¡ÅÐ
*Áü¨È ¿í¸¡Áí¸û Á¡üÚ* ±ýÈ¢Õì¨¸.
SvarUpavirOthi kazhikaiyAvathu *yAnE nee ennudaimaiyum
neeyE* enRirukkai; upAyavirOthi kazhikaiyAvathu *kaLaivAy
thunbam kaLaiyAthozhivAy kaLaikaN maRRiREn* enRirukkai;
65
prApyavirOthi kazhikaiyAvathu *maRRai nam kAmangkaL
mARRu* enRirukkai.
Meaning:
The removal of the three obstacles SvarUpa virOdhi, upAya
virOdhi and prApya virOdhi are shown with examples.

If examples are given of those for whom these three obstacles have
been removed, then the mode of their removal will be clear.
Therefore, they are presented here.
1. To be as "yAnE nee ennudaimaiyum neeyE" (I and mine are

yours) will lead to the removal of SvarUpa virOdhi. As told by
Azhvar, to be as "yAnE enRenathE enRirunthEn" (I lived as I and
mine) is to live with ahankAra and mamakAra which is SvarUpa
virOdhi. To be as "ennaiyum ennudaimaiyaiyum un cakkarappoRi
oRRikkoNdu ninnaruLE purinthirunthEn" as told by Periyazhvar,
is to set the I and mine as sEsham to Him, which is the removal of
SvarUpa virOdhi.
2. To be as "kaLaivAy thunbam kaLaiyAthozhivAy kaLaikaN

maRRiREn" is the removal of upAya virOdhi. In the protection of
the jIva, if the jIva thinks that he too can protect himself, that
interferes with the protection He gives; this is therefore upAya
virOdhi. If the jIva were to be like Periyazhvar "unakkup paNi
seythirukkun thavamudaiyEn; inippOy oruvan thanakkup paNinthu
kadaiththalai niRkai ninsAyai azhivu kaNdAy" and does not seek
another person's house for his protection then that describes the
state of removal of upAya virOdhi.
3. To be as "maRRai nam kAmangkaL mARRu" is the removal of

upEya virOdhi. Being in His service is the upEyam. The obstacle
to that is gaining joy for the self in that service. Just as the moon,
breeze, flower, fragrance, etc provide joy to others but gain
nothing for themselves, so too should be the jIva. This is what is
told in the Thiruppavai pasuram "maRRai nam kAmangkaL
mARRu". In the phrase "vazhuvilA adimai seyya vENdum", the
word vazhu also means the same thing. Therefore the removal of
66
self intent in His service describes the state of removal of upEya
virOdhi.
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Sutra 86:
Á: ±ý¨¸ ŠÅåÀ¿¡ºõ; ¿Á: ±ý¨¸ ŠÅå§À¡ˆƒ£Å¿õ.
ma: engai SvarUpanAsam; nama: engai SvarUpOjjeevanam.
Meaning:
Associating with ahankAram and mamakAram leads to destruction
of one's SvarUpam. Being without them leads to restoration of
SvarUpam.

For the three virOdhis shown before, it is ahankAram (I) and
mamakAram (mine) that are the source. Therefore, the danger of
their presence and the goodness that comes about with their
removal are shown.
Within ma: both ahankAram and mamakAram are present. The

pride about one's self is ahankAra and the pride that one has in
their possessions is mamakAra. They both lead to the destruction
of one's SvarUpa. Not being attached to these leads to the revival
of the SvarUpa and therefore nama: is equivalent to SvarUpa
ujjIvana.
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Sutra 87:
þÐ¾¡ý ŠÅåÀò¨¾Ôõ, ¯À¡Âò¨¾Ôõ, ÀÄò¨¾Ôõ
¸¡ðÎõ.
ithu thAn SvarUpaththaiyum, upAyaththaiyum, palaththaiyum
kAttum.
Meaning:
This namaS shows the SvarUpa, upAya and the phala.
67
Not stopping at removing the obstacles, the nama: also shows the
self nature (SvarUpa), the means (upAya) and the end (phala).
________________________________________
Sutra 88:
*¦¾¡¨ÄÅ¢øÄ¢Áí¸Äó ¦¾¡Øõ* ±ý¨¸Â¡§Ä ŠÅåÀõ
¦º¡øÄ¢üÚ; *§Åí¸¼òÐ¨ÈÅ¡÷ìÌ ¿Á* ±ý¨¸Â¡§Ä
¯À¡Âõ ¦º¡øÄ¢üÚ; *«ó¾¢¦¾¡Øï¦º¡ø*
±ý¨¸Â¡§Ä ÀÄõ ¦º¡øÄ¢üÚ.
* tholaivillimangalam thozhum engaiyAlE SvarUpam solliRRu; *
vEngkadaththuRaivArkku nama engaiyAlE upAyam solliRRu; *
anthithozhum sol engaiyAlE palam solliRRu.
Meaning:
The pasuram "thuvAlil mAmaNi mAdamOngu
tholaivillimangalam thozhum ivaLai" shows the SvarUpam of
Azhvar. In this phrase, the word thozhum (worship) is synonymous
to namaS. Therefore, this namaS shows the SvarUpa. The pasuram
"vEngkadaththuRaivArrku nama" explains the upAya; therefore,
the nama: used here shows the upAya. In the phrase "mElaith
thoNdu ugaLiththu anthi thozhum sollup peRREn", the
kainkaryam in prApti is shown through the word thozhum.
Therefore, the nama: also shows the phala.

As said before the namaS not only removes the obstacles to the
SvarUpa, upAya and purushArttha, but it also expresses the same.
"thuvAlil mAmaNi mAdamOngu tholaivillimangalam thozhum

ivaLai" shows the nature of the jIva which is enslaved to Him such
that it will go to those places which He likes. Here the word
thozhum is equivalent to the namaS and therefore the namaS
describes the nature (SvarUpa) of the jIva.
"vEngkadaththuRaivArrku namavennalAm kadamaiyathu

sumanthArkatkE" shows the removal of svarakshAna. The nama:
here expresses the upAya which is Him.
68
In "anthi thozhum sollup peRREn", Azhvar shows that when
kainkarya prApti occurs, its higher form is decribed by the namaS.
Therefore the thozhum sol stands for the nama: and as such shows
the phala.
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Sutra 89:
"¯üÈÐÓýÉÊÂ¡÷ì¸Ê¨Á" ±ý¸¢ÈÀÊ§Â, þ¾¢§Ä
À¡¸Å¾§º„òÅÓõ «Ñ…ó§¾Âõ.
"uRRathum unnadiyArkkadimai" enkiRapadiyE, ithilE
bhAgavatha sEshathvamum anuSanthEyam.
Meaning:
As said by Thirumangai Azhvar "kaNNapuraththuRai ammAnE!
nin thiruvettezhuththum kaRRu nAn uRRathum
unnadiyArkkadimai", this namaS not only removes obstacles, but
it also contains the height of bhagavat sEshatvam which is
bhAgavata sEshatvam.

Through the meaning of the namaS, one should also practice
bhAgavata sEshatvam. Therefore it is explained here. Through this
namaS which removes the ahankAra mamakArams completely and
brings about bhagavat sEshatvam, one should also follow
bhAgavata sEshatvam which is the height of bhagavat sEshatvam.
Thirumangai Azhvar's pasuram from Periya Thirumozhi is the
measure that shows that.
maRRumOr dheyvamuLathenRiruppArOdu
uRRilEn uRRathumunnadiyArkkadimai
maRRellAm pEsilum ninthiruvettezhuththum
kaRRu nAn kaNNapuraththuRaiyammAnE (8-10-3)
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Sutra 90:
69
þÐ - «¸¡Ãò¾¢§Ä ±ýÚõ ¦º¡øÖÅ÷¸û; ¯¸¡Ãò¾¢§Ä
±ýÚõ ¦º¡øÖÅ÷¸û.
ithu - akAraththilE enRum solluvarkaL; ukAraththilE enRum
solluvarkaL.
Meaning:
Some say that the bhAgavata sEshatvam described previously is
present in the suppressed fourth case in the akAram; some others
say that it is in the ukAram which removes anya sEshatvam.

As some say that the bhAgavata sEshatvam, which is present in the
practice of the namaS, is to be found in the akAram and in the
ukAram, it is explained here.
The first part of the praNavam is akAram which contains a

suppressed fourth case. Through it, the jIva's bhagavat sEshatvam
is shown. Because bhAgavata sEshatvam is the height of bhagavat
sEshatvam, some say that the practice of bhAgavata sEshatvam
can be found in the akAram itself.
The ukAram that comes after the akAram in praNavam removes

anya sEshatvam. The height of removal of anya sEshatvam is
having bhAgavata sEshatvam and therefore some say that
bhAgavata sEshatvam can be found in ukAram itself.
This bhAgavata sEshatvam is not obtained by words (that is, it is

not stated explicitly) but is seen through meaning. Therefore, it can
be found anywhere. Nevertheless, it is Sri Pillai Lokacharya's
divine thought that it is best to find it in the namaS that removes
ahankAram and mamkAram.
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Sutra 91:
®îÅÃý ¾Éì§¸Â¡Â¢ÕìÌõ; «º¢òÐ
À¢È÷ì§¸Â¡Â¢ÕìÌõ; ¬òÁ¡ ¾ÉìÌõ À¢È÷ìÌõ
¦À¡ÐÅ¡Â¢ÕìÌ¦ÁýÚ ÓüÀð¼ ¿¢¨É×;
70
«í¹ÉýÈ¢ì§¸, «º¢ò¨¾ô§À¡§Ä *¾Éì§¸Â¡¸
±¨Éì¦¸¡ûÇ §ÅÏ¦Áý¸¢ÈÐ ¿ÁŠ…¡ø.
Isvaran thanakkEyAyirukkum; aciththu piRarkkEyAyirukkum;
AthmA thanakkum piRarkkum pothuvAyirukkumenRu muRpatta
ninaivu; angnganinRikkE, aciththaip pOlE *thankkEyAga enaik
koLLa* vENumenkiRathu namaSSAl.
Meaning:
What is the thought in the jIva before the meaning of the nama:
takes root in the mind? The Lord who is comple tely independent
stands as His own meaning. The acit which is completely
dependent stands for others. Previously the soul thinks that because
it has knowledge it stands as its own meaning some times and
because it has sEshatvam it stands for others some times. But,
through the nama: it becomes like the acit and as told by Azhvar
"thanakkEyAgavenaik koLLumeethE enakkE kaNNanai yAn koL
siRappE" it stands only for Him.

The thought that a soul would have prior to and after
understanding the namaS is shown here.
There are three tattvas (principles) known as Cit, Acit and Isvara.
Isvara is self dependent (or independent) and as such stands for
Himself. Acit has no consciousness and as such cannot be for itself
and is there for others. Prior to understanding the namaS, because
the chetana has sEshatvam as said in the suppressed fourth case
and knowledge as said in the makAram, he thinks that he stands in
common between being for himself and being for others.
Once the meaning of the namaS is fully soaked into the mind, just
as the acit which has no consciousness stands only for others, so
too the soul realizes that he stands only for Him. This is what is
told by Azhvar in "thanakkEyAgavenaik koLLumeethE enakkE
kaNNanai yAn koL siRappE", where he says that the soul should
be distributed only for Him. Therefore, this is thought that
fructifies from the understanding of the nama:.
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71
Sutra 92:
«¾¡ÅÐ §À¡¸¾¨ºÂ¢ø ®îÅÃý «Æ¢ìÌõ§À¡Ð
§¿¡ì¸§ÅÏ¦ÁýÚ «Æ¢Â¡¦¾¡Æ¢¨¸.
athAvathu bOgathasaiyil Isvaran azhikkumpOthu nOkka
vENumenRu azhiyAthozigai.
Meaning:
What does it mean that the soul should be distributed only to Him?
During the time that He mixes with the soul and enjoys it, if He
destroys the soul's sEs hatvam, the soul should not practise
naicchiyam and consider that it should save its SvarUpam, and
thereby destroy His pleasure. That is, the soul should accept every
act of His.

In the previous sutra, it was said that "thanakkEyAga enaik koLLa
vENumenkiRathu namaSSAl". The "thanakkEyAga" in that is now
being explained.
When Sriman Narayana steps down from His greatness and mixes
with a jIva and begins to enjoy it ("vArik koNdu unnai
vizhunguvan kAnilenRu ArvuRRa ennai ozhiya ennil munnam
pAriththuth thAnennai muRRap paruginAn"), He might destroy
that jIva's sEshatvam. At that time, the jIva should not think that it
should protect its sEshatvam and perform naicchyam and destroy
His pleasure. Being distributed to Him means, being like
Periyazhvar "seyththalai ezhunARRup pOl avan seyvana seythu
koLLa", and accepting everything that He does.
________________________________________
Sutra 93:
«Æ¢ì¨¸ìÌ §†Ð ¸£§Æ ¦º¡øÄ¢üÚ; §ÁÖõ ¦º¡øÖõ.
azhikkaikku hEthu keezhE solliRRu; mElum sollum.
Meaning:
What is the reason for the soul to perform naicchiyam and destroy
His joy when He mixes with the soul? That cause is the same that
is explained in the prAnavam, which is that the nature of the soul is
72
sEshatvam. This was shown before and will also be shown in the
open fourth case that follows.

Previously it was told that the soul should not destroy His joy
when He mixes with and enjoys it. As said in "prasaktasyaiva hi
pratishedha:", something should be prevented only if there is a
chance for it to happen; so, is there a chance for the soul to do that?
It is possible, because the reason for the removal of His joy is the
same sEshatvam that was said in the praNavam as the nature of the
soul. This will also be shown in the explicit fourth case (Aya) that
follows.
________________________________________
Sutra 94:
þó¿¢¨É× À¢Èó¾§À¡§¾ ìÕ¾ìÕòÂý; þó¿¢¨É×
þøÄ¡¾§À¡Ð ±øÄ¡ Ð‰ìÕ¾í¸Ùõ ìÕ¾õ;
þó¿¢¨ÉÅ¢§Ä ±øÄ¡ …¤ìÕ¾í¸Ùõ ¯ñÎ; þÐ
þýÈ¢ì§¸Â¢Õì¸ô ÀñÏõ Âˆ»¡¾¢¸Ùõ
ôÃ¡Âîº¢ò¾¡¾¢¸Ùõ ¿¢‰ôÃ§Â¡ƒÉí¸û; þÐ¾ýÉ¡§Ä
±øÄ¡ô À¡Àí¸Ùõ §À¡õ; ±øÄ¡ô ÀÄý¸Ùõ ¯ñ¼¡õ.
intha ninaivu piRanthapOthe kruthakruthyan; inninaivu
illAthapOthu ellA thushkruthangkaLum krutham; inninaivilE ellA
sukruthangkaLum uNdu; ithu inRikkEyirukkap paNNum
yajjnAthikaLum prAyacciththAthikaLum nishprayOjanangkaL;
ithuthannAlE ellAp pApangkaLum pOm; ellAp palankaLum
uNdAm.
Meaning:
As soon as the knowledge of dependence on the Lord is born, a
soul has completed all that he has to do for his benefit. Without
this knowledge, it becomes that he has committed all sins. If this
knowledge is present, it becomes that he has done all good things
that cause Him joy. Any yagas and prAyaccittAs that he does
without this knowledge go to waste. All sins are removed with this
73
knowledge and all gains from getting out of the birth cycle to
doing eternal service to Him at His abode are obtained.

The good effects that happen by the knowledge of being dependent
on no one but the Lord are now explained.
If a person is to be considered as one that has completed

everything that is required for his benefit, then he should get the
knowledge of being enslaved only to Him, as in Azhvar's
"thanakkEyAga enaik koLLa vENum". If he gets that knowledge
then he would become one who has done what he needs to do. If
not, then it becomes that he has committed all sins. This can be
understood from "kim tEna na krutam pApam cOrENa
AtmApahAriNA".
In this knowledge all good things are present - that is, the same joy
that He gets when the soul does all good things is obtained when
this knowledge is gained. All activities such as yAgas and
penances that are done without this knowledge gain neither His joy
nor do they remove one's sins and therefore are wasted.
Because of this knowledge He showers His grace on that soul and

therefore all the sins that hold him down are destroyed. And he
gains such benefits as the escape from the samsaric cycle and
eternal service to Him.
Thus far, the meanings of the nama: part of the Thirumant ra have
been explained.
________________________________________
Sutra 95:
¿¡Ã¡Â½¦Éý¸¢ÈÐ - ¿¡Ãí¸ÙìÌ «Â¿¦ÁýÈÀÊ.
nArAyaNanenRathu - nArangkaLukku ayanamenRapadi.
Meaning:
Narayana is taken as ayana for the nAras.
74
The meaning of the nArAyana term is now beginning to be
explained.
There are two ways to derive the meaning out of the nArAyaNa
nAma. Two kinds of combinations (samAsa) can be used to build
this term: tatpurusha samAsa and bahuvreehi samAsa. "nArANAm
ayanam - nArAyaNa:" is tatpurusha samAsa. "nArA: ayanam
yasya sa:" is bahuvrIhi samAsa. Here it is the tatpurusha samAsa
that is used to define the nArAyaNa term and as such it is said that
nArAyaNa means the ayana for nAras.
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Sutra 96-97:
¿¡Ãí¸Ç¡ÅÉ - ¿¢òÂÅŠÐìÌÇ¢Û¨¼Â ¾¢Ãû.
«¨ÅÂ¡ÅÉ - ˆ»¡¿¡¿ó¾¡ÁÄòÅ¡¾¢¸Ùõ,
ˆ»¡¿ºìòÂ¡¾¢¸Ùõ, Å¡ò…øÂ ¦…ªº£øÂ¡¾¢¸Ùõ,
¾¢Õ§ÁÉ¢Ôõ, ¸¡ó¾¢ ¦…ªÌÁ¡÷Â¡¾¢¸Ùõ,
¾¢ùÂâ„½í¸Ùõ, ¾¢ùÂ¡Ô¾í¸Ùõ, ¦ÀÃ¢ÂÀ¢Ã¡ðÊÂ¡÷
¦¾¡¼ì¸Á¡É ¿¡îº¢Á¡÷¸Ùõ, ¿¢òÂ…¥Ã¢¸Ùõ,
ºòÃº¡ÁÃ¡¾¢¸Ùõ, ¾¢ÕÅ¡ºø¸¡ìÌõ Ó¾Ä¢¸Ùõ,
¸½¡¾¢ÀÕõ, Óì¾Õõ, ÀÃÁ¡¸¡ºÓõ, ôÃìÕ¾¢Ôõ,
Àò¾¡òÁ¡ì¸Ùõ, ¸¡ÄÓõ, Á†¾¡¾¢ Å¢¸¡Ãí¸Ùõ,
«ñ¼í¸Ùõ, «ñ¼òÐìÌ ¯ðÀð¼ §¾Å¡¾¢
À¾¡÷ò¾í¸Ùõ.
nArangkaLAvana - nithyavaSthukkaLinudaiya thiraL.
avaiyAvana - njAnAnanthAmalathvAthikaLum, njAna-
sakthyAthikaLum, vAthSalya SausIlyAthikaLum, thirumEniyum,
gAnthi SaukumAryAthikaLum, dhivyabUshaNangkaLum, dhivya
AyuthangkaLum, periya pirAttiyAr thodakkamAna
nAccimArkaLum, nithyasUrikaLum, cathrasAmarAthikaLum,
thiruvAsal kAkkum muthalikaLum, gaNAthiparum, muktharum,
paramAkAsamum, prakruthiyum, baddhAthmAkkaLum,
kAlamum, mahathAthi vikArangkaLum, aNdangkaLum,
aNdaththukku utpatta dEvAthi pathArththangkaLum.
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Meaning:
96. What are the nAras? The community of those that are there
forever.
97. They are: the countless knowledge, joy and pure dharmas of
the Lord, His defined qualities such as knowledge and power, His
auspicious qualities such as love for all, simplicity and Lordship,
His uncommon divine form, the many forms that He takes by His
wish, the qualities of those forms such as beauty and youth, the
many jewels that bedeck those forms, His divine weapons that add
to His beauty and destroy His devotees' enemies, His consorts
starting with Sri, the nithysUris such as Garuda and Vishvaksena,
the items such as umbrella, fan and vessels that are used in His
service, the guards at the gate of His abode such as Jaya and
Vijaya, the gaNAtipatis such as Kumuda and Kumudaksha, the
muktas that have crossed the samsaric ocean, Sri Vaikuntam, the
prakruti, the Atmas that are trapped in samsara inside the prakruti,
time, the twenty three tattvas, the universe and the devas, men,
directions that are within the universe.

It was said that the nAras are the community of those that last
forever. In listing those things, it appears that some ephemeral
things have also been included. It is not so. The nithya objects are
of two kinds: SvarUpatho nithyam and pravAhatho nithyam. In the
above list everything up to time are SvarUpa nithyas; the rest are
pravAha nithyas. Those whose creation never changes are SvarUpa
nithyas; those whose creation may be stopped (and re-created) but
do not lose their name, nature or characteristics are pravAha
nithyas.
Thus the nAra term is explained.
________________________________________
Sutra 98:
«Â¿¦ÁýÈÐ - þÅüÚìÌ ¬îÃÂ¦ÁýÈÀÊ.
ayanamenRathu - ivaRRukku AsrayamenRapadi.
Meaning:
"ayanam" means He is the refuge of these (nitya vaSthus).
76
Here on the meaning of ayana term is explained.
ayanam stands for Asrayam - that is, Narayana is the refuge for the
nAras.
________________________________________
Sutra 99:
«í¹ÉýÈ¢ì§¸, þ¨Å¾ý¨É
¬îÃÂÁ¡¸×¨¼Â¦ÉýÉ×Á¡õ.
anganiniRikkE, ivaithannai AsrayamAgavudaiyan ennavumAm.
Meaning:
Other than the tapurusha samAsa that was shown previously, the
nArAyaNa term can also be understood through the bahuvrIhi
samAsa. That is, ayanam can be taken as that He dwells in the
nAras.

It as told before that there are two ways in which the meanings of
nArAyaNa can be derived - through the use of tatpurusha samAsa
and bahvrIhi samAsa. In the previous sutra, tatpurusha samAsa
was used to bring out the meaning. In this sutra, bahuvrIhi samAsa
is used to bring out another meaning.
Through tatpurusha samAsa, it is gathered that He is the refuge of

the eternal beings. Through bahuvrIhi samAsa, it can be gathered
that He dwells within the eternal beings.
________________________________________
Sutra 100:
þ¨ÅÂ¢Ãñ¼¡Öõ ÀÄ¢ò¾Ð ÀÃòÅ ¦…ªÄôÂí¸û.
ivai iraNdAlum paliththathu parathva SaulabyangkaL.
Meaning:
What is gathered from the meanings of the nArAyana term using
77
the two samAsas? The meaning from the tatpurusha samAsa shows
His paratva quality, while the meaning from the bahuvrIhi samAsa
shows His Saulabhya quality.

Here the meaning gathered out of the two samAsas is explained.
The tatpurusha samAsa that shows that He is the refuge of all
eternal beings, shows His paratva quality. The quality of being the
most superior of all beings is understood from the fact that He is
the refuge for all beings. The bahuvrIhi samAsa that shows that He
dwells in all beings, shows His Saulabhya quality. The quality of
such a superior being making Himself easily accessible to all is
seen from the fact that He dwells in everything.
________________________________________
Sutra 101:
«ó¾÷Â¡Á¢òÅÓõ ¯À¡ÂòÅÓõ ¯§ÀÂòÅÓÁ¡¸×Á¡õ.
antharyAmithvamum upAyathvamum
upEyathvamumAgavumAm.
Meaning:
The three qualities of antaryAmitvam, upAyatvam and upEyatvam
are also derived from the meanings using the two samAsas (other
than deriving the two qualities of paratvam and Saulabhyam).

It was said before that from the meanings of nArAyaNa using the
two samAsas (tapurusha samAsa and bahuvrIhi samAsa), two
divine qualities of the Lord can be derived viz. paratvam and
Saulabhyam. Here it is being said that other than these two
qualities, the two samAsas also show three qualities viz.
antaryAmitvam, upAyatvam and upEyatvam.
The fact that He resides within all eternal beings shows His quality
of antaryAmitvam. The ayana term can be derived out of karaNe
vyutpatti (derived from the action) or karmaNi vyutpatti (derived
from being connected to the action). Through the former, He is
78
seen as the upAya (the means) and through the latter, He is seen as
the upEya (the goal).
________________________________________
Sutra 102:
*±õÀ¢Ã¡ý ±ó¨¾* ±ý¨¸Â¡§Ä, ®îÅÃ§É ±øÄ¡
¯È×Ó¨ÈÔ¦ÁýÚ ¦º¡øÖõ.
*empirAnenthai enkaiyAlE, IsvaranE ellA uRavumuRaiyum enRu
sollum.
Meaning:
The nArAyaNa term says that He is the one and all relative, as told
by Thirumangai Azhvar in "empirAn enathai" pasuram.

The upEyatvam that was shown from the karmaNi vyutpatti
previously, shows that He stands as mother, father and everything
else as told by Azhvar in "thAyAy thanthaiyAy makkaLAy
maRRumAy muRRumAy". Therefore, through the nArAyaNa
term it is gathered that He is the one and all relative. This is why,
Thirumangai Azhvar when talking about the meaning of
nArAyaNa says "empirAn enthai ennudais suRRam enakkarasu
ennudaivANAL".
________________________________________
Sutra 103:
¿¡õ À¢È÷ì¸¡ÉÅýÚõ «Åý ¿Áì¸¡Â¢ÕìÌõ.
nAm piRarkkAnavanRum avan namakkAyirukkum.
Meaning:
Even if we were to forget our relation to Him and be attached to
other jIvAtmas, He will only act with affection toward us.

What is the advantage of His being the one and all relative to us?
79
Even if we break our relationship with Him and be devoted to
other things, He waits for us to turn toward Him and stays
concerned with us.
________________________________________
Sutra 104:
þÃ¡ Á¼ãðÎÅ¡¨Ãô§À¡§Ä ¯û§Ç À¾¢¸¢¼óÐ
…ò¨¾§Â À¢ÊòÐ §¿¡ì¸¢ì ¦¸¡ñÎ §À¡Õõ.
irA madamUttuvAraip pOlE uLLE pathikidanthu SaththaiyE
pidiththu nOkkik koNdu pOrum.
Meaning:
Just as parents follow their children, who angered with them have
left the home, to the place where they are staying and feed them
without their knowledge, He too will stay out of sight, inside the
chetana (as antaryAmi) and continue to protect them.

When we ignore Him and are devoted to others, why would He
stay concerned with us?
Take the case of some children as an example. Angered with their

parents, they would leave their home and roam around without
food. Their parents would not let it go at that. They would follow
their children around without their knowledge and in the night
times hide in the mutts where they stay and provide food for the m
through others. Similarly, He too would stay as antaryAmi inside
the chEtanas that claim independence and run away from Him, and
continue to protect them.
Thus, the meaning of the nArAyaNa term has been explained as

Him who is the receiver of service (from the chetanas).
________________________________________
80
Sutra 105:
"¬Â" ±ý¸¢È Å¢ò¾¡ø, *¦ºýÈ¡ü Ì¨¼Â¡õ*
±ý¸¢ÈÀÊ§Â ±øÄ¡ÅÊ¨Á¸Ùõ ¦ºöÂ§ÅÏ¦ÁýÚ
«§À‡¢ì¸¢ÈÐ.
"Aya" enkiRa viththAl, *senRAR kudaiyAm* enkiRapadiyE
ellAvadimaikaLum seyya vENumenRu abEkshikkiRathu.
Meaning:
The fourth case (caturthI vibhakti) that is added to the nArAyaNa
term expresses the entreaty to perform all kinds of service to Him.

As per Poygai Azhvar's pasuram (First Thiruvanthathi 53),
senRAR kudaiyAm irunthAL singAsanamAm

ninRAl maravadiyAm nIL kadaluL – enRum
puNaiyAmaNi viLakkAm pUmpattAm pulgum
aNaiyAm thirumARku aravu
which shows all the services provided by Sri Adisesha to the Lord,
this fourth case ("Aya") that is added to the nArAyaNa term brings
to light the desire to perform all kinds of service at His lotus feet.
________________________________________
Sutra 106-107:
¿ÁŠ…¡§Ä ¾ý§É¡Î ¯ÈÅ¢ø¨Ä¦ÂýÚ ¨ÅòÐì
¨¸í¸÷Âò¨¾ ôÃ¡÷ò¾¢ì¸ì ÜÎ§Á¡¦ÅýÉ¢ø.
*ÀÊÂ¡öì ¸¢¼óÐ ¯ýÀÅÇÅ¡ö ¸¡ñ§À§É*
±ý¸¢ÈÀÊ§Â ¨¸í¸÷Â ôÃ¡÷ò¾¨É Åó§¾È¢ÂýÚ;
ŠÅåÀôÃÔì¾õ.
namaSSAlE thannOdu uRavillaiyenRu vaiththuk kainkaryaththai
prArththikkak kUdumOvennil.
"padiyAyk kidanthu unpavaLavAy kANbEnE" enkiRapadiyE
kainkarya prArththanai vanthERiyanRu; SvarUpaprayuktham.
Meaning:
106. Was it not said before that through the namaS that one is not
81
enslaved to one's self; so how is that one desires to perform
service?
107. As told by Kulasekhara Azhvar ("padiyAyk kidanthu un
pavaLavAy kANbEnE" - Perumal Thirumozhi 4.9), the entreaty to
perform service is appropriate to the nature of the soul.

In the earlier sutras, the meaning of the namaS was shown as
eternal servitude at His lotus feet. Such a servitude means that one
should not seek anything for oneself. Yet, here it is said that it is
the desire of the soul to perform service to Him. Is this
appropriate?
Sri Pillai Lokacharya answers yes. The desire here does not come
out of seeking pleasure for oneself, which comes out of ego
(ahankAram). The soul lives only through His pleasure; and the
performance of service is for His pleasure. Therefore, it is in tune
with the soul's nature. It is thus that Kulasekhara Azhvar said
"padiyAyk kidanthu un pavaLavAy kANbEnE" where in addition
to showing his servitude to the Lord he also seeks to do service.
In the phrase "padiyAyk kidanthu un pavaLavAy kANbEnE",

where is it that Azhvar seeks to perform service? It is seen in the
words "un pavaLavAy kANbEn". The answer to the question
whether He is enjoying our service can be found by looking at His
face (the smile on His face). This is why Azhvar says "pavaLa
vAy", seeing the sweet smile on His divine coral lips. This is
therefore taken as seeking to be in His service.
________________________________________
Sutra 108:
¬¨¸Â¡ø *ÅØÅ¢Ä¡ÅÊ¨Á ¦ºöÂ §ÅñÎõ ¿¡õ*
±ý¸¢È ôÃ¡÷ò¾¨É¨Âì ¸¡ðÎ¸¢ÈÐ.
AgaiyAl *vazhuvilA adimai seyya vENdum nAm* enkiRa
prArththanaiyaik kAttukiRathu.
Meaning:
Since the plea to perform service is appropriate to the nature of the
82
soul, it shows the same prayer that Nammazhvar made in the
pasuram (Thiruvaymozhi 3.3.1) "vazhuvilA adimai seyya vENdum
nAm".

It was shown before that the entreaty to do service at His lotus feet
does not arise out of self gratification but is in tune to the nature of
the soul (sEshatvam for His pleasure). Therefore, as Nammazhvar
prayed in his pasuram "ozhivil kAlamellAm udanAy manni,
vazhuvilA adimai seyya vENdum nAm", this caturthI vibhakti
(fourth case) explains the plea to perform every kind of service,
without missing even one, to Him.
________________________________________
Sutra 109:
¸ñ½¡Ãì ¸ñÎ ¸Æ¢Å§¾¡÷ ¸¡¾ÖüÈ¡÷ìÌÓñ§¼¡
¸ñ¸û ÐïÍ¾ø ±ý¸¢ÈÀÊ§Â ¸¡ñÀ¾üÌ ÓýÒ
¯Èì¸Á¢ø¨Ä; ¸ñ¼¡ø *…¾¡ ÀîÂó¾¢* ¬¨¸Â¡§Ä
¯Èì¸Á¢ø¨Ä.
kaNNArak kaNdu kazhivathOr kAthaluRRArkkum uNdO kaNgaL
thunjsuthal enkiRapadiyE kANbathaRku munbu uRakkamillai;
kaNdAl *SathA pacyanthi* AgaiyAlE uRakkamillai.
Meaning:
Before seeing Him, as told by Azhvar, there is no sleep; after
seeing Him, as told by the Upanishads, there is no sleep.

Previously the entreaty to perform service was explained. Here the
nature of those who make that prayer forever, is explained.
As in "imaiyOrkaL kuzhAm thozhuvathum sUzhvathum sey

thollaimAlaik kaNNArak kaNdu kazhivathOr kAthaluRRArkkum
uNdO kaNgaL thunjsuthalE", for those who seek His service, there
is no sleep prior to seeing Him. After seeing Him, as said in the
Upanishads, "tat vishNO: paramam padam sadA pashyanti
83
sUraya:", the seeing experience is eternal and therefore there is no
sleep.
That is, for those who have developed the taste to reach Him, there
is no sleep ever.
________________________________________
Sutra 110:
*ÀØ§¾ ÀÄÀ¸Öõ §À¡Â¢É* ±ýÚ þÆó¾ ¿¡¨ÇìÌì
ÜôÀ¢Î¸¢ÈÅÛìÌ ¯Èí¸ Å¢Ã¸¢ø¨Ä.
*pazhuthE palapagalum pOyinavenRu* izhantha nALaikkuk
kUppidukiRavanukku uRanga viragillai.
Meaning:
For one who worries about all the time wasted in the past without
enjoying Him, as per Poygazi Azhvar's "pazhuthE palapagalum
pOyinavenRu", there is no further time left for sleep.

There is also another reason for not having sleep.
As told by Poygai Azhvar (First Thiruvanthathi 16), "pazhuthE

palapagalum pOyinavenRu anjiyazhuthEn", the soul that has
developed the taste to reach Him, will cry and worry that he has
wasted all this time without enjoying Him. For such a person, from
this time on, there is not even a moment left to sleep.
________________________________________
Sutra 111:
*«ýÚ ¿¡ý À¢Èó¾¢§Äý À¢Èó¾À¢ý ÁÈó¾¢§Äý* ±ýÉ¡
¿¢ýÈ¡÷¸Ç¢§È.
*anRu nAn piRanthilEn piRanthapin maRanthilEn* ennA
ninRArkaLiRE.
Meaning:
Having got the knowledge of the Lord they stand without
84
forgetting Him as per Thirumazhisai Azhvar's "anRu nAn
piRanthilEn piRantha pin maRanthilEn".

Also, as told by Thirumazhisai Azhvar (Thiruccantha Viruththam
64) "anRu nAn piRanthilEn piRantha pin maRanthilEn", for those
who are born into the knowledge of the Lord, there is no chance
whatsoever of forgetting it.
By this thus far, it is shown that for those who have understood the divine qualities and the
indescribable greatness of the Lord, the prayer to perform service will happen without any stop.
________________________________________
Sutra 112:
þùÅÊ¨Á ¾¡ý *´Æ¢Å¢ø ¸¡Ä¦ÁøÄ¡õ ¯¼É¡ö
ÁýÉ¢* ±ý¸¢ÈÀÊ§Â …÷Å§¾º …÷Å¸¡Ä
…÷Å¡ÅŠ¨¾¸Ç¢Öõ «ÑÅ÷ò¾¢ìÌõ.
ivvadimai thAn *ozhivil kAlamellAm udanAy manni*
enkiRapadiyE SarvathEsa SarvakAla SarvAvaSthaikaLilum
anuvarththikkum.
Meaning:
This service will follow continuously at all places, at all times and
under all conditions, as prayed for by Azhvar in "ozhivil
kAlamellAm udanAy manni".

Here, the fact that there are no limitations in place or time to being
in His service, is shown.
As per Nammazhvar's prayer (Thiruvaymozhi 3.3.1) "ozhivil

kAlamellAm udanAy manni vazhuvila adimai seyya vENdum
nAm", that he gain the performance of service to Him without
break, at all places, at all times and under all conditions, this
service will follow continuously.
________________________________________
85
Sutra 113:
±ðÊ¨ÆÂ¡ö ãýÚ ºÃ¼¡ö þÕôÀ¦¾¡Õ Áí¸Ç…¥òÃõ
§À¡§Ä ¾¢ÕÁóòÃõ.
ettizhaiyAy mUnRu saradAyiruppathoru mangaLaSUthram pOlE
thirumanthram.
Meaning:
This thirumanthram, made up of eight strands (the eight aksharas)
and three threads (the three parts), is like the holy thread used in a
marriage.

In this world (in some cultures) we see that a woman wears a holy
thread in marriage which signifies that she is wedded to someone
and cannot belong to anyo ne else. Similarly, the faith in the
Thirumantram shows that the chEtana belongs to the Lord and no
one else. Therefore, the Thirumantram is like the holy thread used
in a marriage.
Unlike the worldly holy thread which is made up of sixteen strands

and two threads, the Thirumantram is made up of eight strands and
three threads. The eight divine aksharas are the eight strands and
the three parts are the three threads.
________________________________________
Sutra 114:
þò¾¡ø ®îÅÃý ¬òÁ¡ì¸ÙìÌô À¾¢Â¡ö ¿¢ýÚ
Ã‡¢ìÌ¦Áý¸¢ÈÐ.
iththAl Isvaran AthmAkkaLukkup pathiyAy ninRu
rakshikkumenkiRathu.
Meaning:
As the Thirumantra was compared to the holy thread that signifies
a marriage, it is shown that Sriman Narayana will be like a
husband and watch over the souls.
86
What is gathered out of the statement that the Thirumantra is like
the holy thread that signifies a marriage?
That Sriman Narayana will be like the husband of the chEtanas

that are attached to the Thirumantra and will protect them.
________________________________________
Sutra 115:
¬¸ò ¾¢ÕÁóòÃò¾¡ø, ±õ¦ÀÕÁ¡Ûì§¸ ¯Ã¢§ÂÉ¡É
¿¡ý ±ÉìÌ ¯Ã¢ÂÅÉýÈ¢ì§¸¦Â¡Æ¢Â §ÅÏõ;
…÷Å§º„¢Â¡É ¿¡Ã¡Â½Ûì§¸ ±øÄ¡ÅÊ¨Á¸Ùõ
¦ºöÂô¦ÀÚ§ÅÉ¡¸ §ÅÏ¦ÁýÈ¾¡Â¢üÚ.
Agath thirumanthraththAl, emperumAnukkE uriyEnAna nAn
enakku uriyananRikkEyozhiya vENum; SarvasEshiyAna
nArAyaNanukkE ellA adimaikaLum seyyap peRuvEnAga
veNumenRathAyiRRu.
Meaning:
Thus, through the Thirumantra it is said that I who have servitude
only to the Lord should avoid being enslaved to myself; I should
gain doing every kind of service to Sriman Narayana who is the
svAmi and natural recepient of this service.

Thus, the meanings of the Thirumantra are established.
________________________________________
AzhvAr emperumAnAr jIyar thiruvadigaLE SaraNam
87
Sri Pillai Lokacharya
Sri Vedaraman Sriraman
Vedics Magazine – Vol.1 Issue.4
Salutation
LokAchArya guravE krushNapAdaSya SUnavE I

SamSArabhOgiSandashta jIvajIvAtavE nama: II
His Life
Sri Manavala Mamunigal (MM) composed a work called

Upadesarattinamalai to commemorate the lives and works of
Azhvars and Acharyas. In this great composition he has singled
out one acharyan , in honor of whom, he devoted several
pasurams. This acharyan so revered by Sri MM is Sri Pillai
Lokacharya (also known as Ulagariyan).
Sri PL was born in 1205 AD on the occasion of Aippasi,

Thiruvonam. Those were days when Sri Vaishnavam flourished
under the able leadership of the august Sri Nampillai. His
disciples included several luminaries; prompting the oft quoted
“Nampillai ghosthiyO, Namperumal ghostiyO”. The most
88
prominent amongst these disciples were Sri Vadakku
Thiruveethip Pillai (VTP) and Sri Periya Vaachaan Pillai (PVP),
who authored the two most authoritative commentaries on Sri
Nammazhwar’s Thiruvaymozhi, viz. muppattiarayirapadi
(36,000) or Edu and the irupattinalayirapadi (24,000)
vyakhyanams respectively. Sri VTP was blessed with two sons.
The eldest of the two was Sri PL and the second was Sri Azhagiya
Manavala Perumal (AMP) Nayanar. Sri VTP named his eldest son
after his acharya Sri Nampillai who was also known as
Lokacharya or Ulagariyan. To gain the quintessence of
Emberumanar’s darsanam very clearly one need to look no
further than the works of Sri PVP, VTP, PL and AMP Nayanar.
Both brothers grew up and lived in Srirangam. They learned from

their father as well as from other contemporary acharyas like Sri
Nampillai. It is said that when they were young they overheard
their father expressing some regrets about gruhastasrama. This
incident left an indelible impression on the young minds and as a
consequence they remained brahmacharis throughout their lives
and rendered magnificent kainkaryams to Namperumal and
bhagavathas.
Sri PL would be considered a social revolutionary in that he was

the first acharyan who wrote independent works in the vernacular
language that expounded the Vedanta and on account of his
views on caste. In the latter instance he was a blazing visionary
and pioneer, the likes of which finds no rival in the past or
present, saving his younger brother. He very staunchly held that
ALL that mattered was a bhagavatha’s devotion to Perumal and
that any consideration of the caste of a bhagavatha constituted a
GRAVE apacharam!!! (Sin)
Sri PL was a practical man who practiced what he preached.

Included amongst his disciples was a Harijan by the name of
Vilancolaipillai. This mahatma had several Brahmin bhagavatas as
disciples. To fully grasp the immensity of Sri PL’s views and
actions, they must be evaluated in the timeframe in which they
occurred, ie, almost 800 years ago. Understandably then, several
baghavathas in Srirangam took exception to Sri PL’s position.
These objections reached a level of criticality that in turn
89
necessitated Sri AMP Nayanar’s having to formally vindicate his
brother. However, Sri PL never soft peddled these issues!!! He
composed several works in which he very directly and explicitly
covers these issues. Notable amongst the many works that were
composed for the benefit of future generations by this supremely
benevolent acharyan are eighteen in Manipravala style, that are
called Ashtadasa Rahasyangal, and that leave no aspect of
Visistadvaita uncovered.
Srirangam was sacked in 1327 by Mohemedan invaders led by

Malik Kafur. In what is certainly a clear expression of “Gods will
hath no why”, some parama bhagavathas like Sri PL, Sri
Sudarsana suri and Swami Vedanta Desikan had to suffer
extreme hardships. What follows is a description of some the
details of the raid and are heart wrenching. In that catastrophe,
several (12,000 according to one account) Sri Vaishnavas lost their
lives. The leading acharyas like Sri PL and Swami Desikan (Sri
Sudarsana suri was very aged) provided outstanding courage,
conviction and leadership. With no thoughts about their own lives
or well being, they planned on a course of action the fruits of
which we enjoy today.
Sri PL, out of concern for harm to Periya Perumal’s and

Namperumal’s thirumeni, had a brick wall built before Periya
Perumal’s archa vigraham, thereby deceiving the invaders. He
physically carried Namperumal and fled Sriranagam, not out of
concern for himself but out of extreme concern for Namperumal!
The mental image of the advanced Sri PL fleeing Srirangam,
courting countless hardships to avert any harm to Namperumal
brings tears to one’s eyes. Finally, upon reaching the village of
Jyothiskudi (near Madhurai) and in the secure knowledge that
Namperumal was atleast momentarily out of harms way, Sri PL
ascended home to Paramapadam. The very aged Sri Sudarsana
suri did not survive the attack.
Swami Desikan undertook to protect Sri Sudarsana suri’s sons
and the manuscript of Sutraprakasika (Sri Suri’s commentary on
Sri Bhasyam). Thus armed Swami Desikan escaped to
Satyamangalam in Karnataka after a very tortuous journey.
90
His Works
Sri PL was an extremely compassionate acharyan who undertook
to write several treatises for the benefit of posterity. Most of the
acharyas prior to Sri PL only commented on the works of their
predecessors. However, Sri PL wrote independent treatises like
Tattva Trayam for instance, that expouds Vedanta in the
vernacular. Sri PL foresaw that in generations to come people,
under the influence of Kali, would abandon traditional studies in
the Sanskrit language. Thus, magnificent works like the Sri
Bhasyam would be beyond the ken of most mortals. To remedy
the situation, Sri PL composed eighteen works that are collectively
referred to as Ashtadasa Rahasyangals in Manipravalam. These
include:
Srivachanabhusanam (SVB)
This work is considered as Sri PL’s magnum opus. As the name
implies this work is intended to be an ornament of sayings from
purvacharyas. This great work consists of 465 aphorisms that are
organized into four ‘prakaranas’ or chapters. Six key concepts are
covered that include:
Purusakaravaibhava (Greatness of Intercessor)
Sadhanasya Guarava (Greatness of Means)
Adhikari Kritya (Duties of Prapanna)
Satgurupasevana (Dependence on the Eminent Guru)
Ahetuki Haridaya (Spontaneous Grace of the Supreme Lord)
Guro r Upayata (The Role of the Preceptor)
Sri MM devotes six stanzas in Upadesarattinamalai to SVB.
Tattvatrayam
This work deals with the three fundamental real entities (tatvas)
of the Visistadvaita system of Vedanta. These entities include cit
(soul), acit (matter) and Isvara (the Lord). This work is considered
to be a mini Sri Bhasyam.
Mumukshuppadi
The rahasyas that a mumukshu or aspirant for liberation needs to
comprehend are covered in this work. The rahasyas are three
(rahasyatrayam) in number and include : a. Tirumantaram (also
91
known as Mulamantaram or Astaksara), b. Dwayam (or Mantra
Ratnam), and c. Charamaslokam (Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 18,
verse 66). These mantras contain knowledge about the soul’s
essential nature (svarupa), the means (upaya) and the goal
(purusartha). In the introduction to Mumukshuppadi, it is said
that amongst the works of Sri Pl that deal with the three rahasyas,
the Yadrcchikappadi was too short, the Parantappadi was too
long, and the Sriyapatippadi though it had neither of the two
faults, was full of Sanskrit quotes (making its comprehension
difficult for the lay person). Therefore with a desire to compose
one more work which would avoid these problems, Sri PL wrote
the Mumukshuppadi after all others.
Arthpanchakam
This work deals with the five prerequisites for the attainment of
any goal or artha. These include:
The realization of oneself (svasvarupa).

Understanding of the essential form of the Supreme (parasvarupa)
The understanding of the essential form of the goals
(purusharthasvarupa)
The understanding of the essential form of the means
(upayasvarupa).
The understanding of the essential nature of the obstructions
(virodhisvarupa).
Archiradi
This work which consists of four prakarnas or chapters, deals with
journey of a muktatma from earth to Sri Vaikuntam. Details of the
where the soul stops along the way and its reception in Sri
Vaikuntam etc. are provided.
Prameyasekaram
This work discusses how the Lord’s grace is the basis for all good
things in this world as well as in the next world.
Prapannaparitranam
The necessary qualifications for one who surrenders
himself/herself to the Lord are covered in this work.
92
Sarasangraham
In this work the author gives a consise definition of the Dwaya
mantram and explains how the entire Tiruvaymozhi of Sri
Nammazhwar is an exposition of this mantram. Sri PL relates
every word of the Dwayam to the ten chapters of the
Tiruvaymozhi and quotes profusely from the latter to document
the relavent correlation.
Samsarasamrajyam
This work deals with how people who become completely
immersed in worldly pleasures and turn away from the path of
God, return to the Lord with the guidance of an Acharyan.
Navaratnamalai
This work deals with the nine points that a person who surrenders
must understand properly: themselves as a whole, their body,
their relatives, other people, gods other than Sriman Narayana,
Srivaishnavas, Acharyas, Piratti, and the Lord.
Navavidhasambandham
This work deals with the nine kinds of relationships that a person
has with Sriman Narayana as shown in the Tirumantram. These
include:
The relationship between father and son.
The relationship between the protector and protected.
The relationship between master and servant.
The relationship between husband and wife.
The re lationship between the person who understands and the
object that is understood.
The relationship between the owner and his property.
The relationship of body and soul.
The relationship of the thing that is dependent and the things on
which it depends.
The relationship between the person who enjoys and the thing
enjoyed. Sri PL says that the understanding of the relationships is
essential for salvation. These nine kinds of relationships are
interlinked.
93
Yadrccikapadi
This work is a brief summary of the rahasyatrayam, but the order
of the rahsyas has been changed (in comparison to
Mummukshupati) to Tirumantram, Charamaslokam and
Dwayam.
Parantapadi
Paranta means widespread or spreading out. This work deals
exhaustively with the rahasyatrayam.
Sriyapatippadi
This is yet another work on the rahasyatrayam. This work
contains too many Sanskrit terms for the ordinary vernacular
reader.
Tattvasekharam
This work deals with the tattva trayam. It also presents refutation
of the arguments of rival schools in order to establish the
Visistadvaita definition of the tattva trayam.
Tanidwayam
This work deals with the Dwaya mantran.
Tanicharamam
This work deals with the Charama slokam.
Tanipranavam
This work deals with the “OM” in the Tirumantram.
________________________________________
94
Swami ManavalaMamuni (VaraVara Muni) – Lord’s Acharya
Sri Mukundan VP
The only Acharya to have had the unique opportunity of

delivering drAviDa vEda discourses before Lord Ranganatha and
Samskrita vedanta discourses before Sri Ramanuja.
Hence, Ubhayavedantacarya as per the Lord and Sri Ramanuja.
He is the avatara of Adisesha and Swami Ramanuja.
Srisailesa Daya Patram is the only taniyan recognised as a

mantram (that which protects by invocation) because it is the
shloka submitted by Lord Himself for his Acharya (mAmunikaL).
Per the Lord's instructions, this thaniyan is to be recited at the
beginning and conclusion of any divya prabandham recitation
(akin to how the sacred Om is chanted at the beginning and
ending for vEdic recitations)
His focus was to teach us the importance of protecting and

propagating works of PurvaAcharyas. To this end, he composed
many wonderful stOtrams (in tamizh and Sanskrit) and insightful
commentaries that lucidly explain the meanings of works by other
Acharyas (pUrvAchAryas).
95
He taught us to write new works only if the existing ones are
inadequate or incomplete.
Most of his contributions were in the form of writing
commentaries for existing works and teaching it to all those who
were interested.
There are 18 works attributed to Sri Mamunikal:
Four in Sanskrit - Devaraja Mangalam, KanchidivyadEshastuti,

YathirajaVimsathi, and tAtparya dIpa - A commentary on
Bhagawad Gita.
Three in Tamil - UpadesaRatnamalai, Thiruvaimozhi

Noothandhandhi and Arthiprabhandham
Eleven in MaNipravALa (Mixture of Tamizh & Sanskrit words)

- Commentaries on works of Pillai Lockacharya, Azhagiya
Manavalapperumal Nayanar, Periyazhwar Thirumozhi and
Ramanuja NooRRandhandhi.
Four indices containing the sources of the Gnyanasara and

Prameyasara of Arulalapperumal Emberumanar.
One work is on the daily worship of the Lord (ThiruAradhana

Kramam). His Other Main contributions are:
•Temple renovations, administration and management.

(After Muslim invasions and political confusions in the south)
•Spiritual leadership by contributions through commentaries and
propagation of Azhvars & Purvacharyas Works,
•Making complex issues on the Philosophical doctrines (Mostly
written and preserved in Sanskrit texts originally) made
easy to understand and accessible to all devotees.
•Following the footsteps of Ramanuja, Mamunikal rebuilt the
temples and strengthened Sri Viashanava Sampradaya.
Those days temples were centers for everything social
and spiritual. Rebuilding and strengthening Temples, he
re-built the society as a whole.
96
UpadesaRatnaMala: He provides this upadEsha so what he has
learnt via the Guru Parampara does not get completely lost or
changed in the future. This forms the basis for any basic education
we seek as devotees of the Lord. All the Acharyas and works we
need to know are listed in URM. There are many more acharyas,
but the ones listed here are the ones we definitely need to know
about as srI vaishNavas.
Everything he did was directed toward establishing Ramanuja
Darshanam. He added verses about swAmy Ramanuja into the
Daily Prayer and wrote two lines that are still being chanted by
every sri vaishnava who does daily prayers.
"RamanujArya DivyAgnya VardhathAm abhivardhatAm"
(May we grow and succeed by following the instructions handed

down to us swAmy rAmAnuja).
He had one of his disciple write Sri Venkatesa Suprabhatam and

offered it to Lord Srinivasa at Thirumala. Even today this is being
chanted during morning prayers at all Sri Vaishnava temples.
________________________________________
To receive a copy of this book: Please visit: www.vedics.net

Or any Vedics Center in the USA.
Ramanuaja Sampradaya Satsangh: To join, send a mail to
ramanuja@yahoogroups.com. Participate, educate and learn with
the 1000 other devotees from all over the world.
Join our volunteers to participate, serve and learn from any of the
following services: e-mail: vedics@yahoogroups.com
* Document and publish Vedic Anushtanams & Utsavams.

* Tele-Upanyasams: Scholars from India teach over the phone.
* Divyaprabandham, StotraPatam Santhai: Live over the phone.
* Sampradayic Multimedia (CDs, DVDs, Audio and Video).
* Divyadesam Kainkaryam: Help Maintain ancient temples.
* Vedics-Magazine.
* Sanskrit Class.
* Vedic-Books.
97
Maintaining an ancient temple S ERVE OUR TEMPLES ( ANCIENT
is better than building a VAISHNAVA SHRINES : DHIVYA DESAM)
hundred new ones. That is the
reason why Yashoda who brought up Sri Krishna, attained greater
eminence compared to Devaki who gave birth to Him. When the temple
is a Divyadesam, the service is all the more significant.
“Serve our Temples” is an intiative to help our temples by restoring basic
services, food, shelter, education, financial independence
Dream a little. Do a little
"What we can do, we must" - As He allows us to use His resources for
Him via devotees like us.
Back home in Southern India, there are so many Dhivya Desams
deprived of their basic needs and services, primarily due to lack of
funds. With galloping prices, temple assets stripped, no government
support, the temples have never found it as difficult to sustain as they
have now. Most of the temples are deprived of basic necessities for the
unhindered performance of minimum daily prayers.
1. One priest to offer prayers and keep the premises clean and open for
devotees (Rs: 2500 per month)
2. Food (Prasadam), Oil, Flowers (Rs 2500 per month)
With just $100 per month (Rs 5000 per month) we have a divine
opportunity to preserve a temple. It is the solemn duty to preserve the
temple not only for current day devotees to have a divine Darshan but
also for our future generations.
From the U.S, far away from India, yet you can still make a difference.
Allow His Grace to flow, and spend His money for His causes.
Vedics Foundation volunteers to serve as a bridge between those willing
devotees who have resources and the temples in need. Vedics has
already reached out to a few temples.
Please visit www.vedics.net/projects for helping an ancient temple. For

further details, send mail to: vedics@yahoogroups.com
Details : www.vedics.net/activities/
98
Basic Tenets of VEDICS: www.vedics.net
FALL IN LOVE WITH GOD

Pray with sincerity humility and gratitude for atleast 15 minutes a day.
RESTRICT FOOD CONSUMPTION

Eat anything only after offering it to God.
MEDITATION
Meditate on the LORD, atleast thrice a day,
atleast a minimum of 3 minutes each time. Chant Sri Vishnu
Sahasranamam (the 1000 Holy Names of Lord Vishnu) once a day.
RESPECT FOR ALL THAT IS HIS

Strive to lead a life in which you will never hurt
a fellow living being for any reason.
MONEY
Earn to live, educate, support and serve and not for
the sake of pursuing materialistic desires.
CHARITY
Donate however little it may be to noble causes.
Feeding the needy is the highest form of charity.
CONTENTMENT
Be happy and content that you are His. Thank your preceptors at least
once a day for blessing you with this awareness.
ABSOLUTE FAITH
Place complete trust in the supreme LORD. Do not go against His way.
SELF – CONTROL
Strive to live a life free from selfish desire and anger.
Always adorn a peaceful smile; it will work on others and on you too
Satsangh e-mail: ramanuja@yahoogroups.com
99

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THIRUMANTHRAM

Swami Sri Pillai Lokacharya's

lOkAcArya gurave krishna pAdasya sUnavE

The origin of the rahasyathrayam is as follows. The

Therefore this rahasyathraya even though short in words has very

Prior to Swamy Ramanuja the acharyas guarded the rahasyathraya

OrANvazhiyAy upathEsiththAr munnOr,

From the time of Sri Ramanuja the meanings of these rahasyas

Sri Bhattar who is the son of Sri Koorathazhvan wrote the

Sri Pillai Lokacharyar who is the son of Sri Vadakku Thiruveethi

Amongst the Ashtadasa Rahasyas, Yathruccikappadi, Paranthapadi

Sri PBA Swami’s Sarartha Deepikai:

Sri PBA Swami’s Sarartha Deepikai:

The Thirumanthram is made of two parts: Pranavam and

The word manthram is obtained from "manthAram thrAyathe". It

The second meaning is explained by Sri Bhattar in Ashtasloki as

The thirumanthram that contains these meanings is therefore to be

Sri PBA Swami’s Sarartha Deepikai:

Sri PBA Swami’s Sarartha Deepikai:

Sri PBA Swami’s Sarartha Deepikai:

Sri PBA Swami’s Sarartha Deepikai:

The nature of a sishya is this: one who is faithful to Sastras, one

Nyasa Vimshati explains the nature of a sishya thus: a sishya is one

Sriman Narayana became a sishya to show the above nature of a

Sri PBA Swami’s Sarartha Deepikai:

Sri PBA Swami’s Sarartha Deepikai:

To answer this, Sri Pillai Lokacharya begins by pointing out that

Sriman Narayana's kalyANa guNas are endless. The avatharas that

Sri PBA Swami’s Sarartha Deepikai:

Sri PBA Swami’s Sarartha Deepikai:

Sri PBA Swami’s Sarartha Deepikai:

Amongst these three, the Ashtakshara manthra which is also

Sri PBA Swami’s Sarartha Deepikai:

Why do kudrushtis support the Vasudeva and Vishnu manthras?

So what if kudrushtis support these manthras? Why do we ha ve to

Such incompleteness does not qualify the ThiruvashtAkshara

Sri PBA Swami’s Sarartha Deepikai:

Sri PBA Swami’s Sarartha Deepikai:

vAcya: the meaning of the word, who is Him

vAcaka: the word, which is Thirumanthra

Sri PBA Swami’s Sarartha Deepikai:

Sri PBA Swami’s Sarartha Deepikai:

The story of the Pandavas losing Draupadi in a game of dice is

Did we not start to explain the greatness of the Narayana nama?

If the Govinda nAma, which is nothing but the Narayana nAma

Sri PBA Swami’s Sarartha Deepikai:

Sri PBA Swami’s Sarartha Deepikai:

Thirumangai Azhvar's pasuram goes thus:

Sri PBA Swami’s Sarartha Deepikai:

Wealth is of two kinds. One is the wealth of this world which is

Sri PBA Swami’s Sarartha Deepikai:

As explained by Sri Alavandar in Gitartha Sangraha "karmayogas

Sri PBA Swami’s Sarartha Deepikai:

Sri PBA Swami’s Sarartha Deepikai:

Its meaning is: O Lord of Thirukkannapuram! I will not be with

Here, by the phrase "maRRellAm pEsilum" it is clear that the

Sri PBA Swami’s Sarartha Deepikai:

In the Thirumanthra, the praNava expresses the nature of the soul,