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Based on Sri P.B. Annangaracharyar Swami's Commentary

Shloka 2:

	pAShaNDaShaNDa girikhaNDana vajradaNDA:
		prachChanna bauddha makarAlaya manthadaNDA: |
	vedAntasAra sukhadarshana dIpadaNDA:
		rAmAnujasya vilasanti munestridaNDA: ||

Meaning:

khaNDana vajradaNDA:		- Like the thunder stick that breaks
pAShaNDa ShaNDa giri		- the mountain ranges that are Pashandas,
mantha daNDA:			- like the churning stick
prachChanna bauddha 
makarAlaya			- that churns the ocean which 
				  is the hidden bauddhas,
dIpadaNDA: 			- like a lighted torch 
sukha darshana 			- that shows easily
vedAnta sAra			- the inner meanings of Vedantas,
vilasanti 			- thus beautifully present 
mune: tridaNDA: 		- are the three sticks that Ramanuja 
				  holds in his hands.

Commentary:
Shlokas 2 & 3 talk about the greatness and beauty of the Tridandam that Swami Ramanuja holds in his hands. It is this that Embar praised as "muppuri nUlodu mun kaiyilE thigazh mukkOl than azhagum". As opposed to Advaita sanyasis who carry Ekadandam (one stick) in their hands, Srivaishnava sanyasis carry Tridandam (three sticks) in their hands. Hence they are also called Tridandi sanyasis. By praising the Tridandam in these shlokas, the greatness of Swami Ramanuja is brought out.

pAShaNDa ShaNDa giri khaNDana vajradaNDA::
Pashandas are like mountain ranges; a single mountain is itself difficult to attack, so what to say about a whole range of mountains. Yet Swami's one dandam fell on them like Indra's Vajrayuda falls on mountains. This is similar to what was said in shloka 1 as "chArvAka shailAshani:".

prachChanna bauddha:
pracchanna bauddhas refers to the sampradhayins that claim to follow the Vedas but misinterpret them. They are mentioned in Swami's nAL pAttu as "sankara bhAskara yAdava, bhAtta, prabhAkara ..". The regular bauddhas rejected the Vedas altogether; pracchanna bauddhas accept the Vedas as authority but interepret them incorrectly. So, even though they accept the Vedas, they are refered to as bauddhas. It is thus the our elders called one group as prakAsha bauddhas and the other as pracchanna (hidden) bauddhas.

makarAlaya mantha daNDA::
Such pracchanna bauddhas stood like an ocean - big and making lots of noise. Swami Ramanuja's other dandam is like the stick that churns this ocean (just like the milky ocean was churned). To churn this ocean is not just to destroy their philosophies but also to win them over (such as the victories of Ramanuja over Yagnyavalkya, Yadavaprakasha and others).

vedAntasAra sukhadarshana dIpadaNDA::
Swami's third stick is like a lighted torch that shows the great hidden truths of Vedanta comfortably to one and all. Swami's nine gems, such as Sri Bashya, Vedarttha Sangraha, Vedanta Deepa, etc bring the Vedantic concepts to everyone. Unlike other sampradhayams that considered only certain portions of the Vedas (such as the bheda sruti, abheda sruti, etc), Swami expounded the visishtadvaita by including all the sruti vakhyas and in a manner that made it accesible to all.

vilasanti mune: tridaNDA::
Such a Tridandam of Ramanuja was present as the one that showed the true meanings of Vedanta. It is therefore that Thiruvarangaththamudhanar said "nAraNanaik kAttiya vEdham kaLippuRRadhu".

Azhvar Emberumanar Jeeyar Thiruvadigale Sharanam

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