Athma - One's Real Self

Tattva Bodha - 5

The sthula sareera of an individual is matter only as the Pancha Bhuthas, of whose gross matter it is made of, are matter only.  The sukshma sareera is also matter only as it is made of subtle matter of these material Pancha Bhuthas.  The karana sareera is also matter only as it is nothing but the seed of these two bodies.  So all the three bodies of an individual are matter only, and do not contain a sentient substance. But the human body is sentient, conscious of itself and the environs and is capable of intelligently reacting to the environs and not inert like a table or chair which are matter only and not sentient.  From this we infer that there must be an independent inner sentient entity, Consciousness principle, lending sentience to sukshma, stula sareeras. That invisible inner entity, the Consciousness principle, is called Athma. Tattva Bhodha introduces Athma with these words:

स्थूलसूक्ष्मकारणशरीराद्व्यतिरिक्तः पञ्चकोशातीतः सन् अवस्थात्रयशाक्षी सच्चिदानन्दस्वरूपः सन् यस्तिष्ठति स आत्मा।(sthula sukshma karana sareerad vyathiriktaha panchakosatheethaha san avasthathraya sakshi sachidananda svarupaha san yas thishtathi sa Athma)

That which is other than the Sthula, Sukshma, Karana sareeras, beyond the five Kosas, the witness of the three Avasthas and of the nature of Sat, Chit and Anandha (Existence, Knowledge, Bliss) is Athma.

We had seen earlier that sentient Athma is different from three sareeras. Since five kosas are only the three sareeras seen from another angle Athma is beyond the five kosas as well. Avasthas relate to the sareeras, and Athma which is different from sareeras, exists only as a witness to the avasthas. These descriptions tell what Athma is not.  What is not Athma is referred to as anathma. So Sareera Thriam, Kosa Panchakam and Avastha Thriam all come under anathma. After describing Athma negatively by telling what it is not through the listing of the anathmas, the text proceeds to describe positively Athma as Sat, Chit, Anandha. They are not three separate attributes but the nature of this Consciousness principle, Athma, described in three different ways. 

Swami Paramatmananda lists the properties of Consciousness as follows:
1)    Consciousness is not a part, product or property of the body. It is not a part like hair, nails etc.; it is not a property like birth, growth etc., and it is not a product like enzymes, cells etc.
2)    Consciousness is an invisible, independent entity that pervades the body and makes it alive.  Kena Upanishad describes in Mantra 2 thus:

श्रोत्रस्यश्रोत्रं मनसो मनो यद् वाचोहवाचं स उ प्राणस्यप्राणः। (strosya strotram manaso mano yad vachohavacham sa u pranasya pranaha)

चक्षुषश्चक्षुः (chakshushas chakshuhu)

Ear of the ear, mind of the mind, speech of speech, prana of prana and eye of eye.  

That  means Consciousness is the power behind all the faculties of the body that makes them carry out their respective functions.
3)    This Consciousness is not limited by the boundaries of the body. It is boundless or infinite.  When associated with the upadhi of body it is called Athma; when associated with the whole Universe it is called Brahman.   This concept of Athma as Brahman is something unique to Advaita Vedanta and from this flows property 4.
4)    Consciousness will continue to survive the body medium even after the body perishes.
5)    The surviving Consciousness is not recognisable by us because the medium through which it was recognised is absent.  Through its reflection in the anthakaranam, Chithabasa, Consciousness lends sentiency to the human body. At the time of death, as sukshma sareera with Chithabasa leaves the body, the medium that reflected Consciousness is not available and so the surviving Consciousness is not recognisable.

This can be illustrated with the analogy of electricity.   Electricity passing through filament of the bulb makes it glow, which in turns makes the bulb shine with light and illumine the environs. Electricity is one and it makes aglow bulbs of all sizes and shapes and powers. So we can say:
1)    Electricity is not part, product, property of the bulb.
2)    It is an invisible entity that pervades the filament and make the bulb shine.
3)    It is not limited to the boundaries of the bulb.  It is infinite.
4)  It will continue to survive the bulb medium even after the bulb is fused out.
5)    The surviving electricity is not recognisable as the medium for recognition is not there.

The text defines Sat, Chit and Ananda as the inherent nature of Athma.  “Sat” stands for Existence i.e. pure existence.  This existence principle is not bound by time and is valid for all the three periods of time, past, present and future. So it is eternal.  Athma being eternal and unchanged in the three periods of time is indicated by ‘Sat’.  “Chit” stands for Knowledge, not knowledge about anything but Absolute Knowledge that illuminates for one  the objects of experience in the outer and inner world.  The Consciousness principle illuminates all it comes across without any preference and irrespective of their nature and quality.  The Consciousness being boundless or infinite is complete, पू्र्णः purnaha.  Purnatvam is total bliss as nothing is lacking and no shortness or deficiency is felt.  This is the “குறையொன்றுமில்லை” state that Sri Andal attributes to Lord Govinda in Thiruppavai verse 28.

This Athma is our real self.  It makes the Anthakaranam  sentient through its manifestation in the Anthakaranam as its reflection, called Chithabasa. The sentient Anthakaranam in turn makes the whole body sentient. One mistakes the ego as the real self, not knowing about the invisible inner self that has lent sentiency to the ego itself  due to which the ego identifies with actions, pleasures sorrows, emotions etc. and claims doership and enjoyership.  We can say that Athma is the ego’s Ego on the analogy of Kenopanishad Mantra we saw earlier.  The ego is only the imposter “I” and the Real “I”, is Athma, that cannot be known directly as it is invisible and is not available for perception by the senses or for conceptualisation by intellect.  The goal of Self enquiry is to discover the Real “I”, Athma, rejecting  all anathmas and claim identification with it as one’s Self, disowning the imposter, ego, and through it  disclaim the body-mind  complex as “me” 

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Sri Andal

In Chennai in the month of Marghazhi, you cannot escape hearing Thiruppavai in the early hours of morning if you are staying near a temple of Lord Vishnu.  Thiruppavai is a devotional work of thirty verses extolled as the nectar of Vedas by Vaishnavite scholars though on surface it sounds like a call by a Gopi of Brindavan to her mates to wake up and join her in observing “Pavai Nonbu”.  Thiruppavai is the most well-known piece in Nalayira Divya Prabhandham which is hailed as Tamil Vedas in Vaishnavite circles and is composed by Andal, the most well-known among the twelve Alwars. Moreover she is the only female among the twelve, besides being the youngest.  And Andal is not her original name.  She had been named as Kodhai, by her father Vishnuchithar, who found her in his flower garden under a Tulasi plant.  As he had no family of his own, he rejoiced that it was God’s gift and named her as Kodhai, a gift of Mother Earth and brought her up as his own daughter.

Vishnuchithar, who is known as Perialwar, lived in Srivilliputhur and was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu and also an accomplished scholar of devotional literature.  So Kodhai grew up in an atmosphere of love and devotion hearing stories and songs about the Lord.  She grew up as an ardent devotee of Lord Krishna and even at a very young age of five wanted to marry only Lord Krishna.  Kodhai used to help her father in weaving garlands for submission to the Lord in the local temple. Her passion for Lord Krishna became so great that she used to imagine herself as the bride of the Lord and wear the garland first before submission to the temple. One day this practice came to the notice of her father who regarded it as blasphemy and chided her.  Then discarding that garland he wove a fresh garland and submitted to the Lord.  That night Lord came in the dream and asked him why he did not submit the garland that Kodhai wore and insisted that he should thereafter submit such garlands which have adorned Kodhai’s neck first.

Vishnuchithar woke up with a start and was thrilled with happiness to recollect the dream.  He realized his daughter was a divine child whom Lord Himself held dear and from that day started referring to her as Andal, as she seemed to rule over the Lord,  We shall refer to her hereafter as Andal.   She is also referred to as “Chudi kodutha sudarkodi” from this incident.  As Andal grew up her determination to marry the Lord only and none else also grew.  When she reached the marriageable age and learnt all about all the Archavathars, she became more specific and wanted to become the bride of Lord Ranganatha of Srirangam, whom she believed as none other than Lord Krishna, her heart’s idol.  Vishnuchithar’s efforts to discourage her failed and he was worried how this wedding could take place, His concern was resolved by Lord Himself, who appeared in his dream and asked him to bring her to Srirangam decked as a bride.  Lord appeared in the dream of temple authorities as well and asked them to send a palanquin to Srivilliputhur for Andal's journey to Srirangam. 

When King Vallabha Deva came to know of this he made elaborate arrangements with festoons, music and other paraphernalia befitting this divine wedding.  He also joined the bridal party as it made its way from Srivilliputhur to Srirangam with crowds lining the route and cheering the procession and with Vishnuchithar leading the procession filled with both Joy and sorrow.  As the procession entered the temple Andal jumped out of the palanquin and ran into the sanctum to fall at the feet of her Lord.  As she worshipped at the feet of the Lord her physical body merged in a blaze of glory with the deity, Lord Ranganatha.

She was barely fifteen when her union with the Lord took place. In this short life she composed two poems which are famous for their philosophical content and literary merit.  They are Thiruppavai with 30 verses and Nachiar Thirumozhi with 143 verses. Both of them find a place in Mudhal Ayiram of Nalayira Diva Prabhandham.  Of these the shorter Thiruppavai is more popular and widely-known.  In this she transports herself to the time and place where Sri Krishna lived as a child before leaving for Mathura and imagines herself to be one of the Gopis who enjoyed his company then.  This is a favourite of Sri Ramanujar, who is also called “Thiruppavai Jeer”.  He used to sing the Thiruppavai verses when going on his rounds for bhiksha in Srirangam. One day as he was at the doorstep of his Guru Periya Nambi he was singing the verse starting with “உந்து மதகளிற்றன் ----”(Undhu madha Kalitran---). As he was singing “கடை திறவாய்” (kadai thiravai) Peria Nambi’s little daughter came out opening the door to offer him Bhiksha.  Immediately he fell at her feet, as he saw in the six year old, Sri Andal herself responding to his call to open the door.

Sri Ramanujar is also spoken of as elder brother of Sri Andal i.e.அண்ணா, because of an incident.  Sri Ramanujar was singing Sri Andal’s Nachiar Thirumozhi in the presence of the Lord in Thirumalirum solai.   When he came to the following lines he realized that  though Andal had vowed to give 100 vessels each of butter and akkaravadisal to Lord Azhagar if he makes her union with Lord Ranganatha possible, she did not return to do the same after her union with the Lord.

 'நாறுநறும் பொழில்மா லிருஞ்சோலை நம்பிக்குநான் 

நூறுதடாவில் வெண்ணெய் வாய்நேர்ந்து பராவிவைத்தேன் 
நூறுதடா நிறைந்த அக்கார வடிசில்சொன்னேன் 
ஏறுதிருவுடையான் இன்றுவந்திவை கொள்ளுங்கொலோ' 

(narunarum pozhil maliruncholi nambikku nan

 nooru thadavil vennai vainerindhu paravivaiththen

 nooru thada niraindha akkaravadisil sonnen

 Aruthiruvudaiyan endru vandhu evai kollungolo?)

So Sri Ramanujar decided to do the same on behalf of Sri Andal.  He did the same and then on the way to Srirangam he visited Srivilliputhur.  When he entered the temple there, it is said, Sri Andal came out of the sanctum to welcome him and called out, “nam koil annano!?”(Is it my elder brother from Srirangam?).  From that day Sri Ramanujar is regarded as the elder brother of Sri Andal.   This is also highlighted in the Vazhi Thirunamam of Andal:.

'திருவாடிப்பூரத்து ஜகத்துதித்தாள் வாழியே 
திருப்பாவை முப்பதும் செப்பினாள் வாழியே 
பெரியாழ்வார் பெற்றெடுத்த பெண்பிள்ளை வாழியே 
பெரும்பூதூர் மாமுனிக்குப் பின்னானாள் வாழியே  etc.

The other work by Andal is Nachiar Tirumozhi, which means "Sacred Sayings of the Goddess" a poem of 143 verses.   In this poem Andal fully reveals her intense longing for her Divine Beloved. Interweaving stories from the Vedas and Puranas, Andal has created a beautiful work of an erotic genre of spirituality similar to  Jayadeva’s “Gita Govinda”.   So Nachiar Tirumozhi is not rendered publicly as much as Thiruppavai.  In one of the verses, Andal dispenses with metaphor and imagines herself lying in the arms of Krishna, and making love to him. Sri Ramanujar considered that only a person with deep longing for liberation can appreciate this work’s underlying spiritual import,

These 143 pasurams (verses) are organized in 14 segments and each one is called "Thirumozhi", sacred sayings.  Thus the first set of ten pasurams is called as first Thirumozhi. And is named after the first phrase of the first pasuram ‘tai oru tingalum' (தையொரு திங்களும்). Similarly all the other Thirumozhis are named after the first phrase of first pasuram. That way the sixth Thirumozhi is called Varanam Ayiram (வாரணம் ஆயிரம்) in which Andal describes her dream which revealed scenes of her wedding ceremony with the Lord.  This is a popular well-known Thirumozhi which is sung in marriages as well, as Andal has declared in this Thirumozhi itself that those who chant this Thirumozhi will beget children with Satva Gunam and Brahma Jnanam.

Sri Andal has another uniqueness in that she is now worshipped as God and has a separate shrine dedicated to her in most of the Vishnu temples in Tamilnadu by the side of the main deity.  In Srivilliputhur where she grew up there is a separate temple dedicated to her next to the main Vadabadrasai temple, both in the same compound.