nalkuravum, chelvum, naragum, suvarggamum aay,
velpagaiyum, naTpum, viDamum, amudhamum aay,
palvagaiyum parandha perumaan ennai aaLvaanai,
chelvam malgu kuDith tiruviNNagark kaNDEnE
(6-3-1)
My lord who’s both dearth and plenty
hell and heaven friendship
enmity venom and sweet ambrosia
my ranging various lord:
I saw him there in ViNNagar
city named Sky city of rich houses
(6-3-1) (Translation: A.K. Ramanujan)
The Lord is characterized by His muraN (contrariety.) The Alvar lists the paradox of the Lord’s all-inclusive inexpressible nature: joy-sorrow; confusion-clarity; punishment-compassion; heat-shade; virtue-sin; meeting-parting; remembrance-forgetfulness; that which is-that which is not; not this-not that; sin-righteousness; red, black and white; truth-falsehood; youth-age; old-new; joy-anger; fame-obloquy; hot sun-cool shade; littleness-greatness; narrowness-spaciousness; those that move-those that stand still; all-not of all! (6-3-2, 4, 5, 6 & 10). He is responsible for all the good and the evil of the world. This firm belief is indeed difficult to resist. Two emphatic statements appear frequently in the Alvar’s poems. One is that Vishnu is both Brahma (Creator) and Siva (Destroyer). The other one is listing of contrary qualities and affirming that all these are He Himself.
He is neither man nor woman...
He is beyond our ken,
He is this and not this,
He comes in the form one desires
If only one turns to Him.
And yet that may not be His form
It is very difficult indeed to describe Him
(2-5-10) (Translation: A. Srinivasa Raghavan)
Even the Alvar, the author of tiruvaay mozhi, reputed as the essence of the Vedas, struggles to fully describe God. “I do not have the ability to find words to describe Him,” says the Alvar in (3-4-2).
To go beyond semantic limitation, the Brahma Sootram, in an extraordinary effort, adopts the method of saying that Brahmam is this; not only this, but much more than this, etc. Likewise, the Alvar speaks here in abstract terms, defining God in the only way human speech can, negatively, as immeasurable, inscrutable, beyond definition and the human ken, beyond space and time.
uLan enil uLan avan uruvam ivviruvugaL
uLan alan enil avan aruvamivvuruvugaL
uLanena ilanena ivai guNamuDaimaiyil
uLan iru tagaiyoDu ozhivilan parandhE
(1-1-9)
If you say He is within,
He is,
And all these are His forms.
If you question it,
Why, all these shadows
Are His shadow.
But He is, He is,
With these twin attributes,
Being within, being not within,
He is.
(1-1-9) (Translation: A. Srinivasa Raghavan)
The Alvar asserts here that whether one says He is or He is not, He is in both these twin states of being or not being, a revolutionary declaration! With these twin states He exists in all times and all places. The Alvar (as interpreted by later theologians) saw God in three forms: Avatara (descent, incarnation).The deities in temples represent the archa (the worshipable) form of God. Antaryami (the inward controller) form refers to the divinity that dwells in every embodied soul. The three forms are continuous with each other, express different aspects of the divine. God has made Himself easily accessible to one and all by His presence in the visible form of idols in temples. In this form, He resides with His full complement of qualities or character. And yet, one should remember that God is beyond the idols. If one should attain God, one should think beyond His mere idols.
yaavaiyum yavarum taanaay
avaravar chamayam dhOrum
toyvilan pulan aindukkum
cholapaDaan unarvin mUrththi
aavichEr uyirin uLLaal
aadhumOr paRRilaadha
bhaavanai adhanaik kooDil
avanaiyum kooDalaamE
(3-4-10)
He is everything. He is every human being. He is not affected by the religion of any one. One has to go beyond the five physical senses and search in one’s inner consciousness. If one can become completely dis-attached, then, one can become mentally aware of Him. (3-4-10)
We can see one day the cloud-dark figure of the God with the discus in His hand (Vishnu). Which is that day? We are not able to see that figure of God today; nor can we ever perceive it with our physical eyes. But we can become conscious of that figure of God if we turn to our inner mental vision. (peria tiruvantati: 28).
