Shruti Sukti Maalai
also titled
chaturvEda tAtparya sangraham
Author: Sri Haradattacharyar
An explanatory translation into Tamil by
panditarAja - sAmbasrI K. Balasubramanya Sastrigal,
Chief adhyApakar, Samskrita college, Madras
based on the samskrita vyAkhyAnA of
Sivalinga bhUpati
Translated for Shobhanam into English by Divya Shivashankar
Explanation behind the Title of the Text
Shruti - of vEdas, Sukti - good, beautiful sentences (flower-like) that explain the Truth, Maalai - garland.
This is a never-wilting garland offered to Parameswara in stuti form.
Garlands made from flowers wilt in a few hours or in a day. The flowers of this stuti maalai never wilt.
Sruti Sukti Maalai is the special name that Sri Haradattachariyar gave to his grantha (ref slokam 151). However, in Slokam 2, it is said
tAtparya sangraha maham vithathe mahEsa!
Therefore, the grantham has the name 'tAtparya sangraham' as well. As the term 'sruthi' referes to the four Vedas in general, this grantham is celebrated by scholars under a more elaborate title 'chaturvEda' tAtparya sangraham.
This is a shivaparathva grantham, a saivasthApaka grantham that establishes the Truth that paramEsvarA is the ultimate God, through sruthi pramANAs and mImAmsA nyAyAs, to those who do not know the truth in the Vedas and to those who have various opinions based on their religion, principles and preferences.
TiruvaiyAru aNNAswAmi Srowthigal
Click here to download a PDF of the text in samskrtam
Slokam 1
Whom namaskaras reach, Whom is namassEshi, Whom is bhagavatpada vAchyA, Whom is abundant in shatpUrNaguNAs, Whose upAsanA the nArAyaNOpanishat extols, Whom is gAyatrImantra pratipAdhyA, Whom is antaryAmI in the heart of all and drives the intellect to delve in kAryAs, Whom is depended on by karmaThAs as the sEshI for all yAgAms, hey paramEsvarA endowed with the five special lakshaNAs thus! I, with no other refuge, worship you in EkAntA as the sole almighty and param
Thus sree haradattAchAryavaryA proclaims obeisances to IsvarA in the first and mangalaslOkam.
The five visEsha lakshaNAs attributed to paramEsvarA in the first slOkA: (1) namassEshittvam; (2) nirathisaya aisvaryAdi mattvam (3) nArAyaNOpanishat uthIrithOpAsyatvam; (5) gAyatrI mantra pratipAdyatvam; (5) kratusEshittvam. These five lakshaNAs devoid of the three faults ativyApti, avyApti, asambhavam, are considered the lakshaNAs of paramEsvarA. Since these five are established with vEda vAkyAs, the pramANA is also explained.
lakshaNa pramANAbhyAM vastu siddhi:
as per the above nyaya, vastu nirdEsam has been mentioned at the beginning of the grantha. paramEsvaran is the vastu; paradaivam paramArtha tattvam. chaturvEda tAtparya vishayI is mentioned as paramEsvarA.
Through the first slOkA that pays obeisances to the Almighty, the author demonstrates to his shishyAs the tradition of the mangaLam done at the beginning in order for the granthA to be completed without obstacles. Through the second slOkA, he begins 'pratignyA'. Only if the objective of the deed - the matter of the text is outlined, will the jignyAsu srOthAs and readers be willing listen in rapt attention.
Slokam 2
May Thou, who as antaryAmI incites all, incite me to traverse the honest path in explaining benevolent vEdavAkyAs and true tAtparyAs. In vAyusamhitA and svEtAsvatAra upanishad, it is explained that it is paramEswara who is buddhi prErakan.
It is the principle of tArkikAs that since they have been composed by the foremost Almighty the vEdAs are pramANAs, and that through anumAnAs it can be deciphered that like the granthAs of kALidAsA, vEdam has also been composed by a mahApurushA. purushasUktam says that the three vEdAs originated from paramEsvarA who is yagnEsvarA.
Jaimini maharishi and his followers who are mImAmsakAs say that since the vEdAs are apaurushEyA there is no place to suspect purusha dOsham; therefore vEdAs are pramANAs.
It is the principle of vyAsA and his followers that: the vEdAs originated from God effortlessly (like the act of breathing). Therefore, even if there is purushasambandA of IshvarA, vEdAs are blemishless pramANAs since they do not involve any act of manual creation.
The granthakArA Sri HaradattAchAryAr has recognized these three principles and elaborated on them.
vEda: svayam bhavatu va tava vA praNIti:
Since it proclaims the dharmA and brahmam that is not known through pramANAs such as pratyakasham, the title vEdam is anvartam (causal noun). It has been established after enquiry in the smrtyAdikaraNam by Jaimini rshi that since purANam Agamam etc have originated to explain vEdArthA the siddhAnthAs contained in them are also acceptable.
Here, it is to be noted that the pada 'vA' conveys 'um'(also) and the pada 'tantram' conveys 'siddhAntam'.
upakramOpa samhArou abhyAsO pUrvatA phalam |
arthavAdOpa pattI cha lingam tAtparya nirNayE ||
the objective is to be deduced with the help of the six tAtparya grAhaka lingAs. This method has been elaborated on by vyAsamuni and by Sri Adishankara BhagavatpAdAL in the sadvidyA and bhUmavidyA prakaraNAs.
Slokam 3
In order to elaborate on the first lakshaNam 'namassEshitvam' among the five lakshaNams, he begins to first establish through vEda pramANAs that the padam 'Isvaran' denotes only MahadevA (paramEswarA).
Veda mantrAs are used for sravaNam, arthavAdAs are used to either praise or denounce an issue. It is mImAmsaka siddhAntam that vidhIs (nishEdAs) denote the dharmAs that are to be performed (that are not widely known), and adharmAs that are to be shunned. It is also the siddhAntam concluded by mImAmsakAs that since smritIs explain vEdArthAm they are paratantra pramANam, and only vEdam that does not lean on anything else is svatantra pramANam. The true import of each padA is to be determined through inquiry devoid of asUyA or pakshapAdA.
IshAnas sarva vidhyAnAm, Ishvarassarva bhUtAnAm - tamIsvarANAm paramam mahEswaram
are mantrAs that explain the import of the padA 'IsvarA'.
yada IshtE Isvara: etc are arthavAdAs that explain the IsvarapadA by delineating the dhAtu and pratyayAs.
kAraNam tu dhyEya: ; sarvaisvarya sampanna: ; sarvEsvara: cha sambu:
are vidhIs that elaborate on the Isvara padArthA and command that He is to be contemplated upon. Such mantrArthavAda vidhIs are mentioned in several instances in atharvasiras, svEtAsvatarOpanidhad, mANdUkyam etc are pramaNAs.
Slokam 4
The true import of the padA should be learnt through yOgavyutpatti. Similarly there are rUDapadAs. Through Slokams 5 and 6, he elaborates that the padA IsvarA denotes paramEsvarA in both yoga inquiry and rUDa inquiry.
'Isvara: kshiptam' is bruhadAraNyaka shAnkara bhAshyam. Only an independent individual (svatantran) endowed with aiswaryam can perform kAryAs swiftly since he has no dependence on other entities. artham is obtained for the Isvara padam (through yOgA) as 'One who performs dushTa nigrahA and sishTaparipAlanA swiftly and with ease'. Since ParamEsvarA is the One who has consumed the hAhAhala poison and has removed all troubles, and is the One who has adorned the moon on his head, providing comfort to all the worlds through the nectarine rays of moonlight, it is tAtparyam that Isvarapadam through yOgavyutpatti denotes paramEsvarA even when there is no ஸங்கோசக pramANam such as prakaraNam etc. It is Lord Shiva who has blessed nigrAnugraha shakti onto Brahma and Vishnu.
From VedavAkyAs such as 'harim harantam anuyantidEvA: visvasyEsAnam vrushabham madhInAm', and in several instances in the bruhatjAbAla shruti:, brahmAndapurANam, vAyavIya samhitA, vanaparvA and drONaparvA in the MahAbhArathA etc, the IsvaratvA of paramEswarA - his powers of ruling over all else is illustrated clearly.
Slokam 5
Let the attention on yOgavyutpatti remain aside. 'IsvarA' has become the name Thou are referred by. Therefore it has to be rUDam, or let it be like the pada pankajam by way of yOgArUDam.
Others can become IsvarA, Lord Shiva is paramEswarA and mahEswarA, therefore the shabdAs parama and mahat occur as epithets and do not exclude others. However as ayOga vyavacchEdA, the padA conveys that shivaperumAn is endowed with wholesome IsvaratvA. Therefore even during occasions the shabdA occurs without epithet, it does refer to shivaperumAn.
The practice of asking a child 'are you going to the perumAL temple or the IsvarA temple?' is widely known. This is explained well in the vAyavIya samhitA. In the nAndislOkam of vikramOrvasIyam, kAlidAsa mahAkavI says
'yasmin Isvara ityananya vishaya:
shabdOyathArthAkshara:
In Raghuvamsha kAvyA, he says 'mahEsvara: tryambaka Eva, na apara:'
Slokam 6
In slokam 6, he clears the doubt 'Don't both padAs parama: and mahAn mean 'exceptional One'? the ayOga vyavacchEdA of pUjya bhAvA does not seem appropriate'.
Since the visEshyam in the samAsA is a pUjyavAchakam, it is natural for its epithet to also indicate pUjyArthA, is the samAdhAnA provided here.
The padA 'yati' here does not indicate doubt; it indicates nischayA.
'sanmahath paramOttamOthkrushTA: pUjyamAnai:' is vyAkaraNa sUtram (pANinIyam 2-1-61)
Slokam 7
It is customary for the servant to pay obeisances to his Master. It is IsvarabhrutyanyAyA.
Since it has already been concluded that in vEdapurANAs the IsvarapadA denotes paramEsvarA only and is hence yOgArUDapadA, through the shabdArthA of 'IsvarA' the namaskAram offered by those in bhrutyasthAnA accrues only to paramEsvarA. Therefore, through the 7th Slokam, he says, 'nirIsvaravAdA that says there is no IsvarA in the world, bahvIsvaravAdA that says there are multiple IsvarAs, and anyEswaravAdA that says there are IsvarAs other than SivaperumAn - all three are not valid'.
Just like milk is secreted for the growth of the calf, for the sukhA of the jivAdIs the achEtanA world cannot come into existence or be effected without a chEtanA. Milk is secreted with the help of the chEtanan that is the cow. The magnet also attracts iron only when the chEtanan keeps the iron bar near to it. Therefore, there HAS to exist a chEtanan that is IshvarA for the achEtanA world. He is accepted as omnipotent by the lAghava nyAyA.
The shrutI also says, 'tat vijignAsasvam; tasmAt saptArcchiSha; samitas saptajihva: ; dhyAvA prithivI janayan dEva Eka:' a single origin / reason through Ekavachanam and Ekapadam. The tAtparyA is - paramEswarA is said to have created brahmA from his right side and vishNu from his left side, and four vEdAs from his four faces, and annihilates the world at the end of the yugA (as per svEtAsvartArA, sivarahasyAgamA, vayavIya samhitA, lingapurANA, kALikA kANdA, padma purANA, mahabhArathA sAntiparvA AnusAsanika parvA, skAndam etc) it is due to BhramA that anyEsvara vAdA has come to be, since brahma and vishNu are dEvatAs part of the kAryakOti and so they can neither be the origin of the world nor IshvarA.
hiraNya garbha: samavartatAgrE
aham sarvasya prabhavO mattas sarvam pravartatE
the tAtparyA of the above pramANAs - Just like visvAmitrA created a few entities in the world, brahmA and vishNu also are creators of entities, and that act of creation is only due to the grace of IsvarA. So these pramaNAs are not in conflict with other pramANAs.
Slokam 8
No one who pays attention to vEdAs and purANAs can be an anyEsvaravAdI. If he were, he is contradicting his own words. This is the import of Slokam 8. When it has been clearly elaborated upon in the sruthi-purANAs that brahma, vishNu etc have no IshvaratvA, how can anyEsvaravAdI occur? If there does exist an anyEsvaravAdI, wouldn't his words be contradictory as 'sEsvaram jagath' due to anIsvarA? Since in the AdityapurANA and tripuradahanA it has been explained that only pasupatI is the sarvEsvaran, similar to the vAkyA 'mE mAtAvandhyA' (my mother is a barren woman), anyEsvaravAdI's vAkyA cannot become a pramANA (it is an அபத்த absurd vAkyA).
Just like the vAkyAs 'nArAyaNEna sabrammagam jagat, brahmaNA sanArAyaNagam jagat' the vAkyAs of the anyEsvaravAdI are to be shunned.
Slokam 9
After having clarified that paramasivA is the import of the IsvarapadA, the first lakshaNA namassEshI attributed to paramEsvarA is reasonable. This vishayA is elaborated upon in 13 slokAs from slOka 9 to 21.
The anyadEvatAs worship you, assume their powers and due to your varaprasAdA revel as IsvarAs of a few entities. Therefore their aisvaryA is not svAbhAvikA since it is varaprasAdA. Your (Ishvara's) aisvaryam is not varaprasAdalabdam, it is svAbhavikam, The vEdapurANAs do not say that there is a deivam above you that can be worshipped that is capable of granting boons. In granthAs such as brahmavaivartam, parAsara purANam, sivarahasyam, AnusAsanika parvam, drONaparvam, pAdmapurANam, vAmanapurANam, sanatkumArasamhitA, kUrmapurAnam, AdityapurANam, harivamsam etc. it is clearly elaborated upon that dEvatAs including brahmA and vishNu perform pUjA to the sivalingA and attain ishtasiddhIs. Therefore, their Isatvam has been obtained by upAdhI, tapObalA and sivapUjAphala; it is not svAbhAvikA. Since it is explained through the above purANAs and vEdAs that there is no deivam that you worship, your aisvaryam is svAbhAvikam, and exceptional.
Since in a few places, namaha padA is used for other dEvatAs, it is tAtparyA that those dEvAs are amshAs of you. (namO brahmaNE, namO sthavagnayE, nama: prithivyai, nama OshadIpya:, namO vAchE, namO vAchaspathayE, namO vishNavE, bruhatE karOmi) Note that 'prAya:' here means 'mostly'.
Slokam 10
With the help of sruthivAkyapramANAs, he proclaims the namassEshitva lakshanam.
'yasmai nama: tasmai tvA jushtam niyu najmi' is a vEda mantram contained in the sUlakava prakaraNam.
'yasmai namaha tat sira:' is a mantram contained in the taittriyAraNyaka sisumAra svarUpa varNana prakaraNam. Through these, we ascertain that the namaskArAs offered by devotees are towards you, and not towards other entities. Since the mahimA of paramasivA is not attributed to other deities, namaskArAs offered to them attain you just like how rivers attain the ocean.
It is mentioned in the vAyavIya samhitA, mArkaNdEya purANA, mAndUkyOpanishad granthAs that the Almighty creates the jagat playfully without effort. By doing that, He who is krtakrtyA and paripUrNavastU attains no lAbhA.
The nyAyA 'lOkavatu lIlA kaivalyam' is the derivative of the act of creation. It is noteworthy that the dEvapadA has been explained well here. In granthAs such as drONa parvA, kALikA kAnDam, linga purANam, kAsikA kAnDam etc, it is mentioned that the dhruvapadA that was attained by mahAvishNu by IsvaraprasAdA was granted by mahAvishNu to his bhaktA dhruvA. Therefore, it is established that the namaskArAs to other dEvatAs attain You who is the antaryAmi, ArAdhyadEva and varapradAnadEvA.
Slokam 11
O Lord with matted locks! A srutivAkyA 'yasmai namastasmai tvA jushtanniyunajmi' says the bondage of a pashU intended as offering for You who is namassEshI. Another vEdamantrA 'yasmai nama tat sira:' mentions You as the Siras of the SiSumAram that shines brightly in the AkAsham (rUpakAlankArA). Therefore as per this vyAkhyAnA, via two vEdapramANAs, the tArparyA can be said to be that namaskArAs are unto You. (as You are namassEshI).
Slokam 12
It is true that in the two SrutivAkyAs below, The One is referred to as namassEshi. For the question - 'how can it be ascertained that The One is indeed Paramashiva?', haradattA explains that if the context is studied carefully, then it can be clearly understood that it is indeed paramESwarA who is referred to as namassEshI in those vEdavAkyAs.
The vidwAns who inquire into the aforementioned vedavAkyAs say that it is indeed You that is namassEshI for those two SrutivAkyAs. Will those with mooDhabuddhi deny that the Sun does not exist even while it is a hot afternoon? That which is very clearly evident cannot be hidden or refuted by anyone is the tAtparyA here.
Slokam 13
Oh, SUlapANi holding the trishUlam! The karmA ShUlakavam is that is one of the seven pAka yajnAs to be performed as nityakarmA each year during spring / autumn / mArgasIrsha pUrNimA, as stipulated by maharishis such as bODhAyanA, ASvalAyanA etc, has You as its atidEvatA. All the mantrAs used in that ritual refer to You as the dEvatA.
'IsAnAya tvA jushtamupAkarOmi' is the mantram uttered during sankalpA, touching the cow with the dharBhA.
'ISAnAya tvA juShtam prOkShAmi' is the mantram to be uttered when sprinkling the cow.
In the vidhi vAkyA 'EtamEva dEvam maDhyE gOShtasya yajEt' it is clear that it is ParamEswarA that is referred to by the dEvashabdhA and that the SUlakava yajnam is done unto that dEvatA.
It must be noted that the 'dEva' shaBDhA has been used in the nighanDu ('dEva: pUjya: pinAkI), in the BODhAyana sUtrA ('dEvasyAyatanE pratidisam pratyOdayati'), and in the aTharvaSiras ('dEvamEvAnupravisati'), to refer to paramaSivA. Just like 'ISvara' shaBhDhA, 'dEva' shaBhDhA is also yOgArUDha shaBhDhA for paramESwarA. It is to be remembered that earlier it has been explained that mahat parama shaBhDhAs are ayOgavyavacchEdakA and not anyayOgavyavacchEdakA. Therefore the padAs 'ISvara' and 'dEva' refer to Lord Siva and not other dEvatAs. Therefore these are yOgArUDhAs like the padA 'pankajam'. It is to be noted here that this has been concluded by muni vyAsA in vEdAnta shAstram in the shaBDhA dEva pramita: aDhikaraNam, and also to be noted is the vAkyArTha vichArA in katOpanishad 'ISAnO BhUta Bhavyasya'.
mantrAs such as
'BhavAyA dEvAya svAhA
namastE rudra manyava
yasmai nama: tasmai tvA juShtam nyunajmi iti harAya krsAya sarvAya SivAya BhavAya mahAdEvAya ugrAya paShupatayE rudrAya ShankarAya ISAnAya svAhA
refer to You as the dEvatA for the SUlakava karmA. Since there are three pramANAs for your dEvatABhAvA, it is beyond doubt that You indeed are the dEvatA for the SUlakava karmA.
tvAmantarENa - shunning you, namasAkrutalakshaNAya - lakshaNA mentioned through namaskArA, kasmai - towards which dEvatA, paSum nyunajAni - can the cow be tied to the yUpA? tvam - You, niyOjaya - propel me onto the correct path.
It is tAtparyA here that even You as IsvarA cannot advise contrary to vEda tAtparyA.
Slokam 14