bhagavad gItA and thiruvAiMozhi comparison

bhagavad gItA and thiruvAiMozhi - A comparison by Sri alagiya manavAla perumAl nAyanAr in AchArya hrudhayam

Based on lecture given by Sri U.Ve. Velukkudi Krishnan Swami at Madras University.

sutra: 189

nAyanAr explains that gItA and thiruvAimozhi are equal primarily because gItA is spoken by Sri Krishna and thiruvAimozhi is spoken by AzhwAr who sees emberumAn in his heart always.

The 18 subjects are as follows:

Suthram	Subject	Explanation	Gita	ThiruvAimozhi
1, 2, 3	tattva vivEkam	cit, acit, Iswara - the knowledge about the 3 different entities	2.12 - na tvE vAham.. slokam, 2.14 - dEhino asmin yathA dEhE slokam	adiyEn ullAn pAsuram.
4	nityatva anityatvam	eternal (atma - soul) and ever changing (acit - matter)	nainam cintanti. slokam, na hanyathe na hanyamAne sarIrE slokam	minnin nilayila mannuyir Akkaigal pAsuram, illathum ullathum allathum avanuru pAsuram.
5	niyantrutvam	controlling nature of Iswara (includes vyApakam, anu pravesham)	bhUmir ApO analO slokam, maya tatam idam saravam slokam, sarvasya cAham hrudhay sanni vrushto slokam	karanthasiladanthorum idan thigal proultharum pAsuram, ninnanar irunthanar pAsuram.
6	soulabyam	friendly nature of Iswara towards all entities	tasya aham pArtha sulaba:slokam, avathAraya rahasyam slokams in 4th adhyAyam	pathudai adiyavarku eliyavan padhigam.
7	sAmyam	equality of Iswara towards all entities	samOham sarva bhuthEsu slokam suhrudham sarva bhuthAnAm slokam	patrilan Isanum mutravum nindranan pAsuram.
8	ahankAra dOsham	the defect of Ego	ahankAra mUdAthma slokam	neer numathu enrivai vEr mudhal maithu irai sErmin pAsuram.
9	indriya balam	the power of the senses	indriyAni pramAdhi slokam	unnulAviya aivarAl padhigam agattha nee vaitha mAyavaimbulangal pAsuram.
10	mana: prAdhAnyam	the superiority of mind over other senses	chanchala hi mana krishna: slokam, kAma Esa: krOdha Esa: slokam	kaiyar chakkaram padhigam (manathai valithu.).
11	karana niyamana	how to control our senses	abhyAsEna tu kauntEya slokam, sthitha prajna	ulla immUnrayam ulli koduthu irai ullilodungE pAsuram
12	suhruthi bedham	types of people who approach krishna	catur vidhe bajanthe mAm janA suhruthinorujuna slokam	oru nAyagamAi padhigam.
13	deva asura vibAgam	nature of good and evil	16th adhyAyam	nannavasurar naliveithAr nallavamarar poliveithAr pAsuram
14	vibhUthi yogam	opulences of krishna	10th adhyAyam	nal kuravum selvam padhigam pugazhu nal oruvan padhigam mAyA vAmananE padhigam.
15	viswarUpa darshanam	vision of the universal form	11th adhyAyam	nIrAi nilanAi thIyAi kAlAi pAsuram
16	sa anga bakthi	devotional service	9th adhyAyam especially man manA bhava mad bhakta: mad yAji mAm namsukuru slokam	vaNakudaitava neri vazhi pAsuram mAlai nanni padhigam.
17, 18	prapathi dvayam	two types of saranagathi - anga prapathi and svatantra prapathi	anga prapathi tamEva saranam gacha slokam, daivi hyEshA guna mAyi slokam, svatantra prapathi sarva dharmAn parithajna slokam	anga prapathi avanudayuNarvu koNduNarnthu pAsuram, svatantra prapathi saranamAgum thana thAl pAsuram.

In the next few sutras, nAyanAr shows the superirority of tiruvAimozhi over gItA.

sutra: 190

gItA is tatva upadEsam (emberumAn's words) but tiruvAimozhi is tatva darshi vacanam (Devotee's words).

For prapannas devotee's words are more important since emberumAn's words may be misleading like in the case of Buddha avataram.

sutra: 191

gItA is aimed at bring 5 vitorious and destroying 100.

But tiruvAimozhi is aimed at destroying 24 acit tatvams and reaching the Iswara tatvam.

sutra: 192

gItA starts with saranagathi of arjuna and ends with krishna's displeasure of revealing such great knowledge in front of everyone.

But tiruvAimozhi starts with sOkam of Azhwar saying in emmA veedu padhigam that he has to give the knowledge to everyone (even unqualified) and continues with "poliga poliga" as the instructions change many towards emberumAn.

sutra: 193

gItA only provides instructions/knowledge.

But tiruvAimozhi is both knowledge and practice of that knowledge by AzhwAr himself.

sutra: 194

gItA becomes an important pramAnam due to the fact that AzhwAr acknowledges it in tiruvAimozhi itself.

Otherwise it would have been like boudha sastram and sAnkya sastram which are given by emberumAn's avatarams but still discarded by vaidIhAs.