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SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavara munayE nama:

perumAL thirumozhi >> 1st Decad

avathArikai (Introduction for this pAsuram)

In kaushIdhakI upanishath, in the paryanka vidhyai chapter, when emperumAn is about to awaken from his sleep atop the mattress of ananthAzhwAn, also called as AdhiSEshan, how a mumukshu (a samsAri, desirous of attaining mOksham (liberation)), is longing to experience him has been described. In the same way, AzhwAr is longing to experience periya perumAL in SrI rangam and describes this in the first pAsuram. When a jIvAthmA (one born in samsAram) gets liberated and goes to mOksham, kaushIdhakI upanishath says in SlOkam 1-51

SrIrUpabarhaNam thasmin brahmAsthE I
thamiththamvith pAdhE naivAdhyArOhathi II

On that mattress of AdhiSEshan, pirAttiyAr (SrI mahAlakshmi) sits like an embankment for emperumAn’s divine feet. On that mattress, SrIman nArAyaNan, parabrahmam, is reclining. The liberated jIvAthmA, knowing this, climbs onto brahmam, through the divine feet. The mukthAthmA (liberated AthmA) steps on that mattress of AdhiSEshan; emperumAn asks him “Who are you?” The mukthAthmA responds saying, just like he is a prince, “aham brahmAsmi” (I am an attribute for brahmam).

iruLiriyach chudarmaNigaL imaikkum neRRi
    inaththuththi aNipaNam AyirangaL Arndha
aravarasap perunjOdhi ananthan ennum
    aNi viLangum uyar veLLai aNaiyai mEvit
thiruvarangap perunagaruL theNNIrp ponni
    thiraikkaiyAl adi varudap paLLi koLLum
karumaNiyaik kOmaLaththaik kaNdu koNdu en
    kaNNiNaigaL enRu kolO kaLikkum nALE

Word-by-word Meanings

thiruvarangap perunagaruL – in the big town known as SrI rangam
iruL iriya – for darkness to get scattered
sudar maNigaL – effulgent carbuncles
imaikkum – shining brightly
neRRi – forehead
inaththuththi aNi – appearing such that two divine feet have joined together
paNangaL Ayiram Arndha – having a thousand hoods in full
aravu arasan – being the king of snakes
perum jOdhi – being splendorous
ananthan ennum – thiruvananthAzhwAn (AdhiSEshan)
aNi viLangum – with a high degree of beauty
uyar veLLai aNaiyai – distinguished, white coloured divine mattress
mEvi – fitting well
theL nIr ponni – kAviri, which has clear water
thirai kaiyAl adi varuda – to massage the divine feet with waves, which are like hands
paLLi koLLum – having divine sleep
karumaNiyai – like a bluish gemstone
kOmaLaththai – periya perumAL who has unmatched tenderness
en kaN iNaigaL – my eyes
kaNdu koNdu – worshipping without a break
kaLikkum nAL – that happy day
enRu kolO – when is that day?

Simple Translation

periya perumAL, who has unmatched tenderness and is like a bluish gemstone, is fitting well with, and having a divine sleep, on the great, white coloured mattress of ananthAzhwAn, in the huge city of SrI rangam. The splendorous ananthAzhwAn is the king of all snakes, with a thousand hoods spread out fully, with forehead shining brightly and with each of his heads appearing like a pair of divine feet having joined together. periya perumAL’s divine feet are gently massaged by the river kAviri, with her waves which are like her hands. When will my pair of eyes worship such perumAL, without a break?

vyAkyAnam (Commentary)

iruL iriyach chudar maNigal imaikkum neRRi – Through the first part of the pAsuram, AzhwAr describes how emperumAn is mercifully reclining on thiruvananthAzhwAn, who is having forehead emitting a brightness which scatters darkness.

inaththuththi aNi paNam AyirangaLArndha – the term inaththuththi refers to the divine feet which are joined together. Each head of AdhiSEshan appears like a pair of divine feet which are joined together with thirumaNkAppu (the divine mark carried on the forehead of SrIvaishNavas). Who has such hoods which are a thousand?

aravarasap perunjOdhi – nAgarAjan – one who has an effulgence affirming that he is the king of all snakes.

ananthan ennum – In line with his name of ananthan (one who is without an end), he has such a divine form and auspicious qualities that he contains within himself even emperumAn, who pervades all entities.

ennum – there are other great snakes such as sumukhan, dhakshan, vAsuki et al. ananthAzhwAn is closer to emperumAn than all these other snakes.

aNi viLangum uyar veLLai aNaiyai mEvi – fitting well atop AdhiSEshan, who is having eminent beauty, and who has a distinguished whiteness without any trace of other colours.

thiruvarangap perunagaruL – It has been said in SAsthras (sacred texts) that emperumAn is enjoyed by nithyas (permanent dwellers of SrI vaikuNtam) and mukthas (those who reached SrI vaikuNtam after being liberated from samsAram). Saiva purANam SlOkam brings this out clearly as in vaikuNtEthu parElOke SriyA Sardham jagathpathi: I
Asthe vishNur achinthyAthmA bhakthair bhAgavathais saha II (SrI mahAvishNu, who is the swAmy (one who owns) and whose basic form is beyond anyone’s comprehension, mercifully resides in the distinguished SrI vaikuNtam along with SrIdhEvi, bhakthas (those who are totally engaged with emperumAn’s auspicious qualities) and bhAgavathas (those who are totally involved in carrying out kainkaryam (service) to emperumAn)). AzhwAr longs for that experience in this thiruvarangam itself. This verse refers to SrI rangam which is a magnificent town. Further, AzhwAr describes as to how emperumAn mercifully resides in this place.

theNNIrp ponni thiraikkaiyAl adivaruda – river kAviri, who flows with clear water, gently massages the divine feet of emperumAn with her waves, which are like her hands.

paLLi koLLum karumaNiyai – one who is reclining on thiruvananthAzhwAn like a blue gemstone

kOmaLaththai – he is such tender that his divine form will not tolerate if one were to even look at him constantly.

kaNdu koNdu – for his followers, just looking at him is the ultimate benefit, just like a famished person would look at food.

en kaNNiNaigaL – my eyes, which are famished.

enRu kolO kaLikkum nALE – thaiththirIya upanishath, bhruguvalli 10-6 says “aham annam aham annam aham annam I
aham annAdhO’hamannAdhO’ham annAdha: II” (I am an enjoyable entity (for emperumAn), like food. I am the enjoyer of food (enjoying the happiness of emperumAn)). AzhwAr is wondering as to when he will attain the happiness of having dharSan of perumAL in SrI rangam, just like the mukthAthmA enjoys after attaining mOksham.

In the next article, we will take up the 2nd pAsuram of this decad.

adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan

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emperumAn is the consort of thiru (SrI mahAlakshmi); he is the epitome of knowledge and joy; he is the repository of all the auspicious qualities; he is the owner of both nithyavibhUthi (spiritual realm, SrI vaikuNtam) and leelA vibhUthi (materialistic realm, samsAram). Such emperumAn manifested to kulaSEkhara AzhwAr, his basic nature, his divine form, his qualities and his possessions. AzhwAr, upon being shown these by emperumAn himself, received gyAnam (knowledge) which was the end result of matured bhakthi (devotion). Had he been like other upAsakars (those who attain emperumAn through the path of upAsanam or bhakthi), he would have made attempts on his own to reach emperumAn, waiting patiently for that devotion to transcend the states of parabhakthi, paragyAnam and paramabhakthi (knowledge about emperumAn, reaching a stage where one would sustain oneself while being together with emperumAn and not sustain in separation from him and finally attaining emperumAn, respectively). However, since AzhwAr received knowledge and devotion through the manifestations of emperumAn himself, he did not have the patience of an upAsakar and wanted to see and attain emperumAn immediately. Even if he had gone to paramapadham (SrI vaikuNtam) he would have enjoyed the auspicious qualities of emperumAn, related to his eminence, there. However, in SrI vaikuNtam, he would not have experienced emperumAn’s auspicious qualities of saulabhyam (easy to approach), sauSeelyam (a great person being affable with a lowly person), vAthsalyam (motherly forbearance; treating even the faults in followers as noble qualities) etc [these qualities are displayed only in samsAram, to samsAris (those who dwell in samsAram) who are lowly people]. AzhwAr longs to go to SrI rangam and enjoy these auspicious qualities, which are amply present in SrI ranganAthan, in this first decad. This begs the question – why should he long to go to SrI rangam, when it does not take a great effort? The reason is that from the time when he was born, he was destined to be a ruler, with total independence. His ministers and others would connive at creating hurdles in his journey to SrI rangam. Hence, he was unable to proceed to SrI rangam. This is the reason for the verse ghushyathE yasya nagarE rangayAthrA dhinE dhinE (from whose capital city, resounding words of SrI ranga yAthrA (journey to SrI rangam) were heard everyday) to become a part of his thaniyan. Thus, since he could not go directly to SrI rangam and enjoy the auspicious qualities of emperumAn, he desires to enjoy the auspicious qualities which were prayed for by nammAzhwAr in his thiruvAimozhi 2-3-10 “adiyAr kuzhAngaLai udan kUduvadhu enRukolO” and thiruvAimozhi 10-9-11 “andhamil pErinbaththu adiyarOdu irundhamai” in this decad.

• pAsuram 1
• pAsuram 2
• pAsuram 3
• pAsuram 4
• pAsuram 5
• pAsuram 6
• pAsuram 7
• pAsuram 8
• pAsuram 9
• pAsuram 10
• pAsuram 11

adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan

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avathArikai (Introduction)

This thaniyan, composed by maNakkAl nambi (AchAryan of ALavandhAr), manifests his bias towards SrI vaishNavas

Aram kedap parananbar koLLArenRu avargaLukkE
vArangodu kudappAmbil kaiyittavan mARRalarai
vIrangeduththa sengOl kolli kAvalan villavar kOn
sEran kulaSEkharan mudivEndhar sigAmaNiyE

Word-by-word Meaning

Aram keda– since the ruby necklace went missing (due to the conspiracy of ministers)
paran anbar koLLAr enRu – telling them that SrI vaishNavas will not touch others’ possession
avargaLukkE – in the matter of SrI vaishNavas (who were charged with the theft)
vAram kodu – showing bias
kudap pAmbil kai ittavan – one who thrust his hand inside a pot, containing a poisonous snake
mARRalarai – enemies’
vIram keduththa – one who destroyed their valour
sengOl – one who has the sceptre
kolli kAvalan – being the controller of the city of kolli
villavar kOn – being the leader of other kings
mudi vEndhar – for the kings who were crowned
sigAmaNiyE– one who is like a jewel in their crowns
sEran kulaSEkharan – it is kulaSEkhara AzhwAr, who is like a ruby for the clan of chEra kings

Simple Translation

kulaSEkhara AzhwAr vowed to his ministers that SrI vaishNavas will not desire others’ possessions when they blamed the SrI vaishNavas for stealing a ruby necklace. To prove his confidence in them, he thrust his hand inside a pot containing a poisonous snake. He destroyed the valour of his enemies; he ruled over the town of kolli with a sceptre in his hand. He was a king among kings, being a jewel on their crowns. He was the ruby for the clan of chEra kings.

vyAkyAnam (Commentary)

Aram keda – The ministers in kulaSEkharar’s council thought that the affection which kulaSEkharar had towards SrI vaishNavas was hindering his regal duties as a king. Hence, they decided to put an end to his affection towards SrI vaishNavas. They hid a ruby necklace of emperumAn’s and shifted the blame on SrI vaishNavas.

Hearing this ….

paran anbar koLLAr enRu – kulaSEkharar made a vow that SrI vaishNavas, who are deeply devoted to paravasthu (supreme entity, SrIman nArAyaNa) will not covet para vasthu (material, belonging to others). Only those who are not devoted to emperumAn will act similar to kaNNinuN siRuththAmbu pAsuram 5 “nambinEn piRar nanporuL thannaiyum” (I will covet AthmA, which belongs to emperumAn).

Due to this ….

avargaLukkE vAram kodu kudappAmbil kai ittavan – Not only did kulaSEkharar vow that SrI vaishNavas will not steal others’ belongings. He exhibited his bias towards them by putting his hand against the hood of a snake which was kept inside a pot, in line with the saying of nammAzhwAr as in periya thiruvandhAdhi pAsuram 14 “pAmbAr vAy kai neettal pArththi” (you are trying to put out your hand into the mouth of a snake (here, samsAram is referred to by the term snake)). The opinion here is that he undertook a frightening vow of putting his hand inside the mouth of a snake since he was of the firm belief that SrI vaishNavas will not at all steal anyone’s possession.

Was the person who carried out such an act, an ordinary, lowly person? No, he was an emperor who would disarm the valour of enemies …….

mARRalarai vIram keduththa – one who made the valour of enemies as useless.

How did he achieve this?

sengOl – Through his sceptre, with which he was ruling over his enemies too. Did not nammAzhwAr mercifully state in thiruviruththam 33 “iruLAr vinai kedach chengOl nadAvudhIr” (emperumAn rules over both spiritual realm and materialistic realm through his sceptre)!

kolli kAvalan – Just as nammAzhwAr is referred to as kurugaik kAvalan (ruler of kurugUr), kulaSEkharar is referred to as kolli kAvalan, ruler of chEranAdu (land of chEras), whose capital is kolli.

villavar kOn – we can construe this as – the king of those who are ruling other countries with their bows. Alternatively, since bow is the symbol for chEra kings, we can consider this term to refer to the king of chEras. kulaSEkharar himself had referred to the fact that he is the king of all three lands, chEra, chOzha and pANdiya, through his verse in perumAL thirumozhi 2-10 “kolli kAvalan kUdal nAyagan kOzhikkOn kulaSEkharan” – kolli refers to the capital city of chEras, kUdal refers to madhurai, the capital city of pANdiyas and kOzhi refers to uRaiyUr, the capital city of chOzhas. Hence, we can say that he is the head of all three lands.

sEran kulaSEkharan – though he is the head of all three lands, here he is referred to as the head of kings of chEras. kulaSEkharan is his divine name.

Since he is the most powerful king among all the kings, he is referred to as

mudivEndhar sigAmaNi – just as it has been said in periya thirumozhi 5-8-9 “thuLangu nINmudi arasar” (king with a splendorous long crown), since all the kings who wear long crowns on their heads bow down their heads at the divine feet of kulaSEkhara AzhwAr, he is referred to as mudivEndhar sigAmaNi. kulaSEkharar himself had mercifully stated in perumAL thirumozhi 7-11 “mAladi mudimEl kOlamAm kulaSEkharan” (kulaSEkharan who is bowing down his head at the divine feet of SrIman nArAyaNa). Just as his crown was decorating the divine feet of emperumAn, the crowns of all the other kings were decorating his divine feet. periya thirumozhi 9-5-4 says “perumaNi vAnavar uchchi vaiththa pEraruLALan” – emperumAn is the jewel for other celestial entities. Similarly, kulaSEkharar is the jewel on the crowns of other kings. “ISvarANAm SrImath kirIta thata bIditha pAdha pItam” – emperumAn has great divine feet which are bowed down to by the crowns of all the other celestial deities. In the same way is the greatness of this AzhwAr who is referred to as perumAL.

mudivEndhar sigAmaNiyE – we can construe this to say that his greatness is immeasurable, since he is like the jewel decorating the crowns of all the kings and is nonpareil. Alternatively, we can say that it is indeed wondrous that such kulaSEkhara AzhwAr, who is matchless, put his hand inside the pot containing poisonous snake, for the sake of followers of emperumAn. He had mercifully said in his perumAL thirumozhi 2-10 “arangan meyyadiyArgaL tham ellaiyil adimaith thiRaththinil enRu mEvu manaththananAm …. kulaSEkharan” (kulaSEkharan is always at the boundary of servitude, of carrying out service to the divine followers of SrI ranganAthan). We can say that in this thaniyan, he has manifested his bhaktha pArathanthriyam (being totally subservient to the followers of emperumAn).

In the next article, we will discuss the pravESam (introduction) for the first decad.

adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan

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The thaniyan has been composed by emperumAnAr (bhagavadh rAmAnujar). The commentary for the thaniyans has been written by piLLailOkam jIyar.

avathArikai (Introduction)

This thaniyan has been mercifully composed by emperumAnAr. It would appear that emperumAnAr, engaging with kulaSEkhara AzhwAr, assumes the emotions of a lady and is asking a parrot to praise the auspicious qualities of AzhwAr. innamudham UttugEn – In many dhivyadhEsams (divine abodes), AzhwArs have mercifully told parrots and animals to recite the divine names of emperumAn. The following pAsurams are examples of this:

• periyAzhwAr thirumozhi 4-2-8 – “pUmaruvip puLLinangaL puLLaraiyan pugazh kuzhaRum punalarangamE”
• periyAzhwAr thirumozhi 4-2-8 – “aRugAl varivaNdugaL Ayira nAmam solli siRu kAlaip pAdum thirumAlirunjOlaiyE”
• periyAzhwAr thirumozhi 4-8-8 – “elliyambOdhE irunjiRai vaNdu emperumAn guNam pAdi malligai veN sangu Udhum madhiLarangam enbadhuvE”
• periya thirumozhi 4-10-7 – “alliyam pozhil vAy irundhu vAzh kuyilgaL ari ari enRu avai azhaippa veLLiyAr vaNanga viraindhu aruL seyvAn kiLi nAnmaRai pAdu thillAiththiruchchithrakUtam senRu sErmingaLE”
• Following AzhwArs, parASara bhattar (son of kUraththAzhwAn) too, in his SrI rangarAnatha SthOthram has said “SagunAnUdhitha brahma gOshAm” (SrIrangam which is full of birds which repeat the vEdhams which are recited by brAhmaNas). We could consider this thaniyan as the followers of kulaSEkhara AzhwAr asking parrots to recite the divine names of AzhwAr just as AzhwAr, who was a devotee of SrI rAma had asked the parrots which were with him to recite the divine names of SrI rAma.

Alternatively, we can consider the term parrot to refer to disciples. Thus, it could be said that emperumAnAr is telling his disciples to speak about the greatness of kulaSEkhara AzhwAr. emperumAnAr was always engaged with the epic SrI rAmAyaNam, as said in irAmAnusa nURRandhAdhi pAsuram 37 “irAmAyaNam ennum bhakthi veLLam kudikoNda kOyil irAmANusan..” and with the dhivyadhEsam SrIrangam, as mentioned in irAmANusa nURRandhAdhi pAsuram 37 “ponnarangam enil mayalE perugum irAmAnusan…” In the same way, kulaSEkhara AzhwAr too was engaged with SrI rAmAyaNam as brought out by his perumAL thirumozhi pAsuram 10-11 “ellaiyil sIrththayaradhan maganAyth thOnRiRRadhu mudhalAth thannulagam pukkadhu IRA..” and perumAL thirumozhi 10-8 “emperumAn than saridhai seviyAl kaNNAl paruguvOm innamudham madhiyOminRE”. Also, he was always engaged with the dhivyadhESam SrI rangam as brought by the lines in his thaniyan “ghushyathE yasya nagarE rangayAthrA dhinE dhinE I thamaham SirasA vandhE rAjAnAm kulaSEkharam” (I bow down to the divine feet of that kulaSEkharar from whose capital city the cry of ‘SrIrangayAthrA’ is heard everyday) and in his pAsuram perumAL thirumozhi 3-9 “arangan adiyiNaith thangu sindhaith thanipperum piththanAm”. Thus, just as it is mentioned in irAmANusa nURRandhAdhi pAsuram 14 “kolli kAvalan sol padhikkum kalaikkavi pAdum periyavar pAdhangaLE thudhikkum paraman irAmANusan”, since emperumAnAr who is like a king among ascetics was totally engaged with the (chEra) king kulaSEkharar, he had composed this thaniyan on AzhwAr. We could consider that emperumAnAr was referring to his disciples such as kUraththAzhwAn et al as parrot, since his disciples were constantly dwelling in SrI rangam as mentioned in thiruchchandhaviruththam pAsuram 52 “aRRapaRRar suRRi vAzhum andhaNIr arangamE”. A parrot will repeat what it is taught, dutifully. kUraththAzhwAn too mercifully recorded in his works such as panchasthavam, that which he had been taught by emperumAnAr. Has he ever said anything that he was not taught? Thus, we can say that in this thaniyan emperumAnAr is asking his disciples such as kUraththAzhwAn to narrate about the greatness of kulaSEkharar.

innamudham UttugEn ingE vA paingiLiyE
thennarangam pAdavalla sIrpperumAn – ponnin
silaisEr nudhaliyarvEL sEralarkOn engaL
kulaSEkharan enRE kURu

Word-by-word Meanings

paingiLiyE – Oh parrot with a greenish complexion
in amudham UttugEn – I will offer you sweet nectar to eat
ingE vA – come near me
then arangam – regarding thiruvarangam, which is on the southern side
pAdavalla – capable of composing (sweet poems)
sIr – overflowing with qualities such as devotion
perumAn – having the divine name ‘perumAL’
ponnin silai sEr – having brows which are desirous, and which resemble a bow
nudhaliyar vEL – one who steals the minds, just as manmatha (cupid) does to women
sEralar kOn – being the head of the clan of chEras (kings of kEraLa)
engaL kula – for our clan of prapannars (those who have surrendered to SrIman nArAyaNa)
SEkharan – kulaSEkharap perumAL who is like a jewel on the crown
enRE kURu – keep blabbering the divine name

Simple Translation

Oh parrot! Come near me, I will offer you sweet nectar to eat. All that you have to do is to keep blabbering the divine name of kulaSEkhara AzhwAr, who is also called as perumAL. He is capable of composing sweet hymns on emperumAn who is lying in SrI rangam. AzhwAr has overflowing qualities such as devotion towards emperumAn, has eye-brows which are like bows and which are desirable, he steals the minds, just as manmathan did towards women, and he is the head of the clan of chEras. He also happens to be the head of the clan of prapannars.

vyAkyAnam (Detailed commentary):

innamudham Uttugen – Did not ANdAL, a lady, mercifully say in nAchchiyAr thirumozhi 5-5 “innadisalOdu pAlamudhu Utti eduththa en kOlakkiLiyai” (did I not nurture my beautiful parrot with sweet rice and milk)? In the same manner, emperumAnAr too nurtured kUraththAzhwAn and others with the divine names of thirumAl (SrIman nArAyaNa) just as it has been mentioned in periya thirumozhi 6-10-6 “thEnum pAlum amudhumAya” (like honey and milk). In order to bring this out clearly, emperumAnAr, who had mercifully recited dhvayam (the two esoteric lines which are recited while surrendering to emperumAn) at the time of carrying out panchasamskAram (a ritual, composed of five parts, which is conducted during the performing of surrendering to emperumAn), once again mercifully recited dhvayam in kUraththAzhwAn’s right ear.

ingE vA – beckoning them (AzhwAn and other disciples), since emperumAnAr tells them “engaL kulaSEkharan enRE kURu” (say that he is our kulaSEkharar), it is clear that emperumAnAr had seen the joy emanating from the forms of kUraththAzhwAn and others. Hence, he is calling them to come near him.

paingiLiyE – having green complexion, emitting the radiance of emerald gem, and being obedient (to emperumAnAr). This brings out the equality between emperumAn and the parrot, just as it has been mercifully stated by nammAzhwAr in his thiruvAimozhi 9-5-6 “en Aruyir kAguththan nin seyya vAyokkum vAyan kaNNan kai kAlinan nin pasum sAma niRaththan”. muNdaka upanishath 3-1-3 says “paramam sAmyam upaithi” (mukthAthmA (the liberated soul) attains distinguished equality with emperumAn). Thus, has it not been said in upanishath too that wise people, similar to the parrot, attain equality with emperumAn!

When the parrot queried as to why it was being called,

thennarangam pAdavalla sIrpperumAL ponnin silaisEr nudhaliyar vEL sEralarkOn engaL kulaSEkharan enRE kURu – the meaning of the verse thennarangam pAdavalla sIrpperumAL is this: in his first three decads of perumAL thirumozhi, kulaSEkhara AzhwAr mercifully praised SrI ranganAthan, as in perumAL thirumozhi 1, iruLiriya, perumAL thirumozhi 2, thEttarum thiRal then and perumAL thirumozhi 3, meyyil vAzhkkai. Also, in the 8^th thirumozhi 10^th pAsuram, he had mercifully said yAvarum vandhu adivaNanga aranga nagarth thuyinRavanE. In the divine verses of other AzhwArs too, such as in siRiya thirumadal 71 ArAmam sUzhndha arangam (thiruvarangam surrounded by gardens) mention is made of this divine abode. Similarly, in thiruvAImozhi 7-2-3, nammAzhwAr calls kAguththA kaNNanE (Oh SrI rAma! Oh krishNa!), just as kulaSEkhara AzhwAr mercifully speaks about archAvathAram (SrI rAma) in his concluding 10^th decad. SrI ranganAthan too has been referred to by thoNdaradippodi AzhwAr in his thirumALai 11 as seruvilE arakkar kOnaichcheRRa nam sEvaganAr and by thiruppANAzhwAr in his amalanAdhipirAn 10 as vennEy uNda vAyan; thus, SrIranganAthar has been praised as both SrI rAma and krishNa by AzhwArs. Hence it would not be inappropriate to say that kulaSEkhara AzhwAr has mercifully spoken only about the divine abode of SrI rangam in his entire perumAL thirumozhi. The meaning of the verse ponnin silaisEr nudhaliyar vEL is this – he (kulaSEkhara AzhwAr) has his eye brows which are much desirable and which are in the form of a bow, and who is much desired by women just as they desire manmathan (cupid, the god of love). The term vEL refers directly to manmathan.  In SrI rAmAyaNam sundhara kANdam 34-30 too, was not SrI rAma spoken of as kandharpa iva mUrthimAn (one who has the form of manmathan)! The term ‘women’ in the above-mentioned reference refers to gyAnis (wise people); just as it has been mercifully stated by nammAzhwAr in his thiruvAimozhi 5-8-11 kAmar mAnEy nOkkiyarkku. Thus, it is clearly stated that kulaSEkharap perumAL was desired by followers who had gyAnam (knowledge about emperumAn) and who had distinguished effulgence from their forms.

sEralar kOn – being the head of all the kings who had been born in the chEra clan. Just as it has been said in mahAbhAratham “rAjAdhi rAja: sarvEshAm vishNu” (vishNu is the king among all the kings), kulaSEkharar is the king among all kings. The term kOn refers to his being the king. The meaning is that he is the head of chEra clan.

engaL kulaSEkharan – he is not only the head of chEra clan, he is also the head of the clan of those who surrender to SrIman nArAyaNa. thiruvarangaththu amudahnAr, who had composed irAmAnusa nURRandhAdhi, had referred to rAmAnujar as “irAmAnusan engaL kulakkozhundhu” (rAmANujar is the head of our clan (of those who have surrendered)). In the same way, rAmAnujar mercifully says that kulaSEkharar is the head of prapanna kulam (clan of those who have surrendered).

kulaSEkharan enRE kURu – Oh parrot, who is being nurtured by me! Do not talk gibberish with your sweet voice. Recite the divine name of kulaSEkhara AzhwAr. For saying that, I will offer to your mouth, the divine names of SrIman nArAyaNa which are like nectar. Hence, recite the name of kulaSEkhara alone. Has it not been mentioned mercifully in SrIvachana bhUshaNam 274 “vakthavyam AchArya vaibhavam” (always recite the greatness of AchArya)!

In the next article, we will take up the second thaniyan.

adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan

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Subsequently, kulaSEkharar, not willing to continue in regal duties which are fraught with such deceitful activities, crowned his son dhrudavrathan as the king and left for SrI rangam, as per his long-standing wish, along with his daughter, chErakulavalli nAchchiyAr. He lived there for many years, worshipping namperumAL (uthsavar at SrI rangam). Since his daughter chErakulavalli nAchchiyAr desired azhagiya maNavALan (namperumAL) as her husband, he gave her in marriage to namperumAL. He built a fortified wall on the third prakAram (perambulation) of the temple; this exists even today and is known by the name kulaSEkharan thiruchchuRRu (perambulation of kulaSEkharar). He carried out several other services to perumAL as well as to his followers.

Desiring to go to other dhivyadhEsams (divine abodes), kulaSEkharar went to thiruvEngadam, thiruvayOdhdhi, thillaiththiruchchithrakUtam, thirukkaNNapuram, thirumAlirunjOlai and thiruviththuvakkOdu, worshipped the emperumAns there; he went to thirukkurugUr and worshipped the divine feet of nammAzhwAr. He went to brahmadhESam (mannArkOyil) which is near that place, carried out divine service to rAjagOpAla swAmy there. He attained paramapadham in his sixty seventh year. When he went to various dhivyadhEsams and worshipped emperumAns in these abodes, the overflowing love which he had towards those emeprumAns took the form of divine pAsurams (hymns) which everyone could enjoy in later years too. This collection of pAsurams is known by the name perumAL thirumozhi (the divine words of kulaSEkharar). Another work, in samskrutham, by the name mukundha mAlai (garland for SrIman nArAyaNa, who grants mOksham), a wondrous prabandham, is also ascribed to kulaSEkharar. However, preceptors such as periyavAchchAn piLLai, who wrote divine commentary for all the nAlAyira dhivyaprabandham (the collective works of all AzhwArs) and for pUrvAchAryars’ (preceptors’) works such as  sthOthra rathnam (gem of praises on SrIman nArAyaNa), did not write a commentary for mukundha mAlai. Also, none of the preceptors prior to maNavALa mAmunigaL cited reference from any of the hymns from mukundha mAlai. Thus, it would not be inappropriate to state with certainty that kulaSEkhara AzhwAr did not compose mukundha mAlai and that a kErala king, by the same name kulaSEkharar, who lived prior to maNavALa mAmunigaL’s time, and who was a great devotee of SrIman nArAyaNa, had composed this.

We will now briefly state the meaning of perumAL thirumozhi. The most merciful emperumAn (SrIman nArAyaNa) provided AzhwAr with devotion and knowledge without any trace of ignorance. With that knowledge, which was born out of devotion, AzhwAr had a longing to see emperumAn immediately. Not being able to bear the delay in going to paramapadham (SrI vaikuNtam) to experience him, he longed to have dharSan (vision) of periya perumAL in SrI rangam where emperumAn, apart from having the auspicious qualities such as parathvam (greatness) matching that of paramapadhanAthan (lord of SrI vaikuNtam), also has the auspicious qualities of saulabhyam (easy to approach) such as Seelam (a great person being affable with inferior persons). However, he was unable to proceed due to his regal duties and the thadhIyArAdhanam that he was organising for SrI vaishNavas. Due to these reasons, he lamented “When will I enjoy the great gem who is lying in the beautiful SrIrangam?” in the first decad.

For those who are greatly involved with emperumAn, six prapanna svabhAvams (basic qualities of those who surrender to emperumAn) will gradually form. These are: (1) AnukUlya sankalpam (vowing to engage in activities which are pleasing to favourable ones (emperumAn and his followers), (2) prAthikUlya varjanam (avoiding the unfavourable ones; desisting from carrying out activities inimical to emperumAn), (3) firm belief that “The owner, emperumAn, will protect us”, (4) considering emperumAn as the protector, (5) proffering the AthmA (soul) to emperumAn and (6) appealing to emperumAn about the absence of anything in us to reach him. Of these, AzhwAr manifested his having AnukUlya sankalpam towards emperumAn through iruLiriyach chudarmaNigaL … in the first decad. He manifested his having AnukUlya sankalpam towards bhAgavathas (followers of emperumAn) in the second decad, thEttarum thiRal …. Thus, with the engagement with emperumAn cascading to his followers too, AzhwAr says that his connection with the unfavourable ones got severed (this is prAthikUlya varjanam as seen in serial no 2 above), through the third decad, starting with meyyil vAzhkkaiyai … Despite having AnukUlya sankalpam with emperumAn and his followers as well as prAthikUlya varjanam, AzhwAr realised that he had not attained emperumAn. He thought “Perhaps emperumAn thinks that I still have attachment with my kingdom and is delaying my attaining his divine feet”. He now appeals to thiruvEngadamudaiyAn (the lord of thirumalai, where thiruvarangan, who was experienced in the first three decads of perumAL thirumozhi, stands) expressing his detachment towards wealth in both his kingdom on earth and in the ethereal world. He expresses his desire to be any object atop thirumalai hills and to see emperumAn’s beautiful, coral like lips, through the fourth decad, starting with UnERu selvaththu. Even after attaining all these, he realises that he has not attained emperumAn. He now reveals that he has the characteristics of Akinchanyam (not having anything on his own to attain emperumAn) and ananyagathithvam (not entrusting himself to anyone other than emperumAn) detailed through several examples and appeals to the divine feet of emperumAn at thiruviththuvakkOdu, in the fifth decad, tharu thuyaram thadAyEl. Since he did not attain emperumAn even after this, he reaches the limit of distress, assumes the state of pirAtti (consort of emperumAn) and expresses his state of joining with emperumAn, separating from him and having love-duel with him through the sixth decad Ermalarp pUnguzhal, just as nammAzhwAr did in minnidai madavar (thiruvAimozhi 6-2) and thirumangai AzhwAr in kAdhil kadippittu (periya thirumozhi 10.8). With the sorrow of what he had lost since time immemorial rearing its head, AzhwAr recalls the lamenting of dhEvaki (krishNa’s mother), upon seeing krishNa after he killed kamsan, about what all she had lost after krishNa was born and asked to be shifted to gOkulam soon after his birth. AzhwAr does this through the 7^th decad AlaineeL karumbu. After singing this in the bhAvam (emotions) of dhEvaki, he assumes the bhAvam of kausalyA (mother of SrI rAma) and sings lullabies for SrI rAma at thirukkaNNapuram through the 8^th decad mannu pugazh. After this, he assumes the bhAvam of dhaSaratha chakravarthi and laments about how dhaSaratha feels distressed about sending off SrI rAma to the forest after enjoying all his playful and courageous activities as a child and youth, through the ninth decad van thALiNai. In order to get rid of all the sorrow of all such losses that he had suffered in the previous decads, he brings the prabandham to an end by describing the incarnation of SrI rAma, just as it was done by SrI vAlmIki bhagavAn, from the time of his birth to the time of his ascension to SrI vaikuNtam, by praising SrI rAma in thiruchithrakUtam, in the tenth decad angaNedumadhiL.

Since he was totally engaged with perumAL (chakravarthith thirumagan, the son of dhaSaratha chakravarthi) during his life time and through his prabandham, he was called as kulaSEkharap perumAL. In his perumAL thirumozhi 4.9, AzhwAr, while carrying out kainkaryam (service) for emperumAn, had said “padiyAyk kidandhu un pavaLavAy kANbEnE” (I will lie down in your presence as a step and enjoy your beautiful, coral-like lips). In this, he states that he does not have the primary share of enjoyment through the words padiyAyk kidandhu (lying as a step, made of stone). He also stresses that it is only emperumAn who has the primary share of enjoyment through the words un pavaLa vAy (your coral-like lips). He also says that he has secondary share of enjoyment through the words kANbEnE (I will see). Since he prayed this way to thiruvEngadamudaiyAn, annulling his desire to attain emperumAn, the step which is present just before the sanctum sanctorum in all the bhagavath sannidhis (dwelling places of emperumAn) is called as kulaSEkharan padi (the step of kulaSEkhara AzhwAr).

Note: These two parts of kulaSEkharAzhwAr vaibhavam and perumAL thirumozhi introduction were translated based on the article by puththUr swamy in the perumAL thirumozhi commentary published by him.

We will enjoy the thaniyans for this prabandham, in the next two articles.

adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan

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