thiruvAimozhi – bhagavath vishayam – thaniyans (Invocation)

srI:
srImathE satakOpAya nama:
srImathE rAmAnujAya nama:
srImadh varavaramunayE nama:

Full series

srivaishna-guruparamparai

Before beginning the study of thiruvAimozhi meanings (mainly for Idu (eedu) kAlakshEpam, i.e., listening to lectures of Idu vyAkyAnam), it is customary to recollect the contribution of the glorious preceptors who preserved and propagated thiruvAimozhi and its divine meanings. Let us now see these thaniyans (invocatory verses) briefly with the help of the vyAkyAnam provided by piLLai lOkam jIyar.

The first 2 thaniyans glorify the AchAryas who passed the divine meanings of thiruvAimozhi through the paramparA. These two thaniyans were always recited in the beginning of Idu kAlakshEpam by maNavALa mAmunigaL recollecting the great favours done by the AchAryas who preserved and propagated the divine meanings of thiruvAimozhi.

thaniyan blessed by thiruvAimozhip piLLai

nAtham pankajanEthra rAma yamunAvAsthavya mAlAdhArAn
yOgIndhram kurukEsachandhra jalathim gOvindha kUrAdhipau |
bhattAryam nigamAnthayOgi jagadhAchAryau sakrushNadhvayau
vandhE mAdhava padhmanAbha sumana:kOlEsa dhEvAdhipAn ||

Simple translation: I worship nAthamunigaL, uyyakkoNdAr, maNakkAl nambi, yAmunAchArya, thirumAlai ANdAn, srI rAmAnuja who is most dear to thirukkurukaippirAn piLLAn, gOvindhAchArya (embAr) and kUraththAzhwAn, parAsara bhattar, nanjIyar, nampiLLai lOkAchAryar, the two krishNas – periyavAchchAn piLLai and vadakkuth thiruvIdhip piLLai, IyuNNi mAdhavap perumAL (who was named by nampiLLai as madhava in memory of his own AchArya nanjIyar), IyuNNi padhmanAbap perumAL (who is the son of IyuNNi mAdhavap perumAL), nAlUr piLLai (kOla varAhAchArya) and nAlUrAchchAn piLLai (dhEvAdhipa).

thaniyan blessed by maNavALa mAmunigaL

thiruvaruNmAl sEnaimudhali satakOpan nAthamuni sIruyyakkoNdAr maNakkAl nambi chenrAmALavandhAr
gurumAlAdhArar kurukaippirARkku anbAm ethirAsar gOvindhar kUrEsar bhattar vEdhAnthimuni
irukaNNArkku anbudaiya nampiLLai ivar IdaLiththaRku Eyntha mAdhavar paRpanAbar ivar aruLALar
thiruvadi UnRiya dhEvapperumAL kaikkoNdaruLum thirumalai AzhwAr padhangaL munbennuL chErnthanavE

Simple translation: The lotus feet (and the blessings) of srIman nArAyaNan, sEnai mudhaliyAr (vishwawksEnar), nammAzhwAr, nAthamunigaL, uyyakkoNdArmaNakkAl nambi who reformed ALavandhAr, thirumAlai ANdAn, emperumAnAr who is most dear to thirukkurukaippirAn piLLAn, embAr, kUraththAzhwAn, bhattar, nanjIyar who is known as vEdhAnthi muni, nampiLLai who is dear to the two krishNas – periyavAchchAn piLLai and vadakkuth thiruvIdhip piLLai, IyuNNi mAdhavap perumAL who was greatly qualified to receive the Idu vyAkyAnam from nampiLLai, IyuNNi padhmanAbap perumAL, nAlUr piLLai who is known as “aruLALar thiruvadi UnRiyinavar” (one on whose head srI satakOpam (satAri) of srI varadharAjap perumAL was well pressed meaning well blessed, one who pressed on the srI satakOpam of srI varadharAjap perumAL), thiruvAimozhip piLLai who was lovingly accepted by nAlUrAchchAn piLLai (who is the son of nAlUr piLLai) as his sishya have been bestowed on me.

Highlights from piLLai lOkam jIyar‘s vyAkyAnam

nammazhwar-madhurakavi-nathamuninammAzhwAr with madhurakavi AzhwAr and nAthamunigaL at either side

  • nAthamunigaL who is originally known as srIranganAtha  – one who considers nammAzhwAr as his master. Just like nammAzhwAr was blessed by srIman nArAyaNan, nAthamunigaL was blessed in turn by nammAzhwAr.
  • pankajanEthra – puNdarikAksha is the most glorious uyyakkoNdAr who preached the principle of saraNAgathi (dhvaya mahA manthram) and dhIrga saraNAgathi (thiruvAimozhi).
  • srI rAma misra – maNakkAl nambi who served his AchArya for 12 years staying along with him.
  • yAmunavAsthavya – yamunaithuRaivar who is also known as ALavandhAr and the dear grand son of nAthamunigaL. While he was engaged in administrative duties of the kingdom won by him through debate, maNakkAl nambi pursued him, reformed him and made him the leader of our sath sampradhAyam.
  • guru mAlAdhAra – mAlAdhArar who is known as thirumAlai ANdAn. He learnt thiruvAimozhi from ALavandhAr and taught that to emperumAnAr. The “guru” attribute here signifies him teaching thiruvAimozhi that too to emperumAnAr himself.
  • yOgIndhram – srI rAmAnuja who established the meanings of thiruvAimozhi firmly. nammAzhwAr is considered as the first  [biological] mother of thiruvAimozhi and emperumAnAr is considered as the foster-mother of thiruvAimozhi. He is also glorified as “mARan adi paNindhu uynthavan” (one who became uplifted due to his great devotion towards nammAzhwAr).

emperumanar_with_sishyasemperumAnAr (srI rAmAnuja) kAlakshEpa gOshti

  • yOgIndhram kurukEsa chandra jalathim – kurukEsa who is known as thirukkurukaippirAn piLLAn who lights up the face (life) of emperumAnAr. emperumAnAr gave him the name of nammAzhwAr, considered him as his abimAna puthra (dear son) and engaged him in the propagation of thiruvAimozhi by ordering him to write the first commentary for thiruvAimozhi which is glorified as 6000 padi.
  • gOvindha kUrAdhipau – embAr and kUraththAzhwAn – both of them were the main visionaries of our sampradhAyam and thus most dear to emperumAnAremperumAnAr consecrated these two as the leaders to propagate prapaththi sAsthram (the principle of total surrender). Also, both of them are mentioned here due to their being the AchAryas of bhattar. embAr instructed dhvaya mahA manthram to bhattar right when he was a new-born (11 days old) child and became the AchArya of bhattar per the orders of emperumAnAr. AzhwAn explains the meaning of thirumanthram to bhattar as explained in thiruvAimozhi 1.2.10 “eNperukkan nalam” pAsuram.
  • bhattAryam – srI parAsara bhattar who is lovingly called as “bhattar“.  As explained in srIrangarAja sthavam 1.49 “srIrangarAja kamalApadha lAlithathvam” by himself, he is the adopted son of srIranganAthan and srIranganAchchiyAr. Also, he is non-different from srI rAmAnuja who said “my disciples should consider bhattar as myself”. He is most attached to thirunedunthANdagam and his words are always in the mood of dhivya prabandham. In all of the vyAkyAnams, bhattar‘s explanations are most-widely seen.

parasara-bhattarbhattar with nanjIyar at his lotus feet

  • nigamAntha yOgi – vEdhAnthimuni who is known as nanjIyar. He was originally named mAdhavAchAryar, an advaitha scholar and was reformed by bhattar at thirunArAyaNapuram. He became a great disciple of bhattar and by the blessings of bhattar, he compiled 9000 padi vyAkyAnam (commentary) for thiruvAimozhi. It is also well established that he performed thiruvAimozhi kAlakshEpam 100 times.
  • jagadhAchArya – As explained in upadhEsa rathinamAlai 51 “thunnupugazhk kandhAdai thOzhappar” pAsuram, nampiLLai is glorified as jagadhAchArya. He had two most glorious disciples vadakkuth thiruvIdhip piLLai and periyavAchchAn piLLai – both named srI krishNa. As explained in his thaniyan, he is “kAruNyapUrNam kalivairi dhAsam” – one who is named “thirukkalikanRi dhAsar” and is filled with compassion. It is only during his period that the commentaries for dhivya prabandham flourished greatly. He was also born on thirumangai AzhwAr‘s thirunakshathram kArthikai month kArthikai star. Just like nammAzhwAr, he is called as nampiLLai. Just like nammAzhwAr is called prathamAchArya, nampiLLai is called lOkAchArya. Just like nammAzhwAr is glorified as “thirunAvIRudaiya pirAn” (the lord who has a strong/valiant tongue), nampiLLai is also called as as vIRudaiyAr (valiant). kandhAdai thOzhappar’s dharma pathni glorifies “nampiLLai is like a special incarnation of AzhwAr who is most dear to perumAL himself”.

nampillai-goshti1nampiLLai kAlakshEpa gOshti

  • sakrushNa dhvayau  – two krishNas (of nampiLLai) – since both periyavAchchAn piLLai  and vadakkuth thiruvIdhip piLLai are most dear to nampiLLai, they are glorified together. Both were bestowed with divine knowledge by nampiLLai.  periyavAchchAn piLLai compiled a vyAkyAnam for thiruvAimozhi named 24000 padi and vadakkuth thiruvIdhip piLLai compiled 36000 padi.
  • mAdhava padhmanAba –IyuNNi mAdhavap perumAL (mAdhavAchArya), dear sishya of nampiLLai, who was named after nanjIyar‘s original name mAdhava by nampiLLai himself. In his thaniyan, he is glorified as the recipient of nampiLLai‘s compassion and has pristine knowledge due to hearing the divine meanings of thiruvAimozhi (which is glorified as dhramidOpanishadh) from nampiLLai. The history of his receiving the manuscripts of Idu vyAkyanam is explained in upadhEsa raththina mAlai 48th pAsuram “sIrAr vadakkuth thiruvIdhip piLLai“. vadakkuth thiruvIdhip piLLai documented the Idu vyAkyAnam based on lectures delivered by nampiLLai, without his permission. Finding this out, nampiLLai becomes upset initially, but then realizes the great effort put in by vadakkuth thiruvIdhip piLLai in scribing the lectures as they are and appreciates him greatly. Yet, nampiLLai says, it is not the right time to release this vyAkyAnam and hands over the same to IyuNNi mAdhavap perumAL asking him to preserve the same carefully and teach it to very qualified sishyas only. The history of Idu vyAkyAnam is already documented at https://acharyas.koyil.org/index.php/2013/04/21/eeynni-madhava-perumal/. padhmanAba is the son of IyuNNi mAdhavap perumAL. mAdhavap perumAL taught Idu vyAkyAnam to his son padhmanAbap perumAL and instructs him to teach it carefully to qualified persons only. padhmanAbap perumAL preserves the manuscripts with great care, keeping them in his kOyilAzhwAr (thiruvArAdhanam) and worshipping it.
  • sumana:kOlEsa – kOlEsa who is known as kOla varAhap perumAL and nAlUr piLLai served padhmanAbap perumAL greatly with the desire to learn Idu vyAkyAnam. padhmanAbap perumAL brought him over to pEraruLALan (srI varadharAjap perumAL) once to get his permission. When archaka presents him srI satakOpam, nAlUr piLLai presses on that (thus becoming to be known as “aruLALar thiruvadi UnRinavar”  – one who pressed on the srI satakOpam of dhEvap perumAL)) to hint his desire to emperumAn. Knowing his desire, emperumAn speaks through the archaka and orders padhmanAbap perumAL to teach Idu vyAkyAnam to nAlUr piLLai. Thus, it is by the mercy of srI varadharAjap perumAL that thiruvAimozhi and its vyAkyAnam were greatly nurtured. It is important to note that srIvachanabhUshaNam (which is the essence of thiruvAimozhi) was also nurtured and propagated by dhEvap perumAL only. Since nAlUr piLLai received this knowledge through great efforts for the benefit of everyone, he is called as sumana: (pleasing to all) kOlEsa.
  • dhEvAdhipAn – dhEvAdhipa is nAlUrAchchAn piLLai. nAlUr piLLai names him as dhEvap perumAL at his birth showing his gratitude towards dhEvap perumAL for his favours. nAlUrAchchAn piLLai grows up to be great in gyAnam, bhakthi, etc. nAlUr piLLai then teaches the divine meanings of thiruvAimozhi to nAlUrAchchAn piLLai. When thirumalai AzhwAr (thiruvAimozhip piLLai) visits kAnchIpuram, nAlUr piLLai and nAlUrAchchAn piLLai are also present in the assembly. They find out about thiruvAimozhip piLLai‘s glories and nAlUr piLLai at once wants to teach him the divine meanings of thiruvAimozhi. When he was blessed with srI satakOpam of perumAL, he again presses on that. emperumAn, knowing his desire, speaks through the archaka and orders that thiruvAimozhip piLLai learns thiruvAimozhi meanings from nAlUr piLLai. nAlUr piLLai sights his old age and inability to fully justify the orders of emperumAn. emperumAn then says, nAlUrAchchAn piLLai is as good as nAlUr piLLai himself and thus he can teach the same to thiruvAimozhip piLLai. Thus, thiruvAimozhip piLLai learns Idu vyAkyAnam from nAlUrAchchAn piLLai.
  • Thus, these two thaniyans are recited by periya jIyar (maNavALa mAmunigaL) regularly. In addition to the above AchAryas, piLLai lOkAchAryar who blessed us the essence of thiruvAimozhi Idu vyAkyAnam in his srIvachana bhUshaNam, sAra sangraham, etc., nAyanArAchchAn piLLai who is the son of periyavAchchAn piLLai and who nurtured 24000 padi vyAkyAnam, vAdhi kEsari azhagiya maNavALa jIyar who explained word-by-word meanings of thiruvAimozhi in his 12000 padi vyAkyAnam and azhagiya maNavALap perumAL nAyanAr who revealed AchArya hrudhayam are also meditated upon. This is why, their thaniyans are also recited subsequently.
  • maNavALa mAmunigaL explained the full history of Idu vyAkyAnam in his upadhEsa raththina mAlai pAsurams 48 and 49. We can observe father-son duo becoming AchArya-sishya with respect to learning thiruvAimozhi meanings from the lives of kUraththAzhwAnbhattar, periyavAchchAn piLLai – nAyanAr AchchAn piLLai, vadakkuth thiruvIdhip piLLaipiLLai lOkAchAryarIyuNNi mAdhavap perumAL – IyuNNi padhmanAbap perumAL and nAlUr piLLainAlUrAchchAn piLLai.
  • Subsequently, maNavALa mAmunigaL learnt these thiruvAimozhi meanings in detail from thiruvAimozhip piLLai and other dhivya prabandhams and sustained himself by constantly meditating, speaking and preaching it. It is only after mAmunigaL‘s appearance that thiruvAimozhi became world renowned by constant preaching of the same.  That is why srIranganAthan ordered him to lecture on Idu vyAkyAnam in front of him for a whole year and he himself submitted “srIsailEsa dhayApAthram” thaniyan honouring him as his own AchArya. He also propagated thiruvAimozhi and its Idu vyAkyAnam through his sishyas paravasthu pattarpirAn jIyar, ponnadikkAl (thOthAdhri) jIyar, kOyil kandhAdai aNNan et al.

pillailokacharyar-nayanar-thiruvaimozhipillai-mamunigalpiLLai lOkAchAryar, nAyanAr, thiruvAimozhip piLLai, mAmunigaL

  • paravasthu pattarpirAn jIyar compiles a beautiful grantham named “anthimOpAya nishtai” which brings out the essence of thiruvAimozhi. He also teaches meanings of thiruvAimozhi and other dhivya prabandhams to his sishyas such as madhurakavi dhAsaraNNan et al.
  • ponnadikkAl jIyar (vAnamahAdhri yOgi) teaches the meanings of thiruvAimozhi and other dhivya prabandhams to his own sishya rAmAnujam piLLai and kOyil aNNan‘s sishya sudhdha sathvam aNNan fully. They in turn teach the same to their sishyas.
  • kOyil aNNan, according to the orders of his AchArya (mAmunigaL), teaches the same to jIyar nAyanAr (who is the pUrvAsrama grand-son of mAmunigaL).
  • prathivAdhi bayankaram aNNA, who is known as vEdhAnthAchArya and came to be known as  srIvaishNava dhAsa and one who identifies himself fully as the sishya of mAmunigaL also teaches Idu vyAkyAnam and srI bhAshyam to pattarpirAn jIyar‘s sishya thiruppathi azhagiya maNavALa jIyar et al.
  • Thus, many copies of Idu vyAkyAnam manuscripts were made and greatly preached by many AchAryas to their respective sishyas.

Subsequently we will see the thaniyans of AchAryas who directly propagated thiruvAimozhi by writing vyAkyAnams, etc.

dhrAvidAgama sAragyam rAmAnuja padhAsritham
ruchiram kurukEsAryam namAmi sirasAnhavam

I worship kurukEsAchArya (everyday) who is a well-versed in the essence of dhrAvida vEdham, who took shelter of srI rAmAnuja’s lotus feet and who is most intelligent.

namO vEdhAntha vEdhyAya jagan mangaLa hEthavE
yasya vAgAmruthAsAra bhUritham bhuvana thrayam

My obeisances belong to vEdhAnthi nanjIyar whose nectarean words have filled the 3 worlds and who brings auspice  to all 3 worlds.

vEdhAntha vEdhya amrutha vArirAsEr
vEdhArtha sAra amrutha pUramagryam
AdhAya varshantham aham prapadhyE
kAruNya pUrNam kalivairidhAsam

I take shelter of kalivairidhAsar (nampiLLai) who extracted (and is teaching) the glorious essence of the nectarean vEdham from vEdhAnthi nanjIyar who himself is an ocean of nectarean principles, who is filled with mercy (like a cloud filled with water).

srImath krishNa samAhvAya namO yAmuna sUnavE
yath katAkshaika lakshyANam sulabha: srIdharas sadhA

My salutations belong to srI krishNa (periyavAchchAn piLLai) who is the son of yAmunAchArya and by whose mercy srIman nArAyaNan is easily attainable.

sri krishna pAdha pAdhAbjE namAmi sirasA sadhA
yath prasAdha prabhAvEna sarva sidhdhirabhUnmama

I constantly bow down at the lotus feet of srI krishNa (vadakkuth thiruvIdhip piLLai) through whose mercy I acquired knowledge, devotion, detachment, etc.

lOkAchArya guravE krishNa pAdhasya sUnavE
samsAra bhOgi santhashta jIva jIvAthavE nama:

I offer my obeisances to piLLai lOkAchAryar who is the son of srI krishNa (vadakku thiruvIdhi piLLai), who has a fully qualified AchArya, who is the medicine for the jIvAthmAs who are bitten by the poisonous snake called samsAram.

sruthyarthasArajanakam smruthibAlamithram
padhmOllasadh bhagavadhangri purANabhandhum
gyAnAdhirAjam abhayapradharAja sUnum
asmath gurum paramakAruNikam namAmi

I worship my most merciful AchAryan who extracts the essence of vEdham, who is like a sun for the lotus of smruthi, who is eternally related to the lotus feet of srIman nArAyaNan, who is an emperor of knowledge and is the dear son of abhyapradha rAjar (periyavAchchAn piLLai).

dhrAvidAmnAya hrudhayam guruparvakramAgatham
ramyajAmAthrudhEvEna dharsitham krishNasUnunA

azhagiya maNavALap perumAL nAyanAr who is the son of srI krishNa (vadakkuth thiruvIdhip piLLai) revealed the divine meanings of thiruvAimozhi (nammAzhwAr’s divine heart) which are received through the AchArya paramparai.

sundharajAmAthrumunE: prapadhyE charaNAmbhujam
samsArArNava sammagna janthu santhArapOthakam

I surrender unto the lotus feet of vAdhi kEsari azhagiya maNavALa jIyar whose lotus feet are like a boat that will deliver the jIvAthmAs who are drowning in the ocean of samsAram.

Note: Though piLLai lOkAchAryar, nAyanArAchchAn piLLai azhagiya maNavALap perumAL nAyanAr and vAdhi kEsari azhagiya maNavALa jIyar are not directly involved in propagating Idu vyAkyAnam, their thaniyans are recited due to their contribution to the propagation of thiruvAimozhi. Their contributions have been previously explained.

namOsthu dhEvarAjAya chathurgrAma nivAsinE
rAmAnujArya dhAsasya suthAya guNasAlinE

I offer my obeisances to dhEvarAjar (nAlUrAchchAn piLLai) who lives in chathurgrAma (nAlUr), who is the son of rAmAnujArya (another name of nAlUr piLLai) and who is filled with auspicious qualities.

nama srIsailanAthAya kunthI nagara janmanE
prasAdhalabdha parama prApya kainkaryasAlinE

My obeisances belong to srIsaila nAtha (thirumalai AzhwAr – thiruvAimozhip piLLai) who was born in kunthI nagar, one who achieved the ultimate kainkaryam (by the grace of his AchAryan). Originally named thirumalai AzhwAr (srIsailEsa), due to his extreme attachment towards thiruvAimozhi, he comes to be known as thiruvAimozhip piLLai. nammAzhwAr, stayed in malayALa (kEraLa) nAdu for 60 years along with namperumAL et al., during mughal invasion, after which they all arrived at thirukkaNAmbi. thiruvAimozhip piLLai, then located AzhwArthirunagari which had become fully forested, cleared the woods, re-constructed the temple and re-established the temple worship properly.

srIsailEsa dhayA pAthram dhIbhakthyAdhi guNArNavam
yathIndhra pravaNam vandhE ramya jAmAtharam munim

srisailesa-thanian-small

I glorify azhagiya maNavALa mAmunigaL who is the target of thirumalai AzhwAr’s mercy, who is an ocean of auspicious qualities such as knowledge, devotion etc. and who is greatly attached to yathIndhra (srI rAmAnuja). mAmunigaL took shelter of thiruvAimozhip piLLai‘s lotus feet, learnt all of dhivya prabandham from him and wanted to share this great wealth of knowledge with everyone. Understanding his desire, namperumAL ordered through his archakas to have mAmunigaL perform Idu kAlakshEpam (along with other vyAkyAnams) in front of his main sanctum in srIrangam. periya perumAL being very pleased with mAmunigaL‘s command over thiruvAimozhi and Idu vyAkyAnam honours him with the title “muppaththARAyirap perukkar” (one who nurtures/nourishes Idu 36000 padi vyAkyAnam). He himself also submits this “srIsailEsa dhayApAthram” thaniyan in glorification of mAmunigaL.

pillailokam-jeeyarpiLLai lOkam jIyar

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0 thoughts on “thiruvAimozhi – bhagavath vishayam – thaniyans (Invocation)”

  1. Respected Sir,

    For the thaniyan “nAtham pankajanEthra” , the heading says “thaniyan blessed by thiruvAimozhip piLLai”. It shouled be “thaniyan blessed by maNavALa mAmunigaL” . Infact as both the thaniyan are by Swami Mamunigal.

    Adiyen Ramanuja Dasan

    Reply
    • In the bhagavath vishayam book published by chE. krishNamAchAryar swAmy in cooperation with puththUr krishNaswAmy iyengAr, “nAtham” thaniyan is highlighted as the work of thiruvAimozhip piLLai only. As we can see in this thaniyan – up to nAlUrAchchAn piLLai only is glorified – so it must be thiruvAimozhip piLLai’s work only. In the next thamizh thaniyan, thiruvAimozhip piLLai is also glorified as its written by mAmunigaL.

      adiyen sarathy ramanuja dasan

      Reply

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