gyAna sAram 36 – villAr maNikozhikkum

gyAna sAram

Previous pAsuram

                                                                         36^th pAsuram

 thamizh:

“வில்லார் மணி கொழிக்கும் வேங்கடப் பொற்குன்று முதல்
 செல்லார் பொழில் சூழ் திருப்பதிக -ளெல்லாம்
 மருளாம் இருளோட மத்தகத்துத் தன்  தாள்
 அருளாலே வைத்தவவர்.”

English:

“villAr maNikozhikkum vEnkata poR kunRu mudhal
sellAr pozhil sUzh thiruppadhigaL ellAm
maruLAm iruLOda mathagathu than thAL
aruLAlE vaiththa avar”

Synopsis:

For a sishya who has taken refuge under his great AchAryan, his AchAryan’s lotus feet is itself the 108 divya desam. This point is being stated in this pAsuram.

Verbatim Meanings:

avar	AchAryan out of
aruLAlE	compassion
Vaithu	places
than thAL	His divine lotus feet on
Mathagathu	top of his disciple (sishyan) head that
Oda	dispels
maruLAm iruL	darkness due to ignorance; Hence, this disciple does not have to go to
thiruppadhigaL ellAm	any of the 108 divya desams (divine abodes of sriman nArAyaNan in this earth)
poR kunRu mudhal	including the likes of the beautiful thirumalA hill which is in
vEnkatam	in ThiruvEnkatam that
kozhikkum	pours in
villAr	bright, resplendent and
maNi	highly valuable jewel and is a
sellAr	place where clouds congregate
sUzh	and are surrounded by
pozhil	beautiful gardens

Explanation:

villAr manikozhikkum: “vil” would mean bright and “Ar” represents excess. Thus “villAr” collectively means excessively bright. The “excessively bright” is used as an adjective for the jewels.

nanmaNi vaNNanUr Aviyum kOLariyum
pon maNiyum muthamum pUmaramum – panmaNi
nIrOdu porudhugaLum kAnamum vAnaramum
vEdumudai vEngadam                                                                      (nAnmugan thiruvandhAdhi #48)

In this pAsuram by thirumazhisai AzhvAr, we can see the description of thiruvEnkatam. It is a place where yAzhis (a breed between lion and elephant), lions, jewels, pearls, precious metals can be found in copious amounts. In addition to it, the waterfalls in this place bring with them enormous quantities of jewels and trees with flowers. The waterfalls are in forests where there are lot of jungle animals and hunters. The similarity in description of thiruvEnkatam between these two pAsurams is to be noted.

vEnkata poR kunRu mudhal: Divyadesam including the likes of thiruvEnkatam which is in the beautiful thirumala hills surrounded by gorgeous nature.

sellAr pozhil sUzh: This place called “thiruvEnkatam” is surrounded by garden where the clouds hover over them. This goes ahead to mean that the hills are so lofty that the clouds are within touchable distance.

thirupadhigaL ellAm: All the 108 divya desams of perumAL are places where HE happily manifests HIMSELF.

maruLAm iruLOda mathagathu than thAL: This phrase means that the darkness characterized by ignorance quickly runs off.

aruLAlE vaiththa avar: A guru is a person who, out of his extreme compassion for his disciple, keeps his divine lotus feet on the head of the latter. The word “aruLAlE” would mean that the guru has kept his lotus feet without any cause. One may question if the work done by the disciple towards guru, can be taken as a precursor for the guru to keep his lotus feet on him. However, that is not the case as he does not expect anything. He keeps his lotus feet just out of compassion and so does not need anything form the disciple. Rather he does it for protecting him. “thiruveEnkatam” is used as a representative in this pasuram and hence the likes of paramapadham, thirupArkadal etc. It is not just that but would also includes the vibhava forms of perumAL like rAmA, krishnA, antharyAmi form wherein HE resides insides each one of us. Thus, to a sishya, all the five places where perumAL manifests HIMSELF (para, vyOha, vibhava, antharyAmi and archai) are nothing but Acharyan’ lotus feet. This point was what explained in srivachanabhUshanam that talks about the qualities of a disciple. The choornikai of interest is “pAttu kEtkum idamum, kUppidu kEtkum idamum, kudhitha idamum, vaLaitha idamum, Uttum idamum ellAm vagutha idamE enRu irukka kadavan” (chUrnikai #450). The meaning of this is as follows:

pAttu kEtkum idamum = paramapadham
kUppidu kEtkum idamum = thirupArkadal
kudhitha idamum = incarnations including the likes of rAma, kaNNa etc.,
vaLaitha idamum = antharyAmithvam (the quality by which HE manifests inside all soulds inside us)
Uttum idamum = temples where HE manifests himself through the idol form
ivai ellAm enRu irukka kadavan = these five are to be treated as
vagutha idamE = AchAryan’s lotus feet.

The qualities of a good disciple is nothing but to treat his guru’s feet as everything including these aforementioned five manifestations of perumAL. So, one should regard his guru as the place where perumAL manifests HIMSELF.

This point can also be found in irAmAnusa nUtRRandhAdhi pAsuram #105: