SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:
thaniyan for thiruvAsiriyam was divined by aruLALap perumAL emperumAnAr.
avathArikai
kAsiniyOr thAmvAzha – This thaniyan says “you should keep the dhESika (AchArya) who visualized/compiled thiruvAsiriyam in your pure heart and eternally perform mangaLASAsanam to him without forgetting”.
thaniyan
kAsiniyOr thAm vAzhak kali yugaththE vandhudhiththu
Asiriyap pAvadhanAl arumaRai nUl viriththAnaith
thEsikanaip parAngusanaith thigazh vaguLath thArAnai
mAsadaiyA manaththu vaiththu maRavAmal vAzhththudhumE
Listen
The vyAkhyAnam for this thaniyan was divined by SrI piLLai lOkam jIyar.
Word by word meaning
kAsiniyOr thAm – the people of this world
vAzha – to prosper
kali yugthathE – in this kali yuga
vandhu udhiththu – incarnated
Asiriyap pA adhanAl – through this prabandham called thiruvAsiriyam
arumaRai nUl viriththAnai – he has explained vEdha SAsthram, which is difficult to understand
dhEsikanai – dhESika (AchArya)
thigazh vakuLam thArAnai – who wears the garland of magizham pU (flower)
parAngusanai – nammAzhwAr
mAsadaiyA manaththu vaiththu – placing in the pure mind bereft of impurities like ahankAra and mamakAra
maRavAmal – without forgetting him
vazhththudhumE – let us glorify him by doing mangaLASAsanam to him.
vyAkhyAnam
kAsiniyOr thAm vAzha kali yugaththE vandhudhiththu, dhEsikanai parAngusanai – this describes the greatness of AzhwAr’s birth (avathAram).
kAsiniyOr thAm vAzha – For the prosperity of the people in this earth who do not know anything beyond the earth which they have seen. [“kAsathE ithi kAsinE (because of the visible brightness, the earth is called kAsinE). The thamizh word “kAsini” came from the samskritham word “kASin” (shining) which indicates the earth (bhUmI). kAsiniyOr – the one who cannot see anything beyond earth]
kali yugaththE vandhu udhiththu – In every yuga, emperumAn appears in different varNam. In this kali yuga, nammAzhwAr incarnated to uplift us all from the mire of samsAra – “kalau puna: pAparathAbhibhUthE bhakthAthmana sa udhbabhUva” (bhagavAn appeared in the form of his devotee in this kali yuga where people involved in the sinful activities). (In the krutha yugam, bhagavAn incarnated as dhaththAthrEya and paraSurAma in brAhmaNa varnam. In threthA yugam, he incarnated as SrI rAma (chakravarthi thirumagan) in kshathriya varNam. In dhvApara yugam, he incarnated as kaNNan for vasudhEva and dhEvakI in vaiSya varNam. In this last and fourth kali yugam, empermAn kaNNan himself has incarnated as AzhwAr (SatakOpa) for udaiyanangai and kAriyAr in SUdhra varnam).
vandhu udhiththu – It appears that Azhwar incarnated in this earth from another world (nithya vibhUthi – paramapadham). maNavALa mAmunigaL says in his upadhEsa raththina mAlai 7th pAsuram “maRRuLLa AzhvArgaLukku munnE vandhu udhiththu”. azhagiya maNavALap perumAL nAyanAr, the author of AchArya hrudhayam also said following the words in SatakOpAshtakam “vagulabUshana bAskarOdhayaththilE” (the appearance the vakuLa bhUshaNa, the radiant sun). In this thaniyan also AzhwAr is called “vagulaththArAnai (who wears magizham pU garland)”. [He is our prathamAchArya (primary AchArya) as said in sthOthra rathnam 5 “Adhyasya na: kulapathE: vakuLAbhirAmam”. He is also called SrIvaiShNava kula pathi and prapanna jana kUtastha (leader of the vaiShNava clan)]
His actions, after incarnating, are explained further:
Asiriyap pA adhanAl – In thamizh grammar there are different types of “pA” (poems) and among them AzhwAr mercifully chose Asiriyap pA for this prabandham. The style followed here is andhAdhi (ending of one pAsuram is the beginning of the other).
arumaRai nUl viriththAnai – The one who explained the very rare “SAsthras” in a detailed manner and was famously known for that; he is one who made the very rare principles to be in easily understandable thamizh. [This is highlighted in thiruvAimozhi 4.5.10 “vaN thamizh nURka“; this is praised by madhurakavi AzhwAr also in his kaNNinun siRuth thAmbu 8th pAsuram as “aruLinAn avvarumaRaiyin poruL aruL koNdu Ayiram in thamizh pAdinAn” (AzhwAr mercifully explained the worthy vEdham’s meanings in sweet thamizh language)]
dhEsikanaip parAngusanai – parAnguSa dhESika who is the seer of the principles of vEdham.
[He is called as parAngusa due to two reasons:
- AzhwAr is the anguSam for the paras (kudhrushti matham followers – those who accept SAsthram but misinterpret that to their convenience) who propagated the idea that bhagavAn has no parathvam. AzhwAr has goaded and controlled such persons who don’t accept emperumAn and vEdham.
- AzhwAr is the anguSam for the parAthparan (paramapurushan) himself. AzhwAr himself says so in thiruvAimozhi 6.4.9 “valakkaiyAzhi idakkaich changam ivaiyudai mAl vaNNanai malakku nAvudaiyErkku”. He proudly says about his special relation with emperumAn and states that he can be like anguSam for the lord to respond to him. Hence AzhwAr is called parAngusan]
thigazh vakuLath thArAnai – nammAzhwAr is called “vakuLAbaraNan” as he wears magizham pU garland on his chest. It is said in a well known poem about nammAzhwAr “thAmam thuLavO vaguLamO” (Is he wearing thuLasi garland or magizham garland, i.e., is he SrIman nArAyaNa or AzhwAr) ,”thandulabaththArAnai” (adorned by thuLasi garland)”.
mASadaiyA manaththu vaiththu – One should place in his/her pure/clean heart as said in thirumAlai 22 “mAsaRRAr manaththuLAnai” (one who is residing permanently in the minds of those blemishless persons who have left aside other benefits), thiruvAimozhi 9.2.4 “theLintha en chindhai agam kazhiyAmE” (to reside in one’s pure and clean mind); placing in one’s heart as said in “van kurugaik kOnArum nammudaik kudi vIRRirunthAr” (to place AzhwAr, the leader of AzhwArthirunagari, in one’s heart). Since he is paramahamsa (a superior swan, indicating his most pure nature), he sits in the flower of heart; “vakulaththArAnai mAsadaiya mannaththu vaiththu” – One has to do bhakthi by placing AzhwAr in the heart as the SubASrayam (auspicious target) as said in rAmAnusa nURRanthAdhi 18 “Ayiram in thamizhAl seydhaRku ulagil varum SatakOpanaich chinthai uLLE peydhaRku isaiyum periyavar seerai” (The glories of great madhurakavi AzhwAr who kept in his heart – nammAzhwAr who came to compile thiruvAimozhi in sweet thamizh) ; that is, AzhwAr who is known as in thiruvAimozhi 4.10.11 “nAtkamazh magizh mAlai mArbinan mARan satakOpan” (nammAzhwAr who is known mARan and SatakOpan who is wearing fresh mgaizham pU garland on his chest).
maravAmal vazhththudumE – one should do mangaLASAsanam and meditate upon him in his/her mind always, to not forget AzhwAr ever. He too said in thiruvAsiriyam 4th pAsuram “UzhithORUzhi OvAdhu vAzhiya enRu yAm thozha isaiyum kol?” (Will I be fortunate to remember emperumAn always and to glorify Him?).
So with this thaniyan – it is explained that AzhwAr’s divine form is SubASrayam (auspicious target) and is the target of our mangaLASAsanam.
adiyen booma ramanuja dasi
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