SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavara munayE nama:
There are two thaniyans, composed by thirukkachchi nambi (ALavandhAr’s sishyar and emperumAnAr’s first mentor), for thiruchchandha viruththam. piLLai lOkam jIyar has mercifully written the vyAkyAnams for these two thaniyans.
avathArikai (Introduction)
In this thaniyan, thirukkachchi nambi mentions about the greatness of thirumazhisai, the place of birth of thirumazhisai AzhwAr, who mercifully composed thiruchchandha viruththam, so that the people of this world would say “What a great place is this wealthy abode, thirumazhisai, the divine abode where thirumazhisai AzhwAr incarnated!” and would engage with it fully.
tharuchchandhap pozhil thazhuvu thAraNiyin thuyar thIrath
thiruchchandha viruththam sey thirumazhisaip pirAn varum Ur
karuchchandhum kAr agilum kamazh kOngu maNa nARum
thiruchchandhaththudan maruvu thirumazhisai vaLam padhiyE
Word-by-Word Meanings
tharu – kaRpaga vruksha (wish-fulfilling tree)
chandham – sandalwood tree (available in abundance)
pozhil – by gardens
thazhuvu – surrounded
thAraNiyin – for the people of this world
thuyar thIra – sorrow to be eliminated
thiruchchandha viruththam sey – one who mercifully composed the dhivya prabandham (divine composition) named thiruchchandha viruththam
thirumazhisai paran varum Ur – the divine abode where thirumazhisaip pirAn mercifully incarnated
karu chandhum – the eminent sandalwood trees
kAr agilum – the dark eagle-wood trees
kamazh kOngum – fragrant trees of a type of cotton (silk cotton)
maNam nARum – emitting lot of fragrance
thiru – periya pirAttiyAr (SrI mahAlakshmi)
sandhaththudan – with desire
maruvu – residing desirously
thirumazhisai vaLam padhiyE – the divine town with lot of wealth, called as thirumazhisai.
Simple Translation
The divine town with lot of wealth, called as thirumazhisai, is the abode where thirumazhisaip pirAn mercifully incarnated. It is surrounded by abundant gardens having kaRpaga trees and sandalwood trees. It is the divine abode where periya pirAttiyAr, emitting lot of fragrance, resides desirously. It has eminent sandalwood trees, the dark eagle-wood trees and the fragrant silk cotton trees. thirumazhisaip pirAn mercifully composed the dhivya prabandham named thiruchchandha viruththam so that the sorrows of the people of the world would be eliminated.
vyAkyAnam
tharuchchandhap pozhil thazhuvu – the word tharu refers to kaRpaga vruksham (desire-fulfilling tree) and the word chandhu refers to sandalwood trees. Just as it has been mentioned in periya thirumozhi 4-5 “sandhap pU malarch chOlai” (having gardens with sandalwood trees and flowers) and in periyAzhwAr thirumozhi 1-9-9 “kaRpagak kAvu karudhiya kAdhalikku” (for the beloved (sathyabhAmA) who desired the garden of kaRpaga trees), the world is full of kaRpaga gardens and sandalwood groves. People who live in this world are having sorrows which have to be eliminated. Their sorrows are:
- the great sorrow of losing out on bhagavath vishayam (matters relating to emperumAn) by engaging with matters which are called as prAkrutha bhOgyams (materials in this world which are enjoyed), bhOgOpakaraNams (implements which are required to enjoy the previously stated bhOgyams) and bhOgasthAnams (places or locations where these bhOgyams are enjoyed) [for example, if one enjoys sleeping on a cot under the shade of a mango tree, the act of sleeping is bhOgyam, the cot, used for sleeping, is the bhOgOpakaraNam and the place, under the mango tree, where the cot is placed is bhOgasthAnam].
- Apart from the above, the obstacle of wandering as a servitor to those people who are disbelievers in vEdhams or who wrongly interpret vEdhams, and who worship deities [other than SrIman nArAyaNan], as mentioned by this AzhwAr in his nAnmugan thiruvandhAdhi 6 “aRiyAr samaNar ayarththAr bavuththar siRiyAr sivappattAr” (jainas who do not know the truth (that SrIman nArAyaNan is the supreme entity), baudhdhas who are confused and the lowly Saivaites)
thuyar thIrath thiruchchandha viruththam sey – it is only in order to remove the sorrows of these people and to bring them to the good path (of SrIman nArAyaNan) that AzhwAr mercifully composed the divine composition of thiruchchandha viruththam. In this prabandham, did he not urge the people to attain SrIman nArAyaNan, as said mercifully in the 67th pAsuram “puNdarIka pAdha puNyakIrththi num sevi maduththu uNdu num uRuvinaith thuyaruL nIngi uymminO” (hear through your ears, the pious greatness of emperumAn who has lotus-like divine feet, enjoy that and get rid of the sins accumulated since time immemorial so that you would get uplifted from this materialistic realm) and in the 68th pAsuram “nanmAlai vAzhththi vAzhminO” (praise the supreme entity and uplift yourselves) as well as to give up attachment towards other deities by showing them their lack of knowledge and lack of ability as brought out in the 69th pAsuram “kANilum” (even if you look at them (they will have grotesque forms)), 70th pAsuram “kundhamOdu” (having inadequate weapons such as spear etc), 71st pAsuram “vaNdulAvu” (beetles swarming on the hair (of ushai, who is the daughter of demon bANAsuran, who was supported by deities such as rudhra, agni et al) and 72nd pAsuram “pOdhil mangai” (only SrIdhEvi and bhUdhEvi are permanent; others such as brahmA, rudhra et al are not permanent), instructing the samsAris well and correcting them?
thiruchchandha viruththam – dhivya prabandham consisting of beautiful chandham (musical and rhythmic flow of verses) and viruththam (a kind of verse in thamizh literature). kaliththuRai, viruththam, veNbA are different classifications of poems in thamizh literature.
Through the rest of the thaniyan, thirukkachchi nambi brings out the greatness of the place where this AzhwAr, who had mercifully composed such a great prabandham, had incarnated. The second and fourth lines of the pAsuram should be rearranged as thirumazhisaip pirAn varumUr thirumazhisai vaLam padhiyE in order to get the proper flow of meaning.
karuchchandhum kAragilum kamazh – sandalwood and eagle-wood trees, which were obtained from the places where they are grown, spread their fragrance in this divine abode
kOngu maNa nARum – this divine abode also has the fragrance from the flowers of silk cotton tree. kOngu, apart from silk cotton tree, could also refer to fragrance; maNam also refers to fragrance. Hence it could be construed that this divine abode is full of fragrance.
thiruchchandhaththudan maruvu thirumazhisai – since the abode is full of fragrance from various types, SrI: who is periya pirAttiyAr and who sits on a lotus flower whose fragrance never changes and who is the embodiment of all the fragrances, resides desirously in this divine abode, thirumazhisai. Isn’t she referred to in thiruvAimozhi 4-5-11 as “vEri mARAdha pUmEl iruppAL” (pirAtti who resides permanently on a lotus flower whose fragrance always stays)?
vaLam padhiyE – In this leelA vibhUthi (materialistic realm created for emperumAn’s pastime), such a divine abode exists! The term vaLam refers to beauty and all types of wealth. The implied meaning is that because of AzhwAr, this divine abode is desired by everyone.
We will take up the second thaniyan, next.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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