SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:
<< Part 1 (thaniyans, thiruppallANdu, kaNNinuN chiRuth thAmbu)
emperumAn selected and graced a few AthmAs with “mayarvaRa madhinalam”, that is, he gave them true knowledge and devotion and destroyed their ignorance.They expressed this outpouring knowledge and bhakthi as pAsurams, known as dhivya prabandham, also known as dhrAvida vEdham and aruLichcheyal.
nammAzhwAr’s works are considered equivalent to the 4 vEdhas,
- thiruvirutham -100 verses – rig vEdha
- thiruvAsiriyam – 7 verses – yajur vEdha
- periya thiruvandhAdhi- 87 verses – atharva vEdha
- thiruvAimozhi -1102 verses – sAma vEdha
thirumangai AzhwAr’s works are periya thirumozhi, thirukkuRunthANdagam, thiru vezhukkURRirukkai, siriya thirumadal, periya thirumadal, thirunedunthANdagam and are considered the six angAs of dhivya prabandham.
The other AzhwAr’s works served as upAngangaL/parts for vEdhas. It is difficult to understand the words of the vEdhas. There are restrictions for when to chant, who can chant them etc. however there are no such restrictions for prabandhams.
What is artha panchakam:
What is the main message of aruLichcheyal?
The five main truths, artha panchakam, are beautifully laid out in dhivya prabandham.
- Who are we? (sva-svarUpa)
- Who is the Lord? (para-svarUpa)
- What is our goal? (purushArtha-svarUpa)
- The ways to attain the goal. (upAya-svarUpa)
- The hindrances in attaining our Goal. (virOdhi-svarUpa)
The more we read these dhivya prabandham pAsurams, we will get virakthi (detachment) in samsArik life and we get attachment to bhagavath guNas and kainkaryam. When we experience emperumAn’s kalynaNa guNas (auspicious qualities), avathAra leelA (divine play), it will bring joy and understand our role as a servitor to emperumAn.
peyAzhwAr pAsuram highlights this
mARpAl manam suzhippa * mangaiyar thOL kai vittu*
nURpAl manam vaikka noyvidhAm* – nARpAla
vEdhaththAn vEngadaththAn * viNNOr mudi thOyum*
pAdhaththAn pAdham paNindhu – mUnRAm thiruvandhAdhi-14
The more we go towards, emperumAn , we will lose interest in samsAric life. AzhwArs’ dhivya prabandham helps us get close to emperumAn.
In upadhEsa ratna mAlai , pAsuram 34
AzhwArgaL ERRam aruLichcheyal ERRam
thAzhvAdhum inRi avai thAm vaLarththOr – Ezh pArum
uyya avargaL seydha vyAkkiyaigaL uLLadhellAm
vaiyam aRiyap pagarvOm vAyndhu
mAmunigaL says,” It is my duty to point out to the people of the world that the glory of the AzhwArs and their divine outpourings – the dhivya prabandham, cannot be belittled. It is also my duty to glorify the AchAryAs who wrote commentaries on AzhwArs’ works and offered it to the people of the seven worlds for their spiritual upliftment.“
In upadhEsa ratna mAlai, pAsuram 35
AzhwArgaLaiyum aruLichcheyalgaLaiyum
thAzhvA ninaippavardhAm naragil – vIzhvArgaL
enRu ninaiththu nenjE epppozhudhum nI avar pAl
senRaNugak kUsiththiRi
mAmunigal says here , “Oh my mind! Please understand that the people who belittle the AzhwArs and their divine outpourings will beget hell. Oh mind! Avoid the company of such people at all times!”
thiruppallANdu/periyAzhwAr thirumozhi:
In thirupallANdu, periyAzhwAr does mangaLAsAsanam to emperumAn. periyAzhwAr goes to madhurai (south) king’s court to establish vishNu parathvam (supremacy of vishNu). After successfully completing the task by the grace of emperumAn, he is greatly honoured by the king. At that time, emperumAn himself descends in garuda vAhanam there to see periyAzhwAr being celebrated/glorified. Seeing emperumAn in this samsAram (this material world which is full of dangers), periyAzhwAr sings thiruppallANdu seeking protection for emperumAn.
periyAzhwAr had just established that emperumAn was the Supreme most, but he got scared when emperumAn descended to see him, since he was worried what if danger befalls Him. His love for perumAL, parental love, prEmam, took over gyAnam and he wanted to protect emperumAn. He sang 12 pAsurams in thiruppallANdu.
thiruppallANdu is to be recited at the beginning of the recital of flawless dhivya prabandham just like praNavam is recited at the beginning of vEdham recital. This is because thiruppallANdu is the essence of all dhivya prabandham (as praNavam is the essence of vEdham) and it is focussed on mangaLAsAsanam to emperumAn.mangaLAsAsanam means seeking out for the well-being of the Lord and wishing Him all mangaLams or auspiciousness.
In thiruppallANdu:
- In the first two pAsurams, AzhwAr does mangaLAsAsanam to emperumAn
- In the next three pAsurams, AzhwAr calls bhagavath prApthikAmar (one who wishes to serve bhagavAn), kaivalyArthi (one who asks kaivalyam/enjoyment of Atma) & aiSwaryArthi (one who asks for aiSwaryam/wealth – new and lost)
- Next three pAsurams show that these people arrive and mingle with periyAzhwAr
- Subsequent three pAsurams show periyAzhwAr singing thiruppallANdu along with them
- Last pAsuram is explaining the benefits of the prandham – pala-Sruthi
In periyAzhwAr thirumozhi, periyAzhwAr takes a mother bhAvam and glorifies the experiences of Lord krishNa’s glorious pastimes as a child. Though periyavAchchAn piLLai did the vyAkhyanam for all pAsurams in periyAzhwAr thirumozhi, only few were available. When mAmunigaL came to SrIrangam,he tried to reestablish the sampradAyam. He was trying to consolidate the granthams, and tried to protect them. He wrote vyAkhyAnam for periyAzhwAr thirumozhi for the parts where periyavAchAn piLLai’s vyAkhyAnam was not available.
periyAzhwAr thirumozhi also serves as mangaLAsAsanam pAsurams
emperumAn, sarvESvaran, Sriya:pathi:, is the rakshakan (protector) for everyone. This is how we may see at the gyAna level. When there is an overflow of bhakthi, the bhAvam changes to the thought that ,”We need to protect emperumAn”- because of pongum parivu (overflow of bhakthi). Here, periyAzhwAr thinks – “When emperumAn is in vaikuNtam,no harm can come to Him, but, if He comes to samsarAm, he may be in danger with so many asuras wanting to attack Him, and so fearing all of that, he did mangaLAsAsanam in thirupallANdu
periyAzhwAr in thirupAllANdu glorifies narasimha avathAram in
andhiyam pOthil ari uruvAgi ariyai azhiththavanai
periyAzhwAr glorifies rAmAvathAram in
ilangai pAzhALAgap padai poruthAnukku
periyAzhwAr glorifies krishnAvathAram in:
mAyap poru padai vANanai Ayiram thOLum pozhi kurudhi pAya
“Why are all AzhwArs having special affection for krishNa?”,
Because krishNAvathAram was the most recent avathAram They love it more since it is more easily remembered as it happened in dhvApara yuga, which is closer to AzhwAr’s time period!. If we had been born a few years earlier, we could have enjoyed krishNAvathAram directly, says nammAzhwAr who was born 42 days after the start of kali yuga. Also, emperumAn was a king in rAmAvatharam. But was a simple cowherd boy in krishNAvathAram
“In rAmAvathAram, the four boys were very capable, with very good qualities, their father being sambarAnthaka (the killer of sambara), guru like vasishta, etc., the town is ayOdhyA (great fort), the time is good time (thrEthA yuga) – so there is nothing to fear. But in krishNAvathAram, he was born in the prison in enemy’s fort, kamsa was a cruel person who will send different asuras to destroy Him, father is a cow-herd man, residence is colony of cow-herd men and women, the boys themselves (krishNa, etc) are mischievous and the time (dhvApara yuga) is close to kali yuga. That is why AzhwArs have nothing else to do other than caring for krishNa”.
periyAzhwAr was immersed in krishNAnubhavam. He relished and enjoyed krishNAvathAram.”vishNu chittan manaththE kOyil koNdAn”…Lord krishna gave so much of divine anubhavam, that periyAzhwAr constantly thinks about Him.
The various pastimes of the Lord are not recollections as depicted by the purANas. They are krishNa leelA enacted right before AzhwAr’s eyes and he is experiencing them in yaSOdhA bhAvam.
In, vaNNa MAdangal, a question may come:
Wasn’t Krishna born in mathurA and not in thirukOshtiyUr?
thirukkOshtiyur was a favourite place of AzhwAr. selva nambi, the adiyAr who was respected by AzhwAr, lived in thirukOshtiyUr. emperumAn, in this beautiful temple, shows his divine form as Lord krishNa.
It is to be noted that archAvathAram is the representative of vibhavAvathAram. emperumAn gives dharSan to AzhwAr as narasimha, rAma, vAmana, krishNa and so he is enjoying emperumAn and singing this in his pAsurams.
In SrI vachana bhUshaNam, it is said that periyAzhwAr, treated himself as yaSOdhA and ANdAL treated herself and her friends, as gOpikAs and enjoyed the bliss of krishNAnubhavam.
periyAzhwAr glorifies the different stages of emperumAn, with first padhigam, glorifying His birth, second padhigam describing His beauty from head to toe, third padhigam singing lullaby to Him and so on. So through these phases and more, periyAzhwAr, is glorifying krishNA’s childhood in yaSOdhA bhAvam.
Then, periyAzhwAr glorifies dhivya dhESams like thirumAlirunjOlai, thirukkOshtiyUr, thiruveLLarai – kAppidal and thiruvarangam.
In 5-4 padhigam, of periyAzhwAr thirumozhi, in the senniyOngu padhigam – periyAzhwAr glorifies thiruvEngadamudaiyAn. He says:
panik kadalil paLLikOLaip* pazhagavittu* Odivandhu en
manak kadalil vAzhavalla* mAya maNALa nambI!**
thanikkadalE thanichchudarE* thaniyulagE enRenRu*
unakkidamAy irukka* ennai unakku uriththAkkinaiyE.
periyAzhwAr says here that even though there are excellent places like the ocean, sun and heaven waiting for emperumAn, he is exuberant and happy and glorifies how emperumAn chose to come and live in his heart.
anandhan pAlum garudanpAlum* aidhu noydhAga vaiththu* en
manandhanuLLE vandhu vaigi* vAzhach cheydhAy empirAn!**
ninaindhu ennuLLE ninRu nekkuk* kaNgaL asumpozhuka*
ninaindhirundhE siramam thIrndhEn* nEmi nediyavanE!
periyAzhwAr glorifies emperumAn saying he has entered my heart and has given me a new life and has ended my miseries.
paruppadhaththuk kayalpoRiththa* pANdiyar kulapathipOl*
thiruppolindha sEvadi* en senniyin mEl poRiththAy**
marupposiththAy! malladarththAy!*enRenRu un vAsagamE*
uruppolindha nAvinEnai* unakku uriththAkinaiyE.
periyAzhwAr glorifies emperumAn saying like how the pAndya king planted his emblem flag on the high mountain, you too have planted your auspicious, lotus feet on my head.
It is beautiful to see the connection between the flag placed on the mountain by the pAndya king and the lotus feet on periyAzhwAr’s head. The pAndya king went to the mountain, the mountain did not ask him to come to its peak and place a flag, but the king out of his own interest went there. Similarly emperumAn out of His own will, went to AzhwAr and placed His lotus feet on AzhwAr’s head, AzhwAr feels blessed to get this association with emperumAn and in his mood of servitude, expresses emperumAn’s greatness.
vEyar thangaL kulaththudhiththa* vittuchiththan manaththE*
kOyil koNda kOvalanaik*kozhunguLir mugilvaNNanai**
AyarERRai amarar kOvai* andhaNartham amudhaththinai*
sAyai pOlap pAda vallAr thAmum* aNukkargaLE.
Those who can sing these pAsurams in the mood of servitude to emperumAn will become inseparable from Him, like His shadow and they will keep singing His glory and live in bliss.
Thus in periyAzhwAr thirumozhi, periyAzhwAr, glorifies krishNa’s birth and the different stages of his childhood, he does mangaLASAsanams to many dhivya dhEsam emperumAns, he highlights what should we do when we reach our last days. He says when death comes about, adiyEn may not remember emperumAn, in any case, here is my prayer in advance to you.
We may ask “how can we say periyAzhwAr thirumozhi is mangaLASAsanam pasurams.?”
If we ask , why does periyAzhwAr enjoy krishNAvathAram?– it is because he wants krishNa to be happy and safe.
Why does he enjoy emperumAn and ask for protection? This is because he says, “Please protect me, because only if you protect us, willI be able to glorify you and be able to do mangaLAsAsanams”
So we see how periyAzhwAr’s pAsurams are mangaLAsAsanam for emperumAn.
thiruppAvai:
In upadhEsa ratna mAlai, pAsuram 22
inRO thiruvAdip pUram emakkAga
anRO ingu ANdAL avadhariththAL – kunRAdha
vAzhvAna vaigundha vAn bOgam thanni igazhndhu
AzhwAr thirumagaLAr Ay
Didn’t ANdAL take birth on Adi month pUram nakshathra just for our sake ? She left behind the anubhavam offered by vaikuNtam and took birth in this world as periyAzhwAr’s daughter, solely for our spiritual upliftment.
Such is the glory of ANdAL , periyAzhwAr peRRa peN piLLai (the daughter of periyAzhwAr).
thiruppAvai is considered equivalent to the essence of the vEdhas hence called vEdham anaiththukkum vithu.
During thirty days in the month of mArgazhi, she created thirty pAsurams of thiruppAvai. In thiruppAvai she enacts committing to do the nOnbu, gathering all her friends, going to nandagOpan’s thirumALigai, waking up nandagOpan and others, waking up krishNa’s wife nILa dhEvi (nappinnai), and finally waking up krishNan Himself. She ends with asking krishNan to give mOksham and the opportunity to be always subservient to Him, and that too for His enjoyment and happiness.
mArgazhith thingaL
In the term, “nArAyaNanE namakkE parai tharuvAn” the beautiful artha panchakam is explained.
artha panchakam:
- Who is the Lord? (para-svarUpa)
- Who are we? (sva-svarUpa)
- What’s our goal? (purushArrtha-svarUpa)
- The ways to attain the goal. (upAya-svarUpa)
- The hindrances in attaining our Goal. (virOdhi-svarUpa)
Let us see, “nArAyaNanE namakkE parai tharuvAn” and its connection to artha panchakam.
- nArAyaNa – paramAthmA – para svarUpam. He encompasses both sentient and non-sentient
- namakkE – AthmAs – Athma svarUpam – sva svarUpam – AthmA is there for paramAthmA’s enjoyment.
- Parai – means he gives kainkaryam
- tharuvAn – He will give us the palam (result) .So we understand that the way to reach Him is emperumAn only.
- Why did we not get the palam before? Because we did not go to Him earlier, but now we are going towards Him so we are getting the benefit. Since we went to emperumAn now, the obstacles are removed and we are able to get His grace and kainkaryam.
Thus, she gives the essence of the entire SAsthram in this verse!
This first pAsuram is briefly indicating that what will be achieved (i.e., prApyam/upEyam) is parai (kainkaryam to perumAL).
- 1st 5 pAsurams are the vows that ANdAL and her friends take
- 6 – 15 – ANdAL wakes up the gOpikAs
- 16 – 20 ANdAL’s goshti reaches nandagOpa’s palace
- 21 – 25 ANdAL is treading on the right path to reach perumAL
- 26 – 30 Reaching krishNa
In thiruppAvai, ANdAL beautifully explains the following details:
- She establishes that prApyam (goal) and prApakam (path) are emperumAn only.
- She talks about the do’s and don’ts for SrIvaishNavas
- She says bhagavath anubhavam should be done as a group instead of doing it alone (she wakes up 10 gOpikAs to go along with her to meet kaNNan emperumAn)
- She says we should take shelter of emperumAn’s close adiyArs like gatekeepers, balarAma, yaSOdhA, nandhagOpa, etc., before going to emperumAn
- we should always take the help pirAtti before going to emperumAn
- we should always perform mangaLASAsanam to PerumAL
- we should ask for kainkaryam to him – kainkaryam should be prayed for as it is svarUpam for jIvAthmA
- kainkaryam should be done for His pleasure only and we should not look for anything in return
nAchchiyAr thirumozhi:
ANdAL, in nAchiyAr thirumozhi explains many great principles of our sampradhAyam and it is generally explained that one has to be very matured in devotion to even start listening/reading nAchyiAr thirumozhi’s meanings.
mAmunigaL says in Verse 24 of upadhEsa raththina mAlai,
anju kudikku oru santhathiyAy AzhvArgaL
tham seyalai vinji niRkum thanmaiyaLAi – pinjAip
pazhuththALai ANdALaip paththiyudan nALum
vazhuththAi manamE magizhndhu.
Here, mAmunigaL says, ANdAL, who incarnated in the prapanna kula (clan of those who had surrendered to emperumAn) of the AzhwArs, displayed scholarship, devotion and disinclination to worldly objects since her childhood days. O’ my mind, may you fixate yourself in devotion to her! ANdAL possessed these exceptional qualities “pinjAyp pazhuththALai” even as a five year old girl, mAmunigaL compares her to a fruit which has ripened quickly..
In nAchchiyAr thirumozhi ,ANdAL says that “mAnidavarkkenRu pEchchuppadil vAzhagillEn” (மானிடவர்க்கென்று பேச்சுப்படில் வாழகில்லேன்) meaning “even if some one talks about marrying me to someone else other than emperumAn, I will die”. She was in such a high state of bhakthi, since periyAzhwAr had fed her with love for krishNa.
In thiruppAvai which she composed, she determined that emperumAn is the upAyam (means to attain him) and the upEyam (end result to enjoy, after attaining him). Since emperumAn did not come and take charge of her, she became heart-broken. With uncontrolled desire to attain emperumAn, ANdAL composed this wonderful prabandham, nAchchiyAr thirumozhi.
At the end of each padhigam (decad) she identifies herself as vittuchiththan kOdhai and bhattarpirAn kOdhai (daughter of periyAzhwAr), being subservient to periyAzhwAr. She reveals her state of being in AchArya nishtai (fully anchored in the position of being subservient to AchArya, the guru) by saying that she would welcome if emperumAn accepts her for the sake of periyAzhwAr. Being the reincarnation of bhUmip pirAtti (bhUdhEvi), by manifesting her close relationship with emperumAn, she makes us engage in the ecstasy of devotion.
In thiruppAvai, ANdAL had established prApyam (end benefit) and prApakam (means to achieve it). Since she did not get the end benefit immediately, she became perplexed and in nAchchiyAr thirumozhi, fell at the feet of kAman (deity for love) initially. After that, she went for the early morning bath (pani nIrAttam); tried her hand at completing the circle for finding if her wish would get fulfilled; heard the words of cuckoo; desired to see emperumAn in person but since it did not fructify, enjoyed him in her dreams, sustaining herself; enquired from SrI pAnchajanyAzhwAn (Sankha) about the divine nectar of emperumAn’s divine mouth; enquired about emperumAn with clouds, sent those clouds as messenger to Him; became sorrowful after seeing that flowers which were blossoming, reminded her of emperumAn, told how they tortured her; reminisced on how she was born as a girl, and still not finding emperumAn, she consoled herself that He will come for the sake of periyAzhwAr, felt sorrowful since He didn’t come even for that; prayed to those who were nearby to somehow take her to places where He dwelt; asked them to bring articles such as vestment, garland etc to sustain herself; even then emperumAn did not come.
In the last padhigam of nAchchiyAr thirumozhi , she completes the decad by saying the benefit for those who meditate on this padhigam is that they will always be with emperumAn inseparably, carrying out kainkaryam to Him.
These pAsurams have been mercifully composed by ANdAL who is the divine daughter of periyAzhwAr, about her having been able to worship the sarvESvaran, who had showered His grace on SrI gajEndhrAzhwAn (elephant) who has stout legs, at vrindhAvanam in this world. Those who meditate on these pAsurams in their minds as the antidote for the disease of birth, will get to carry out permanent kainkaryam at the great, divine feet of emperumAn, without separating ever.
Thus we saw thiruppallANdu, periyAzhwAr thirumozhi, thiruppAvai and nAchiyAr thirumozhi in this article.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuXeAIqLzk4&list=PLcJLpGJlP9mo0F6_Uo0G6u6Ey5KRBbc2w&index=3
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