SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:
Glories of periya pirAtti
SrIranganAyakith thAyAr is periya pirAtti, SrImahAlakshmi, who is next in order to periya perumAL in our OrAN vazhi guru paramparai. emperumAn, took the role of an AchAryan and instructed the dhvaya mahA manthram to periya pirAtti. An AchAryan is one who shows and leads our way and delivers us to emperumAn. periya perumAL is ‘svathanthran’, that is, he is independent; he exercises his free will and functions as per his desire. But periya pirAtti is parathanthrai, that is, totally dependent on emperumAn. Being the divine consort of emperumAn she is fully surrendered to him; and for others, she is a leader. She is the foremost among the consorts of emperumAn and is hailed as the crowned queen (pattamahishi). She is celebrated by our pUrvAchAryas as purushakAra bhUthai. As purushakAra bhUthai, pirAtti, hides the flaws of jIvAthmAs and makes recommendation on behalf of jIvAthmAs to emperumAn. Also, it is due to her compassion that she makes emperumAn accept the jIvAthmAs who have surrendered to him. She mercifully shows the path for the jIvAthmAs to attain emperumAn and out of compassion makes the supreme lord (Ishvaran) protect the jIvAthmAs.
periya pirAtti vAzhi thirunAmam
pangayap pUviRpiRandha pAvai nallAL vAzhiyE
panguniyil uththara nAL pArudhiththAL vAzhiyE
mangaiyargaL thilagamena vandha selvi vAzhiyE|
mAl arangar maNimArbai mannumavaL vAzhiyE
engaL ezhil sEnaimannarkku idham uraiththAL vAzhiyE
irupaththanju utporuL mAl iyambumavaL vAzhiyE
sengamalach seyyarangam sezhikkavandhAL vAzhiyE
sIraranga nAyakiyAr thiruvadigaL vazhiyE
periya pirAtti vAzhi thirunAmam – Explanation
pangayap pUviRpiRandha pAvai nallAL vAzhiyE – The word ‘pangayam’ (pankaja) means lotus. It is said that the lotus flower is the birthplace of pirAtti. Hence, she is also known as ‘malarmagaL’. pAvai means a good woman; here, a good person refers to one who is dispassionate towards material things and devoted to emperumAn. It is only through her grace and compassion that we are able to understand how we can have bhakthi towards emperumAn. Hence, pirAtti is referred to as ‘nallAL’ (good person). May pirAtti, who is devoted to emperumAn, who is born in a lotus flower, with an auspicious thirumEni, live long.
panguniyil uththara nAL pArudhiththAL vAzhiyE – periya pirAtti appeared in the thamizh month – panguni, uthra – star. Every year on panguni – uthram day in SrIrangam, in the ‘gadhya thraya mandapam’ near thAyAr sannidhi, gadhya thrayam is recited. At that time, both namperumAL and SrIranganAyakith thAyAr are present together. This auspicious occasion, when the dhivya dhampathi (divine couple) sit next to each other and appear together is celebrated as ‘sErththi uthsavam’; and it happens only one day in a year in SrIrangam. It was on one such day, emperumAnAr recited gadhya thrayam (SaraNAgathi gadhyam, SrIranga gadhyam, SrIvaikuNta gadhyam), performed saraNAgathi in the presence of the dhivya dhampathi, for the benefit of all. This ‘sErththi uthsavam’ is celebrated for ten days in SrIrangam even to this today. May pirAtti, who appeared on this earth on the auspicious panguni-uthram day, live long.
mangaiyargaL thilagamena vandha selvi vAzhiyE – periya pirAtti, who is always engaged in perumAL kainkaryam as a devoted pathni (consort) is a great example for all women. May periya pirAtti, one with an immense wealth and one who is a leader for all women, live long.
mAl arangar maNimArbai mannumavaL vAzhiyE – mAl means thirumAl. She resides in the divine chest of thirumAl that is studded with ruby. nammAzhwAr, in his prabandham, thiruvAimozhi, quotes the words of pirAtti – ‘agalagillEn iRaiyumenRu” (I am not ready to separate even for a moment!). May pirAtti who is eternally with emperumAn, residing on his divine chest, live long.
engaL ezhil sEnaimannarkku idham uraiththAL vAzhiyE – ‘sEnai mannar’ refers to SrI vishwaksEnar, who is also called as sEnai mudhaliyAr. In our OrAN vazhi guru paramparai, SrI vishwaksEnar is the AchAryar who is next in order after periya pirAtti. This means that SrI vishwaksEnar has received his instructions from periya pirAtti as his AchArya. May periya pirAtti who took the role of an AchArya and gave instructions to SrI vishwaksEnar, live long.
irupaththanju utporuL mAl iyambumavaL vAzhiyE – In the previous sentence, it was described that periya pirAtti had given instructions to SrI vishwaksEnar. Now, let us focus on the instructions that were given by pirAtti to SrI vishwaksEnar. pirAtti, as Sishya, received the instructions of the dhvaya mahA manthram consisting of 25 letters from emperumAn. She then taught this dhvaya mahA manthram along with its inner meaning to SrI vishwaksEnar – 24 achith thathvam – pancha karmEndhriyas, pancha gyAnEndhriyas, pancha bhUthas, pancha thanmAthrAs, manas (mind), ahankAram, mahAn, mUla prakruthi; the 25th thathvam – jIvAthmA thathvam. May periya pirAtti who instructed about these 25 thathvams and the glories of emperumAn – the 26th ISwara thathvam, as an AchArya to SrI vishwaksEnar, live long.
sengamalach seyyarangam sezhikkavandhAL vAzhiyE – May periya pirAtti, who appeared to make SrIrangam, a place where beautiful red lotus flowers blossom, prosperous, live long.
sIraranga nAyakiyAr thiruvadigaL vazhiyE – May the divine feet of periya pirAtti, SrIranga nAyaki, live long.
This concludes the explanation of periya pirAtti vazhi thirunAmam.
AzhwAr emperumAnAr jIyar thiruvadigaLE SaraNam
adiyEn chiththrA rAmAnuja dhAsi
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