thiruvAimozhi – Fourth 1000

SrI:  SrImathE SatakOpAya nama:   SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama:  SrImath varavaramunayE nama:

Among the 4000 dhivya prabandham, this is the fourth 1000 pAsurams. This contains a collection of pAsurams sung by nammAzhwAr.

SrIman nArAyaNan – paramapadham

nammAzhwAr – AzhwArthirunagari

nammAzhwAr himself highlights the greatness of SrIman nArAyaNan, nammAzhwAr himself and thiruvAimozhi in thiruvAimozhi 3.9.11:

ERkum perumpugazh vAnavar Isan kaNNan thanakku
ERkum perumpugazh vaNkurukUrch chatakOpan sol
ERkum perumpugazh AyiraththuL ivaiyumOr paththu
ERkum perumpugazh sollavallArkku illai sanmamE

The supreme lord kaNNan is the lord of nithyasUris and mukthAthmAs and is the most qualified to be glorified. nammAzhwAr (me) is the most qualified poet to to glorify such great SrIman nArAyaNan. This thiruvAimozhi is the most fitting prabandham to highlight the glories of emperumAn and nammAzhwAr.  There is no re-birth in this samsAram for the ones who sing these 10 pAsurams of such thiruvAimozhi.

In the beginning of thiruvAimozhi itself, nammAzhwAr declares that emperumAn blessed him with divine blemishless knowledge and devotion out of his own mercy. Subsequently, he establishes that emperumAn preached his own glories through the words of nammAzhwAr. Not only that, the most important 5 principles which are known as arththa panchakam are fully explained in this dhivya prabandham. This is explained beautifully in the “mikka iRai nilaiyum” thaniyan. This is why thiruvAimozhi is greatly glorified by all vaidhikas as the epitome of all literature/scriptures. piLLai lOkAchAryar compiled his most important work of SrIvachana bhUshaNam based on the principles explained in thiruvAimozhi. In AchArya hrudhayam, azhagiya maNavALa perumAL nAyanAr compares thiruvAimozhi with vEdham, vEdhAntham, ithihAsams, purANams, etc., and in the end declares that thiruvAimozhi is much greater than everything else. Similarly, he compares thiruvAimozhi and bhagavAth gIthA in detail and establishes categorically that thiruvAimozhi is much greater than gIthA as well. Thus, thiruvAimozhi is the most celebrated and comprehensive literature that is to be found in glorification of SrIman nArAyaNan, his names, forms, auspicious qualities, etc.

bhagavath vishayam generally means any subject matter relating to SrIman nArAyaNan. But, in our sath sampradhAyam, bhagavath vishayam specifically means thiruvAimozhi and its meanings. SrIman nArAyaNan, out of his causeless mercy, blessed nammAzhwAr (and other AzhwArs) with divine blemishless knowledge and devotion. nammAzhwAr, after being blessed by emperumAn, explained the essence of 4 vEdhams through 4 dhivya prabhandhams.

• thiruviruththam – rig vEdha sAram
• thiruvAsiriyam – yajur vEdha sAram
• periya thiruvandhAdhi – atharvaNa vEdha sAram
• thiruvAimozhi – sAma vEdha sAram

thirumangai AzhwAr presented the essence of vEdha angams (supplementary parts) through his six dhivya prabhandhams. Other AzhwArs presented the essence upa angams (additional supplementary) through their dhivya prabhandhams. emperumAnAr compiled SrIbhAshyam with the help of thiruvAimozhi to explain vEdhAntham precisely. Also, emperumAnAr ordered his dear sishya thirukkurugaippirAn piLLAn to write the first vyAkyAnam for thiruvAimozhi thereby starting the tradition of writing detailed commentary for thiruvAimozhi.

emperumAnAr – SrIperumbUthUr

The essence of sAsthram is arththa panchakam, i.e., to understand the nature of the five aspects – paramAthmA (God), jIvAthmA (Soul), upAyam (means), upEyam (goal) and virOdhi (hurdle) svarUpams. This arththa panchakam is clearly explained in rahasya thrayam, i.e., thirumanthram, dhvayam and charama slOkam. dhivya prabhandhams in general and thiruvAimozhi specifically explains the arththa panchakam in a detailed manner. thiruvAimozhi also discusses the divine auspicious qualities of bhagavAn in great detail. This is why, our pUrvAchAryas spent their time fully engaged in discussing dhivya prabhandham and its meanings.

thiruvAimozhi has 5 different vyAkyAnams (commentaries).

• 6000 padi by thirukkurugaippirAn piLLAn
• 9000 padi by nanjIyar
• 24000 padi by periyavAchchAn piLLai
• Idu (eedu) 36000 padi of nampiLLai documented by vadakku thiruvIdhip piLLai
• 12000 padi (word-by-word meaning) by vAdhi kEsari azhagiya maNavALa jIyar

padi is a type of measurement – usually one padi means 32 aksharams (letters).

There are also several arumpadha viLakkams (detailed analysis of vyAkyAnams) which are available.

nampiLLai – thiruvallikkENi

Of these nampiLLai‘s Idu mahA vyAkyAnam is the most comprehensive and detailed vyAkyAnam for thiruvAimozhi. nampiLLai being an expert in both samskrutham and thamizh literature, presents the views of our pUrvAchAryas in relation to sruthi, smruthi, ithihAsams/purANams, etc., in the most relishable and authoritative way.
Out of bhagavAn’s divine will, nampiLLai instructs Idu mahA vyAkyAnam to be kept confidential and highlights that in the future, emperumAn himself will reveal the same to everyone through the most apt AchArya. The history of Idu being transmitted from nampiLLai to mAmunigaL can be viewed at https://acharyas.koyil.org/index.php/2013/04/21/eeynni-madhava-perumal/.

mAmunigaL‘s Idu kAlakshEpa gOshti in front of SrIranganAthan

maNavALa mAmunigaL learns the Idu mahA vyAkyAnam (and all other vyAkyAnams) through thiruvAimozhi piLLai and becomes fully attached to them. Though he was a great scholar in ubhaya vEdhAntham (samskrutham and thamizh vEdhAntham) – he fully spent his energy in rejuvenating dhivya prabandham and the various vyAkyAnams. He becomes such an expert in Idu mahA vyAkyAnam that he was famously known as “eettup perukkar” (the one who explains the divine meanings of Idu vyAkyAnam in the most detailed and precise manner). SrI ranganAthan, desirous of hearing the Idu vyAkyAnam through mAmunigaL, orders mAmunigaL to lecture the divine meanings of thiruvAimozhi with its vyAkyAnams for a whole year, right in front of his main sanctum in periya kOyil (SrIrangam). mAmunigaL accepts the orders of emperumAn and delivers his lectures with great enthusiasm. He lectures the Idu vyAkyAnam mainly and explains the principles in relation to sruthi, smruthi, ithihAsams/purANams, pAnchArAthram, other vyAkyAnams of thiruvAimozhi and other dhivya prabhandhams etc. On the most auspicious Ani thirumUlam day, he performs sARRumuRai (completion) of his kAlakshEpam. periya perumAL himself appears as a small boy and submits “SrISailESa dhayApAthram” thaniyan (a verse of glorification) to mAmunigaL and accepts him as his own AchArya. From then onwards, the glories of bhagavath vishaya (Idu) kAlakshEpam become well established and the same have been carried out by our sath sampradhAya AchAryas regularly.

Thus, we have seen the glories of thiruvAimozhi, Idu mahA vyAkyAnam and mAmunigaL. emperumAn has great love for all 3 of them and thus he himself heard the thiruvAimozhi vyAkyAnam through mAmunigaL in periya kOyil (SrIrangam).

It is also common practice to explain thiruppallANdu and kaNNinuN chiRuth thAmbu vyAkyAnams before explaining thiruvAimozhi.

• mAmunigaL highlights in upadhEsa raththina mAlai that “vEdhaththukku Om ennumathu pOl” – just like praNavam (OmkAra) is the essence of vEdham and is thus recited at the beginning of any vEdha pArAyaNam, thiruppallANdu highlights the identity of jIvAthmA and paramAthmA. So, thriuppallANdu is explained first to understand the sambandha gyAnam (knowledge about the relationship between jIvAthmA and paramAthmA).
• mAmunigaL highlights in upadhEsa raththina mAlai that “vAyththa thirumanthiraththin maththimamAm padham pOl” – just like the “nama:” which explains the upAyam and is in the middle of thirumanthram, kaNNinuN chiRuth thAmbu explains the upAya gyAnam (knowledge about the means to reach emperumAn) and is explained next.
• nArAyaNAya sabdham in thirumanthram explains the auspicious qualities of bhagavAn and kainkaryam. thiruvAimozhi is filled with narration of bhagavAn‘s auspicious qualities – every paththu (centum) is focussed on a particular quality of emperumAn, every padhigam (decad) is focussed on a particular quality of emperumAn and even every pAsuram is focussed on a particular quality of emperumAn. So, thiruvAimozhi explains the upEya gyAnam (knowledge about the ultimate goal – performing eternal kainkaryam after being overwhelmed with the auspicious qualities of bhagavAn). Thus thiruvAimozhi is explained in the end.

Thus, one needs to study thiruppallANdu, kaNNinuN chiRuth thAmbu and thiruvAimozhi to get a full understanding of the important principles of our sath sampradhAyam.

vyAkyAnam for thaniyans has been provided by piLLai lOkam jIyar.

piLLai lOkam jIyar

Many recent-time vidhwAns such as kAnchIpuram SrI u. vE prathivAdhi bhayankaram aNNangarAchAryar swamy have given wonderful and simple explanations for thiruvAimozhi pAsurams based on pUrvAchAryas‘ vyAkyAnams. SrImAn purushOththama nAidu swamy has also given very simple/elegant thamizh translation for eedu vyAkyAnam. With the help of all of these and the mercy of emperumAn, AzhwArs, AchAryas and asmadhAchAryan, we will see the English translation for this wonderful dhivya prabandham. In our translation, we will see the word-by-word meaning from vAdhi kEsari azhagiya maNavALa jIyar‘s 12000 padi commentary and highlights from other vyAkyAnams wherever applicable/possible.

• கோயில் திருவாய்மொழி – எளிய விளக்கவுரை
• कोयिल तिरुवाईमोळी – सरल व्याख्या
• ಕೋಯಿಲ್ ತಿರುವಾಯ್‌ಮೊೞಿ – ಸರಳ ವಿವರಣೆ
• కోయిల్ తిరువాయ్మొళి – సరళ వ్యాఖ్యానము
• kOyil thiruvAimozhi – Simple explanation
• Introduction (e-book – http://1drv.ms/1LBCXEZ)
  • bhagavath vishayam thaniyans (Invocation for studying thiruvAimozhi vyAkyAnams)
  • thiruvAimozhi thaniyans (Invocation)
  • avathArikai (Introduction)
    • Part 1 – nanjIyar, periyavAchchAn piLLai and vAdhi kEsari azhagiya maNavALa jIyar’s introductions
    • Part 2 – nampiLLai’s introductions
• 1st centum
• 2nd centum
• 3rd centum
• 4th centum
• 5th centum
• 6th centum
• 7th centum
• 8th centum
• 9th centum
• 10th centum

adiyen sarathy ramanuja dasan

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