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Dear Members of the Prapatti Group:

 

Nov 26, 1996 is the tirunakshatram of Sri Tiruppanazhwar.

Sri Rengarajan has written in great detail about the Amalanathipiran of

Sri Thiruppaanazhwar. Sri Sadagopan and Sri Anbil Ramaswamy have

also written excellent articles in the past about the work of this Azhwar.

In this post, I shall try to summarize some aspects

of the life of this great Azhwar. His ten Pasurams rendered before Lord

Ranganatha are rare gems indeed. These Pasurams have served as the motivation

for the works of several Acharyas. This Azhwar by tradition is

considered to be Ayonija or one, who is not born of mortal human beings.

He is also considered as an Amsa of the Sri Vatsa mark, the mole on the chest

of Sriman Narayana. He was brought up however as a foster-child by a

childless couple of the Paanar caste

 

Swami Desikan was greatly moved by the composition of this Azhwar and wrote a

commentary called Munivahana Bhogam in Mani Pravala.

Swami Desikan's sanskrit compostion " Sri Bhagavad Dhyana Sobhaanam" was also

motivated by the work of Tiruppan Azhwar. In this Stotram, Swami Desikan

offers tribute to Lord Ranganatha and enjoys his Bhagavad Gunams in the

spirit of Tiruppan Azhwar's homage in the Amalanathipiran. Swami Desikan

dwells on each part of the Lord's body and salutes it with great reverence.

 

I shall provide a very brief account of the life of Sri Tiruppan Azhwar

and his Anubhavam of the Lord of Sri Rangam, which inspired Swami Desikan

and the Acharyas before him.

 

Thiruppanar was a resident of one of the 108 divya desams known as Kozhi or

Nisulapuri, which is on the banks of cauveri river, very close to Sri

Rangam. Adopted by foster parents of the Panaar caste, the Azhwar came to be

known as "Panaa". At a very young age, the Azhwar became proficient at playing

the instrument known as the "Yal". Sublimal music in praise of the Lord

emanated from the Yal whenever the Azhwar touched it. As a young boy, the

Azhwar frequently accompanied his father to the Temple of Lord Ranganatha,

where his father would engage in cleaning the exterior of the Temple. Intrigued

by the magnificent palace-like structure of the Temple, the Azhwar enquired of

his father "Who does this mansion belong to?". The Azhwar's father replied that

the mansion was the home of Lord Ranganatha who is the father of the entire

universe.

 

Encouraged by his father's words, the Azhwar once tried to enter the Temple

in an attempt to obtain a darshanam of "the father of the universe". Since

Panaars were forbidden from entering the Temple, the Azhwar was

unceremoniously thrown out of the Temple by the orthodox brahmins. Pained

by treatment meted out to him the Azhwar came home in

tears and reported the incident to his father and complainingly asked of

his father "Isn't Lord Ranganatha the father of the universe and therefore,

my father too? Why an I not allowed to see him?" The Azhwar's father comforted

him with soothing words to the effect that the Azhwar will definitely

get to see the Lord at the right time.

 

Since the Azhwar could not go to the Temple, he used to come to the banks of

the Cauvery river and sing about the glory of Ranganatha and lose himself in

a trance like state. On one of those days,

when he was totally oblivious to his surroundings, the temple priest of Lord

Ranganatha came to the river to collect water for the Tirumanjanam of the Archa

Moorthy. He saw our Azhwar and thought that latter was a man of lower caste

and therefore, he should move away to permit the collection of the water for

the daily Tirumanjanam of Sri Ranganatha without pollution. The

name of the priest was Loka Saranga Muni. He was called a

Muni by the residents of Sri Rangam because of his scholarship and devotion.

He devoted every moment of his life to the service of the Lord at Sri Rangam.

 

The Azhwar was lost in the thoughts of Sri Ranganatha and did not hear the

shouts of Loka Saranga Muni asking him to move away. The priest got angry at

the nonresponse and threw a stone at the Azhwar to wake him up from his

trance. The pebble missed the water and hit the Azhwar in on the forehead and

opened a wound from which blood began to gush forth. The Azhwar woke up and

realized the situation, apologized for his

unawareness and moved away. The priest collected the water in his golden pot

and reached the inner sanctum of Lord Ranganatha. There , he saw to his sorrow

and astonishment blood oozing from the forehead of the Lord at the same site,

where the Azhwar had a wound earlier. The Muni recognized

his apacharam and went home and had restless sleep. In his dream appeared the

Lord of Sri

Rangam and commanded the priest to bring the Azhwar to the temple as a

praayaschittam for the Bhagavata apacharam to the Azhwar. The

priest woke up at that dawn and rushed to the banks of Cauvery and saw the

Azhwar pouring his heart out to Sri Ranganatha through his songs. The Muni

conveyed to the Azhwar , the message of the Lord to come to HIS temple. The

Azhwar refused , since he felt that as a man of lower caste, he was not fit

to set foot in the holy city of Sri Rangam or enter the most sacred sanctum

of the Lord there. Loka Saranga Muni was desparate to make amendments for his

boorish act and persuaded the Azhwar to ride on his back, despite the

latter's protests to the sanctum of the Lord to avoid touching the sacred

ground of Sri Rangam.

 

Another version of this incident is that Loka Saranga Muni arrived at the

Temple upon striking the Azhwar to find that the Temple door was firmly

shut and would not open despite his attempts. The voice of the Lord

reminded Loka Saranga Muni of his Bhagavata Apacharam and declared that

the Temple door would remain tightly shut until Loka Saranga Muni

performed Prayaschittam brought the Azhwar to the Temple by carrying the

latter on his back. Heeding the divine command Loka Saranga Muni rushed

to the Azhwar and brought the latter to the Temple on his back.

 

The Azhwar was thus transported to the sanctum and earned the title as

Munivahana. During this ride, the Azhwar closed his eyes thinking about the

blessings of the Lord. On reaching the inner court of the Lord of Sri Rangam ,

the Azhwar descended from the back of the elderly priest, opened his

eyes to feast on the beauty of the Lord and burst forth in a song known as

Amalanaati Piran, which is a reflection of the Sampoorna Bhagavad Guna

Anubhavam of the beauty of the Lord from HIS Lotus feet to HIS crown. At the

end of this tribute, the Azhwar declared that his eyes will

never rest on anything else, after seeing the Lord of Sri Rangam and he merged

with the Lord right there and then. Below is a humble attempt after

reading the articles of Srimans Sadagopan, Sampath Rengarajan and Anbil

Ramaswamy to summarize what in my opinion is the most majestic of the 10

Pasurams of this Azhwar.

 

Kondal Vannanai Kovalanaai: Lord Ranganatha is the supreme

emperor of the whole world and all the people (residing there);

he who is of the black color of the clouds as well as the nature of the

clouds; who ,as Lord Gopala, ate butter with his mouth; who has stolen my

mind and heart; and who is my immortal ambrosia; my eyes that have looked at

his beauty; these eyes of mine ,that have seen Him , will never see anything

else.

 

 

Azhwar Tiruvadigale Sharanam,

 

Muralidhar Rangaswamy