Tenth Day of Danur Maasam: Thiruppavai & Artha Panchakam--Part 1

[Guest guest]

Dear Bhakthi Group Memebrs :

 

I had some trime this week end and I am going

to be tied up during theforst part of the coming week and I may be

out in Buffalo ( weather permiting ) during the Dec 27

to December 29th for the Sathsangam meeting . I may not hence be

able to write every day and synchronize the postings with the exact

dates of Margazhi Maasam , much as I would like to do .

Hence You may get some advance copies and some times

late copies . I will with GodhA Piratti's blessings try to

bring to an end the Yajnams of completing this

Margazhi Maasa Vratham of celebrating AndAL and the uttara

Khandam of Raghuveera Gadhyam. Thereafter , I will take the

" Avabritha SnAnam " as it were on Makara Sankaranthi day .

 

After that I will take a rest in the month Of Thai . I am still

not sure whether there is interest in these postings or not.

I hear back from a very few. I will go ahead and complete these two

commitments and fade away ( for a while or longer ) to give you

some rest .In the absence of any substantive feedback , I continue

to write on the assumption some body out there is interested to

read these postings. I would dearly love to hear from each of you

and receive your feedbacks on whether these are the kinds of inputs

that are interesting or useful to you and your family . I do not want to

steer these postings in the uncertain environment of unclear interest.

As you can imagine , it takes a lot of personal time and I do not mind

that at all as long as I know that atleast one third or half of this group

is in favor of receiving these postings. I must confess that I do not even

know how many people are in this private mailing list .

 

Please accept my best wishes for a happy holiday season

and a peaceful , healthy New Year 1997.

 

V. Sadagopan

 

Thiruppavai and Artha Panchakam : Part 1

************************************************

 

Dear fellow students of Thiruppavai and NAcciyAr Thirumozhi :

 

In the previous two postings , We concentrated on the Vaibhavams

of the Naamams of GodhA and Govindhan . Before we leave

this string of thought , let us enjoy the Paasuram of PeriyAzhwAr ,

where he offers his homage to the name of Govindhan. In his

Periya Thirumozhi verse ( 4.6. 5 ) , he says :

 

malamudai ootthail thOnriru ohr mala ootthayai

malamudai ootthayin perittAl marumaikkillai

KULAMUDAI GOVINDHAA ! GOVINDHAA! enru azhaitthakkAl

nalamudai nAraNan tammannai naraham puhAL

 

(Meaning and comments ) : The set of Pasurams of Periya Thirumozhi

4.6 is about the importance of giving the names of the Lord and Piratti

to the children . He is appealing to the parents to enjoy calling

the children with the sacred names of the Divya Dampathis so that

they can indirectly improve their lot and not end up in Narakam.

AzhwAr is thinking particularly about the blessings that came the

way of a sinner like AjAmiLan , who escaped narakam and ended

up in VaikunTam by calling the name of his son (Naarayanan )

during his last moments on earth. In this particular Paasuram ,

the compassionate AzhwAr appeals to the parents to call their

male children Govindhan and Maadhavan so that the mother

that gave birth to the child will assuredly avoid entry into Narakam .

Such is the power of calling the name of the Lord , Govindhan ,

the object of adoration of AndAl in her AruLiccheyalgaL .

 

The Artha Panchakam

*************************

We will be following closely the thoughts of Dr. R. Arangaraajan

in writing about Artha Panchakam and its connection to Thiruppavai.

The purpose of this essay is to show that Artha Panchakam

is brilliantly covered by AndAL in Her Thiruppavai. Afterall ,

AndAL was the incarnation of the Lord's consort, Bhumi Devi .

It should not be a surprise that she so brilliantly wove in the most

important TattvAs like Artha Panchakam in the heart of Thiruppaavai

paasurams.

 

It is our sampradhAyam to equate AndAL to Bhumi Piratti .

MaNavALa maamuni, Azhagiya MaNavALa perumaL nayanAr

have established this sampradhAyam very well . Infact , AndAL

herself refers to Her own svarupam as Bhumi Devi in one of the

NaacchiyAr Thirumozhi verses ( N.T. 11.8 ) . PeriyavAcchAn PiLLai

has pointed out about the Saamyam of AndAL with Bhumi Piratti

and the Saamyam of Tamil Thiruppavai with Upanishads .

He says : " Piratti AndAL aanAppolE Upanishad Tamizhaanapadi " .

Hence it is no wonder that Thiruppavai is considered as

GodhOpanishad to the Draavida Vedam of Thiruvaaimozhi of

NammAzhwAr . Upanishad is considered the Siras of Vedams .

Hence GodhOpanishad has a special place in the intrepretation

of Vedanthic truths such as Artha Panchakam . The greatness

of the exposition of Thiruppavai is multiplied many times by the fact

that the author is none other than the consort of the Lord .

Our AcharyAs have established that the prameyam for Thiruppavai

is Artha Panchakam. Premeyam means the demonstrated conclusion .

Therefore Artha Panchakam assumes a specially important role

as the key message elaborated in AndAL's Thiruppavai.

 

There are two ways to look at Artha Panchakam. The five topics

constituting Artha Panchakam in one view are : ParamAthma

Svarupam , JeevAthma Svarupam , UpAya Svarupam , Pala

Svarupam and Virodhi Svaruppam . Attainment of correct

Knowledge about them leads one to Niradisaya Aanandham

according to the author of Acharya Hrudhayam . The three

RahasyArthams are considered to be an abridgement of the meanings

of the Five topics of Artha Panchakam . Another way of

listing the five topics of Artha Panchakam is to group

them as an assembly of Chith , Achith , Iswaran (the three

TattvAs) , Hitam and PurushArtham . Thiruppavai is an

exposition of Tatva, Hitha and Purushaarthams .

 

We will cover the details of the coverage of Artha Panchakam

in AndAL's Thiruppavai in the subsequent postings .

 

Bhoomi NaacchiyAr ThiruvadigaLE saraNam .

 

Sri VaishNava Daasan ,

Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan

[Guest guest]

I went through the following e-mail of Sriman Sadagopan and thought I would

take the liberty of giving him the open feedback he again seeks.

 

At 09:28 PM 12/22/96 EST, he wrote:

>Dear Bhakthi Group Memebrs :

>

>I am still not sure whether there is interest in these postings or not.

>I hear back from a very few. I will go ahead and complete these two

>commitments and fade away ( for a while or longer ) to give you

>some rest .In the absence of any substantive feedback , I continue

>to write on the assumption some body out there is interested to

>read these postings.

 

I would like to reply to the above as follows :

Unlike the written or visual medium, where audience feed-back is certain to

be received, there is no such assurance in the i-net medium. People 'hook'

on to their mail-screens, scan the day's mail, pick out the ones they would

like to read sometime later during the day and then "trash" the rest which

they think is "junk".

 

It may not always be realistic to expect constant "feed-back". But the

"absence of feed-back" is not to be deemed "non-existence" of feed-back. In

the case of Sriman Sadagopan there is abundant proof that people on the

Group enjoy his postings as it has the genuine flavour of a true Vaishnava

scholar steeped in its literature and lores. So when they see a posting from

Sriman Sadagopan on their screens they take it with the same amount of

"normalcy" as one would take the delivery of the morning's newspaper. They

may not respond to its contents by writing letters of "appreciation" or

"criticism" to him as one would perhaps do in "a letter to the editor" of a

newspaper but that does not mean they do not have feed-back to give.

 

As long as there is no overwhelming "negative feed-back" and as long as the

"mail-server owner" is not forced into "cutting connection" or

"excommunicating", every correspondent on a private mailing-list can rest

happy that at least "somebody out there" is reading his message.

 

That "somebody" may or may not like a posting, may or may not agree with its

contents, may or may not like to give "positive feed-back". But that

shouldn't bother anybody, least of all a deep scholar like Sriman Sadagopan.

 

Beyond what I have mentioned above I don't think the 'i-net' medium can by

its inherent nature promise anything.

 

Sriman Sadagopan further says:

I do not want to >steer these postings in the uncertain environment of

unclear interest.

 

My comments:

The very nature of the 'i-net' medium is that it is an "open and free"

forum. It was meant to be that way: to enable 'airing' of a wide

cross-section of views from as many quarters as possible.

 

The beauty of the medium is that, unlike as in the written or visual medium,

there are no "editorial departments" to "screen" or "censor" views and

opinions. While this unfettered "democracy" may sometimes lead to "unusual

views" also getting aired, there is however overall virtue in a situation

where everyone has an opportunity to give his views to the best of his

knowledge and experience. It may not be of "interest" to many; it may be

too, as Sriman Sadagopan says, of "unclear interest" to an "uncertain

environment" but it nevertheless enables the audience to form a wonderful

"synthesis" of all possible views in their own individual minds. In the

process they also get to know what is the "grain" which must be cherished

and what is the "chaff" that must be "junked".

 

Ultimately they --- all the "somebodys out there" on the net --- are the

final "judges" and it is up to them, individually, to decide what it is they

will regard with interest and curiosity and what they will "trash" by the

"click" of a mouse-button !!

 

There is nothing one can do about that, for sure.

 

Personally, what I like about Sriman Sadagopan's postings are that they

 

A) carry a wealth of information about our literature

B) are painstakingly written so as to be comprehensible to the average

reader and not only to a few who are well-acquainted with "vedas" or

"prabhandhams"

C) are remarkably free of any bias, prejudice or self-righteousness; are

relatable to our present times and problems of the world

D) done in a spirit of "nishkAma-karma", unselfishly, as it were, without

expecting anything in return ... except, perhaps, for a little honest

feed-back, now and then, from his readers.

 

I will consider myself 'poorer' for his absence from the "list" whether it

is for for a short or long while !!

 

Isn't all this feedback enough, Sriman Sadagopan ?

>Please accept my best wishes for a happy holiday season

>and a peaceful , healthy New Year 1997.

>

>V. Sadagopan

 

I wish Sri.Sadagopan on my own behalf a happy 1997.

 

sudarshan