THIRUPAAVAI AND SANGA TAMIZH : PART 2 (27th Day of Margazhi )

[Guest guest]

Dear Members of the Prapatthi Group :

 

We will continue with the ten aspects of Vishnu parathvam sung by

Sanga Pulavars and GodhA piraatti in this companion posting .

 

1. Sriman NaarAyaNan is Jaagath KaaraNan

 

The creation , protection and dissolution of the Universe

is attributed to Sriman NaarAyaNan , when we invoke the name

of Jagadh KaaraNan . The sanga Kaala literature bases its

account of creation on the Upanishadic tradition . In the first Paripaadal ,

the sarvesvarathvam of the Lord is described this way : Poovanum

Naaramum nee ( The responsibility of the creation done by

Brahma born of the lotus and his birth are undr Your control ).

In the same paripaadal , the poet declares Sriman narAyaNa as

" Iruvar Taathai " ( the one , who created both Brahman and Sivan ) .

 

The poet continues and states that that the Lord is TannoppArillappan

( matchless ) this way : innOr anayayai inayayaiAl -- pon aNi nemi valam

kondu yEnthia manniya mudalvanai --" ( Since it is impossible to

compare You to any other Gods and since there is none excelling

You in your anantha KalyANa gunAs , You holding the golden disc

in your hand is the Jagadh KaaraNan .

 

Elsewhere , the Sangam literature salutes Sriman NarAyaNa

in the spirit of Purusha suktham: Pathinaayiram kai mudhu

mozhi mudalva " ( Sahasraseeshaa Purusha: ---- ) .

The passage , Mudhu Mozhi Mudalva recognizes that he is

the ancient Veda Purushan ( Anaadhi and the primal one ) .

 

Nal YezhuniyAr salutes the lord as Trikaalaadheethan this way :

" mudinthathum , mudivathum ,muhizhpathum avai moonrum

kadanthu , avai amaindha kazhalin nizhalavai " . This passage

has many echoes in Vedam and points out that he is beyond

the past , present and future and that all the trikaalams come

and rest at His lotus feet .

 

All of these concepts related to Jagadh KaaraNathvam

of the Lord is saluted by AndAL both in Her Thiruppavai

and NacchiyAr Thirumozhi (NT ) . In Thiruppavai , She

salutes Sriman NaarAyaNa as , " Oozhi mudalvan ,

Paazhiyam thoLudaya Parpanaabhan " in the fouth verse.

In the pORRi paadal , She salutes those sacred feet , where

the three kaalams rest . In NT , AndAL salutes the Vimalathvam

of the Lord , who creates Brahma on the Lotus of His navel and

commands him to create the universe ( N.T 14.9 : Naatai padai

yenru ayaan mudalAtthantha naLIr maamalarundhi veetai paNNi

viLayAdum Vimalan ) .

 

2. Sarva Vyapakthvam : All pervasiveness

 

The omnipresence of the Lord as aathman and his inclusion of the

chetanAs and AchetanAs as apart of his sariram is saluted by Sangam

literature ( EvvyunEyum neeyE ) . In another passage , the Sanga poet

declares magnificiently : " TheeyinuL thiral nee, poovinuL naarumum nee ,

kallinuL maNiyum nee , sollinuL vaaymai nee, aRatthinuL anbu nee ,

maRatthinuL maindhu nee , Vedatthu maRai nee, bhoothatthu

mudalaum nee , venchudar oLiyum nee, thingaLum aLiyum nee ,

ANAITTHUM NEE , ANAITTHIN UTPORUL NEE ". After a series of revelations

about the Sarva Vyaapakthvam of Sriman NaarAyaNA , the poet

concludes that You are every thing and You are the meaning and

indweller of ALL in this universe of Yours . The Sarira -Saariree doctrine

central to VisishtAdvaitham is saluted here .

 

AndAL establishes this all-pervasive Brahman , who has the

universe as part of His body and who is present in all of His

creation as AntharyAmi Brahman as NAARAAYANAN in her

first and 10th paasuram of Thiruppavai . His svarupam that

expanded and covered all the worlds is saluted as " Oongi

ulahaLandha Uttaman " in the third verse . Twice more in

the 17th and 24th Paasurams , AndAL salutes the Trivikraman

who exapnded to include his worlds in three steps as ,

" ambaramoodaratthu Oongi ulahaLandha umbar kOmAnE

and AnrivvulahamaLandhaai Adi pORRi ' .

 

3. Sarvaj~nthvam of Sriman NaarAyaNan/Omniscience

 

Sanga literature salutes Him as " NeeyA ninaiva "

( one who knows every thing as the ever present

witness ). AndAL shows Kuraivonrumillatha Govindhan

in her 28th paasuram as the opposite of " Arivonrumillatha

Aaykulatthu sirumiyOm " .

 

4. Omnipotence of the Lord ( Sarva Sakthan )

 

In the third Paripaadal , Sriman NaarayaNa is

referred to as " Aalamum Kadampum " . The reference

is to His swallowing the world and keeping them in

His stomach and releasing them later , while floating

in the PraLayA waters on a leaf of Vata tree ( Aalin Ilayaai

as saluted by AndaL in her 26th verse ) . The reference

to Kadampu is to His Yoga NidrA on the bed of Adhi Seshan

in the milky ocean ( PaarkadaluL paiyatthuyinra Paraman in

the second verse ) .

 

5. Moksha Prathatvam : Giver of the Boon of Moksham

 

In the same third paripaadal , the exclusive power of the Lord

to liberate a jeevan from the cycles of births and deaths is saluted

this way : " Maa AyOyE ! maa ayOyE ! maRu piRappu aRukkum

maasu il sevadi maNi thihazh urubin maa ayOyE ! ". Kaduvan

ILaveyinanAr describes the Lord as the one with suddha Sattva body

and as the one who releases the jeevans from the bound state to

MukthA state ( release from the cycles of births and the deaths/ na

punar janmam ) . Puranaanooru went one step further and saluted

the PurushakAthvam of the Consort of the Lord this way in the 358th verse :

" vittOrai vidA aL ThiruvE vidaa athOr IvaL vidapattArE " . This verse

points out that those , who has distaste for the worldly life are blessed

by the mediatrix , Maha Lakshmi to attain Moksha Siddhi through her

pleading with Her Lord , whose side She never leaves . Those , who can not

leave the desire for samsaaric life are not beneficiaries of Her grace

and are left behind by Her .

 

AndAL chooses the salutation , " Maadhavan Vaikunthan " in Her

19th verse and pORRa paRai tharum puNNIyan in the 10th verse

and the one , who changes the other desires and temptations

( MaRRai Nam kAmangaL maarupavan ) in the 29th verse . AndaL says

through these salutaitons that the Lord is the Mukthi Daayakan and Ishta

Praapthan as well as anishta nivrutthan .

 

6. The abode of Sarva KalyANa guNAs , Blemishless Nature of the Lord

 

The sanga literature salutes the Lord as " yeNNirandha Puhazhavai "

( Limitless are those glorious GuNAs of Yours ) . It goes on and praises

this aspect of His glory as " sEval Onghu uyar kodi selvA ! yeval in

mudhumozhi koorum naRpuhazhavai " ( O Lord with hte banner of

GarudA ! You are not commanded by any one and You are the one,

whose anantha KalyANa guNAs are sung by the timeless VedAs) .

They sang about his KuraivonrumilA tattvam and

the demonstration of His anantha KalyANa guNam in many

of His incarnations .

 

AndAL sings about the limitless auspicious attributes of

blemishless (KuraivonrumilA Govindhan ) through out

Thiruppavai and sums it up in Her salutation , " Ulahil

tORRamAi niRa sudarE " in her 21st paasuram .

 

7. Immeasurable Aprameyathvam of the Lord

 

The fourth paripaadal focuses on the Aprameya aspect in this

passsage : " Anna marabhin anayOi ! ninnai innan yenru

uraitthal yemakku yevan yeLithu ? " ( O great One with

such indescribable glories ! How can we of little intellect

attempt to describe that you are of this type or other ? )

Elsewhere the poet addresses the Lord as, " kaaNaa Marabha ! "

( One who can not be measured and described /Yatho vaachA

nivarthantE ) .

 

AndAL addresses Him as Maayan in the 5th , 6th and 16th paasurams

and as "Periyaai " in the 21st pasuram of Thiruppavai and chose the words

" aarkkum yeithAthu " in NT 11.6 . She declared that it is impossible to

take a measure of the Lord's limitless glories .

 

9. The Sahaja ( Iyarkai ) bhandhu of all the Jeevans

 

Inthe thirteenth paripaadal , the poet points out the natural

relationship (svabhAvikam ) of the Lord to His jeevans as

" Annai yena ninai yee " ( You are like the Mother to the child.

It is such a natural relationship ) .

 

AndAL declares clearly that the relationship between the jeevans

and the Lord is an unalterable one in her 28th and 29th Paasurams:

" UnRannOdhu uravEl ozhikka ozhiyAthu , yeRRaikkum YEzhEzh

piravikkum unrannOdhu urrOmEyAvOm ".

 

10 . The ancient One decalred by the VedAs as the Primal one

 

Sruthis ( Maayaa Vaai mozhi /AamnAyam ) declare Him as the primal

one with the above nine attributes . The Paripaadal declares this

truth in this way : " KeLviyuL kilandha aasaan urayum --nin urubhu "

( You are of the form of the Veda ManthrAs that are recited by the

acharyan , who is recognized as the YajamAnan of the VedAs ) .

Elsewhere , the Paripaadal salutes HIm as Mudhu mozhi mudalvA ! "

( O the primal one saluted by the anaadhi VedAs ! ) . The additional

salutations are " Vedatthu maRai nee , Tolliyal Pulava ! .

The VishNu parathvam is indicated by all of these salutations.

 

AndAL declares in Thiruppavai as well as in NT the unshakable

truth about Sriman NarAyNA as the primal and fundamental

force behind the functioning of the Universe , its well being .

AndAL describes Him as the One saluted by the authoritative

VedAs ( OoRRamudayaai ) . She reveals in NT that He is the meaning

of the ancient Veda manhtrAs ( Pazhahu naan maRayin PoruLaai ,

NT 4.10 ) and as Veda Mudalvar ( NT 10.2 ) . His manifestation

in ArchA form as the essence (meaning ) of the four Vedas

is again saluted by AndAL in the paasuram passage , " Naan MaRayin

sorr poRuLaai ninRaar " ( NT 11.6 ) .

 

***Summary of the connections between AndAl's paasurams

and Sanga Thamizh of predecessors

 

VishNu parathvam is established by AndAL and Sanga Pulavars .

AndAL described Her divine work as conforming to

the tradition of singing the Sarvotthamathvam and the anantha

KulAyaNa gunathvam a la Sanga Pulavars

and therefore called Her Thiruppavai as " Sanga Tamizh maalai " .

She recognized and paid tribte to the parama vaidhika matham

of sangam literature followed by Herself and Her father through

such a choice of a name .

 

On this marghazhi SravaNam day , May we seek the blessings

of Parama Daya svarupee AndAL , who gave us the Sanga Tamizh Maalai !

 

Oppiliappan koil VaradAchAri sadagopan