Thirumangai"s Paasuram on ThiruvenkatamudayAn

[Guest guest]

Dear Sri Srinivasan and Sri Vijay Triplicane:

 

Both of you have given me the opportunity to reflect

on this moving paasuram of Thirumangai Mannan

performing MangaLAsAsanam of the Lord of the seven

hills . I consider this a great blessing to share my musings

on the deeper meanings of this paasuram as revealed by

our AcharyAs .

 

To begin with virai aar means filled with(aar) sugandham

or parimaLam (virai ) . AzhwAr addresses the Lord , who is the

Sarva Gandhan as " vEyi yEyi poompozhil soozh virai

aar ThiruvEnkatavA "in the third line of this beautiful

paasuram . " VEyi yEyi " refers to the dense bamboo

thickets found in the slopes of the seven hills . These

thickets are interspersed with flower gardens ( poompozhil).

Together they form splendid thoppus (groves) , where the

lush green bamboo leaves serve as background for the

multicolored wild flowers blossoming in their midst .

 

The hill side is filled with the perfume of jaathi mullai ,

gundu mallikai , samphangi , ThAzhai , vakulA flowers,

wild roses , and other fragrant flowers .

That perfume is wafted gently by the waving bamboo leaves and

reaches the lotus feet of the Lord , which has the natural perfume

of the highest order because of his own Sarva gandha nature

and nigama parimaLam ( fragrance of the Veda mantrAs

eulogizing those holy feet ) mingling with it.

 

AzhwAr addresses this sarvagandhan

( ViraiAr Thiruvenkatavan)as the Lord

who resides on these fragrant hills known for their

dark thickets of tall bamboos(inviting as it were theDevAs

to come down to Bhulokam ) and groves with fragrant

blossoms to nourish the bees(jeevans ) that perform Hari nAma

sankeerthanam .

 

After saluting the above third line of this famous paasuram ,

let us offer our homage to the rest of the paasuram .

 

In the previous ten verses ( Periya Thirumozhi 1.8) ,

AzhwAr begged his mind (nenju ) to reach Thiruvenkatam

( Thiruvenkatam adai nenjamE ) . The nenju obliged by

shaking of all the attachments that it was heir to and

lifted the AzhwAr to the top of the seven hills . AzhwAr

described his presence in front of the Lord as

a lowly dog that has finally arrived out of

desire to feast its eyes on the Sowndharyam

of the Lord of ThiruvEnkaTam .

 

Now AzhwAr worries about the other Praapthi Virodhis

( the enemies that interfere with the attainment

of Prapatthi that he wishes to perform )

and prays for the Lord's anugraham

to banish them and bless him with the supreme boon

of Moksham . Chasing away praapthi virodham items

is one of the essentials of Artha panchakam.

 

The understanding of the Virodhi Svarupam and the clear

knowledge about those enemies helps one to defeat them with

the grace of the Divya Dampathis .Knowledge about

the Isvara Svarupam , Jeeva Svarupam , Upaayam ,

palan and the knowledge about the virodhis

for attaining that palan constitute together

the artha Panchakam . Swami Desikan has devoted the

entire fourth chapter of Sri Rahasya traya Saaram to

the doctrines of Artha Panchakam .

 

Swami Desikan quotes the following verse from

Haaritha Samhitha to describe the features

of Artha Panchakam that are relevant to the

understanding of the mokshArthis :

 

prApyasya brahmaNO rupam prApthusccha pratyagAthmana: I

prApthyupAyam palam chaiva tathA PRAAPTHI VIRODHI CHA

vadanthi sakalA vedA: sethihAsa -puranAkA :II

 

(Meaning ) : All the VedAs , IthihAsAs and PurANAs describe

the nature (Svarupam ) of Brahman that is to be attained,

the nature of the Jeevan who seeks that Brahman , the means

for that quest , the fruits of such a quest and the obstacles on

the way to such an attainment .

 

Thirumangai focuses in this paasuram on the obstacles of

SamsAric bonds that delayed him and his pitiable status

due to devotion to those transient relationships and finally

gaining true knowledge and reaching ThiruvenkaTam and

standing before VenkatanAthan begging for his anugraham

inspite of all his past transgressions .

 

AzhwAr in a state of repentance reminds himself and reveals

to the Lord that he transgressed the Saastric injunction ,

" Na sva vruthyA kadhAchana " . Sva vritthi is the dog's life.

The dog is loyal to those whosoever feeds it and has no particular

(discriminating )preference on who it works for

to earn its food& shelter.

 

What the AzhwAr reminds the Lord is that

due to his prArabdha karmAs , he served

all kinds of masters and doted on various realtionships with

utmost intensity that did not lead to the fruit of

firm attachment to the Lord's lotus feet . In a state of naicchiyam

( revulsion about his wasted days in sva vritthi as a result of

not devoting his time and energy on the Sarva Gandhan

and Sarva Bhandhu ) . He equates his status to that

of a lowly dog (nAyEn ) that has arrived . He implies like

NammAzhwAr who described himself before

the very same Lord of ThiruvenkaTam

(Thiruvaimozhi paasuram: 3.4) as " NeesanEn , NiraivonrumilEn" .

 

***** Naicchiyam of the AzhwArs and AchAryAs

 

Digressing a little to focus the sentiment of NammAzhwAr

that Thirumangai echos here , we can see the links among

AzhwAs and AchAryAs. Kulapathi NammAzhwAr described

himself to the Lord of ThiruvenkaTam as lowly and downtroden

with no uplifting grace . The Tamil words , Neesan ( " Lowly "

AzhwAr ), nEsan ( Lord , the Friend) , the one who destroys

the lowliness (Naasan ) through His paasam ( atachment and

affection to the AzhwAr , who stands before Him crying out for

His mercy to uplift him ) in the desam ( Divya Desam ) of

ThiruvenkaTam ring together . It is in the context

of the declaration of SatakOpa Suri that Thirumangai and

other AzhwArs and AcharyAs declared themselves as

undeserving , lowly and despicaple ones (neesan, NaayEn,

MoorkanEn ) .

 

In one of his ThirumAlai paasurams ,

Tondaradipodi describes himself and

his status this way :

 

" manathilOr Thooymai illai

vaayilOr inn sollilai

markamonRu aRiyamAttA

moorkanEn vandhu ninrEn

moorkanEn moorkanEnEnE "

 

(Meaning ) : O Lord RanganAthA ! There is no

purity in my thoughts . There is no pleasing

word coming out of my speech in praise of

You . I do not know the ways for upliftment

to attain your grace . I have now arrived at

your sannithi and am standing before You

with all my lowly , ferocious and despicable traits.

I am indeed the AdhamAdhamAn ( Lowliest of the

Lowliest ) . Please bless me !

 

AlavandhAr descibed his status similar to that of

the AzhwArs in his 62nd slokam of his immortal

work , Sthothra Rathnam and cried out about

his unfit status( na dharmanishtosmi nachAthma vedhi--).

 

Swami Desikan described himself

at one time as the Emperor of all AparAdhams

(AparAdha Chakravarthi ) . Saint ThyagarAjA

described himself as one who will stay

away from the neechAs in his Ranjani Krithi

and addressed Sri RamachandrA as "SRIKARA "

(the one who creates auspiciousness of every kind ) .

The meaning of this song is as follows and ties closely

to the state of mind of the sadhAcharyAs who preceded

this great Rama BhakthA :

 

{ O Lord RamachandrA , the embodiment of DharmA !

O bestower of the riches of Moksham ! You are my material

prosperity and wealth and my very God. I can never

bring myself to flatter the wicked people (MOORKAAS AND

NEECHAAS LIKE A DOG THAT EXULTS IN WAGGING

ITS TAIL AS AN EXPRESSION OF CONTENTMENT OVER

THE FOOD RECEIVED FROM ONE AND ALL ).

I will stay away from those adaharmikAs , who dedicate

their literary works to depraved persons and address

them (for the sake of their vrutthi or livelihood )

" you are my Lord " and thereby practice sva vrutthi } .

 

*****Thirumangai"s Paasuram : Rest of the lines

 

The lower status of Oupaadhikha Sambhandham versus

NiruphAdhika sambhandham (relationship ) is described by

the AzhwAr in these two lines:

 

ThAyE Thanthai yenrum TaaramE kilai MakkaL Yenrum

nOyE pattu ozhindhEn unnai kANpathu Ohr aasiyinAl

( ---ThiruvenkaTavA , naayEn vabthu adainthEn ,

nalhi aaLennai koNdaruLE ) .

 

NirupAdhikam is the realtionship without any limitations

of ours to the Lord as his Sesha BhoothAs . It is beyond

the limits of desam , kaalam , caste , creed or gender or

kalais and other constraints or boundaries .

The opposite of NiruphAdhikam is OuphAdhikam relationships .

Thirumangai recognizes the OuphAdhikam vritthis

that he followed so far and begs the Lord

as Sarva Vidha Bandhu ( relative in all dimensions ) to show

affection and friendship to him ( undeserving self overpowered by

OuphAdhika sambhandhams thus far ) and accept him

as His servant ( Nalhi Yennai AaL kondu aruL ).

 

The PrApthi Virodhis are identified by the AzhwAr as diseases

that he was subjected to by not focusing on the NiruphAdhika

sambhandham with the Lord of ThiruvenkaTam . He states that

this wasting disease led to his loss of knowledge about his

Aathma Svarupam ( Jeeva Svarupam and its seshatvam to

the Lord ) . He says : "Those days of suffering are behind me and

I am now fortunate to be standing before you inspite of all

those lowly tendencies . Please receive me as your own

and command me to be your servant "

This is the prayer of theAzhwAr.

 

The ouphAdhika Sanmbhandhams that the AzhwAr describes are:

 

ThAyE -- Asa helpless infant , I passed my time with the thought that

my mother , who nourished me as the sole succour and sustenance.

 

ThanthayE -- Then came my father , who fed me , clothed me and

instructed me on the hithams for livelihood . I shifted hence my

attachment to him as my sole refuge.

 

TaaramE -- Then came my youth . I acquired a wife. I shifted from

the attachment ot my parents to my taaram . I did not want to have

children , since I did not want her to lose the firmness of her body.

I lived doting on her as my sole source of happiness.

 

KiLai MakkaL yenrum -- Then came the children as the branches

of the family . I doted on them as santhAnam and toiled to keep

them happy and prosperous.

 

nOyE pattu ozhindhEn -- I went through the ravages of this

wasting disease of Ouphaadhika Sambhandhams and

strayed away from the UpAyam , Palan and PrApthi sukham

as well as the search for an understanding of your (Isvara )

svarupam and my ( Jeeva ) svarupam and the seshathvam

of mine to You without any limitations .

 

Now , I have amalgamated all of my desires of Anaadhi

SamsAram ( love for parents, wife , children et al )

and deflected them to You , who is the Sarva vidha bandhu.

Driven by that new and ideal desire , I have arrived at

your sannithi and beg for Your anugraham . His prayer

reminds one of the famous passage describing the Lord

as the Sarva Vidha Bandhu :

 

MaathA pithA brAthA nivAsa: saraNam suhrudh gathi NaarAyaNa : "

 

In the next verse , AzhwAr is reminded of the Upanishadic

injunction , Maathru DEvO Bhava , Pithru DEvO bhava

and accepts the reverence to one's parents as Saasthra-

permitted rules and also reminds himself of Manu Smrithi

rules about the protection of one's family ( Kudumbha

RakshaNam ) quoted by Kusela prior to his journey

to the house of his boyhood friend ,KrishNA and recognizes

them as allowed by the Lord to a limited extent

and talks about his other "Bheethis " and how he has

now arrived in a state of terror about them to seek the Lord's

intervention to chase them away and bless him with the boon

of Nithya Kaimkaryam .

 

AzhwAr ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan

 

P.S : I guess this posting is a good example of the

Anglo-MaNi PravAlam alluded to by Sri Sudarshan .

 

SobhAdhikam .