Thirucchinna Maalai of Swami Desikan : Part 1

[Guest guest]

Dear Members of the Bahkthi group :

 

One of the respected members of the group asked me to

write on the master piece of Swami Desikan revered as

Thiruchinnamaalai . I am glad to do so .

 

ORIGIN OF THIRUCCHINNA MAALAI

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Swami Desikan was born as VenkatanAthan in the AgrahAram

known as Thoopul , which is very close to Kanchi VaradarAjan"s

temple . Swami"s family was deeply involved with the worship

of Sri VaradarAjan . As a child , VenkatanAthan (Swami)was blessed

by the great NadAthur AmmAL (Sri Vaatsalya VaradAchAr Swamy ) .,

He was a great Acharya recognized by Sri VaradarAjA

as His own mother out of the concern and vaatsalyam (affection ),

the AcharyA showed in presenting hot milk at the right temperature

to the Lord during His evening aarAdhanam . Sri VaradaAjA was

moved and exclaimed , " Yen AmmAvO " .The name AmmAL thus

got attached to Sri Vaatsalya VaradAchAr , the author of Prapanna

PaarijAtham and a great exponent of Bhagavadh RaamAnuja

SiddhAntham.

 

ANUGRAHAM OF A GREAT BHAKTHA OF VARADARAJA

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NadAthur AmmAL recognized the VaradarAja anugraham on

Swami Desikan , when he saw latter as a child accompanying

his maternal uncle , Sri ApuLLAr to his KalakshEpam at the temple .

It was the desire of AmmAL to bring up Swami Desikan as his

own direct disciple . AmmAL however was advanced in age and

could not carry out his own wish. He instructed his disciple ApuLLar

to serve as a Guru and prepare VenkatanAthan for the great role

he was destined to play later as a Parama VaishNava Guru

and defender of the Bhagavadh RaamAnuja SiddhAntham .

 

UTHSAVAMS OF VARADARAJA& USE OF THIRUCCHINNAM

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Swami Desikan spent his youth at Thoopul/Kanchi and attended

the many uthsavams of Sri VaradarAjan . During those uthsavams ,

Swami Desikan was thrilled to hear the naadham generated by

the pair of Thirucchinnams, which served an important purpose

in the Uthsavams of theLord of Kaanchi . Thirucchinnam

is a ceremonial mangaLa vaadhyam used to announce Lord

VaradarAjA's PurappAdu for the Uthsavam and his progression

through the routes of travel assigned for the uthsavam .

 

DISPUTE ON DIVYA PRABHANDHAM AT KANCHI

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At one time after Swami Desikan "s return to Kaanchipuram

from Thiruvaheendrapuram and Srirangam , he was pained to

witness a dispute at Kanchi . The dispute centered around the

appropriateness of reciting Divya Prabhandham of AzhwArs

in front of Lord VaradarAjA during His uthsavams . The protesting

group objected to the nonsacredness of the compositions

of AzhwArs since number of them were not born as Brahmins

and averred further that the Tamil prabhandhams did not have

the same level of sacredness as that of Sanskrit Vedaas .

 

SWAMI DESIKAN'S DEFENSE OF DIVYA PRABHANDHAMS

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Swami Desikan's reverence for the Sri Sookthis of AzhwArs

was profound. He had composed MunivAhana Bhogam

earlier to celebrate the greatness of ThiruppANAzhwAr .

Swami Desikan volunteered to debate the protestors and

won handily in the debate . He proved that the Vedic doctrines

are the central topic of theAzhwAr's divya prabhandham and

quoted chapter and verse from the Sanskrit VedAs and

Upanishads and related them to the aruLiccheyalgaLs

of the AzhwArs. The protestors were dumb founded and agreed

with Swami Desikan that it was very appropriate to have

Divya Prabhandha Ghoshtis leading Sri VaradarAjan's

bhavani during His uthsavams .

 

LORD VARADRAJA' S REWARD FOR SWAMI DESIKAN

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Lord VaradarAjA was very pleased wiht the skill and devotion

of Swami Desikan . The Lord ordered through the ArchakAs that

one of the two Thirucchinnams used in His uthsavams should

be presented to Swami Desikan as SammAnam (Reward for the

service rendered to estblish the supermacy of Tamil VedAs ) .

>From that day on until now ,only one Thirucchinnam is used

during Lord VaradarAjA's uthsavams .

 

THE DHVANI VISESAHM OF THIRUCCHINNAM

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When one hears the sound of Thirucchinnam at the

temple uthsavams , one can not help admire the majesty

and sweetness of this mangaLa vaadhyam . When Swami Desikan

heard the naadham of Thirucchinnam at the vahana mantapams

and the Raja Veedhis of Lord VaradarAjA , he was overcome by

that sound and what it symbolized . That Vaadhyam through its

high pitched notes announced the purappaadu and

sanchAram of the Lord , who is the object of description of

AshtAksharam , Dhvayam an the Sarama Slokam . The naadham

of Thirucchinnam reminded him of the arrival of the Lord ,

who is the object of celebration by the Arya VedAsand the Tamil

VedAs . It was the type of Heccharikai to alert the VaradarAja bhakthAs

to get ready to greet the Lord , the Veda Prathipaadhyan and

to receive His blessings . The association of the Naadham of

Thirucchinnam with these blessed thoughts made Swami Desikan

compose a Tamil prabhandham called "Thirucchinna Maalai " .

He thanked Lord VaradarAjA for honoring him with one of

the two sacred Thirucchinnams and placed his new composition

at the lotus feet of the Lord of Hasthigiri known for His

affection for the Sri Sookthis of the AzhwArs .

 

THE SUBJECT MATTER OF THIRUCCHINNA MAALAI

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This compositon of Swami Desikan has 11 verses set

in the Tamil Meter known as YeNN SeerAsiriya Viruttham

containing 8 lines in each of the verses .

 

The first six verses cover the essential meanings

(saarArtham ) of Thirumanthiram ( AshtAksharam ).

The seventh verse provides the visEshArtham of

Dhvayam . The 8th and the 9th verses describe

the mukhyArthams of Sarama Slokam . The tenth verse

is a general salutation to the Vaibhavam of Lord VaradarAjA .

The 11th verse is the saaram of AchArya Upadesam .

Here Swami Desikan points out that the sweetness of

this Prabhandham can be enjoyed only by those , whose

devotion for Lord VaradarAja (pErinbham ) exceeds

that of their devotion for the vanishing pleasures

of this life (SiRRibham ) .

 

DHVANI VISESHAM OF THE VERSES OF THIRUCCHINNA MAALAI

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The first 7 lines of each of the 10 verses of

Thirucchinnamaalai end with the word , " VandhAr ".

The last line ends with an assertion , " VandhAr thAmE ".

Every one of the first 7 lines announce the arrival

of Lord VaradarAja as indicated by the naadham of

Thirucchinnam .The last line is a celebration recognizing

almost with awe , Yes indeed , He has arrived ( VandhAr

thAmE ) .

 

Each of the first 7 lines of the ten verses describe the great

Lord who arrived and salute one or other of his kalyANa

GuNAs or His miraculous deeds related to the protection

of His devotees or the punishment of the enemies of

His bhakthAs . The musical effect of reciting or listening

the verses of Thirucchinnamaalai is most deelctable . It

brings VaradarAjA's uthsavams and His bhavani to the

accompaniment of the Veda and Prabhandha ghoshams

right in front of our mind's eye .

 

THE FAMOUS VERSE OF THIS PRABHANDHAM (10TH VERSE)

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This verse is also included in yet another Tamil Prabhandham

of Swami Desikan known as " Meyviratha Maanmiyam "

( The glory of Sathya Vratha Kshethram /Kanchipuram ) .

This verse is the result of Swami Desikan's anubhavam

of the sound of Thirucchinnam as the sound raised by

Nitya Sooris with that visEsha vaadhyam during the uthsavams

o fthe Lord at kanchi . The verse is the one , which

Mrs.Satyan wrote to me few weeks back :

 

atthigiriaruLAlapperumAL vandhAr

aanaipari thErinmelazhahar vandhAr

KacchitanniR kaNN kodukkum PerumAL vandhAr

karudhavarantharu Daiva PerumAL vandhAr

mutthimazhai pozhiyumuhil vaNNar vandhAr

moolamena volamida vallAr bvandhAr

uttaravedhikkuLLEyuthitthAr vandhAr

umbar thozhum kazhaludayAr vandhAr thAmE

 

(meaning ) : PeraruLaLa PerumAL is the most beautiful

Lord , who rides on the elephant , horse and Ratham

during His uthsavams. He is the one , who gave back

the eye sight to the blind bhaktha , Haritha VaaraNa

Bruthyar . He is the one , who showers His boons on

those , who meditate on Him. He is the one , who is

present as the dark rain cloud ( KaaLa Megham ) ,

who blesses us with MokshAnugraham . He is

none other than the Gajendra Varadan , who came to

the rescue of the elephant , when it cried out

" O Adhi Moolam , Please save Me from the grip of the

crocodile " . He is the Lord , who appeared in the sacred

fire of the Asvamedha Yaaga Vedhi of His son ,

Brahma Devan on top of Hasthi Giri . He is the same

Lord , who is worshipped by the Muktha Jeevans and

the Nitya Sooris. Our PerurALa PerumAl of this many

attributes has indeed arrived amidst us .

 

PerundEvi ThAyAr Sametha Sri VaradarAja SwaminEh Nama:

Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan