A SanyAsi ascends the throne : Part 6

[Guest guest]

Dear Nrusimha BhakthAs :

 

On this Aani Svathi day , the day of the constellation

associated with Sri Lakshmi Nrusimhan , It gives me

great pleasure to cover the remaining 5 paasurams of Kaliyan

saluting NrusimhAvathAram . In my last posting , It was

my privelege to focus on the six paasurams , three by

PeriyAzhwAr , two by NammAzhwAr and one by Thirumazhisai.

In yet another posting in this series , I summarized the exhilirating

experience of Thirumangai's KshEthrAdanam to Ahobilam

through his ten paasurams .

 

The five Thirumangai paasurams on Sri Lakshmi Nrusimhan

covered in the current posting are affiliated with

the following five divya desams :

 

1. Thiru SaaLagramam --Periya Thirumozhi 1.5.7

 

2. ThiruvEnkatam -- Periya Thirumozhi 1.10.5

 

3. Thiru Vaikuntha ViNNagaram-- Periya Thirumozhi 3.9.2

 

4. Thiru ArimEya ViNNagaram -- Periya Thirumozhi 3.10.4

 

5. Thiru ThEvanAr Thohai --Periya THirumozhi 4.1.7

 

This posting will cover the SaaLagrAma KshEthra paasuram .

 

THIRU SAALAGRAMA PAASURAM

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

 

This KshEthram is in Nepal . It is located 60 miles west of

Khatmandu on the banks of Gandaki river . Like upper AhObilam ,

this divya Desam is not easy to reach . One has to travel by narrow

foot paths in a sparsely populated area . Much of the year ,

the ice covered roads make the journey difficult .

 

The daring Thirumangai AzhwAr reached this " inaccesible "

Divya Desam with AshtAksharam on his lips and performed

MangaLAsAsanam to Sri Moorthy and His consort Sri Devi

of this svayam vyaktha KshEthram . Among the 12 paasurams

associated with this divya Desam , ten are by Thirumnagai

and the remininig two are by PeriyAzhwAr . one of the ten SaaLigrama

KshEthra paasurams of Kaliyan pays tribute to NrusimhAvathAram .

 

A majority of Kaliyan's SaaLagrAma paasurams pay

tribute to RaamAvathAram . It has been suggested

that Thirumangai was focusing quite

a bit on RaamavathAram here , since the Name of this

Divya Desam ( SaaLagRAAMAM ) includes in it the Raama

nAmam . Coming back to the Paasuram dealing with

the NrusimhAvathAram ( PTM 1.5.7) , AzhwAr visualizes

Lord Nrusimhan as Visva rUpee and salutes Him as it were

by the first naamam of Sri VishNu Sahasra Naamam ,

Om VisvAya Nama : This paasuram is as follows :

 

yEnOr anja venchamatthuL ariyAi pariya viraNiyanai

oonErahahalam pilavu yeduttha oruvan thAnE iru sudarAi

vaanAi theeyAi maaruthamAi malayAi alai neer ulahanaitthum

thAnAi thAnumAnAn tan SaaLagramamamadai nenjE

 

This paasuram might have inspired Swami Desikan to state in his

Sri Sookthi , " ThrilOkyam yEthath akhilam Narsimha Garbham " .

PrahlAdA pointed out to his father , " YengumuLan Hari " . He was

attesting to the SarvAntharyAmithvam of the Lord . In the second part

of his SaaLagrAma paasuram , Thirumangai salutes that all pervasive ,

VishNu svarUpam of Nrusimha mUrthy eulogized by PrahlAdan .

 

Thirumangai visualizes the Lord's ugra svarUpam , when he jumped

out of the pillar in HiraNyan's sabhai . AzhwAr says that every one was

afraid of that fierce form of Vaikunta Kanteeravan ( Naarasimha Vapu:

SreemAn ) . " YenayOr anja ari aayi " can be intrepreted to mean

also that every one except the garbha bhagavathan , PrahlAdan ,

was afraid of Nrusimha svarUpam . That illustrious Lord of

unmatchable valour ( oruvan thAnE ) destroyed the arrogant HiraNyan

in a fierce battle by tearing the asuran's fat chest into two

( vemsamatthu pariya IraNiyanai oon aar ahalam piLavu

yeduttha oruvan thAn ) .

 

In the second half of this paasuram , Thirumangai reveals to us

the truths housed in Brahama SutrAs and Upanishad passages

about the sarvAntharyAmithvam of the Lord . For instance ,

Brahma Sutram 1.3.1 clearly states " DhyubhvAdhyayatanam

svasabdhAth " ( The abode of heaven and earth ( mentioned

in MundakOpanishadh II.2.5) is verily Brahman , because

the unique term used about Brahman occurs therein .

The above referred Upanishadic passage says : " He in

whom the heaven , the earth and the sky are woven , the mind

also , with all the vital airs ; know Him alone as the Self , and leave

off other words , He is the bank (sEthu) of the immortal " .

 

Thirumangai instructs us that the Akshara Brahman ( Imperishable

Brahman ) referred to in BrihadAraNyaka Upanishad and Brahma

sutrA 1.3.10 is the support for the two flames ( moon and Sun ) ,

sky ( aakAsam ) , fire (agni ) , wind ( vaayu ) , oceans , the universes

and their beings through His aathma svarupam . Brahma sutram

(1.3.10 ) states , " AksharamambharAnthadhruthE : " ( The imperishable ,

referred to in Br. Upanishad III.8.11 is the supreme Brahman ,

because we find it declared in this passage supports even that

which is the end of ether ) . The profound statement of Yaj~navalkyA

in Br. Upanishad in his discussions with Gargi is what the AzhwAr

might have in mind , when he recognized the sarvAntharyAmithvam ,

Visva rUpam of Nrusimhan as :

 

" --------------oruvan thAnE iru sudarAi ,

vAnAi theeyAi mAruthamAi malayAi alai neer ulahu anaitthum

thAnAi thAnumAnAn tan SaaLagrAmamadai nenjE "

 

Here , AzhwAr salutes the Divya MangaLa vigraha visishtan ,

Nrusimhan , who through His aathama svarUpam became

the two lights ( Sun and the Moon ) , Sky ( vaan ) , fire ( Thee ) ,

wind ( Maarutham ) , mountain ( malai ) , ocean with billowing

waves ( alai neer aayi ) , entire universe and all its beings

( ulahu anaitthum aayi ) .

 

The corresponding message found in Br. Upanishad is :

" That which is above the heaven and below the Earth ,

which is also between the heaven and Earth , which is in

the past , present and future , that is woven as warp and

woof in the AkAsA " .

 

I will cover the other paasurams of Thirumangai on

Nrusimhan associated with the Divya Desams of

ThiruvEnkaTam , Vaikuntha ViNNagaram , ArimEya --

ViNNagaram and DEvanAr thohai in the subsequent postings .

 

Thirumangai Mannan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

Sri Lakshmi Nrusimha charaNou SaraNam PrapadhyE

Oppiliappan Kovil VaradAchAri Sadagopan