A SanyAsi ascends to Acharya Peetam --Part 7.1

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Dear Nrusimha BhakthAs :

 

I will continue with the remaining three paasurams

of Kaliyan on BhagavAn Nrusimhan in the context of his

MangalAsAsanams of the three ThirunanAngoor

Thiruppathis . Prior to that I will include a brief summary

of the eleven ThirunAngoor Thirupathis . Just as Sri Anbil

SwamigaL has provided a valuable introduction to the nine

DwarakAs , I hope this information would be useful to a

future sEvArthis to these divya dEsams celebrated by Kaliyan

through 112 exquisitely beautiful and bhakthi-laden paasurams .

 

The two divya dEsams of ThiruvAli -Thirunahari and Thiru

KaazhiccheerAma ViNNagaram are very close to these

eleven divya desams . There are 43 paasurams on

ThiruvAli -Thirunahari (42 by Thirumangai alone ) and ten

for KaazhiccheerAma Vinnagaram . Thirumangai's birth

place Thirukkurayaloor is near by and it is understandable

that he performed MangalAsAsanam on these 13 divya desams

with many (165) paasurams .

 

Each Thai AmAvAsyai day , the archa mUrthys of the 11 Thirunangoor

Divya Desams come together and offer sevai to Thirumangai

and through him to us for his magnificient vaachika kaimkaryam.

There are separate mantapams side by side for each of

the eleven EmperumAns and they spend a day with Thirumangai

there . Thirumangai AzhwAr is seated on Hamsa Vaahanam during

this occasion befitting his role as ParakAla Naayaki .

 

These 11 temples and their details are :

 

1. Thiru maNimAdakkovil is five miles east of SeerhAzhi

railway station , which is the arrival point to visit these

temples by train . KaazhiccheerAma Vinnagaram is half

a mile from this railway station , where ThAdALan presides

with Mattavizhum Kuzhali NaacchiyAr .

 

As an aside ,ThirukkAzhiccheerAma ViNNagaram is famous

for number of things . First , the presiding deity ( ThaadaLan )

is Thrivikraman giving us the sEvai with panchAyuthams . Second ,

there is a beautiful ArchA mUrthy of Sri Raamachandran with

maravuri ( dress made of barks ) worn during his vana vAsam

with Janaki MaathA and Sowmithri . Third , this is where Thirumangai

defeated Thiruj~nana sambhandhar in a poetic contest with

his superior skills as a poet and received as a prize the " VeRRi vEl "

and the title " Naalu kavi paNdithar " . Fifth , OushadhAdri here is

famous because of Swami Desikan's deep affection for

the presiding deity , Selva Daiva Naayakan , just as Selva PiLLai

of Melkote was dear to Sri RaamAnujA .

 

Coming back to Thiru maNimAdakkOvil , NandAviLakku PerumAL

and His consort , Pundareekavalli ThAyAr rest under PraNava

VimAnam . The Lord is also known as NaranArAyaNan . Thirumangai

starts his first Paasuram majestically by addresing the Lord as ,

" NandhA viLakkE aLatthaRkariyAi NaranaaraNanE ---". Thirumangai

celebrates the Lord as the eternal lamp with undimishing Jyothi

and as the one whose kalyANa guNAs can not be assessed fully.

He visualizes the Lord as the NaarAyaNan , who performed upadesam

to him , the Naran and addresses the Lord as NaranArAyaNan .

 

AzhwAr celebrated the Lord as gajendra Varadan who responded with

alacrity to to the call for help by the king of elephants , when the crocodile

grabbed its legs in the lotus pond . AzhwAr salutes the Lord as

UpEndran , PoothanA samhAran , VathsAsura anthakan , KaaLiya

nardhanan , the teaser of young Gopis and as the winner of Nappinnai's

hand in a svayamvaram through the destrcution of the seven oxen .

 

2 .Thiruvaikuntha ViNNagaram : The Lord's name here are

VaikuntanAthan, ThaamaraikkaNNan and Nediya PirAn .

Thaayar is saluted as Vaikunthavalli ThAyaar . They sit under

the Anantha Satya Varthaka vimAnam .

 

In this sthalam , Thirumangai celebrated the Lord as NrusimhAvathAran.

In the first paasuram , the AzhwAr briefly salutes the Lord as

Narahari ( salam konda IraNiananathu ahalam maarvam keendu ) .

He refers to the Lord as the Nrusimhan , who tore the chest of

the egotist , HiraNyan, who though that he was a svathanthra

purushan , who controlled his own destiny .

 

After devoting one line to Nrusimhan in his eight-lined paasuram ,

Thirumangai is overcome with the feeling to enjoy NrusimhAvathAram

more. Hence , he devotes the entire second paasuram to

the mangaLAsAsanam of BhagavAn Nrusimhan . AzhwAr

recognizes this divya dEsam as the preferred vAsasthalam

of Lord Narasimhan . AzhwAr explains why this divya dEsam is

especially dear to the Lord . He states that this KshEthram has

sarva samritthi ( prosperous by all counts ) , (Viz)., worldly wealth,

presence of the Lord , Veda Samritthi , naadha samritthi ,

vichAra saasthra samritthi through the inhabitation of the scholars

who are living embodiments of the Vedaas , their upAngAs and

Tarka , VYAkaraNa , Neethi saasthrAs .

 

AzhwAr devotes th first three lines of the second paasuram

to the description of NrusimhAvathAram and

the destruction of Bhagavatha ApachAri , HiraNyan:

 

tiNNiyathOr ariuruvAi tisai anaitthum nadunga

dEvarOdu tAnavarhaL tisaippa IraNiyanai

naNNI avan maarvu ahalatthu uhir maduttha Naathan

nAdOrum mahizhthinithu maruviurai koyil ------

 

All the ten directions reverberated with the ear-piercing sound

of the Lord , when He jumped out of the sthambam , when

HiraNyan mockingly hit it in response to his son's statement

that the Lord is everywhere . The attahAsam and the garjanam

of the Lord echoed in every direction and the dEvAs as well

as the asurAs were filled with a sense of terror . They did not know

the cause of that thunderous sound shattering the sky and earth .

The adhbhutha Kesari ran towards HiraNyan and grabbed him .

Then the Vaikunta Kanteeravan placed the wriggling HiraNyan

on His lap and with His sharp nails tore apart the chest for the

asuran"s offenses against His bhakthan . AzhwAr concludes

that this KshEthram , Thiru Vaikuntha ViNNagaram , is the

preferred residence of the Vaikunta Kanteeravan .

 

In the Bhagavatha mELa nAtakam , PrahlAda charitham ,

Melattur Venkatarama saasthri , a predecessor of saint

Thyagaraja describes the awesome experience of the world

during NrusimhAvathAram in a telling manner :

 

katuvadi keta keta keta mani putami atharagA

jatini saptha saagaramulu saala kalakaka

atukatukuku alatanusuntataripetharakaa

asurulata vikithamai Narahari aavaginchunu

 

the aakAsam reverberated with the mighty sounds and

shook ; the seven oceans had tsunAmi waves and the

waters were agitated profoundly . the earth shook .

The asuraas were terror stricken at the moment , when

the Lord jumped out of the Jaya Sthambham of HiraNyan's

darbhaar hall . The sound and fury associated with the avathAram

has been captured by MelattUr Bhagavathar in a manner

described by Thirumangai .

 

3 . Thiru ArimEya ViNNagaram : Here the uthsavar is

chathurbhuja GopAlan ; the mUlavar is KudamAdu kUtthan .

ThAyAr"s name is Amrithagatavalli . Vimanam is Ucchasringam .

 

Here , Thirumangai had the darsanam of the Lord with

His two dEvis on either side pleading for the erring chethanAs:

 

thirumadanthai maNN madanthai irupaalum thihazha

ttheevinaigaL pOyahala adiyavahatkkenrum

aruL nadanthu ivvEzhulahatthavar paNiya vaanOr

amarnthEttha irundha idam -----------Nangoor

ArimEya ViNNagaram vaNangu mada nenjE

 

The Lord responds readily to the pleas of His two dEvis

and forgives the aparAthams of the chEthanAs at this

Divya Desam . Swami Desikan has celebrated the

special pleading by Sri Devi and Bhu Devi in the following

two slokams of DayA sathakam to ilustrate the intercession

of the two dEvis on our behalf :

 

samastha jananeem vandhE

chaithanya sthanya dhAyineem I

SrEyaseem SRINIVAASASYA

KaruNAmiva RoopiNeem II

 

vandhE Vrushagireesasya

mahisheem VISVADHAARINEEM i

tathkrupA prathigAthAnAm

KSHAMAYAA vAraNam yayA II

 

4. Thiru dEvanAr thohai : This is the fourth of the ThirunAngUr

divya dEsams . It is located at a distance of four miles

from SeerkAzhi in the south eastern direction .Under

the Sobhana VimAnam , DaivanAyaka PerumAL and

Kadal MaamahaL nAcchiyAr offer darsanam in ninra

thirukkOlam. The dEvAs assembled in big numbers here

to confer on the ways to fight the asurAs , who tormented them .

Hence the KshEthram got its name . The ThAyAr's name

suggests that She is the daughter of the King of Oceans

(Kadal MaamahaL ) and incarnated during the time of

churning of the milky ocean for nectar . Hence , AzhwAr

appropriately addresses the Lord here as Maadhavan

or the consort of MahA Lakshmi , whose auspicious

glances support and sustain the world as indicated by

AaLavandAr's salutation jagath samastham

yadapAnga samsrayam " . She resides at the chest

of the Lord and thus gives Him the names Maadhavan ,

MaalOlan( Lakshmi Nrusimhan )and , Lakshmi NArAyaNan .

 

In this kshEthram known for the PirAttis , who are the root

causes of their Lord's glory , Thirumangai begs his mind to

salute the Lord , whose anger was quenched by MahA Lakshmi

through her suggestion for PrahlAdA to approach Her angry Lord :

 

OdAtha aaL ariyin uruvam athu kondu anru

ulappil mihu peruvaratthu IraNiyanai paRRi

vAdAtha vaLL uhirAl piLanthu avan mahanukku

aruL cheythAn vAzhumidam------------------

arimEya ViNNagaram vaNangum Mada NenjE

 

Padha Arthams :

 

anru : on that day , when the Lord had to keep PrahlAdA"s

statement as true

 

athu --the most wonderful form

 

odAtha aaLL ariyin uruvam kondu - (you took the most wonderful

form ) of indefatigable Nrusimhan

 

ulappu il mihu peru varatthu IraNiyanai paRRI-- (and ) grabbed

the dushta asuran , HiraNyan , who was famous as the possessor

of countless boons from semi-Gods

 

vAdAtha vaLL uhirAl piLanthu -- (and ) tore him apart with the power

of your sharp and strong nails that know no fatigue .

 

avan tan mahanukku aruL seythAn vAzhumidam -- This is indeed

the place of residence of the one ( Nrusimhan ) , who blessed

the child of that asuran , HiraNyan .

 

5 . ThiruvaNN PurudOtthamam

 

Under Sanjeevigraha VimAnam , PurushOtthaman

stands at this kshEthram with His consort revered as

PurushOtthama Naayaki .

 

The Lord is celebrated in the 15th chapter of Bahgavadh Gita

as PurushOtthaman and gives there the clues to recognize Him .

 

He says : sarvasya chAham hrudhi sannivushtO

mattha: smruthirj~nAnamapOhanam cha I

vedaisccha sarvairahmEva vEdhyO

VedAntha kruth Veda vidhEva chAham II

 

(Meaning ) : I reside in the hearts of all chEthanAs .

Memory , perception and loss of that faculty arise

from Me . I am verily that which has to be comprehended

by all vEdAs . I am indeed the author of vEdAnthA , and

the knower of the vEdA am I .

 

He goes on to say : " AthOsmi lOkE vEdE cha prathitha:

PurushOtthama : " . Therefore , am I in the world and in

the vEdAs celebrated as the PurushOtthamn ( the highest

and the noblest PurushA ) .

 

Earlier in that chapter of Srimadh Bhagavadh Gita ,

PurushOtthaman has said that the Yogis striving for

perfection see Him dwelling in their heart cavities , but

the unrefined ( akruthAthmana: ) and unintelligent

(achEthasa: ) , even though striving , see Me not .

 

Thirumangai , as a Parama Yogi , understood very

well the PurushOtthama doctrine of the Lord of

ThiruvaNN PurudOtthamam . One name of Thirumangai

was " AruL Maari " . He wasindeed the recipient of ManthrOpadEsam

from the Lord Himself. Therefore , the AzhwAr understood the

PurushOtthama Vibhoothi of the Lord as revealed by the Aadhi Kavi

ValmIki , when he dwelled upon the PurushOtthama LakshaNam

of Sri RamachandrA : " Aanrusamsyam anukrOsa: srutham ,

seelam , dhama : yama: RaaghavAn sobhayanthE shat guNA :"

Scholarship , culture, sadhAchAram , forbearance , self-control ,

SaraNyathvam are the six guNAs that characterize

the PurushOtthamathvam of Raaghavan according to ValmIki .

Thirumangai has celebrated Sri RaamA as PurushOtthaman in many

of his paasurams including the ones at ThiruvaNN PurudOtthamam .

 

( to be concluded in the next posting )

 

Oppiliappan Kovil VaradAchAri Sadagopan