DehaLeesa sthuthi& Mudal AzhwArs : Part 1--Introduction

[Guest guest]

Dear Members of the Prapatthi group :

 

It is a great bhAgyam to write about the Divya Desam of

ThirukkOvalUr and the three Thiruvanthadhis of the mudal

AzhwArs that have their origin at this divya desam .

 

Swami Desikan and ThirukkOvalUr

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This is where Swami Desikan composed

DehaLeesa Sthuthi , a sthOthram in praise of Trivikramn ,

the presiding deity of this nadu naadu divya desam .

He had stayed in the other Nadu naadu divya desam

( Thiruvaheendrapuram ) form many years . On his way

to Kanchipuram to have the darsanam of his beloved

VaradarAjan, he visited ThirukkOvalUr .

 

He was moved by the symbolism of the Lord of this

divya desam carrying SankhA and ChakrA on the right

and left hands respectively ; normally Sriman NaarAyaNA

carries Sudarsana ( ChakrathAzhwAr) on his right hand

and His divine conch , Paanchajanyam , on His left hand .

In this sthalam , this traditional order is reversed .

 

Swami Desikan was inspired by the special symbolism

indicated by Trivikraman ( UlagaLandhAn ) at this divya desam

and celebrated it by giving us his blessed work known as

Sri Saccharithra RakshA . More about this work later .

 

Sri DehaLeesa Sthuthi is a beautiful eulogy of Trivikraman

and salutes the special experience of the three "Mudal AzhwArs "

at this divya desam . It has 28 slokAs set in the Vasantha tilakA

and Maalini metres . The first 26 slOkams of this sthOthram are

in Vasantha TilakA metre and the last two are set in the Maalini

metre .

 

DehaLi means a threshhold . DehaLeesa means

the Lord of DehaLi or the Lord of Threshhold . DeahaLi in Tamil

means the the narrow portion of the house that connects the front

door to the inner chambers of the house . The names of DehaLi

in Tamil are " rEzhi , idaikkazhi and Nadai " . The leelAs of the Lord

of ThirukkOvalUr in the DehaLi of Mrugandu Maharishi's house

resulted in us being blessed with with the "advent " of the three

thiruvanthAdhis associated withtb he three mudal azhwArs . Hence

the exploits of Sri Dehaleesan are an appropriate subject for

Swami Desikan's eulogy and our adoration of his sthOthram .

 

I mentioned earlier that Saccharithra RakshA was composed by

Swami Desikan at this divya dEsam after the inspiring darsanam

of Trivikramn (mulavar ) with the divine conch on His right hand

and the Sudarsanam on His left hand . This composition deals

with certain religious practises of SrivaishNavAs . Swami Desikan

explained to us the significance of samAsrayaNam ( taptha mudra

dhAraNam ) or the wearing of the VishNu chinnams of Chakram and

sankham on the upper arms of SrivaishNavAs in the first chapter of

this work ; The second chapter deals with the meaning of

Urdhva Pundra DhAraNam ( wearing of the 12 pundrams on

one's upper torso ) . The third chapter covers Bhagavath prapatthi and

BhagavAn-niveditOpayOgA . The grantham of Saccharithra RakshA

explains the significance for SrivaishNavAs of following the tradition

of the above sacred rites with many quotations from scriptures .

Some thirty years ago , UttamUr SwamigaL has a written a 139 page

commentary on this RakshAgrantham .

 

Divya Desam and its particulars

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This kshethram is known as ThirukkOvalUr or ThirukkOilUr

or Gopapuri . BhagavAn's nAmadEyam is Trivikraman ,

AayAnAr , DehaLeesan and Gopanagareesan . ThAyAr's name

is PoomkOval NaacchiyAr . The vimanam where Trivikramn

stands facing east is known as Srikara VimAnam .

The theertham of this sthalam is KrishNa theertham

and fits well with one of the names of the Lord here (viz) .,

AayanAr or Kovalan or the cowherd Lord . He is Prathyaksham

to mahA Bali chakravarthi , Mrigandu rishi and the three mudal

AazhwArs , who sang about their experience of having the darsana

sowbhAgyam of the Lord and sang about it in three hundred verses

in the anthAdhi fashion . This type of composition poured out of

AzhwArs , when they had dhruva smrithi or uninterrupted

meditation and enjoyment of the Lord . The three AzhwArs

stayed for many years at this divya desam and ascended

to parama padham from here .

 

Besides the reversed sanga -chakrams , this kshEthram is known

for another uniqueness (viz) ., the existence of a shrine for DurgA

Devi within the ardha mantapam of this temple. VishNu Durgai

is regualrly worshipped here and protects the kshEthram from

inauspicousnes of all sorts .

 

There are 23 specific paasurams associated with the three

AzhwArs (viz) ., Poygai , Bhoothm and Thrumangai . Although all

the 300 verses of the three thiruvanthAdhis are about

the EmperumAn of ThirukkOvalUr , the following specific ones

add to the count of 23 :

 

Poygai : Mudal ThiruvanthAdhi --77 & 86 : (2 )

 

BHootham : IrandAm ThiruvanthAdhi --70 (1)

 

Thirumangai : Periya Thirumozhi -- 2.4.1 , 5.6.7,

6.10.5 , 7.3.2 , 7.10.4 and the entire decad of 2.10 (15 in all )

 

ThirunedumthAndakam : 6, 7 , 17 (3)

 

Siriya Thirumadal : 39 (1)

 

Periya Thirumadal : 60 (1)

 

Swami Desikan wove into his DehaLeesa sthuthi

the rich meanings of the Paasurams of the four

AzhwArs .

 

The origin of the three AnthAdhi Prabhandhams at ThirukkOvalUr

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Among the three Mudal AzhwArs , Poygai is the first to be born .

He incarnated as the amsam of Paanchajanyam in the month

of Iyppasi and SravaNa nakshathram in a golden lotus

in the pushkaraNi of the temple of YathOkthakAri ( ThiruvehhA )

at Kanchi . Since this AzhwAr appeared on the lotus flower of

a poygai ( tank or pushkaraNi ) , he is revered as Poygai AzhwAr .

 

BhoothathAzhwAr incarnated next as the amsam of GowmEdhaki ,

the mace of the Lord in Thirukkadanmallai divya desam ( modern

day MahA Balipuram ) in a Kurukkatthi flower ( Maadhavi flower ) .

His asterism is Avittam . He considerd himself as one of

the bhootham ( servant ) of the Lord and hence was known as

BhoothatthAzhwAr .

 

PEy AzhwAr or the God-Intoxicated AzhwAr took his avathAram

in Mylapore . He is the amsam of the sword of the Lord ( nandakam ) .

He incarnated on a red lilly that blososmed inside the well of

the temple of Adhi Kesava PerumAL of Mylaopore . He was born

in Iypaasi Sathaya Nakshathram . He declared his status as

" pEyanAi ozhindEn yen pirAnukkE " ( I have remained as the

intoxicated one of my Lord's anatha kalyANa guNAs ) and

hence was known as pEyAzhwAr .

 

The three azhwArs were endowed with superlative qualities of

Bhakthi and VairAgyam and wandered over the land singing

the praise of Sriman NArAyaNA . One day , The Lord wanted

to help the samsAris banish their false knowledge ( aj~nAnam )

and tApa trayams and for that purpose brought his three wandering

ministrels to the asramam of His parama bhakthan , Sage MrugaNdu .

The time was night and the season was that of monsoon .

There was a torential downpour . The AzhwArs sought shelter

at the small dehaLi of the sage's house . The space there was just

enough for one to lie down , two to sit and three to stand . Being three

in number , the azhwArs stood in a huddled manner . Suddenly ,

they felt the pressure form some one else cramping them

in their tight shelter. They did not see anyone enter thru the front

door and did not see anyone passing thru the dehaLi into the inner

chamber of the house. They were intrigued about the new arrival.

 

Poygai composed 100 verses that served to remove the external

darkness ( Mudal ThiruvanthAdhi ) ; Bhotham composed another

one hundred verses in search of the one that cramped them

( second ThiruvanthAdhi ) that removed the internal darkness;

At the conclusion of the two hundred verses sung by the first

two aazhwArs , the third AzhwAr burst into song recording what

he saw when the two kinds of darknesses were dispelled .

He declared that he has seen now the fourth person , who crowded

them and described Him as Sriman NaarAyaNA with MahA Lakshmi

on His chest and sanka -chakrams on His hands .

 

The God-realization of the three aazhwArs introduced a new

and welcome era of worship of Sriman NaarAyaNA . Since

these incidents happened in a dehaLi and the Lord was

instrumental for these happenings , Swami Desikan gave

Him the name of DehaLeesan . He also took the cue from

Thirumangai , who had saluted AayanAr of this KshEthram as

" MathiL koval idai kazhi aayan " earlier . Swami Desiakn went on to

salute Lord DehaLeesan through 28 bhakthi -laden

slOkams that makes abundant references to the three

anthAdhis of the Mudal AzhwArs .

 

Let us seek Swami Desikan's blessings to understand the

depth of meaning of his eulogy of Sri DehaLeesan .

 

AzhwAr AchAryAL , Sri AayanAr ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan