Sri Azhagiya Singar and his aruL mohzigaL on ThiruppAvai : Part 1

[Guest guest]

Dear BhakthAs of GodhA PirAtti :

 

Few weeks back , we celebrated Aadi Pooram ,

the birth day of ANDAL of Srivilliputthur , who blessed us with

the nectar of ThiruppAvai . Although the Isvara Margazhi maasam

is a few months away , I am thrilled today to read the essay of

the revered 44th Azhagiya Singar of AhObila Mutt on

the thirty paasurams of ThiruppAvai . It is such a wonderful

and insightful essay that I thought it would be of wide interest

to those , who can not access or read it in Tamil Language .

 

Sri BharadwAj Jaganathan , President of the Ahobila Matam

of North America has copies of this book housing the article

on ThiruppAvai . I have the blessed opportunity to acquire a copy

of this monograph entitled " Sri Azhagiya Singarin Amudha

MozhigaL " . This monograph containing the Jeeyar's 32 essays

have been released by Sri Nrusimha PriyA Trust . May the

anugraham of His Holiness Sri VedAntha Desika Yatheendhra

MahA Desikan, the builder of the Raaja Gopuram of

Sri RanganAthA and strengthener of the edifice of

Sri VisishtAdvaitam be with us always !

 

Sri Lakshmi Nrusimha ParabrahmaNE Nama:

Sri VedAntha Desika YatheendhrAya NamO Nama:

 

THIRUPPAAVAI SAARAM

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Translation of H.H . The Jeeyar's Amudha Mozhi

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The divya prabhandham known as ThiruppAvai is capable of

conferring immense auspiciousness ( mangaLam ) . You can

ask as to who are the beneficiaries of such mangalam . This

special group of blessed seven are :

 

1. Those, who learnt ThiruppAvai from revered elders ,

made it part of their rote memory for recitation purposes and

understood clearly the traditional meanings of the 30 paasurams

 

2. Those , who recite it daily in Bhagavad sannidhAnams

at home or at temples

 

3. Those , who who have paripUrNa bhakthi for Sriman NaarAyaNA

celebrated by the paasurams of ThiruppAvai and reverence for

bhagavathAs with unquestioned bhakthi for the vibhava

avathArams of Sriman NaarAyaNA such as Sri RaamA and Sri KrishNA .

 

4. Those , who have reverence for bhagavad bhakthAs of the type

saluted by the ThiruppAvai paasurams and have a full comprehension

of their own status as Bhagavadh Daasans

 

5. Those Bhagavadh Daasans , who stay that way along

with reverence to bhagavathAs independent of whatsoever

difficulties or losses or enimities that come their way

in maintainig thier reverence for BhagavAn and

His BhagavathAs

 

6. Those , who dedicate all their efforts to Sriman NaarAyaNA

( Sriman NaarAyaNa preethyartham ithi kAryam kruthavAn )

 

7. Those , who do not ask even Bhagavan for any fruits other

than the boon of Moksham .

 

We make the vow here that ThiruppAvai will confer sakala

mangaLams for the above group of blessed ones based on

the following two facts :

 

1.In every one of her thirty ThiruppAvai paasurams , ANDAL has

declared that Sriman NaarAyaNan , the fundamental cause

of this universe ; She has declard that Sriman NaarAyaNan

( veda prathipAdhyan ) is the giver of all boons desired by us .

 

2. ANDAL has declared unambigously in every one of

those paasurams that Sriman NaarAyaNan is not only

the grantor of the desired boons but He is also the provider of

the fruits of those boons requested by us .

 

Her description and subsequent salutaions of

Sriman NaarAyaNan in every one of her thirty paasurams

are :

 

*. Sriman NaarAyaNan is none other than KaNNan

( Sri KrishNan )/ to the first paasuram

 

* He is KsheerAbdhi nAthan ( the Lord reclining

on Adhi Seshan in the milky ocean in yOga NidrA )

/ the second paasuram

 

* He is the Lord , who grew immensely to measure

the earth and the sky ( Ongi UlagaLandhavan ) ,

Vaamanan and Trivikraman ( Third Paasuram )

 

* He is Oozhi Mudalvan , Vaikuntha Naathan ,

PadmanAbhan and PanchAyudhan ( Fourth Paasuram )

 

* He is DamOdharan ( Fifth Paasuram )

 

* He is PoothanA samhAran , sakatAsura SamhArakan

and Hari ( Sixth paasuram )

 

* He is Kesavan and NaarAyaNan ( seventh Paasuram )

 

* He is the lord of all gods/ DevAthi Devan (eighth paasuram)

 

* He is Maadhavan and Vaikunthan ( Ninth paasuram )

 

* He is ThuzhAi mudi NaarAyaNan ( One who has

the fragrant Tulasi on His crown )/ tenth paasuram

 

* He is Muhil VaNNan ( one with the hue of the dark

clouds of the rainy season ) / eleventh paasuram

 

* He is Sri Raaman ( Twelfth Paasuram )

 

* He is puLLin vaai keendAn( KrishNan ) and

the one who destroyed the rAkshasAs of LankhA

( Sri Raman ) / thirteenth paasuram

 

* He is the sankodu chakkaram yEndhum

pankayakkaNNan ( The lotus eyed-one , who adorns

the divine disc and the conch on his hands )/ fourteenth

paasuram

 

* He is the KuvAlayapeeta mardhanan ( one who

destroyed the royal elephant of king kamsA )/

fifteenth paasuram

 

* He is Mayan MaNivaNNan ( sixteenth paasuram )

 

* He is ulagaLandhAn , DEvathi DEvan ( 17th paasuram )

 

* He is the Nappinnai Naathan ( Lord of Nappinai )/

eighteenth paasuram

 

* He is malarmArbhan KaNNan ( one whose chest

is adorned by Vyjayanthi garland ) / 19th paasuram

 

* He is UpEndran ( 20th paasuram )

 

* He is ParamjyOthi KaNNan ( 21st paasuram )

 

* He is Paramapadha Naathan ( 22 nd Paasuram )

 

* He is PoovaNNan ( 23rd paasuram )

 

* He is Trivikraman , Raaman and KrishNan

( Twenty fourth paasuram )

 

* He is VasudEva suthan , YasOdha nandanan

( twenty fifth paasuram )

 

* He is the " aalinilayil paLLikondavan ( one who

rsts on the leaf of a pupil tree during the time of

the great deluge ) / 26th pasuram

 

* He is Govindhan ( 27th paasuram )

 

* He is Govindhan , iRaivan ( 28th Paasuram )

 

* He is the one saluted by the naamam , GovindhA

( twenty ninth paasuram )

 

* He is Madhavan , Kesavan , SelvatthirumAl ( 30th

paasuram ) .

 

Thus , every paasuram of ThiruppAvai celebrates

Sriman NaarAyaNan as the supreme protector of

every one , who sought refuge in Him . Every paasuram

celebrates one or other avathArams of Sriman NaarAyaNA

in an easy-to-understand manner . It has accomplished

this excellent task like a gold smith enmeshes the different

gems in a gold setting to create a beautiful ornament .

 

ThiruppAvai brings before our eyes the sarvOthkrushta

Sriman NaarAyaNan and his avathArams ( NaarAyaNa

Murthys ) without any doubts or confusion about their

identity .

 

Paavai means a uruvam( form) with limbs such as

hands , legs , head et al . Hence , our learned elders have

called this Thiruppaavai as a Vigraham . Thiru means

MahA Lakshmi ; Thiru also means Sriman NaarAyaNan .

On this basis also , we conclude that ThiruppAvai is

the vigraham for MahA Lakshmi and Sriman

NaarAyanan . Thiruppaavai is therefore the divya

mangaLa vigraham made up of the paasurams of

ANDAL . We can now comfortably conclude that the Lord

incarnated as Thiruppaavai for ANDAL . In the thirumEni

( vigraham ) of Raaman , only BhagavAn is there ; in

the ThirumEni of SeethA devi , only MahA Lakshmi is

there. In contrast , in the body of ThiruppAvai ( sabdha

rUpa vigraham ) , both Lakshmi and Her consort take

their united residence as the divya dampathis . This is

the esoteric specialty of the incarnation of ThiruppAvai

as an independent divine incarnation .

 

We will continue with the essence of each of the paasurams

of ThiruppAvai as revealed to us by Paramapadha Vaasi ,

H.H Sri Vedantha Desika Yatheendhra Maha Desikan

of Ahobila Mutt .

 

Sri Lakshmi Nrusimha ParabrahmaNE NamO nama:

 

SrimathE SrivaNN SatakOpa Sri VedAntha Desika

Yatheendhra MahA DesikAya Nama :

 

SrimathE Sri Lakshminrusimha divya PaadhukhAsevaka

SrivaNN SatakOpa Sri NaarAyaNa Yatheendhra MahA DesikAya

Nama:

 

Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan