AparyAthAmrutha sOpAnam : part 2

[Guest guest]

Dear BhakthAs of Thirukkudanthai ArAvamudhan :

 

The greatness of Thirukkudanthai AarAvamudhan

is beyond description . His bhaktha vAtsalyam and

bhaktha dAkshiNyam have no match . It is important to

spend some time on this subject in the context of

the postings on Thirukkudanthai Desikan's

mangalAsAsanam that took the form of

AparyApthAmrutha sOpAnam .

 

When the sharp-tongued Thirumazhisai

commanded Lord AaravAmudhan to get up and

speak to him , He obliged and lifted Himself (as told ) slightly

and gave His darsanam to the AzhwAr and stayed that way

in UdhyOga Sayanam to remind us as to how he responded

to the wish of His bahkthA from the village of Thirumazhisai .

 

The AzhwAr asked the Lord as to what was wrong with

Him . He queried the reclining Lord as to what was His problem

and why He was so tired . The AzhwAr volunteered to take a guess

on why the Lord was resting on His serpent bed as though

He was recovering after some ardous ordeal . This is how he

addressed the Lord :

 

nadantha kAlgaL nondhavO nadungu J~alamEnamAi

idantha mey kulungavO vilangu maal varaicchuram

kadantha kaal parandha Kaavirikkarai KudanthaiyuL

kidanthavARezhundhu pEsu-------------------------------

 

The AzhwAr addresses the Lord here rather abruptly

and asks Him : " O Lord resting on the banks of the wide

Cauveri river ! What is the reason for You to be so fatigued

and needing this profound rest ? Is it because of the enormous

exertions arising out of Your wandering in the DandakA

forest as Sri RamA or Is it because of carrying your gigantic body

of Yours during the incarnation as the Varaha PerumAn ?

Please explain to me the reason why You are resting

here so exhausted ? Please raise Yourself up from

Your reclining position and speak to me " .

 

The Lord is known for His kalyANa guNam celebrated

as Sowlabhyam or easy accessibility . He responded

to the request of the straight -talking bhakthA and

became another YathOkthakAri ( sonna VaNNam

seytha PerumAL ) and talked to His Bhakthan .

The AzhwAr was moved by the generosity of the Lord

in responding to his taunt that he was overcome with

emotion and concluded this paasuram with a benediction .

Like PeriyAzhwAr , who wished pallAndu to the Lord ,

Thirumazhisai blessed the Lord with the benediction,

VAAZHI KESANE :

 

" kidanthavARu yezhundhirunthu pEsu VAAZHI KESANE " .

 

The AzhwAr was dumb struck with the lightning like

rsponse of the Lord , when he commanded Him to get up

and explain why he was so fatigued to need His rest .

The AzhwAr came down from the height of his sarcasam and

fell at the Lord's feet and begged Him to live for aeons

and bless His bahkthAs at Thirukkudanthai in that

unique UdhyOga Sayanam pose .

 

When NammAzhwAr had the darsana bhAgyam of that

udhyOga Sayanam , he described what he saw

and the impact of that sEvai on him this way :

 

AarA amudhE adiyEn udalam ninpAlanpAyE

neerAi alaindhu karaya urukkuhinRa nedumAlE !

seerAr sennal kavari veesum sezhu neer Thirukkudanthai

yErAr kOlam tihazhak kidanthAi kandEn yemmAnE

 

( Meaning ) : Oh insatibale nectar of a Lord ! O aparyAptha

amrutha swAmi of Thirukkudanthai ! I have turned into

a slave of Yours after tasting Your insatiable beauty with my eyes .

My body melts in love at the darsanam of Yours . My body

is like sugar that has dissolved in a glass of water. My love

for You flows like the rushing water from a broken dam .

The melting of my body is like the pliant gold under the

tools of a skilled gold smith . O AarAvamudhA ! are you performing

this magic of the extinction of my self by merger with You as

a result of Your limitless love for me ? Let me conclude

that it is so ! Oh Lord resting on Your mighty bed of

AdisEshA in the most majestic form ! Here at Your

divya dEsam of Thirukkudanthai , the red paddy stems

are waving in the cool breeze as if they are performing

chamara (fan ) kaimkaryam to You !

 

This was the impact of AarAvamudhan's beauty and

vAtsalyam for NammAzhwAr . Seven AzhwArs were

overcome by the beauty of AarAvamudhan and

performed their mangaLAsAsanams with 54 paasurams .

These paasurams and their authors are :

 

1 . BhUthatthAzhwAr : Paasurams 70& 97 of

the second ThiruvandhAthi

 

2. pEy AzhwAr : Paasurams 30&62 of Third ThiruvandhAthi

 

3. Thirumazhisai : Naanmuhan ThiruvandhAthi ( 36th verse)

Thirucchanda viruttham ( Paasurams 56-61

)

 

4.NammAzhwAr : Thiruvaimozhi entire decad of 5.8

 

5. PeriyAzhwAr : Periya Thirumozhi --4 paasurams

 

6. ANDAL : NaacchiyAr Thirumozhi -- 1 Paasuram

 

7. Thirumangai : Periya Thirumozhi --17 paasurams

ThirukkurunthAndakam - 2 Paasurams

ThirunedumthAndakam--3 Paasurams

ThiruvEzhukUrririkkai -- 1 Paasuram (46

adigaLs)

Siriya Thirumadal--1 Paasuram

Periya Thirumadal --1 Paasuram

 

ANDAL enjoyed Him as Raaja GopAlan grazing

his cows and calves in AayarpAdi and saluted Him

as " Kudanthai kidantha kudamAdi " .

 

PeriyAzhwAr , her father , enjoyed AarAvamudhan as

the Bala GopAlan and took on the role of YasOdhA

piratti to visulaize Him walking with the uncertain gait

of a toddler and marking his walking path with the

insignia of sankhams and chakrams to denote His

parathvam as Sriman NaarAyaNan . He longs to see

that gait of the Lord like a little elephant adorned with

His waist belt studded with little bells , which move in

rhythym with his tender steps .

 

BhuthatthAzhwAr describes SaarangapANi

( AarAvamudhan ) as the top expert in dhanur

vEdham and salutes Him as " yEvalla yenthai " .

He reveals to us that this great archer's favorite resting

places are th heart caves of His bahkthAs and

divya dEsams like Thirukkudanthai .

 

PEy AzhwAr relates to Him as the panchAkruthi

svarUpan rsdiding in the Para , VyUha , Vibhava,

ArchA and antharyAmi forms in a paasuram

that echos the Vedic passage : ambasya pArE

bhuvanasya madhyE---prajApathisccharathi

garbhE antha : " .

 

Thirumazhisai spoke to Him directly and

got Him to get up to speak to him .

In moving verses of Thirucchnada viruttham ,

the AzhwAr lovingly addresses Him as

" Kudanthai uLL kidantha PundareekanE " .

He reveals to us that the Lord is Bhaktha

sulabhan with the paasuram words :

nAhatthaNaik Kudanthai--kidakkum

aadhi NedumAl aNaippAr karutthanAvAn " .

The Azhwar states with authority that the Lord,

who rests at Thirukkudanthai on AdhisEshA

will choose as His preferred temple

(place of residence ) the heart caves of His dear

BhakthAs .

 

Thirumangai celebrated AarAvamudhan in

his ThirukkurmthAndakam as " Kudanthai

mEya kurumaNit thiraL " or the most beautiful

assembly of nava rathnams at Thirukkudanthai .

 

In his ThirunedumthAndakam verses, he takes on

the Naayaki bhavam and performs nAma sankeerthanam.

In the last verse of ThirunedumthAndakam , he

describes how he as Parakaala Naayaki

waited for her Lord just as a dutiful and

obedient dog filled with parama viswaasam

would wait for its master : " taNN Kudanthai kidantha

Maalai NediyAnai adi nAyEn ninanithittEnE " .

 

In ThiruvEzhukUrririkkai , Thirumangai pours out

his profound love for AarAvamudhan in a verse

form constructed in the form of a seven-tiered

chariot . He seats the Lord in the middle of that

chariot and enjoys His veda svarUpam and

soundharyam . The depth of meanings of the

paasurams of ThiruvEzhukUrririkkai have been

coverd in an earlier posting .

 

In his siriya and periya Thirumadals , Thirumangai

becomes parakaala Naayaki and engages in

vipralambha sringAram and teaches us that the end

goal of Dharmam , Artham and other purushArthams

is Bhagavadh Kaamam . He shows us that Kaamam

( Bhagavadh Kaamam ) is the highest purushArtham

of all the four goals of life.

 

In the many beautiful verses of Periya Thirumozhi ,

Thirumangai celebrates the sanctity of the Moola

Manthram that he was initiated into by the Lord

Himself as " peethaka vaadaip pirAnAr bhirama guruvAhi

vandhu " . In this particular decad , Thirumangai blames

himself first for going after siRRinbham and forgetting to

worship AarAvamudhan at Thirukkudanthai and next

comforts himself for gaining utthama gathi through

the recitation of the name of Sriman NaarAyaNA :

 

"------------------- soozh punar KudanthaiyE thozhuthen

naavinAlyuua naan kandu kondEn NaarAyaNAvennum nAmam "

 

He is overcome with the power of reciting the name of

Srman NaarAyaNA and instructs others to come and join

him and thereby save themselves from leading degenrate

lives :

 

" ------------solluhEn vammin soozh KudanthaaiyE thozhumin

naRporuL kaaNmin paadi neeryuumin NaarAyaNAvennum nAmam " .

 

Thirumangai arrives at the Divya dEsam of SaaLagraamam

in HimalayAs . From the snow clad scenery , his mind shifts

to the green cauveri delta and there to the Lord of Thirukkudanthai ,

resting joyously on his serpent bed . This powerful memory

led to another beloved paasuram on AarAvamudhan from the snowy

depths of SaaLagrAmam :

 

" UrAn Kudanthai utthaman oru kaalirukaal silai vaLayath

tErAvarakkar tEr veLLam seRRaan vaRRA varu punal soozh

pErAn pErAyiramudayAn----"

 

Here AzhwAr celebrates SaarangapANi as Sri Ramachandran ,

who destroyed Karan and DhUshaNan , who attacked Him at

JanasthAnam , while riding their chariots. The Uttaman of

Thirukkudanthai destroyed them through the power of His

skills in DhanurvEdam . After eulogising the Uttaman of

Thirukkudanthai , he goes on to acknowledge the Lord

of SaaLigrAmam . In his Thiruneermalai paasuram ,

Thirumangai is overpowered with the thought of

AarAvamudhan and weaves him into the paasuram

of Thiruneermalai perumAL . At ThiruvAli , He jointly

salutes VayalALi MaNavALan and " TaNN Kudanthai

KudamAdi " .

 

At ThirunarayUr , after receiving SamAsrayaNam from

Srinivasan , his mind still wanders over to Thirukkudanthai

and sees AarAvamudhan in NarayUr SrinivAsan :

 

" kongEru solaik Kudanthaik kidanthAnai

nankOnai naadi NarayUril kandEnE "

 

He sees that when he sought for the Thirukkdanthai

UtthAnasAyee , he found Him in NarayUr.

 

In another beautiful NarayUr pasuram , He visualizes

AarAvamudhan as VarAhap perumAn , Ramachandran

and Trivikraman :

 

" kidantha nampi Kudanthai mEvik kEzhalAi ulahai

idantha nampi yengaL nambi ---------------------------

nadantha nampi nAmam sollil namO nArAyaNAya "

 

NarayUr Srinivasan is known usually as NarayUr

nampi . Here , Azhwaar invokes the nampi name

five times and relates it to AarAvamudhan .

 

We witness Thirumangai's special abhimAnam for

AarAvamudhan again in the paasurams " devoted " to

the emperumAns of ThirunAhai , ThirupEr , ThirukkaNNapuram

and other thirupathis . Finally in his Periya Thirumozhi 11.6

paasuram , he gives the upadEsam for all of us to gain

salvation :

 

" kondarkkaim maNivaNNan taNN Kudanthai

nahar paadi aadeerhaLE "

 

He recommends to all of us sinking in the samsAric

ocean to overcome our sufferings by reciting the name

of the parama kAruNeekan , AarAvamudhan and singing

and dancing with joy from that anubhavam .

 

NammAzhwAr's anubhavam of AarAvamudhan

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

 

After his mangaLAsAsanam of Srivaramangai's

ThOdhAdhri nAthan , NammAzhwAr leaves the

banks of TamrabharaNi and arrives at the Cauveri

delta and rests at the sacred feet of AarAvamudhan .

He cries out in ecstasy , " yemmAnE ! yenn veLLai mUrthy !

Yennai aaLvAnE " . NammAzhwAr addresses his Lord as

the Lord of purest form and nature . He remembers

his Lord taking infinite forms and says all those forms

add lustre to Him .

 

In the third pasuram , he admits that he is incapable of

folowing any upAyA to gain His grace. He laments over

his powerlessness. He makes it very clear to AarAvamudhan

that he will always cling to His lotus feet as a prop with

unshaken faith and go about doing things ( yennAn

seyhEn yArE kaLaikaNN yennai yenn seyhinrAi ?

unnAlallal yAvarAlum onrum kurai vEndEn-- kudanthai

kidanthAi--sennALenthALL annAL unathALL piditthE

selakkANE ) .

 

In the fourth paasuram , AzhwAr explains his pitiable state.

He says that he is head over heels in love with the Lord

of Thirukkudanthai . He says that he is turning around on

all sides in the hope of seeing the Lord appear in the physical

form and is suffering from his frustrations in not being able

to have that darsana sowbhAgyam .

 

In the fifth paasuram , he confesses that he is cursing his

fate over his dhurbhAgyam in not being able to see the Lord

in the physical form and embrace Him .He pleads wiht the Lord

movingly to unite him with His sacred feet .

 

In the sixth paasuram , AzhwAr begs the Lord to devise a method

to cut his karma bhandhAs and have dhruva smrithi of the Lord

and Lord alone .

 

In the seventh pasuram , he addresses the Lord of Thirukkudanthai

as his valiant Lion , beautiful golden splendor and the lotus-eyed

oudhAryan of sarva mangaLams . He points out that the Lord has

arrived at Thirukkudanthai to captivate and enslave him and to

consummate their relationship as seshan and seshee .

 

In the eighth paasuram , he addresses the Lord as " mAmAyA "

( wizard ) and confesses that he has no helper other than the Lord .

He ventures forth to say that he is not sure , whether the Lord will

rush to his help or not . He begs for the boon of steadfast

attachment to the Lord's feet until his last moments .

 

In the ninth paasuram , the AzhwAr thanks the Lord for His

great upakAram in teaching the elements of Athma JnAnam

and transforming him to become a loving servant of His

from the earlier haughty state . AzhwAr sees the Lord

move from left to right to help bhakthAs assembled on

all sides to have the darsana sowbhAgyam equally .

 

In the tenth paasuram , AzhwAr acknowledges that

his soul is enjoying the sweet nectar of AarAvamudhan inspite of

his past karmAs and their fruits trying to latch on to him . He

thanks the Lord for chasing them away . He reminds the Lord

about their newly established relationship as Master and Servant

and points out to the Lord that it will be a blot to His name ,

if he reverted to making him suffer and beg for help .

 

In the eleventh and final paasuram , AzhwAr describes himself

as the one , who clings to AarAvamudhan"s sacred feet forever .

He instructs us that the mastering of his ten paasurams on

AparyApthAmrutha Swami will wipe out our spiritual

immaturity and lift us closer to the Lord and

Sri VaishNavAs .

 

These great anubhavams of AzhwArs were on the mind of

Thirukkudanthai Desikan , when he composed and presented

his AparyApthAmrutha sOpAnam along the tradition of

Swami Desikan's Bahgavadh DhyAna sOpAnam and

ThiruppANar's AmalanAdhipirAn .

 

AzhwAr , AchAryAL THiruvadigaLE SaraNam

Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan