Sri RanganaathO jayathi : Part 17

[Guest guest]

Dear Sri RanganAtha Premis :

 

I will cover the mangalAsAsanams of PeriyAzhwAr ,

ThiruppANar , KulasEkarar and Thondaradipodi in this

posting an conclude the series with the paasurams of

NammAzhwar and Thirumangai in Part 18 .Due to limited time

and space , I have to be necessarily brief .

 

PeriyAzhwAr "s MangalAsAsanam of Sri RanganAthan

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Sri VishNuchitthar became PeriyAzhwAr by virtue of becoming

the father-in-law of the Lord of Srirangam . He composed hence

35 moving paasurams on Sri RanganAthan . Each one of them

is deep in meaning and moving in spirit.

 

In 4.9.11 , PeriyAzhwAr describes Srirangam as the divya

desam of preference for the Lord and that the lord of that

Divya Desam is worshipped with equal fervor by people of

the North and the South ( KanlAzhip padayAn karuthum koil ,

tennAdum vadanaadum thozha ninRa Thriruvarangt Thirruppathi ).

 

In 4.9.9 ,AzhwAr salutes Sri RanganAtha as the DasAvathAra

mUrthy: " thEvudaya meenamAi aamayayAi , yenamayAi ariyAik kuraLAi ,

mUvuruvin IraamanAik KaNNanAik , KaRkiyAi mutippAn Koil " ( This

is the koil of the Lord , who incarnated as the Matsyam with

ever growing lustre , Tortoise , VarAham , Narasimham ,

Vaamanan , the thre RaamAs - ParasurAman, Dasaratha Raaman and

Balabhadra Raamn - , KrishNa and Kalki) .

 

In a profound paasuram (4.9.2) , AzhwAr asks whether there is

anyone who wants to be the Daasan of any God other than

Sri RannganAthan . He explains why it is difficult

to find any other god to match in comparison to Sri RanganAthan.

He says : " If Maha Lakshmi , the embodiment of clemency for

our apachArams gets fed up and some times complains about

the adiyArs of the Lord , then the Lord will protest and

come to their rescue and say that His adiyArs would not

have committed such apachArams and if they ever committed

those apachArams with the thought that He will forgive them

for their trespasses , then they would have done only good deeds" .

In other words , He would defend His BhakthAs against any

surprising complaints from His Devi , who is known for Her

PurushakAram ( intercession and sipArasu on behalf of

the AparAthis ). That is the quality of His DayA .

 

The decad 4.10 is a gem, where the AzhwAr prays for

the blessing of the Lord's KatAksham during his last

moments on this earth. AzhwAr states that he will be

in a state of utter powerlesness during his last moments

and will be like a log or stone , totally devoid of

control over his senses to think about the Lord .

Therefore , I am reciting today Your ThirunAmams

in anticipation of my helpless state during my last

moments. Please save me from the himsai of the servants

of Yama Devan at that time and take me to Your Parama padham .

 

" appOthaikku ippOthE solliv vaitthEn ,

ArangatharavaNaip PalliyAnE "

 

I am insuring now against my helpless state then by uttering

Your naamAs ; please take note ! You must come to my

rescue , when I would be helpless in my last moments .

 

Decad 5.1 contains some moving paasurams dealing with

AzhwAr's NaicchAnusanthAnam . AzhwAr belittles himself for

all of his lapses and deficiencies . Every one of the pasurams

of this decad is a gem . They need to be studied and restudied .

In the first paasuram , AzhwAr acknowledges that he does

not have the purity of tongue and therefore he is disqualified

to use that impure tongue to eulogize Sri RanganAthan .

At the same time , my tongue which has experienced the sweetnes

of eulogizing You will not quit from reciting Your nAmAs .It will

not praise anyone other than You .I am afraid of the compulsive

activities of my immodest and impure tongue.That tongue is not

under my control .Oh Lord ! Please do not consider my eulogy

as coming from a mUrkan ( man of bad character )and become

angry at me. My tongue is so agitated that it does not

listen to me inspite of its unfitness . The great ones

deem even the shreik of the crow as a good deed out of their

sense of tolerance . You should treat the improper and

forward activities of my tongue in the same way and

forgive its arrogance to venture into praising you

independent of its immense disqualifications . Please

forgive me and my tongue . I have recited insubstantial

paasurams with my evil tongue . It is Your duty befitting

Your status as the Lord of All to forgive my trespasses

( Sanku chakkaram Yenthum kaiyanE ! pizhaippaarAhilum

tammadiyAr soll poRuppathu periyOr kadananRE ) .

 

In Paasurm 4.2.8, AzhwAr describes the Lord's reaction ,

when he stated that he dared to use his evil tongue

to compose insubstantial poems on Him . AzhwAr was in an

utter state of sorrow over his unfitness and lowliness.

The Lord figured out that His bhakthan is excusing himself

to get away from Him and He immediately entered into

the AzhwAr and made him stay away from thoughts of

his unfitness and deficiencies . AzhwAr experienced

the bliss of union with the Lord and acknowleged that

the citadel of the Lord , his soul is no longer in the old

dejected and defenseless state and now it has become

supremely protected against all inauspiciousness

( paikkonda PaampaNaiOdum pandenru pattiNam kAppE ).

 

In paasuram4.2.8 , AzhwAr describes the great blessing

that he was priveleged to receive from the Parama DayALU ,

Sri Ranganaathan : " - yennuLLE peethakavAdaip piraanAr

Bhirama guruvAhi vanthu , pOthil kamalavannEnjam puhunthum

yenn sennitthidaril paathavilacchinai vitthAr pandanru

pattinam kAppE " . My soul( aathmA, Pattinam ) is no longer

in the old dilapidated , defenseless state . It is now

rejuvenated and well protected . What happened ?

What was the reason for this miraculous change ?

What happened was that the beautiful Lord of Srirangam

wearing His brillant silk garb entered my heart lotus ,

which is His seat ( antharyAmi Brahmmam ) and removed

all the blemishes that He found there and placed His

sacred feet on my head . My soul is no longer in its old ,

pitiable state . Now that the Lord has entered my heart

lotus , my soul is very well protected .

 

AzhwAr goes on to comfort the Lord in decad 5.4

(senniyOngu paasurams ) .He assures the Lord that

He has nothing more to do for him and that He should

not worry whether He had done enough for him.

Srirangam paasurmas thus form a central plank

in the unique anubhavam of PeriyAzhwAr in his

spiritual quest and kaimkaryam .

 

KulasEkara Azhwar 's salutation of Sri RanganAthan

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This AzhwAr dreamt about pilgrimage to Srirangam

every day from his kingdom . He gave up his kingdom

finally and moved to Srirangam and reached the Lord's

sacred feet there . He gave us 31 marvellous paasurams

known for their depth of Bhakthi . The first three of

his ten decads are about Azhagiya MaNavALan ,

Sri RanganAthan .

 

In the first decad , KulasEkarA longs for the day ,

when he would be able to stand in the courtyard

of Sri RanganAthan hugging the two ThirumaNatthUNNkal .

These two pillars are known as the marriage pillars .

They are recognized as a pair representing the fragrance

of Sri RanganAthan . The BhakthAs overcome by the Lord's

beauty hold on to them to maintain their balance , when

the flood of the Lord's beauty hits them as they stand

in the ThirumuRRam of the Lord : " KadiarangattharavaNayil

paLLIk koLLUM MaayOnai , maNat thUNE paRRi ninru yenn

vaayAra yenru kolO vAzhtthum nALE " ( when will that day

arrive, when I can stand holding the two marriage pillars

at the garbhagraham of Sri RanganAthan and eulogize

Him with all the power of my tongue ? ).

 

In the second decad , AzhwAr celebrates the glory

of the BhAgavathAs , who are engaged in Bhagavadh

Kaimkaryam tirelessly . He says that the purpose

of the eyes are to have the sevai of those BhaagavathAs .

He states that the bath in the dust of the feet of

the BhagavathAs is far superior in its holiness

compared to the bath in sacred waters of ganga and other

puNya theerthams .In the fourth paasuram , AzhwAr

declares that his mind will forever sing pallAndu

to the sacred feet of the BhaagavathAs .In the eighth

paasuram , AzhwAr reveals that his heart is hopelessly

in love with the VaishNava Lakshmi of Sri VaishNavAs ,

who lose themselves in ecstacy over Sri RanganAthA ,

their Lord .

 

In the third decad , AzhwAr explains the transformation

in him as his mind fell in love with the BhaagavathAs

of Lord RanganAthan . He says that he developed VairAghyam

and lost interest in pomp and circumstance and discarded

all perishable sukhams . He says that he avoided from then on

the people , who confuse their body with their aathmA

and equate the perishable siRRinbhams with the PeRinbham

of relating to the Lord . In the sixth paasuram of this

decad , Azhwar states with conviction :

 

yemparatthar allArodum kUdalan

umbar vAzhvai onRak karuthalan

TampirAn amararkku , Aranganahar

EmpirAnukku Yezhumaiyum pitthanE

 

(Meaning ) : I will not associate with those ,

who have are not the servants of the Lord like me .

I will always stay intoxicated with the love for

my Lord of Nithya Sooris , who is at His Periya Koil

at Srirangam .

 

ThiruppANAzhwAr's great anubhavam of the beauty of the Lord

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The ten most beautiful paasurams of ThiruppANAzhwAr

have very few comparisons . Swami Desikan gave us

a profound commentary known as " Muni Vaahana BhOgam

on these ten verses . Swami Desikan decribed these

ten paasurams this way :

 

" PaavaLarum Tamizh maRayin payanE konda

pANN PerumAL paadiyathOr paadal patthu "

 

(Meaning ) : The ten paasurams of PaaNN PerumAL

are the saarArthams (quintessence )of the Divya-

Prabhandhams , which are nothing but Tamizh Vedams .

 

ThiruppANa AzhwAr was overcome by the beauty of

the sarvAnga Soundharyam of Sri RanganAthan reclining

on Adhi Seshan at Srirangam . He enjoyed the beauty of

the Lord from foot to head ( paadhAthi kEsAntham )

and gave us the extraordinary paasurams starting

with the words : AmalanAthipirAN .

 

Thondardipodi, the RanganAtha pathivrathai

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1. ThiruppaLLIyeZucchi Paasurams

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Vipra NaarAyaNar described himself as the dust

from the feet of BhagavathAs of the Lord of Srirangam

( Thondaradippodi ) . He gave us ThiruppaLLIyezhucchi

( suprabhAtham verses) , which are the most beautiful

in their lyrical description of the approach of sunrise

at Srirangam . He prayed to the Lord to wake up from His

nidhrA and protect the people , just as He did wake up

the AzhwAr from his samsAric sleep earlier . The taniyan

by Thiruvarangap PerumAn arayar describes the AzhwAr ,

who woke up the Lord as " Vandu tiNartha vayal

ThennarangatthAmmAnai PaLLLi uNartthum PirAn '.

Another Taniyan salutes the AzhwAr's SookthimALas

and decribes how the AzhwAr approached the sleeping Lord

and appealed to Him to wake up to bless the world :

 

" TamEva MathvA ParavAsudEvam

RangEsayam Raajava darhaNeeyam "

 

(Meaning ) : The AzhwAr considered Lord RanganAthA

sleeping on His serpent bed as the paravAsudEvA

of Sri Vaikuntam and accorded Him all the honors due

to a King and woke Him up through his paasurams .

He concludes this prabhandham with a prayer to

the Lord to bless him to become the servant of

the servants of Him . He asks the Lord of Srirangam

to get up from His serpent bed for the express purpose

of giving him the blessed status of being the servant

of the BahgavathAs , who are near and dear to Arangan .

 

2. ThirumAlai Paasurams of Thondardipodi

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The fourty five paasurams of ThirumAlai have

a profound expression of the ananya Bhakthi of

the AzhwAr . For this AzhwAr , no other divya desa

mUrthy mattered . Sri RanganAthA was his entire focus

and purpose of his life. That is why, he has been

saluted as Sri RanganAtha Pathivrathai .He exults

over the power that he derived by learning the sacred

Moola Manthram of the Lord and declares that he is

shouting with joy and is dancing over the heads of

the servants of Yama dharman .In another paasuram,

he reveals that the bliss that arises from reciting

the many divya naamAs of Sri RanganAthan is far superior

to the bliss arising from the stay at parama Padham .

Therefore , he says that he rejects life at Sri Vaikuntam

over the life at Srirangam spent in the enjoyment

of the naama sankeerthanam of the Lord's thousand

names .

 

One of the Bhakthais of this group wanted me to write

about the " Vandinamuralum sOlai " Paasuram of ThirumAlai .

I will focus on this beautiful verse of Thondardipodi

rendered in Thodi Raagam by Sangeetha KalAnidhi M.S.S

in a famous recording few decades back .

 

In this paasuram , AzhwAr describes the natural beauty

of Srirangam and the greatness of the Lord resting on

His serpent bed there. Suddenly , the AzhwAr's mood shifts ;

he has a flashing thought about the mUrkAs ( dushtAs),

who do not recite the holy names of the Lord of Srirangam,

and are feasting themselves in a banquet. AzhwAr gets mad

and asks us to get there and pull the food from their

full plates and throw that to the dogs.The paasuram

containing these thoughts is as follows :

 

Vandinamuralum sOlai mayilanamAlum sOlai

kondal meethaNavum sOlai kuyilinamkoovum sOlai

AndarkOnn amarum sOlai aNi Thiruvarangamenna-

mindar paaynthuNNum sORRai vilakki nAykkidumineerE

 

(Comments ) : Vandinamuralum sOlai : Srirangam is

surrounded by multitudes of groves full of

the humming bees . The Vandu or bees are also

known as dhvirEpams since they have two "R's

in their name ( Bhramaram ) . That name Bhramaram

also means Rishis , who do Hari nAma sankeethanam

(equivalent to the reenkAram of the Vandus ) .Thus

the groves of Srirangam are resonating with the divya

naama sankeerthanam of the sages .

 

MayilinamAlum sOlai : While the bees are producing

reenkAram in the air reciting the Lord's many names,

on the ground , the peacocks are excited from hearing

the sacred names of the Lord and they begin to dance

with joy as they visualize the neela megha PerumAL

resting inside the Ranga VimAnam . Normally , the Pea cocks

spread thier plumes and dance , when they see the dark blue

rain-laden clouds . here, their dance arises from the thought

of the dark blue hue of the Lord celebrated by the bees .

 

Kondal meethaNavum sOlai : Now the blue clouds of the rainy

season come low and brush against the foliage of the trees

of the verdant groves to gain the attention of the dancing

peacocks , which do not take note of them as they would

have done at any place other than Srirangam .

 

Kuyilanam koovum sOlai : Here at the groves of Srirangam .

the nightingales are calling each other witht their sweet

voices to come together to sing about the Lord.

 

Andar kOnn amarum sOlai : Sri Ranganaathan arrives

at these groves and rests in the mantapams there

during His many uthsavams . Hence , they become

blessed and become places of the songs for the bees

and nightingales and the rangam (stage) for the dance

of peacocks .

 

aNi Thiruvarangam yennAmindar : Those that do not

recognize the holiness of Srirangam with its eventful

groves and fail to hail this holy divya desam and

salute it with reverence as Sri RanganAthA's divya desam .

 

Mindar paaynthuNNum sORRai vilakki nAykkidumineerE :

Of those sinful ones eating with gusto their food,

there is only one thing to do . They are falling over their

food and forgetting to think of Sri RanganAthA and

his holy place of residence. Azhwar asks us to quickly go

there and ake away the food that they are lusting over and throw

it to the dogs . That is the kind of reverence the AzhwAr

has for Sri RanganAthA and the anger he has for those ,

who fail to recognize the holiness of Srirangam and go

about their worldly ways .

 

Sri ranganAtha ParabrahmaNE Nama :

Oppilaippan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan