Thirumangai"s paasurams on Sri RanganAthA : Part 18.2

[Guest guest]

Dear ReanganAtha BhakthAs :

 

This is the last in the series of postings on

the RanganAtha Temple kaimkaryam . I will cover

selected paasurams of Thriumangai, who had a very

strong attachment to Sri RanganAtha and Srirangam .

 

Thirumangai is considered as " One of the romantic

personalities in the galaxy of mystics " . The other

names for him are ParakAlan ( Beyond Time ) , Kalidvamsin

( destroyer of Kali DhOsham ) , Kaliyan , Naalu kavi perumAL

et al . He was a swashbuckling , dynamic petty chieftain

of ChOla Desam prior to being inducted by Sriman NaarAyaNA

Himself to Sri VaishNavism with AshtAkshara Manthra

UpadEsam . Thereafter , he completely changed

and became a parama VaishNavA .He has given us

six prabhandhams as Kula Dhanams and these

are considered as the six angams of the

four Tamizh marais of NammAzhwAr .

 

Thirumangai's Paasurams

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

 

Thirumangai blessed us with 73 Paasurams on

Sri RanganAthA .Most of them are found in

Periya Thirumozhi and the rest are in SiRiya Thirumadal ,

PeRiya Thirumadal , Thiruk KurnthAndakam and

Thiru NedunthAndakam . Some of the Periya Thirumozhi

paasurams are exclusively addressed to Sri RanganAthan .

The rest of the MangalAsAsanams for Sri RanganAthan

are found in Paasurams of other divya desa EmperumAns .

It is as though Thirumangai's mind rushed back to Srirangam

while he was in the middle of saluting the EmperumAns of

ThiruvEnkaTam , ThiruvAli , ThiruveLLarai , ThirunaRayUr ,

ThirukkaNNapuram and ThirumAlirumchOlai .

 

ThirukkurnthAndakam ( 3 Paasurams )

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

ThirukkurunthAndakam ( TKT ) is essentially dealing with

Sri RanganAthA . Paasurams 12, 13 and 19 specifically

salute Sri RanganAthan .

 

In the 12th Paasuram , AzhwAr states that even if he was

an anadhikAri , he recited the sacred mUla manthram of

the Lord and as a result became very uneasy about

his daring act .He says: " But , the Lord of Srirangam out of

His infinite dayA asked me not to be afraid and entered into

the shut eyes of mine ". AzhwAr's words are :" Azhukku udampu

yecchilvAyAl tollai naamam sollinEn . PaaviyEn pizhaittha

AaRu anjinEn "( When I , who am in a dirty body with its

impure tongue recited out of my eagerness the Thirumanthiram ,

I was frightened about my apachAram and the sins arising from

that daring act as an unqulified one. I closed my eyes out

of fear . What happened next was amazing . The parama DayALU ,

Sri RanganAthan entered into my shut eyes and gave me His darsanam

and aksed me not to be afraid ").

 

In the next paasuram, AzhwAr explains that all of his sins

were chased away by the Lord of Srirangam , when He entered

inside his eyes ." My body got purified. I had a great desire

to open my eyes and take in the supreme beauty of the Lord

of Srirangam .I did open my eyes and drank in the beauty of

the Lord to my heart's content ".

 

In the ninteenth Paasuram, AzhwAr celebrates the SarvEsvara

tattvam of Sri RanganAthan . He states that the anubhavam of

the svarUpam of the ParamAthmA through Bhakthi YOgam

practised by the sevai of ArchA mUrthys at Srirangam

and other divya desams ALONE can redeem us .

 

ThiruneunthAndakam ( Nine Paasurams )

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

 

This is the Prabhandham that ParAsara Bhattar

used to defeat an Advithin in debate and transformed

him into a Sri VaishNavA and fondly named him Namjeeyar .

 

 

The paasurams dealing with Sri RanganAthan are :

11, 12, 14, 18, 19 , 22, 23, 24 and 25 .

 

The Eleventh Paasuram of TKT

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

 

The eleventh paasuram is set in the context of

a conversation between the worried mother of ParakAla Naayaki

and a Kattuvicchi ( the kuratthi , who reads the palms and

predicts the future ) . The mother is agitated about

her young daughter's plight . The daughter has abndoned her

toys, silk sarees and refuses to sit still . She shreiks

out for the residence of SarvEsvaran . She asks about

directions to Srirangam .Her beautiful hair is unkempt .

 

At this time , the Kattuvicchi enters the house of ParakAla

Naayaki . She is commanded by the mother to tell what spirit

was possesing her dear daughter to cause such a strange behavior .

The kattuvicchi practises her trade and states that

a beautiful Youth with the hue of the blue Ocean

is causing all that confusion . The mother now lets

out a sigh and states in anguish : " Who is going to

save my daughter now , if Sri RanganAthan Himself is

the root cause of my daughter's troubles " .The remaining

Sriranga Paasurams contain additional lamentations of

the mother of ParakAla Naayaki about the lot of her

distraught daughter due to her unquenched love for

the Lord of Srirangam and the daughter's desire to

rush to Srirangam to be with Sri RanganAthan .

 

SiRiya and PeRiya Thirumadals( 2 paasuram lines )

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

 

In SiRiya Thirumadal , Sriranga KshEthram is saluted as

" aarAmam soozhntha Arangam " . Thirumangai recognizes

the beauty of Srirangam surrounded by verdant sOlais

as Thondardipodi did in his " Vandinamuralum sOlai "

paasuram . AarAmam means solaigaL .

 

In PeRiya Thirumadal , Thirumangai salutes the Lord as

" mannum Arangatthem MaamaNiyai " ( The Lord , the dark gem

hued One--KarumANicckam -- who sleeps enduringly at

Srirangam as He does at ThiruppARkkadal ) .

 

Periya Thirumzhi PaasurangaL ( 59 Paasurams )

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

 

The fifty paasurams of Periya Thirumozhi (decads 5.4 to 5.8)

are exclusively devoted to Sri RanganAthan . The remining Nine

paasurams relating to the Lord of Srirangam are found

in Paasurams of other ArchA mUrthys ( ThiruvEnkatam ,

ThiruvAli , ThirukkaNNapuram , ThirumAlirumchOlai et al ) .

 

AzhwAr reognizes Sri RanganAthan as " ArangatthuRayum

inn thuNaivan " ( the sweet companion that rests on His

serpent bed at Srirangam ) . Number of Thirumangai's

paasurams are cast as the anubhavam of ParakAla Naayaki

searching for her Lord and finding Him .

 

The 50 Paasurams of the decads 5.4 thru 5.8 of Periya Thirumozhi

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

 

In these beautiful paasurams , AzhwAr slautes the dasAvathArams

of the Lord of Srirangam , assumes ParakAlaAyaki form

and describes her unrelenting search for her Lord and

performs upadesam to us about the anantha KalyANa guNams

of the Lord of Sri RanganAthan . We will salute select

phrases from these paasurams for the sake of brevity .

 

Description of the Divya Desam of Srirangam ( decad 5.4)

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

 

" Vaiyam undu aalilai mEvu Maayan maNi neeNmudi

paikoLL nAhatthaNayAn payilumidam--" Decad 5.4.1

 

(Meaning ) ; This is hte divya desam of the Lord ,

who during the MahA PraLayam devoured the Universes

and retained tham safely in His stomach as He floated

on the swift waters of ParaLayam , while resting on

the leaf of a pupil tree . The Lord , who performed

that miraculous deed as Vatapathra Saayee is now

resting at Srirangam under the shade of the hoods of

Adhi SEshan , who serves as His bed .The rest of

the paasurams of decad 5.4 salute Sri Ranga KshEthram

by making references to the incidents in the DasAvathArams

of Sri RanganAthan .

 

NaayikA Bhaavam : The words of the Mother of ParakAla Naayaki

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

 

Decad 5.5 is set in the words of the mother of ParakAla

Naayaki . The mother complains bitterly to her friends

about the injustice done by the Lord of Srirangam to her

little daughter . The mother complains that the Lord

transformed her sweet , femenine daughter into a difficult

person displaying all the roughness of a male :

 

" AaipAdi vaLarntha Nambi aaNmahanAi yenn mahaLai

seythanahaL ammanaimeer aRihilEnE ".

 

( Meaning ) : My daughter does not want to wear

flowers in her hair ; she does not comb and

straighten her long , beautiful hair .She does not use

sandal paste; she refuses to wear her jewelery that she was

so fond of ; she does not pay attention to my words. She keeps

shouting , where is Sri RanganAthan , my lord , in a shameless

fashion . I can not fully comprehend the acts of the MaayAvi ,

who has trasformed my dear girl into a rough neck with

male-dominant traits .

 

In another paasuram of this decad , she laments

about the injustices done by the Lord of Srirangam

to her little one :

 

ChandOkan Powzhian ainthazhalOmpu Taittiriyan Saama vEdi

anthO vanthen mahaLaic cheytanakaL ammanaimeer aRihilEnE

 

(Meaning ) : My dear lady Neighbors !Annaimeer !

My daughter does not want to play anymore

with her toys , ball and rings. She has discarded

her wodden dolls ( marap paacchi ) . She has lost weight

from her worry of anticipating and longing Sri RanganAthan"s

arrival. Her bangles do not stay on her wrist anymore due

to her weight loss . Alas ! What a pity ! I never expected

the Lord saluted by Rg , Yajus and Saama Vedams and Kousheethiki

BrahmaNam to behave in this manner causing so much harm

to my tender shoot of a girl .

 

Decad 5.6 ( KaimmAna ): the enjoyment of Lord as His PirAtti

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

 

ParakAla Naayaki arrives at Srirangam , enters her Lord's

koil and enjoys His beauty there to her heart's content .

In the first paasuram , she declares with great glee that

she had the darsana soubhAgyam of Her Lord at Srirangam :

 

" yemmAnai yenukkiniyAnai panikAttha ammAnai yaan kandathu

aNineert thennarangatthE " She describes the Lord that she

saluted and worshipped at Srirangam in the rest of the decad as:

 

" ulahEzhumundum aarAthirunthAnaik kandathu thiruvarangatthE

( I found my Lord at Srirangam ; he is the one , who still had

room in His stomach after swallowing the seven worlds ) .

 

TrivikramaavathAram & NarasimhAvathAram : " IraNiyanai

piLanthavanai , perunilameeradi neetip paNdoru nALL

aLanthavani yaan kanDathu aNineer TennarangatthE ".

 

" anjiraip puttp paahanai yaan kandathu tennarangatthE "

( I saw Him ,the Garuda Vaahanan at Srirangam ) .

 

Decad 5.7 ( PanDai naanmaRai ): UpadEsam on Bhagavadh svarUpam

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

 

In this decad , AzhwAr instructs us in his role as AchAryan

about Sri RanganAthan's anantha KalyANa guNams and His

avathAra rahasyam .His omnipotency , omnipresence ,

omniscience , antharyAmithvam, Jagadh KaaraNathvam ,

sathya sanklapathvam , Sathya Kaamathvam and kaaruNyam

are explained to us here .

 

Decad 5.8( yEzhaiyEthalan ): Soulabhyam& souseelyam of the Lord

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

 

Thirumangai peforms SaraNAgathi at the sacred feet of

Sri RanganAthan strengthened by the rememberence of

His dayA to the hunter Guhan in RaamAvathAram , where

He elevated Guhan to the status equal to that of His

other three brothers ( Yempi umpi = My brother is your

brother from this day ).Thirumangai says that he remembered

that souseelyam of the Lord and with that insight , he

performed prapatthi with MahA VisvAsam at the lotus feet

of Sri RanganAthan .

 

In the next paasuram , AzhwAr cites another

instance of the Lord's souseelyam that emboldened

him to peform prapatthi at the Lord's feet . This is the

instance of the honors that Sri RaamA did to HanumAn

for bringing back the news about SitA pirAtti's location

in LankA and the news from Her to Her Lord .

 

In yet another pasuram of this decad , AzhwAr

remembers the hurry with which the Lord

came to the rescue of His bhakthan ,

Gajendran , when the crocodile grabbed his foot and

tried to drown him in the pond .AzhwAr concluded this

moving decad with the upadesam for us to recite

these paasurams dealing with his saraNAgathi at the feet

of Sri RanganAthan for the destruction of our sins .

 

Decad 11.8 : Paasurams 7 and 8 --AzhwAr's prayer

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

 

In the very last decad of his Periya Thirumozhi ,

Thirumangai , who already had the upadesam of

AshtAksharam from the Lord Himself begs once more

for the Lord's anugraham . He has understood the avathAra

rahasyams of the Lord . He has completed His mangaLAsAsanams

of 86 out of 108 divya dEsams . Inspite of all these

blessings , he just asks one more time for the anugraham

of the Lord as he gets ready to ascend to His parama padham .

 

Paasuram 11.8.7

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

 

aNiyAr pozhil soozh aranga naharappA

tuNiyEn ini ninnaruL alathu yenakku

maNiyE maNi mANicckamE MadhusUdhA !

paNiyAi yenakku uyyum vahai ParamjyOthi !

 

(Meaning) : Oh Lord of Srirangam surrounded by

verdant groves ! Oh Lord who is most enjoyable

as the lustrous blue gem ! oh sarva SulabanE !

Oh Lord having the gem of a PirAtti as Your consort !

Oh Hayagreeva , who destroyed the demon Madhu and

recovered the VedAs ! After receiving VivEkam

from Your anugraham , I will not look at anything

as worthwhile other than Your aruL . Please bless

me to cut asunder all my ties to prakruthi to

reach Your Parama Padham .

 

Paasuram 11.8.8

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

 

nanthA narahatthu azhunthA vahai nALum

YenthAi ! thondar aanavarkku innaruLL seyvAi

ChandhOgA ! TalaivaNE ! ThAmaraik KaNNA !

anthO adiyErkku aruLAi unnaruLE

 

(Meaning ) : YennappanE ! Oh Lord standing as

Para VaasudEvan ( chandOgan ) in Your Veda sr*unga

VimAnam ! Oh Lord , who blesses Your Thondars ,

( who performed ubhayAnushtAnam ) with the boon of

protction from the hell of SamsAram ! Oh Lord , who

pervades all vEdAs ! Oh sarvEsvarA ! Oh Lotus-eyed One !

Please bless me to escape from the turbulent hell of

SamsAram and give me Your hand to lift me upto Your

Parama Padham .

 

Summary of the 18 Brick Kaimkaryam for the Lord of Srirangam

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

 

With the blesings of the Lord of Srirangam , I have now

arrived at the finish line of the 18 brick kaimkaryam to

help raise funds for the construction of the one and only

temple for Sri RanganAthA in the North American Continent .

It has been said that the Lord of ThiruvEnkatam got tired

of standing on top of the seven hills and came to rest at

Srirangam . We have many templeds for Sri VenkatEsA in this

country , but none for Sri RanganAthA .

 

During this kaimkaryam, I had the good fortune

to write about the divine anubhavams of AzhwArs, AchAryALs and

NaadhOpAsakAs as well as the salutations by the four Vedams

and Upanishads to our Lord of Srirangam . I am grateful

for the opportunity to reflect on the limitless kalyANa

guNams of Sri RanganAyaki SamEtha Sri RanganAthan during

these past few days. I place this kaimkaryam at His lotus

feet and pray to Him to bless all the BhakthAs of this

sathsangham and give them all the strength to complete

His Temple construction before too long .

 

Subamasthu ! sarva MangaLAni santhu ithi

mahAntO anugrhaNNanthu !

 

Sri RanganAtha charanou SaraNam prapadhyE

anantha kOti PraNAmams to Sri Rangapura VihAran

Oppiliappan Sannidhi VaradAchAri SadagOpan