tondar-adi-podi azhwAr

[Guest guest]

Dear "bhAgavatOttamA-s",

 

It was very interesting to skim through the recent debate amongst several

members on Saint Tondar-adi-podi's phrase in Verse #8 of the "tirumAlai":

 

..... poruppariyanagil pEcchil pOvadE noyadAki....

and : ..... thalaiyai AngE aruppadE karumam kandAy .... etc.

 

The above lines have been interpreted by some members in such a way as to

suggest that the AzhwAr incites a sort of vicious intolerance of other

faiths like the Buddhist, the Jains and the Materialists.

 

It is highly unlikely Tondar-adi-podi could have meant anything vaguely or

remotely suggestive of religious "fundamentalism" of the kind that is the

bane of our present times.

 

For a moment let's stop approaching the "4000" as if it were holy scipture

where every turn or twist of phrase, word, punctuation or syntax must be

invested (we anxiously believe) with some special meaning or significance

of dogma or doctrine.

 

Instead we would do better to approach "tirumAlai" as if it were sheer

poetry.... sublime expressions of the human spirit revelling itself in a

rare state of spiritual excitement.

 

If the "tirumAlai" is regarded as poetry then we must treat it as such. We

must stop parsing it word by word, phrase by phrase as if it were the

inviolable scripture of a violent mullah. We must stop subjecting stanzas

to a sort of merciless and clinical investigation belonging more in the

surgical ward than within the heart of a spiritual aspirant. It is simply

not possible to understand the AzhwAr's message by stripping it naked of

its overall context, of its larger message of truth and beauty.

 

The "tirumAlai" must indeed be regarded as poetry and deserves to be

treated tenderly. Rather than look within it for confirmation of some

doctrine or dogma (which the faithful will certainly find in it) the

layman-reader must instead look into it for its inner voice, the truth of

what is unsaid in it, of what lies beneath and between its lines. Context

becomes more important than mere content of some phrases and expressions

used by the Saint.

 

The verses that precede and succeed Stanza#8 give us a clue to the context

in which the Saint talked of "cutting off the heads of those who do not see

the Truth of Tiruvarangam".

 

Please read Stanza #7:

 

" pulaiyaram Aki ninra puttodu samanam ellAm,

kalaiyarak katra mAndar kAnbaro? kEtparo dAm?

talaiyarup pundam sAkEn satiyam, kAnmIn iyyA !

 

Please then read also Stanza # 9,

 

" marrumOr deivam undE? madhiyilA mAniddangAl!

uttrapOdinri nIngal oruvan enra unnara mAttIr

arramEl onru ariyIr, avanallAl deivam illai,

katrinam mEyyta endai kazhalinai panimIn neerE !

 

Stanza #8, about which a great debate has been raging on the list for the

past few weeks, cannot really be understood without reading it in

conjunction with the verse that precedes and succeeds it. As a stand-alone

verse Stanza#8 by itself can give rise in the minds of the reader to

various "anartham" (perverse interpretations) a few of which we even

witnessed on the list these few weeks.

 

In Stanza #7 the Saint exclaims: "Hark! Why would the wise ones who art

well-versed in the truths of the VedAs look to the pseudo-faiths

(pulai-aram)? Why would I do it? I would first cleave MY HEAD OFF and die

before I did anything like that!"

 

Look at Stanza #9 now. Here the AzhwAr says,"Oh Ye misled ones! Pity Thee!

Thine reasoning is lost! Do you believe there is any other one greater than

Narayana? No! None at all! You cannot know this because you do not

recognize Him as the Supreme One! He is beyond your understanding and hence

you make no effort to pursue Him! Alas! But I DO PRAY FOR YOU NOW so may

you resort to Him, embrace His sacred Feet, for He that was Krishna, shall

surely tend to Thee with the same kindness and love that He showered on the

grazing herd (of Brindavanam)!".

 

Now, dear "bhAgavatOttamA-s", do you really believe that Stanzas#7, #8 and

#9, when viewed in the above context, sound really like the virulent "sound

and fury" of a fulminating mullah?

 

Hardly !

 

In Stanza #7 the AzhwAr actually says that he is willing to cut HIS OWN

HEAD OFF first before straying from the path of wisdom. Tell me, how many

"fundamentalists" of the present times express a willingness to cut off

their own heads first before setting out forth to change the world?

 

In Stanza #8 the AzhwAr actually renders a heart-rending prayer for the

poor ones of the earth who lack the spiritual wherewithal to realize the

truth of Lord Narayana; he invokes the compassion of Krishna the cowherd

("Anirai" = "kanru inam") to tend to the upliftment of the ignorant ones of

the world! Tell me, how many "fundamentalists" as we know them today are

known to actually say a prayer for the spiritual well-being of those whom

they seek to convert?

 

No, the language of Tondar-adi-podi is not the language of religious

intolerance, dear "bhAgavatOttamA-s"! It is the language of a true saint

whose heart flowed out to the wretched of this world! It is the language of

pity. It is the language of one who sees clearly and who rues the condition

of those amongst him that choose, out of ignorance or spiritual cussedness,

to remain blind.

 

The language employed in the "tirumAlai" is the language of human

brotherhood common to all faiths and creed.

 

The 'taniyan' to the "tirumAlai" itself speaks volumes indeed for the utter

saintliness of the AzhwAr and the purity of his purpose :

 

"matronrum vEndA manamE ! madil arangar katrinam mEyyatha

kazhalinaikkIzh !

utra tirumAlai pAdum seerth todar adi pOdi emperumAnai

eppozhuthum pEsu !"

 

Hearken, My Mind! Cease thy frivolous fretting! Cease whatever you are

doing! Praise ought thee constantly the Saint Tondar-adi-podi who has

strung together this hymnal garland called "tirumAlai" to adorn the same

Lord who tended with care and love the unknowing herds bounding around Him!

The Lord who is verily the One that rests in the holy town of Srirangam

hedged in by lofty ramparts!".

 

The "tirumAlai" is an idyll of love, compassion and brotherhood.

 

It is not a polemic of competitive religion.

 

Dasoham,

Sudarshan

[Guest guest]

Srimathe Narayanaya Namaha

 

I would like to add a few words about the Azhwar, to the on going

discussions.

 

There is a saying that when some Sri Vaishnavas, from Thirupathi, on

hearing the wonderful paasuram Thirumalai, came down to Srirangam to

meet the Azhwar. They requested him to sing about Thiruvengadamudaiyan

but the Azhwar refused saying that, " Aranganai paadiya vaayaal,

Kuranganai paadamaataen".

 

This only shows that how attached the Azhwar is to Ranganathar. He

went to the extent of addressing Thiruvengadamudaiyan as "Kurangan"

(referring to the monkeys in Thirupathi).

 

I don't know whether this saying is popular, but I have heard this and

also remembered to have studied in some book.

 

When the Azhwar, refused to sing even about another Swaroopam of

Sriman Narayanan other than Ranganathar, there is no wonder why he

said that he will cut-off the heads on those who abuse Him.

 

Finally, another saying is that, when there was a debate as to which

Divya Desam should have the No. 1 status between the Vaishnavites of

Srirangam and Thirupathi, it is understood that Srirangam won the

debate on the basis that all the Azhwars have sung in praise of this

Divya Desam, however Thondaradippodi Azhwar did not sing about

Thirupathi and hence it got the second importance, for which the

Vaishnavites of Thirupathi out of frustration claimed that " Sozhiyan

keduthadhanaal than indha nilai". i.e., just because of this Azhwar

who belongs to the Sozhiya Brahmanan lineage we have got the second

place.

 

This also clearly highlights the love this Azhwar had for Ranganathar.

 

adiyEn RAmAnuja dAsan,

 

Thirumalai Vinjamoor Venkatesh

[Guest guest]

At 12:05 PM 8/2/1998 -0500, TV.Venkat wrote:

> debate on the basis that all the Azhwars have sung in praise of this

> Divya Desam, however Thondaradippodi Azhwar did not sing about

> Thirupathi and hence it got the second importance, for which the

 

Well, Sri Venkat's good natured comparison must be answered :-).

 

Yes, what you say is right. But, it is Thiruvengadavan's

lotus feet into which our kulapathi, the ultimate Acharya

of all Sri Vaishnavas in this earthly realm, performed

prapatti with "adikkeezh amarndhupugundhEnE!"

 

Moreover, Satakopan is considred the divine lotus feet

of our Lord. Since Nammaazhvaar performed praptti

at the feet of ThiruvEngadavan it is most apt to consider

Him to be ThiruvEngadavan's divine feet. Add to this

the fact that Madurakavi sang only about SatakOpan.

That too he sang "dEvu maRRaRiyEn." Thus, one

could argue that Madurakavi's praise of SatakOpan

is actually in praise of ThiruvEngadavan's Thiruvadi.

Then, the count is equal; 11 out of 12 Azvaars except

for Madhurakavi for Thiruvarangam, and 11 out of 12

Azhvaars except for Thondaradippodi for ThiruvEngadam :-).

 

Then, there is Periyaazhvar's charama thirumozhi. It

begins with a prapatthi to ThiruvEngadamudaiyaan. It is

Thiruvengadavan's ghantaa maNi that came down as

Swami Sri Desikan to save the green grass of Sri

Vaishnavam from getting graced away.

 

All this may be little too much for the Kanchivaasees

to bear. After all it is Kanchi DhEvaathidhEvan who

nurtured Sri Ramanuja and gave Him up to Thiruvarangan

to enjoy. They may also point out that it is at the feet

of PEraruLaaLan that our Swami Sri Desikan performed

prapatti both in Tamil:

 

(Adaikkapalpaththu: aththigiri aruLaaLarkku adaikkalam

naan pugundhEnE.) , and

 

in Sanskrit:

 

(Nyasa Vimsathi: "nyasya thvath paadha padhmE

Varada nijabharam, nirbharO, nirbhayOsmi").

 

Don't you think rivalry of this kind is enjoyable. Adiyen

will leave it up to more qualified bhagavathaas such as

Jagan, Sri VS, Muralis (Rangaswami and Kidambi),

Vijayaraghavan, Krishnamachari, Venkat, Sri Anbil

Swami, Madhava Kannan, Varadhan, and many

others, to coninue this debate so that everyone

can enjoy and benefit.

 

Thiruvarangan thiruvadigaLE saraNam,

 

-- adiyEn ramaanuja dhaasan

[Guest guest]

Dear Bhagavathaas:

 

The following is meant only in a light hearted way. It is

not an attempt to minimize the preeminence of

Thiruvarangam in any way.

 

-- adiyEn

 

 

At 08:10 AM 8/3/1998 -0500, TV.Venkat wrote:

> Thiruvengadamudaiyan. However the direct count which does matter a lot

> is down by one when Srirangam and Thirupati is considered.

>

 

 

This may be so, but consider some more facts:

 

[1] Even though KulasEkarazhvaar longed to visit Thirvarangam

"angkadiyavarOdu enRukolO aNugum naaLE ", and expressed

such a desire right off the top in PerumaaL Thirumozhi, it is

ThiruvEngdam where he wanted to do Nithya Vaasam

and gaze at the divine coral mouth of ThiruvEngadavan.

 

"padiyaayk kidanthu un pavaLavaay kaaNbEnE"

 

[2] ThiruppaaNaazhvaar salutes ThiruvEngadavan first, before

starting to enjoy the divine physical beauty of Thiruvarangan,

"viNavankOn, viraiyaar pozhil vEngadavan."

 

[3] In the chronology of verses, ANdAL praises ThiruvEndagavan first,

before praising Her would be. Thiruvarangan appears in the eleventh

Thirumozhi, but ThirvEngadavan in the 4th Thirumozhi itself.

 

(You see, even the two azhvaars who immersed themselves

within the "Old Man" first praised ThiruvEngadavan.)

 

[4] There is a popular saying in Tamil, "ninRadhellaam nedumaal"

(all that is standing is Lord Sriman Narayana), not "kidandhadhellaam

thirumaal" (all that is lying down is Lord Sriman Narayana).

(The Lord of ThiruvEngadam is in standing posture and the Lord

of Srirangam is in lying posture.)

 

thoNdaradippodi aazhvaar thiruvadigaLE saraNam

 

-- adiyEn raamaanuja dhaasan

[Guest guest]

[Re: arangam vs. thirumalai vs. thiru-kacci -- this article

is also be taken in a lighthearted vein!]

 

This is lovely discussion initiated by Srimaan Dileepan.

All points raised about the "best" perumaaL have so far

focussed on the number of paasurams, aazhvaars, etc. While

these are worthy points to consider, should we not think of

what our dear Ramanuja himself preferred? Unforunately for

all you Tamil Nadu natives, the kOyil of choice is

Karnataka's "thirunaaraayaNa-puram / yadugiri / mElkottai",

the home of lord selva piLLai. And it is not even a divya

desam! It was this place that showered its love on Ramanuja

in his time of crisis.

 

Ramanuja counselled those who could not follow any other

commandment of his to "at least build a small hut and live

in thirunaaraayaNa-puram". Dare we disagree with the great

acharya?

 

Lest we forget, bhaagavatas from thirunaaraayaNa-puram

were instrumental in recovering the thiruvaaymozhi. nAthamuni

overheard a group from mElkottai recite the "aaraavamudhE"

thiruvaaymozhi in thirukkudandhai and consequently made

it his life's quest to recover, preserve, and propagate

the prabandham!

 

emberumaanaar thiruvadigaLE SaraNam

thondaradippodi aazhvaar thiruvadigaLE SaraNam

 

SrIranga-mangaLa-maNim karuNAnivAsam

SrIvenkaTAdri-SikharAlaya-kAlamegham |

SrIhastiSaila-Sikharojjvala-pArijAtam

SrISam-namAmi SirasA yaduSaila-dIpam ||

 

Mani

[Guest guest]

Dear Sri Mani Varadarajan :

 

With this exactly in mind , we are having

a special section on the sacred Temple Town

of Melkote in the forthcoming CD ROM

on AchArya RaamAnujA .If we can get all

the images that we are looking for , there

will be a rich assembly . Four of

the 44 Jeeyars (First , Second , Tenth and

the twelfth ) have their BrindhAvanams there ,

 

In the ArAdhana section of the DEmo Version ,

the aarAdhanam is done to Moolavar at

ThirunArAyaNapuram. Our Udayavar's vigraham

is beautifully offering us the blessed

Darsanam .

 

There are many features that are related to

bring out our AchAryA's sambhandham to

the Four Divya Desams that played key

roles in his life on earth .

 

V.Sadagopan

 

>

>Ramanuja counselled those who could not follow any other

>commandment of his to "at least build a small hut and live

>in thirunaaraayaNa-puram". Dare we disagree with the great

>acharya?

>

>Lest we forget, bhaagavatas from thirunaaraayaNa-puram

>were instrumental in recovering the thiruvaaymozhi. nAthamuni

>overheard a group from mElkottai recite the "aaraavamudhE"

>thiruvaaymozhi in thirukkudandhai and consequently made

>it his life's quest to recover, preserve, and propagate

>the prabandham!

>

>emberumaanaar thiruvadigaLE SaraNam

>thondaradippodi aazhvaar thiruvadigaLE SaraNam

>

>SrIranga-mangaLa-maNim karuNAnivAsam

> SrIvenkaTAdri-SikharAlaya-kAlamegham |

>SrIhastiSaila-Sikharojjvala-pArijAtam

> SrISam-namAmi SirasA yaduSaila-dIpam ||

>

>Mani

[Guest guest]

>

> [Re: arangam vs. thirumalai vs. thiru-kacci -- this article

> is also be taken in a lighthearted vein!]

>

> This is lovely discussion initiated by Srimaan Dileepan.

> All points raised about the "best" perumaaL have so far

> focussed on the number of paasurams, aazhvaars, etc. While

> these are worthy points to consider, should we not think of

> what our dear Ramanuja himself preferred? Unforunately for

> all you Tamil Nadu natives, the kOyil of choice is

> Karnataka's "thirunaaraayaNa-puram / yadugiri / mElkottai",

> the home of lord selva piLLai. And it is not even a divya

> desam! It was this place that showered its love on Ramanuja

> in his time of crisis.

>

> Ramanuja counselled those who could not follow any other

> commandment of his to "at least build a small hut and live

> in thirunaaraayaNa-puram". Dare we disagree with the great

> acharya?

>

> Lest we forget, bhaagavatas from thirunaaraayaNa-puram

> were instrumental in recovering the thiruvaaymozhi. nAthamuni

> overheard a group from mElkottai recite the "aaraavamudhE"

> thiruvaaymozhi in thirukkudandhai and consequently made

> it his life's quest to recover, preserve, and propagate

> the prabandham!

>

> emberumaanaar thiruvadigaLE SaraNam

> thondaradippodi aazhvaar thiruvadigaLE SaraNam

>

> SrIranga-mangaLa-maNim karuNAnivAsam

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

> SrIvenkaTAdri-SikharAlaya-kAlamegham |

> SrIhastiSaila-Sikharojjvala-pArijAtam

> SrISam-namAmi SirasA yaduSaila-dIpam ||

>

> Mani

 

Well. Isnt _only_ raN^ganaatha described here as "karuNaa-nivaasaM"

(abode of mercy). Would not that make shriiraN^gaM the best temple ?

 

Also, of all temples, is not shriiraN^gaM revered as bhuuloka-vaikuNTaM ?

 

-Ram

 

PS:- BTW, can someone please explain meaning of rest of the sholka above

quoted by shrii Mani ?

Also, what is meaning of "raN^ga" as in raN^ganaatha ?