Oppiliappan : The Matchless Veda NaarAyaNan: part 2

[Guest guest]

VEDA NAARAYANAN OF THIRUVINNAGAR

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

 

1 .OUR SAMPRADHAYAM:

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

 

Sri Bhagavadh RaamAnuja SampradhAyam

of ours is one , which is the celebrated sampradhAyam

rooted in the four Vedams ;further , it is the sampradhAyam

that pays homage to the Chidachidh Visishta Brahmam ,

who is none other than Sri Vaikuntanaathan of ThiruviNNagar

saluted by NammAzhwAr , Thrumangai and PeyAzhwAr with 47 pasurams.

 

Our sampradhAyam is the glorious one which identifies

"thuyar theerkkum ThuzhAi ThirumudiyAn " as the One who

blesses us to ascend the archirAdhi maargam to His parama-

padham in the nithya VibhUthi . Swami Desikan salutes these

blessings and says that through those blessings , He points

the way for us to reach paramapadham thru the nine steps of

the divine ladder ( vaan yERum vazhi kaNDOm ) .

 

2.KSHETRA MAHIMAI

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

ThiruviNNagar is the Kshethram , where we we dip in

the pure, sweet and cool waters ( vimala -madhura -

seethalam) of AhOrAthri PushariNi and offer our worship to

AkAsa Nagareesan in the middle of His TuLasee Vanam

to get rid of all of our samsaric sorrows .MahA Bharatham

states that those , who have not overcome the desires for

vishaya sukhams can not reach AkAsa Nagaram (na tathra mUDA:

gacchanthi purushA: vishayAthmakA .The Saama Veda manthram

which forms the basis for this thought is as follows :

 

pavithram tE vithatham brahmaNaspatE

prabhurgAthrANi paryEshi visvatha: I

atapthanUrnam tadhAmO asnutE sruthAsa

idh vahantha: sam tadhAsatha II

 

(Meaning) : O Supreme Lord ! O Master of the Vedas!

Vast is Thy pure knowledge. O Lord of Lords! Thou

pervadest all physical bodies .A baddha jeevan devoid

of severe austerity can not comprehend your true svarupam .

Only the true JnA~nis annealed in the furnace of Tapas can

perceive and comprehend Thee !

 

3.MY SOUBHAGYAM

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

 

In this ThiruviNNagar ( Vaikuntam/AkAsa Nagaram )

of this earth , I was blessed to be born as the son of

Poojya Sri Poundarikapuram Brahaspathi Sri Varadachar

Swamy and the most merciful dharma mUrthy , PerugavazhundAn

AlamElu ammAl . My additional blessings have been to

claim Kaimkarya Sri Padma VeerarAghavan as my sister .

Thanks to the strength of the Aseervadhams of these three,

I have been blessed to become engaged in Bhagavadh and

Bhaagavatha Kaimkaryams . Thanks to these and

other AchArya anugraha VisEshams , I am fortunate to

join the auspicious BhAgavatha ghOshti contributing

to the souvenir for the Kaimkaryam to reflect upon

the anantha KalyANa guNams of the Lord of ThiruviNNagar

inspite of my lack of qualifications as a "seelamillA siRiyOn " .

My prayers to this Bhagavatha GhOshti contributing

to this high quality souvenir is to consider the

disqualifications of this veritable mandha mathi and

overlook the mistakes made during the course of

this essay eulogizing Yennappan .

 

4.AN APPEAL TO VEDA NAARAYANAN AT THIRUVINNAGAR

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

 

I approach him with " chamara vyakra hastham "

( with hands carrying the fan made of bushy tail

of Chamara deer ) and offer my fan service to Him

in the spirit of NammAzhwAr , the far seeing

and world renowned poet celebrated by the pavamAna

KhAndam saaman of Sama vedam ( pariprAsishyadhathkavi).

I appeal to Him to accept my prayer in the spirit

of the following AgnEya KhAnda Manthram of Saama

Vedam : " sa paavaka srudhee havam " .

 

The above manthram states :" O my supreme Lord!

O the Most sacred among sacred ! Please destroy

our sins just as the Agni burns off without trace

the dust particles ( theeyinil thUsAhum ) and

listen to my sincere prayerful appeal ( adiyEn

seyyum viNNappatthai mey ninRu kEttaruL ). Following

the foot steps of the Vedam identified by

the Lord Himself to be the dearest one to Him

( vEdAnAm Sama vEdhOsmi ), I appeal to Him

to bless this effort to eulogize this

agatitha gaDanan as "palvahayum parantha perumAn".

May we all hear clearly this "kELAtha maRayin geetham "

amd enjoy the "kidayAtha pErinbam " that is all

about the Sri VaikuntanAthan of Oppilliappan Koil

divya desam .

 

5.THE MAHIMAI OF THIRUVINNAGARAPPAN

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

 

Rg Vedam refers to His glories with a rhetorical

question and answers it right away . The question is

" kvO gAvO na raNyanthi ? kO visAni soubhagA ? ".

It asks : " O Lord , who measured all the universe !

Please explain this to me. Is there a place , where your

glories are not sung ? " You are "the Ongi ulahaLanda

PerumAn " . NammAzhwAr pointed Your sacred feet as:

" kaaNmingaLulahIr yenru kaNN muhappE nimirntha

tALiNayan " . You are matchless (TannoppArillappan ).

Veadam gives the answer to its own question and

states unambigouosly that there is no place in His

Universe , where the Lord's mahimai is not celebrated .

 

Rg Vedic passage , " idham vishNurvichakramE

trEdhA nidhadhE padham , samULhamasya paamsurE "

once again points out that our Lord of ThiruviNNagar

spread in all the directions and measured the Earth ,

AkAsam and the mid space (anthariksham ) with His two

steps . He then placed His third step in the deep dark mystery

beyond the knowledge of mankind.NammAzhwAr intuited

the mystery of this third step and recognized Him

as the luminous MaayAvi , who is residing in his heart

cave ( PaaviyEn manatthuraihinra Paramsudar ". NammAzhwAr

also pointed out in one of his ThiruviNNagar paasuram

that that ThiruviNNagar is the seat of the Lord , who rules

over him ( yennai aaLvAnUr ) and the Lord of Thiruvinnagaram

is not easy to be understood fully by any from the perspective

of His limitless auspicious attributes .

 

NammAzhwAr through his four Prabhandhams , which are considered

the essence of the four vedams received the special blessings

of the Lord of ThiruviNNagar through his salutation in

the spirit of this UttarArchika Saama manthram :

 

pahi nO Agna yEkayA paahya atha dhvitheethayayA

paahi gheerbhis thisrubhirUrjAm PathE paahi chathasrubhirvasO

 

(Meaning ) : O Lord ! Protect us with One vedam (Rg);

Protect us by the second (Yajus); Protect us by the

third (sAma ); Guard us , O All-pervading Lord with

all the FOUR vedAs .

 

Yet another UttharArchika Saaman recognizes the Lord

of ThiruviNNagar as sathakrathu and desribes how the

priests of the Four Vedams skillfully eulogize Him in

their roles as UdghAthA , hOthri , Adhvaryu and

BrahmmA :

 

gAyanthi tvA gAyathriNOachanthyarkamakirNa:

BrahmaNAstvA Sathakratha udhvamsamiva yEmirE

 

(Meaning ): O Supreme Lord of AkAsa Nagaram !

O performer of innumerable deeds as Sathakrathu

to create, protect and dissolve this Universe !

The UdghAthAs of Saama Vedam sing about Thee ;

the HothAs eulogize Thee with reverence ;

the adhvaryus and the BrahmAs exalt Thee as

jugglers , who lift aloft a pole and balance it

on their forehead with skill .

 

(To be continued )