BhUtham and pEy AzhwArs : Birthday Tributes: part 3

[Guest guest]

October 30, 1998

 

Dear BhakthAs :We will conclude the series of

postings today on the Mudal AzhwArs .Please

read it with the earlier postings on

Swami Sri Desikan's Sri DehaLIsa sthuthi,

where reference is made to many of the Paasurams

of the Mudal AzhwArs .

 

Birth places and amsams

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

BhuthatthAzhwAr was born inside a fragrant Maadhavi Pushpam

at Thirukkadanmallai divya desam , where Sthala sayana

PerumAl is the ArchA mUrthy . He is the amsam of GoumEdaki,

the gadhai of Sriman NaarAyaNA . Iypaasi avittam is his

birth day . Today , it overlaps with Sathayam , the birth

star of pEy AzhwAr , who was born in modern day Myalpore ,

where the ancient sannadhi of Adhi Kesavap PerumAL is located.

In that sannidhi , there is a well and inside that well

blossomed a red lilly flower and pEy incarnated inside

that flower . pEy AzhwAr is the amsam of the sword(nandakam )

of the Lord . All the three AzhwArs are pushpa Jaathars

and are therefore ayOnijars(not born out of

human bodies ).

 

MangaLAsAsana sthalams

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

 

Poygai performed mangalAsasanam for 7 ArchA mUrthys

of divya desams ; BhUtham and pEy saluted 13 and 15

ArchA murthys respectively .

 

BhUtham sang about the following divya desams :

 

(1) Atthigiri VaradarAjan (2)Srirangam

(3) Thirukkadanmallai (4) Thirukkudanthai

(5) ThirukkOttiyUr (6)ThirukkOvalUr

(7) Thiru TanjaimAmaNik Koil (8) Thirut taNNkAl

(9) Thiru Neermalai (10) Thirup paaDakam

(11)Thirup paaRkadal (12)ThirumAlirumchOlai

and (13) ThiruvEnkatam .

 

pEy AzhwAr performed MangalAsAsanam at the following

fifteen Divya desams :

 

(1) Thiru Attabhuyakaram (2) Atthigiri VaradarAjan

(3) Srirangam (4) ThiruvallikkENi (5)ThirukkaDikai

(6) Thirukkudanthai (7) ThirukkOttiyUr

(8) Thirp paramapadham (9)Thirup paaDakam

(10)Thirup paaRkadal (11) ThiruviNNagar

(12) ThiruvehhA (13)ThiruvEnkatam

(14) ThiruvELukkai and (15) ThirumAlirumchOlai .

 

BhuthatthAzhwAr's Sri Sookthi: Second ThiruvandhAthi

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

There are 100 beautiful passurams with great Bhagavadh

anubhavam in this Sri Sookthi . The three AzhwArs have

been linked to Para Bhakthi, Para Jn~Anam and Parama Bhakthi

respectively . In reality , each of them had the good admixture

of all the three types of Bhagavadh anubhavam .

 

For the sake of coherent linking , the three AzhwArs

distributed their Vaachika kaimkaryams . Poygai felt

that the Lord has to be seen with the most magnificient

external lamp and hence used the radiant Sun as the external

lamp (ViLakku).BhUtham taught us that the inner radiance

of one's Jn~Anam has to be used to enjoy the Lord and that

the external ViLakku without Bhagavadh Kaamam (anbhu )

will not help to attain Bhagavadh Darsanam . Thus both

the lights were lit and the beneficiary was pEy AzhwAr ,

who in his ecstasy declared " ThirukkanDEn , PonmEni

KanDEn " .He Qualified the Lord as mahAlakshmi (Thiru)

samEtha NaarAyaNan ( Sriman NaarAyaNan )and performed

his mangaLAsAsanam .

 

Poygai in his 86th pasuram of mudal ThiruvandhAdhi

enjoyed the same sEvai of the Lord , the nir-vyAja suh*ruth,

with MahA Lakshmi and referred to his aanandhAnubhavam this way ,

while he stood squeezed with his fellow AzhwArs at

the dEhaLi of MruganDu Maharishi's aasramam :

"neeyum ThirumahaLum ninRAyAl --" ( Oh My Lord ! What

a BhAgyam to have your darsanam with your divine consort ,

here at the tight space of the rEzhi at ThirukkOvalUr !)

 

BhUtham salutes the divine consort , MahA Lakshmi

as he experienced the divya darsanam of Sriman

NaarAyaNan this way in his 60th pasuram of the

Second ThriuvandhAthi : " Ohr uruvan allai oLi

uruvam ninn uruvam " Here the AzhwAr specifically

points out to the JyOthi of MahA Lakshmi , which

lights up the dark body of the Lord like a lightning

reveals the contour of the dark cloud of the rainy

season . Swami Desikan in his Sri Sthuthi followed

this thought and declared that the divine couple

have a unified , inseparable presence ( yEka sEshithvam )

and accept the havis (sacred offering ) of the AathmA

during the yaagam of Prapatthi TOGETHER .Therefore ,

Swami Desikan stated along the lines of reasoning

shown by the Mudal AzhwArs and the subsequent AchAryAs

rooted in Vedham that " sruthInAm bhaavArUDou

BHAGAVATHI YUVAAM DAMPATHI DHAIVATHAM NA: " .

 

This YekasEshithva Yogam of this divine couple

is celebrated by pEy AazhwAr in the very first

Paasuram of his Third ThiruvandhAdhi , where he

breaks out in rapture over the darsana soubhAgyam

of MahAlakshmi Sametha NaarAyaNan (Sriman NaarAyaNan ):

" Thiruk KaNDEn ponn mEni kaNDEn Thihazhum

arukkanaNI niRamum kaNDEn--" . Here pEy AzhwAr

raptourously states that he has now seen Periya

PirAtti , who is PurushakAram , UpAyam and upEyam

shining radiantly from Her seat on the chest of

BhagavAn .Thus the vision of the three AzhwArs

is an unified one .

 

BhUtham stated that he lit the lamp of Jn~Anam

to see the Lord ( Jn~AnacchuDar ViLakkERRinEN

NaaraNarkku --" ).In his 20th paasuram, BhUtham

reveals that only those who reflect on Sriman

NaarAyaNA at all the three sandhis and meditate upon

the true meanings of His thousand names will have

the blessed life leading to Moksham :

" pazhi paavam kai ahaRRip palkAlum ninnai

vazhi vAzhvAr vAzhvArAm --".

 

BhUtham mentions to Sriman NaarAyaNA in his last

paasuram that the love he has for Him is boundless :

"yenRan aLavenRaal yaanudaya anbu ( yaanudaya

anbu yenn tann aLavu anRu) ".Here AzhwAr confesses

that his anbhu (prIthi) for the Lord is beyond

measurement and is limitless .

 

In his Second ThiruvandhAthi , BhUtham points

out that Bhagavadh prIthi is the most important element

and all the senses should be engaged in Bhagavadh

divya guNAnubhavam incessantly .He points out further

that the Lord is Aasritha sulabhan and that we should

hail aloud His divya naamAs along with those of His

PirAtti and that kind of existence during one's life

here would surely help us attain Moksha Phalam

and nithya KaimkaryAnugraham at Parama padham .

 

pEy AzhwAr's anubhavam in Third ThriuvandhAthi

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

pEy is revered in our sampradhAyam as the AchAryaa

of Thirumazhisai AzhwAr and ANDAL .Therefore , we

need to say very little about the glory of this

AzhwAr and his prabhandham .He starts paying his

tribute to Periya Piratti in the Vedhic way in

his first paasuram :HiraNya varNAm HariNIm "

(ThirukkaNDEn ponn mEni kaNDEn ). In the second

paasuram , he acknowledges that in the light of

the golden , lightning like hue of Periya Piraatti ,

he has the ability now to have the darsana soubhAgyam

of the sacred feet of the Moksha Pradhan , the Lord :

" inRE kazhal kaNDEn yEzh piRappum yAn aRutthEn".

I have seen today the holy feet of the Lord and thereby

cut asunder the cycles of births and deaths for good.

That is the nature of the anubhavam of pEy , the God-

intoxicated AzhwAr .

 

pEy AzhwAr celebrates the auspicious divya guNAs

of Sriman NaarAyaNA such as soulabhyam and souseelyam

through salutation to Him at a number of His divya dEsams :

 

viNNagaram vehhA viri thirai neer vEnkatam

maNNagaram maamAda vELukkai -maNNahattha

tenn kudanthai tEnAr Thiruvarangam thennkOtti

tan kuDankai neerERRAn thAzhvu --62nd pasuram

 

Here , ThiruviNNagaram ( Oppiliappan ),

ThiruvehhA (yathOkthakAri), ThiruvEnkatam

(SrinivAsan ), vELukkai ( KaamAsikA narasimhan ) ,

Thirukkudanthai AarAvamudhan , Sri Ranganaathan

of Srirangam , ThirukkOshtiyUr Soumya NaarAyaNan

are equated as identical in prowess and the Lord's

ArchAs at these divya dEsams are eulogized .

 

In his final paasuram of his third ThiruvandhAthi ,

pEy AzhwAr concludes on the same note with which

he started his prabhandham . He revealed in his

first Paasuram that he saw Periya PirAtti ( Thiruk

kaNDEn ) ; he concluded his final (100th paasuram )

this way :"sArvu namakku yenRum --vaNDAMarai

nedumkaNN tEnamarum poo mEl Thiru " .

 

Azhwar asserts here that Periya Piratti residing on

the golden lotus is ALWAYS OUR REFUGE .She stays on

the Lord's chest forever and does not leave that spot

even for the fraction of a second (ahalahillEn iRayumenru

alarmEl mangai uRaihinRAL ). Until Her purushakAram

comes our way , there is no way in which we will

receive BhagavAn's anugraham .She is therefore

" THE UPAAYAM ". She then stands together with

Her Lord as UpEyam as well . Therefore , Her

grace protects us both before and after Prapatthi .

pEy AzhwAr uses the word "vaNN " in his final

pasuram, when describing the auspicious qualities

of Periya PirAtti . The word "VaNN" means the most

generous , compassionate Mother ( UdhAra SvarUpi).

 

Abhinava Desikan , Sri UttamUr Swami cites

the intrepretation of ParAsara Bhattar in

connection with the UdhAra souseelyam of

Periya Piraatti in his Sri Sooktham VyAkhyANam :

 

Eisvaryam akshara gathim paramam padham vaa

kasmaichith anjaliparam vahathE vidheerya I

asmai na kimchith uchitham krutham ithyathAmbha

tvam lajjasE kathaya kOyam udhAra bhaava: II

 

After conferring MahA Isvaryam , the eternal

state in parama padham for the mere holding

of our palms together before You , You , my

dear Mother shyly wonder whether You have done

enough for us.Such is Your unmatched generosity !

 

In the spirit of Sri Sooktham (the Khila Rk of

Rg Vedham ) , pEy Azhwar rightfully starts

his prabhandham with the declaration " ThirukkaNDEN "

and concludes his andhAthi with the concession ,

" taNN thuzhAi taazh varai maarbhan muyangum THIRU ".

Here " the anyOnya lakshyam " of the divya dampathis

is celebrated in the traditional vEdhic way .pEy

AzhwAr states that the Lord with His chest adorned by

the cool TuLasi garlands can not function and go about

performing His duties as SaraNAgatha Rakshakan without

Her power . Hence , He tightly embraces Her on His

chest so that She does not leave Him even for a fraction

of a second. She has no intention of leaving Him either

even for a vinADi . Such is the anyOnya Bhaandhavam

(relationship ) of our divine parents .

 

The three Mudal AzhwArs through their illustrious

andhAthis revealed the rahasyArthams behind Prapatthi

and instructed us that Periya Piraatti goes before

the Lord just as PraNavam precedes the Vedham .

 

Mudal AzhwAr ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,

Oppilaippan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan