TerazhandhUr MahAthmyam : Part 4

[Guest guest]

Dear BhakthAs :

 

In this posting , we will enjoy excerpts from

the Periya Thirumozhi 7.7 decad saluting

Aamuriviappan . We will focus on two individual

paasurams ( 7.7.1 and 7.7.2) of Kaliyan . He addresses

the Lord as " AzhundhUr mEl disai ninRa AmmAnE ".

He complains to the Lord having His residence on

the West side of TherazhundhUr about his five senses

subjecting him to every kind of torture and humiliation ;

Kaliyan goes on to state that he has arrived at the lotus

feet of the Lord with the express purpose of escaping

from these unbearable and ceaseless sufferings .

 

The word pictures that Kaliyan paints and the images

that he brings before his/our eyes are the most delectable .

Some evocative examples of his exquisite anubhavam are :

 

maal vaNNaa , mazhai pOl oLi vaNNaa

 

Thiruvukkum ThiruvAhiya selvA ,

 

ChaandhOghA-PouzhiyA-TaittiriyA-Saama vEdiyanE

 

Aayaa , Theevaai NaaghaNiyil thyuilvaanE

 

 

Periya Thirumozhi : Paasuram 7,7.1

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Thiruvukkum ThiruvAhiya SelvA DhaivatthukkarasE Seyya KaNNA

Uruvacchenjudar Aazhi vallaanE UlahuNDa voruvaa ThirumArbhA

oruvaRkku AaRRi uyyum vahai yenRaal udan ninRu eivar yennuLL

puhunthu ozhiyAthu

aruvit thinrida anji ninnadainthEn AzhundhUr mEl ninRa ammAnE

 

 

MahA Lakshmi ( Thiru ) is " sarvAkAra sthira samudhayAm

sampadham " (i-e) , She blesses one with undecaying

wealth of every kind . Here , Kaliyan salutes Aamuruviyappan

as " Thiruvukkum ThiruvAhiya Selvan ". Kaliyan recognizes

the Lord of this divya desam as the wealth of even Maha Lakshmi ,

who is the very embodiment of all auspicious wealth . He is

thus recognized as Srinidhi or the nidhi of Sri Devi

Herself .

 

Thirumangai recognizes next this Srinidhi as

the Lord of nithya sooris and hence addresses

the Lord with awe as " dhaivatthukkarasE ".

 

Maha Lakshmi is saluted as "SrEyO mUrthi " .

She is the One who is the auspiciousness behind all

auspicious attributes and is found seated on

the Chest of the Lord , who destroyed the Raakshasan ,

Madhu and there She is radiantly illuminating

the chest region ( Vaksha: peetim Madhu vijayinO

bhUshayanthim svakAnthyA ).Kaliyan salutes that

Lord , whose chest is adorned with the radiance

of this SrEyO mUrthy as " ThirumArbhA ".

 

Now Kaliyan's eyes shift their attention from

the chest region to the upper right hand , where he

has the sevA bhAgyam of SudarsanAzhwAn spurting out

fierce flames in all directions . Kaliyan is overwhelmed

by the blinding sight of the Satha vakthra agni hEthi

HethIsvaran . One name for Sudarsanan ( Lord's revolving

disc ) is HethIsvaran . One of the sixteen weapons

( shOdasa Aayudham ) belonging to the HethIsvaran

is satha Vakthra hEthi or the One hundred-mouthed ,

flame spouting weapon . The gigantic flames spurting

out of the Sudarsanam rotating ceaselessly on the right

hand of Aamuruviappan and the reflection of that ruby red

light in His lotus eyes elicits the MangalAsAsanam :

" seyya KaNNA ! uruvam semsudat Aazhi vallAnE ".

The heightened redness of the lotus red eyes

begets the salutation : Seyya KaNNA ! ".

 

Next , Thirumangai visualizes the Lord , who

swallowed all the universes in His tiny stomach

and floated on a pupil leaf moving rapidly

with the swollen currents of the universal deluge .

Kaliyan salutes the most merciful Lord , who saved

the Universes and their beings by swallowing

them and keeping them safe in His tiny stomach

as " Ulahu uNDa oruvA ".

 

To this MaayOn , Kaliyan appeals and asks Him

to save him from the terrors of the five powerful

boxers (five senses ) , who are pounding him

to a senseless state .Kaliyan screams with

pain and appeals to the powerful Lord to free

him from the unbearable sufferings caused by

not one , but five of these bullies .

 

Periya Thirumozhi Paasuram 7.7.2

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

In this paasuram, The Lord with His DEvi

responds to the plea of His dear Bhakthan

and frees Kaliyan from his sufferings .

The ecstatic AzhwAr breaks forth into

an eulogy and tenderly salutes the divya

Dampathis for their upakAram . In this

Paasuram , Kaliyan recognizes the Lord

as Veda NaarAyaNan and surrenders at

the feet of SaraNya dampathis . We will

elaborate on this exquisite Paasuram in

the next posting .

 

Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan