TheraznundhUr MahAthmyam : Part 5

[Guest guest]

Dear BhakthAs :

I will focus now on the Periya Thirumozhi

(7.7.2) Paasuram of Thirumangai :

 

panthAr melviral nalvaLait thOLi

Paavaip PoomahaL tannOdumudanE

VanthAi , yenn manatthE manni ninRAi

MaalvaNNA Mazhai pOl oLi vaNNA

ChandhOgA PouzhiyA TaitthiriyA

Saama vEdiyanE nedumAlE

anthO ninnadiyanRi maRRaRiyEn

AzhundhUr mEl disai ninRavammAnE

 

In the previous paasuram , AzhwAr prayed to

Aamuruviappan to free him from the tortures

of the five senses . The Lord heard the appeal

and came with His dear Consort , Sri Devi and

took residence in the heart of the dear AzhwAr

and chased away the bullies that bothered His

dear Bhakthan . In the previous paasuram ,

AzhwAr had addrssed the Lord as Sri Nidhi

( Thiruvukkum ThiruvAhiya Selvaa ) in an

endearing manner .

 

The lady seated on the Lotus flower resting eternally

on the Lord's chest heard the appeal and joined Her

consort to take residence in the heart lotus of

the AzhwAr . MahA lakshmi saluted as , " neela

kunthaLa madhyasthAm sukla maalyAmbhara dharAm

taptha hAtaka varNineem " appeared with Her

Lord and took residence in the AzhwAr's heart .

 

AzhwAr was deeply moved and gratefully acknowledged:

" pandhAr mel viral vaLai thOLi paavaip Poo mahaL

tannOdumadanE vanthAi , yenn manatthE manni ninRai" .

 

AzhwAr's vision of MahA Lakshmi , who accompanied

Her husband is that of a golden statue , who is

playing with a ball(pandhu) using Her tender fingers

and during that playful process experiencing

exertions that cause her bangles and shoulder

ornaments to jingle sweetly . Like pEy AzhwAr

before him , Thirumangai experienced the presence

of the divya dampathis inside him . Pey AzhwAr's

paasuram saluted that Thiru ( mahA Lakshmi ) and

Her golden hue ( taptha Haataka varNineem ) this way :

 

thiruk kaNDEn ponn mEni kaNDEn , thihazhum

arukkan aNI niRamum kaNDEn --

 

Thirumangai acknowledged the residence of this

SharaNya Dampathis inside his heart lotus

as " paavaip poo mahaL tannOdu vanthAi , yenn

manatthE manni ninRAi ". Azhwar reminded them

that not only did they appeared before him , but

also decided to stay permanently in his heart space .

AzhwAr was thrilled and ecstatic about his good

fortune that he eulogized the "Thiruvukkum

ThiruvAhiya Selvan " with choice naamams :

 

maal vaNNA ! mazhai pOl oLi vaNNA !

ChandhOgA ! PouzhiyA ! TaithtiriyA !

Saama VediyanE ! " .

 

At the end of this naama sankIrthanam ,

Azhwar acknowledged his total servitude

to Aamuriviappan and declared that he does

not know of anything other than the Lord's

sacred feet as his protection . AzhwAr's

declaration of his ananya gathithvam poured

out of his trembling lips : nedumAlE !

AzhundhUr mEl disai ninRa ammAnE ! anthO !

ninn aDi anRi maRRu aRiyEn .

 

In the next posting , we will reflect upon how

AzhwAr visualized Aamuruviappan as the Veda NaarAyaNan

with his salutations , ChAndhOgA , PouzhiyA ,

TaithtiriyA , Saama VediyanE !

 

Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradachAri SadagOpan

 

P.S : The experience of Thirumangai is very similar to

the joy with which PeriyAzhwAr described the divya dampathis

taking residence in his heart lotus :

 

aravatthamaLiyinODum azhagiya paaRkadalOdum

ARAVINDHAP PAAVAIYUM THAANUM aham padi vanthu puhunthu

paravait thirai pala mOdha p paLLikoLLhinRa pirAnai

-- PeriyAzhwAr Thirumozhi : 5.2.10

 

Panik kadalil paLLikOLaip pazaha vittu, Odivanthen

manakkadalil vaazha valla Maaya MaNALa nampI

tanik kadalE tanic chudarE tani ulajhEyenRenRu

unakkidamaayirukka vennai yunnakkuuritthAkkinayE

---- PeriyAzhwAr Thirumozhi : 5.4.9