TherazhundhUr Paasurams : Part 6

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Dear BhakthAs :

 

We will focus in this posting on Kaliyan's

salutations to Amuruviyappan as Sakala Veda

Moorthy .

 

The endearing names by which Kaliyan addressed

the Lord in Periya Thirumozhi Paasuram 7.7.2 are :

 

ChandhOgA PouzhiyA TaitthirIyA Saama VediyanE

 

These names have Veda Sambhandham . Let us look

at them one by One.

 

CHAANDHOGAA : SAMA VEDA SVAROOPI

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

The Lord of TheruzhundhUr is addressed as

ChandhOgya Upanishad SvarUpi .The ChandhOgya

Upanishad is a Saama Vedic Upanishad . One of

the important passages in this upanishad is :

 

yO vai bhUmA tath sukham naalpE sukhamasthi

BhUmaiva sukham BhUmA tvEva vijij~nAsithavya

ithi BhUmAnAm BhagavO vijij~nAsa ithi

 

(Meaning); The Brahman (Infinite ) is Bliss .There

can not be any bliss in some thing other than

this infinite Brahman .This infinite Brahman should be

the goal of our serious learning .Rest of them are Bhinna

vasthus (asampUrNa tattvams) , the study of which can not

yield bliss . There is no learning that is higher than

the study (inquiries/vichArams) about this Infinite Brahman .

 

The Vedic Scholars of TherazhundhUr meditate upon this

ChandhOgya Upanishad passage and worship Sri Gosakan .

Such a Lord evoking reflections of the ChaAndhOgya

Upanishad"s noble passages is recognized by Thirumangai

as " ChaandhOgan ".The Lord , who blesses such scholars

skilled in ChaandhOgya Upanishad's teachings is

recognized as ChaandhOgan .

 

Thirumangai starts with a Saama Vedic Upanishad ,"ChandhOgA "

and ends up his vedic salutations with the namaskAram

" Saama VediyanE " that is consistent with the declaration of

Gosaka-ParthasArathy Himself that He is personified by

Saama Vedam among the four VedAs .

 

POUZHIYAA (RG VEDA SVAROOPI)

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

Next , Kaliyan thinks about the Vedic Scholars ,

who worship the Lord of TherazhundhUr thru Rg Vedic

Rks . These Vedic sholars are not only Jn~Anis , but

they are also great anushtAthAs skilled in conducting

Yaagams and Yaj~nams during the three sandhyAs and

parvAs . The Lord saluted by the following Rg Vedic Rk

is immensely pleased with their worships and accepts

their Havis as Rg Veda SvarUpi . Rg Vedam is known

also as Pouzhiyam and hence Kaliyan addresses Gosakan

as " PouzhiyA ". These Rg vedic scholars eulogize

the Lord , who with His two powerful wings ( DharmAchAram

and anushtAnam ) motivates , protects and nourishes

the Universe and its beings :

 

sam baahubhyAm dhamathi sam pathathrairdhyAvA

BhUmi janayan Deva Yeka:-- pathirbhabhUyAsamO

visvasya bhuvanasya RaajA -- ya Yeka idh vidhayathE

Vasu marthAya DhAsushE --Rg Vedam

 

The above Rg Veda Rk recognizes Him as the omnipotent

Lord protecting and nourishing His creation out of

His infinite mercy and carrying out such tasks tirelessly

because of His unmatchable strength and valour . With His

compassion and generosity , He performs His duties as

the Supreme Lord of all and blesses His worshippers

with undecaying wealth ( Brahma Jn~Anam ).

 

TAITTHIRIYAN : YAJUR VEDA SVAROOPI

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

 

Here at TherazhundhUr , the Vedic Scholars conversant

with yajur Vedam recognize His Yajur Veda SvarUpam

through meditation on the following Yajur Vedic

Passage :

 

TadhEvAgnis tadhAdithyas tadhvaayus tadhu chandhramA,

tadhEva Sukram tadh Brahma thaa aapa: sa PrajApathi:

 

Taittiriya Saakhai is a branch of Yajur Vedam and

the majestic TaittirIya Upanishad deals extensively

with the Bliss of worshipping Sriman NaarAyaNan in

BrahmAanandha Valli . It stands in awe of His majesty

and declares :

 

yathO vaachA nivarthanthE , aprApya manasaa saha

Aanandham BrahmaNO vidvAn , na BibhEthi kuthascchanEthi

 

(Meaning) : He who knows this bliss of Brahman , from which all

words return without reaching it ( beyond description by

mere words ) and who is not graspable by mental efforts

alone is no more afraid of anything .

 

This profound passage of Yajur Vedic Upanishad

reminds us that Speech can not define , mind can not

feel and the intellect can not completely comprehend

this bliss of Brahman , which presents itself as

SaguNa Brahmam at TherazhandhUr with the naamam of

Gosakan( Aamuruviappan ) .

 

That this Omnipotent Brahman is the Supreme Swami

behind all that functions from His command is the

theme of another famous Yajur Vedic pssage :

 

bhIshAsmAth Vaatha; pavathE , bhIshA udEthi Surya:

bhishAsmaath AgnischEndrasccha , mrithyurdhAvathi

panjama ithi

 

(Meaning ): Through fear of His omnipotence ,

the wind blows ; through fear of His incomparable

strength rises the Sun ; through obedience born out

of the fear of Him , Fire and Moon , and lastly the

Fifth , Death, perform their respective duties .

 

This passage unambigously points out that the movement

of air , the rising of the Sun, the heat of the Agni ,

the light of the Moon and fifthly , the very principle

of decay and death is the immense vyApAram of the dynamic

of the divine power , which executes its will and

establishes as well as protects the Dharmams (r*tham ).

 

This powerful and yet merciful Lord presiding over

The TherazhundhUr divya desam is recognized by

Yajus Saakhis as " Taitthiriyan " as per Thirumangai's

mangalAsAsanam .

 

AAMURUVIAPPAN AS SAAMA VEDA SVARUPI

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

 

AzhwAr addresses the Lord of TherazhandhUr

in his paasuram as :

 

ChAndhOgA ! PouzhiyA ! TaitthiriyA !

Saama VediyanE ! nedumAlE , anthO !

ninn adi anRi maRRu aRiyEn !

AzhundhUr mEl disai ninRa ammAnE !

 

After saluting the Veda SvarUpam as

Rg and Yajur svarUpam , Kaliyan concludes

his salutation to Gosakan as Saama Veda SvarUpi .

 

Aamuruviappan is the Naadha Brahma SvarUpi .

The birth of saptha svarams from Saama Vedam

has been well documented . He is thus , the Saama-

Veda NaadhAchala dheepa PrakAsan . He is the bright

lamp on top of the Saaama Veda mountain

illuminating with His radiance the world

as a beacon for obseving AchAram and anushtAnam .

 

With His divine Saama VeNu ghAnam , He enchanted

all the worlds and its beings .In his Periya

Thirumozhi decad (3.6) PeriyAzhwAr describes

the power of the naadham of this Saama veda

SvarUpi:

 

amparam thiriyum ghaandhapparellAm

AMUDHA GEETHA VALAYAAL SURUKKUNDU ,

namm ParamanenRu naaNi mayangi --ninRanarE

 

vaanavarellAm --seviyuLL naavin suvai

koNdu mahizhnthu Govindhanai thodarnthu

YenRum vidArE

 

That is the power of the Naadha BrahmAnandha

SvarUpan of Gosakan of TherazhundhUr . Hence the

Saama Vedis have a special claim to Him and

worship Him with the 1875 Saamans starting with ,

 

" agna Aaa yaahi vIthayE gruNAnO havya dhAthayE----

and ending up with --- Svasthi na IndhrO vruddhasravA:

Svasthi na PushA Visva Veda: , Svasthi nasthArkshyO

arishtanEmi: Svasthi nO Brahspathir dadhAthu ,

Svasthi nO Brahaspathir DadhAthu .

 

In the spirit of these powerful Vedic Saamans ,

Kaliyan appealed to " the Saama Vediyan " at

ThErazhandhUr and declared that he has no one else as

his Rakshakan but the Lord of this Divya Desam ,

where He is being worshipped by chathur Vedhis

around the clock . AzhwAr declared his MahA VisvAsam

and ananya gathithvam with the prayer : " Antho!

ninnadi anRi maRRu aRiyEn , AzhundhUr mEl disai

ninRa AmmAnE " . AzhwAr thus performed his Praaptthi .

He begged the Lord to free him from the prison

of KarmEndriyams and to bless hiim through empowering

his Jn~Endhtiyams to visulaize Aamuruviappan and Sengamalavalli

at his heart lotus . He seeks the boon of worshipping

that " Thiruvukkum ThiruvAhiya Selvan " and Sengamalavalli

inside the temple of his heart . AzhwAr declares further

that nothing other than the lotus feet of the SaraNya Dampathis

has any significance for him in this karma BhUmi .

 

In the subsequent paasurams of this decad , Azhwar

addresses Gosakan as " Iyaa " and restates his MahA

visvaasam : " Nin aDi anRi maRRu aRiyEn ". Kaliyan

continues with more moving appeals : ninnayE ninainthu

inghu iruppEnai --adiyEnai paNi koNdu koll , YenthAi "

With your blessings , I have escaped now from the prison of

the five senses and have arirved at Your sacred feet . From

here on , I trust you utterly to protect me with the comforting

shade of your cool feet and to accept my Kaimkaryams as

your humble servant . herearound , AzhwAr gets restless ,

since he has not gotten any response ( aamOdhanam )

to his appeal . He becomes desparate and appeals

yet again with a voice choked by tears :

 

------- PunithA ! PutkkodiyAai! nedumAlE !TheevAi NaahaNayil-

thuyilvAnE ! ThirumAlE! Inic cheyvathonraRiyEn ,

aavAvenRadiyERkkirangAi ! AzhundhUr mEl disai ninRavammAnE

 

Oh the Holiest among Holy ones ! Oh Lord with Garudan

in Your Flag (Dhvajam )! Oh Lord resting on the bed of

Adhi Seshan weaving a blanket of fire made up of

flames from his breath to scare and drive away Your enemies !

Oh Sriman naarAyanA ! I do not know what to do anymore !

Please take pity on my sufferings and bless me

to become the object of Your protection .

 

Lord Aamuruvi and His divine consort were moved

by the intensity of AzhwAr's Bhakthi and mahA

VisvAsam and accepted immediately AzhwAr's prapatthi .

The SaraNya dampathis blessed the AzhwAr

with DasAvathAra Sevai as their response. Kaliyan

went into raptures and described the sevA BhAgyam

of Sriman NaarAyaNA to us at TherazhundhUr

as VarAhan , Narasimhan , Vaamanan ,Raaman ,

KrishNan , Veda mUrthy HayagrIvan and

Gajendra Varadhan , who rushed to the lotus pond ,

where His Bhakthan was crying out to be rescued from

the jaws of SamsAram ( Crocodoyle ).

 

We will focus on this Periya Thirumozhi decad ( 7.8)

in the next posting .

 

TherazhundhUr Divya dampathigaL ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

Thirumangai Manna ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan