ThErazhundhUr MahAthmyam : Part 8( DasAvathara anubhavam)

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Dear BhakthAs :

 

Thirumangai celebrated DasAvathAra svarUpam of

Sri Aamuruviappan in Periya Thriumozhi(PT) 7.5 and 7.8.

In the palasruthi Paasuram ( PT 7.8.10) , AzhwAr

pointed out that all those , who understand the meanings

of his dasAvathaara Paasurams resulting from his immense

Bhakthi for the Lord of TherazhundhUr would become the Lords

of this earth ; Kaliyan also observed that the Lord at this

divya desam who created, protected and swallowed the universe

blessed him with dasaavathAra sEvai , which is adored by

Brahman , Rudran and other gods :

 

PanRiyAi MeenAhi ariyAip paarai padaitthuk kaathu uNdu umizhintha paraman tannai

anRamararkku athipathiyum ayanum sEvum aDi paNiya aNi AzhundhUr ninRa kOvai

--Kali KanRi -- seytha inbha paadal vallAr --ulahALum umbar thAmE

 

One can find the echo of this paasuram in Swami Desikan's

twelfth slOkam of DasAvathAra sthOthram , where he pays tribute

to all the ten avathArams of the Lord at one place :

 

icchA Meena vihAra Kacchapa Mahaa POthrin yadhrucchA HarE

rakshA Vaamana rOsha Raama karuNA Kaakuthstha hElA Halin

kreeta Vallava Kalka vaahana dasA Kalkinnithi prathyaham

Jalpantha: PurushA : punanthi bhuvanam puNyouga paNyApaNA :

 

Here Swami Desikan in his unique style adds

appropriate adjectives to each of the ten avathArams

of Sriman NaarAyaNA and puts the avathArams in perspective .

 

Swami Desikan says as an echo of AzhwAr's anubhavams :

Oh Lord , who out of your own sankalpam incarnated as

matsyam (fish )! Oh Lord , who made the mandrA mountain

the churning rod and rested it on Your back as a

giant tortoise and playfully churned the milky ocean

later ! Oh Lord , who surrounded the world with your

gigantic form as VarAha mUrthy ! Oh EmperumAn, who

appeared suddenly and unexpectedly as Nrusimhan !

Oh Bhagavan , who caused the birth of Gangai to

bless the three worlds as Thrivikraman! Oh angry Prabhu ,

who rooted out 21 generations of KshathriyAs as ParasurAman !

Oh most merciful One , who incarnated as Raamabhadran !

Oh Lord , who performed many wonderous deeds with your

weapon of axe as Balaraaman ! Oh Lord , who incarnated

as KrishNaa and grew up among cowherds and performed

miraculous deeds ! Oh Lord , who is going to ascend

a white horse as Kalki and establish dharmam ! When

mortals think about your glorious ten avathArams ,

they become puNya purushAs and sanctify this world .

 

A reverential study of the DasAvathAra paasurams of

Kaliyan confers a similar blessing on bhakthAs of

TherazhundUr Aamuruviappan .

 

1. Vata pathra Saayee avathaaram of Aamuruviappan

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

 

During the universal deluge , Sriman NaarAyaNan takes

the form of a little baby floating on a pupil leaf over

the dangerous torrents of praLaya jalam . He protects

all the universe and its beings by swallowing them

in His tiny stomach and rests them there , while contemplating about

their creation once again after the deluge by releasing

the Universe and its beings from the safe storage place

(viz)., His stomach .

 

LeelA Sukhar in one of his Krishna KarNAmrutha

slOkams describes the baby (Bala Mukhundhan )that floats on

the pralaya waters on top of a pupil leaf after swallowing

the universe and its contents for their protection :

 

karAravindhEna PadhAravindhE

mukhAravindhE vinivEsayantham

VaDasya pathrasya puDE sayAnam

Baalam Mukhundham mansA smarAmi

 

(Meaning ) : With His lotus soft hands ,

our baby Mukhundhan has grabbed His

lotus like toe and placed it in His

lotus red lips and sucks on it in amusement

as He rests on the tender shoot of a Pupil leaf

contemplating on the next cycle of cration .

 

The above vision of vaDapathra Saayee is a beautiful one .

His hands , feet and Face are like aravindham

( Lotus flower ). Like an innocent child , there

He rests after completing the miraculous act of

swallowing the Universe for safe keeping .

 

Kaliyan enjoys this sight in his mental eye

and that sight fills his heart also with Joy :

 

veLLatthuL OrAlilai mEl mEvi adiyEn manam puhunthu , yenn

uLLatthuLLum KaNNuLLum ninRAr ninRavUr pOlum --PTM: 7.5.4

 

In that state of vata pathra sayanam , there was no one

else and nothing else all around . Then , He became the Day and

the night ; He represented the earth and the Sky ; He stood in

for the Sun, Moon and the Stars :

 

pahalum iravum thAnEyAi paarum ViNNUm thAnEyai

niharil sudarAi irULAhi ninRaar ninRavUr pOlum --PTM 7.5.5

 

The reference here is to the Brahma Soothram : " DhrusyathE thu" .

This Soothram refers to the srushti vyApArams (acts of cration )

of our Lord . This concept of perishable universes appearing

out of the eternal One is elaborated by MuNDaka Upanishad :

 

yathOrNAbhi: srujathE gruhNathE cha yathA pruthivyAM

Oshadhayaa: sambhavanthi , yathA satha: purushAth

kesa lOmAni tathA aksharAth .

 

(meaning): Just as the spider stretches its legs and spins

the net , Just as the life-giving medicinal herbs rise out

of the BhUmi , Just as the hair comes out of a living human ,

the perishable Universes emanate from the imperishable

Lord ( Akshara Brahman) .He creates the day and night, the sky

and the earth ,the stars , the Sun and the Moon . All of them lay in

a subtle state inside Aamuruviappan prior to their creation

says Thirumangai here .This paasuram passage is based

on Taittiriya Upanishad portion:

 

asadhvA idham agra aaseeth tathO vai sadhajAyatha ,

tadhAthmAnam svayamakurutha .

 

This Portion of the Upanishad asserts that the Universes

were in a subtle (asadh ) form prior to srushti by the Lord.

After Creation, they attained gross forms(sadh ) and attained

naama roopa visEshams . The subtle became gross due to Bhagavath

sankalpam .The upanishad goes on to say that one who understands

this tattvam and holds on to it without doubt will lose all fears

and attain Moksha siddhi :

 

yadhyEvaisha yEthasmin nadhrusyE naathmYe ,anirukthE anilayanE

abhayam prathishtAm vindhathathaE sOabhayam bhavathi .

 

Those who believe with out a shade of doubt in this adhrusya ,

anAthmya , aniruktha nirguNa Brahamam would attain mOksham .

It may not be easy for all but the Yogis to follow this route and

meditate on the nirguNa Brahmam . Therefore , Aamuruviappan

takes on the easily comprehendable SaguNa Brahma roopam

at TherazhundhUr to give the boon of Moksham to those,

who perform pancha anga saraNAgathi to Him and meditate

on Him as VaDapathra Saayee and understand the tattvam behind

this avathAram .Those blessed souls are rid of samsAric fears

and attain parama padham . Kaliyan cites his own blessings that

accrued from such an understanding of the avathAra rahasyam of

Vadapathra Saayee at ThErazhundhUr and book marks it with

the statement :

 

" aNiazhundhUr UdayAnai adiyEn adainthu uynthu pOnEnE ".

 

In the next posting , we will enjoy the HayagrIvAvathAram ,

which precedes all the ten avathArams .

 

Kaliyan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

Oppiliappan Koil varadAchAri SadagOpan