Periya Thirumozhi- 4.6- KannA! You alone are my rakshakan!, Commentary on this paasuram : Part 1

[Guest guest]

Dear BhakthAs :

 

Sri MadhavakkaNnan(MK) is doing a laudable kaimkaryam

in translating in his own inimitable way , Kaliyan's

paasurms in the spirit of his much-appreciated

earlier kaimkaryam of translating Swami NammAzhwAr's

Thiruvaaimozhi .

 

Sri MK has asked some questions about the words chosen by

Thirumangai mannan in the 9th paasuram containing deep

references to our Vaidhika Matham . AdiyEn will join

in Sri MK's anubhavam and add a few words in explanation .

 

Sri MaadhavakkaNNan said:

>9. (A beautiful pAsuram! Please enjoy the transliteration too below!)

>The Lord of Chandhas (Gayathri?)! The Niyamakan (the Director?) of

>that words that make the Chandas! The Chief of five elements

>(Pancha BhUtham)! The Primordial Chief! The Creator and Cause of

>all creations! The essence of everything! The essence of indescribable,

>incomprehensible Vedic truths! The One who is here at

>Naaangai KaavaLampaadi! You alone are my rakshakan!

>

>"chandhamaay samayamaagich/

> chamaya aimbhUthamaagi*/

>andhamaa aadhiyaagi/

> arumaRai avaiyum anaay!*

>mandhamaar pozhilgaL thORum/

> mada mayilaalu naangai/

>gandhamaar kaavaLanthaN/

> paadiyaay! KaLaikaN neeyE!"

>

Introductory Remarks for the ThirunAngUr Paasurams

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

Kaliyan started his magnificient mangalAsAsanam of

ThirunAngUr divya dEsams with MaNimAdak kOil(NandhA viLakkE !

aLatthaRkkariyAi! Nara NaaraNanE !--)in the spirit

of PaadhmOtthAram(an ancient religious VaishNavite text)

explaining the relationship between Naran and NaarAyaNan :

 

naarasthivathi sarva pumsAm samUha: parikeerthitha:

gathi: Aalampanam tasya thEna NaarAyaNa: smrutha:

 

(Meaning): The entire assembly of jeevans is described as

"naaram". Since the Lord is both upAyam (means)and upEyam

(goal)for them , He is known as NaarAyaNan ).

 

naarO narANAm samgAtha: tasyaham ayanam gathi:

thEnAsmi munibhir nithyam NaarAyaNa ithiritha:

 

(Meaning): This is Lord's own words in Paancha Raathra Samhithai:

The sages call Me always NaarAyanan , since I am the gathi

and ayanam ( upAyam and upEyam) for the entire samUham(asssembly)

of the Jeevans.

 

Kaliyan proceeded further on in his pilgrimage

to Vaikuntha ViNNagaram , ArimEya ViNNagaram ,

ThirutthEvanAr Thokai and ThiruvaNN PuruDOtthamam

and asked his mind to enjoy these divya dEsams

and celebrate the bhAgyam of these divya dEsa

prApthis ( the fulfilment of visits to these divya desams).

 

By the time , he reached ThirunAnkUr Semponsey Koil

as his next stop ,Kaliyan's mind was in a state of

immense tranquility and he described his happy state of

mind with the words , " kaNDukoNDu uynthu ozhinthEn"

( I have been blessed with the darsanam of

the Divya Dampathis at these divya desams

and I have etched that aanandhAnubhavam

in my mind and as a result obtained ujjeevanam /

spiritual fulfilment).

 

In the next two Thirumozhis dedicated to

Thirut theRRiambalam and ThirumaNik KooDam ,

Kaliyan focussed on Sriman NaarAyana SabdhAnusandhAnam

( celebration of the many meanings of the Sriman

NaarAyaNa sabdham such as anthar-vyApthi/pervasive

presence inside and Bahir-VyApthi/immanence everywhere

outside et al as explained by PaadhmOtthAram , Lakshmi Tantram ,

another important Sri Vaishnavite text revealed to us by

MahA Lakshmi Herself and NammAzhwaar's ThiruvAimozhi ).

 

As he arrived next at ThirunAngai-ThirukkAvaLampAdi

kshEthram ,a Pancha KrishNa KshEthram , he was in a mood

to devote himself to SaraNAgathi anusandhAnam ( celebration

of the SaraNAgathi as the saving grace for mortals).He movingly

appealed to KavaLampAdik KaNNan for rakshaNam(protection)

and declared that KaNNan alone is his upAyam/means

for protection from SamsAram ( KaavaLampADi mEya KaNNanE

kaLai kaNN neeyE )for Moksha siddhi (attaining the boon of

freedom from the cycles of repeated births and deaths)in

the spirit of the following two MahA BhAratham SlOkams :

 

KrishNa yEvahi lOkAnAm uthpatthirapi chApyaya:I

KrishNasyahi kruthE bhUtham idham visvam charAcharam II

 

(Meaning):KrishNan alone is the root cause of

all these worlds; He alone is the uthpatthi

sthAnam (origin place) for these worlds. These

worlds attain layam in Him at the end of a yugam.

The chEthana-achEthana prapancham /world

exists solely for His enjoyment ).

 

yE cha vEda vidhO viprA yamcha adhyAthma vidhO janA:I

thE vidanthi MahAthmAnam KRISHNAM DHARMAM SANAATHANAM II

 

(Meaning): Those scholars , who have studied the Karma

KhANDam of the VedAs and those , who comprehend the inner

meanings of the JnAna KhANDam of the VedAs (Upanishads)

dealing with the Supreme Being recognize and salute

Krishnan as the eternal siddhOpAyam (Bhagavan or Siddha

upAyam , the means to attain Him).

 

amrutham saadhanam saadhyam tamm pasyanthi manIshiNa:I

Yajn~Akhyam paramAthmAnam VishNum dhyAyan na seedhathi II

 

(Meaning): The pradhibhuddha adhikAris( nanku uNarnthavar,

those qualified ones with clear and fullcomprehension )

reognize the Lord , who is Yaj~na svarUpan as the eternal ,

imperishable One (Akshara Brahmam ) and as the durable means

(UpAyam ) and fruit (phalan). They have stated firmly

that those who meditate on Him would be freed of all

samsAric afflictions and will attain His parama padham

(Sri Vaikunta Lokam ).

 

This unceasing meditation on the Lord as the never-failing

means is attested by Kaliyan in the way in which Swami

NammAzhwAr taught him in his ThiruvAimozhi (5.10.11):

 

NahaNaimisai NampirAn charaNE SaraN namakkenRu ,

naadorum yeka chinthayanAi KuruhUr SatakOpan MaaRan--

 

(meaning): The sacred feet of the Lord resting on

AdhisEshan is our only refuge .This was the only

thought that ThiukkuruhUr SatakOpan had in his mind.

 

Comments on the 9th Paasuram section on ThirukkAvalampADi KaNNan

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

In the earlier pasurams , Kaliyan declared his ananya gathithvam

with the statement : " kadavuLE KaavaLam taNN PaaDiyAI

KaLai kaNN neeyE , KaathanE Kaavalam taNN pAdiyAi

kaLai kaNN neeyE , KarutthaNE KaavaLam taNN PaadiyAi

kaLai kaNN neeyE ".

 

As Kaliyan reached the 9th paasuram before the Phala sruthi

paasuram , he was overcome by the Immensity of the NaarAyana

(Para)Tattvam and broke forth in a rapturous celebration of

the Sarva Rakshaka Prabhu ( protector of one and all),

who gave him(Kaliyan) His darsanam at KaavaLampaadi

as Sri KrishNan .This prepared him for the performance of

SaraNAgathi at the feet of ThiruveLLakkuLatthu ammAN

standing impatiently next in the line as it were

for him at the next station of ThiruveLLakkuLam

divya desam as RahshOpakEkshakan ( One who impatiently

waits for the SaraNAgathi of kaliyan ).ThiruveLLakkuLam

was indeed the next stop in the divya desa yAthrai of

Kaliyan .

 

Now coming back to the 9th paasuram

on ThirukkAvalampADik KaNNan , the portion

for our discussion is as follows :

 

" chandamAi SamayamAhi Samayavaim bhUthamAhi

anthamAi AadhiyAhi arumaRai avayum aanAi--"

 

These two magnificient lines are about the Para

Tattvam (Supreme Lorship)of Sriman NaarAyaNan as

the DhArakan ( who bears the Jeevans as His Body/svarUpam ),

as the NiyanthA ( who commands us with His sankalpam ),

as the sEshi ( as the Lord with no one equal or greater

than Him and who receives the fruits of our rakshanam ),

as the Svatha-Sarvaj~nan (natural Omniscient one),

as the Sarvasakthan ( Omnipotent one),

as the Parama KaaruNIkan ( the most merciful one),

as the sarva SaraNyan ( the refuge for one and all),

and as the MOksha pradhan ( the sole granter of Moksham ).

 

Let us now enjoy the meanings of the individual

words chosen by Kaliyan .I will first give the meanings

in VaishNava paribhAshai (coded lamguage) and then break

the codes for a learer understanding :

 

(1)ChandhamAi= by becoming the svAthanthrya sakthi of the Jeevans,

(2)Samayam aahi=by becoming the kaala dhravyam with its many divisons

(3)samayam ei bhUtham aahi=by becoming the prapancham defined by

the five elements(pancha bhUtham), which

arise after Mahath , ahankAram and other

achEthana tattvams

(4)antham aai=by becoming the Pralayam

(5)Aadhi aahi=by becoming the many created beings as upAdhAna kAranam

(6)aru maRai avaiyum aanAi=You became the timeless VedAs , which describe

all these wonderous doctrines related to You.

 

The detailed meanings of these six words or group of words

will be covered in the next posting.

 

Kaliyan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam,

Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil Varadachari Sadagopan