Thiruvaimozhi NooRRanthaadhi of Sri MaNavALa MaamunigaL

[Guest guest]

Dear BhakthAs :

 

One of the most beautiful Prabhandhams of

Sri MaNavALa MaamunigaL ( MM )is known as

ThiruvAimozhi NooRRanthAdhi (TN). There are exactly

100 paasurams in this prabhndham and each of the paasurams

is a summary of each of the 100 decades of

Swami NammAzhwAr's ThiruvAimozhi .

 

As a dhivya prabhandham , TN of MM has some extraordinary

features :

 

1) First of all it is set in the anthAdhi thodai

style , where the last word of each paasuram becomes

the first word of the next paasuram as in the case

of ThiruvAimozhi of Swami NammAzhwAr.

 

2)The brilliant summary of each of the 100

decades in just four lines corresponding to

them is an extraordinary testimony to the genius

of MM in capturing the essence of those 100 decades

of Swami NammAzhwAr .Each paasuram sums up brilliantly

the uyir karutthu of that decade.

 

3) The salutation to Swami NammAzhwAr is specifically

included in each of these 100 paasurams by his name

(MaaRan ).

 

4)Two extraordinary restrictions that MM imposed

on himself during the composition of the verses

of TN are:(a) the first word of each paasuram of TN

begins with the first word of the decade of

ThiruvAimozhi that he is summarizing (b)the last word

of the paasuram be the first word of the next decade

of ThiruvAimozhi(TVM) .In between these two 'must "words from

Swami NammazhwAr's ThiruvAimozhi , MM housed other words

pregnat with meaning to capture the essence of that decade .

This is remarkable testimony to the skills of MM

as a divine poet , who was the subject of the paripUrNa

anugraham of Lord RanganAthA of Srirangam .

 

The Two Taniyans for TN

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

 

allum pahalum anubhavippAr tangaLakkuc

chollum poruL thohuthtu uraitthAn--nalla

ManavALa Maamunivan MaaRan maraikkut-

taNavA NooRRanthAdhi thaan.......(1)

 

(Meaning ): The most benovolent MM blessed us with

a condensed essence of MaaRan's TVM in the form of

a nooRRanthAdhi using sweet words and deep meanings

so that all of us can enjoy it heartily day and night .

 

mannu puhazh sEr MaNavALa Maamunivan

tannaruLAl uttporuLkaL tannudanE--sonna

ThiruvAimozhi NooRRanthAdhiyAM thEnai

oruvAthu arundhu nenjE uRRu......(2)

 

(meaning ): Oh my mind ! May thou be blessed to drink

without let the honey of ThiruvAimozhi nooRRanthAdhi

with its deep meanings bequeathed to us with great

dayA for us by the great MM of undiminishing glory .

 

The Individual Paasurams of TN: The First Decade of TVM

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

 

uyarvE PARAN padiyai uLLathellAm thAnn kaNdu

uyarvEda nErkoNduraitthu --mayarvEthum

vaarAmal Maanidarai vAzhvikkum MaaRan soll

vErAhavE viLayum Veedu ...........(1)

 

(Meaning ): Swami NammAzhwAr experienced directly

the svarUpa-svabhAva visEshams , the glorious

anantha kalyANa GuNams pertaining to Sriman NaarAyaNan's

illustrious nature as the Supreme divinty (PARAN)

and His unparalleled dayA svabhAvam ; MaaRan described

further these tattvams in the light of immortal Veda

Manthrams . Maaran did this for our upliftment and Moksha

siddhi (attainment of Moksham )through the banishment of

our false knowledge ( aj~nAnam) with his Sri Sookthis .

 

Comments on MM's summary of the first decade

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

 

(1) This decad has 11 paasurams . The paasurams have

richness in the choice of words (sabdha Poushkalyam )

and depth of meaning (artha Poushkalyam).

 

(2) "uyarvE Paran PaDi ':the SvarUpa-SvabhAva VisEshams of

Sriman NaarAyaNan is cast here in the light of TaittirIya

Upanishad Vaakyam ( Satyam Jn~Anam anantham BrahmA ) is

celebrated by MM here . His glories as Paran

and ParAth-Paran is saluted through the recognition

of His svarUpam as Ubhaya VibhUthi Visishtan

( the prAkruthic and the aprAkruthic worlds , the owner

of the LeelA VibhUthi , this world and the Nithya VibhUthi,

Srivaikuntam ).

 

(3)" Uyar Vedam nEr KoNdu Uraitthu ": Swami NammAzhwAr's

Sri sookthis sing in unison (Eikya KhaNtam )with

the teachings of Vedam and vedAntham . The end result

is Ubhaya VedAntha Eikhya Kantam or the synergy between

the Veda-Vedanthams and ThiruvAimozhi Paasurams .

 

(4) The first six paasurams of this decad cover the first

two chapters of Brahma Soothram ( SamanvayAdhyAyam and

AvirOdhAdhyAyam ) as intrepreted by Sri BhaashyakArar.

 

(5)" mayarvu yEthum VaarAmal" : Sriman NaarAyaNan removed

completely the "mayarvu" of Swami Nammazhwar and he

in turn removed our "mayarvu" , which consists of

dEhAthma Bramama ( the confusion that the body is

the Aathman ), various doubts regarding the siddhAntham

and forgetting the true doctrines learnt earlier through

a sadAchAryan .

 

(6)" MaaRan soll vErAhavE viLayum Veedu " : Any tree does not

arise without the root .Similarly , Moksham can not be attained

without the grace of Swami NammAzhwAr. His grace is thus

the causative principle behind the realization of Moksha Siddhi .

 

Daasan, Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan