UpadEsa Rathna Maalai (URM) Of Sri MaNavALa Maamunigal (Sri MM): Part 1

[Guest guest]

Dear BhakthAs : In a spirit of kaimkaryam for

the forthcoming Thirunakshathram celebrations for

Sri MaNavALa MaamunigaL(MM) , adiyEn plans to undertake

two initatives related to MM's dhivya prabhnadhams :

 

(1)Simple Translation of the meanings of the Upadesa

rathna Maalai(URM).

 

(2) Translation and notes on the meanings of

the individual Paasurams of MM's ThiruvAimozhi

NooRRanthAdhi (TN).

 

Here is the first part of the Translations on the first

five slOkams of URM.

 

Please let me have your comments on the benefit of these

two kaimkaryams and the levels at which these translations

and notes should be pegged .

 

AdiyEn places these postings at the sacred feet of

Sri MaNavALa MaamunigaL and seek the blessings

of MahAns (mahAnthO anugruNanthu) for a successful

conclusion of these efforts .

 

Daasan, V.Sadagopan

 

UpadEsa Rathna Maalai (URM) Dhivya Prabhandham

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

The URM of Sri MaNavALa MaamunigaL (Sri MM )

is the first of his dhivya Prabhandhams in Tamil .

The others are the ThiruvAimozhi NooRRandhAthi

and Aarthi Prabhandham . In URM , Sri MM focused

on the glories of our revered AzhwArs and PoorvAchAryAs

as Sri VaishNava SampradhAya PravarhtakAs

and saluted them. The specific items covered in

the URM are:

 

1)The months of birth of the AzhwArs and their

Thrunakshathrams (Stars in ascendance at the time

of their avathArams)

 

2) Sthalmas , where they incarnated as amsams of the Lord

 

3) The glories of the PoorvAchAryAs , who wrote commentaries

on the dhivya Prabhandhams of the AzhwArs

 

4) The unique glory of Sri PiLLai LokAcchAriyAr

and the greatness of his Rahasya grantham ,

Sri Vachana BhUshaNam and the quintessence

of this magnum opus .

 

Sri MM used delectable Tamil for his first dhivya-

Prabhandham and set its paasurams in gentle VeNN paa

meter .There are 73 Paasurams in URM . While saluting

the AzhwArs , Sri MM follows the order of the birth month

of the AzhwArs starting from the Mudhal AzhwArs .

 

 

TANIYAN FOR THE URM

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

 

munnam ThiruvAimozhippiLLai thAmupadEsittha nEr

tannin padiyait taNavAtha soll MaNavALa Muni

tannnbhudansey UpadEsaratthinamaalai tannait-

tannenju tannil dharippavar thALLkaL saraN namakkE

 

(meaning): Sri MaNavALa Muni followed strictly

the upadEsa kramam of his AchAryan , ThiruvAimozhippiLLai

as learnt from earlier times .Sri MM gave his own

upadesam to us about what he had learned out of his

immense dayA for us . We seek those , who have learnt

and retained the meanings of the paasurams of URM

and select their sacred feet as our sole refuge .

 

The UpadEsa Rathna Maalai Paasurams

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

 

UpadEsam to Future Generations(1)

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

 

yenthai ThiruvAimozhippiLLai innaruLAL

vantha vupadEsa maargatthaic-chinthai seythu

pinnavarum kaRka upadEsamAi pEsuhinREn

manniya sIr VeNNpAvil Vaitthu

 

(meaning ): AdiyEn is following strictly the path of

my revered AchAryan , ThiruvAimozhippiLLai and his

upadEsams that adiyEn has been blessed to receive

through his parama krupai ; adiyEn is basing these

upadEsams set in the meter of VeNNpaa for the benefit

of learning by future generation of Sri VaishNavAs.

 

The outreach of his Prabhandhams(2)

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

 

kaRROrkal thaamuhappar kalvi tannil aasai uLLOr

peRROm yena uhanthu pinpu kaRpar -maRROrkal

maacharayatthAl ikazhil vanthathu yenn nenjE! ikazhkai

aachariyamO thaann avarkku

 

(meaning ): Here Sri MM hints that it is sufficient

if the VivEkis of the world accept his prabhandham .

He says in this context : " Oh my mind! The learned ones

with discriminating intellect will be happy to study

this prabhandham. Some of them will celebrate

the acquisition of this prabhandham and will instruct

other devotees on this prabhandham with hearts fillled

with joy. The rest , who do not fit into either of

the above two categories will be filled with jealousy

and reject this prabhandham . It is no surprise such people

reject sadhupadEsam and no harm can ofcourse come to us

by their rejection .

 

PallANDu to AzhwArs-AchAryAs and their granthams(3)

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

 

AzhArkaL vaazhi aruLiccheyal Vaazhi

thAzhvathum il kuravar thAmm vaazhi -yEzh paarum

uyya avarkaL uraitthavaikaL thaamm vaazhi

seyya maRai tannudanE sErnthu

 

(meaning ): Here Sri MM salutes the Sri Sookthis of

the AzhwArs and the PoorvAchAryAs : PallANDu to

the Mudal AzhwArs and their fellow AzhwArs !

PallANDu to their dhivya Prabhandhams ! May

the blemishless granthams of the glorious

AchAryAs like EmperumAnAr and their successors

live forever! May the Sri Sookthis of these AzhwArs

and AchAryAs created for the uplift (ujjeevanam)

of the entire world live forever in the company

of the incomparable ( vilakshaNa ) VedAs !

( Sri MM hints here that the Sri Sookthis of

the AzhwArs and the PoorvAchAryAs are rooted

in the apourushEya Veda manthrams ).

 

AzhwAr's avathAra Kramam(4)

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

 

PoygaiAr BhUthatthAr PeyAr , pukazh Mazhisai

ayyan aruLmARan sEralrkkOn --thuyya Bhatta

nathAn anbar thALL thULi NaRR PaaNan nann kaliyan

Ithivar thORRatthu adaivu aam inghu

 

(Meaning ): The order of avathAram of the AzhwArs

in this earth is: Poykai is First; BhUtham is second;

pEy is third; the reputed Thirumazhisai PirAn is fourth;

NammAzhwAr of illustrious grace (aruL) is fifth;

KulasEkara PerumAL is the sixth ; the sacred

PeriyAzhwAr free of any blemish is the seventh;

Thondaradippodi (BhakthAngri rENu) is the eighth ;

ThiruppANar , the parama saathvikar is the ninth

in order ; dear Thirumangai is tenth .This then

is the order in which they incarnated on BhUmanDalam .

(one may wonder about the absence of ANDAL and

Madhura Kavi in the above list. Sri MM pays

special attention to them later).

 

The Months and the constellations of the AzhwArs(5)

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

 

anthamizhAl naRRkalaikaL aaynthu uraittha AzhwArkal

intha ulahil iruL neenga vanthu uthittha

maathangaL nALLkaL tamai maNNulahOr thaam aRiya

IthenRu solluvOm yaam .....(5)

 

(Meaning ): The AzhwArs blessed us with Sri Sookthis

of theirs in the beautiful language of Tamizh .

Their insightful prabhandhams are the products of

deep reflections and help us to banish the darkness of

ajn~anam and viparItha Jn~anam . For the benefit of

the residents of this earth , we will tell now

precisely about the months of their avathArams and

the constellations that were in ascendance at the time

of their births .

 

(To Be continued )