UpadEsa Rathna Maalai: Paasurams 39-45

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THE FIVE COMMENTATORS OF THIRUVAIMOZHI

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PiLLAn nanjeeyar PeriyavaacchAn PiLLai

TheLLAr Vadakkut thiruveedhip PiLLai

ManavALa Yogi ThiruvAimozhiyaik kaattha

guNavALar yenRu nenjE kooRu....(39)

 

(Meaning ): Oh My Mind! Please reflect upon the glories of

the five commentators of NammAzhwAr's ThiruvAimozhi , who

through their vyAkyAnams protected this sacred work .

Oh my dear Mind ! pelase remember these five mahAns ,

who performed such a noble kaimkaryam are Thirukkuruhai

PirAn PiLLAn , Nanjeeyar, PeriyavaacchAn PiLLAn ,

Vadakku Thiruveedhi PiLLai of clear Jn~Anam and

VaadhikEsari Azhagiya MaNavALa Jeeyar .

 

EXPRESSION OF THANKS TO THE FIVE COMMENTATORS

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MunthuRavE PiLLAn MudalAnOr seytharuLum

antha viyAkkiyaikaL anRu aahil --anthO

ThiruvAimozhip poruLait thErnthu uraikka valla

GuruvAr --ikkaalam nenjE kooRu ...(40)

 

(Meaning ): Oh My Mind! If in the earlier times

PiLLAN and the rest of the four commentators had

not blessed us with their vyAkyAnams on ThiruvAimozhi ,

who could today intrepret the deeper meanings of

this dhivya Prabhandham ? How lucky indeed we are ,

thanks to their magnificient kaimkaryams !

 

THE AVATHAARAM OF THE AARAAYIRAPPADI

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TheLLArum Jn~Anat thirukuruhaip pirAn

PiLLAn --yethirAsar pEraruLAl --uLLArum

anbhudanE MaaRan MaRaip poruLai anRu uraitthathu

inbham mihum AaRAyiram .....(41)

 

(Meaning): AaRAyirapppadi is the commentary on

ThiruvAimozhi , which is delectable to experience.

This commentary arose because of the parama krupai

and deep affection that AchArya RaamAnujA had for

his Jn~Ana puthran, Thirukkuruhai PirAn PiLLAn of

clear intellect .

 

(Comments): The thirty two letter unit is known as

a grantham . Since PiLLAN's commentary had 6,000

granthams , it came to be known as AaRAyirappaDi.

 

THE AVATHAARAM (BIRTH) OF ONPATHUNAAYIRAPPADI

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tanjeerai jn~AniyarkaL thaam puhazhum VedAnthi

Nanjeeyar thaam Bhattar nallaruLAl --yenjAtha

aarvamudan MaaRan MaRaip poruLai aaynthu uraitthathu

yEr onpathainAyiram .....(42)

 

(Meaning):The beautiful OnpathinAyirappaDi is

the commentary on Swami NammAzwAr's ThiruvAimozhi

housing the deep intutive anubhavams of Nanjeeyar

revered as the Vedanthi , the object of ParAsara

Bhattar's parama Krupai .

 

THE BIRTH OF THE IRUPATTHU NAALAYIRAPPADI

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NampiLLai tammudaya nalaruLAl yEviyida

pinn PeriyavAcchAn PiLLai athanAl--inpu

aavaru patthi MaaRan MaRaip poruLaic chonnathu

irupatthu naalAyiram .... (43)

 

(meaning ): Irupatthu naalAyiram is the profound

commentary of PeriyavAcchAn PiLLAn on the Tamizh Vedam of

Swami NammAzhwAr , which arose as a pravAham out of

latter's aanandha roopa Bhakthi for Sriman NaarAyaNan .

 

The AchAryan of PeriyavaacchAn PiLLAn , NampiLLai ,

commanded his sishyan with great affection to write

a commentary on Swamy NammAzhwAr's ThiruvAimozhi and

PeriyavaacchAn PiLLAn followed his AchAryan's command

with reverence .Thus arose the illustrious Irupatthu-

naalAyirappaDi grantham .

 

(Commnets): The AchAryAs write commentaries on

PoorvAchAryA's works for a number of reasons .

Some wrote their commentaries for the upliftment

of future generations ; some wrote to capture

the swift flow of their AchAryA's upadEsams

into managable pools of knowledge for the enjoyment of

later generations ;some wrote to display their

scholarship and their command of the subject matter;

some wrote these commentaries to follow the order

(niyamanam) of their AchAryans . Among these many

types of commentaries, PeriyavAcchAn PiLLai's

Irupatthu naalAyirappadi belogs to the category

of the one born out of an AchAryA's command

(niyamanam) to a sishyan.

 

THE BIRTH OF THE MUPPATTHAARAAYIRAPPADI

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teLLiyathA NampiLLai seppu neRi tannai

VaLLal Vadakkut thiruveedhip PiLLai --intha

naadaRiya MaaRan Maraip poruLai nanku uritthathu

Eedu MupatthARAyiram ...(44)

 

(meaning): Based on the clear and profound kaalakshEpams

of NampiLLai , his student ,the generous Vadakkut thiruveedhip-

piLLai made it possible for the whole world to enjoy the great

insights of his AchAryan on Swamy NammAzhwAr's ThiruvAimozhi .

 

(Comments): Vadakku Thiruveedhip PiLLai (VTP)attended his

AchAryan's KaalakshEpams all day and wrote it all down on

palm leaves during the nights without seeking his

AchAryA's permission .PeriyavAcchAn PiLLai(PVP) was

a fellow sishyan of VTP and was also attending

NampiLLai's kaalkshEpams ; He was commanded however

by NampiLLai to write an authorized commentary on ThiruvAimozhi

based on his kaalkshEpams .PVP executed the command

of his AchAryan and made him happy. Meanwhile , VTP

completed his unauthorized monograph and presented it

to his AchAryan for receiving his blessings.The AchAryan

was offended by his sishyan's apachAram in writing

a commentary without his permission and therefore

he confiscated that work and supressed it from

circulation . Later, Lord RanganAthA intervened

and thus the Eedu MuppatthARAyiram paDi became

available to the world.

 

THE BIRTH OF THE PANNEERAAYIRAPPADI

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anbhOdu Azhagiya MaNavALac cheeyar

pinpOrum kaRRarinthu EsuhaikkA --tamm periya

bhOthamudan Maaran Marayin poruLuraitthathu

yEthamil PannIrAyiram....(45)

 

(Meaning): VaadhikEsari Azhagiya MaNavALa Jeeyar

blessed us with the blemishless PannirAyirappaDi,

containing the meanings ( padham by padham )of

Swami NammAzhwAr's Tamizh MaRai ,ThiruvAimozhi .

This VyAkyAnam is in the form of Prathi padhaartha-

roopa vyAkyAnam to permit the future generations

to comprehend the deeper meanings of the words used

by Swami NammAzhwAr and to propagate it further

to the next generation .

 

(Comments): VaadhikEsari Jeeyar was a brilliant AchAryan.

He wrote some times commentaries , which were some what

at variance with the upadEsams of poorvAchAryAs .Out of

the thoughtful consideration to the great genius of

VaadikEsari Jeyar , MaNavALa Maamunigal salutes

this commentary as " yEthamil panneerAyiram " or

the blemishless commentary of 12,000 granthams .

 

Daasan, Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan