1999 Thiru AdhyayanOthsavam Audio Casette : Part II

[Guest guest]

Dear Sri RanganAtha BhakthAs:

 

AdiyEn will start with the summary of the first

side of this tape dedicated to AchAryALs and

the dhivya Dampathis of Srirangam and other

dhivya desams .

 

First 45 minutes of the tape:

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

 

***The tape begins with a salutation to the uniqueness

of ArchAvathAram among the five forms of Sriman NaarAyaNA

(Para, VyUhA, Vibhava , AntharyAmi and ArchA). The benefits

of ArchA worship by AzhwArs and AchAryAs are next covered .

The special four benefits arising from ArchA worship

are explained as (1) Ruchi Jaathakthvam or the kindling of

the spiritual fire in the mind (2) SubhAsrayathvam or the

attainment of inner peace and tranquility through darsana

soubhAgyam of the beautiful ArchA Moorthy (3) Akshaya

Loka CharaNyathvam or the development of the affection for

the Dhivya dampathis in ArchA form that raises the fire of

Bhakthi further and Bhootha dayaa and (4) anubhAvyathvam

or the enhanced state of spiritual experience that stabilizes

one's dhyAnam and dhArNam preparing one to attain a SadAchAryan

to perform Prapatthi and qualify for MokshAnugraham .The fifteen

aspects of the deep anubhavam Of ThirppANa AzhwAr of the archaa

Moorthy of Sri RanganaathA is described further in the Dec 3,98

Bhakthi posting .

 

*** The excerpts from the sri Sookthi of Sri PiLLai PerumAL

Iyengar (Azhagiya MaNavALa Daasar )known as Ashta Prabhandham

are chosen by the artist first to illustrate the bhakthi of PiLLai

PrumAL IyengAr for ArchA murthys in general and Sri RanganAthA

in particular . These Paasurams are literary master pieces

from the direct disciple of Paraasara Bhattar .The ecstasy and

devotion for the Lord of Srirangam found in these paasurams

of Ashta Prabhnadham earned Iyengar the honorific title of

"Dhivya Kavi " .

 

** The first piece is sung in the morning Raagam BhUpALam

in the viruttham tradition (without ThALam ) to the

accompaniment of Flute . Here the dhivya kavi salutes

the ArchA Moorthys and states that he is going to

offer his salutations in the AnthAdhi form selected

by the Mudhal AzhwArs and Swamy NammAzhwAr ( yERRa

MaNavALan--).The reference is to the Sr RanganAtha

Pathivrathai's ( ThoNDadippoDi's) ThiruppaLLIyezucchi.

 

** The second paasuram is set in Raagam SourAshtram and

is from the section of Ashta prabhandham known as

Thiruvaranga Kalambaham .The TaaLam will be Adhi in

most of the renderings except for KaNDa ChApu for two

pieces dealing with OOnJal of Sri RangarAjan and

Sri RanganAyaki .Mrudhangam joins in now. In this Paasuram ,

Iyengar performs SaraNAgathi at the sacred feet of

the 12 AzhwArs in general and Swamy NammAzhwAr in particular

(Vedham thohutthu Tamizh paadal seytha Vimalan--).

Here thereference is to Madhura Kavi and His AchArya

Bhakthi .

 

**The third Paaauram is set in Raagam Mohanam to describe

the dhivya soundharyam of Sri RanganAthan , His beautiful

face , His eyes full of Mercy , His sacred ThuLasi MaalA and

His dhivya Aayudhams .Iyengar says that there is nothing for

him to fear in this world as long as Sri RanganAthA and His

Aayudhams are with him ( Periya PerumAL Arangan ---).

 

**The Fourth Paasuram is coming from ThiruvarangatthanthAdhi

and is set in Saaveri raagam .Here Iyengar pays tribute to

his Guru parampara starting from Bhattar , EmbAr upward

to Sri RanganAyaki and Sri RanganAthA .

 

** The Fifth verse from ThiruvarangatthanthAdhi is set

in Raagam BhEgaDA and salutes the five AchAryAs of

RaamAnujar and then ends up stating that EmperumAnAr

sitting in the middle of the 74 AchAryAs appointed

by him is his succor and sustenance .

 

** The Sixth verse is from ThiruvEnkata Maalai and

is a salute to ThiruvEnakatamudayAn as GajEndhra Varadhan .

This paasuram is set in the evening raagam of HinDOLam .

Iyengar says that his tongue will not praise any deity

other than SrimanNaarAyaNA standing in the form of

SeshasEkara Vibhu on top of Thirumalai.

 

** The seventh verse is set in the morning raagam of

DhanyAsi and is from ThiruvEnkata Maalai .Here Iyengar

salutes Sri VenkatEsan as the Maayavan , KaNNan ,MaNivaNNan

and Kesavan . Iyengar also states that the Lord's nayana dhIkshai

will remove every fear and Sri Vaikuntam will not be far

away for them , who receive such blessings .We must recall

that Lord RanganAthA spent few years at ThiruvEnakatam hills.

 

** The Eighth paasuram comes from Azhagar AnthAdhi dealing

with the praise of Sri SundararAja PerumAL of Solai malai or

ThirumAl Irum Solai . In the beautiful raagam of Valaji ,

the artist and the group sing about the power of Azhagar

to melt the hearts and the minds of BhakthAs , who

recite His 1000 names (sahasra Naamams) .The song starts

with the words , "Nenjum uruhum , Uyir uruhum--).

 

** The Ninth pasuram is also from Azhagar AnthAdhi

and is sung in Raagam ShaNmuka PriyA ( ParanthAmarai

ThirumAl Irum ChOlai Pazha maRayai--).Here Iyengar begs

his mind to focus on the sacred feet of Azhagar for

his redemption . Sri RanganAthan spent few more years

as a guest of Azhagar at ThirumAlirum sOlai.

 

** The Tenth paasuram is about Thirukkudanthai AarAvamudhan

and is set in Raagam Suddha SaavEri . He asks the Lord :

" Are You really tired form the enormous efforts to

create the Universe and protect it ? Are You the Lord ,

who extended His feet and measured the Universe during

Your avathAram as Thrivikraman? Please speak to me

( Kudanthai kiDanthAi pEsu) ".The question is in

the spirit of Thirumazhisai AzhwAr's paasuram .

 

** The Eleventh paasuram is about Sri Oppiliappan of

AakAsa Nagaram . Here Iyengar states to the Lord that He

had made him think of Him and as a result, he has rejected

all the worldly pleasures . The mood portrayed is

similar to that Of Thirumangai , who declared

"vENDEN manai Vazhkai ViNNagar MEyavanE". This Verse

is set in Raagam Hamsadhwani .The passuram starts

with " Kaiyum Karutthum unakkE adimai--).The spirit

of the paasuram is similar to the famous paasuram

Passage of ANDAL (unakkE naamAtcheyvOm ).

 

** The twelfth verse is about Kaanchi PeraruLALan .

Here IyengAr laments that his mind should be constantly

thinking about Varadhar only and not about anything

else.This piece is set in Raagam Kaapi and starts

with the words : " PoruLAsai MaNNAsai --" .

 

** The thirteenth verse is a marvellous description

of Lord RanganAthA giving His sevai in DolOthsavam

to Iyengar . The Lord surrounded by Nithya sooris ,

Aayudhams , AchAryALs are visualized by Iyengar

and that results in a PallANDu in the spirit of

PeriyAzhwAr from him . This apporva Paasuram

providing a visual image of the Lord swinging

in His dolai and coming towards us and going

away from us is a delight to experience. This Paasuram

is set in Raagam KuRinji , a Janya Raagam of

SankarAbharaNam ( ThiruvAzhar ThiruvAzhi Sankam

Vaazha , Thiruvananthan Garudan SenayArum Vaazha,

--AzhwArkaL Vaazha --yathirAjan adiyAr Vaazha --).

The thALam of KaNDa ChApu fits marvellously

with the rhythmic movement of the Dolai .

 

** The fourteenth Paasuram is from KonEri Appan

Iyengaar , who wished to celebrate the DolOthsavam

of Sri RanganAyaki with Sri RanganAthA on a Panguni

Uttharam day during sErthi sEvai. He was inspired by

PiLlai PerumAL IyengAr's Oosal Paatu for the Lord.

He is a later day poet.Appan Iyengar paints here

a wonderful word picture of the movement of the bangles,

the kinkiNi naadham of the bells attached to the ottiyANam ,

the plesant naadham raised by the ankle ornaments as

Sri RanganAyaki moves back and forth enjoying Her

swing . The gentle movement of Her forelocks in the breeze

(movement of aLakabhArams) and other AbharaNams are beautifully

described in this paasuram set in KamAs Raagam

and kanDachApu ThALam .The title of this paasuram

is " Sri RanganAyaki AaDirUnjal--".

 

This side of the tape concludes with a description of

AchArya RaamAnujA's saraNAgathi at the sacred feet of

the dhivya dampathis and the birth of SaraNAgathi gadhyam .

Swamy Desikan's celebration of Prapatthi is alluded to

in the concluding portion of this side .

 

In the next and final posting , we will cover the contents

of the second side of this tape .

 

Namo NaarAyaNA !

Daasan , Oppilaippan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan