NavamaNi Maalai of Swamy Desikan

[Guest guest]

Dear BhakthAs :

 

In this posting , adiyEn will write an introduction

to another magnificient Tamizh Prabhandham of

Swami Desikan revered as Nava MaNi Maalai.

 

The origin of Nava MaNi Maalai

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

Swamy Desikan settled in ThiruvahIndhrapuram

in his twenties . He already had the special

anugraham of Sri HayagrIvan and Periya Thiruvadi .

He was performing unchivrutthi and KaalakshEpams

there . One day , he had a great urge to have the darsanam

of Sri VardarAjan of Kaanchi . Swamy took leave of

Sri HemAbhja Valli SamEtha Sri DevarAjan and started

on his trip to Kaanchi. He arrived at the banks of

PeNNai river and was resting for the night there .

 

Swamy Desikan's dream and the Lord's command

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

During his sleep that night, Sri DevanAthan appeared in

his dream and commanded Swamy Desikan to return to His

dhivya dEsam and compose Sri Sookthis about Him .

Swamy Desikan woke up and obeyed that command

immediately by abandoning his planned journey

to Kaanchi and returned to ThiruvahIndhrapuram .

 

There he composed 7 Tamizh Prabhandhams ( MummaNik Kovai,

Nava MaNi Maalai , Panthu , Kazhal , AmmAnai , Oosal ,

yEsal) and two Sanskritic works ( Sri Deva Naayaka

PanchAsath and Sri Achyutha Sathakam in PrAkrtham as well ).

Due to our DhurbhAgyam , the five Tamil Prabhndhams

except MummaNik Kovai(MMK) and Nava maNi Maalai (NMM)

are no longer available to us . Even in the case of MMK ,

only ten of the thirty paasurams are known today .

 

The Acknowledgement of the Lord's command to compose

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

Swamy Desikan acknowledges at two places the command

of Lord DevanAthan to compose the Sri Sookthis by him .

At the end of NMM , Swamy records his gratitude to the Lord

this way :

 

" munthai maRai Mozhi Vazhi mozhi nee yenRu

Mukundhan aruL tantha payan peRREnAnE "

 

(Meaning): I accumulated the fruits from the command

of Lord Mukundhan ( Moksha Daayakan ) by executing His

command to compose Sri Sookthis on Him . What He commanded

me was to create Prabhandhams that have their meanings

enshrined in the ancient VedhAs . That adiyEn accomplished

with His blessings by composing seven Tamizh Prabhandhams

and two Sanskrit-based SthOthra granthams on His glories.

 

In the eighth slOkma of Sri DevanAyaka PanchAsath ,

Swamy Desikan refers again to the command of the Lord

on the banks of PeNNai river once again with

a telling upamA (similie):

 

SamrakshaNIyam AmarAdhipathE tvyaiva

DhUram prayAtham api dhusthyaja ghADa bhandham

aakrushtavAnasi BhavAn anukampamAna:

SoothrA anubhaddha Sakuni kramatha: svaym maam

 

(Meaning): Oh Lord Of ThiruvahIndhrapuram !

AdiyEn was deeply tied to the ropes of SamsAram

due to poorva Janma karmAs . That made me stay

far away from You .Inspite of that my unfortunate

state , Your magnificient DayA flowed towards me.

Otherwise , who else could have succeeded in saving

me from my miserable state ? Your immeasurable Dayaa

pulled me to Your sacred feet and set me in the right

track . Your pull is like the pull of the string

attached to the leg of a bird by the owner of

that bird as it flies away from its Lord thinking

that it is independent . Swamy is referring here to

ANDAL's words : UnRannODu uRavu namakku inku ozhikka

OzhiyAthu " and " unRannaip paaDip Parai kondhu yaam

peRum sammAnam ".

 

THUS WAS BORN THE TAMIZH AND SANSKRIT PRABHANDHAMS

ON LORD DEVANAYAKAN AT THIRUVAHINDHRAPURAM INCLUDING

NAVA MANI MAALAI.

 

The Title of Nava MaNi Maalai

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

 

The title indicates that there are nine gems

(paasurams )strung together in the form of

a beautiful necklace for adornemnt by the Lord

of ThiruvahIndhrapuram . The nava (nine) MaNis or

the nava rathnams are equivalent to the nine gems

bequeathed as a treasure to us by AchArya RaamAnujA

for whom Swamy Desikan's reverence was legendary.

Nava also means New or rare . Swamy's choice of

the word "nava" in the title can also be intrepreted to

mean that these paasurams (gems) are apoorva new gems

mined by him for the kaimkaryam to the Lord .

 

The Essence of Nava MaNi Maalai Paasurams

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

 

Paasuram 1: This is a sixteen lined verse

( PathinARu Aasiriya Viruttham) constituted by

Four quartets . The glory of the Lord's sacred

feet are saluted in this paasuram.

 

Paasuram 2: Lord DeavanAthan's dasaavatharam is

eulogized here . Swamy Desikan uses a 20 lined

paasuram ( IrupaattheNN SeerAsiriya Viruttham)

to salute the 10 avathArams and houses these

20 lines in sets of four , each of which containing

five lines .The PurANic reference to ThiruvahIndhrapuram

is also included here. Swamy Desikan seems to have been

inspired by the DasAvathAra Paasurams of Thirumnagai

on Lord DevanAthan . Thirumangai sang only about

Nrusimha, Raama , KrishNa and Vaamana avathArams.

Swamy completed the coverage of the rest in this

one paasuram .

 

Paasuram 3: This verse is is in yezhu SeerAsiriya

Viruttham and focuses on the dhivya leelAs such as

the lifting of Govardhana Giri by KrishNA and

VeerarAghavan 's destruction of RaavaNan and his city .

 

Paasuram 4: This paasuram is in kali Viruttham

and celebrates the famous uthsavam during the month

of Maasi , when the constellation Makam is in ascendance.

On that day , Lord DevanAthan travels to the ocean

near by and has His Thirumanjanam with ocean water .

 

Sri HemAbhja Valli ThAyAr 's other name is Taranga

Mukha Nandhini . As a little child , She enjoyed very

much the sight of breaking waves of the Ocean

touching Her feet in reverence . Her foster father ,

Bhrugu Rishi took Her to the sea side for pleasing

Her.Later , Her husband made Her joyous by traveling

with Her to the same sea side so She can enjoy

the sight of the breaking of the waves .

 

Paasuram 5: In this aRuseerAsiriya Vruttham ,

Swamy Desikan prays for anthima smruthi about

the Lord of ThiruvahIdhrapuram just as he did

in Gopala Vimsathi (adharAhitha chAru vamsanALaa:

makutAlampi mayUra pinchamAlA:, Harineela silA

vibhanga neelA: prathibhA: SANTU MAMAANTHIMA PRAYAANE ).

 

Paasuram 6: Here Swamy asserts that the bhAgyasaalis,

who do not forget the incomparable beauty of the Lord

of ThiruvahIndhrapuram will attain Moksha siddhi (ninn

vaDivazhahu maRavAthAr piRavAthArE )and as a aresult will

never be born again in this samsAric world.

 

Paasuram 7: This paasuram is a prayer for freedom from

the sufferings in narakam ( KaalanAr tamar yennaik

kavarAthu , anRu vanthu ANJAL yenRu aruL ).The reference

here is to "Maa sucha: " section of the Charama slOkam .

Swamy Desikan also refers to GajEndra calling " Aadhi

MoolamE " and the Varadhan rushing to the elephant's

rescue .

 

Paasuram 8: This is a beautiful , lilting

paasuram set in PathinAnku Seer Chandha Viruttham .

Here again Swamy Desikan prays to Achyuthan

( Adiyavarkku Meyyan /Natha Satyan/Sathya Vrathan)

to come to his rescue by offering His RakshaNam

before the Yama DhUthars arrive to cast their noose

on him ( kaala dhuthar veesu paasam yenn mEl vanthu

veezhnthu azhunthi , yaan ayarnthu veezhvatharkku munnam ,

Nee ANJAL , ANJAL , ANJAL yenRu aLikka vENDum ).

The request is for the Lord to declare thrice

the word "Anjal" ( Abhaya pradhAnam )for his sake .

Swamy Desikan will go on to create a magnificient

Sri Sookthi revered now as Abhaya PradhAna Saaram .

 

Paasuram 9: In this yeNN seerAsiriya Viruttham ,

Swamy thanks the Lord for blessing him to compose

the nine Tamizh and Sanskrit Prabhandhams on Him.

He acknowledges that he harvested the fruits of

that Kaimkaryam commanded by the Lord ( Mukundhan

aruL tantha payan peRREn ).

 

Swamy Desikan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,

Daasan , Oppilaipapn Koil VaradAchAri SdaagOpan

..