"mahanAy-pirandhu..mahanAy vaLara.." (1 of 2)

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Dear friends,

In the 25th Stanza of "tiruppAvai", which is meant to

be recited today (9th Jan) in all our respective

homes, our 'pirAtti' of SriVilliputtur, our poetess

extraordinaire, deals with some of the most weighty

and formidable themes of Veda-Vedanta "sAram", as well

as those of hallowed Srivaishnava doctrine.

 

What are these great themes?

 

I. AndAl first deals with the subject of the "Descent

of God" or what in SriVaishnava parlance is called

"avatAra-rahasyam".

 

The expression "orutti mahanAy pirandhu"

symbolises the esotericism surrounding the "birth" of

the Almighty in prison to Devaki and Vasudevan on one

dark, stormy night, inside a dank dungeon in the city

of Mathura. The city, as we all know, was then ruled

by the evil Kamsa of the Yadava-clan who was hell-bent

on destroying Krishna.

Any devotee who aspires to realize the nature of

"para-tatvam"... the Supreme Being... must necessarily

grasp the significance of "avatAra-rahasya". In order

to do this, he/she must constantly and repeatedly

dwell within his mind upon the anecdotal and

circumstantial accounts given of the Lord's "birth".

PurAnA-s like Srimad-Bhagavatham reveal to us the

reality of the Lord's avatAra and its true purpose.

They contain many many insights into the nature of God

and his "avatAra-leelA-s". When the truth of such

accounts are repeatedly contemplated upon by us and

well-understood ("nanngu-uNarvathal"), then they leave

impressions of their true significance upon our

consciousness. In good time such impressions gradually

kindle within us the birth of a rare spiritual

realization.

 

What is this "realization"? This realization is

not at the intellectual or emotional plane. It is

realization in sheer non-verbal terms at the innermost

layer of our being. It consists of the discovery of

the difference between the 'birth of Man' and the

"Birth of God"... discovery that the 2 are NOT the

same... that the causality of Man owes itself to the

operation of "karma-vinai" (the inexorable cycle of

cause/effect, death/re-birth) while the "birth of God"

is un-caused causality.

 

Further, it is discovery that while the result of

our "birth" is invariably evermore bondage to the

cycle of "karma", the purpose of the Lord's "Birth" is

to free us from those very same shackles of bondage...

in much the same way as the prison-fetters of Devaki

and Vasudevan simply gave way when Krishna was born.

In his "muvAyirapadi", Sri.PVPillai very nicely stated

this idea: "avan piravi namakkenrukOla, nam-piravi

avan mAdhA pithAkkal kAlil-vilangu pattadhu padum!".

 

 

II. Next, AndAl deals with the theme of "unseen

Immanence of God"... "antaryAmi"... i.e. the

"disappearance" or "elusiveness" of God.... The

expression, "orutti-mahanAy ollittu-vaLara" refers to

how Krishna was born in Mathura but vanished in the

course of one night ("Or-iravil") to Gokulam where he

was raised by his foster mother, Yasodha. This

expression symbolises the Immanence of God

("antaryAmi")that ever eludes our understanding.

("tiru-avatarikka-ceyydE antaryAmi pattadu-paduvathE!"

commented SriPVPillai in his "muvAyirapadi" meaning

""descent" and "disapperance" are but natural

concomitants of God!".)

 

III. AndAl next hints at the "karma-kAnda" of the

Vedas by making a fleeting but profoundly significant

reference in this Stanza to "neruppu".... fire... i.e.

"agni".

 

IV. AndAl deals with the "end" of "Veda" viz.

VedAnta... the end of Vedanta being "Liberation"....

The expression 'varuttammum teerndu' signifies eternal

deliverance for the individual "jIvA' ... i.e.

re-birth never again for the soul!

 

V. AndAl also deals with the explicitness of the

"ashtAkshara mantra" in SriVaishnava doctrine

 

VI. Finally, AndAl deals with the esotericism of the

"dvaya" or "dvAdasAkshara mantra" in SriVaishnava

doctrine

 

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

 

Because of the "heavy-duty" load of matters as lofty

as above which this Stanza contains, it is often

referred to by scholars with awe as the "veda-vedanta

sanghamam"... the confluence in the "tiruppAvai" where

the waters of the "karma-" and "gnyAna-" 'kAndA'

streams of Vedic thought embrace one another, mingle

and flow out together once again as one grand

Upanishadic river of Truth gushing its way through the

two mighty banks of the "ashtAkshara" and "dvaya-

mantra" doctrine.

 

Adiyen is woefully lacking in capacity to even attempt

essaying any sort of explanation or commentary for

'pAsuram' #25 of the 'tiruppAvai". It is simply far

too lofty for the grasp of any layman's intellect and

far too sublime for the heart of one like adiyen's to

imbibe... schooled insufficiently as it is in the

SriVaishnava fine art of divining "svApadEsArtham"

from holy texts (interpretations according to

'sampradAya' or orthodox tradition).

 

Therefore, rather than trying to cover all the

aforementioned 6 grand themes of Stanza#25, (as is

traditionally done) adiyen shall attempt to highlight

only one.... the one he believes is the least known or

appreciated by lay Srivaishnavas like himself; and

therefore it is also the one that deserves most

attention.... certainly much more than what legions of

scholar-commentators over the ages have lavished on

the other 5 themes.

 

The theme adiyen wants to highlight is No:III above.

 

Adiyen is keen to show how in Stanza#25 Sri.AndAl

almost unobtrusively but unmistakably discourses on

the essential unity of "karma-" and "gnyAna-kAnda-s"

of the Vedas.

 

It is truly extraordinary the way AndAl cleverly uses

the word "neruppu" or fire ("agni") in this Stanza.

 

adiyen will explain in the accompanying post titled

"mahanAy-pirandhu..mahanAy vaLara.." (2 of 2).

 

dAsan,

SampathkumAran

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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