AaadippUram Dhinam

[Guest guest]

Namo Narayanaya

 

Dear BhakthAs :

 

On this subha dinam , adiyEn's prayers

for all MangaLams to these devout groups!

 

Today is also PathinettAm Perukku dinam

reminding us of the flood of dayA of

GodhA Piratti .

 

For the past few days , we have been studying

the individual slOkams of GodhA sthuthi composed

by the great AchAryan, Sri NigamAntha MahA Desikan.

 

The central message of the Prabhandhams of

Godhai is SaraNAgathi and Bhagavath Kaamam

leading to nithya Kaimkaryam to Him and Him

alone.

 

"Anna Vayal Puthuvai ANDAL" bequeathed to us

as Kula dhanams two matchless treasures :

ThiruppAvai and NaacchiyAr Thirumozhi

consisting of 30 and 143 verses respectively.

 

Swamy PeriyavAcchAn PiLlai (MoovAyirappadi) ,

Azhagiya MaNavALa PerumAL NaayanAr ( AarAyirappadi),

Upanishad BhAshyakAra Sri Ranga RaamAnuja Muni

(in Sanskrit ), Periya ParakAla Muni and

the Sriranga Gopura nirmAtha, Sriamath MukkUr

Azhagiya Singar (1978) have blessed us with

their commentaries on ThiruppAvai and brought out

the lofty messages incorporated therein.

 

The year 2000 will see the lengthy and

Scholarly vyAkhyAnam-- benefiting from all the above

VyAkhyAnams-- by Sri U.Ve. Sri P.M.ChakravarthyAchArya

Swamy of Desika Bhavanam , Mylapore .Thanks again

to every one of you , who have joined in this

kaimkaryam.

 

Srimathi KalyANi KrishNamAchAri is writing

movingly on the NaacchiyAr Thirumozhi and

is presenting us with delectable Kadhambha

annam made form the commentaries of Swamy

PeriyavAcchAn PiLlai , U.Ve. PrathivAdhi

Bhayankaram AnnangarAcchAriyAr and Abhinava

Desika Sri U.Ve .UtthamUr VeerarAghavAcchAr

Swamy .

 

One of the scholars of the Prabhandhams of

ANDAL has observed that they portray together

the spiritual journey of ANDAL and Her unparalleled

love of Her Lord KaNNan ( RanganAthan) through

its different stages to its completion and

fruition.

 

Our AchArya taniyans reflect the high esteem

they had for ANDAL and Her Prabhandhams.

"Soodikkoduttha Sudarkkodi" was saluted

by them with Iykhya KaNDam ( In unison and

in one voice).UyyakkoNDAr, the disciple of

Naatha Muni described Her Prabhamdhams as

" NaRR PaamAlai" .He prayed to her for

the blessings of following the path shown

by Her and not to swerve from that path:

 

" nAdi nee Venkatavarkku yennai vidhi yenna

immARRam , naam kadavA VaNNamE nalhu"

 

The great ParAsara Bhattar , the precocious son of

KooranAthan pointed out the cardinal message of

ANDAL about Her unconditional subservience

(paaratanthryam ) and that of every Jeevan

to Him as established by the hundreds of

Upanishadic passages . She woke up the sleeping

KrishNan in ThiruppAvai to remind Him of His

sworn duties .Only a dear Devi of a Lord can take

this liberty with Her Lord on our behalf.

 

ThirukkaNNamangai ANDAn , another great

AchAryan , saluted the bright light born of

PeriyAzhwAr of SrivillipputthUr ( Tenn Puthuvai

vEyar payantha ViLakku) in his Taniyan for

NaacchiyAr Thirumozhi ( alli naattAmari mEl--).

 

Swamy MaNavALa MaamunigaL wondered in one

of his UpadEsa Rathna Maalai Paasurams:

 

" inRO THIRUVAADIPPURAM , yemakkAha

vanrO ingANDAL avatharitthAL--kunRatha

vaazhvAna Vaikunthavaan bhOham tannai ihazhnthu

AzhwAr ThirumahaLArAi" (22)

 

" Is not today , the great day of Thiru

AadippUram , the birthday of ANDAL ,who

disregarding the celestial life in

Sri Vaikuntam , which is forever enjoyable

with undiminished splendour incarnated

as the daughter of Sri VishNucchitthA in

this mundane world for the sake of people

like us ".

 

In the next two paasuram of UpadEsa Rathna Maalai,

Swamy MaNavALa Maamuni wondered aloud :

" Does any other day have the greatness of

Thiru AadippUram , which is the birthday of

ANDAL as the daughter of PeriyAzhwAr ?

O Mind , reflect on it and tell . There

is no other person comparable to Her and

hence there is no other day comparable to Her

birthday " .

 

Swamy MaNavALa Maamunigal is overwhelmed

with the thought about the greatness of

ANDAL and the deep messages in Her Prabhandhams

and asks his mind to praise ANDAL daily with

devotion and delight ( Anjukkudikkoru SanthathiyAi):

 

" ANDAL is the common and unique progeny of

anju kudi( the five families , the God-fearing

group) . Her nature was such , that She out-did

all the other AzhwArs in Her love of Sriman

NaarAyaNan ,and in that love , She ripened

prematurely .O My Mind! May You eulogize

Her daily with devotion and delight ".

 

We will conclude our salutations for our

most merciful ThAyAr on this AadippUram day with

the prayer of Swamy Desikan for the boon

of acquiring Her 173 Paasurams housed in

Her two Prabhandhams born out of Her

unquenchable love for Her Lord :

 

"vEyar Puhazh VilliputtUr AadippUram

mEnmElum miha ViLanga Vittucchitthan

thooya ThirumahaLAi vanthu AranganArkku

ThuzhAi maalai mudi soodikkoduttha MaathE

nEyamudan ThiruppAvai paattARainthum

nee uRaittha Thai oru ThingatppAmAlai-

yaaya puhazh nooRudanAR patthu moonRum

anpudanE adiyEnukku aruL sey neeyE"

---Prabhandha Saaram: 10

 

May Swamy Desikan blessings be with us

to receive through SadAchAryan Jn~Anam

about the two divine works of

Soodikkoduttha NaacchiyAr !

 

Govindhan GuNam Paadum Godhai ThiruvadiKaLE SaraNam

CharamAvathi Daasan ,Oppiliappan Koil SatakOpan

[Guest guest]

Dear Sri Raman :

 

First of all , there is no connection between

Sri VaishNava SampradhAyam and PathinettAM

Perukku of the river Cauvery celebrated by

Women and Childen on the banks of the Cauvery river

with ChithrAnnams ( Different rice based dishes

like Tamarind rice , Lemon rice , Curd Rice et al).

I have an earlier posting in response to

Professor VasudhA Narayanan' s question

on this subject.

 

PathinettAm Perukku is more a social occasion

to be together with family and friends and thank

Cauvery river for Her nourishing waters .

 

After having said that , one has to recognize that

the entire Temple culture of Sri ViashNavAs

have a lot connected with the river Cauvery .

There are 40 dhivya dEsams in Tamil Naadu

and many of them are located on the banks of

the sacred Cauvery river sung by AzhwArs in

their dhivya prabhandhams (Sacred collects).

 

The River Cauvery originates in the Western

Ghats (Sahya parvatham) and flows through

five KshEthrams celebrated for Sayana Moorthys

( Sri RanganAthA on Adhi Seshan )in Karnataka and

Tamil Naadu ( ChOla Desam ). The first KshEthram is

Adhirangam ( Sri Ranga PattiNam in KarnAtakA )

and the last one before Cauvery ThAyAr joins

with her husband , Samudra Rajan (Ocean) near

MayilAduthurai is Thiru IndaLUr ( ParimaLa

RanganAthan's KshEthram/Dhivya dEsam). In between

are Sri Rangam ( KasthUri Rangan) ,Thirukkudanthai

(Hema Rangan) and Vadivazhagiya nambi at Anbil

( Madhya Rangam) .

 

Annai Cauvery makes ChOLa Naadu "SoRRudaittha Naadu"

(abundant in crops ) through Her life giving waters.

Just as Lord KrishNA had Vana BhOjanam ( Picnic on

the banks of river Yamunai) , families assemble

and enjoy this day on the banks of Cauvery

or local PushkaraNi.

 

Srirangam has a special place as the seat of Sri RanganAthA

and our AchAryAs. Here Cauvery river and PathinettAm

Perukku have additional importance . There is a

special uthsavam for Sri ranganAthan this day.

Cauvery is considered the Mother in Law for Sri RanganAthA ,

since MahA Lakshmi is the daughter of Samudra Rajan , one

of whose wives is Cauvery.Therefore , Sri RanganAthan

is the son in law of Cauvery . It is in the island

created by Her that Sri RanganAthA decided to rest

permanently as VibhishaNan was carrying His vimAnam

to Lankhai. That is why , AchAryAs made

Srirangam their choice place of residence.

Swamy Desikan visualizes Sri RanganAthan having His strolls

(Patthi UlA ) on the banks and sands of Cauveri river:

 

" Kamapi Kanaka SindhO: SaikathE sancharantham

anisam anubhavyEam "

 

In the 42nd and 43rd slOkams of Hamsa SandhEsam ,

Swamy Desikan pays tribute to CauvEry river

and its Majestic flow ( pathinettAm Perukku as

it were)while describing the flight of

the royal messenger , the Hamsam (Swan)

taking the message of Lord Ramachandra to

SithA Piraatti at Lankai.These two slOkams

pay special tribute to Cauvery and its enchanting

flow .

 

The river Cauvery has Nithya Sambhandham ( eternal

assoication ) with the Lord of Srirangam and the other

Four RanganAthAs . That is why we take time to

celebrate Cauvery river on this special day in

the Month of Aadi as She rushes with swollen

flow of waters from the just concluded monsoon.

 

The following tribute to Cauvery MaathA is constructed

from the Pasurams of AzhwArs :

 

" GangaiR PunithamAya Cauvery naduvu pattu ,

PONGU neer PARANTH PAAYUM Poompozhil Arangam

tannuLL , VeLLa Neer paranthu Paayum Viripozhil

Arangam TannuLL , TeLivillaa Kalangal neer

Soozh ThriuvarangattuLL, Tazhuppariya Santhankal tadai-

varai vaayeertthukkoNDu , THEZHIIPUDAYA CAUVIRY

vanthadi thozhum SrirangamE".

 

One can compose a huge paasurappadi on

the sacred river Cauvery and Her sambhandham

with the Lord as seen by th eeyes of AzhwArs

and AchAryAs. AdiyEn will stop here

for now with ananthaKoti pRAnaMAMS

TO CAUVERY-RANGAN

 

At 11:35 AM 8/4/00 +0400, you wrote:

>

>Namo Narayana !

>

>Dear bhaktas

>I would be grateful if anyone could give me more detail on the " ADI

>PADINETTAM PERUKKU" day. Meaning behind, why, what do we usually do on

>this day, it's significance in the Sri Vaishnava Samprayam.?

>

>Many Thanks

>Andal tiruvadigale saranam

>Narayana Narayana.