Azhvargal thiruppalliezhuchi in Andal's thiruppAvai-7

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Sri Parthasarathi thunai

Srimathe rAmAnujaya Namaha

Sri vara vara munayE Namaha

Sri vAnAchala mahA munayE Namaha

 

“poigaiyAr bhoodhaththAr pEyAr pugazh mazhisai

iyan arul mAran sEralarkOn-tuiyapatta

nAdhan anbartAl thooli narpAnan nankaliyan

edhivar thOtrath thadaivAm engu”

 

Next paasuram, “kanaiththilam kattrerumai” awakens poigaiyAzhvar, the

next predecessor. Generally in sampradayam, sridevi is regarded as

the younger sister and moo devi is regarded as the elder sister.

Here andal refers to azhvar as “thangAi!” “chettai than

madiyagaththu” says thirumaalai paasuram. Here elder sister is

referred to as chettai (jhesta is the term in Sanskrit). Sri

Mahalakshmi took avataram in a lotus flower. Vazhi thirunAmam of

poigaiyAzhvar says as follows: “vanasa malarkaruvadhanil

vandhamaindhAn vAzhiyE” (one who took avatara in a lotus flower)

indicating the birth of poigaiyAzhvar also in

a lotus flower. Due to this similarity it is apt for poigaiyAr to be

called “thangAi!” Andal’s phrase “ninaiththillam sErAkkum” also

suits this azhvar since he is the azhvar who sang “pazhudhE pala

pagalum pOyinavendru anji azhudhEn” (I am crying in fear of loosing

all my precious time in a useless manner). So with his tears this

Azhvars wets his house and makes it messy. Being born in a lotus

flower, the house of azhvar (poigai) itself is always marshy.

 

Kanaiththu: It is a general practice for anyone to clear his/her

throat before starting to talk something. There is no one who talked

before poigaiazhvar. Being the first among the mudal Azhvars,

poigaiazhvar first cleared his throat, which is indicated by andal in

the term kanaiththu.

 

Elam kattrerumai: erumai means mahishee (consort). By lakshitha

lakshanAkramam (a grammar in sanskrit) this indicates “deva dEva

divya mahishee” This azhvar is equated to the divine consort Periya

piratti to Periya perumal. “kandru” here indicates that poigaiyAr has

other Azhvars younger to him to follow him.

 

Kandrukkirangi: He gave his divine paasurams due to the grace (krupai) he had on all of us.

 

Ninaiththu mulaivazhiyE nindru pAl sOra: On thinking about the divine

qualities of emperuman azhvar lost his control and paasurams came

flooding out of his mouth like milk flowing from a cow on seeing its

calf.

 

Paniththalai veezhanin vAsar kadai pattri: Since this azhvar was born

in a lake (poigai) it is natural for anyone’s head visiting his place

to be filled with dew (snow) drops.

 

SinathtinAl….: This is the praise to emperumAn’s rAmAvathara. This

azhvar has sung a beautiful paasuram about Sri rAmA which has slipped

even the divine knowledgeable eyes of the maharishis. “poomEya

mAdhavaththOn thAl panindha vAlarakkan neNmudiyai pAdhamaththAl

enninAn paNbhu” says azhvar. Andal says “manadhukkiniyAnai” as a

parallel term to azhvar’s words “nAmE arikirppOm nannenjE!”

 

EniththAn ezhundhirAi: After singing “pazhudhE pala pagalum pOyina”

with great sorrow (arthi) is it right for you to still keep sleeping?

Enquires Sri godha piratti. Here it is apt to bring to memory the

sutra in mumukshupadi of Sri pillai lokacharya that reads as follows:

“pazhudhE pala pagalum pOyinavendru erandha nAlaikku

koopidukiravanukku vuranga viragillai”(it is not suitable for one who

has cried for loosing all his precious time to still keep sleeping)

 

Anaiththil aththArum arindhu: This brings to our memory the words of

poigaiazhvar, “ariyumulagellAm yAnEyum allEn”

 

With this paasuram andal awakens all the Azhvars elder to her.

Keeping the count of Azhvars to be 12 in number, andal and

madurakavigal are also included in the ghosti of Azhvars. Thereby

this paasuram can also be considered to awaken madurakavigal and

andal. Here narchelvan thangAi! Can be read as narchelvan than

kaiyE! (Hand to the good person). Here narchelvan is none other than

nammazhvar. Nammazhvar gave the divine paasurams of thiruvaimozhi,

which was recorded by madhurakavigal who acted as the hand of

nammazhvar, and hence here narchelvan thangAi can be considered to

refer to madurakavigal

also.

 

Again if we consider narchelvan to be EmperumAnAr then his sister is

none other than andal herself and hence here narchelvan thangAi! Can

indicate towards andal also (“kOdhattra jnAnaththiruppAvai pAdiya

pAvai thangai”, “perumbhoodur mAmunikku pinnAnAl vAzhiyE”). All

these are only anubhavams to enjoy the divine paasurams and hence

questioning if andal can awaken herself becomes senseless.

 

Azhvar EmperumAnAr Andal Jeeyer thiruvadigalE sharanam

 

Adiyen rAmAnuja dAsee

Sumithra Varadarajan