geethA sAstramum nedunthAndaka sAstramum-23

[Guest guest]

Sri Parthasarathi thunai

Srimathe Ramanujaya Namaha

Sri Vara Vara munayE Namaha

Sri vAnAchala mahA munayE Namaha

 

It has been a usual procedure followed by almost all our acharyas to

start a prabhandam/strotra/kavithai with the salutations to the

lord/acharya. Nammazhvar started his thiruvaimozhi as an instruction

to his own mind, “tuyararu sudaradi tozhutezhu en mananE”.

Thirumangai mannan similarly followed his preceptor and starts his

thirunedunthAndakam with “thalirpuraiyum thiruvadi en thalai mElavE”.

The interesting fact is that both of them have used the same

adjective for the divine feet of emperuman. Nammazhvar says

‘tuyararu sudaradi’ which has been interpreted by our poorvAcharyas

as either ‘tuyararukkum sudaradi’ (the divine feet that removes all

our grief) or ‘tuyar arum sudaradi’ (the divine feet that gets

relieved from all grief). Now thirumangai mannan says, “thalir

puraiyum thiruvadi en thalai mElavE” again this has two

interpretations. It is either understood as “thalir puraiyum

thiruvadi en thalai mElavE” (the blossoming divine feet on top of my

head) or “en thalai mElavE thalir puraiyum thiruvadi” (the divine

feet that blossoms while on top of my head).

 

It is quite natural for us to pray for the divine feet of emperuman to

bless us but what is the necessity for that divine feet to blossom on

our heads or what is the sorrow experienced by that sarva shaktan

which is relieved on attaining the jeevatma? These are the questions

that arise in our minds as soon as we read through the above passage.

The answer actually lies in the last paragraph of our previous posting

itself. Imagine a son fighting with his father and leaving the house.

Initially the father is angry with the son. But then when he sees

his son suffering will he feel happy? No, instead he will feel very

bad and literally wait for the instant when the son will change his

mind and come back to him. The father tries to get his son back in

many ways and when finally the son realizes his mistake and returns

back what will be the reaction of the father and the son? The son

falls to the feet of the father and apologizes for his mistakes but

the father doesn’t even remember the fight or whatever mistake the

son has done instead he is fully satisfied and happy that atleast now

the son has come to him and that he need not suffer any more. So the

happiness of the father is greater than that of the son. Similarly

it is emperuman who thrives to get hold of a jeevatma suffering in

this samsAram and when even a single jeevan comes to surrender in his

feet the joy of emperuman is so much that the divine feet blossoms

(thalir puraiyum). The sorrow experienced by emperuman due to the

separation from his dear kid vanishes (tuyar arum).

 

Eating the fruits of sAmsAric pleasures a jeevatma experiences sorrow

but at the same time not being able to realize the jeevatma from this

sorrow emperuman feels worried. Swamy periyavAchan pillai says, “evar

vishaya prAvaNyaththAl vAdinAr; avar evarai peRAmaiyAlE vAdinAr”

 

(en thalai mElavE) those divine feet that adorn the heads of the

nithya sooris has now become a beautiful jewel on my head.

 

Thereby in this single paasuram thirumangai mannan lists out all the

good that emperuman has showered.

 

“prakruthi prAkrudhangalin astayryaththaiprakAsippiththal” [explain

the temporary nature of the achit and chit]

“svasvaroopaththai prakAsippiththal” [explain about the nature of Ishvaran]

 

The above was done by emperuman in the first shatkam [1-6 chapters] of

the geethA sAstram. We have enjoyed the same in the words of azhvar

also.

 

“kaivalyaththil pugAmal thaduththal” [Prevent the jeevan from reaching

the inferior moksha, kaivalyam ]

“thannudaiya svaroopaththaiyum svaroopa prakAsaka mAna

vigrahaththaiyum kAttitharudhal” [To show his svaroopa and his form]

 

Sri Geethacharyan did the above in the second shatkam (7-12) of the

divine sAstram. Again we have explained that along with kaliyan’s

words in the previous postings.

 

“adarkku mElE enakku tyAjyamAna sareeraththilE pugundhu nirpadhu”

[Further he enters and stays even in my body that is worth shedding

even by me]

“adarkku mElE tannudaiya thiruvadigalai en thalai mElE

porundhavaippadhu” [on top of that placing his divine feet on top of

my head]

 

This is the essence of the last shatkam (13-18). In bhagavat geetha

Sri Krishna says, “sarva dharmAN parithyajya mAm Ekam sharaNam vraja”

[leave all your efforts and fall to my feet] here azhvar says that

emperuman himself placed his divine feet on top of his head. Is

there a difference? We will see in the next posting.

 

(To be continued)

 

Azhvar EmperumAnAr Jeeyer thiruvadigalE sharanam

 

Adiyen ramanuja dAsee

Sumithra Varadarajan