Peep into Periya/-VachAn piLLai/Thirumozhi -9

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The Greatness of Periya-VAchAn piLLai

THE EXALTED SAGE

 

It is said that proof the pudding is in eating. The taste of sri

periya-vAchAn piLLai's vyAkyAnam will prove its greatness, indicate

his genius.

 

"periya vAchAn piLLai pinbulla vaikkum theriya, vyAkyaigaL seivAl,

ariya aruLicheyal poruLai, AriyaRgatk ippOdhu, aruLicheyalAith

aRindhu' upadEsa rethinamAlai 46;

 

By the Great commentaries, sri peirya-vAchAn piLLai has blessed us to

make us understand the difficult meanings of AzhwAr's works and

realise the great values of aruLich cheyal.

A sample.

 

'..thavam purindh vuyarndha mAmuni koNardha gangaiyin karai mEAl, vadhari AsirmathuLLAnEA" 1-4-8;

A literal transaltion would mean - The sage who got exalted himself by

penance, brough the ganges, where the badri em-perumAn is residing.

 

Who is the exalted sage? viswAmithrA - who raised from a shathriyA to a great sage by his penance.

Who brought the ganges? bhagErathan.

Now this is a contradiction. The exalted sage did not bring the

ganges. bagErathan is the one who brought the ganges .

Here is where the vyAkyAnam comes into play.

 

Interpretaion 1: The exalted sage,viswAmithrA brought sri rAmA and

lakshmANA to the banks of gAnges, where the badrikAsramam is

situated.

" avan shathriyanAyirukkach seidhEayum thapO balathAlEa brahma rishi

AnAniREA.avan perumALaiyum, iLaiya perumALaiyum nadathik koNdu

vandhadhu akkariyEa AgaiyAlEa athaich solliRRAgavumAm"

 

"Though being a shathriyan, sri viswAmithRa by penance became exalted

and attained the status of brahma rishi. He brought along with him,

sri chakravarthith thirumagan and iLaiya perumAL to this banks and

hence we can say that this pAsuram refers to this also"

 

Interpretation 2:

"anRikkEa bagErathan thannaiyEa solluvadhAi, avan kodu vandha gangai ennudhal".

Otherwise, this pAsuram can be taken as referring to bagErathan -as he had brought the ganges.

 

Sri periya-vAchAn piLLai, like his great predecessors, did not force

their views or interpretaion and thrust on others. They pur forth two

opinions and it is for us to take or leave them. That is their

greatness.

 

swAmi periya-vAchan piLLai thiruvadigaLEa charaNam.

 

rAmAnuja dAsan

vanamamalai padmanabhan