PeriyAzhwAr's ThiruppallaNDU Paasurams: Part VI( TheThird Paasuram )

[Guest guest]

Dear BhakthAs :

 

Beofre we go on to the third Paasuram , let us

enjoy the meanings of the first two Paasurams since they

contain the meanings of Ashtakshara Manthram as

described in the previous postings.This will provide

a continuity to the upcoming ThiruppAllANDu Paasurams .

 

The first two pasurams of the ThiruppallANDu are held in

such high esteem that they are always recited in full

in Sri VaishNava AaarAdhanams both at the beginning

and end .

 

Mudhal Patthu--Mudhal Thirumozi : PallANDu(Hailing the Lord)

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(Meaning according to Dr. V.K.S.N. Raghavan): Many years ,

Many years , Many thousands of years , Many Crores and

Millions of Years , Oh Lord of blue emerald hue and mighty

shoulders (arms) that vanquished the mighty wrestlers

( of KamsA's court ) ! May Your bewitching , beautiful

pair of feet be protected ! May You live long ! May you

live long forever ! Let no evil - eyes befall You that may

harm Your bewitching form and beautiful feet !

 

Mudhal Patthu- -IraNDAm Thirumozhi : AdiyOmOdum

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(Meaning according to Dr. K.C.Varadachari): May Thou

along with ourselves , Thine inseperable servants ,

live for everlasting years ! May She (SrI Devi) adorning

Thee as ornament residing on Thine right chest , live for

everlasting years ! May the luminous , blazing sharp disc

in Thine right hand capable of annihilating foes be preserved

for everlasting years ! Let Thine conch (paanchajanyam) ,

whose sound pierces through the clanging din of weapons

in the battle be preserved for everlasting years !

 

Third Paasuram of ThiruppallANDu

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Vaazhpattu ninReeruLLeerEl vanthu maNNum MaNamum koNmin

koozhAtppattu ninReerkalai yengaL kuzhuvinil puhathalottOm

yEzhAtkkalam pazhippilOm nAngaL irAkkathar vaazh , Ilangai

paazhALAhap-padai poruthAnukkup-pallANDu kooRuthumE

 

(Meaning according to Dr. V.K.S.N.Raghavan): If You are an ardent

devotee in doing service (unto the Lord) , which is itself the great

purushArTam ( ultimate goal of life) and supreme bliss , come and

join me to carry the mud and sandal paste( fragrance) for distribution

as the prasAdham at the ankurArpaNam uthsavam.We won't permit

in our midst those who serve others for food (i-e., aspirants of other

fruits save Bhagavath Kaimkaryam). Bereft of blemishes (e.g, seeking

the help of other gods and yearning for other fruits ) all through

the seven generations , we sing PallANDu ( May You live long) in praise

of Sri Raama , who with His army , waged war against the RaakshasAs of

Lankaa and destroyed them (thoroughly) .

 

Summary of Four Commentaries

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1) Sanskrit Commentary of Upanishad BhAshyakArar

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Commentary for the First line of the third Paasuram :

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" VaazhAtppattu ninReeruLLeerEl vanthu maNNum maNamum koNNmin "

 

BhagavAn's disposition (reethi) is that He alone should not be

enjoying the bliss ( Sa yEkAki na ramathE , yEka svAdhu na bhunjeetha) .

The Lord delights in His BhagavathAs sharing that bliss with Him .

Following that reethi of the Lord , PeriyAzhwAr is not content with his own

MangaLAsAsanam alone of the Lord ; hence , he invites Jn~Anis ,

KaivalyArTees

( those who enjoy and stop at aathma saakshAthkAram or AathmAvalOkanam)

and IsvaryArTees ( those who just seek material wealth ) to join him in

the MangaLAsAsanam for the Lord through the next three Paasurams .

 

In the First of this set of three paasuram s , AzhwAr starts with

the invitation to the Jn~Anis to join him in the MangaLASAsanam .

 

The Jn~Anis have the one and only goal of gaining freedom from

the sorrows of SamsAram . They know that the indhriyams are

given to us for engagement in Bhagavath Kaimkaryam ( KaraNa kalEbhara

parigruhasya Bhagavath paricharaNaika arTam ithi jn~Athavantha: ).

They enhance their Svaroopa satthai this way and engage in single-minded

kaimkaryam to their Lord. With this nishtai ( determination and dedicated

efforts) , they come to be known as Jn~Anis , who are dear to the Lord .

AzhwAr invites the Jn~Anis to share the MangaLAsAsana rasam .

 

PeriyAzhwAr asks such Jn~Anis to carry the Mud (MaNN) and the fragrance

(MaNam/sandal paste ) used in the ankurArpaNam portion of the Uthsavam

for the Lord.

 

MeemAmsakAs explain the meaning of the use of the two words : MaNN and

MaNam . MaNN according to them is that good fortune (adhrushtam) acquired

through the cognition of the objects by sight . This is called "

SannipathyOpakArakam".

 

MaNN ( the specimens of earth used in ankurArPaNam ) is an object of

cognition by the eye .Since we use that which is seen by the eye for

Bhagavath kaimkaryam , it is called SannipathyOpakArakam .

 

MaNam is not identified by the eye. It is only cognized by the senses

such as smell and related to thereafter. Kaimkaryam done with such

objects ( fragrance of sandal paste ) and the adhrushtam arising through

their use is known as AaradhupakArakam .

 

AzhwAr invites the Jn~Anis as competent adhikAris to join him in using

MaNN and MaNam as examples of SannipathyOpakaaraka and

AaradhupakAraka vasthus for Bhagavath MangaLAsAsan Kaimkaryams.

 

Second Line of the Third Paasurams

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" KoozhAtpattu ninReerkaLai yengaL kuzhuvinil puhathalottOm "

 

Sanskrit Commentary of Upanishad BhAshyakArar:

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" chamUshasya-kruthE dhAsatayA sTithAn YushmAn asmadheeyE

samaajE ( ParamaikAnthinAm SamAjE ) na pravEsyAmA : , BhavathAm

pravEsam naanumanyEmahi ".

 

AzhwAr draws a line on who can join his ghOshti . As the group belonging to

ParamaikAnthis ( who will not even look at anyadEvathAs and seek any thing

for their vishaya samruddhi from the ParamAthmA ) , Jn~Anis are invited

to join the AzhwAr. Others , who seek material blessings and serve others

( Kings, other gods ) are called PrayOjanAnthara-pararkal. They seek goals

other than Moksham and ParamaikAnthithvam . AzhwAr excludes the joining

of such prayOjanAnthaparars from his ghOshti. Sri R.S. Desikan and

B.L.RanganAthan have translated this section in English this way :

 

" Ye slaves of men , you are not of us

Only ye that hunger for the freedom

of your souls , come unto us

and join our choir eternal

We have been for generations

a stainless , glorious band of men

ever devoted to the

sevice of the Lord "

 

AzhwAr says that with all these disparities and differences

between us , it is not possible for us to come together as

a ghOshti. Therefore , we wont let you in to our ghOshti of

ParamaikAnthis and ananya prayOjanaparALs. You may be

a Bhagavath BhakthA but you are engaged in other prayOjanams .

Hence we wont let you into our group.

 

Third and Fourth Lines of th Paasuram

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" yEzhAtkkaalum pazhippilOm naangaL

Iraakkathar vaazh Ilangai

paazhALahap-padai poruthAnukku

PallANDu kooRuthumE "

 

Devoid of any blemishes ( seeking other gods or yearning

for other fruits ) all through seven generations , we sing

PallANDu to Lord Raamachandran , who with His army

fought the raakshasAs of LankApuri and destroyed

them all with His parAkramam .

 

2. Sri Periya ParakAla Muni's Commentary highlights

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In the first two paasurams , PeriyAzhwAr hailed long life for the Lord

and His Devis and aayudhams all by himself . He was not satisfied

in performing MangaLAsAsanam all alone . He wanted to invite others

who are qualified to join him . He invited the Jn~Anis to join him

in that PallANDu kaimkaryam.

 

" Jn~Ani thu ParamaikAnthi" is the definition of Jn~Anis.

They do not look at other gods than Sriman NaarAyaNan

as their Lord ; they do not seek any other prayOjanams

than performing kaimkaryams to the Lord ( Bhagavath Kaimkaryam

alone). AzhwAr invited the Jn~Anis to join him for the Mrudh

sangrahaNam portion of the ankurArpaNa Kaimkaryam ( MaNN

KoLmin ) . " MaNam koLmin " is the next exhortation to the Jn~Anis.

Bringing of the other saamagriyAs for the uthsavam such as

Sandal paste, fragrant flower garlands are indicated by the use

of the term "MaNam ".

 

When those other than Jn~Anis heard the invitation , they stepped up

to join the ghOshti . AzhwAr now drew the line and expressed clearly

who he had in mind to join the ghOshti : ParamaikAnthis only and

not prayOjantharaprars . He tells others , who pursur multiple interests

and other gods that he will not let them in the ghOshti of Jn~Anis /

paramaikAnthis ( KoozhAtpattu ninreerkaLai yengaL kuzhuvinil

puhathalottOm ).

 

Form seven generations in our Kulam , we have been blemishless

(free from blemishes like anya dEvathA upAsanam and seeking

purushArTams other than Moksham = " yEzhAtkkalam pazhippilOm

NaangaL " ) . Lord Raamachandran is the delight for our minds

( Raaman yenkaLudaya manathukku iniyavan) . He is the One ,

who pulverized the city of LankA protected by oceans and ramparts

and killed all the raakshasAs . His lotus like soft and red feet walked

over the sEthu built by His army and put an end to RaavaNan and

his kulam , dhanam and Iswaryam . To those "Sevvadi " , we hail

limitless years of glorious existence says PeriyAzhwAr.

 

3. Thirukkudanthai Desikan's Commentary Highlights

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ParamaikAnthis are Bhagavath PrApthi KaamarkaL ( One

who wish to reach Parama Padham and perform Kaimkaryam

to the Dhivya Dampathis there ). AzhwAr invites these like-minded

ParamaikAnthis to join in enjoying the MangaLAsAsana rasam .

PeriyAzhwAr seeks the proper adhikAris to join him in Bhagavath

MangaLAsAsanam (aaLL thEduhirAr). He asks the Jn~Anis

to hurry up and join the ghOshti carrying " MaNN and MaNam "

for PerumAL's ThirukkalyANam starting with ankurArpaNam

( Paalikai kottuthal function ).

 

When the unqualified ones tried to enter this ghOshti , AzhwAr

disqualified them because of their vyApAram of signing themselves

to mere mortals for gaining food and reminded them that they

should be "NaarAyaNa ParAL " if they want to enter this ghOshti.

AzhwAr reminded them that his kulam is free of any blemishes

in Bhagavath Kaimkaryam for seven generations . AzhwAr concluded

with the statement that his ghOshti will perform MangaLAsAsanam

for Lord VeerarAghavan , who destroyed the RaakshasAs of LankA

to overcome the lapse by others in performing such MangaLAsAsana

Kaimkaryam at the end of the heroic war at LankA .

 

4. Thirukkudanathai RanganAtha Swamy's Commentary Highlights

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It has been recommended that it is bhAgyam for ParamaikAnthis

to see the ghOshti of Jn~Anis and join that GhOshti ( adiyAr

tangaL inbamihu perum kuzhuvu kaaNN , adiyArhaL kuzhAngaLai

udan kooduvathu yenRu kolO? ) . AzhwAr invites therefore the Jn~Anis

( Bhagavath PrApthi Kaamar) to join in the ghOshti to share

the MangaLAsAsana rasam . AzhwAr invites the JnAnis to

join with him in the performance of Sarva Vidha Kaimkaryam

(MaNNUm MaNamum koNmin ) .

 

"YengaL kuzhuvinil puhathalottOm " : AzhwAr categorically rejects

others , who seek perishable and transient material wealth or

engage in anya devathA aarAdhanam , from entering his ghOshti .

 

The rejected people ask the AzhwAr : why are you so heartless

and consider your group as unique ? What is so unique? AzhwAr

responds : Our kulam for seven generations has been free of

any blemish of seeking prayOjanams other than Bhagavath PrApthi

and has not engaged in worshipping other gods for alpa siddhis.

AzhwAr points out that his ghOshti is blemishless for seven

generations ( " YezhAtkkalam PazhippilOm " ) and that is what

makes it unique .

 

AzhwAr reminds the ghOshti that they will be performing MangaLAsAsanam

for the victorious Raamabhadran , who destroyed the VaNangA Mudi

(na NamEyam ) RaavaNan and those who assited him in his adharmic

acts and made LankA a cremation ground (SmasAna sadhrusee ).

 

Our PallANDu to RaavaNa SamhAri , Sri Raamachandran !

 

PeriyAzhwAr ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,

ThUppul KulatthadiyArkaL adiyAr poRRp-padham pORRi

Daasan , Oppiliappan KOil VaradAchAri Sadagopan

 

Srimate Sri Laksminrisimha Divya Paduka Sevaka

Srivan Satakopa Sri Narayana Yatindra Mahadesikaya Nama: