A Peep into Periya ThiruMozhi 196

[Guest guest]

Srimate SrivanSatakopa

Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

The Terazhundoor Emperuman

 

Thiruvukkum-ThiruvAgia selva-dheivathukkarasEa...

TirumArbA-nediyAnEa....

 

Having seen what Sri Tirumangai Mannan has to say about Terazhundoor, its

fabulous flora and fauna and the men and women of the place, shall we finally

enjoy Azhwar’s inimitable verses on the Lord of this divyadesam? The purpose of

dwelling on the peripheral matters first, was to afford readers an idea of the

extremely favourable impression the place had made on Azhwar and to emphasize

how all the learning, all the prosperity of Azhundoor was a conducive factor

for Bhagavat bhakti and anubhavam, just as “seer malgum Aayppaadi” was, for the

Gopis.

 

What impresses even a casual reader of these 40 pasurams, is the extremely

endearing epithets and addresses that Azhwar reserves for this Emperuman. We

wonder whether Sri Ramanuja, while composing his Gadyams, drew inspiration from

these pasurams, which contain the choicest of sobriquets for the Lord. Here are

a few, for a sample—

 

“Deivatthukku Arase!” “Tirumaarba!” “Tiruvukkum Tiru aagiya Selva!”

“Maalvanna!” “Mazhai pol oli vanna!” “Cchandoga!” “Pouzhiya!”

“Taitthireeya!” “Saama Vediyane!” “Nedumaale!” “Neenda Tol udayaai!” “Iyya!”

“Parane!” “Madhavane!” “Madhusooda!”

“Narane!” “Naaranane!” “Arane!” “Panbaala!” “Pavitthirane!”

“Andaa!” “Aayaa!” “ Kaar vanna!” “Endaai!” “Nediyaane!”

“Putkodiyaai!”

 

Perhaps these are the only group of pasurams, in the entire 4000, to contain so

many endearments addressed to the Lord and show Sri Kalian’s insatiable thirst

for naama sankeertanam. Azhwar is loathe to sticking to the thousand names of

the Vishnu Sahasranamam and coins many new and extremely sweet sobriquets for

Emperuman, each emotive and expressive epithet bringing out newer and newer

aspects of His glory. The other day, I came across a catalogue of Emperuman’s

tirunaamams (“naamaavali”), compiled from Divya Prabandam, and predictably,

most of the names were culled out from Periya Tirumozhi. When we read the

poignant pasurams of Parakala in conjunction with the glorious Gadyams of Sri

Ramanuja, we readily understand the prayer to the latter, for blessing us with

the esoteric purport of the former’s outpourings—“Engal gadiye! Iraamaanusa

Muniye!.....Mangayar kon eenda marai aayiram anaitthum tangu manam nee enakku

taa!”

 

It is interesting to note that four of the names Azhwar bestows on Emperuman

relate to His association with the Shruti, perhaps in expansion of Sri

Nammazhwar’s words, “Ulan sudar migu surudiyul”. Not content with saying merely

that Emperuman has the Shruti as His eternal abode, that He is to be seen

through the wise eyes of the Shruti alone, that it is He alone who knows its

eternal and esoteric purport, Sri Tirumangai Mannan mentions each and every

section of the Shruti independently and associates Emperuman with

them—“Chhandoga! Pouzhiya! Taittireeya! Saama Vediyane!”—relating the Lord with

the Chhandogya Upanishad, the Kousheetaki Braahmanam, the Taittireeya Samhita

and the Sama Veda as a whole. All this demonstrates Azhwar’s erudition, his

boundless veneration for the Shruti, and his conviction that it is the Shruti

that shows up Emperuman .

 

Srimate Sri LakshmiNrisimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana

Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

dasan, sadagopan