Thirucchandha Viruttham : Paasurams 2, 3 and 4

[Guest guest]

Jai Sriman NaarAyaNa !

 

PraNaamams to the Sadhas adorned by

Sri ParamahamsadhyEthi Thridandhi

Chinna NaarAyaNa Jeeyar !

 

Personal PraNAmams to the revered Jeeyar ,

who responds with alacrity and compassion to

the many doubts and questions of BhakthAs,

SishyAs and abhimAnis inspite of the many

pressing demands on His precious time !

 

RaamAnuja Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan

 

Dear Professor Krishnamurthy:

 

Here is adiyEn's brief response to Your request:

 

The three Thirucchandha Viruttham (TCV)paasurams that you are

referring to is part of the set of the first five verses of

Thirumazhisai AzhwAr's Dhivya prabhandham (TCV). This whole prabhandham

is a companion piece to the earlier Prabhandham of the AzhwAr,

Naanmukhan ThiruvandhAthi (NMT) that dealt with the establishment

of Sriman NaarAyaNan as the Para Tatthvam (Para Tatthva Nishkarsham).

 

Swamy Desikan summed up NMT Prabhandham that set

the stage for TCV this way: "maRRai chamayangaL pala

therinthu MaayOn allAl Dhaivam maRRilai yena uraittha Veda

sezhum PoruL " ( after analyzing in depth the doctrines of

many other philosophies , AzhwAr declared the quintessence of

VedAs as that Sriman NaarAyaNan is the Supreme Principle

(para Tatthvam ).

 

In the Thirucchanda Viruttham , Thirumazhisai AzhwAr deals

at the highest level , " The cosmic categories " of this Para

Tatthvam. The tremendous word play , the lilting chandas

(metre) , the nectar of Vedic and Upanishadic doctrines

are the hall marks of the paasurams of TCV. The deep meanings

can only be understood from the scholarly commentators of

this Prabhandham like PeriyavAcchAn PiLLai.Swamy Desikan's

salutation to this great prabhandham is : "mey mihuttha

Thirucchandha viruttha paadal" . This means " veda nool Odhuhinra

uNmai" or the supreme truth taught by VedAs in one voice

( eikya kaNDam ): Sriman NaarAyaNan is the antharyAmi for

all Tatthvams , categories of existence with their source in

the Brahman doctrine of the Upanishads .

 

Now coming to the first four paasurams of TCV , here are

their short meanings as per Sriman K.C.VaradAchar Swamy.

The detailed meanings of the individual Paasurams of TCV will

be covered in the Oppiliappan List due to brevity reasons :

 

The First Paasuram:

********************

 

" Having become the five in the Earth , in the water the Four,

in the Fire the Three, in the strong wind , the Two , in the above

(Ether) the One , becoming distinguished as different from these,

WHO CAN KNOW THY BEING ? " (TCV: PAASURAM 1).

 

AzhwAr deals precisely with the categories of existence in

this paasuram and wonders about the mysteries of our Lord ,

who is the indweller of all of these categories.

 

The Second Paasuram

********************

" Being the Six (duties referred to in Manu smruthi) ,

the Six ( Seasons), and the Six (YaagAs) , being worshipped by

the Five ( YajanAs) , the five (PrANAs) , and the Five

(Agnis) , He who is the excellent Two (rtham and amrutham) ,

the Three ( leelAs of the Lord) , the Seven ( seven general

pre-requisits for Bhakthi yOgA ), the Six ( Shad GuNAs ) ,

and the Eight ( divine qulaities of a Muktha jeevan) ,

having made distinct knowledge , being the True and

the deluder , the Self of the Five ( Para, VyUha , Vibhava

Haardha and Archaa ). He the Lord is verily a magicican (Maayan)".

--TCV: Paasuram 2.

 

In the first Paasuram , AzhwAr pointed out that it is not easy

to comprehend the Lord as the Tatthva Roopi among the three

doctrines : Tatthva -Hitha-PurushArtam . In the second and

the third paasurams , AzhwAr declares that is not also easy

(without the anugraham of sadAchAryans) to comprehend Him

as the Hitha Roopi or PurushArTa Roopi.

 

Third TCV Paasuram:

*******************

" Having made the five(bhUthAs) and the Five (TanmAthrAs)

and five (sense organs ) and the Five (motor organs)

(merge) in the three (manas,ahamkAra and Mahath) ,

and having made them into One (pradhAna or Moola Prakruthi) ,

and having becoming the Self to all these as Purusha or

Athman , Thou art thus the FIRST CAUSE. Who can see in

the world the Five (transcendent forms of Thee ) becoming

(established) in the five places for the enjoyment through

the five sense organs and the five motor organs".

 

The doctrine of IsAvAsyOpanishad : "IsAvAsyam idham Sarvam

yath kinch JagathyAm Jagath " is elaborated here.

 

Fourth Paasuram of TCV:

***********************

The sarva-Vaachaka-Sabdha Brahman is evoked and saluted here.

The Para-VyUha-Vibhava-Haardha-ArchA moorthams of the Lord

elaborated in the PaancharAthra Samhithais are also

referred to here . The thirty nine vibhava bhEdhams

(divisions as Vibhava moorthys) ,the most dominant

three sets of Five among these 39 , the 12 VyUhAntharams

( KesavAdhi VyUhAntharams), SankarshaNa-Pradhyumna-

Aniruddha -Para VaasudEva Roopams are also saluted

in this paasuram besides the Lord's manifestations

at the Milky Ocean , Soorya MaNDalam and VishNu lOkam.

AzhwAr wonders about the mystery of such a Great One

entering His hrudhayAkAsam and staying there .

 

The Fifth Paasuram

*******************

This is in response to a hypothetical disclaimer

from the Lord about His not having done anything and it

was Brahma Devan , who created all the Prapancham and

facilitated the Lord to become the antharyAmi in all

the objects of the world. AzhwAr responds in the spirit of

Sam~jnA Moorthy KlapthyadhikaraNam : It is all Your sankalpa

Leelai . You are indeed the primordial One for all

the creations in this world including the Creation Of

Brahma Devan himself ,Samashti , Vyashti and sarva Srushti.

You are Aadhi Moorthy . You created Samashti , performed

ThruvithkaraNam and laid down in the middle of the Milky

Ocean as Sriman NaarAyaNan and there You created Brahman

from the Lotus that arose out of Your Naabhi (PadhmanAbhan).

Thus You are the sarva-Moolam for all including the Brahma Deva.

He did not create anyhting independently.

 

Towards the end of this Prabhandham Thirumazhisai asks

in a state of wonder : " Should n't the mind seek out that

happiness of being United to Thee (Vasthu PoorNan ) alone ?

 

Additional write ups on TCV and NMT are housed in

the Bhakthi archives for further study. KaalakshEpam under

a SadAchAryan is the best way to comprehend the subtle

TatthvArthams of AzhwAr Paasurams .

 

NaarAyaNa , NaarAyaNa , NaarAyaNa

[Guest guest]

Jai Sriman Narayana !

 

Thanks to Sri Sadagopan Swami for the post.

We would love to know the inner meaning of the

whole TCV, which abounds with profound vedantic

philosophy.

 

Thx,

 

rAmAnuja-dAsOsmi

Vasavi R.

 

, Sadagopan <sgopan@c...> wrote:

> Jai Sriman NaarAyaNa !

>

> PraNaamams to the Sadhas adorned by

> Sri ParamahamsadhyEthi Thridandhi

> Chinna NaarAyaNa Jeeyar !

>

> Personal PraNAmams to the revered Jeeyar ,

> who responds with alacrity and compassion to

> the many doubts and questions of BhakthAs,

> SishyAs and abhimAnis inspite of the many

> pressing demands on His precious time !

>

> RaamAnuja Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan

>