Thiruppallandu Avatharikai

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Sri:

Srimathe Ramanujaya Nama:

 

Dear BhAgavatas,

 

This posting is a translation of Sri Periyavaccan

Pillai's avathArikai to Periyazhvar's Thiruppallandu.

I respectfully submit this to the scholars in this

forum and look forward to your comments and

corrections. Needless to say all errors in this poor

effort are mine alone.

 

The article is available on the web as well at

http://www.acharya.org/azhvar/periyazhvar/tpallan00.html

 

I have also translated it into simple Tamil using

Adhawin font and it can be read at

http://www.acharya.org/azhvar/periyazhvar/tpallan00-tml.html

 

adiyEn madhurakavi dAsan

TCA Venkatesan

 

--

 

Sri:

Srimathe Ramanujaya Nama:

 

Thiruppallandu Avatharikai

Excerpted from Sri Periyavaccan Pillai's Vyakyanam

 

Sriman Narayana is the Lord of all, the source of all

and all beings are enslaved to Him. Yet, the

realization of this knowledge, which would lead them

to His service and liberation, is lacking in beings,

leading them to close association with their bodies

and this world, and false ownership of the same,

neither of which last much time. Armed with this

incorrect knowledge they think that they are the

lord of their surroundings and ignore the bliss of

being attached to Him. Latching on to the karmas

that come out of this behaviour they wallow in

them. Seeing this, the Lord, in order to set them

on the right path of reaching Him, gave them the

Vedas and other Sastras and Himself shone through

them.

 

However, due to their attachment to their karmas the

beings ignored this evidence and its importance and

so He came down to them as Sri Rama, Sri Krishna and

other avatars. In Rama avatar, as Sri Rama He

established the duties of a person to obey his elders

words; through Sri Lakshmana He showed that a soul's

duty is service to the Lord; through Sri Bharata He

showed that kainkaryam to the Lord is attained by

great attachment to Him; and through Sri Shatrughna

He showed that the highest form of service to the

Lord is service to His devotees. As Sri Krishna, He

taught everyone what true dharma is and how to

follow it. Thus, He made clear to them what their

relationship is between themselves and Him. But,

because one who is far above them came down to

their level and lived amongst them, they rejected

His Lordship and refused to listen to His words.

 

Therefore, just as a hunter would catch an animal in

the forest using one of its own kind, He decided to

teach the beings of this world using a fellow being

and sent Periyazhvar to this world. Thus,

Periyazhvar's vaibhavam states that even those that

were not set in the true path by the Sastras and His

avataras were saved by Periyazhvar's birth.

 

Periyazhvar naturaly possessing His service in his

mind took to providing flowers for Him by

maintaining a flower garden near His temple.

 

Periyazhvar is also considered greater than the other

Azhvars for the following reasons. Whereas the others

did service to the Lord so that He may save them,

Periyazhvar considered His safety as everything to

himself. They were attached to Him so that He may

remove their fears, while Periyazhvar was afraid of

what might happen to Him and looked for ways to

removing those obstacles.

 

Similarly, Thiruppallandu of Periyazhvar is

considered greater than the prabhandams of other

Azhvars for the following reasons. Sastras such as

the Vedas, Puranas etc. can be learnt only by a

select few. In Thiruvaymozhi of Nammazhvar, the

trinity of godheads is spoken of in some places,

thereby forcing one to study it carefully and

understand the inner meanings of those words. Such

issues are not present in Thiruppallandu.

 

Sri Mahabharatam is so vast that sometimes it is

difficult to figure out what is the true meaning of

the work. The pranavam, even though posessing all

the meanings of the Vedas in it, is so compact that

one has to study it extensively to understand all

its inner meanings. Unlike both, Thiruppallandu is

made of twelve stanzas and explains the true meaning

of service to the Lord in an easy fashion.

Additionally, as mentioned by Periyazhvar himself,

this prabhandam has the ability to take those that

recite it to the Lord's lotus feet.

 

In this pasuram, Periyazhvar upon seeing the Lord

with His consorts in this world, fears for His well

being and sings that such things should not fall on

Him and that His auspicious and divine glory should

grow forever.

 

A question might arise, that seeing the Lord who is

bereft of anything bad, should not one be requesting

one's personal upliftment rather than praying for His

glorification. The answer is that after seeing Him,

Periyazhvar submerged in the Bhakti that flowed

immediately and as such forgot His unlimited glory

and power and assumed that His glorification as his

own upliftment and started singing.

 

Another question might arise, that while Bhakti to the

 

Lord should free the mind, shine the light in and help

 

reach Him, how come it can be said that it clouded

Periyazhvar's mind into singing for His glorification.

 

The answer is that this is nothing new to Bhaktas.

The residents of Ayodhya had worshipped all dEvatas

to protect the guNas of Sri Rama who is the protector

of all these dEvatas. Despite knowing that Sri Rama

had defeated Thataka and other asuras, upon hearing

that Sri Parasurama had come against Sri Rama, Sri

Dasaratha feared for his son and when Sri Rama won,

he felt that he and his sons were born again. Sri

Kausalya also prayed for the glorification of Sri

Rama. The Rishis of Dandakaranya also prayed for

the well being of Sri Rama who had come to save

them. Sri Sita who knows of the greatness of Sri

Rama also glorified Him and prayed to the eight

directions to stand in His protection. Even after

seeing Sri Krishna born with the conch and discus

in His hands Sri Devaki and Sri Vasudeva fearing

for His well being from Kamsa prayed to Him to hide

His form.

 

Such behaviour is also seen in this world often. A

mother who had a child after much waiting would be

worried about its well being all the time, even when

the child is under full protection. A person who

obtains a priceless gem would stay concerned about

its safety even when it is well protected. Being

such, it should be no surprise that Periyazhvar

was worried about the most beauteous, the most

precious Lord when seeing Him in this world.

 

The question may arise that, such behaviour is alright

 

for those who are trapped in this world and whose

knowledge is covered with ignorance; how would this be

 

alright for Periyazhvar who has received the

uncorrupted, clear knowledge from the Lord Himself;

how could he swap the fact that He is the protector

and he is the protected. The answer is that, in the

matters of this world it would be inappropriate to

switch roles; however, in the matter of the Lord such

swapping when made in a manner of praising Him is

acceptable.

 

In addition, such praising of the Lord after realizing

 

the relationship between ourselves and Him is actually

 

brought about by that true knowledge itself. The

highest form of being enslaved to the Lord is wishing

the greatest glory for Him without considering one's

self. This high truth of the Vedantas is what is being

 

stressed in Thiruppallandu.

 

In the first two pasurams, Periyazhvar wishes the well

 

being and glory of the Lord. In the next three

pasurams, he calls first those who are enslaved to

the Lord and later even those who are enslaved to

their own selves as well as to the material world.

In the next three pasurams all these beings join in

with Periyazhvar. In the next three pasurams

Periyazhvar and the others sing the glory of the

Lord. In the last pasuram, Periyazhvar mentions

the fruit of singing these pasurams.

 

Periyazhvar Thiruvadigale Saranam

Sri Periyavaccan Pillai Thiruvadigale Saranam

Azhvar Emperumanar Jeeyar Thiruvadigale Saranam

 

 

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