Thirumaalai-26

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Srimathe Ramanujaya Namaha

 

“ Mattrondrum vEinda Maname Madhilarangar

Kattrinum meitha kazhalinai keezh- uttra

Thirumaalai paadum seer Thondaradipodi Emperumaanai

Eppozhudum peesu”

 

“ Srimat Krishna samahvaya Namo yaamuna soonave

yetkadAkshai kalakshyAnAm sulabha: Sridara: sadaa”

 

Pranams,

 

Paasuram-12

 

“namanum murkalanum pEsa naragil nindrArgal kEtka

naragamE suvargamAgum nAmangal udaya nambi

avanadoor arangamennAdhu ayarththu vEzhthaliya mAndhar

kavalayul padukindrAr endru adanukkE kavalgindrEnE.”

 

Till now alwar tried to explain the essence of nAma sankeertanam and make people

utter the nAmas of bhagavan. But then he found that the people, who are not

ashamed to even talk about their mistakes, are ashamed to utter bhagavan nAma

even in a group. So now alwar says there is a way out for such people also.

Since bhagavan nAma just on listening gives the result. Sri PVP says,

“shravana mAttraththAlE thirunAmam uththAragam endru muthkalO ubhakhyAna

mugaththAlE solli” Alwar in this paasuram explains how just listening the

ThirunAmam of bhagavan takes us to his feet with the help of a legend stated in

Vishnu dharmam.

 

ThirunAma keertanam is not at all difficult like ashtAngayoga or tapas in the

middle of panchAgni. But still people do not do it since they feel shy. Can

anyone feel shy to say the name of his/her father? But somehow these ignorant

people say they feel shy and never do bhagavat/bhAgavata kainkaryams. Bhagavan

says, “Visrujya lajja yO jeetE man nAmAni nirantharam kula kOdi samAyuktha:

labathE mAmakam padham”(Who ever leaves his shyness and utters my nAmA always

he and his predecessors attain my feet very soon). That is why sadhoos who

feel sorry for the baddha jeevatma, who never utter bhagavan nAma, go to each

street and do ThirunAma sankeertanam so that atleast the bhagavan nAma will be

heard by one and all. Even andal says “hari endra pEr aravam”. ThirunAma

keertanam should always be done loudly so that all can hear and get benefited.

Srivaishnavas never act selfishly. They work for the welfare of all.

 

MutkalO upakhyanam

 

There was a brahmana called Mutkalan. He once gave some alms to someone and

unknowingly said krishnArpanam. Due to his innumerous papas after his death

the yama dhoodhas took him to narakam. But on seeing mutkalan, dharma

raja(yaman) stood up and welcomed him with great respect and honour. The yama

dhoodhas were totally astonished to see their king do such a thing that too to

a maha papi. Mutkalan was surprised himself. When they asked yaman why he did

such a thing, he replied that mutkalan has done one great punyam inspite of all

his papams. What did he do?, asked the yama dhoodhas. YamA replied loudlu

that he had uttered Krishna nAma once. At that instant the whole narakA was

converted to svargam. Alwar recollects this story in this paasuram.

 

namanum murkalanum pEsa naragil nindrArgal kEtka: Naman is yaman or dharma

raja. He and mutkalan was talking and the others in the naraka was listening

says the alwar. The dialogue between the two has been explained in the above

paragraph.

 

naragamE suvargamAgum nAmangal udaya nambi: In this line alwar explains the

magimai of bhagavan nAma. He says emperuman has a nAma which is capable of

even converting naraka to svarga lokam. How is that possible? Once yama

loudly uttered Krishna nAma and said since mutkalan has uttered this nAma once,

he has done a great punyam all the others who were hearing this also lost their

papams and immediately the naraka was converted to svarkam. Here alwar doesn’t

say that all of them were sent from narakam to svarkam since the nAma has such

magimai that it doesn’t even allow anyone to wait to go to svarkam instead it

converts the place where he is itself to svaka loka. Even in this world if we

keep uttering the nAma of bhagavan always we enjoy the bliss as in svarka. A

house where all are bhagavatas is a svarga by itself since perumal likes to

stay in such houses where always bhagavat bhAgavata kainkaryams are done.

Before the rAma-rAvana uddham lanka was a Asura puri but immediately after the

war it was converted to a bhAgavata puri with vibheeshana, a parama bhagavatan

as the king. So converting our own house or street or town or city to naraka

or swarka all lies in our hands. That is why we are adviced to stay in divya

desams where we get satsangam and hear bhagavan nAma and bhagavat guna

kalashepam and ghosti every time. Is there any other moksham more than this?

Here we get to memory alwar’s previous paasuram “Achchuvai perinum vEnden”.

 

avanadoor arangamennAdhu ayarththu vEzhthaliya mAndhar: Alwar feels very bad

for those who do not realize that the bhagavan whose nAma magimai is explained

above, saying that it can even change naraka to svarka, stays in Srirangam.

People think emperuman is some where in Srivaikundam but do not realize that he

has by his great krupai come down for the benefit of all of us and even now is

lying in srirangam for even a nastikan to see. Without knowing this people are

falling into never ending miseries. Alwar wants to pull all these people from

the samsaric miseries and show them the path to emperuman’s feet. Only for

this iam singing these paasurams says alwar.

 

kavalayul padukindrAr endru adanukkE kavalgindrEnE: The people get involved

themselves in the lowkikam and are always under some tension. If they

understand that the emperuman who can give them all the happiness is waiting to

help them out in srirangam, then they will be saved from these miseries and

tensions. So in this paasuram alwar is trying to impart this knowledge to one

and all.

 

PVP’s vyakhyanam: A person was in his death bed. Let us make him tell the

bhagavan nAma(namo nArAyanA) once so that he will attain good gathi, thought

alwar. So he went to that man and slowly explained that he had come to do good

for him. Alwar told him, you need not say the whole of sahasranAmam or hear me

say the Upanishads(Anandavalli) but just say once “namO nArAyana” which is just

8 letters. The man replied “Am Agil solliparkirEn”(if so I will try telling

it) again this is also 8 letters only. With this the man breathed his last.

Such was his fate he could have uttered namo narayana instead of what he

uttered, both where only 8 aksharas but he was not destined to do so. So

whatever hard alwar tries to make us all utter bhagavan nAma we lowkikas find

various other ways to not utter the same.

 

We will continue in the next posting. Till then let us all utter the bhagavan

nAma at all times and enjoy the sweetness of the nAma in our mouth and mind and

the same spreading throughout the whole body.

 

AzhwAr emberumAnAr jeeyar thiruvadigaLE saraNam

Adiyen Ramanuja Dasyai

Sumithra Varadarajan

 

 

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