Thirumaalai-29

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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-15

 

“meiyerkkE meiyanAgum vidhiyilA ennai pOla

poiyerkkE poiyanAgum putkodiyudayakOmAn

uyyapOmunArvinArgatkku oruvanendru vunarintha pinnai

iyappAdu aruththu thOndrum azhaganoor arangamandrE”

 

meiyerkkE meiyanAgum vidhiyilA ennai pOla: Emperuman’s originial abode is the

SriVaikundan. But due to his apAra kArunyam he came down to lift us all up to

his nithya vibhoothi and thereby settled in Srirangam and other divya desams.

But we are all so attached to the leela vibhoothi that we refuse to even go

near bhagavan and get lifted from this samsAra sAgaram. So it has been long

since emperuman descended down that now when we ask him to which place he

belongs to, he says I belong to Srirangam forgetting his original abode. Like

many of us, though our grandparents belonged to some remote village we call

ourself to belong to chennai or whichever city we have been born and brought

up. Alwar in this paasuram shows how emperuman acts according to our belief.

If we think him to be true he remains true and if we think he doesn’t exist

then he acts the same. That is why when a robber robs a vigraham in a temple

thinking it to be simply a stone, emperuman remains like a stone and hence

doesn’t do anything to save himself. “yA drishi yA drishi shraddha siddhir

vinthathi mAnavaha:” whatever result is obtained depends on our dedication.

If we have 100% bhakthi then emperuman comes to our call 100%, if we have only

50% faith in him then he turns up to be 50%. Sri Krishna in bhagavat geetha

says, I give you darshan in whatever form or color you wish for. Like a mirror

which reflects whatever is got in front of it, bhagavan also reflects our

feelings. That’s why alwar says “meiyerkkE meiyanAgum” he is true to those who

are true. A nAstikan considers the idols in the temples to be mere stones so

emperuman never shows his magimai’s to them. But prahladan considered bhagavan

to be everywhere even in the pillar so the bhagavan Sri hari appeared

immediately from the pillar. “angu appozhudhe thOndriya en singa piran”.

Sri Ramanuja went in search of thirunArAyanapuram rAma priyan till Delhi. There

in the bhAtsha’s place rAma priyan was enjoying the love of the bhAtshA’s

daughter. When Sri rAmAnuja requested the girl to give him his lord the

princess refused. So the king ordered that if his lord came along with him he

can take him. Ethirajar called, “vArAi chella pillai” and the emperuman came

and sat in the hands of udaiyavar. Everyone was surprised to hear the sound of

the chalangai and to see the idol in the hands of udaiyavar. Others thought it

to be a idol so emperuman didn’t do anything when they carried him to Delhi,

the princess thought him to be his lover so the emperuman did all leelas with

her and ethirAjar thought him to be his chella pillai(beloved son) and hence he

ran to the call of his father and sat in his lap. So however we think of him,

emperuman transforms to the same. Here Sri PVP’s vyakhyAnam goes as follows:

“meiyerkku- than svaroopaththai kAttikkoduppan

poiyyerkku- thannai kAttikkodukkAmal poiyanAi erruppAn”

 

poiyerkkE poiyanAgum putkodiyudayakOmAn: The above words ‘vidhiyilA ennai pOla

can be either joined with the first part or the proceeding part. If we join

with the second part, like vidhiyilA ennai pOla poiyerkkE poiyanAgum then it

shows the naichiyAnusandhAnam of thondaradipodi alwar. It is a greatest

quality of a srivaishnava to consider himself to be the lowest of the lowest.

A true srivaishnava accepts the mistakes, even if it was not his mistake at

all. As andal says, ‘nAnEthan Ayiduga’ and like bharatha in ramanyanam who

accepted that, he was only responsible to send Sri Rama to forest though he was

no way responsible. Similarly alwar considers himself to be a cheat, a poiyen,

who has cheated bhagavan and stolen the kArunyam of bhagavan. But can we

consider alwar to be a cheat, so for us it will be better to combine ‘meiyerkkE

meiyanAgum vidhiyilA ennai pOla’ where we say that alwar is meiyen and emperuman

is also true to alwar.

Alwar said meyyerkkE meiyanAgum and poiyerkkE poiyanAgum, then we will ask who

will become true for those who are true? And who will become false for those

who cheat? Alwar answers, he who has the garudan in his flag will become the

above. Pul in tamil means bird and the king of birds is garudan and the lord

who has garuda kodi is Sriman Narayanan.

 

uyyapOmunArvinArgatkku oruvanendru vunarintha pinnai: Our sastras say

‘Udhisyathe! JAkarathe’. It wakes up the jeevatmas whose eyes are closed by

agyanam. It says if you wake up and believe me I will show you bhagavan. But

it never forces anyway to accept what it says blindly. If you have the bhakyam

you will realize the truth. On the first day, a child is given some sugar to

taste and at the last a hand full of rice is put in our mouth. That is life.

Still inbetween we run to obtain wealth and enjoy the lowkika pleasures. We

lag to think about the lord who is capable of dissolving all our miseries in

this world and take us to the eternal bliss where there is no miseries and from

where we will never return. But if we really have faith in him and understand

he is our only protector then,

 

iyappAdu aruththu thOndrum azhaganoor arangamandrE : he clears all our doubts

and comes in front of us and makes us enjoy his divine beauty. Astonished by

his beauty when we ask him who he is? He says I belong to thiruvarangam and

disappears. If he has said I was rama or Krishna then we cannot see him today

since the avataram is over. If he says I am vaikundapathi or sheerapthinAdan,

then we can never approach his place. But then he said that he belonged to

srirangam which is in this same leela vibhoothi, in the same time of our life

tenure and he is highly accessible by each one of us. Then why should we

hesitate and miss his sevai and kainkaryam?

 

AzhwAr emberumAnAr jeeyar thiruvadigaLE saraNam

Adiyen Ramanuja Dasyai

Sumithra Varadarajan

 

 

 

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