Thirumaalai-36

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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-20

 

“pAyum neer arangam thannul pAmpanai palli konda

mAyanAr thirunanmArvum maragadhavuruvum thOlum

thooya thAmaraikangalum thuvaridhazhpavalavAyum

Ayaseer mudiyum thEsum adiyarOrkku agalalAmE?”

 

pAyum neer arangam thannul pAmpanai palli konda: As she approaches Srirangam

kAveri flows with high enthusiasm. Kaveri is very dense at this point. She

flows like a young girl awaiting her union with her woodbe eagerly. She comes

and splits into two and embraces periya perumal like a garland. Emperuman

embraced by kaveri lies happily on the bed of Adhishesha.

 

mAyanAr thirunanmArvum maragadhavuruvum thOlum: This emperuman who lies on the

adhishesha has “ashcharya seshtidangal”(surprising actions) and hence is called

as mAyanAr. For some people only some part are beautiful(avayavashobha) and for

others totally they are beautiful but not all parts are individually

beautiful(samudhAya shobha) but for periya perumal, each part is beautiful and

he has samudhAya shobha also. It is absolutely not possible for us to enjoy

the whole beauty of the bhagavan, so alwar now tries to just get the essence of

it. Now that we know that we cannot enjoy fully can we just get away? No! once

if we have seen periya perumal we can never take our eyes out of him. That is

why kamban says,”thOl kandAr thOlE kandAr, thozhu kazhal thAl kandAr thalE

kandAr………”. He is a large ocean of beauty that is why alwars and acharyas try

to enjoy him part by part(pAdhadhi kEsandha varnanai). First alwar saw the

beautiful chest of the bhagavan in which periya piratti(jagan mAtha, nithya

shree, anapAyini) resides. She never leaves that place “agalakillEn eraiyum”.

She resides there to do purushakAram on behalf of all jeevatmas at all times to

the bhagavan. So alwar enjoys the serthi of perumal and thAyAr first. Since

thiru resides in his chest it has become thiru-nan-mArvu. Then alwar raised

his vision to the broad shoulders of the bhagavan.

 

thooya thAmaraikangalum thuvaridhazhpavalavAyum: Then alwar further raised his

vision to the thirumugam of the bhagavan. All alwars usually get immersed only

in the lotus like eyes and the coral liked mouth of the bhagavan. We have seen

this earlier too. Here once again thondaradi podi alwar enjoys the pure eyes

of bhagavan which never knows any cheating. Eyes reflect our mind. Bhagavan

has no friends or enemies. He loves each and everyone of us and hence his eyes

are always filled with karunai and krupai to lift us up. That is why alwar

calls bhagavan’s eyes to be ‘thooya kangal’. The lips of bhagavan always have

a sweet smile in them to make us easily approach him without fear. Like a

flower blossoming his lips also are always blossomed. When we see them we

naturally get attracted to the beauty and run towards him.

 

Ayaseer mudiyum thEsum adiyarOrkku agalalAmE: Finally alwar enjoys the

thirumudi’s beauty and says this will never leave our vision. In RamAyana,

when perumal came in the streets of ayodhya, valmiki says only perumal was

moving and all others where immersed in his beauty and the crowd was so much

that no one could move even a bit. So each one stayed in their own places

enjoying the beauty of perumal. Even after Rama pirAn entering the palace, the

people stilled remained in their own places since the beauty of Perumal has been

so much established in their minds that they still assumed perumal to be on the

streets in front of them. So alwar says adiyarOrkku agalalAmE. He never

leaves the vision of his bhakthas. As they see him, they want to see more and

as they see more they want to see him again and the cycle continues. Sri Ramar

is “sadhaikka priya darshanaha:”(his beauty is appealing to all).

Though alwar here says that his thirumeni doesn’t leave the vision of adiyars

PVP says that his beauty is so powerful that it doesn’t stop with attraction of

his bhakthas like us but continues even till those who consider him to be their

enemy. “edhirigalukkum okka agala pOgAdhu”

Srimad Bhagavatam says,”vairEnayam nrupathayam shishupAla poundra sAlpAdayaha

Gathi vilAsa vilOka natyaihi…………..punath kim”. Andal says, “kEtpAr sevi sudum

keezhmai vesaivugalE vaiyum”. ShishupAla and his group were always engaged

only in talking ill of the bhagavan, Sri Krishna. Though Krishna did nothing

wrong to them still they developed a hatred for Krishna. Surprisingly they too

talked the same matters about the lord which the other Krishna bhakthas talked,

but in a negative sense. They commented on the color, smile and walk of

Krishna which the bhagavatas immensely enjoyed. The beauty is that this group

which talked ill of Krishna always at all times talked the same thing due to

their hatred. But still their concentration was always circled around bhagavan

and hence they meditated more on him, even more than the bhakthas. When Krishna

went as pandavadhoodha to DuriyOdhana’s court, vidhura asked Krishna to

reconsider his decision since he will be illtreated there. But Krishna

insisted on going, since he didn’t want to leave room for people in future to

say that if Krishna has adviced duriyodhana, then he could have stopped the

war. So though unwillingly but due to the love in Krishna vidhura also

accompanied Krishna to the court. But as Krishna entered the court all the

members stood up without their knowledge and where quiet for sometime deeply

involved in the beauty of the bhagavan. If the beauty of bhagavan has such

power to attract even those who considered him to be their enemy then what to

say about his bhakthas, wonders Sri PVP.

 

AzhwAr emberumAnAr jeeyar thiruvadigaLE saraNam

Adiyen Ramanuja Dasyai

Sumithra Varadarajan

 

 

 

 

 

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