ThiruppAvai- verse 2

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SrI:

SrImathE Gopaladesika mahadesikaya nama:

 

Dearest all,

 

Let us continue to enjoy the divine verses...

Now is the second verse of ThiruppAvai..

 

vaiyaththu vaazhvIrkaaL! naamum nampaavaikkuc *

ceyyum kiricaikaL kELIrO * paaRkataluL

paiyath thuyinRa paraman ati paati *

neyyuNNOm paaluNNOm naatkaalE nIraati *

maiyittezhuthOm malarittu naam mutiyOm *

ceyyaathana ceyyOm thIkkuRaLai cenROthOm *

aiyamum piccaiyum aan^thanaiyum kai kaatti *

uyyumaaRu eNNi ukan^thu ElOr empaavaay. 2.

 

Having dipped herself in the ever-full pond of Bhagavad

anubhavam, she makes everyone drink the divine anugraham of

Kannan, which is like cool potable water and begins to speak of the

means of surrender to attain moksha and also about the divine

qualities of noble people. She also invites all those who are

interested in seeing Kannan and experiencing Him. She speaks of

the means to attain Bhagavan here. She says, “Having heard of our

grievances and shortcomings He shall come running to protect us,

but we should still perform our ordained duties regularly. Those

that should not be done and should be avoided are six. During the

time of observance of the vratham, one shall not consume ghee, one

shall not drink milk, one shall not use things that attract others

towards them like applying collyrium (mai) to the eyes or using

fragrant materials, one shall not adorn flowers, one shall not

perform any forbidden acts, one shall not hurt others by their

words and should conduct themselves with discipline.

 

One shall dip oneself in the holy water, dance and sing in praise of the Lord,

shall give alms to those who ask as well as to those who do not,

shall perform their ordained duties well and should happily sing

and contemplate on the glories of Paraman who is reclining at

Thiruppaarkadal. Contemplate on the lotus feet of the Lord and

surrender unto them and that shall give us mokshamâ€. The

Azhwars sung the holy feet of the Lord and surrendered unto them.

Andal’s father Periyaazhwar praised the lotus feet of the Lord by

singing “un sEvadi sevvi thirukkAppuâ€. Swamy Deshikan sang

Thiruvengadamalai as “kaNNan adiyiNai emakku kaattum veRpuâ€.

Bhagavad Ramanuja in his gadyam preached to contemplate on the

dvaya manthra, which showed the way of surrendering at the

Lord’s feet.

 

Why is it that Godai here refers to the Paraman reclining on

the milky ocean (paarkadal)? It is because when Paraman is in His

reclining posture, only then can one enjoy His beauty to the fullest

extent. Vishvamitrar, who tried to wake Sri Rama up, dipped

himself in His beauty and totally forgetting his purpose, stood

admiring Sri Rama thinking that Kausalya has been blessed really

to experience this divine beauty of the Lord everyday for twelve

years. Andal, who experiences this divine “bhoga nidra†of the Lord,

wishes that everyone should be blessed with the same bhagyam.

She therefore sings in praise of the Lord’s lotus feet to spiritually

elevate His subjects. She assures them that if they wake up early in

the morning and take a bath, then they shall definitely be the

recipients of Bhagavad anugraham. What is hunger in front of

Bhagavad anubhavam? Once you are immersed in Bhagavad

anubhavam, you would not have the appetite to consume ghee or

drink milk. After that, the food you take, the beetle leaves you eat

or the water you drink shall all be Kannan alone.

 

Here Paarkadal also means Gokulam. In each house, healthy

cows give lots of milk and the pots get filled and overflow. Is it not

to awaken Kannan who is reclining in Nandagopa’s house that

Andal is calling all of her friends to join her? Also during the time of

observance of the festival, if an acharya or a brahmachari or

sanyasi come to us, then we should honor them by giving them

whatever we have with us. If we have nothing with us to offer, then

at least we should help them by sending them to those have the

capability to give them something.

 

In this way Andal preaches the means to attain moksham to

everybody in this samsaara and helps him or her to spiritually

elevate themselves. She preaches the means of sharanagathi, that

is the jivatma after having lost itself, decides to relinquish all the

evil ways and to accept the right path and, with full confidence and

belief in Paraman, pleads at His feet for protection and submits

itself at His feet along with the burden of its protection.

 

Let us enjoy the third verse morrow

Andal ThiruvaDigaLE SaraNam

Regards

Namo narayana

dAsan