Thiruppavai2 Vaiyatthu

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Pasuram2.

Vaiyaththu vaazveergaaL naangaL nampaavaikku

seyyum kirisaigaL keleero paarkadlull

paiyyatthuyinra

paramanadi paadi

neyyuNNOm paaluNNOm naatkaale neeraadi

maiyittezudhOm malarittu naam mudiyOm

seyyaadhanaseyyOm

theekkuraLai senrOdhom

aiyamum picchchaiyum

aamthanaiyum kaikaatti

uyyumaareNNi

ugandhelorempaavaai.

 

Audio files in Tamil

 

http://www.sendspace.com/file/fptiss

 

http://www.sendspace.com/file/yr6xuy

 

Andal

addresses everyone as `vaiyaththyu vaazveergaal'- those who live on

earth. The bhooloka is the most important of all the realms of being, because

here only, one can attain the Lord through bhakthi. The samsara is like a fire

and the bhakthi is compared to a lotus grown on fire. That is, it protects the

devotee from the fire of samsara like a lotus under his feet. Hanuman said when

he was asked to ascend to Vaikunta with Rama that he prefers the earth where

one can hear Ramanama to Vaikunta or any other place. Parasara Bhatta expressed

his wish to remain on earth and continue to do service to Ranganatha rather

than leaving Him and go to Paramapadha.

 

naangaL nampavaikku seyyum kirisaigaL – Andal

enumerates the rites to be observed for

the pavai nonbu. Kirisai is same as kiriyai or acts . Seyyum kirisai,

actions to be done includes those to be avoided also as both are mentioned

here.

 

KeLeero- ` will you hear' – The ears are only for

hearing about the Lord. The word keleero in Tamil can be construed to mean

asking, hearing and following what you hear. Parikshit did all the three and

attained Moksha in a short span of seven days.

 

The rules to be followed in observing the Pavai nonbu are

listed by Andal, which are common to all aspirants or devotees. Kirisai

can be physical, kaayika, verbal, vaachika and mental, maanasika. They are again classified as what should

be and what should not be done. paraman

adi paadi , naatkaale neeraadi , aiyamum pichchaiyum aamthanaiyum

kaikaatti and uyyumaarenni are the

deeds to be done and neyyunnom paalunnom maiyittezudhom malarittu naam

mudiyom, seyyaadhana seyyom and theekkuralai senrodhom are to be avoided.

 

paraman

adi paadi- to sing the glory of the Lord. This is vaachika or verbal

service. naatkaale neeradi is taking bath in the early morning which

denotes kaayika, physical purity while aiyamum--------kaikaatti is

the act of charity and offering which is again physical. uyyumaarenni is

the thinking of the Lord for salvation and it is maanasika, mental.

 

neyyuNN0m paaluNNOm, means giving up ghee and milk which represents rich food and maiyittezudOom malarittu naam

mudiyOm, meaning ` we will not decorate ourselves with eye liner or flowers' both denote physical abstinence and

simplicity of appearance. Seyyaadhana Seyyom, `we will not do anything

which is prohibited' implies control of mind and theekkuralai senrodhom

which means ` we will not carry tales' refers to the control of the tongue.

 

neyyuNNom etc is not something of a great sacrifice

for a bhaktha because he is all the time drinking the nectar of the namasankeerthana

of the Lord and never has any hunger or thirst for anything else Similarly He

finds pleasure in decorating the Lord and not himself.

 

What are Seyyaadhana , not to be done? The two things to be avoided by a bhaktha.

They are akrthyakaranam , doing what should not be done and krthya

akaranam, not doing what is to be done. Not showing reverence to

bhaagavathas, holy men, and the Lord Himself in any form, violence to other

beings, coveting property or women of others, saying evil things and so on

belong to the former class of what should

not be done. Krithya akaranam is avoiding what should be done such as

varnasramadharma , worship and service to the Lord and His followers.

 

TheekkuraLai is talking bad about

others and Andal says Senrodhom. Odhal is repeating and odhom

means `we will not repeat what we hear about others which is theekkurLlai malicious words. Senrodhom ` we will

not go and tell others. Usually the gossip mongers take the trouble of

approaching people to tell something

malicious about others like

Manthara of Ramayana.

 

aiyamumPichchaiyum- aiyam is what we give as an offering

to guru and what is given as dhakshina to priests or biksha to sannyasis or

brahmacharis without their asking for it. pichchai is alms or what is given as

charity or biksha to sannyasis and

brahamacharis

 

aamthanaiyum kaikaatti- We should

give to the best of our ability. A poor man giving few rupees to a needy is a

greater charity than a rich man giving hundreds while he can very well afford

much more.

 

uyyumaareNNi – to experience the

joy of thinking about the attributes of the Lord. To think of Krishna

produces the waves of bliss, aanandalahari, because He is the ocean of

beauty, soundaryalahari, of sweetness, maadhuryalahari, of love, sringaralahari.

 

 

Uyyum aaru eNNi also means according to the

vaishanava acharyas the six limbs of prapaththi or saranagathi, total

surrender. These ideas recur in later pasurams and will be explained there.

Also the dhvaya manthra, sreeman naryanacharaNou Saranam prpadhye Sreemathe

naaraaNaaya namaH, which has

six words

 

paarkadalilpayya tthuyinra - He is lying on the milky ocean as though sleeping . If He really sleeps the

world will be destroyed without His protection. Desika compares Him to a farmer

who puts a shed in his field and come

and stays there for the night to protect his crop. Having created the world He feels that it is His responsibility to look after it.

The crop here is the good souls who believe in Him and look up to Him for protection.

'Parithranaaya saadhoonaam vinaasaaya cha dhushkrthaam.'

paraman- He is

the supreme self. Upanishad says, `na thathsamaschaabhyadhikascha

vidhyathe,' there is none equal or superior. The same idea is

expressed by Nammazvar in the opening verse of Thiruvaimozi `

uyarvaravuyarnalam udaiyavan yavanavan.' Arjuna says, witnessing

the cosmic form of the Lord, ` na thvathsamo asthi abhyadhikah kutho

anyo.'

 

Adipaadi - Of

all the limbs of the Lord the feet are the most sought after because when one

catches the feet of a person he cannot

escape! Narayana Bhattadri says of the feet of the Lord `yogeendhraanaam

thvadhangeshvadhika sumadhuram mukthibhaajaam nivasah, bhakthaanaam

kaamavarshadyutharukisalayam naatha the

paadhamoolam,' The feet of the Lord are considered to be the best of the part of His body by sages, it

is the resort of those wishing for mukthi,it is the wish giving tree for the

devotees.

 

 

.. The whole thiruppavai

speaks of saranagathi or surrender and hence the importance to the feet.

 

The first thiruppavai refers to the ashtaakshara manthra ` om namo narayanaya' as

denoted by the words `narayanane namakke parai tharuvaan.'

This pasuram tells about the glory of the dvaya manthra, namely, shrimannaraayanacharanou saranam prapadhye

shreemathe naaraayanaaya namah' Hence the reference to the thiruvadi, `charanou.' The next pasuram `ongi ulagalandha' refers to the

charamasloka of the Gita' sarvadharmaan

parithyajyu' . Thus the first three verses extol the three sacred manthras of

vaishnava prapaththimarga. Hence the three manthras are called rahasyathraya.

Rahasya here does not mean secret not to be told to anyone as otherwise

Ramanuja would not have shouted the moola manthra from the temple tower but it

means that in order to make it effective one has to learn it from the acharya

with faith and devotion. That is the secret,

the rahasya.

 

 

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