sharanagathi in tirrupavai

[Guest guest]

Dear Sri Jyothi

 

Let me share with you the articles from archives on Saranagati tattvam

in Thiruppavai..

 

I am referring to Sri Anand Karalapakkam Swami's write up and Sri

Satakopan Swami's article.

 

Hope this helps

Regards

Namo Narayana

dAsan

*****

 

The 29th verse of Thiruppavai is the essence of Saranagati tattvam. It

is the most wonderful and divine pasuram.

 

Dear BhakthAs: This is the Third of the PradhAna-

BhUtha Thiruppavai PaasurankaLs ( 27,28 and 29th) ,

where the name of Govindhan is invoked for the third

time . In Sankalpam , we invoke the name of Govindhan

thrice : Sri Govindha Govindha GovindhA . This paasuram

is like Sankalpam for Bhagavath DhAsyam .The name of

" GODHA " is inside the name of Her lord: " GOvinDHA " .

When we say Govindha, Govindha, Govindha three times ,

we invoke the name of GOdhA embedded in there .

 

This 29th paasuram is the last of the ThiruppAvai paasurams ,

where ANDAL concludes Her Prabhandham in the role of

a Gopi describing the feelings of fellow Gopis performing

Paavai nOnbhu . In the 30th Paasuram (Vangakkadal Kadaintha ) ,

ANDAL speaks with Her own voice/ThAnAna Tanmayil Paadiyathu .

 

Until now , the Gopis under the leadership of ANDAL

were mentioning " paRai " and were seeking it from the Lord.

In this paasuram , they elaborate on the meaning of that

paRai . They state the true purposes of their performance

of the nOnbhu as threefold : (1) Our objective (uddhEsyam)

is to perform nithya kaimkaryam at Your holy feet (2)We can

not live away form You even for a second(3) Please banish

any other thought or desire that might interfere with

the fulfilment of the above two uddhEsyams (PBA Swamy).

 

SuddhAnandha Bharathi sums up the purport of this Paasuram

as: " Let us always , even unto our 7th birth be with Thee ,

serving Thy will alone ! Oh GovindhA ! Change all other

desires in us into this unique aspiration to be Thy

humble servant " .

 

Upanishad BhAshyakArar describes the plea and goal of

the Gopis this way: " Itha: Param , SarvEshu Janmasu

thvath SwAmikA yEva Bhavaama:, tavaiva Kaimkaryam

karavAma: , asmAkam vishyAnthara spruhAm nivarthaya " .

This is the summary ofthe meaning of " yeRRaikkum

yEzhEzh piRavikkum unn-thannOdu uRROmEyAvOm ,

unakke naamAtccheyvOm , maRRai namm kAmangal

mArrElO " .

 

In the previous paasuram , the angams of Prapatthi

were alluded to. In this paasuram, the fruit (phalan)

of the Prapatthi is described and the Phalan

is placed at the sacred feet of the Lord ( Phala

SamarpaNam).

 

The Literal Meaning of the Paasuram (Dr.Raaghavan )

***************************************************

Oh Lord GovindhA! May You listen to us (the cowherd

girls) (1) who approach You at the very small hours of

the day-dawn , and (2) who bow down to You , the purpose

and aim of our singing in praise of Your golden , lotus-like

pair of feet. You, who took birth in the race of us,--

the cowherds, earning our livelihood by grazing and rearing

the herd of cattle , can not deny us the humble (divine)

service (to be rendered unto You). Hearken , Oh Lord ! it is

not only that we desire to receive the drum (from You) today

(lit. in this sojourn of birth) , but we desire , in fact ,

that let us be ever --throughout the births , sevens of

generations --the kith and kin of You , let us perform all

kinds of Kaimkaryams to You alone; You make us rid of

other desires !

 

The commentaries on Individual paadha vAkyams

**********************************************

(1)SIRRAM SIRU KAALE VANTHU : AruNodhaya Kaalam chosen by

the Gopis out of great desire to assemble and arrive

at the mansion of the Lord is referred to here .They want

KrishNA to know that the intensity that drove them to

undertake this nOnbhu inspite of the cold and time.

 

The time at which the Jn~Anam about the Lord happens

is the siRRam siRu Kaalam .AzhwAr says in this context :

" kaalai nann jn~Anat thuRai padinthAdi " . The dawning of

the Jn~Anam about EmperumAn through SadAchArya Upadesam

is this SiRRam SiRu Kaalai. The time from Prapathti to

the shaking of the mortal coils is the SiRRam SiRu

Kaalam for the Prapannan. This is the time , when MunivarkaL

and Yogis rise gently and start Hari nAma sankIrthanam.

 

Gopis seem to say that it is difficult to see You (KrishNA)

once the day has dawned. You would go on to the pastures to

graze the cows and that is why we have come to see You

at the siRRam siRu Kaalai at Your mansion .

 

Andal reminds us of the KshaNa Karthavya upAyam of

Praaptthi ( that which is done in siRiya kaalam )

with the invocation of the words, " siRRam sIRu kaalE " .

 

(2)VANTHU UNNAI SEVITTHU:Gopis ask KrishNA to think

about the way they came in that cold morning with

dew drops on their heads .They remind Him that they

have come driven by their fears about their

aakinchanyam and ananya gathithvam and have come to

worship Him and pray for Kaimkarya Sri. " Unnai " here

reminds Him of His dayai towards aasrithAs for

whom He has declared earlier that he will forsake

everything dear to Him to protect them ( saraNAgathAs).

" Sevitthu " refers to the Veda Vaakyam: " BhUyishtAm tE

NAMA Ukthim vidhEma " .We have come here with anjali bhaddha

hasthams since we know about our mElayAr's saying :

" Ohr anjaliyum uNDaRukka maattAthu " . You melt like sugar

in water ,when a Bhakthan stands before You with anjali

mudhrA . That indeed is anjali Vaibhavam. Therefore we have

come before You at the early dawn withfolded hands(sEvitthu).

 

(3)UNN PORRAAMARAI ADIYE PORRUMPORUL KELAAI: AzhwAr

showed us the way: " KaRRinam mEyttha Yenthai KazhiLiNai

paNimin neerE " . Your Thiruvadis are Parama BhOgyam .

" PoRRum " means the eulogy without expecting anything

in return. " PallANDu paaduvuthaRkku PallANDu paaduvathE

Phalan " ( the fruit of singing pallANDu is the singing of

pallANDu itself). With EmperumAn's anugraham , the one who

sings pallANDu has the phalan of singing pallANDu (pORRi )

many , many times .This is the poruL of our pORRuthal.

 

(4)KURREVAL:KuRREval can be split into KuRu+yEval. This means

sakyamAna-yEval or the Kaimkaryam commanded by the Lord .

This is the " ozhivil kaalamellAm udanAi manni " seyyum

Kaimkaryam. This is the " vazhuvilA " kaimkaryam with out

any blemish.

 

(5)YENKALAI ( KURREVAL YENKALAI): Here the Gopis say

that KrishNA should not reject their kaimkaryams

(KurrEval yenkalai koLLAmaR pOhAthu).Gopis ask

for five items:(1)You (The Lord) should accept our

kaimkarayms(2) We have not come here seeking drums

and Kodi, but we seek uninterrupted kaimakryam

to You (3)We should never ever be devoid of

the relationship of Seshathvam ( You as Swami and

us as Your servants: uRROmEaavOm) )(4)Because of this

seshathva-sambhandham , we are seeking Kaimkaryam

(5)Please bless us so that our minds will stay away from

anything and everything other than You and permit us

to perform Sarva dEsa, Sarva Kaala , Sarva avasthA

kaimkaryams .

 

As parmaikAnthis , the Gopis do not expect any rewards

other than Kaimkarya PrApthi. The Gopis remind Him that

it is not a situation of " dEhi mE dadhAmi tE " ( I will

give You this and You will give me that).They seek

kaimkaryam at " Srimathou Hari Charanou " without

any bhEram pEsuthal.

 

(6)MARRAI NAMM KAAMANKAL MAARRU: Here , " Unn TannOdu

uRRamOyAvOm " depicts the meaning of PraNavam in

AshtAkshara Moola Manthram; " UnakkE aatccheyvOm "

refers to NaarAyaNa Sabdham in Moola Manthram;

" MaRRai Namm kaamankaL maaRRU " refers to the " Nama: "

sabdham .

 

(7) MAARRU: Our Lord has the power to transform

attachment of any kind and turn it towards Him.

He is Sarva VasIkaranan. He will never abandon

a Prapannan. He will corect them , when they stray

and bring them back to His fold once again.

 

The inner meaning of this Paasuram (PerukkAraNai Swamy)

*******************************************************

: " Oh Lord! Please listen to the fruits of performing

SaraNAgathi ( KshaNa Kaala Saadhyam) at Your lotus feet

and engaging in MangaLAsAsanam of those holy feet !

You (who was born in our kulam to bless us )should

accept our ( pasu prAya Jeevans)kaimkaryams and

grant us Moksham. We are not desirous of Isvaryam

of the world and Kaivalyam . Oh Lord ! You as

sarvaj~nar ( Omniscient ) should comprehend this

clearly.We will always be cognizant of our Seshathvam

to You as Sarva Seshi.We will perform Sarva desa,

Sarva Kaala , Sarva avasthA Kaimkaryams. We will

deflect the joy of our Kaimkaryam to You alone

( Phala SamarpaNam).

 

 

SaraNAgathi nOnbu : In thiruppAvai, nAchchiyAr

(AndAL) most mercifully explains about the parama

hitam viz.SaraNAgathi alias Prapatti and how

Sriman NArAyaNA acts as the " upAyam " (means) and

the " upEyam " (goal). This is the most important

knowledge one should posses. All other knowledge

if it doesn't make one finally understand this hitam,

will invariably make one undergo the repeated birth

and death cycle in this samsAra. Since thiruppAvai

explains the parama tattvam (Sriman NArAyaNa-

the supreme reality), parama hitam (prapatti) and

parama purushArtham (kainkarya sAmrAjyam at

Sri vaikuNTham) beautifully, it is very highly

regarded by our AchAryAs.

 

d. Seed for vEdAs : ThiruppAvai is rightly revered

as the seed for vEdAs ie. " vEdam anaiththukkum

viththAgum " . The rich swApadEsams from thiruppAvai

makes it as a seed for explaining the whole gamut

of vEdAs. Infact, one can go on and on about the

various vEda vAkhyams explained by nAchchiyAr

through the words and phrases appearing in the

pAsurams. There are many phrases in thiruppAvai

which were highly inspiring to our AchAryAs like

ALavandAr and BhAshyakArar to interpret many

upanishad vAkhyams properly. AndAL blesses one

with the proper jn~Anam to understand vEdAs through

this thiruppAvai itself.

 

e.Combination of iyal, isai and nAdagam : Another

most admiring feature of thiruppAvai is the most

wonderful combination of iyal( poetry), isai(music)

and nAdagam (drama). NAcchiAr Herself says " sangath

thamizh mAlai muppadum thappAmE " . ThiruppAvai's

poetic composition by itself is beyond words. Added

to that, thiruppAvai is a " pAmAlai " highly fit to

be sung. When these two combine, one will very

esily get bhagavad anubhavam. DrAmA is the

most effective medium of bringing out various

types of emotions related with bhagavad anubhavams

and thiruppAvai by itself is in the form of a

drAmA (what happened so is presented as a drAmA).

Thus, when the great poetry and music is combined

with the effect of drAmA ( " thiruppAvai pAttu ARu

ainthum " , 6 scenes with 5 pAsurams for each scene),

one's deep involvement with thiruppAvai is beyond

any question.

 

f. ThiruppAvai is a mantram : ThiruppAvai is a

mantram that can benedict all the purushArthams (

but, most importantly, the reciter will be blessed

by AndAL to get sadAchArya sambandham and have

the prapatti performed by the blessings of the

AchArya). The reciter of thiruppAvai becomes most

dear to PerumAL.

 

Some may doubt as to whether Divya Prabandhams

will have the power of " mantrams " . But,

nAthamunigaL clearly demonstrated without any doubt

about the great power of divya prabandham - that

they too have the potency like that of a mantra.

nAthamunigaL being a great yOgi, performed the

japam of kanninunsiruththAmbu for thousands of

times and obtained the sAkshAtkAram of NammAzhwAr.

Such is the glory of divya prabandhams.

 

To know more about the glories of divya

prabandhams, one needs to remember the incident

of govindar's ( empAr) conversion. By the trick

of yAdavaprakAsar, govindar, the cousin of rAmAnujar

became a staunch shiva bhaktA and this pained the

heart of emperumAnAr very much - since govindar was

so fortunate to take birth in a Srivaishnava family

and so close to obtain the kainkarya sAmrAjyam at

paramapadam, and now went far away from that path/

sampradAyam. Thus, thirumalai nambigaL took the

task of converting govindar back to Srivaishnava

sampradAyam and started the upanyAsam on Srimad

rAmAyanam, near to the place where govindar( a

nAyanAr then) will procure flowers for shiva pUjA.

Since NambigaL was the greatest authority in

rAmAyanam, it attracted many people's attention

there and they were spell bound by the kalyANa guNAs

of rAmapirAn and were listening to it with tears in

their eyes. But, govindar never got disturbed by

rAmAyanam and just carried out his job routinely.

NambigaL then started bhagavad gItA and explained

well about the paratvam of PerumAL. Then also,

govindar was stubborn. As a last resort, NambigaL

started the upanyAsam on the drAvida vEdam

thiruvAimozhi. The most nectarian pAsurams of

our dearmost nammAzhwAr started drilling the heart

of govindar and when it came to " emberumAnukkallAl

poovum poosanaiyum thagumE ? " (2.2.4) ie.

" Except emperumAn nArAyaNan, which other deities

deserve worship through flowers? " , govindar jumped

down from the tree and threw out the rudrAksha mAlai

and the flowers, and prostrated flat unto the

thiruvadi of NambigaL with tons of tears from his

eyes and repented a lot for his deeds - loudly

uttering " thagAdhu thagAdhu (for anya dEvatAs) and

emperumAnukkE thagum " .

 

This is the power of divya prabandham. What the

likes of rAmAyanam and gIta can't achieve, was

easily achieved by the DrAvida vEda. Divya prabandham

deeply melts one's heart and makes the svaroopa

jn~Anam blossom and obtain highest taste for bhagavad

bhAgavatha kainkaryam.

 

ThiruppAvai especially is highly sacred. This is a

highly mangaLakaramAna (very auspicious) divya

prabandham. It is filled extensively with mangaLa

vAkhyams (AndAL Heself being a mangaLa dEvatai).

The vEda mantrams require so much discipline and

have strict rules and regulations to be recited.

But, our thiruppAvai is free of all such problems.

It is beyond any doubt and is a fact that for all

the problems in one's life , whatever be it,

thiruppAvai is the medicine. AndAL says " yengum

theiru aruL pettru inburuvar " - be it here in leelA

vibhUti OR at nitya vibhUti.

 

In Srimad BhAgavatham, Sukabrahma maharishi says that

gOpIs observed " kAtyAyani nOnbu " wherein they made the

image of pArvati dEvi through sand (at the banks of

river yamunA) and worshipped her in the early morning

and prayed to obtain Krishnar as their husband. The

objective of AndAL and Her friends is also the same

thing and is also true that AndAL transformed Herself

as a gOpI.

 

Did then AndAL adopt kAtyAyani nOnbu ?? All the

paramaikAntins will in one voice say that AndAL didn't

observe kAtyAyani nOnbu. Though the desired objective

is very good, praying to anya dEvata (demi-gods) for

that is a _big_ minus point. ParamaikAntins never ever

pray to anya dEvatAs(*), whatever their objective may be.

For paramaikAntins, Sriman nArAyaNA Himself is the

upAyam and the upEyam. They act as a pati vrata sthrI

and do not pray to anya dEvatAs. This is also very

important for those who are desirous to obtain moksham

and perform eternal kainkaryam to the divya dampati

at Sri VaikuNTham.

 

Needless to say, AndAL is a paramaikAntin. So, AndAL

didn't pray to pArvati (**) and the prayer was to

PerumAL Himself, to attain Him ( " nArAyaNanE nammakkE

paRai tharuvAn " , " unnakkE nAm At cheivOm " etc).

Then, which nOnbu did AndAL adopt, if it was not

kAtyAyani nOnbu ?

 

This issue was settled once for all by the great mahAn

" abhinava dESika Uttamoor vAtsya VeerarAghavArya

mahAdESikan " in swAmi's wonderful commentary (prabandha

rakshai) on thiruppAvai.

 

Uttamoor swAmi gives the reference to skAnda purANam

wherein the mArghazhi nOnbu (mArgaseersha mAhAtmyam)

is explained by PerumAL Himself to chaturmukha brahmA.

 

PerumAL says that the mArgazhi nOnbu is a very great

vrattam; but dEvAs inorder to confuse people( so that

everyone won't observe it in the correct way and thus

won't proceed that quickly to Sri VaikuNTham) have

introduced many fake-mArgazhi vrattams.

 

PerumAL explains about the actual mArgazhi nOnbu.

Herein, snAnam, wearing of OordhvapuNdram, tuLasi

mAlai etc are also mentioned. Thirumanjanam to PerumAL

with the blow of conch will make the pitrus

(ancestors) attain svargam. Charity of cow, food and

performance of Uttsavam to PerumAL durinmg mArgazhi

pournami will immensely please Him ( AndAL refers

to them as " nAtkAlE neerAdi " , " aiyamum pichchiyum

ANdanaiyum kaikAtti, " pAnchajanyamE pOlvana SankangaL " ,

" ambaramE, thaNNeerE, soRE yaRam seiyyum " etc ).

 

PerumAL gives a case study as that of gOpIs at gOkulam,

who observed this nOnbu ( by taking bath early in the

morning, performed worship, offered Him food (pongal)

etc) and obtained Himself.

 

When Lord BrahmA asked PerumAL about the place at which

this nOnbu has to be observed, PerumAL answered

" MathurA " !! This is the biggest problem with PerumAL.

He is the one who also told emperumAnAr to be at

SriRangam itself. This confused all the Sri VaishnavAs

as to whether everyone has to pack themselves and

settle at Sri Rangam OR is it allright to stay at other

divya dEsams etc. SwAmi Desikan in Srimad Rahasya Traya

sAram explains the thiru uLLam of PerumAL that

" Srirangam " is only a upalakshanam and that one can stay

at any place where ParamaikAntins(prapannAs) are present

and discussing about the glories of PerumAL.

 

Eventhough PerumAL will let out such statements, AndAL

won't. She made an amendment to the statement of PerumAL,

since it is not possible for everyone to go to mathurA

and perform the nOnbu. AndAL thus said " yengum thiru

aruL pettru inburuvar " and one can perform this nOnbu

from anywhere.

 

In skAnda purANam, it is not explicitly said that rain

will be one of the results of this vrattam. But, for

AndAL, the nonbu that she observes should result in rain

also (as per the wishes of village people). Uttamoor

swAmi says that may be AndAL knew of some pramAnam by

which gOpIs used this nOnbu (which can grant many a

wishes) to result in rain OR AndAL Herself had some

sAkshAtkAram of some aspects of the nOnbu OR introduced

some of Her own.

 

Thus, this nOnbu is _not_ that of kAtyAyani vrattam

and is very much different from it.

 

 

(*): Names of anya dEvatAs do appear in

sandhyAvandanam, yaj~nAs etc. But paramaikAntins do not

worship anya dEvatAs then also. They take the primary

meaning of those names which refers to Sriman nArAyaNA,

the parabrahman, and thus worship Him only. But, in

certain circumstances, a specific anya dEvata is

supposed to be meditated upon with the antaryAmi as

nArAyaNA - this appears in sandhyAvandanam ; there are

also brahma vidyAs like this. Since these are sAstric

injunctions which one has to perform while adopting it,

there is nothing wrong - still the worship is for the

antaryAmi only. But, there is no sAstric injunction to

pray to anya dEvatA for obtaining krishna etc. So,

paramaikAntins will not adopt it, even as a prayer

to the antaryAmi(nArAyaNA pervading the body of pArvati

dEvi and present along with the jIvAtmA having the post

of pArvati dEvi) of pArvati dEvi. what to speak of

praying to her directly !!

 

(**) : In nAchchiyAr thirumozhi, AndAL doesn't pray to

the anya dEvata manmadhan, rather to the manmadha

manmadhan kannapirAn (krishnar). Krishnar is the

kAma dEvan. Only paramaikAntins can understand the

thiru uLLam of AndAL. Refer to Uttamoor swAmi's

vyAkyAnam(ie. commentary) for a detailed discussion

on these issues and study Thiruppavai at the feet of AchArya

 

 

 

, sudarshan krishna

<supersystem_bks wrote:

>

> respected sir

> can u send the details on sharanagathi in tiruppavai as i have to

prepare a paper on that and present on kodarai vellum day in temple

> aidyen

> jyothi

>

>

> Add more friends to your messenger and enjoy! Go to

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