paaN perumAL (ThiruppANAzhwAr Thirunakshathram) - Kaartthikai rohini today...

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SRI:

SrimathE Gopaladesika mahadesikaya nama:

Dearest all,

 

Today Kaartthikai month- RohiNi nakshathram. num pANan - ThirupaaNAzhwAr (also

called as muni vaahanar) Thirunakshathram.

 

Let us meditate on the lotus feet of great AzhwAr who sang only 10 verses

(shortest composition by any azhwAr) and the most brilliant one....

 

The verses are called " amalanaadhipiraan " .... and like other AzhwArs, num pANN

perumAL (Thiruppaanaazhwaar) did not mention his name or place not mention any

pala sruthi (that those who recite this verse, would be blessed with.... etc...

like other 4000 verses at the end of compositions)...

 

Let us enjoy why as well as immerse ourselves in the glory of this divine AzhwAr

from the brilliant write up of our Sri Satakopan swamin sometime ago referring

to Swami Desikan's muni vaahana bhOgam...

 

[Thanks to Sri Satakopan swami for his permission to share this]

 

There is a divine classical commentary of

Swamy Desikan on AmalanAdhipirAn, the dhivya prabhandham of

ThiruppANAzhwAr, where he enjoyed the dhivya

Soundharyam and DhivyAthma GuNams of Lord RanganAthA

after travelling on the back of Loka Saaranga Muni

at the command of the Lord.

 

Swamy Desikan's reverence for ThiruppANar led to his salutation of this AzhwAr

as PaaNN PerumAL. This is a MaNipravALa Grantham and is considered as the 28th

rahasya Grantham of Swamy Desikan. He saluted elsewhere in this grantham,

ThiruppANar as 'YENN PAANANâ€(My PaaNan ).He described there

as to who this PaaNan, the object of his adoration is:

 

“Aadhi MaRai yena Ongum ArangatthuLLE

AruL Aarum Kadalaik kaNdavan Yenn PaaNanâ€

 

Here Swamy Desikan refers to ThiruppANar as the One, who saw and enjoyed the

krupA Saagaram (Ocean of Mercy), Lord RanganAthan inside the

primordial PraNavAkAra VimAnam at Srirangam.

 

With great pride, Swamy Desikan identified ThiruppAnar asâ€my PaaNanâ€. He

sums up the import of ThiruppANa Nathan's Prbhandham as the seed of of all

fruits of VedAntham elaborated by Vedic scholars ( Vediyar viritthu uraikkum

ViLaivukkellAm ithu Vidhai aahum ).

 

At the beginning of this Rahasya grantham, Swamy Desikan expresses his desire to

comment on the AmalanAdhipiran with great control of senses

for the benefit of BhaagavathOtthamAs:

 

vyAcikhyAsati bhaktyA virakta-tOshAya venkateSa-kavi: |

mudita-mukunda-vilOkana-munivAhana-sukavi-sUktim imAm ||

 

The poet with the name of VenkatEsan wishes to comment with indhriya nigraham (

with Rigorous control over his sense organs) on the Sri Sookthi of the great

poet ThiruppANar, who traveled on the back of Loka Saaranga

Muni as his vaahanam and who was eager to enjoy the soundharyam of the Lord of

Srirangam, whose heart delights in seeing His Bhakthan.

 

Here 'virakta-tOshAya' is in the dative case and means " for the sake of the

dispassionate " . The sloka could also be translated as:

[sri Mani Varadarajan swami adds:]

******

For the sake of the dispassionate and with profound love, poet Venkatesa wishes

to elaborate on this divine utterance of that great poet Munivahana, composed

upon the [long-awaited] vision of an overjoyed Lord Mukunda.

 

Venkatesaâ€is an alternate form of Venkatanatha, Swami Desika's given name.

Munivahana means “one for whom a sage served as a vehicleâ€and refers to the

well-known story of Tiruppan Alvar's being carried by Lokasaranga Muni to see

Lord Ranganatha.

 

Theâ€dispassionate oneâ€referred to by the phrase 'virakta-tOshAya' is seen by

some as a reference to Sri Periya-vaaccaan Pillai, the great commentator

on all the Alvars' verses. The belief is that Swami Desika composed this

commentary at the request of the vyAkhyAna-cakravartI. In any case, there is no

doubt that this is a truly inspired work, wherein the acharya

provides several unique thoughts not expressed in his other works.

******

 

In a companion Taniyan celebrating his BhAgyam, Swamy Desikan comments that he

is rid of all sins by understanding the inner meaning of AmalanAdhipirAn :

 

PaavaLarum Tanmizh maRayin PayanE KaNDu

PaaNN PerumAL PaadiyathOr paadal patthil

Kaavalanum KaNavanumaai kalanthu ninRa

KaraNanaik KarutthuRa naam kaNDa pinpu

kOvalanum kOmAnum aanavannAL

Kuravi puNar kOviyar tamm kuRippE kONDu

sEvaludan piriyAtha pEdai pOl sErnthu

thee vinayOr tanimai yellAm thIrnthOm naamE

 

(Meaning): ThiruppAnar's dhivya Prabhandham in the form of Tamizh Vedam has the

quintessence of ancient Vedams. This Prabhandham is the one sung by PaaNa

Naathan and is revered as AmalanAdhipirAn. The ten paasurams of this

Prabhandham are matchless in their glory. We have studied and etched their

meanings in our mind and comprehended the Lord as the Sarva Rakshakan, Loka

Naayakan and Sarva KaaraNan. After that delectable

experience,we have the matchless status of the Gopis, who were united with Lord

KrishNa during RaasakrIdai and felt as the female bird that never leaves the

side of its male companion.

 

Towards the end of the Muni Vaahana BhOgam, Swamy Desikan pays tribute his

AchAryAs and performs Saathvika Thyagam :

 

KaaNpanavum uraippanavum maRRu onRu inRik-

KaNNanayE kaNDuraithtu kadiya kaathal

PaNN PerumAL aruL seytha paadal patthum

Pazha MaRayin poruLenRu paravuhinrOm

veeNN periya viri thirai neer vyatthuLLE

VedAntha Vaariyan yenRu iyampa ninROm

NaaNN periyOm allOm Naam nanRum theethum

NamakkuraippAr uLar yenRu naaduvOmE

 

(Meaning): ThiruppANar is the One, who saw KaNNan in every thing and in every

thing he heard and sang about KaNNan with great love in his ten paasurams and

bequeathed them to us. We celebrate those ten paasurams

of PaaNa Naathan as the essence of the timeless Vedams .In this wide world

girdled by the Oceans with broad waves and loved by one and all, we have

been blessed to be praised by Lord RanganAthan as the VedAntha AchAryan .We have

no ego (ahankaaram ) and we will always seek the Thiruvadi of AchAryAs, who

instruct us on the good (nallavai)and bad (thIyavai).

 

Swamy Desika concludes this Rahasya Grantham with the following mangaLa SlOkam :

 

Muni Vaahana BhOgOyam mukthaiswarya rasOpama:

krupayA RanganAthasya krutArTayathu na: sadhA

 

(Meaning): This Rahasya grantham Of Muni Vaahana BhOgam is equivalent to the

BrahmAnandham enjoyed by the Muktha Jeevans in Sri Vaikuntam. May study of this

rahasya grantham make us kruthArtaas ( the ones who have achieved the purpose of

their lives) always with the ThiruvaruL of Lord RanganAthan.

 

Swami Desikan had a great affection for these moving verses

and created Bhagavadh DhyAna sOpAnam, Muni Vaahana

BhOgam out of his extraordinary revenerence for ThiruppANar.

 

Thirukkudanthai Desiakan considered as an aparaavatharam of Swami Desikan

modelled his great affection for ArAvamudhan taking his cue from Swami Desikan's

works and blessed us with his AparyApthAmrutha sOpaanam (on Aravamudhan).

 

Both Swami Desikan's Bhagavadh DhAyana sOPaanam and Thirukkudanthai Desikan's

works include a phala sruthi verse to respectfully stay away from the unique

experience of ThiruppANa Naathan, where he united with the Lord after

statingâ€yennamuthinai kanda kaNNgaL maRRonRinaikkANAvEâ€.

 

Verse 10- Last verse of Amalanaadhipiraan

 

The (mortal ) eyes which (now ) have seen my (amudhan) nectar in the form of Sri

RanganAthA with the color of the blue clouds, whose mouth

ate butter, when He incarnated as a cowherd, who stole my heart,

who is the (undisputed ) ruler of all the worlds and their residents

--these eyes of mine ---WILL NOT SEE ANY THING ELSE.

 

In the above quoted passage, AzhwAr does not say Yenn amuthanai kanda YENN

kaNNgaL. He states “yenn amuthani kanda kaNNgaLâ€. unitl this paasuram,

he has been referring to himself as adiyEn, en, etc.

 

At this stage of his anubhavam of the sarvAngha soundharyam of periya perumAL,

the afiliation with himself is gone. He forgets his name, his place of origin.

It has been suggested that Lord RanganaathA made sure that there is no

distraction to the AzhwAr in the deep experience of HIS athayantha soundharyam

and lAvaNyam. It has been stated that the one who gained moksha saamrAjyam

sings saama ghAnam according to Upanishads. AzhwAr engaged in such an

incomparable experience could not come down to refer to his coordinates or the

fruits of the blessings of reciting his paasurams .

 

He wasâ€too far goneâ€to turn around to say a word of advice as an AchAryA. He

was being pulled fast forward by the Lord's beauty and was hastening to merge

with the AdhimUlam resting on the AdhisEshan at the

kshEthram known as BhulOka VaikunTam.

 

In the second line of the final paasuram, he states as to what had happened to

his mind : YennuLLam kavarnthAnai ----( kanda kaNNgal maRROnRinaikkANAvE ) “.

The heart has been stolen. The Lord's property hasbeen returned to the Lord.

There is nothing left to talk about the erstwhile state as ThiruppANan from

UrayUr.

 

AzhwAr acknowledges that his eyes can not see anything or anybody else after

experiencing the beauty of the Lord with his eyes. Swami Desikan points out that

the AzhwAr was in the state of ananya prayOjana kaashtai ( the boundary of the

state of not expecting any fruits other than the Lord ) and that led to

declaringâ€kanda kaNNgaLâ€instead of “kanda yenn kaNNgaL†in the spirit of

nispruham, nirahankAram and nirmamathvam. (not me or mine any more)

 

Swami Desikan quotes two examples to compare the AzhwAr's exraordinary mental

state of bliss. One is the statement of AnjanEyA to Sri

RamachandrAâ€Bhakthisccha niyathA veera bhAvO NAANYATHRA GACCHATHIâ€.

AnjanEya, the greatest of Rama chaithanyA, says that his Bhakthi to

Sri Raman is nithyam ( unchanging and eternal ) ; he adds that his thoughts do

not go even go to Sriman NaarAyaNA in Vaikuntam, but are rooted in Sri Ramaa and

Him alone ( anyathra na gacchathi ).

 

The other example quoted by Swami Desikan is

the Thiruvaimozhi paasuram of NammAzhwar ( 4.9-.10):

 

kandu ketuRRu mOnthu undu uzhalum eimkaruvi

kanda inbam ----kanda sathir kandozhindhEn

adainthEn un thiruvadiyEâ€

 

( short meaning ) : After experiencing the limitless beauty of You both as Divya

dampathis and as Nithya sEshis in Sri Vaikuntam with your own blessings, I have

abandoned with joy the persihable alpa sukhams born out

of the activities of the panchEndriyAs and the kaivalya sukham coming from

athmAnubhavam. I have now firmly grasped Your lotus feet as the one and only

lasting and incomparable sukham in all the worlds.

 

Great verses, aren't they? Let us attempt to recite these ten verses today.. and

oay our obeisance to AzhwAr's lotus feet.

 

AzhwAr ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

Regards

Namo narayana

dAsan