Thiruppavai - 4th verse- Showering of compassion and mercy on us..

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SrI:

SrimathE Gopaladesika mahadesikaya nama

 

Dearest all

 

Today’s verse: 4th verse for our enjoyment…

 

aazhi mazhaik kaNNaa! onRu nI kai karavEl *

aazhiyuL pukku mukan^thu kotu aarththERi *

Uzhi muthalvan uruvam pOl mey kaRuththup *

paazhiyan^ thOLutaip paRpanaapan kaiyil *

aazhi pOl minni valampuri pOl ninRathirn^thu *

thaazhaathE caarNGkam uthaiththa caramazhai pOl *

vaazha ulakinil peythitaay * naaNGkaLum

maarkazhi nIraata makizhn^thu ElOr empaavaay. 4.

 

The Meaning of this Paasuram ( Dr.V.K.S.N.Raghavan)

 

Oh Lord VaruNA who is the presiding deity of ocean-like burst of rains! (We pray

to you so that ) you please do not make your gift very small(i.e. be bounteous

towards us). We request you (in the form of clouds) to pour plenty of rains in

the world; first you should get into the womb of the deep seas and take

excessive water ( so that even the sea becomes bereft of water), make thunder

(uproar), and go higher up (in the sky); (the color of ) your body should become

as dark as that of the primordial cause of the world ( Oozhi Mudhalvan= Jagath

Kaarana BhUthan); you should become resplendent with lightning, just as the

dazzling discus (Aazhi=Chakram) held on the hand of Lord PadmanAbha with broad

shoulders; you should make a thunderous roar like the conch (Paanchajanyam) held

on the hand of the Lord; you should bring forth rains in abundance without any

cessation,--the rains just like the shower of arrows coming forth in succession

from the bow (Saarangam)

of the Lord.; your rains should be for the good of the world so that the world

flourishes ; and , through your rains , we will have plenty of water and also

happily take the ceremonial bath during Maarghazhi month.

 

( Lord VishNu's important weapons--discus, conch and bow are cited here , in a

form of invocation as it were; and Lord PadmanAbha is indicated as the

JagathkAraNan-- the primordial cause).

 

The Inner Meanings of this Paasuram:

 

Oh Venerable AchAryAs, who pour down the rain of Jn~Anam and whose eyes are

flodded with the showers of aanandham (bliss) through Bhagavath anubhavam!

Please bless us with all the meanings of the three rahasyams without holding

back any after entering the milky ocean of Upanishads

taking the quintessential meanings and roaring like a lion. You (AchAryAs) who

have the dark hue of the Lord due to your constant meditation of that

dark-complexioned Lord and You who are filled with infinite dayA similar to that

of the Lord and who are the embodiment of His compassion (Tanmayathvam); You who

have the radiance arising; your dhivya Jn~Anam; You roaring like HayagrIva

ghOsham; thinking that there will be inauspiciousness if You (as AchAryAs)do not

perform upadEsam

to your sishyAs showering the Jn~Ana varsham (torrential downpour of Jn~Anam)

like the bhANa Varsham (the torrent of arrows leaving

KodhanDa Raaman's Saarangam bow). It is required for the people of the world to

survive and live.

 

please rain (of Jn~Anam) with joy so that we will engage in the most

exalted (Maargha seersham /thalai siRantha ) act of Prapatthi / SaraNAgathi at

Your sacred feet! SadAchAryAs serving as KaaruNyAmrutha Meghams: (clouds that

shower compassion and mercy):

 

In the 3rd verse, ANDAL equated AchAryAs to " VaLLal Perum PasukkaL " or the most

generous and lofty milk cows. The sishyAs through the anugraham of these

AchAryAs drink the milk of Jn~Anam. In the 4th(next) paasuram , the AchAryAs are

compared by ANDAL to the dark , rain-baring , monsoon clouds that pour down

Jn~Anam on those , who seek their refuge and uplift them from the taapams of

samsAram and prepare them for Moksha Siddhi through the sacred rite of

aathma-samarpaNam.

 

Sri P.B. AnnangarAcchAr Swamy(PBA) has given us ten pramAnams from purAnams and

AzhwAr paasurams that effectively compares SadAchAryAs to rain bearing clouds

..At the end of that discourse , Sri PBA Swamy has quoted the Sanskrit slOkam , (

LakshmInAthAkhya Sindhou Sataripu jalatha: praapya KaaruNya

neeram----DesikEndhra pramoukai:);this slOkam

describes how the KaaLa Megham named Swamy NammAzhwAr plunged deep into the

ocean of DayA known as LakshmInArAyanan and showered copiously on the mountain

peak (Naathamuni) and how those auspicious waters flowed from there in the form

of two fountains ( UyyakkoNDAr and MaNakkAl Nampi) , which joined to form the

river ( AaLavanthAr) and which entered into the immense lake of RaamAnujA ; That

lake overflowing

with Jn~Ana theertham exited through 74 sluices ( 74 SimhAsana

adhipathis) to bless the samsAris continuously .

 

AchArya RaamAnujA as a Daya-laden rain cloud:

 

adiyEn is reminded of the many passages in Swamy Desikan's YathirAja Sapthathi

that eloquently compare AchArya RaamAnujA to the rich daya-laden cloud cooling

us ( SamsAris) with and uplifting us through the downpour of divine Jn~Anam :

 

Abhinava Desika Sri Uttamur Swami’s insights:

 

One Illustrative example of the brilliant insights backed up by Ubhaya VedAntham

of Abhinava Desikan is given below:

 

The ThiruppAvai vratham observers are ParamaikAnthis ( Those who will not

worship anyone other than Sriman NaarAyaNan and will not ask anything for

themselves); hence , they will not pray to the rain god VaruNan (DevathAntharam)

for boons to bless them with abundant showers. The Gopis addressed therefore the

God of rain as " Aazhi Mazhaik KaNNan " .KaNNan is the name for the adhyakshakan

/nirvAhakan (commander) of the rain clouds.He is the antharyAmi of the Meghams.

The gopis addressed Him as Jn~Ana VairAgya KaaruNya KalyAna guNa samudhram and

Sarva Tanthra Svathanthran and invoked HIM for the copious rain for the

Subhiksham (well being ) of the world .

 

This paasuram is a great one that celebrates the glories of SadAchAryans and

their KaaruNyam (mercy on us). There are many other deep meanings that adiyEn

could not include due to the need to keep the postings brief. adiyEn will be

faced with this dilemma throughout this series of postings and request devotees'

understanding. There is so much more.

 

[Extracted from Sri Satakopan swami’s translation of exhaustive Tamil

commentary on Thiruppavai by Sri U Ve PerukaraNai Swami]

 

Andal Thiruvadigale saraNam

Regards

Namo narayana

dAsan