Thiruppavai - 30- Final wonderful verse- Phalasruthi- May Divine dampathi's blessings be with you all forever

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SrI:

SrimathE Gopaladesika mahadesikaya nama:

 

Dearest all

 

Today’s final verse: 30th verse for our enjoyment…

 

vaNGkak katal katain^tha maathavanai kEcavanaith *

thiNGkaL thirumukaththuc cEy izhaiyaar cenRiRaiNYci *

aNGkap paRai koNtavaaRRai * aNi puthuvaip

paiNGkamalath thaN theriyal pattarpiraan kOthai conna *

caNGkath thamizhmaalai muppathum thappaamE *

iNGkip paricuraippaar IriraNtu maal varaith thOL *

ceNGkaN thirumukaththuc celvath thirumaalaal *

eNGkum thiruvaruL peRRu inpuRuvar empaavaay. (2) 30.

 

Significance of the 30th Paasuram

 

Today is the day , when the MahA Prabhandam of

Soodikkoduttha NaacchiyAr comes to the stage of SaatthumuRai.

It is UttharAyaNa PuNya Kaalam .

 

It is Makara SankarAnthi dinam.

May Subhiksham spread all over the lands , where ANDAL

BhakthAs are there and May her endearing message for our

upliftment to reach Her Lord's Lotus feet easily serve as

a beacon light for us all !Today is indeed a Parama MangaLa

Dinam for us all !The 30th paasuram has the benedictions

for a Kaimkaryam-filled life ,the fruits of Bhagavath

Daasyam .BhAgavatha dAsyam is the yellai nilam for

that Bhagavath dAsyam .

 

Sri PBA Sawamy's summary of the Thirty Verses

 

To appreciate the context of the 30th verse , we should

reflect on the summary of the 29 passurams that preceded it.

 

In the first Paasuram , Andal celebrated the time for

the nOnbhu , the adhikAris performing the nOnbhu and the Lord

who is the object of this nOnbhu .

 

In the second paasuram , She mentioned about the Karthavyam

and ThyAjyam for the nOnbhu ;in the third paasuram, She

pointed out that for the successful performance of the nOnbhu ,

the aanushankika Varsha roopa phalan (Copious and timely rains

for desa kshEmam) will be realized. In the fourth paasuram,

She invited the parjanya devan, VaruNan to bless the land

with the nourishing rains .

 

In the fifth paasuram, She pointed out that all the obstacles

to the performance of the Paavai nOnbhu will be eliminated

quickly , if we sing and reflect on the name of the Lord.

 

>From the sixth to the fifteenth paasurams , ANDAL went around

the streets of Gokulam and awakened the pancha laksham kudis

of fellow Gopis to join the ghOshti to NandhagOpan's mansion.

 

In the 16th paasuram, Gopis wake up the dhvAra PaalakAs

at the Lord's mansion and remind them about the earlier

promise of KrishNan to grant them the PaRai ; in the 17th pssuram ,

they awaken NandhagOpan, YasOdhai PirAtti , KaNNapirAn ,

Nampi Moottha PirAn(BalarAman)in that order.In the 18th paasuram ,

they wake up Nappinnai PirAtti with reverence ; they awaken

(next) Nappinnai PirAtti and KaNNan together in the 19th and

the 20th paasurams.

 

In the 21st and the 22nd Paasurams , the Gopis submit that

they have arrived at the Lord's mansion after being defeated

by the power of His GuNams in a state of AbhimAna bhangam

and with expectation of receiving His katAksham as taarakam .

 

In the 23rd paasuram , They request Him to travel to

His lofty simhAsanam ;they perform mangaLAsAsanam for

Him there in His throne room in the 24th paasuram .

 

In the 25th pasuram , they submit to Him that they

have arrived in a state of ananyagathithvam ( with no

others to protect them) and in the 26th paasuram they spell

out the VrathOpakaraNams needed for the nOnbhu.

In the 27th paasuram ,they describe the sanmAnams (rewards)

desired after the completion of the Paavai nOnbhu .

 

In the 28th paasuram,they point out their lowliness and celebrate

His loftiness and remind Him of their inseperable relationship

with Him and seek aparAdha KshAmaNams for earlier

trespasses. In the 29th paasuram of yesterday ,

they press Him for the granting of the desired

boons and He agrees heartily .

 

In the 30th and concluding Paasuram , ANDAL comes to

the fore and acknowledges the fulfillment arising from

the observance of the paavai nOnbhu of the Gopis and

declares that those , who recite Her ThiruppAvai paasurams

would become the objects of Her Lord's grace and threy would

be filled with bliss. There will be bliss in Ubhaya

VibhUthi for those , who recite the thirty paasurams of

ThiruppAvai blessed by SaakshAth PirAtti Herself.This

Phalan is for " ThiruppAvai KaRppAr " . They earn

the lotus-faced Lord's ThiruvaruL and become Bhgya-

saalis ( SenkaNN Thirumuhatthu SelavtthirumAlAl

yengum ThiruvaruL peRRU InbhuRuvar ).

 

ParAsara Bhattar's upadesam

 

The great AchAryan , ParAsara Bhattar , has observed

appropriately that we should get up early in the morning

and recite the 30 paasurams ; if that were not possible ,

we should atleast recite the " SiRRam SiRu Kaalai " paasuram;

If even that were not to be possible, we should think of

the the joy we had in reciting the paasurams and

hearing the kaalakshEpam about them in earlier times .

 

ParAsara Bhattar, the creator of the great Taniyan

for ThiruppAvai(NeeLA Tunga --),has also revealed to us

that the grace of the merciful Lord is sure to fall on us

from His listening to our recitation of His PirAtti's

Thiruppaavai: " KanRizhantha Talai Naaku , thOl kanRai

madukka ,athukku irangumAppOlE , ippaasuram koNDu puha namakku

palikkum " . He reveals that one gets this albhya laabham

( obtaining the wealth that is " unattainable " ) in

DhrushtAdhrushtam ( here and in the other world) from

the Lord through our recitation of the ThiruppAvai Paasurams

(Sanga Tamizh maalai muppathum tappAmE) of His PirAtti.

 

Literal Meaning of the 30th Paasuram (Dr.Raghavan):

 

Approaching Him --the Lord Kesavan (of lovely curly

locks of hairs) , the Lord Maadhavan ( the husband of

Goddess Sri) who (enabled the gods) to churn the seas

abounding in ships , and praying to Him , the Young

charming damsels (of Gokulam ) with exquisite faces of

Moon-like beauty and good ornaments , obtained

the unparalleled drum.

 

Describing their observances , prayer and getting the drum

(from the Lord) , GodhA , the foster-daughter of Bhattar PirAn

adorned with the cool garlands of fresh lotuses , and

a resident of beautiful SrivilliputthUr has composed this

ThiruppAvai --sangat Tamizh maalai(Garland of Tamizh songs ,

sung in group by the devotees of the Lord ; or hailed as

the lyric poem in Tamizh of the great Sangam poets and

poetesses) consisting of thirty paasurams (equal to

the number of Vowels and Consonants of the Tamizh

alphabet).Whosoever recites this hymn --referring to

the award of paRai , faithfully will get the divine bliss

here and hereafter , through the benign grace of

the Lord ThirumAl ( Sriya: Pathi) endowed with a supreme ,

divine form , namely four strong mountain-like shoulders,

beautiful face with eyes of reddish hue along with

other prosperous glory.

 

The thirtieth paasuram is known as

Thiru nAma Paattu or Phala Sruthi Paasuram

 

Anubhandha Chathushtyam in the 30th Paasuram

 

The anubhandha chathushtyam are: (1)The excellence of

the subject matter of this Sri Sookthi (2)the uniqueness of

the author(vakthA) (3)the superior nature of the meanings

of this prabhandham and (4)the excellent benefits (prayOjanam)

of recitation of this Prabhandham.

 

The Four Prabhandha VailakshaNyam is celebrated this way :

 

(1) " Vangak Kadal --angap paRai koNDavARRai " refers

to the Vishaya LakshaNyam .

(2) " aNiputhuvai--GOdhai sonna " relates to the Superiority

of the VakthA (GOdhai).

(3) " Sangat Tamizh Maalai " connects with the artha-

VailakshaNyam of ThiruppAvai covering the VedAnthic

doctrines.

(4)Muppathum tappAmE--Selvat ThirumAlAl Yengum ThiruvaruL

peRRu inbhuRuvar " links up with the PrayOjana VailakshaNyam.

 

Padha Vaakhya vishayam: (1) Vangak Kadal Kadainthu:

 

Amrutha Mathanam ( churning the Milky Oceans) is referred to

here.It has been intrepreted as NithyasoorIs arriving by

ships to pay their salutations to their Lord reclining on

AdhisEsahn in the middle of the Milky Ocean .Vangam has also

been translated as the foam and froth arising from

the churning activity .

 

(2)Vangak Kadal Kadaintha Maadhavanaik Kesavanai

 

EmperumAn churned the Milky Ocean to gain nectar

for the dEvaas and PeNNamuthu (MahA lakshmi )for Himself .

KrishNan churned the ocean of curd in Gokulam and also

churned the Ocean of the armies of Rukmi to gain

RukmiNi . The Lord , who used the excuse of churning

the milky ocean to gain MahA Lakshmi also used

the ThiruppAvai nOnbhu as the VyAjam for gaining

the Pancha Laksha Kudis (gOpis)of Gokulam.

 

ANDAL addresses the Vangak Kadal kadainthavan as

" Maadhavan " and " Kesavan " . She addressed the Lord as

" Maadhavan " following the Upadesam of Her AchAryan,

PeriyAzhwAr: " Maarvam yenpathOr kOil amaitthu

MAADHAVAN yenpathOr Dhaivatthai naatti " . While

wearing Urdhva PuNDram , we adorn the Lord with

His Piraatti (Maahdavn) in the middle of our

chest in this context.The Lord is also addressed

as " KESAVAN " here. Kesavan is the adhishta Devathai for

Maarghazhi month .He is also the Lord of BrahmA

recognized by the " Ka " sabdham and Isan (Lord Sivan);

both of them arose from our Lord's body .Parathvam of

Our Lord is hinted this way by choice of the naamam,

Kesavan . The Maadhava Naamam delineates the " Srimath "

sabdhArtham.The reference to the act of churning

the Milky ocean (Vangak kadal Kadaintha) by the Lord

points out His Bhaktha Vaathsalyam and Omnipotence.

 

(3) " angu appaRai koNDavARRai " :

 

" angu " (there) refers to the incident of the Gopis

winning paRai (there)at AaypAdi,(there)at Nandha Gruham

and(there) at the throne room in presence of

NeeLA PirAtti . " appaRai " is to be split in to

antha-Parai , appERpatta , VisEsha paRai.

 

(4) " paimkamalat taNN teRiyal Bhattar PirAn Godhai Sonna " :

 

Godhai identifies Herself as Bhattar PirAn's

( PeriyAzhwAr's) Godhai . He was Her foster father

and also Her AchAryan.Thus her vaaku had AchArya

Sambhandham and therefore has been described as

" PaathahankaL Theerkkum Paraman adi Kaattum ,

Vedamanaitthukkum VitthAhum " . Through Her

Vaak blessed from Upadesam of Her AchAryan ,

ANDAL sang about " sEsahthvam " ( Sruthi satha Siras

siddhamAna PaarArthyam).Her Sri Sookthi churned

the essence of VedAs and became GodhOpanishad ,

just as Her Lord churned the milky ocean to gain

amrutham .She chose Tamizh (instead of the difficult

Sanskrit )as the language for Her uplifting prabhandham ,

since She wanted the ChEthanams to comprehend the meanings

without problems.

 

Bhattar PirAn's Utthama VaishNava LakshaNam is also

referred to here by Godhai. She descibes him as

the One wearing TuLasi and Lotus garlands around

his neck. Sri Vaishnavaas should wear the TuLasi bead

and Lotus bead necklaces always. TuLasi Maalai signifies

the Parathvam of the Lord and the Lotus bead maalai

denotes the Parathvam of PirAtti. Thus , Sri VaishNavAs

reveal themselves as the daasans of Dhivya Dampathis.The dried

stems of TuLasi and Lotus are used to make the maalais.

ANDAL follows the route of Madhura kavi , when She puts

Her AchAryan in the front : " Bhattar PirAn Godhai sonna " .

Madhura kavi put His AchAryan in the front , when

decribing His prabhandam : Tenn KuruhUr nampikku anbhanAi

Madhura Kavi sonna soll " ,Thus Both Andal's and Madhura kavi's

Prabhandhams are AchArya-para Prabhndhams and have unique

distinction among all Prabhandhams .

 

(5) " SenkaNN Thirumuhatthu Selvat ThirumAlAl "

 

SenkaNN of the Lord has always had a fascination

for AzhwArs because of their VasIkaraNa sakthi

and beauty. ANDAL refers those ankaNN and SenkaNN

many times including here in the ThiruppAvai

Paasurams ( KaarmEni SenkaNN kathir muham ,

PankayaRk KaNNanai ,SenkaNN sirUcchirithE ,

ankaNN iraNDum koNDu). BheeshmAcchAr described

the beauty of those lotus-like eyes as :

" PullAmbhuja pathra nEthra: " ; VaalmIki saluted

them as " RaamO RaajIva nEthra:.RaamAnujA ,

the GodhAgrajar, showed the SenkaNN azhau of

RanganAthan to PiLlai URangAvilli daasar.

 

(6) " Selva ThirumAl:

 

He is the SrinivAsan of immeasurable Isvaryam.

He has both limitless DayA and immeasurable

wealth. Thus He has Srimathvam. His Srimathvam also

came about by wearing Soodikkodutha NaachiyAr's

TuLasi garlands.He is thus Selva Thiru Naaranan . In this

30th Paasuram, Andal salutes " Maadhavan " first

to offer Her salutations the " Srimath " sabdhAam of

the Poorava KaNDAm of Dhvayam ( Sriman NaarAyana---);

She salutes the Lord as " ThirumAl " at the end of

the paasuram to offer Her salutaions to the " SrimathE "

sabdham of NaarAyaNan housed in the second section

( utthara KaaNdham ) of Dhvya Manthram. In this Paasuram ,

Srimath SabdhArtham is saluted both at the beginning and

at end leading to the incorporation of the three Rahasyams

in this pasuram.

 

(7) " Yengum ThiruvaruL PeRRU inbhuRuvar: "

 

Yengum refers to Immai (LeelA VibhUthi) and maRumai

( Nithya VibhUthi). EmperumAn with PirAtti will take

nithya vaasam with those who perform UpanyAsams on

ThiruppAvai. This is the ThiruvaruL. The Inbham

arising from the recitation of Dhivya Prabhandhams

in general has been pointed out by AzhwArs in general.

One example of such citation is that of Swamy NammAzhwAr:

 

Ingum angum ThirumAlanRi inmai kaNDu

anganE VaNN KuruhUr SatakOpan

InganE sonna OrAyiratthu ippatthum

YenganE sollilum Inbham payakkumE

--ThiruvAimozhi: 7.9.11

 

(Meaning): KuruhUr SatakOpan realized that there is

no protection(help) except Sriya: pathi , here, there

or anywhere. The Lord blessed him to sing exactly

in that vein a thousand verses. Of those, this decad

can be read , sung , recited with proper understanding

or not; that is also immaterial . It will reward the reader

with bliss (inbham) in whatever manner recited .

 

(8) " InbhuRuvar: "

 

Aathma Yaathrai is under the control of the Lord;

dEha yAthrai is under the control of one's karmAs.

Knowing that these are outside our control , we should

recite and write about ANDAL's Prabhandham in the form

of a Kaimkaryam. When done this way , the Lord confers

dEha aarOgyam , worldly wealth and Moksham for Prapannan.

He removes all ThApams and grants sukhams and Aanandham.

If we ask for Phalans for Kaimkaryam , we may end up

asking for Kshudhra Phalans (alpa Phalans ); If we leave

the phalan granting to Him , in the spirit of His oudhAryam

( Generosity) , He will grant Phalans that we could not even

dream about.The prapannan will enjoy the state of

" Yengum ThiruvaruL PeRRu " .He knows what we need in

the spirit of JithantE SthOthra Vaakyam: " Yath Hitham

mama dEvEsa tathA aaj~nApaya " .

 

(9)Concluding Remarks:

 

ANDAL incarnated as the daughter of PeriyAzhwAr

and blessed us with ThiruppAvai Prabhandham and

immersed us in the ocean of Aanandham through that

anugraham. In ThiruppAvai, She gave us the UpadEsam

on the Laghu UpAyam ( VarAha Charama SlOkam )that

She had received from BhUVarAha perumAL for our

UjjIvanam and Inbham.

 

With the blessings of ANDAL, ThiruppAvai Jeeyar and

asmath AchAryan , Srimath NaarAyaNa YathIndhra

MahA Desikan , adiyEn was able to share with You

the scholarly commentaries of Sri U.Ve.PerukkAraNai Swamy

and other AchArya PurushAs. Due to limitation of space and

time, these postings needed to be " short " . adiyEn

hopes that you will acquire copy of Sri PerukkAranai

Swamy's scholarly monograph of 600 plus pages and

immerse yourselves in the aanandham of his ThiruppAvai

VyAkhyAnam .

 

AdiyEn thanks you for your understanding of my

deficencies in covering adequately the subject

matter of the commentary of the Illustrious

ThiruppAvai .

 

AdiyEn places this Kaimkaryam at the Lotus feet of

SenkaNN Muhatthu Selva ThirumAl and Godhai and

offer my prayers for the growth of kaimkarya Sri

for all of us at this time of UthtarAyaNa PuNya Kaalam.

 

 

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

commentary on Thiruppavai by Sri U Ve PerukaraNai Swami]

 

kOthai piRan^tha Ur kOvin^than vaazhum Ur *

cOthimaNimaatam thOnRum Ur *

nIthiyaal nalla paththar vaazhumUr naanmaRaikaL OthumUr *

villipuththUr vEthak kOnUr.

 

paathakaNGkaL thIrkkum paraman ati kaattum *

vEtham anaiththukkum viththaakum * kOthai thamizh

aiyain^thum ain^thum aRiyaatha maanitarai *

vaiyam cumappathu vampu.

 

thiruvaatip pUraththu cekaththuthiththaaL vaazhiyE *

thiruppaavai muppathum ceppinaaL vaazhiyE *

periyaazhvaar peRRetuththa peN piLLai vaazhiyE *

perumpUthUr maamunikkup pinnaanaaL vaazhiyE *

oru nURRu naaRpaththu mUnRu uraiththaaL vaazhiyE *

uyararaNGkaRkE kaNNi ukan^thaLiththaaL vaazhiyE *

maruvaarum thirumalli vaLa naati vaazhiyE *

vaNputhuvai nakark kOthai malarp pathaNGkaL vaazhiyE.

 

Andal Thiruvadigale saraNam

Regards

Namo narayana

dAsan