Sri RanganathA and AzhwAr Paasurams : Swamy NammAzhwAr--Part V

[Guest guest]

Swamy NammAzhwAr's ThiruvAimozhi Paasurams

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In the 7.2 decad , Swamy NammAzhwAr speaks to us

through the mouth of ParAnkusa Naayaki's mother ,

who is utterly distraught over the heartless

way in which Sri RanganAthan has treated

her daughter . Our AchAryAs have said that

ParAsara Bhattar was so overcome with intense

emotion on reflecting over this decad that he

(Bhattar ) commented :

 

" We are not fit to appreciate the AzhwAr's intensity

of love (for the Lord) nor can we fathom his(AzhwAr's)

yearning and desire (Bhagavath Kaamam ) for the Lord.

We are simply reciting these verses without understanding

even an iota of AzhwAr's true feelings " .

 

The bridal mysticism and the intensity of suffering

from separation from her ( Parankusa Naayaki's)

Lord are moving indeed as we hear the helpless

mother describing the plight of her young and

beautiful daughter . The mother appeals to

the Lord of Srirangam to have heart , to take

pity on the tender sapling of a daughter of hers .

We will study this decad and select paasuram 7.2.5

for additional commentaries as experienced by

some of our PoorvAchAryALs in this posting .

 

The 7.2.5 Paasuram of Swamy NammAzhwAr

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Among all the moving paasurams of this decad ,

this paasuram appealed to adiyEn because of

the intensity of the anubhavam of ParAnkusa Naayaki

as described by her Mother , who suffers with her

dear,distraught daughter . The Paasuram is as follows:

 

" sinthikkum thihaikkum thERum kaikkUppum

ThiruvarangatthuLLAi yennum vanthikkum,

aangE mazhaik kaNNIr malha vanthidAi yenRE mayangum ,

anthipOthu avuNan udal idanthAnE alai kadal-

kadaintha AarAvamudhE

santhitthu unn charaNam saarvathEvalittha thaiyalai

myaal seythAnE "

 

First of all , there are salutations to three

EmperumAns here : (1) SriranganAthan (ThiruvarangatthuLLAi)

(2) Ugra Narasimhan ( anthipOthu avuNan udal idainthAnE)

(3) AarAvamudhan ( kadal Kadaintha AarAvamudhE).

 

The intensity of suffering of the daughter over

the frustrations in not having external union

(baahya samslEsham ) with her Lord is poignantly

decribed here .The kaledioscopic changes in the emotions

of the daughter is described by the mother in a state

of utter helplessness. Finally , the mother takes the Lord

to task for His heartlessness and says: " This girl of

mine is lamenting over You . She is just about sustaining

herself only in the hope of seeing You with her physical

eyes and having the joy of union with You. What a terrible

infatuation have You caused in my little daughter ? Who

can I appeal to ? " .

 

Among the three forms of the Lord , whom the Mother

appeals to , One is engaged in Yoga Nidhrai and

seems not to know what mischief he has caused .

This is SriranganAthan . The Lord in the HiraNya

samhAram form (Narasimhan )is busy tearing the innards of

the asuran , who offended His Bhakthan (PrahlAdhan )

and has no time for anything else during that period

of dusk. The third form of the Lord is the amrutha

mathana Moorthy , whose hands are busy holding

the rope of Vaasuki , the serpent , to churn

the milky ocean to bring out the nectar and

other items . Although , the amrutha mathana

moorthy is Himself the embodiment of nectar ,

He is churning for another kind of amrutham . Alas ,

He is busy too with His tasks and does not have time

to look at the sufferings of ParAnkusa Naayaki.

The mother is the only one paying attention

to the plight of the daughter and describes

harrowingly the intense mental anguish and

the bewildering behavior of her distraught

daughter.The Mother says:

 

Oh SriranganAthA ! My daughter thinks of You for a

moment and the intensity of her longing for You makes

her swoon. I hold her and comfort her;she recovers anon.

On waking up, she folds her hands and screams aloud

your name (Oh Sri RanganAthA ! )and tears roll down her

cheeks like copious rains . She shouts, Oh dearest One !

Pray come here and hold me . After that , she swoons

again from these exertions . She wakes up again as I comfort

her. Oh RanganAthA ! Once You jumped out of a pillar

in HiraNyakasipu's darbAr at evening time in response to

a Bhakthan of Yours and tore apart the offending asuran ,

who mistreated Your dear Bhakthan . Wont You show some

mercy now and come to the rescue of this Bhakthai of Yours?

At another time , You blessed the DevAs through Your

intense labors to churn the milky ocean to bless

them with life-giving nectar . Why wont You take

pity on my daughter , whose life is hanging by

a thin thread ? Why wont You be the life-sustaining

nectar to her ? Oh my Lord ! What a life-threatening

infatuation You have caused to my daughter ?

 

The moving appeals of the Mother to the Lord

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In each of the ten paasurams of this decad ,

we are moved by the beauty of the naamams chosen

by the mother of ParAnkusa Naayaki to coax , cajole

and chastise the Lord .Here are some examples :

 

Paasuram 1: " Senkayal paai neer ThiruvarangatthAi ! "

(Oh Lord of Srirangam with fertile paddy fields

that nurture the red fish in its cool waters )

" ivaL thiratthu yenn seyhinRAyO? " ( pray tell me what

you plan to do with this daughter of mine suffering

immensely over You?)

 

Paasuram 2: " Yenn thAmaraikkaNNA ! Muhil VaNNA !

yenn kolO mudihinRathivatkkE ? " ( Oh Lotus-eyed

One resting on Your comfotable bed ! Oh Lord with

the dark blue hue of the clouds of the rainy season !

I am shuddering to think as to what is going to happen

to my daughter and where all of this is going to end ).

 

Paasuram 3: " KaaNumARu aruLAi , KaakutthA KaNNanE !

ivaL thiRatthen seythittAyE ? " . Here the Mother

appeals both to the Moolavar (Sayana Moorthy ), who is

recognized traditionally as KrishNan and the Uthsavar

(NamperumAL ), who is identified with Sri Ramachandran .

The Mother addresses the Lord in same breath as

" KaakuutthA ! KaNNanE ! " She seems to hope that one

of them will respond to her appeal for fair treatment.

She says : " My daughter is undergoing all these sufferings

just to see You with Her eyes. It is a pity to see her

wither away like this over You .What do you plan to

do as remedy to cure her sufferings ? " .

 

Paasuram 4: " SittanE Sezhuneer ThiruvarangatthAi!

IvaL thiRatthen sinthitthAyE ? " : Oh fair Lord

taking Your residence in the fertile Srirangam!

What do You propose to do in the case of my

pitiable daughter caught up in Your snares

of charm ! Please explain that to me .

 

Paasuram 5: The intense suffering of the daughter

and the appeal of the mother on her behalf has been

covered already .

 

Paasuram 6: The angalAippu of the mother over

her tender shoot of a daughter is poignant here .

The mother says : What a sweet and tender girl !

what a terrible fate !

 

Paasuram 7: " paikoLL PaampaNayAi ! ivaL thiRatthu

aruLAi ! paaviyEn seyaRpaalathuvE " . Oh RanganAthA

resting comfortably on Your soft bed of AdhisEshan !

Please show mercy to my suffering daughter !She does

not deserve this rough treatment. It is all because

of my sins of yore .

 

Paasuram 8: " ThiruvarangatthAi ! Yenn seyhEn Yenn

ThirumahatkkE " Oh Lord of fertile Rangam ! What

is it that I can do for my dearest daughter , who is

verily MahA Lakshmi Herself in beauty ?

 

Paasuram 9: " TeLihilEn mudivivaL tanakkE "

The Mother is tormented by the sight of her

daughter's suffering and sighs aloud and

states : " I do not know what end my

poor daughter is going to have " .

 

Paasurm 10 : " Vadivudai VaanOr ThalaivanE !

ivaL aNuhi adainthanaL Muhil vaNNan adiyE ! " .

 

Here the mother , who had almost given up on

her daughter recovering from her woes , travails and

sorrows caused by the Lord , is treated to a miracle .

The relieved mother thanks the Lord as Aasritha rakshaNan

and says : " When I was wondering how she would ever achieve

her insistent goal of seeing You in her intense state

of grief , She has managed tocrawl to Your feet with

the last vestiges of her strength . You too have showered

on her Your rain of nectar-like mercy copiously

and have saved her " .

 

Paasuram 11: In the concluding eleventh verse ,

the mother describes with joy about how her daughter

achieved salvation by holding on her head the sacred

feet of the Lord known for His limitless dayA to

His devotees .

 

Thus ends the beautiful anubhavam of Sri RanganAthA

by Swamy NammAzhwAr as described through the words of

the mother of ParAnkusa Naayaki .

 

Swamy NammAzhwAr ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,

Sri RanganAtha ParabrahmaNE Nama:

Daasan , O.V.SadagOpan