ThiruppANAzhwAr :Input for the New CD ROM on Azhwars and the 108 dhivya Desams .

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Dear BhakthAs:

 

Here is a summary of the highlights

of AmalanadhipirAn .

 

ThiruppAnar's prabhandham :

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Swamy Desikan was so moved by the Prabhandham

of ThiruppANar that he addressed the AzhwAr as

PaaN PerumAL. He wrote a beautiful commentary

for AmalanAdhipirAn ,the Prabhandham of ThiruppANar.

It is pertinent to observe that this is the only

prabhandham among the assembly of 24 dhivya Prabhandhams

that Swamy Desikan has chosen to comment upon in

extensive detail(muni Vaahana BhOgam) .The other

commentaries relating to the Dhivya Prabhandhams

by Swamy Desikan such as Madhura Kavi Hrudhayam ,

Nigama ParimaLam are no longer available to us .

 

The Prakrutham (current) Srimath Azhagiya Singar,

HH Sri NarAyaNa Yathindhra MahA Desikan has written

a series of most informative articles in the recent

issues of Sri Nrusimha PriyA .

 

AdiyEn is following the older commentary here

of Parama padha vaasi Sri U.Ve.Srirama DeasikAcchAr

Swamy .

 

Part III

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Highlights of AmalanAdhipirAn

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1) The ten verses arose out of the AzhwAr's

lips as the anubhava pravAham (an overflow of

the ecstatic joy ) from the experience of

of the divine beauty of the limbs and the body

(ThirumEni) of RanganAthan resting in His

inner sanctum at Srirangam .

 

2) The first nine verses progressively describe

AzhwAr's immersion in the beauty of the Lord's Lotus feet ,

the red garment on His waist , His navel that created BrahmA ,

His Waist band , chest , neck , coral red mouth ,

bewitching eyes and the whole body (samudhAya-

soundharyam).In the final paasuram , AzhwAr

concedes that his eyes can not see anything else in

this world , now that they have seen and enjoyed

the Lord's ThirumEni,His soundharyam and svaroopam .

 

3) The 15 kalyANa guNams of RanganAthan celebrated by

Azhwar in the first paasuram are :

 

(a) His Power to give Moksha siddhi (b)His Jagath-kAraNathvam

©Him Being the world's protector (d)His Disposition to rush

to the help of His bakthAs(e)His Special DayA to His BhakthAs

(f)His SvAtanthryam (not being controlled by anybody)

(g)His remaining blemishless always (h)His Power to be

the Lord of ALL (i)His ease of accesibility by one and

all(j)His Souseelyam (k)His Vaathsalyam for us

(l)His being parama prApyathvam/the loftiest of all

attainments for chEthanams (m)His Aaasritha pakshapAtham

(n)His most sacred Thiruvadi , which is bhOgyam

for BhakthAs (o)His ability to let His BhakthAs

enjoy Him without any deep effort like harsh penance.

 

(4)In the second paasuram , the AzhwAr's eyes

lift up from the enjoyment of and reflection on

the Lord's sacred feet and focus on the PithAmbharam

adorning His waist . AzhwAr's course during the enjoyment

of the Lord's ThirumEni is " AapAdha chooDam or

PaadhAthi kEsAntham " ( from the sacred feet to

the Lofty crown on the Lord's head). Azhwar mentions

that his mind went after the red dress effortlessly.

AzhwAr's mind leaves him and goes towards that

beautiful dress on the Lord's waist and gets

riveted there without any goading from him.

 

(5)The third paasuram deals with the extension of

the AzhwAr's gaze from the PithAmbharam to His navel,

where BrahmA was created. AzhwAr uses the word " adiyEn "

for the first time in this paasuram . In the earlier

two passurams ,he had used the word , " Yenn " .The use of

adiyEn implies that the daasya aspect overwhelming him

in the spirit of " Aathma dasyam , HarE: Swamyam "

(Our servitude and Hari's Lordship over us).

 

(6) It has been pointed out that the first three

paasurams start with A (Amalan) ,U (Uvantha) and

M (Manthi).The combination of A+U+M gives us

the esoteric PraNavam . Swamy Desikan is of

the opinion that the ten paasurams of AmalanAdhipirAn

are the distilled essence of the three VaishNavite

rahasyams ( Moola Manthram , Dhvayam and Charama SlOkam ).

 

(7) In the fourth paasuram, AzhwAr covers the meaning

of Nama: sabdham of the Moola Manthram.Here AzhwAr

says that the waist band (udhara bandham ) of

the Lord has entered into his heart , stayed

there and is enjoying joyous strolls there .

The Udhara Bandham is that small rope ( KaNNI nuNN

SirutthAmpu ) used by YasOdhai,which led to Him

being saluted as DaamOdharan . Even today , it is

said that the Tazhumpu (welt) formed by Yasodhai's

rope is seen on the waist of the Moola BhEram of

SriranganAthan.Thoughts about that udhara bandham will

remove our samsAra bandhams and lead us to Moksham.

AzhwAr is saluting the golden waist chain , which

has allegorical links to the small rope used by YasOdhA .

 

(8)In the fifth paasuram , AzhwAr feels the impact

of Lord RanganAthA's abundant grace .He has now entered

into AzhwAr's heart instead of just letting the AzhwAr

enjoy the beauty of His waist aabharaNam .Azhwar now

enjoys the beauty of the Lord's broad chest

adorned by the vana Maalai (Vyjayanthi garland )

and MahA lakshmi. That auspicious chest enslaved AzhwAr

and made him become immediately a servant (Daasan)

to the Lord.This happened without the performance of

any special penance as stated by AzhwAr.

 

(9) The tattvams associated with the Lord's grace

covered by the fifth paasuram are:

(a)VirOdhi nigraham /Chasing away of the inner and outter

enemies (b)Ishta prApthi ( gaining of desired goals)

©His pervasive presence inside and outside the Jeevans

(d)His enduring dayA (e)His soulabhyam , which stands

behind Him serving as UpAyam/means for Moksham

(f)His Parathvam (Supermacy)which stands behind

Him to serve as Phalan/fruit of Prapatthi

(g)His presence as Lakshmi-Kaanthan or Sriya:Pathi

with Yeka-sEshithva Yogam (h)His bearing the world

as prAkAram and adorning His ThiruvAbharanams

(i)Being the SvarUpam of the Jeevan , who is His

Daasan and (j)the Kaimkaryam ,which is the fruit

of being a Daasan .

 

(10)The sixth paasuram has the Lord's throat as

its focus.AzhwAr states here that the throat of

the Lord , which has performed many miracles before,

has now performed another one (viz).,infusion of life

into AzhwAr and saving him (nall vAzhvu and Ujjeevanam)

forever.

 

(11)In the seventh paasuram ,AzhwAr addresses

Sri RanganAthan as " IyaanAr " -our Saviour and

Rakshakan . AzhwAr's mind is now captivated by

the whole ThirumEni of the Lord and particularly

carried away by His coral red lips .He can no longer

enjoy the beauty of rest of the ThirumEni. He cries

out in the mixed mood of ecstacy and anguish for His

helpless state with the expression : IyyO ! AzhwAr

suffers over his inability to fully digest and

enjoy the unimaginable beauty of those coral lips .

 

(12) In the eighth paasuram , AzhwAr tears away

from the additional enjoyment of the coral lips

and shifts his attention to those magnificent eyes

of the Lord ,which are lustrous and inviting

(SvAgathOdhaara nEthram ).AzhwAr salutes those

deep and dayA-laden eyes and concedes that those

eyes have reduced him to a helpless state through

the spell that they cast on him.

 

(13) In the ninth paasuram , AzhwAr feels much closer

to the Lord and feels secure and comforted as a result

of enjoying the individual limbs of the Lord . AzhwAr

begins now to celebrates the beauty of the entire

ThirumEni of the Lord.That greater anubhavam drives

away the sense of self-satisfaction that he had

possessed until now. His erstwhile complascence

and contentment derived from the enjoyment of

the individual limbs are gone as he begins to

absorb the matchless beauty of the entire ThirumEni

of Sri RanganAthan. AzhwAr is Knocked off his feet

as he avidly enjoys the Lord's ThirumEni ( Dhivya

MangaLa Vigraham ) as well as His Svaroopam

( DhivyAthma Svaroopam).Bowled over by the double

power of the Lord's Svaroopam and Roopam , AzhwAr

cries out again: IyyO ! PeriyavAcchAn PiLlai

describes the pitiable state of the AzhwAr this

way: " Having donned a green coat (pacchai maamalai

pOl mEni), the Lord has shown to me every thing within

Him without exception . He has taken away every thing of me "

Sri D.Raamaswamy Iyengar adds : " Like a magician

attractively dressed hypnotising a person and taking

away all his wealth " , the Lord has performed this

magic on me and captivated me totally.

 

(14) The last paasuram is marked by SaathvIka ahankaram.

As a result of being the beneficiuary of the Lord's grace ,

AzhwAr is totally fulfilled and states a fact that His eyes

will not be able to see any one or anything else in all

the worlds except Sri RanganAthan (yenn amudhinaik kaNDa

kaNNkaL maRRonRinaik kaaNAvE )After experiencing this nectar,

which is the Sarva Mangala Vigraha nectar , AzhwAr has no

need for any thing else .He indicates that the Lord alone is

worth seeing , worth experiencing and naught else.The Lord

heard that firm statement of the AzhwAr and permitted

the AzhwAr to merge into Him infront of every one assembled

at His sannidhi. Azhwar entered into that Svyam JyOthi

(Lord RanganAthan) now that His avathAra kaaryam was completed.

 

Srimath Azhagiya Singar ThiruvadigaLE saraNam ,

Sri SrirAma DesikAchArya Nama:

Swamy Desikan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

SrimathE RanganAtha ParabrahmaNE Nama:

Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SatakOpan