MahA VidvAn Sri U.Ve. PerukkAraNai Swamy ' ThiruppAvai Monograph: Selected Excerpts: Part X- Fourth day of Dhnaur Maasam: Azhimazhai KaNNA Dinam

[Guest guest]

Sriamthyai Godhayai Nama:

SrimathE RaamAnujAya Nama:

 

Dear BhakthAs:

 

On this fourth day of ThiruppAvai Vratham , adiyEn will

Cover " Azhimazhaik KaNNA " paasuram , where Godhai and

Her friends sing in praise of " God VaruNA , the God of rains "

and request Him to bless them with copious rains

for the Maarghazhi vratham observance .

 

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

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Oh Lord VaruNA who is the prsding 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 Mudalvan=

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

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Aazhi Mazhaik KaNNA 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 !

 

Nee onRu kai karavEl Please bless us with all the

meanings of the three rahasyams

without holding back any

 

Aazhiut-pukku after entering the milky ocean

of Upanishads

 

muhanthu kodu taking the quintessential meanings

 

aarthu yERi and roaring like a lion

 

Oozhi mudalvan uruvam You (AchAryAs) who have the dark

pOl mey karutthu 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)

 

Paazhiyam thOLudai You who have the radiance arising

PaRpanAbhan kaiyil from your dhivya Jn~Anam

Aazhi pOl minni

 

Valampuri pOl ninRu You roaring like HayagrIva ghOsham

athirnthu (Jn~Anandha maya vijaya ghOsham)

 

thAzhAthE thinking that there will be

inauspiciousness , if You

(as AchAryAs)do not perform upadEsam

to your sishyAs

 

Saarngam Udaittha showering the Jn~Ana varsham ( torrent

Sara Mazhai pOl of Jn~Anam) like the bhANa Varsham

( the torrent of arrows leaving

KodhanDa Raaman's Saarangam bow)

 

Ulahinil Vaazha For the people of the world to survive

and live

 

Mahinzthu peythidAi please rain (of Jn~Anam) with joy

 

naangaLum mahizhnthu so that we will engage in the most

Maarghazhi neerAda exalted (Maargha seersham /thalai

siRantha ) act of Prapatthi/SaraNAgathi

at Your sacred feet !

 

(Summary ): In the Ongi UlahaLantha Utthaman Paasuram ,

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.

 

SadAchAryAs serving as KaaruNyAmrutha Meghams

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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 continously .

 

AchArya RaamAnujA as a Daya-laden rain cloud

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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 :

 

Sruthi Surabhaya: SuddhAnandha abhivarshuka VaaridhA:

--SlOkam 47

(These clouds have the fragrance of VedAs and shower

the purest of pure bliss all around).

 

udhgruhNItham upanishadsu nigUDam arTam --

---SlOkam 25

( here AchArya RaamAnujA's hands dipping into

the deep ocean of Upanishads and bringing out

their essential meanings (SaarArthams) is described.

 

SlOkams 30 (paanIya Sindhu:) , 32 ( anthyam varNam

prathayathi), 60 ( (nirucchEdhA Yathipathi DayA

dhivya taDinee --samAplaavayathi/ that never drying

GangA pravAham known as YathirAja " s Daya immerses me

in it ).

 

Abhinava Desikan's insights

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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 abubdant

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 .

 

The greatness of ANDAL's reverence for Tamizh language

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Sriman PerukkAraNai Swamy points out that ANDAL has

used the unique Tamizh letter (Zha) ELEVEN TIMES in

this paasuram : Aaazhi , Mazhai , OOzhi , Paazhiyam ,

thAzhAthE , Vaazha , Maarghazhi , Mahizhnthu ---.

The use of letter " Zha " is unique for Tamizh BhAsahi

(language) ANDAL's father used it (ZHA) TEN TIMES in 285th

Paaasuram of Dhivya prabhandham ( Kuzhal IruNDu--).

It looks like the daughter went beyond him in this matter !

 

This paasuram is a great one that celebrates

the glories of SadAchAryans and their KaaruNyam .

There are many other deep meanings that adiyEn could

not include due to the need to keep the postigns brief.

adiyEn will be faced with this dilemma throughout

this series of postings and request devotees' understanding.

There is so much more .

 

Srimath Azhagiya Singhar, ANDAL ThiruvadigaLE saranam

RaamAnuja Daasan, Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SatakOpan