[tiruvengadam] Selected excerpts from MahA VidvAn Sri U.Ve. PerukkAraNai Swamy's ThiruppAvai Monograph: Part XXXII- Twenty Sixth day : MAALE MANIVANNAA Dinam

[Guest guest]

Srimathyai GodhAyai Nama:

SrimathE RaamAnujAya Nama:

 

Significance of the 26th Paasuram

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Dear BhakthAs: This 26th Paasuram is about Isvaran,

the 26th Tatthvam. The Upanishad points Him out as

the 26th Tattvam ( Tamm shat-vimsakam ithyAhu:).

The importance of the number 26 among the Tattvams

is seen at Hasthigiri of Lord VaradarAjan . The chEthanam

(the Jeevan as the 25th tattvam )climbs the 24 steps

(SarIram with 24 tattvams , which is an obstacle

for mOksham ) to get to the sannidhi of Isvaran

on top of the Hasthigiri waiting for it (jeevan)

pateiently as the 26th and the Supreme Tattvam.

 

Literal Meaning of " MaalE MaNivaNNA " Paasuram (Dr.Raghavan)

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(Here ,the young gOpis request the granting of drum , lamp ,

flag , canopy et al). Oh the embodiment of pure

disinterested love ! Oh Lord of wonderful colour of

the blue sapphire gem! May You listen to us(1)who

perform the " bathing during Maargazhi " , an observance

the great ancient people followed and (2) who are

in the need of following SIX things (for the vratham):

(a)superior conches similar to Your great Paanchajanyam,

which have the white hue of milk and which through

their tumultous sound shakes all the worlds (b) giant size

drums/bhEris © PallANDu singers (d)decorative lamps

(e)dhvajam-banner & flags and(f)a big canopy .Oh Lord MaayAvin!

the One who just reposed as a baby on a banyan leaf

(Vatapathra-saayin) in the waters of PraLayam ! Kindly bless us

with these six vrathOpakaraNams through Your limitless grace.

 

BhUvarAhAcchAr Swamy's observations about his paasuram

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Lord KrishNA seated on His simhAsanam asks the Gopis

to explain the self-contradiction in their appeals:

 

" Oh Gopis ! You say You have come to get materials from me

for Your nOnbhu and in the same breath say that You have

come to enjoy My company. Those who desire my company

need to eschew all other desires . Moreover, What is

this nOnbhu that You refer to ? Who has prescribed it

and what are the accessories recommended for that nOnbhu? " .

 

Gopis respond: " Oh Lord , the Cowherds proposed this vratham

to gain auspiciousness. We readily responded since it came

handy to see Your face and sing about Your glories . We

observe this nOnbhu also to express our gratitude towards

those cowherds , who have brought about our union under

this pretext " .

 

Although there is no direct Vedic injunction (to perform

this nOnbhu), we do it bacuse our ancestors have performed it

(mElayAr seyvanagaL). We give more importance to our

learned ancestors than to any other injunctions " .

 

ANDAL is giving us the message (upadesam) that age old

customs , traditions and practises of our AchAryAs

are to be respected and observed with great care.

 

By enumerating all the accessories for the nOnbhu , ANDAL

is speaking about SAAMYAPPATTHI --where the liberated

soul gets emblems and insignias similar to that of the Lord ,

Sri VaikuntanAthan.

 

The address of the Lord as " MaalE " is to

depict the Lord's unlimited love and concern

for the Jeevan. It is the stand-in for the word

" Maam " (MAmEkam SaraNam Vraja )in the Charama

SlOkam .

 

The address of the Lord as " AalinilayAi " in the final

paadham of this paasuram refers to His immense prowess

as revealed by the word " AHAM " in the same charama

slOkam (AHAM thvaa sarva paapEbhyO MokshayishyAmi maa

sucha:). " Maam " shows His easy accessibility (Soulabhyam)

and " AHAM " , His omnipotence.

 

The Inner meanings of the Paasuram (Abhinava Desikan )

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We perform hrudh-Yaagam (mAnasIka aarAdhanam) first

and then engage in BhAhyArAdhanam ( external aarAdhanam).

Latter has six steps (aasanams) as established by

sishtAgresarars ( done by the leaders of righteous conduct:

mElayAr seyvanakaL) . The word group " mElayAr seyvanakaL

vENDuvana " is the essence of this paasuram , where

sishtAchAram (Conductof the noble ones)is celebrated

as the way to follow ,whenever one is in doubt.

 

The six Aasanams are: (1) manthrAsanam (2) SnAnAsanam

(3)alankArAsanam (4)bhOjyAsanam (5) punar-manthrAsanam

and (6) paryankAsanam . We have to seat the Lord in each

of the six aasanams and offer upachArams. The six accesories

desired by Gopis for the AaarAdhanam match with the six

aasanams : (1) blowing of the conch (pranava nAtham) is

manthrAsanam (2)Vadhya ghOsham is performed in SnAnAsanam/

Thirumanjanam (3)during alankArAsanam , manthra pushpam

and recitation of aruLiccheyalkaL & Vedic chanting.This is

equivalent to singing PallANDu (4) The samarpaNam of

NaivEdhyam for the Lord is known as lighting a lamp

(5)During punar-manthrAsanam , vij~nApanam is made

whether the Lord desires any sanchaaram on Garudan ,

His kodi (Dhvajam) and (6) in paryankAsanam , the vidhAnam

(canopy)is spread over the Lord's bed . Thus , the six

upakaraNams ( Sankhu , Parai, PallANDU-isaippAr , Kola ViLakku ,

Kodi and VidhAnam ) are mappable to the six Aasanams

prescribed for the six stages of external AarAdhanam

for the Lord. This Bhagavath AarAdhana Kramam is covered

in detail in the AchArya RaamAnujA CD ROM released last

year.

 

Inner meanings by Sri PBA Swamy

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The Gopis seek Maarga seersha AvagAhanam

(Marghazhi neerAtam ) as the most illustrious

Bhagavath prApthi margam ( the means to attain

the Lord) , namely , resting under the comforting

doctrine of AchArya abhimAnam and total visvAsam in

that AchAryan .Swamy Desikan's NyAsa Tilakam

passages (viz), " andhO anandha grahaNa vachaka: "

and " dhatthE Rangi nijamapi padham DesikAdEsa kaankshi "

are cited as illustrations as how we should follow

AchArya Niyamanam to attain full phalan of Prapatthi.

 

The Gopis driven by BhAva PradhAna nirdEsa nyAyam

( revealing their dominant bhAvanai/behavior of following

AchArya Nishtai) want to become the six accessories

that they seek : Sankhu ( to become suddha Saathvikars

and not to leave Lord's hand ever);PaRai ( to become like

sounding to clebrate the glories of achAryan and their

paramparai);PallANDu isaippAr ( like PeriyAzhwAr to

sing PallANDu to Him ); Kola ViLakku (to become

endowed with Svayam PrakAsam ); Kodi is Dhavajam

( to hold the flag of " Srimallakshmana YogIndhra

siddhAntha Vijaya dhvajam );VidhAnam ( Like the nithya-

sUri, Garudan , who is equated to VidhAnam by

Swamy AaLavanthAr in His sthOthra rathna slOkam :

DaasassakhA vaahanamAsanam dhvajO VIDHAANAM

vyajanam ThrayImaya:). They seek like Garudan ,

" sarva desa , sarva Kaala , sarva avasthOcitha

asEsha Kaimkaraya " anubhavam from KrishNA.

 

" mElayAr SeyvanakaL " is the jeeva naadi for this paasuram.

ANDAL, received Upadesam from Her AchAryan ,PeriyAzhwAr ,

the GarudAmsar , about the GithOpanishad slOkam 3.21

and She blesses us with that upadEsam :

 

yadhyadhAcharathi srEshtastatthEvEtarO Jana:

sa YathpramANam kuruthE LokastadhanuvarthatE

 

(Meaning): " Whatever a great man does, other men also do.

whichever standard he sets, the world follows it...With

regard to any duty , which is being performed with

all its ancillaries by an eminent personage, the people

with imncomplete knowledge will do it with the same

ancillaries " .

 

SvApadEsArthams by PerukkAraNai Swamy

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MaalE MaNivaNNA ! = Oh Lord of exquisite beauty

and who has unlimited love

for the chEthanams

 

Maarghazhi = for performing the superior act

neerAduvAn of SaraNAgathi

 

mElayAr vENDuvana = if You want to hear about the rites

seyvanaikaL to be performed by us for that upAyam

kEttiyEl recommended by our noble ancestors ,

we will tell You about them.

 

pOlvana = The aanukoolya sankalpam arising

sankhangaL from the sankha dhvani, which is like

the Jn~Anam-giving Pranava nAdham

 

pOypAdudai = the prAthikoolya varjana sankalpam arising

paRayE from the vast , apourushEya Vedam serving

as the resonating BhEri (PaRai) naadham

 

pal aaNdu = for a long time

 

isaippArE = (accumulating )the pahala thyAgam arising

from those with visvAsam

 

kOla VilakkE = having mahA visvAsam (in YOU)

 

kodi = experiencing utter helplessness about

our ability (to protect ourselves)and seeking

Your grace like a flag fluttering

in the fierce wind (KaarpaNyam)

 

vidhAnam = (seeking )gopthruva varanam , all these

angams of SaraNAgathi ,

 

aruL = Oh Lord , please bless us with them.

 

PerukkAraNai Swamy has 30 pages of commentary on

this paasuram .His elaborations on Karthavyam

( that which must be done), ThyAjyam ( That which

needs to be abandoned) , the daily duites of Men

and Women as Sri VaishNavAs are very important

areas for reflection . adiyEn can capture only

a limited portion due to limits of space and time.

 

ANDAL , Azhagiya Singar ThiruvadigaLE Saranam,

RaamAnuja Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SatakOpan