Inputs for CD ROMs : Part IX-- Part II , KulasEkara AzhwAr

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Dear BhakthAs: here is the concluding section of

KulasEkhara AzhwAr's Dhivya prabhandham of PerumAL Thirumozhi.

 

TELL ME MORE SECTION

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There are 105 Bhakthi-laden paasurams in PerumAl Thirumozhi

housed in ten decads. The subject matter of these ten

decads are:

 

(1) AzhwAr's yearning to worship Lord RanganAthan at

Srirangam and celebration of his Bhagavath PrAvaNyam

(devotion to the Lord).

 

(2) Reverence for the devotees of Lord RanganAthan and

yearning to join that Bhagavatha GhOshti(aanukoolya-

Sankalpam).Celebration of his Bhaagavatha PrAvaNyam

( devout disposition to the BhAgavathAs of the Lord).

 

(3) Renunciation of the impediments to God-Realization,

AzhwAr's parama vairAgyam , rejection of Ihika-

PurushArthams (pleasures of this world )out of his great

love for the sacred feet of Lord RanganAthan (Praathikoolya-

Varjanam).

 

(4) KulasEkhara " s moving prayer to the Lord of Venkatam for His DayA

to be born as any thing on His hills for removal of obstructions

to Moksha Siddhi(kaarpaNyam).Expressions of His desire to have

the sevai of the Lord of Venkatam at all times (gopthruva varaNam).

 

(5) AzhwAr's total dependence on the mercy of the Lord of

VitthuvakkOdu and AzhwAr's mahA visvAsam in the Lord

as a SaraNAgathan(Aathma NikshEpam/Bhara NyAsam).

Describtion of the varieties of realtionships

between the JeevAthmA and the ParamAthmA : Mother and

the helpless Infant , straying Husband and Pathivrathai,

unsteady king and loyal subject,Curing Surgeon and

the sick patient,the stable ship and the exhausted bird

seeking refuge in it in the middle of the ocean ,

the life-giving Sun and the Lotus that needs it

for its existence , the life giving rain and the crop that

depends on it , the vast Ocean and the many rivers that

enter into it (ananaya Gathithvam and Aakinchanyam).

 

(6) Celebration of Naayaki-Naayaka BhAvam in the form of

a Gopi, who never had any samslEsham (union) with

the Lord expressing Her longing for Him (madhura bhakthi).

 

(7) Celebration of the Mother-child love through the anubhavam

of Devaki vis-a-vis Bala KrishNan after VasudEvar moved Him

to AaypAdi for " safety " . The Mother(Devaki) , who had to give up

her own child and her missing the Aanandham of enjoying her

child growing up. Frustrated Devaki's lament about her

misfortune(dourbhAgyam). AzhwAr experiences the sorrow of

Devaki and relates it to his vislEsham (seperation )from

the Lord.

 

(8) Celebration of another type of Mother-Child love through

the joyous anubhavam of Kousalai singing lullaby to her child ,

Raamachandran. MangaLAsAsanam of ThirukkaNNapuram PerumAL

as RaamAvatharan.In this avathAram , BhagavAn was not separated

from His birth mother. AzhwAr enjoys the anubhavam of

the blissful mother (Kousalai)singing lullaby to her SuprajA.

 

(9) Reflection on the Father-Son seperation ( Lord Raamachandran

as Son and Dasarathan as the Father)and articulation of

the sorrow of the father after the exile of his dear son.

AzhwAr identifies himself with Dasaratha here.The lamentations

of Dasaratha are heart-breaking.This is AzhwAr's anubhavam

enjoying the Lord as his puthran.

 

(10) The tenth and final decad provides the climax to AzhwAr's

exploration of the relationship (Sambhandham )between

the Lord and himself as His Bhakthan seeking liberation from

the SamsAric ills to perform nithya kaimkaryam to

Him . AzhwAr's joy breaks forth in the form of

MangaLAsAsanam for Thillai Thirucchithrakoota EmperumAn.

AzhwAr visualizes the Lord of Dhivya Desam as the happy

Raamachandran enjoying the beauty of Chithrakootam hills

with SithA PirAtti . AzhwAr uses the occasion to bless us

with SankshEpa RaamAyaNam ( RaamAyaNa Saaram).

This decad is Srimath RaamAyana Sarvasavam indeed !

UtthamUr Swamy's special monograph on Srimath RaamAyaNa

Sarvasavam provides excellent description of the tattvams

celebrated by the great Raama BhakthA , KulasEkhara AzhwAr

in many paasurams of PerumAL Thirumozhi. It would be

appropriate to recall here the two slOkams summarizing

the 18 tattvams behind Srimath RaamAyaNam that were

revealed by Thirumalai Nampi to his nephew RaamAnujA

over a period of one year at Thiruppathi:

 

VidhyA sarvAapi bhAhyathyajanamakhila

saddhdharma aadhyAthmikArthA : I

arTaanAm panchakam Sriraghupathi paratatthvam

Prapatthi: padham tath( pumarTa:) II

 

Seshathvam Paaratantryam tadhavadhiragathithvam

virakthirgurOrdhruk I

SrIsAhyam nirbharathvam suvasathirapi

TaddhdhyAyitha-ashtaadasArTA: II

 

Illustrative Examples of KulasEkhara's Prabhandham

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Swamy Desikan salutes this AzhwAr's prabhandham as

" Nann PoruL sEr Thirumozhi " ( the divine utterances

that have deep and auspicous doctrines(meanings)

embedded in them. These unquely Sri VaishNavA doctrines are

Lord's Parathvam , Prapatthi at His sacred feet ,

Sesha-Seshi relationship , Bhaktha Paaratantryam

(subservience to BhakthAs),fearlesslness after SaraNAgathi,

SrinivAsathvam and others.

 

While AzhwAr was king , his raajadhAni vibrated with

the sounds of daily preparations for his yAthrA to Srirangam

to worship Lord RanganAthan ( ghushyathE yathra nagarE

Ranga-yAthrA dinE dinE).He longed for the sevai of

the Lord of Srirangam and pined over the royal duties that

interfered with the journey to Srirangam . Keeping in mind all

of our procrastrinations to make that journey and stay

at Srirangam until shaking our mortal coils , KulasEkhara

sets the first decad to express his longing to arrive at

Srirangam to feast on the beauty and reflect upon

the anantha kalyANa guNams of the Lord reclining on AdhisEshan

there. Dr.K.C.VaradachAri has transalted this decad beautifully:

 

" The touch of the feet of the Lord is that has made SeshA ,

the thousand-headed , fierce serpent and Kaveri, the river ,

enjoy their supreme bliss. When shall I have the pleasure of

witnessing the splendor of the Lord of Srirangam ? When

will be the day , when I can see the Lord and enjoy Him?

When will be the day whenI can sing His praise to the fullest

powers of my speech ? When will be the day when I shall be

with the servants of the Lord at Srirangam ? When will be

the day , when I can loudly praise Him and offer Him fresh

flowers with my own hands and do obeisance ? When will

the time come , when my tears of ecstasy shall flow on

seeing that wonderful Lord (MaayOn)? When will the time come ,

when I shall see Him without interruption and place my

head at His feet ? When will that time come , when my

mind gazing at His moon-like face will melt into Him ?

When will the time come , when I, a sinner , shall be

redeeemed through becoming fit to enjoy the darsanam of

the Lord? Moving with devotees with unabating love for Him ,

singing His excelelnt names, propelled by love with intense

emotion, thinking of Him with tear drops of ecstasy falling

like rain , melting throughout the day praising Him , when

will that time come , when I shall worship the Lord at Srirangam ,

where the lordly music simulates the billows of the ocean

(in the yonder world) on which He is lying on the serpent ,

adorning the discus , awaiting battle? When shall I roll on

the floor dancing with ecstasy ? When is that day to come ,

when standing before Him and His devotees I too can become

one of them ? " ( First decad: Paasurams 1-10).

 

Other passages revealing AzhwAr's VairAghyam and his total

dependence of the Lord are referred below to appreciate

the intensity of AzhwAr's spiritual journey:

 

" I shall not join those who have love for their bodies.

I shall not move with those , who are unable to leave

the contemplation of delicate waisted women(indhriya Sukhams).

I shall not join those whose sole preoccupation is food and

clothing and enjoyemnts of the perishable pleasures of

this world. With those , who seek such lowly pleasures,

I shall not join .Nor shall I join those , who do not seek

our Lord only. I shall not think of the (transient)pleasures

that one can get from the demi-gods and others ( who are but

lords of senses). On the other hand , I shall set my mind on

the Lord of Srirangam and become absorbed in His devotion. "

(Meyyil Vaazhkayai: Third decad dealing with prAthikoolya

Varjanam aspect of SaraNAgathi).

 

KulasEkara AzhwAr's deep attachment to the archai form of

the Lord at Thiruppathi pours out in the form of moving

plea to be any thing on the sacred hills of ThiruvEnkatam:

 

" I who am enlightened shall not seek the transient human

frame again. I shall seek to be a bird in the temple at

Thirumalai. I do not pray for Indra " s pomp surrounded by

immortal beauty of the apsaras and the heaven (Svargam) ,

but shall seek to be a fish in the streams of Thirumalai

hills. I do not seek to rule over the kingdom , the joys of

riding elephants . I do not crave to see the dance of Urvasi,

Menakai and others and hear their music. Even though I gain

the company of the excellent , gold-bejeweled Urvasi ,

I shall not desire her. I shall seek instead to be

ANYTHING on the sacred hills of ThiruvEnkatam ( to be

near my Lord always ) " (PerumAL Thirumozhi: V.1,2,5,10).

 

His total and unconditional devotion to the Lord is

etched in the paasurams for the VitthuvakOttu AmmAn:

 

" I am like an infant which cries out thinking of its

mother's grace , though with anger fierce , she has

thrust it away from her face. Even like well-born girl,

who only her husband knows ,though deeds such as men may

mock her husband does, so will I sing , though thou wilt

not be my Lord. ..Like the subjects looking to the (just)

rod of the king , though he regards them or not , I am

like a sick man, who though surgeon cut with knife and

brand , yet loves him with a love as long as life. Like a

great (sea) bird on a ship , which goes around and

sees no shore and comes atlast back over the tossing sea

and perches (safely)on the ship's mast , I am returning to

the Lord's (sacred and redeeming ) paadhAravindham . " ( PerumAL

Thirumozhi: Paasurams 1-5).

 

Other references on KulasEkhara AzhwAr's Prabhandham

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(1) Audio recital of the PerumAL Thirumozhi : Beautiful

recordings by Srimans Navalpaakkam Ananth and Narayanan

of Bharain (Students of Late Sevilimedu SrinivasAcchAr

Swamy) .These recordings are made possible through the deeply

appreciated kaimkaryam of Sriman Venkataraghavan of Bharain:

http://mahadesika.tripod.com/index_1000.htm

 

(2) Two Postings on Mukundha Maalai(Text, Translation & Commentarry):

 

http://www.ramanuja.org/sv/bhakti/oct98/0038.html

( and previous postings): V.SatakOpan & Sri Ram Gopala Swamy.

 

http://www.indiadivine.com/mukunda-mala-stotra.htm

 

RaajAthi RaajAya RaamabhadrAya mangaLam

KulasEkhara AzhwAr ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

RaamAnuja Daasan, Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SatakOpan