Thiruvarangatthu AmudanAr thirunakshatram

[Guest guest]

Respected Ramanuja Bhaktas,

 

Today is Panguni Hastam, the thirunakshatram (appearance day) of the

renowned Thiruvarangatthu AmudanAr, a one-time opponent to Sri

Ramanuja who would eventually become known as one of his greatest

devotees. Through his spiritual transformation, Amudanr would come to

compose the IrAmAnusa nooRRandAdhi, 100 verses extolling the

greatness of Ramanuja, and the bliss found in surrendering to him and

chanting his holy name. This work is so revered by the followers of

Ramanuja Darshanam that it is regarded to be the Prapanna Gayatri -

the Gayatri mantra for those who follow the path of surrender.

 

Sri Sadagopan Swamy recently wrote a wonderful article on Sri

Amudanar's life and his magnificent work, IrAmAnusa nooRRandAdhi .

This article is attached below.

 

adiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan,

Mohan

 

 

------->

 

Life of Thiruvarangatthu AmudanAr (TVA)- by Sri V Sadagopan..

Vaazhi ThirunAmam for Sri TVA:

 

YenthAthai KoorEsar iNaiyadiyOn VaazhiyE

yezhil moongirkkudi viLanga inghu vanthOn vaazhiyE

nanthAmal YathirAsar nalam puhazhvOn vaazhiyE

nann Madhura kavinilayai naNNinOn vaazhiyE

painthAma Arangan padham paRRinAn vaazhiyE

Panguniyil attha naaL paaruthitthAn vaazhiyE

andhAthi nooRRettum aruLinAn vaazhiyE

aNiyarangatthamudanAr adiyiNaikaL vaazhiyE

 

This Vaazhi ThirunAmams salutes the pair of

sacred feet of Thiruvarangatthu Amudanar ,

who had KurEsan as his AchAryan .His birth

at ThirumUngirkkudi on Panguni Hastham day ,

his ever-lasting tribute to AchArya RaamAnujA

in the form of 108 paasurams set in the kalitthuRai

andhAthi form are recognized. The most important

part of this Vaazhit thirunAmam identifies AmudanAr

as the One , who attained the status of

Madhura Kavi in illustrious AchArya Bhakthi.

 

Madhura Kavi declared in his Prabhandham:

" tEvu maRRariyEn " ( I do not know of any God

other than my AchAryan, Swamy NammAzhwAr).

AmudanAr's AchArya Bhakthi asserted itself

in the following words of his Prabhandham ,

where he declares that AchArya RaamAnujA

is his sole succor and sustenance :

 

" pERonRu maRRillai ninn CharaNanRi ,

appERaLitthathaRkku aaRu onRumillai,

MaRRa SaRaNanRi.. " (45th paasuram )

 

Here AmudanAr states that Sri RaamAnujA's

sacred feet are his UpAyam and Phalan and

he can not describe in words the greatest

help given by Sri RaamAnujA to him . AmudanAr

states that there is nothing else to be

attained as a treasure except the sacred feet

of AchArya RaamAnujA for one's ujjeevanam ,

whether they are scholars steeped in Vedhic

lore or common folk without such austere

training.

 

There are four Taniyans for IrAmAnusa nooRRandhAthi

attributed to Vedhap PirAn Bhattar , SOmAsi ANDAn

and another author .We will salute AmudanAr through

these invocatory paasurams (Taniyans) and cover

the charithram of AmudanAr , the contemproary of

AchArya RaamAnujA , in the next posting .

 

Taniyan 1 by Vedhap PirAn Bhattar:

 

munaani vinai ahala Moonkirkkudiyamudhan,

ponnang kazhark kamalap pOthiraNDum--yennudaya

sennik kaNiyAhac chErthinEn, tennpulatthArkk-

kennaik kadavudayEn yann

 

(Meaning): All of adiyEn's ancient paapams

have been banished with the smaraNam of

the sacred feet of AmudhanAr. He was born in

the village of Moonkirkkudi. His sacred feet are

the most desirable and lovely like the lotus

flower. AdiyEn is wearing them as the abharaNam

for my head.How can adiyEn become the target

now of the Yama kinkarAs and their tortures ?

No way.

 

Taniyan 2 by Vedhap PirAn Bhattar:

 

nayam taru pErinbhamellAm pazhuthenRu naNNInar paal

sayam taru keerthi RaamAnusa Muni thALiNai mEl

Uyarntha guNatthut ThiruvarangatthamudhOnkumanbAl

iyampum KalitthuRaiyandhAthi Odha visai nenjamE

 

(Meaning): Here , the prayer is to one's nenju

to agree to recite the sacred prabhnadham of

IrAmAnusa nooRRandhAthi of AmudhanAr.

 

EmperumAnAr is the glorious One , who blesses

us with victory over the afflictions of SamsAram ,

once we seek His sacred feet as refuge after

clearly recognizing that the material pleasures

are evanescent and ephemeral. Oh My mind, Please

agree to recite the Prabhandham of AmudhanAr set

in kalitthuRai metre in the form of an andhAthi ;

AmudhanAr's dhivya prabhndham originated from

his saraNAgathi with MahA visvAsam at the sacred

feet of RaamAnujar and the love that flowed from that

sacred rite taking the shape of RaamAnuja

nooRRandhAthi is for our ujjeevanam.

 

Taniyan 3 by SOmAsi ANDAn :

 

sollin thohai koNDu unathadip pOthukkut thoNDu seyum

nallanbharEtthum unn naamamelAm yenRan naavinuLLE

allum pahalum amarumpaDi nalhu aRu samayam

vellum Parama, IrAmAnusa! ithenn viNNappamE

 

(Meaning): Here SOmAsi ANDAn wishes his tongue

to recite the ThirunAmams of IrAmAnusan eulogized

by His adiyArs.

 

Oh RaamAnujA , who has the glory of winning over

the six darsanams and demonstrated that they are

no match to Sri VaisNava darsanam ! This is my

prayer to You ! May Your ThirunAmams celebrated

by your adiyArs in their paasurams stay on my tongue

day and night for my enjoyment and ujeevanam.

 

Taniyan 4 used in mElnAttu Thiruppathis:

 

iniyenn kuRai namakkemperumAnAr ThirunAmatthAl

muni tanatha nooRRettu SAAVITHRI yennu nuNNporuLai

kani tantha senjcholl KalithuraiyandhAthi paaDithanthAn

punithan ThiruvarangatthamuthAhiya PuNNiyanE

 

(meaning): We have nothing missing in our lives , now

that we have the prapanna Saavithri -- the 108 pasurams

of RaamAnuja nooRRandhAthi celebrating our AchAryan's

sacred name set in kalitthurai andhAthi, blessed by

the puNya moorthi , ThiruvarangatthamudanAr . Meditating

on the deep meanings of this Prabhandham , we do not

have any more wants in this world . We do not

lack any thing.

 

Introduction on the vaibhavam of AmudhanAr:

There are three utthAraka (uplifting )

manthrams besides the AshtAkshara and Dhvaya manthrams

for Sri VaishNavites . The latter two are received

directly from a SadAchAryan. The other three

are SrimathE NaarAyaNAya nama: ,

SrimathE SatakOpAya nama: and SrimathE

RaamAnujAya Nama:

 

These are considered amudha mozhis and it

is appropriate we think of AmudhanAr

and his Sri Sookthi in this context.It is

also appropriate to recall that the name

" AmudhanAr " was given to periya Koil Nampi

by AchArya RaamAnujA himself.

 

The manthram , " SrimathE RaamAnujAya nama: "

is dear to the tongue and mind of all

Udayavar sampradhAyins and this manthram

and the 108 paasurams extolling AchArya

RaamAnujA's greatness are generally

viewed as AmruthAksharangaL.Let us

recite Sri RaamAnuja NooRRandhAthi

during his Thirunakshathream .It is

also my request to Sri Thirukkudanthai

Rengarajan to post a series of articles on

the individual paasurams of this Prabhandham

for our benefit.

 

AmudhanAr's lineage

Sri AmudhanAr was born at Srirangam.

His father's name was ANiarangatthamudanAr ,

who was steeped in service to Sri RanganAthan .

The other name for our AmudanAr is Moongilkudi

amudhanAr denoting the ancient village from

which his ancestors came prior to settling down

in Srirangam. AmudhanAr lived for 128 years

on this earth .

 

AmudhanAr's blessings:

AmudhanAr's devotion to AchArya RaamAnujA

was equal to that of the unparalleled devotion

that Madhuara Kavi AzhwAr had for SwamyNammAzhwAr.

AmudhanAr was saved by AchArya sambhandham. Prior to

being saved by the limitless of DayA of AchArya RaamAnujA ,

Amudhanar was the purOhithar for Sri RanganAthA

and was filled with rajO guNam and had ill feelings

towards AchArya RaamAnujA for the boons granted

to him by Sri RanganAthA .He resented the granting

of the title of Udayavar by Sri RanganAthan. In those

days , AmudhanAr was known as Periya Koil Nampi.

 

RaamAnujA's plan and Sri RanganAthA's Sankalpam:

 

As RaamAnujA began to fulfill the command of

Lord RanganAthA to manage the day to day affairs

of the temple , Amudhanar got angrier and angrier

and placed many obstacles in the way of RaamAnujA

and caused deep pain to RaamAnujA . The despondent

RaamAnujA wanted to dismiss AmudhanAr from temple

service to achieve the smooth running of the affairs

of the temple. One day , Lord RanganAtha appeared

in the dream of RaamAnujA as an old Brahmin and said:

" Periya Koil Nampi is dependent on Me for a long time.

rest is Your ThiruvuLLam " and disappeared. RaamAnujA

shared his dream with KUrEsan and concluded that

the Lord did not want him to dismiss Periya Koil Nampi

from His service and that the Lord wanted Nampi

to engage in some other kaimkaryam other than purOhitham.

 

KurEsan responded and mentioned that the Lord wants

RaamAnujA to correct the undesirable ways of Nampi

and to engage him in AchArya kaimkaryams . RaamAnujA

suggested that KUrEsan himself correct Nampi's

destructive ways and bring him back to the fold of

BhAgavathAs . KUrEsan accepted the suggestion of

his AchAryan as command and engaged the scholarly

Periya Koil Nampi in discussions and slowly but

surely changed Nampi to mend his previous ways.

KUresan brought Nampi before RaamAnujA and placed

Nampi at his feet . AchArya RaamAnujA was overjoyed

at the transformation in Nampi and was about to accept

him as his sishyan.

 

KUrEsan becoming the AchAryan for Nampi:

Periya Koil Nampi was a great scholar and

AchArya RaamAnujA recognized that extraordinary

scholarship and felt that Nampi's vidhvath

was far superior to his own and therefore recommended

that KUrEsan become the AchAryan to nampi instead of

him. Recognizing the sweetness of speech of Nampi ,

AchArya RaamAnujA gave the name of " AmudhanAr "

to Nampi. From then on , Periya Koil Nampi came

to be known as " Thiruvarangatthu AmudhanAr " .

He was also addressed with reverence as

" PiLLai AmudhanAr " .

 

AchArya RaamAnujA taking control of Temple service:

Few days after becoming the Thiruvadi of

KUrEsan , AmudhanAr's mother passed away.

AmudhanAr was performing her Charama kaimkaryam.

The day of yEkOdhishtam came ( the day after

sabhinDIkaraNam). Because of the earlier

quarrels that Nampi had with his relatives , he could not

get anyone to accept his invitation to officiate

in the ceremonies. AchArya RaamAnujA realized

the desperate state AmudhanAr was in and suggested

that KurEsan to take part in the ceremony and

bring it to a saasthraic conclusion without

any vignams.

 

In this important srArddha ceremony ,

there is a stage, when the Brahmin chosen to

accept the ritual food should say , " I am

satisfied with the offerings " (susampannam ,

Sarvam sampUrNam , ThrupthAsma: ).When that stage

arrived , KUrEsan stalled and did not say

the prathivachanam , " ThrupthAsma: " . AmudhanAr

was deeply disturbed and asked waht else needs to

be done . AchArya RaamAnujA had instructed KUrEsan

to ask as dhAnam , PurOhitham and PurANa

patanam for Sri RanganAthan , which were

the heriditary rights of AmudhanAr family .

When KUrEsan asked for these two dhAnams ,

AmudhanAr had no choice except to agree. Thus AchArya

RaamAnujA was able to get control of

the temple administration from AmudhanAr and

appointed KUresan to serve as the chief priest

and pourANikar for the Lord . That is how ,

ParAsara Bhattar , the son of KUrEsar got

the title of Sri rangEsa PurOhithar later.

 

RaamAnujA's daya for AmudhanAr:

Lord RanganAthA was very pleased with the turn of events.

RaamAnujA felt bad that such a great scholar (AmudhanAr)

was stripped of his erstwhile major responsibilites

and out of his (RaamAnujA's) spirit of compassion went to

the residence of one of his AchAryan ,Thiruvaranga

PerumAL arayar .There , he begged his achAryan

to grant as boon(DhAnam) Iyarpaa SrikOsam

to him . He requested his AchAryan not to recite

the Iyarppaa thousand , which was his assigned duty.

He instructed AmudhanAr on the recitation of

Iyarppaaa and asked him to take over the recitation

of this thousand from the Arayar. All the maryAdhayais

for such kaimkaryam were deflected to Amudhanaar

from that day onward.Arayar recited all other

isaippaa other than Iyarppaa.AmudhanAr was

also put in charge of Iyarppaaa recitation at

Sri RanganAyaki ThAyAr sannidhi.

 

The composition of RaamAnuja NooRRandhAthi:

AmudhanAr was moved by the dayA of RaamAnujA

and composed the 108 paasurams of Sri RaamAnuja

NooRRandhAthi and recited in front of NamperumAL.

On a SapthAvaraNam day , Lord RanganAthA asked

RaamAnujA not to accompany Him on His Raaja Veedhis

and stopped all vAdhyams and asked Sri VaishNavAs

to recite the RaamAnuja NooRRandhAthi. From then on ,

NooRRandhAthi is recited after Iyarppaa at PerumAL

and ThAyAr sannidhis at the command of NamperumAL .

 

AchArya RaamAnujA obeyed the wish of Lord RanganAthA

and included the recital of NooRRandhAthi at the end

of Iyarppaa recitation , just as KaNNinuNN SiRutthAmpu

is recited at the end of Mudal Aayiram. Thus AmudhanAr

is to AchArya RaamAnujA just as Madhura Kavi is to

Swamy NammAzhwAr. The two prabhandhams by Madhura kavi

and Thiruvarangatthu AmudhanAr are like Naayaka

rathnams adorning the gem necklace .

 

In Sri VaishNava sampradhAyam , AchAryan is recognized

as the avathAra visesham of Sriman NaarAyaNan. Therefore ,

one worships one's AchAryan as not different form EmperumAn .

Such AchArya abhimAna nishtaaLs appreciate deeply

Madhura Kavi's sincere declaration , " dhEvu maRRaRiyEn " .

AmudhanAr declared in this respect : " surakkum Thiruvum

uNarvum solappuhil vaayamudham parakkum iruvinai

paRraRavOdum patiyiluLLIr ! uraikkinranan numakkiyAn

aRancheeRum uRu kalyai thurakkum perumai RAAMAANUSAN

YENRU SOLLUMINE " .

 

In every one of his NooRRandhAthi paasurams ,

AmudhanAr placed the ThirunAmAm of RaamAnusar

for our benefit.

 

Daasan, Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan