Thiruppavai, HH Sri Chinna Jeeyar's translation - Introduction

[Guest guest]

Respected Ramanuja Bhaktas,

 

Not having the qualifications to even begin to interpret what is

regarded to be the essence of the Veda, I have been surfing the net to

try and find a simple and direct translation of ThiruppAvai that I could

share with the devotees in this forum. As many of you are of Western

origin, I was seeking something in English that still retained the vivid

imagery of the poem.

 

After some prayer and reflection this evening, I have found that the

answer was right in front of me all the time, in the website of HH Sri

Chinna Jeeyar Swamy, www.chinnajeeyar.org.

 

So, with sincere apologies to everyone in this forum, I would like to

begin this series of postings on ThiruppAvai, again, this time sharing

with you the lucid and eloquent explanation by HH Sri Chinna Jeeyar

Swamy.

 

Please note that what is being provided is only a brief summary of the

poetry and imagery contained in each verse of ThiruppAvai. A more

esoteric understanding can be found by listening to the MP3 files of Sri

Chinna Jeeyar's English lecture series that he conducted last year.

These can be found on his web site under the hyperlink title

teleupanyasam.

 

Andal thiruvadigalE sharanam

 

adiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan

Mohan

 

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Introduction:

 

" Of all the months the month Ma:rga si:rsha is Me " declared Lord Krishna

in Bhagavad Gita. This is a holy month. Whatever Divine activity

that is taken up during this month will yield the best results. Goda,

or Anda:l, a small girl, conducted a vratham to marry Lord Krishna,

during this month and was successful in her mission. She sang the

greatness of the Lord in 30 songs, a song a day and submitted the

garland of 30 songs to Lord Krishna. Each song is called as Pa:vai in

Tamil. The garland of these 30 songs is called as Thiruppa:vai where

Thiru stands for 'Holy'and pAvai is a vratham, a penance or vow. All

Sri:Vaishnava:s follow only two Vrathas. They are

 

1) E:ka:dasi Vratham

2) Thiruppa:vai Vratham

 

Except these two they seldom do any other Vratham or No:mbu. Of course,

they need not. Thiruppa:vai is the substance of the whole Ve:da.

 

Whoever wishes to enjoy the Divine experience, wish to pray for the

welfare of the world, should take part in this Vratham without fail. It

is open to all.