geethA sAstramum nedunthAndaka sAstramum-23

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Sri Parthasarathi thunai

 

Srimathe Ramanujaya Namaha

 

Sri Vara Vara munayE Namaha

 

Sri vAnAchala mahA munayE Namaha

 

 

 

It has been a usual procedure followed by almost all our acharyas to start a

prabhandam/strotra/kavithai with the salutations to the lord/acharya.

Nammazhvar started his thiruvaimozhi as an instruction to his own mind,

" tuyararu sudaradi tozhutezhu en mananE " . Thirumangai mannan similarly followed

his preceptor and starts his thirunedunthAndakam with " thalirpuraiyum thiruvadi

en thalai mElavE " . The interesting fact is that both of them have used the same

adjective for the divine feet of emperuman. Nammazhvar says 'tuyararu sudaradi'

which has been interpreted by our poorvAcharyas as either 'tuyararukkum

sudaradi' (the divine feet that removes all our grief) or 'tuyar arum sudaradi'

(the divine feet that gets relieved from all grief). Now thirumangai mannan

says, " thalir puraiyum thiruvadi en thalai mElavE " again this has two

interpretations. It is either understood as " thalir puraiyum thiruvadi en

thalai mElavE " (the blossoming divine feet on top of my head) or " en thalai

mElavE thalir puraiyum thiruvadi " (the divine feet that blossoms while on top of

my head).

 

 

 

It is quite natural for us to pray for the divine feet of emperuman to bless us

but what is the necessity for that divine feet to blossom on our heads or what

is the sorrow experienced by that sarva shaktan which is relieved on attaining

the jeevatma? These are the questions that arise in our minds as soon as we

read through the above passage. The answer actually lies in the last paragraph

of our previous posting itself. Imagine a son fighting with his father and

leaving the house. Initially the father is angry with the son. But then when

he sees his son suffering will he feel happy? No, instead he will feel very bad

and literally wait for the instant when the son will change his mind and come

back to him. The father tries to get his son back in many ways and when finally

the son realizes his mistake and returns back what will be the reaction of the

father and the son? The son falls to the feet of the father and apologizes for

his mistakes but the father doesn't even remember the fight or whatever mistake

the son has done instead he is fully satisfied and happy that atleast now the

son has come to him and that he need not suffer any more. So the happiness of

the father is greater than that of the son. Similarly it is emperuman who

thrives to get hold of a jeevatma suffering in this samsAram and when even a

single jeevan comes to surrender in his feet the joy of emperuman is so much

that the divine feet blossoms (thalir puraiyum). The sorrow experienced by

emperuman due to the separation from his dear kid vanishes (tuyar arum).

 

 

 

Eating the fruits of sAmsAric pleasures a jeevatma experiences sorrow but at the

same time not being able to realize the jeevatma from this sorrow emperuman

feels worried. Swamy periyavAchan pillai says, " evar vishaya prAvaNyaththAl

vAdinAr; avar evarai peRAmaiyAlE vAdinAr "

 

 

 

(en thalai mElavE) those divine feet that adorn the heads of the nithya sooris

has now become a beautiful jewel on my head.

 

 

 

Thereby in this single paasuram thirumangai mannan lists out all the good that

emperuman has showered.

 

 

 

" prakruthi prAkrudhangalin astayryaththaiprakAsippiththal " [explain the

temporary nature of the achit and chit]

 

" svasvaroopaththai prakAsippiththal " [explain about the nature of Ishvaran]

 

 

 

The above was done by emperuman in the first shatkam [1-6 chapters] of the

geethA sAstram. We have enjoyed the same in the words of azhvar also.

 

 

 

" kaivalyaththil pugAmal thaduththal " [Prevent the jeevan from reaching the

inferior moksha, kaivalyam ]

 

" thannudaiya svaroopaththaiyum svaroopa prakAsaka mAna vigrahaththaiyum

kAttitharudhal " [To show his svaroopa and his form]

 

 

 

Sri Geethacharyan did the above in the second shatkam (7-12) of the divine

sAstram. Again we have explained that along with kaliyan's words in the

previous postings.

 

 

 

" adarkku mElE enakku tyAjyamAna sareeraththilE pugundhu nirpadhu " [Further he

enters and stays even in my body that is worth shedding even by me]

 

" adarkku mElE tannudaiya thiruvadigalai en thalai mElE porundhavaippadhu " [on

top of that placing his divine feet on top of my head]

 

 

 

This is the essence of the last shatkam (13-18). In bhagavat geetha Sri Krishna

says, " sarva dharmAN parithyajya mAm Ekam sharaNam vraja " [leave all your

efforts and fall to my feet] here azhvar says that emperuman himself placed his

divine feet on top of his head. Is there a difference? We will see in the next

posting.

 

 

 

(To be continued)

 

 

 

Azhvar EmperumAnAr Jeeyer thiruvadigalE sharanam

 

 

 

Adiyen ramanuja dAsee

 

Sumithra Varadarajan