nAnmugan thiruvandhAdhi-23

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Sri Parthasarathi thunai

Srimathe Ramanujaya Namaha

Sri Vara Vara MunayE Namaha

Sri vAnAchala mahA munayE Namaha

 

 

 

Paasuram-16

 

 

 

" nilaimannum ennenjam annAndRu dEvar

 

talaimannar thAmE mARRAga-palamannar

 

pOrmALa venkadhirOn mAyappozhil maRayath

 

thErAzhiyAl maraiththArAl "

 

 

 

In the previous paasuram, azhvar talked about the incapability of those who were

unable to save even those who fell to their feet. In this paasuram, azhvar

talks about the greatness of emperuman who goes to the extent of even

sacrificing himself for the sake of his bhakthas.

 

 

 

(nilaimannum ennenjam) " sanchalam he mana: krishnA pramAdhi palavat drudam I

tasyAham nigraham manyE vAyOriva sudushkaram II " [geetha 6-34] Oh! Krishna this

mind doesn't stay in a place it wanders from one place to another when it comes

to satvishayams but goes and stands steady in unwanted places. It is highly

difficult to control this mind. It is like controlling vayu (air). Azhvars

call this mind as " nindravA nillA nenju " . But to our amazement this mind has

now come to a stop. It has got fixed steadily at one point. Where?

 

 

 

(tErAzhiyAl maRaiththArAl .... nilaimannum ennenju)

 

 

 

" na thE roopam na chAkArO nAyudhAni na chAspadham I

 

tadhApi purushAkArO bhakthAnAm tvam prakAshasE II "

 

[(Your) divya svaroopam, divya mangala vigraham, divya Ayudams, Srivaikundam,

all these are not for you but they exist for the sake of the bhakthas. Though

you are bhakthaparAdheenan still you remain the paramapurushan] thus states the

jitantE stOtram.

 

" parijanapariparhA bhooshaNan AyudhAni

 

pravaraguNakaNascha jnAnasakthyAdhayasthE I

 

paramapadamadhANdAnyAthma dEhas tathAtmA

 

varada! sakalamEdath samsridhArththam sakarththa II "

 

[Oh! VaradA All your parijanas (vishvaksenar, adhiseshan and others), all your

parisadas (chatra sAmaram and others) all the abharanAs and ayudhas, jnanam,

sakthi and other crowd of divine qualities, Srivaikundam and all the andAs

(worlds), your divya mangala vigraha and divyAtma svaroopa all these have been

bestowed by you on your bhakthas] thus goes the sloka in VaradarAjastavam of Sri

KooraththAzhvan.

 

 

 

Listening to all these my mind which kept wandering from one place to another,

now stands still like placing a weight on top of flying cotton. This is the

state that should be attained by me after reaching the divine abode of

emperuman. But it is my fortune that I have achieved the same in this very

world. How?

 

 

 

(annAndru) Oh! There was one time (during the bharatha yuddha) when emperuman

landed to this leela vibhuthi easily accessible by one and all (pennum pEdhaiyum

kAnalAm padi) and worked for the welfare of his bhakthas. Azhvar celebrates

that time.

 

 

 

(dEvar thalai mannar thAmE) this was done not by a ordinary person but the king

of kings (dEvAdhidEvan) " thameeshvarANAm paramam mahEswaram tham dEvAnAm

parancha deivatham (sve-6-7), " rAjAdhirAjas sarvEshAm vishnur prahmamayO mahAn I

Eshvaram tham vijAneemas sa pithA sa prajApathi: II " (mahabharatham) This job

was done by that " ayarvaru amarargal adhipathi " Oh! What a divine grace

celebrates azhvar.

 

 

 

(thAmE mARRAga) Emperuman considered the gauravas as his own enemy though they

had enemity only towards the pandavas. Krishna himself declares,

 

" dvishathannam na bhOkthavyam dvishantham naiva bhOjayEth I

 

pAndavAn dvishasE rAjan mama prANA hi pAndavA: II " (bha-vut-24-27)

 

[it is not good to eat the food of your enemy. Nor should you feed your enemy.

Oh! King you consider pandavas to be your enemy. Pandavas are like my pranan

(my life)] If one hates the body then naturally he becomes an enemy to the atma

too. Emperuman is the sareeri and pandavas (all jeevatmas) are his sareeram.

" jnAnee tvAthmaiva mE matham " says geethacharyan.

 

 

 

(palamannar pOr mAla) Many kings who were filled with ego and pride were killed

in the war.

 

 

 

(venkadhirOn mAya) Even the sun whose brightness cannot be stopped from

spreading in all directions with any object was covered. " bheeshOdhethi soorya: "

due to his obedience to the ever supreme lord the sun never fails to rise/fall

daily at the scheduled time. But now even that sun had to fall in an

unscheduled time.

 

 

 

(pozhil maraiya) Not in one place the sun lost its brightness throughout the

world. When there is sunrise in one part of the world the sunsets in the other

but now due to bhagavat sankalpam there was a sunset in all parts of the world.

 

 

 

(tErAzhiyAl maraiththArAl) The lord covered the sun with the chakrAdhudhA

(rathAngam) that had brightness equal to crores of suns. When there is sudden

flash of bright light our eyes close automatically not being able to withstand

the brightness. We are unable to see a single sun with our eyes directly what

will happen if a crore of suns appear suddenly? Our eyes will be blindfolded and

that is what happened explain our acharyas. Some also say that the chakra

obtained a curse from durvAsa during the ambhareesha episode and due to which it

obtained the black colour and with the same covered the sun.

 

Arjuna took a vow to kill jayadradhan, who killed his son abhimanu using false

yuddha procedures (cheating) before sunset or else kill himself falling into the

fire. The gauravas kept jayadradhan inside and put strict security around him.

In order to save his bhaktha and fulfill his promise krishna who had earlier

vowed not to take any ayudha (weapon) during the war broke the same and sent his

chakrAyudham to cover the sun. Emperuman didn't mind leaving his promise for

the sake of his bhaktha. What to say about his grace!

 

 

 

(dEvar thalai mannar thAmE tErAzhiyAl maRaiththArAl - nilai mannum ennenjam)

The lord of the nithya soori who is celebrated as " sathyakAma sathyasankalpa: "

[one who is filled with true qualities and who has a true sankalpa (thought)] by

the vedas themselves now didn't mind to make his promise false for the sake of

making his bhaktha's words true. Even after coming to know of this how can my

mind wander from one place to another? Now I am least bothered about what good

qualities I have but my mind always stands still at the divine feet of that

supreme lord who is filled with vatsalyam towards his bhakthas.

 

 

 

(To be continued)

 

 

 

Azhvar emperumAnAr Jeeyer thiruvadigalE sharaNam

 

 

 

Adiyen ramanuja dAsee

Sumithra Varadarajan