Thiruvaheendhrapuram RathnAngi Kaimkaryam: Part 177 ( Mey Viratha Maanmiyam: Part 4 ): Paasurams 218-221 )

[Guest guest]

SrI:

 

Dear BhakthAs of Swamy Desikan :

 

Today , we will study the next FOUR paasurams of

Swamy Desikan's Mey Viratha Maanmiyam .

 

218) Brahma sending his son , Vasishta to Saraswathi

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KaamangaL pal koNDa vedam koNDu

kaitavamE seyvArkkuk-kANahillAp-

Poomangai kELvAnai nAnn kaNDu pORRap-

puNNiyatthil niharillA viratham pooNDEn

jaamangaL kazhivathan munn sadakkenap-pOyt

tan aaRRil tani irunthu tavam seyhinRa

Naamangai vanthida nee azhaippAyenRu

nanmahanai Naanmuhan tAnn navinRittAnE

 

(Meaning): Brahma Devan planned to perform AsvamEdha

Yaagam .He appointed Marichee and other Brahma Rishis as

the Rithviks .At that time , Saraswathi DEvi, the wife of BrahmA

had left him due to a disagreement and was performing tapas

at the bank of Saraswathi river in the north. SaasthrAs prohibit

an yajamAnan without the wife to perform Yaagams. Therefore ,

BrahmA requested his wife through his son , Vasishtan ,

to return to Kaanchipuram , where he planned to perform

the AswmEdha Yaj~nam to gain the boon of visualizing

the Lord with His Devi . Brahma did not desire any other

worldly fruits for his Yaj~nam . Brahma commanded his

righteous son , Vasishtan to rush to the bank of Saraswathi

river to fetch His mother quickly to commence the Yaj~nam .

 

Vasishtan went and let his mother know of the request from his father.

Sarswathi was still angry about the precieved insult by her husband and

refused to participate in the Yaj~nam. Vasishtan passed on this message

to his father , who decided thereafter to go ahead with the performance

of the Yaj~nam with the help of his other wives (Saavithri and others).

The asurAs were angry at the honors given by BrahmA to their sworn

enemies , the DevAs and informed Saraswathi about the insult by her

husband through ignoring her in favor of his other wives . Saraswathi

got very angry and took the form of a fast moving river with the name of

Vegavathi to wash away (destroy) the site of BrahmA's Yaj~nam.

 

219) The majesty & hateur of Saraswathi rushing as Vegavathi river

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anna vadivAL asayum anna nadayAL uyarum anna arasu yERi varuvAL

atthan ayanattanayan utthhi tanai yatthitena utthi puriyAL

nannadai vidA nadam ithenna nadavA naduvu naNNu kuvadu yERi izhivAL

nall pathigaL al pathigaL kall puraLa aRputha maRur-kathiyinAl

kall nadai vidA idam il unnathi siRA vikaDam mannu giri koodam idiya

kattavidai iRRu vizha muRRum vizhiuRRu udaya vittu aruhu uRa

vanna naya seer ayan eethenna vizhaa amarar mannu pathiyERa mahizha

Acchuthanai aNaitthanuvil atthisai tahaya vara aRRu aNUhinAL

 

This Paasuram is set in the PathinmoonRu SeerAsiriya chanda viruttham.

The violent and angry rush of Saraswathi Devi in the form of a fast flowing

river over hill and dale to destroy the Yaj~nam of her husband is

beautifully brought out by Swamy Desikan through sound effects .

 

The eight lines of the Paasuram can be appreciated individually :

 

Line 1: The lakshaNams for Saraswathi Devi are given here : She has

the beauty of a swan ( anna vadivAL); She has the charming gait of

a moving swan ( asayum anna nadayAL) ; She has the beautiful

swan / Raaja Hamsam ) as Her Vaahanam ( uyarum anna arasu yERi

varuvAL) . This is the visualization of a tranquil Saraswathi engaged

in performance of her Tapas on the bank of river Saraswathi .

 

Line 2: Her refusal of the request from Brahma brought to her

by her son Vasishtan is the subject matter of this line. Vasishtan ,

the son of the great Brahma is described as " atthan ayan atthanayan " .

His prayerful request ( utthi tanai) was turned down by her .She would not

say (Tathaasthu = ithu atthu yena utthi puriyAL ) .

 

Line 3: She takes on the form of a frightening river now and

moves violently from hill to dale and thinks that her husband was

enacting a pious looking drama (nall nadai vida nadam yenna ) .

She flowed rapidly as a dangerous river and ascended the cliffs that

were on her way ( Nadavaa naNNU kuvadu yERi izhivAL )

and flowed downwards in her single-mided journey.

 

Line 4. Her swift dash towards Hasthi Giri , the site of Yaagam is

described here. She flowed over even ground and uneven ground with

ups and downs ( nall pathikaL and al pathikaL ). She loosened up

boulders on the way (Kall puraLa) and travelled at the speed of

a whirlwind ( maruR-kathiyinAl) .She was mighty mad at the insult of

her husband , who replaced her with his other wives to initiate

the Yaagam.

 

Line 5: The violence displayed and the anger behind that speed of

flow as Vegavathi river is described here . She was making every

thing on the way ( " Tavidu Podi " ) . She levelled every thing on

the way and knocked off the peaks of mountains that lay in her

path( Vikadam mannu giri koodam idiya ). She knocked off

great boulders and destroyed the peaks of the mountains that

stood in her way.

 

Line 6: She fixed her angry eyes all around and flowed towards

the Yaaga Vedhi of Hasthi Giri , where the Yaj~nam was underway

( vizhi muRRum uRRu adaya vittu aruhu uRa).

 

Line 7: Brahma Devan was stupified at the sight of his angry wife

intent on destruction( naya seer ayan ithu yenn yena ) ; the dEvas

reached high ground to get out of the way of Saraswathi and were

happy that they saved themselves from her fury ( vizhaa amarar

mannu pathi yERi mahizha).Brahma Devan had Yaaga dheekshA

and stopped the Yaj~nam and looked at the sight of angry Saraswathi

with bewilderment.

 

Line 8: BhagavAn , who never lets down His devotees now took

the form of a dam (sEthu ) and stoped the flow of the river rushing

toward Hasthi Giri, where His son was doing the Yaj~nam ( Acchuthan

aNaittanuvil aittisai tahaya vara aRRu aNuhinAL). He arrested the fury

of His daughter-in-law by stretching across her flow .

 

220) EmperumAn stretching Himself as a Dam in the middle of that river

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anRu nayantha ayamEdha-maavELvi

ponRa urai aNangu poompunalAik-kanRivara

aadhi ayanukku aruL seythu aNay aanAn

taathai aravaNayAn thaann

 

(Meaning) : As the Vaak devathai , Saraswathi, flowed

as an angry river to destroy the desired yaj~nma of her

husband , Our Lord , who is the sEthu ( the bridge across

the wild ocean of SamsAram) showed His mercy to Brahma

and stretched Himself with His bed of Aadhi sEshan as a dam

right across the fast flowing river and arrested Saraswathi's

violent flow at the Dhivya dEsam of ThiruvehhA .

 

VegA sEthu SthOthram was composed by Swamy Desikan

to salute the Lord , who took the form of a sEthu to control

the Vegavathi River .Saraswathi was chastised and stood

with humility at the feet of YathOkthakAri PerumAL

resting on AadhisEshan at ThiruvehhA kshEthram.

Brahma invited her now to officiate as his wife at the asvamEdha

Yaagam and at the end performed vapA homam to gain

the blessings of the SaakshAthkAram of the Lord appearing as

VaradarAjan with the PuNyakOti VimAnam .

 

221) The denizens of 3 worlds eulogizing the Divine Dam

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taraNiyin manniya ayanArtani-tavam kaattha pirAn

karuNai yenum kadalaadit-thiruvaNai kaNDathaRppin

narahut-thiRaL yeNNiya chitthirakutthan teritthu vaittha

suruNail yERiya soozh vinai muRRum turanthanamE

 

(Meaning): May we bathe in the ocean of mercy ,

Lord VaradarAjan , who protected the Yaagam of

BrahmA and thereafter stayed permanently on top of

Hasthigiri . We are blessed indeed to see Him as dhivya sEthu

at ThiruvehhA to our heart's content . As a result , the lists

of our sins recorded for narakAnubhavam by Chitra Gupthan

have been made null and void.

 

Swamy Desikan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,

SrI NaarAyaNa YathIndhra MahA DesikAya Nama:

Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan