Thiruvaheendhrapuram RathnAngi Kaimkaryam series: Posting 266/Desika Prabhandham : MummaNikkOvai

[Guest guest]

SrI:

 

Dear BhakthAs of Lord PaarTasArathy :

 

Today , we will commence the study of the TEN

Paasurams of MummaNikkOvai . Originally , there were

a total of 30 Paasurams but only 10 are available to us

today. According to Tamil Prabhandha lakshaNam ,

there should be 30 Paasurams in all in a MummaNikkOvai.

Ten of each of the thirty should be set in the Tamil poetic

metres of ahaval , VeNN Paa and KattaLik--kalitthuRai.

Unfortunately for us , twenty Paasurams out of the 30

have been lost over time(luptham) . The available 10 pasurams

are set in the anthAdhi style .

 

There are two brilliant commentaries on this Prabhandham

of Swamy Desikan. One is by the Vaikunta Vaasi Chetlur Swamy

of Thiruvaheendhrapuram and the other is by Vaikunta Vaasi

SrI SrIrama DesikAcchAr Swamy of Oppiliappan Sannidhi.

adiyEn will follow mainly the commentary of my Oppiliappan Koil

AchAryan .

 

In this Prabhandham , Swamy Desikan starts hailing the glories of

HemAbhjavalli ThAyAr first and follows it with the celebration of

the six meanings of the SrI Sabdham . After that , Swamy Desikan

shifts to the salutation of the anantha-kalyANa guNams of

Lord DevanAthan and points out that He is pervasively

present in all His creations and He is the friend of all jeevans.

Our AchAryan states that those who seek the refuge of His

sacred feet will achieve Saamyam ( similarity ) with Him .

 

Driven by his great love for the Lord of Thiruvaheendhrapuram ,

Swamy Desikan emulates the two AzhwArs ( NammAzhwAr

and Thirumangai) and takes on the role of a damsel in

deep love (Venkata Naayaki) with the Lord and speaks

to her Lord directly as well as through her girl friend and

sevili thAyAr .The ten Paasurams captuirng this multimode

dialog charms our minds .

 

First Paasuram of MummaNikkOvai :

**************************************

Swamy Desikan desires to perform SaraNAgathy at

the lotus feet of Lord DevanAthan and as a first step

performs PurushakAra Prapathti to SrI HemAbhjavalli

in the first paasuram .

 

Oh Lord DhaivanAyaka ! You have earned the name as

" Natha Sathyan/ adiyavarkku Meyyan " because You are

resolute and infallible in the matter of blessing Your bhakthAs.

You have blessed us with the divine sight ( Jn~AnakkaNN)

to enjoy Your matchless beauty and gain true Jn~Anam .

The various ThiruvAbharaNams ( Jewelery ) adorning

Your body have gained their brilliant lustre by association

with Your broad , blue chest ! In that expansive chest resides

HemAbhjavalli ThAyAr also , who never ever leaves that

choice place of residence of Hers . When You incarnate in

Your many forms , Your divine consort takes a corrsponding

incarnation/from and follows You .She stays as a resplendent

rathna dheepam and removes our dark cloud of ajn~Anam .

She listens to the soulful cries of the suffering samsAris ,

recommends them to You for forgiving their trespasses

and thus destroys their karmAs. She makes those , who sought

refuge with Her fall at Your feet and shines as the parama

dayA Moorthy ( as the embodiment of Your DayA ) . Thus

SrI HemAbhjavalli , who never leaves Your side even for

a fraction of a second and enhances Your vaibhavam ,

becomes joyous over our Prapatthi and blesses us in

every way .

 

The multiple meanings of SrI Sabdham is brought out brilliantly

by Swamy Desikan in the following section of this Paasuram:

 

" vENDurai kEttu , MeeNDavai kEtpitthu ,

theeNDiya vinaikaL mANDida muyanRu ,

Tannadi sErntha Tamar Unai aNUha ,

Ninnudan sErnthu niRkkum Ninn ThiruvE " .

 

She is " Thiru " and He is " Thiruvukkum ThiruvAiya Selvan "

or " MangaLAnAm MangaLam " .

 

Paasuram 2 :

*************

In this Paasuram , Swamy Desikan points out that his Prabhandham

is Parama bhOgyam ( supremely enjoyable) to Lord DhaivanAyakan .

Swamy Desikan says that the Lord of Thiruvaheendhrapuram

adorns his Prabhandham of MummaNikkOvai on His chest

as a cherished aabharaNam like the KOusthubha gem necklace .

The Lord elevates the Prabhandham of Swamy Desikan to

the most exalted status by wearing it on His chest ,

where His dear , divine consort has a preferred place of

residence . Swamy Desikan suggests that this Prabhandham

dear to the Lord should also be most enjoyable to His

BhAgavathAs .

 

Paasuram 3 ( Utterance through the ThOzhi/ girl friend) :

**********************************************************

This paasuram is set in the style of Tamil poems called " irangal " ,

where the girl friend gets distressed over the suffering

state of her Naayaki due to seperation from the Lord and

the girl friend appeals to the Lord on behalf of the Naayaki

to banish the vislEsha janitha sOkam ( sorrow generated

from seperation ) through the boon of SamslEsham ( Union ).

 

Swamy Desikan's intense love for the Lord of Thiruvayindhai

made him feel like a lady in deep love with the Lord . Swamy Desikan

attained thus the status of a Naayaki ( Venkata Naayaki ) just as

Swamy NammAzhwAr became ParAnkusa Naayaki and

Thirumangai became ParakAla Naayak under such circumstances i.

Venkata Naayaki developed intense passion to enjoy the Lord and for

the Lord to enjoy her feminine beauty and charm . Such a physical

union with the Lord was impossible . Venata Naayaki began then

to suffer immensely from the arrows of Manmathan and her passion

for the Lord grew further . Unable to bear the sorrowful state of

the Naayaki , Thozhi speaks in this Paasuram to the Lord about

her friends' unbearable suffering this way :

 

MozhivAr Mozhivana mummuRai aahum Ayinthayil vanthu

izhivAr izhiha yenRu innamutha kadalAhi ninRa

vizhi-vAr-aruL Meyyar melladi vENDiya melliyal mEl

pozhivAr Anangar tamm poom karumpu unthiya poo mazhayE

 

--- --- Paasuram 3

 

(meaning): Thiruvaheendhrapuram has such divinity that all

the words spoken by sakala jeevarAsis including girls , parrots

and nightingale attain the status of the essence of the Vedams .

Here , Lord DhaivanAyakan incarnated for the benefit of all

to come and have His sevai (darsanam) . The Lord at this

dhivya dEsam invites every one to come and enjoy Him as

insatiable nectar and through His sacred glances showers

them with His auspicious grace . The Naayaki is longing

to embrace the Lord tightly out of Her intense love for Him.

Meanwhile , Manmathan shoots his flower arrows on

the Naayaki and makes the Naayaki suffer even more .

The girl friend of the Naayaki sees the suffering of her

Naayaki and feels empathetic and describes to the world

and the Lord about this sad lot of her Venkata Naayaki.

 

Sarvam KrishNArpaNam asthu ,

 

Daasan , Oppiliappan KOil VaradachAri SadagOpan

Srimate Sri Laksminrisimha Divya Paduka Sevaka

SrivaNN Satakopa Sri Narayana Yatindra Mahadesikaya Nama: