Fw: SrI SundarabAhu Sthavam : Part II

[Guest guest]

SrI:

 

Dear BhakthAs of Sundara Raaja PerumAL of ThirunAlirum ChOlai :

 

adiyEn will cover the first ten slOkams of Swamy KurEsar about

Lord Sundara Baahu ( KaLLazhagar ) today .

 

SrImanthou Hari CharaNou samAsrithOham

Sriraamaavaraja Muneendhra laBdha bhodha:

nirbheeka: tatha iha SundarOrubAhum

sthOshyE taccharaNa vilOkanAbhilaashee

 

(Meaning ) : adiyEn , who has been blessed to recieve clear Jn~Anam about

the Tatthva Thrayams from Bhagavath RaamAnuja Yatheendhrar ; adiyEn is

therefore holding the sacred feet of Hari NaarAyaNan with nithya sambhandham

( eternal links ) to SrI Devi ; as a result of my SaraNAgathy , adiyEn is freed from

the fear about the mighty and sorrowful ocean of SamsAram . adiyEn is going

to eulogize now the Lord of ThirumAlirum ChOlai -- known for His beautiful

and strong shoulders-- for the purpose of gaining the darsana soubhAgyam of

His sacred Thiruvadi .

 

(Commentary ) : This slOkam is a moving celebration of Swamy KurEsar's AchArya Bhakthi

and his blessed status as one , who has chosen Prapatthi at the Thiruvadi of Sri Hari NaarAyaNan

as the UpAyam for Moksham . Swamy KurEsar acknowledges that the AchArya Sambhandham

is the cause for all MangaLams and expresses his gratefulness to his AchAryan by acknowledging

that he gained clear Jn~Anam about Tatthva Thrayam and rahasyArthams from Sri RaamAnujA

( SrI RaamAvaraja Muneendhra laBdha BhOdha: ) . Afterwards , KurEsar describes that he

performed his Prapatthi at the holy feet of Hari with nithya sambhandham to SrI Devi

( SrImanthou Hari CharaNa SamAsrithOham ) . The direct result of his SaraNAgathy

made KurEsar free from the fear (nirbheeka: tathA ) of the sorrowful SamsAric ocean.

KurEsar states that he is ready to start his sthOthram of the Lord of ThirumAlirum chOlai

with mighty arms for gaining the darsana soubhAgyam of His auspicious Thiruvadi

( taccharaNa vilOkana abhilAshee SundarOrubAhum sthOshyE ) . KurEsar wishes

to have the darsanam of what AzhwAr saluted as "Thiruppolintha sEvadi ".

"SrImanthou Hari charaNou SamAsrithOham " reminds us of the Poorva BhAgam

of Dhvaya manthram .

 

SlOkam 2

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

SundarAyudha bhujam bhajAmahE vrukshashaNDamayam adhrim aasritham

yathra supraTitha noopurapagA theerTam arTitha phalapradham vidhu:

 

(Meaning ) : We worship the Lord of ThirumAlirumchOlai , who has the long

and beautiful shoulders . He has chosen as His place of residence , the mountain

with dense assembly of trees and groves and where the renowned SilambARu's

( Noopura Gangai) sacred waters flow and grants every one , who takes bath in it

their desired wishes .

 

( Commentary ) : When BhagavAn took Thrivikrama AvathAram , Gangai flowed from the Silampu

that he was wearing around His ankles following Brahma Devan's washing of the Lord's feet .

That flow of water is known as "SilampARu " and comes down from the hills around

ThirumAlirum Cholai. Sundara Baahu PerumAl gets bathed in this SilampARu water .

Sundara Baahu PerumAL's archA moortham is made up of aparanji Gold ( a very high grade

gold) and SilampARu theertham is ideal for Thirumanjanam for the aparanji gold . Those waters of

SilampARu are sacred due to the association with BhagavAn's ankle ornament ( SIlampu)

and hence it gives Ishta PrApthi for those , who bathe in it .The Forests on the mountain slopes

around this dhivya dEsam are populated by fragrant trees like Sandal , Akil et al .

Hence this mountain ( VrushAdhri ) is known as Solai Malai . ThirumAl (Sundara Baahu)

stays here and hence the dhivya dEsam is known as "ThirumAlirum ChOlai " . PeriyAzhwAr

salutes this Noopura Gangai as " SilampARu ppayum tenn ThirumAlirum chOlayE " and His

dear daughter (ANDAL) salutes this dhivya dEsam as " Santhodu Kaarahilum sumanthu

taDangaL poruthu vanthu izhiyum SilampARudai MaalirumchOlai ". Thirumangai

AzhwAr enjoys the beauty of the sandal trees , gems and peacock feathers being

brought down by the swift currents of SilampARu from the mountain tops :

" Santhodu MaNiyum aNi mayil tazhayu, thazhuvi vantharuvikaL niranthu

vanthizhi saaral MaalirumchOlai " .

 

SlOkam 3

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

Kvachith thvaritha gAminee kvachana mandha mandhAlasaa

kvachith skhalitha-vihvalaa kavachana phEnilaa saaravaa

padanthyapi kila kvachith vrajathi noopurAhvaa nadhee

Susundara bhujAhvayam madhu nipeeya matthA yaTA

 

( Meaning) : This SilampARu has drunk the intoxicating honey called SundarabAhu

and is descendng rapidly at some places and moving leisurely at the other

places ; at some places , she is blocked by boulders and causes whirlpools and yet

at other places , She is full of foam and is making a lot of noise as she flows

down ; elsewhere , she takes the form of a mountain stream (aruvi) .

 

(Commentary ) : Poets frequently compare the rivers to women in all their moods .

If a woman has drunk any wine , her moods get accentuated . The lady with

the name of SilampARu ( NoopurAhvaa Nadhee ) has drunk the Madhu known as

SundharabAhu ( Susundhara bhujAhvayam madhu nipeeya) and has become

intoxicated ( matthA yaTA ) . This Madhu arose from the sambhandham with

the Lord's sacred feet . As a result of partaking that Madhu , Noopura Gangai

rushes down from the mountain at some places and at other places , she moves

with a slow gait . Elsewhere , she flows( moves ) noisily . Other places , She comes

down as swiftly descending aruvi ( water falls) .

 

SlOkam 4

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

udhadhiga mandharAdhri maTi manTana laBdhapayO--

madhura rasEndhirAhva sudha sundaradhO: parigam

asaraNamAdhrusAthma saraNam SaraNArTinajana--

pravaNadhiyam bhajEma tarushaNDa mayAdhri pathim

 

(Meaning) : Let us enjoy the darsanam of the Lord of ThirumAlirum chOlai ,

who is the refuge for those like adiyEn , who have no other recourse ; He

is deeply attached to the all , who have performed SaraNAgathy

at His sacred feet . Let us enjoy the Sevai of this Lord with beautiful arms and

shoulders , who churned the Milky ocean with Mandhara mountain as

the churning rod and using His own powerful hands to acquire the essence of

that milky ocean (i-e)., the nectar known as MahA Lakshmi .

 

(Commentary ) : Our Lord churned the Milky ocean . Every one present there

thought our Lord was churning to release the simple nectar for the DevAs . He had

some thing else in mind : "ViNNavar amudhuNa , amudhil varum PeNNamudhu

uNDAn " . While the DevAs ate the nectar , our Lord enjoyed the acquisition of

the Femenine nectar of Sri Devi . ANDAL celebrated this leelai of the Lord this

way : " Mandharam nAtti anRu Madhurak-kozhumchARu koNDa Sundarat-

thOLudayAn " . The celebration of the Lord of ThirumAlirum ChOlai as

" SaraNrTi Jana pravaNa dhiyam " is a moving tribute to the attachment of

the Lord to SaraNAgatha Janams. The salutation to MahA Lakshmi as " PayO

Madhurasa IndhirAhva sudhi " ( the feminine nectar , which is the essence of

the milk named Indhiraa ) is another beautiful poetic description .

 

SlOkam 5

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

Sasadhara-ringaNa-AaDyasikham ucchikaraprakaram

timira nibha prabhUtha tarushaNDamayam bramadham

bhidhuritha saptha lOka suvisrungala sankharavam

vanagirim aavasantham upayAmi Harim SaraNam

 

(Meaning) : adiyEn clings to the mOksha upAyam of Hari NaarAyaNan , who has

ThirumAlirumchOlai as the place for His permanent residence ( Vanagirim aavasantham

Harim). This Supreme Being is known for the unobstructed sound of His Paanchajanyam ,

which has the power to shatter all the seven worlds ( bhidhuritha sapthalOka suvisrunkhala

Sankaravam ) . This Vana Giri ( ThirumAlirum ChOlai) has lofty peaks among which

the Moon roams . These lofty peaks are mistaken as the intense , dark groves that

this Vana Giri is famous for.

 

(Commentary) : " Mathi tavazh kudumi Maalirum ChOlai " is how AzhwAr describes

ThirumAlirumchOlai . AzhwAr describes the Moon here as crawling like an infant between

the lofty peaks here . Thirumangai sees the play between the Moon , the tall Mountain and

the dense green (dark) groves this way : " ThingaL nann maa muhil sEr ThirumAlirum ChOlai " .

KurEsar echos Thirumangai's thoughts as " Sasadhara-ringaNa-AaDyasikham ucchikhara-prakaram "

as the first paadham of this slOkam . In the second paadham , the echo of Swamy NammAzhwAr's

Paasura passage is heard : " mayal mihu pozhil soozh MaalirumchOlai" ( timira nibha

prabhUtha tarushaNDamayam bhramadham Vana Giri ) . The Pozhils ( groves and froests)

cause the illusion because of the darkness created by their density that they are the dark green,

tall mountains . It is hinted that the tall trees nestling with each other to form a canopy

and have shot upto the sky and prevent the rays of Sun or Moon to penetrate down below.

KurEsar was deeply immersed in the enjoyment of AzhwAr's aruLiccheyalkaL and

echoed them quite often in his own impeccable way in his Sthavams . The Third Paadham,

" bhidhuritha sapthalOka suvisrunkhala sankharavam " is an echo of Poem passage,

"athir kural Sankatthazhahar " , which relates to the incident , when ThirumAlirum ChOlai

Azhagar sat in the Paandya King's Tamizh Sangam as a Scholar-poet ( Pulavar)

and examined the offerings at that exalted assembly and blew His conch , when He

approved the work prsented before the Tamizh Sankam .

 

KurEsar ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,

Daasan Oppiliappan KOil VaradAchari Sadagopan