Sri Oppiliappan Paasurams by Thirumangai :Part IX( Paasuram 6.2.1 of Periya Thirumozhi Of Thirumangai on ThiruviNNagarappan )

[Guest guest]

SrI:

 

Dear BhakthAs of OppilA Appan :

 

In the previous posting , adiyEn covered the mind set of Thirumangai

at the beginning of the second decad of his Paasurams on Lord Oppiliappan .

 

Let us study now in detail the second Paasuram :

 

poRutthEn punn soll nenjil poruL- inbhamena iraNDum

iRutthEn eiympulankaL kadan aayina , vaayilotti

aRuthEn aarvac-cheRRam avai tammai manatthu ahaRRi

veRutthEn NinnadainthEn ThiruviNNagar MeyavanE

 

(Meaning ) : Oh Lord , who relishes Your residence in this Dhivya

dEsam ! adiyEn kept with in my mind the derogatory remarks made by

others; adiyEn did not respond to them in retaliation . For securing

the wealth and the pleasures that my kith and kin desired , adiyEn

stood in front of the arrogant rich and praised them with songs

hailing their noble guNams that were conspicously absent in them .

ThiruviNNagarappA ! through these despicable efforts on my part ,

adiyEn provided my relatives with wealth and adiyEn's own five sensory

faculties with pleasures/siRRinbhams ( arTa kAmams ) that adiyEn had to

give .

adiyEn feels relieved now from all these obligations . adiyEn went on

to show my affection for those who were dear to me and enimity

towards those , who opposed adiyEn . After reflecting on these

disgusting activities of mine , adiyEn recognized the folly of such

pursuits that filled my time . adiyEn discarded all such degrading

activities , developed dispassion ( VairAgyam ) and have sought

Your refuge . adiyEn is standing before You seeking Your divine

anugraham in that penitent mood . Please do not delay the showering

of Your dayA on adiyEn .

 

Special Notes :

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

Thirumangai instructs us that the repeated indulgence in the sensory

pleasures results only in the piling up of huge bundles of sins that weigh

us down . Those sins push us into the whirlpool of SamsAram , which tosses

us in its swirling currents from one side to the other . Thirumangai prays

to ThiruviNNagarappan and reminds Him of his erstwhile sufferings ,

indignations and humiliations in the SamsAric life and the lessons

that he learnt , which made him resolute in his dispassion towards

wealth and sensory pleasures . He describes his transformed state and

begs the Lord to take note of him as one , who has sought His refuge .

 

Thirumangi Mannan's soulful appeal :

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

In an assembly of past predicates -- -- " poRutthEn , iRutthEn , aRutthEn

and veRutthEn " -- -- Thirumangai recalls the horrors that he went through

and the lessons that he had learnt . From the past predicate , Kaliyan jumps

on to the future perfect with his astute logic : " avai tammai manatthu

ahaRRi , veRutthEn , NinnadainthEn ThiruviNNahar MEyavanE " . Recognizing

that all these accumulation of sins arising from indulgence in sensory

pleasures and chasing of perishable wealth lead only to SamsAric bondage

and endless cycles of births and deaths , adiyEn has rejected them all

and am standing before You as a SaraNAgathan . AzhwAr is hopeful that

ThiruviNNagrappan will take note of his transformation and begs the Lord

not to delay His anugraham .

 

The Sins that Thriumangai counts:

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

Vedam uses four words for Sins : Paapam , amhas , enas and agham .

Paapam is recognized as the sin of the mind . " Our thoughts are

the breeding place of sin , and hence we are told to get rid of the sin

arising from the mind .

 

In this context , Atharva Veda (AV) Manthram invokes the sin of thoughts (of

mind ) to go away from us ( AV . VI.45.1: " parOapEhi manas--Paapa " ) .

Atharva Vedam through its various incantations and PrayOgams for

the banishment of amhas , yEnas , agham as well as Paapam (e.g) :

tE nO munjathamhasa: ( AV. IV.25 , 28 , 29 ) .

 

The ancient Rg Vedam prays for the Lord's anugraham to banish these sins

(agham): " apa na: SOSchadhagham " ( Rg. Vedam I.97.1 to 8) . Rg Vedam

invokes the imagery of the Lord alone helping us to get across the ocean of

sins as we sit safely on the boat of the Lord to arrive safely at

the benovolent shore across ( Sa na: sindhumiva nAvayathi parshA

svasthayE , apa na: SOSchadhagham - - AV .I.97.8) .

 

The other famous Rg Veda Manthram points out that " God alone knows our

actions , good or bad , and hence hecan lead us on the path of

righteousness ; we shall have to struggle constantly with our crooked sins

;

to that Lord of ours , our most respectful regards and reverences "

(Rg Vedam . I.189.1) :

 

AgnE naya supaTA raayE asmAn visvAni dEva vayunAni vidhvAn

yuyOdhyasmajjuhurANamEnO bhUyishtAm tE nama ukthim vidhEma

 

" God alone is our atonement for the sins committed by the enlightened men

of our society (Devakrutha) ; for the sins committed by the ordinary men

( manushyakrutha) ; also for the sins committed by our elders in society

( pithrukrutha) ; He is our atonement for sins committed by Self , also from

our sins of sins , consciously or unconsciously committed both, for the sins

that may be small or great , for all of them ( Yajur Vedam: VIII.13 ):

 

-- -- -- " SarvasyainasOavayajanamasi " . ( DEva , Manushya, Pithru and

aathma krutha sins and their atonement ) . avyajanamasi means atonement .

 

As the sole object of atonement , He is Sarva sakthan . Yajur Vedam

instructs us that " God for this reason is our ultimate shelter and the

final resort and is our final atonement :

 

UpAyaamagruheethOaprayaNOsi svAprayaNa: , Paahi Yaj~na pAhi Yaj~napathim

-- -- -- Yajur Vedam : VII.20

 

The Vedic revelation is : " Sins are not excused by our Lord , but He gives

us strength to struggle against their consequences ; this struggle itself is

the atonement . Sins lead to bondage , and through bondage alone is

our atonement and liberation thereafter " .

 

" The sin is inherent in us in our own infinitesimality , and the cycle of

life and death is its atonement . It appears to be a cruel punishment , but

ultimately , it is for its own reward and one of the greatest blessings from

the side of our Lord . And there is no escape from it either. Bondage is

apparently a tragedy , but effectively becomes a remedy for the malady

and finally a bliss and reward . Sin leads to a cycle of bondages ( repeated

births and deaths ) " and SaraNAgathy at the sacred feet of the Lord

leads to freedom from this samsAric cycle . One does not return anymore

to this samsAric world after the successful completion of SaraNAgathy to

the Lord through the help of a compassionate AchAryan . " This (then)

is the purposefulness of life " ( seeking a SadAchAryan and gaining his

blessings to perform SaraNAgathy at the Lord's sacred feet ).

 

All of these thoughts are evoked by Thirumangai Mannan's first Paasuram

of the second decad of the sixth centum (Periya Thirumozhi: 6.2.1):

 

" aRutthEn aarvac-cheRRam avai tammai manatthahaRRi

veRutthEn NinnadainthEn ThiruviNNahar MeyavanE "

 

ThiruviNNagrappan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,

Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan

 

Srimate Sri Laksminrisimha Divya Paduka Sevaka

Srivan Satakopa Sri Narayana Yatindra Mahadesikaya Nama: