Sri Oppiliappan Paasurams byThirumangai:Part X ( Paasuram 6.2.4 of Periya Thirumozhi Of Thirumangai on ThiruviNNagarappan )

[Guest guest]

SrI:

 

Dear BhakthAs of OppilA Appan :

 

Let us enjoy the FOURTH paasuram of Thirumangai Mannan

( Periya Thirumozhi : 6.2.4 ) :

 

piRinthEn peRRa makkaL peNDir yenRu ivar pinn udhavAthu

aRinthEn Nee PaNittha aruL yennum oLL vaaLL uruvi

yeRinthEn IympulankaL idar theera yeRinthu vanthu

seRinthEn NinnadikkE ThiruviNNagar MeyavanE

 

(Meaning ) : Oh Lord of ThiruviNNagaram ! adiyEn became clear

about the uselessness of the wife I acquired , the children I begot and

all the other relativesI gained ; adiyEn recognized their disinterest in me

beyond their time of gaining their heart's desires . Once adiyEn understood

this stark truth , I gave them up the next second . Next , adiyEn threw at

the trouble-giving (five) sensory organs of mine the shining sword

representing Your GithOpanishad upadEsam regarding VairAgyam .

After destroying their hold on me this way , adiyEn has now approached

You and sought the refuge of the cool and comforting shade of

Your sacred feet as adiyEn's sole goal for Moksham.

 

Special Notes :

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

All of the impermanent joys (BhOgams) arising as a result of the action of

the PanchEndhriyams are for the perishable body and not for the eternal

Aathma residing inside the physical body . Deluded by dEhAthma Brahmam ,

humans toil to gain wealth , wives , children , houses , cattle and other

paraphernalias of " anithya Iswaryam " .

 

Kaliyan declares here , " PeRRa MakkaL PenDir -- -- pinn udhavAthu yenRu

aRinthEn " . A man toils to give a comfortable home to his family , fend for

them to gain education and worldly iswaryams . He devotes his life to please

them . He neglects every thing else . After the children grow up and go

their own ways , they do not care for the aged father , who strived

so much for them . The Father struggles on with age , disease and

poverty and is all alone now .

 

The relatives who benefitted before are of no use to him now .

Pinn kaalatthil avarkaL udhavi kidaippathillai ( he does not get

much help from them at later times) ; athaRkku munn BhagavAnai

ninaitthathum illai ( Before that , he did not devote any time to

the reflection on Sriman Narayanan ) . Had he thought about

this obsession with his relatives and the fate awaiting him ,

this father would have just done his obligatory duties with

a sense of detatchment and left it at that . Duties done with out

desire for their fruits would have spared him ( the jeevan inside the body)

,

the bondage to experience SamsAric sufferings . The performance of

karmaas in a nishkAmaa mode(nishkAma karma yOgam ) would have

led him to a state of mind known as Sthitha Praj~nA (aathmanyEva

aatmanA tushta: sTitha praj~na: tadOchyathe ....GitA: II . 55) .

He would have attained the revered status of a Jn~Ani dear to

the Lord. The Jn~Ani rooted in ParamAtman (aathmani) and remains

by His grace (aathmanA) , fully immersed in the vision of ParamAthman

in the state of Samaadhi .

 

Kaliyan says that he went through the same experience and

when once he realized his folly and the way in which the five

Indhriyams held him in their vice-like grip , he did some thing

about it . He says that he threw at the PanchEndhriyams , the sharp

sword of Bhagavath UpadEsam on developing VairAgayam through

NishkAma Karma yOgam to destroy the influences of the panchEndhriyams

and as a result gained VairAgyam . It is with that VairAgyam ( dispassion) ,

as a precedent , Kaliyan says, he has performed prapatthi to the Lord of

ThiruviNnagaram .

 

Disinterested performance of prescribed deeeds

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

The four GithA slOkams ( II.55 to 58) according to AchArya RaamAnuja

describe the four states (avasthAs) of a Sthithapraj~nan or Jn~Ana nishtan .

He has attained the steadfastness of mind now thru the practise of nishkAma

karma yOgam . Indhriya nigraham (control over the five sensory organs

and the mind ) results and VairAgyam or non-attachment grows in four stages

of descending levels of control of the mind as described by PatanjAli

Yoga sAsthram :

 

(1) VaseekAra samj~na (2) yEkEndriya samj~na (3) vyatirEka samj~na

and (4) yatamAna Samj~na .

 

Swamy Desikan in his Taatparya Chandrika explains these four states

this way as per Dr.S.M.S. Chari :

 

The YatamAna Samj~na is the first state in which the effort is made

to concentrate the mind on JeevAthman by forcibly withdrawing

the senses from the objects .

 

VyatirEka samj~na is the second state in which the senses through

controlled , the mind being influenced by raaga(desire) and dvEsha

( hate) can not be concentrated fully on the Aathman . Hence it becomes

necessary to put down raaga and dhvEsha .

 

yEkEndhriya Samj~na is the third satate in which the vAsanAs or

the latent impressions of the past lives may prevent full concentration

on Aathman and this is to be achieved by devloping greater concentration

on Aathman .

 

The Vaseekara samj~na is the fourth and final state in which there is

total absence of desire for both heavenly and earthly objects . This is

the perfect state of VairAgya needed for the total concentration of mind

as described in the Yoga SutrA I.16 : " drushta anuSravika vishaya

vithrushNaya vasIkAra samj~naa VairAgyam " .

 

Kaliyan states to ThiruviNNagarappan that he has followed the Lord's

UpadEsam to the letter and is reminding the Lord through the words of

another sishyA (arjuna) : " sthithOsmi gatha sandEha: karishyE vachanam

Tava " . adiyEn has controlled the five sensory organs ( PanchEndhriyams)

in a manner that they will not interfere with my aathma Bhara SamarpaNam .

adiyEn has fulfilled the task ( kaarithavaan ) . AdjyEn has now reached

the comforting shade of Your sacred feet . Rest is up to You to take care of

Your Seshan ( Leige) , who is Your property .

 

The sequential way in which Kaliyan acted is beautiful to reflect upon :

 

1) PiRithEn peRRa MakkaL peNDir yenru ivar = adiyEn seperated from

my wife , children and other realtives . If You ask me why , it is

because adiyEn recognized their uselessness for my spiritual pursuits

( ivar pinn udhavAthu aRinthEn , athanAl piRinthEn) and hence adiyEn

immediately parted company from them .

 

2) What did you do next is the Lord's question . Kaliyan states that he

threw the sharp sword of BhagavAn's anugraham after taking it

out of its sheath ( Nee paNittha aruL yennum oLL vaaLL uruvi

yeRinthEn ) .

 

3) The Lord asks : Oh Kaliya ! We are familiar with your skills in martial

art . On What object did you throw that sharp sword of Mine ? What did

you have in mind , when you threw My powerful sword at your target ?

 

4) Kaliyan responds : My Lord ! adiyEn threw Your " aruL yennum oLL

vaaLL " at the panchEndhriyams , which are the objects of mischief .

Your aruL vaaLL is the attainment of VivEkam and VairAgyam that

You revealed in the form of upadEsam to Arjunan in the battle field .

adiyEn used that weapon of Yours to destroy the PanchEndhriyam's

repeated temptations to side track me from focusing on You

as my Parama PrApyam ( the Parama PurushArTam ) .

 

5) Lord asks : Fine , KaliyA ! What did you do next after gaining vairAgyam

through your brave and timely act of attacking the PanchEndhriyams ?

Kaliyan replies : " yeRinthu vanthu , Ninn adikkE seRinthEn " ( after

cutting the panchendhriyams asunder and eliminating their mischief ,

adiyEn rushed immediately to Your sannadhi at ThiruviNNagaram

and attached myself to Your sacred feet as my upAyam (means) and

UpEyam (goal ) for the liberation from the repeated cycles of births

and deaths ( apunarbhavAya) .

 

ThiruviNNagrappan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,

Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan

 

Srimate Sri Laksminrisimha Divya Paduka Sevaka

Srivan Satakopa Sri Narayana Yatindra Mahadesikaya Nama: