Thiruppavai pasuram 23

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pasuram-23-mArimalaimuzainjil

 

marimalaimuzainjil mannikkidandhurangum

seeriya singam arivutru thee vizitthu

vErimayirponga eppAdum pErtthudhari

moori nimirndhu muzangi purappattu

pOdharumappOlE nee poovaippoovaNNA un

koil ninringanE pOndharuli kOppudaitya

seeriya singAsanatthirundhu yAm vandha

kAriyam ArAindhu arulElOrempAvai

 

O Lord, who is of blue hue like the kayambu flower, like a mighty lion which wakes up from its slumber in the mountain caves during the rainy season and comes out of it with its fiery mane flying. shaking its limbs and standing straight , you come out of your mansion and seated on your throne, hear us and fulfil our wishes for which we have come to you.

 

This pasuram is about Narasimha and to write about it itself is a difficult task as the Naraimhavathara is beyond description. Narayana Bhattadri expresses his inability to describe the scene where the Lord manifested out of the pillar as Narasimha, but somehow managed to do it out of devotion and desire to talk about His glory. Similarly I will try to explain to the best of my ability.

 

 

mari malai muzainjil is the pillar in the mountainlike palace of Hiranayakasipu, which is compared to the cave as the Lord remained there,mannikkidandhurangum, invisible like the lion inside the cave., waiting for the time to manifest. Here Vedantadesika says in his Varadarajapanchasath that the Lord occupied the whole universe in the form of Narasimha because it was not sure where Hiraynyakasipu was going to point. He came out of one pillar where Hiranyakasipu struck and the rest of the places still contain the form of Narasimha.' stambhaikavarjam aDHunAapi kareeSa noonam thrailOkyam Ethadhakhilam nrsimhagarbham.'(varadarajapanchasath23)

 

seeriyasingam----purappattu-describes the Narasimhavavthara.

 

seeriya singam- Even when the lion is sleeping it stikes fear in the mind of others.

 

arivutru - hearing the cry of the devotees, theevizitthu - looking fierce.

 

muzangi- like the roar of the lion. When Narsimha came out of the pillar the sound was like thousand thunders and created tremor all over the universe and in the mind of Hiranyakasipu.

 

vErimayir ----purappattu- The manifestation of Narasimha is described by various saint composers and devotees like Narayana Bhattadhri and Desika in magnificent terms. It was athyadhbhutha roopam says, Bhagavatham.It has to be imagined and is beyond description.

 

poovaippoo vaNNA- Krishnavathara rahsyam is denoted by this pasuram. The phrase mArimalai muzainjil is explained as follows:

mAri is the waters of ksheerAbdDHi and the malai, mountain is the mountain like Adhisesha and inside his coils like the cave of the mountain the Lord is sleeping. He is Naryana who manifested as Narasimha and hence it is only Narasimha who is there. On being entreated by Bhoodevi He assumed beautiful form as Krishna, poovaippoo vaNNan, and sent adhisesha before Him.sankara has said that all the thousand names are of Narsimha,' nArasimhavapuh' and sarvapraharaNAyuDHah, the last nama denotes only Narasimha as it means that all things are His weapons, which includes the nakha, nails which He used in Nrsimhavathara.

 

But the sahasranama says NarasimhavapuH sreemAn meaning that He was beautiful even as Narsimha. In this pasuram Andal says theevizitthu and in the previous one she said thingalum Adhithiyanum ezundharpOl angaN. His eyes are fierce only to the wicked but the same eyes are cool like the moon to the devotees. Vedanta desika in his KamAsikashtakam on Nrsimha describes His eyes as 'saroja sadhrSa diSA' lotus-like eyes which indicate His krpa and calls Him kapatakEsari deceptive in His appearance in the Lion -man form.Hence Andal describing Him as theevizitthu and veri mayirponga etc., calls Him poovaippoo vaNNA with the same breath.

 

seeriya singAsanam- the seat of justice. If he sits there He cannot go back on His words.This is also the reason in referring Him as Nrsimha because He manifested Himself with so much trouble to make true the words of His devotees, the words of Prahlada that the Lord is everywhere and of Brahma who gave the boons to Horanyakasipu which necessitated the Lord to fulfil so many conditions in appearance as well as the manner of killing Hiranyakasipu.Nrsimha is the family deity of Andal. She says arimugan achythan in her verses describing her dream 'vAraNamAyiram,' whcih implies that the ariugan, lion- faced one is achutha one who never forsakes. He protected Prahlada at each and every step from the attempts of his father to kill him. Rukmini also in her letter to Krishna calls him only as Achyutha and Nrsimha. On the other hand Anadal refers to Krishna as 'ElAppoygaL uraippAn,'one who tells numerous lies, in Nacchiar thirumozi.

 

kOppudaia seeriya singAsanam- To the Lord Adisesha is the couch when reclining, umbrella when standing and simhAsana when sitting. The simhasana has eight legs which denote dharma, adharma, jnana, ajnana, vairagya, avairagya,aisvarya and anaisvarya, that is the pairs of opposites. So one cannot tell a lie from it.

 

Nrsimha is the deity worshipped by all the three acharyas and the 'Nrsimhakaravalamba sthothra' of Sankara and the context of it is very well -known. Also according to Agama sasthra the sculpture of a temple tower always have a form of Nrsimha. One can see it even in the saivite temples like Vaiddheesvaran kovil.

 

mAri malai muzainjil refers to the vedas which are the mountain in which the caves are the upanishads that contain the secret of the vedas, mannikkidandhurangum seeriya singam , meaning Brahman,synonymous with Lord Narayana of visishtadvaita, who is vedavedhya. One who fathoms the meaning of the upanishads, arivuttru, shines with the intellect ,theevizitthu and goes out in the world, pOdharmAppOle to spread the message of the Lord, vErimayirponga eppAdum pErtthudhri, by thought word and deed and gets involved in doing His work.