Tirumaalai aRivOm-1

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SrI:

Dear Srivaishnavas,

 

With the anugrahavisEsham of divyadampathi, asmadAchAryan SrImadazhagiyasingar,

SrI u.vE Sadagopan swamy(New york), SrI. Madhavakkannan swamy et al and with the

blessings/ encouragement/ support of sundarasimham-ahobilavalli team members,

aDiyEn ventures into translating the precious work 'tirumaalai' of

bhaktAngrirENu-thondaradippodi Azhwar from this auspicious day - Sarvajit

panguni uttiram.

 

Although it was planned to be translated in full and made into an E-book, adiyEn

has delayed a lot already and after reciting 'tirumaalai' in our satsangam

today, adiyEn pledged not to delay any further. This will go as a series of

postings from today to be compiled later as an E-book

 

Credits found in this tranlation work go to:

 

 

 

utthamur SrI Veeraraghavacharya's vyAkhyanam,

 

Srimath PeriyavacchAn piLLai's vyakhyanam,

 

SrI PB Annangaracharya's 'divyArtha deepikai' vyAkhyAnam.

 

Dr. MA Venkatakrishnan swami's 'Srivaishnava Acharyargalin vAzhvum vAkkum'

 

&

 

some vyAsams of scholars.

 

& 'Credits' for defects shall be attributed to aDiyEn's mandhabuddhi & adiyEn

requests you to correct me.

 

 

-dAsan

Mukundan

 

---

 

1. Introduction to Tirumaalai and the Divine poet:

 

 

 

'tirumaalai aRiyAdAr tirumaalai aRiyAdavar' is an adage.

 

One who does not know the prabandham 'tirumaalai' does not know 'tirumAl',

SrimannArAyaNan.

 

 

 

Maalai means garland-of-flowers & also a type of prabandham, which has many

poems on a single theme.

 

 

 

Tirumaalai is one of the 2 prabandhams composed by one of the 12 AzhwArs, SrI

Thondaradippodi AzhwAr, also called as 'bhaktAngirENu'. His other prabandham is

'tiruppaLLiyezhuchchi'. These prabandhams are part of the 24 prabandhams which

make the divine collection 'nAlAyira divya prabhandam'

 

 

 

 

The ten beautiful ThiruppaLLiyezhuchchi pAsurams are recited everyday to awaken

our Lord. Thiruppalliyezhuchchi is applicable only to Srimannarayanan, Who is

'uRanguvAn pOla yOgu seibavan'. Swami Desikan incorporated the essence of these

10 pAsurams in the 19th sargam of SrI yAdavAbhudayam.

 

 

 

Whereas, tirumaalai prabandham is considered as the essence of Sri Vishnu dharma

Sastram. Swami Desikan has profusely quoted from tirumaalai in SrI Rahasyatraya

suLagam, SrI Paramapada sOpAnam, tattvamAtrukai, abhayapradAnasAram, in His

magnum opus SrI Rahasyatraya sAram etc.

 

 

 

Before entering into the prabandham, let's take a look at this AzhwAr's avatAra

vaibhavam:

 

 

 

a.. This AzhwAr is considered as the avatAram of the vaijayanti garland of

Srimannarayanan. His given name was 'vipranArAyanan', which means that the

divinely person who knows 'Srimannarayana as He is in Srivaikuntam'. As per

swami desikan, Achyutan did the anupravESam in all the AzhwArs as abhinava

dasavataran.

b.. This AzhwAr appeared in a vaidIka kulam in a village called

tirumandangudi, located near puLLambhudangudi Divyadesam.

c.. SrI ViSvaksEnar Himself came down to do panchasamskAram to this AzhwAr.

d.. The AzhwAr was always immersed in the kalyana gunas of the Lord and was

not interested in material live. He stayed therefore as a Naishtika Brahmachari

.. He set out for divyadesa yatra and wanted to have darsanam of all divyadesa

emperumans.

e.. He visited the first Divyadesam, Srirangam, wherein emperuman showed His

aparyAptAmruta soundaryam (insatiable nectar-like divine beauty). This AzhwAr

became bhakta of Sriranganatha and forgot about his further divyadesa yatra.

f.. Similar to periyAzhwAr, this AzhwAr started doing thiru-t-tuzhAi

kaimkaryam & mAlAkaimkaryam to the Lord, having established a wonderful

nandavanam.

g.. From the last pAsurams of both the prabandhams of this AzhwAr, it follows

that he liked to be called 'thondaradippodi' than 'vipranarayanan'.

h.. While tirumangai AzhwAr has sung on maximum number of divyadesa

emperumans, thondaradippodi AzhwAr has sung only on Srirangam emperuman. He

lived until 105 years of his age in Srirangam, enjoying the archavataram of SrI

ranganatha and composing 2 prabandhams as his anubhava parivaham.

 

 

Tanian (stray verse) on this AzhwAr by thiruvangap perumaaL araiyar:

 

 

 

maRRonRum vENdaa manamE! mathiLarankar,

 

kaRRinam mEyththa kazhaliNaikkeezh,- uRRa

 

thirumaalai paadumseerth thoNdaradip podiyem

 

perumaanai, eppozhudhum pEsu.

 

 

 

Brief translation of the Tanian : Let's always meditate on the tirunaamam of

thondaradippodi AzhwAr, who is a repository of kalyana guNAs and who sung on the

divine feet - which were going behind the grazing cattle - of SrI Krishna, Who

is now residing inside Srirangam temple. We do not have any other objectives in

our life.

 

 

 

a.. Although the Lord is residing deep inside Srirangam surrounded by 7 forts

(mathiLarangar), He is easily accessible (kaRRinam mEyththa kazhal).

b.. This AzhwAr is 'emperuman' for bhAgavathas, who engage in bhAgavatha

vishayam more than bhagavath vishayam. (mama madbhakta bhaktEshu preeti:

abhyadhikA bhavEt). Although arangan is soulabhyan, He becomes 'paran' when we

think of this AzhwAr.

c.. As tirumaalai pAsurams talk about tirunAma prabhAvam, it is apt to call

the 'manam' and guiding it to think on the AzhwAr always. 'eppozhuthum pEsu'.

 

 

Introduction to Tirumaalai & First pAsuram

 

 

 

HarEr nama Eva nama Eva nama Eva mama bhEshajam |

 

Kalou na asti Eva na asti Eva na asti Eva gati anyathA ||

 

 

 

In kaliyugam, there is no way for our upliftment other than HarinAma

samkeertanam. Even dangerous animals would run away on seeing a lion. Similarly,

all sins will disappear from a devotee who is doing tirunAma sangeertanam. Swami

Desikan's abheetistava slokam 'ramadayita! rangabhooramana!.... yamavasyatA

narakapAta bheeti: kuta:?' is to be recalled here.

 

 

 

There is a routine to chant 'Hari nAmam' while waking up; 'kESava nAmam' while

walking; 'gOvinda nAmam' while eating and 'mAdhava nAmam' during sleeping.

 

 

 

uttishTan cintaya harim vrajan cintaya kEsavam |

 

bhunjan cintaya gOvindam svapan cintaya maadhavam ||

 

 

 

King ShatanIka, the grandson of parIkshit maharaja, was ruling bharatam a few

centuries after pAndavAs. The kind-hearted king approached Sounaka Rshi seeking

advice for the upliftment of samsAris. Sounaka Rshi advised him that only

'nAmasamkeertanam' will lead them to evolve further. Sounaka's upadESam to

ShatanIka is collectively called as SrIvishnudharmam.

 

 

 

Acharyas compare the Lord to golden bar and His tirunaamams to golden

abharaNams. Swami pillai Lokacharyar's mumukshuppadi extols the greatness of

bhagavAn's tirunaamam. Even if the Lord is far away, His tirunaamams stand near

us to help always. Droupati cried out for Lord Krishna to save her from the

harassment in duryOdana's royal court. The Lord did not appear to help her. But

when she took refuge in 'gOvinda' nAmam, she was saved immediately.

 

 

 

Tirumaalai prabandham is the essence of SrIvishnudharmam. It is not a long or

short grantham but clearly explains paramAtma tattvam in sweet 45 pAsurams.

 

 

 

-dAsan