Sri Srinivaasa Vaibhavam- AndAL anubhavam on ThiruvEnkatam- Nacchiyaar Thirumozhi- eight decad-8.3

[Guest guest]

SrI:

SrImathE Gopaladesika mahadesikaya namah:

 

Dearest all,

 

After PeriyAzhwAr anubhavams, let us now continue on

his darling daughter GodhA PiraaTTi’s Naacchiyaar

Thirumozhi verses... on ThiruvEnkatam… [Extracted from

the most wonderful translation of Smt Kalyani

Krishnamachari based on Sri Sadagopan Swamin’s

treatise and acharyas’ commentaries.]

 

nAcciyAr tirumozhi VIII – starts with viNNIla mElAppu

– these ten verses are on ThiruvEnkatam. Let us enjoy

the third verse- oLi vaNNam, vaLai, chinthai)

 

oLi vaNNam vaLai Sindai uRakkattODu ivai ellAm

eLimaiyAl iTTu ennai IDazhiyap pOyinavAl

kuLir aruvi vE~nkaTattu en gOvindan guNam pADi

aLiyatta mEga~ngAL! Avi kAttu iruppEne 8.3

 

Translation (meaning) from SrImAn SaDagOpan's tamizh

treatise: Oh compassionate clouds! My tEjas, my color,

my bangles (which keep falling because of my becoming

thin with kAmam), my sleep etc. have all forsaken me

because of my being away from Him, and this has made

me very weak. In this state, can I cling to my life

just by singing the praise of kaNNapirAn of

tiruvE~nkaTam? (I don't think this alone can keep me

alive).

 

Additional thoughts from SrimAn SaDagopan:

gOvindan guNam pADi: ANDAL is wondering - Can singing

the praise of emperumAn through words like " kaDiyAr

pozhil vEnkaTava, karum pOrERe, SenniyOn~gu taN

tiruvEnkaTam uDaiyAi, ulagu tannai vAzha ninRa nambi,

dAmOdhara, acyuta, ananta, gOvinda, Ayar tam kozhunde,

veLLai viLi San~gu iDangaiyil koNDa vimala " , be

sufficient to keep me alive alone without Him?C.

Additional thoughts from SrI PVP: oLi vaNNam vaLai

Sindai uRakkattODu ivai ellAm pOyina: All the tejas,

color, etc. that she got because of her earlier

association with Him have now abruptly left her. Not

only the external things (removable decorations) that

were her characteristics such as her bangles are

leaving her, but also the internal attributes

(non-removable things) such as her thinking faculty,

sleep etc., are leaving her. The choice of the word

" ellAm " means that these were not the only things that

left her, but everything that can be conceived of have

left her. eLimaiyAl ennai iTTu: May be they left her

because she was in a deplorable state (eLimaiyAl); or

may be they left her because of their lowly nature of

forsaking one who is in a deplorable state,

mercilessly.

 

iTTu: Just discarding her as if she was a mere

lifeless object (acetana). They did not consider for a

moment that they were an integral part of her all this

time, and they now forsake her with no concern

whatsoever. Luster, color and bangles left her not

even thinking that they had mixed with her hand and

her body intimately all this time. Sleep left her

without even remembering that it associated itself

with her eyes. That too, when they left, they left

without any compassion (kaNNaRRup-pOittu).

 

Idazhiyap pOyinavAl: they drained her of all her

strength when they left her. Unlike this, when kaNNan

leaves her, He tells her that He is going to leave

her, embraces her, tries to console her with His smile

and lets her know that He really does not want to be

separated from her. Unlike that, it looks like the

vaLai, sleep, etc. were just looking for an

opportunity to leave her, and abruptly left her.In

vishNu purANam 5.18.29, we have: anurAgeNa

SaithilyamamAsu vrajitE harau | Saithilyam upayAntyASu

karEshu valayAnyapi || (When kaNNan leaves us, we

become thin because of our love for Him; our bangles

slip out of our hands).

kuLir aruvi vE~nkaTattu - This is in praise of the

sacred tiruvE~nkaTa Hills, the mere thought of which

can remove the greatest of our tApa-s. en gOvindan -

The stress is on " en " - my own gOvindan. Even though

He has not blessed ANDAL yet with His presence in

response to her prayers, it is an undeniable fact that

He exists for His devotees. guNam pADi Avi kAttu

iruppEne: A mukta indulges in the anubhavam of His

kalyANa guna-s when he is united with bhagavAn in

meditation - sOsnutE sarvAn kAmAn saha brahmaNA

vipascitA (taittirIya upanishad A..1-2). ANDAL is

wondering aloud whether bhagavAn now thinks that those

who meditate about Him and are one with Him enjoying

His guNAnubhavam, will get to live by just gunagn~Anam

and guNa sankIrtanam when separated from Him? Does He

think she is like sItA who survived by just guNa

jn~Anam: " AsamsEyam hariSrEshTa mAm prApsyatE pati: |

antarAtmA hi mE Sudhastasmimsca bahavO guNA: ||

 

" (rAmAyaNam sundra kANDam 37-14 - " My mind is very

clear now; I am sure He will come and get me; He has

innumerable, good qualities " )

 

aLiyatta mEga~ngAL: Unlike Him who has left her in

despair, and unlike her tEjas, color and bangles which

have left her at this time, these clouds are so full

of compassion that they at least came to see her.

 

Avi kAtthu iruppEne: ANDAL knows that as a devotee,

she should have His guNAnubhavam as the sole objective

of her life. It now looks like bhagavAn wants her to

be responsible for sustaining her AtmA also. That is

His responsibility, not hers. She is not her own

prANa-nAthan. Protecting her life is the

responsibility of the Sarva-Saktan, not hers. SrI

aNNa~ngarAcArya svAmi points out that it is the nature

of bhagavata-s that they have great enjoyment and

happiness when they have bhagavad-anubhavam, and they

feel very weak and desperate when they are separated

from Him - " en ma~ngai izhandadu mAmai niRamE " .

 

what a wonderful anubhavam of ANdAL! How beautifully

Smt KalyaNi Krishnamachari has written the above..

Thanks to her for sharing her article

AndAL ThiruvaDigaLE SaraNam

Regards

Namo Narayana

dAsan

 

 

 

 

Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005