Desika nURRandAti - Taniyans and pAyirams (pAsurams) 1 to 3

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SrI:Dear All Desika BhakthAs :

 

adiyEn will start the kaimkaryam of writing about the Desika NooRRandhAti from the AvaNi Hastam day , the Thirunakshatram day of Sri VedAntha Desika Yatheendhra MahA Desikan , the 44th pattam Srimath Azhagiya Singar , whose keerthi as the builder of the

Srirangam Raaja Gopuram will last as long as there is the Sun and the Moon .

 

adiyEn will attempt to cover few verses at each posting . Let us start with the two Taniyans for MannapangAr Swamy , the author of Swamy Desika Prabhandham .

 

Transliterated text:

 

MannappangAr Taniyans:

 

pazhavinaikaL tAm akalap paravAdi singattin

kazhal iNaiyait tan nencil kazhalAmE ennALum

tozhutu ezhu mannappangAr tUya malarttALiNaiyE

tozhutu ezhu nee nal nencE tolvinaikaL totarAvE. (1)

 

(Meaning): Oh My Mind! Sri MannappangAr is a blessed one who retains Swamy Desikan's sacred Thiruvadi in his mind and worships it without let . If you wish to banish the ancient sins that chase us relentlessly janmam after janmam , please reflect on the lotus feet of MannappangAr. When you do that , all of your sins will be utterly destroyed .

 

Pazha VinaikaL = the timeless sins that follow us relentlessly

 

Para Vaadhi Singam= the Lion that defeats the disputants from Para Matams

 

Thol VinaikaL todarAvE = the ancient sins of ours wont follow us any more .

 

 

entai mannappangAr enRaikkum tan nAmam

cintai tanil vaittiDavE selvam sEr tantaiyoDu

tAyAkik kAppar intat dAraNiyil uLLArai

vAyAra vAzhtu nalam. (2)

 

(Meaning): If the people of this world remember and worship our Swamy MannappangAr , He will remain as the caring Mother and the protecting Father for them . He will bless them with all kinds of wealth. May we therefore eulogize Him to our heart's content . That is good for us.

 

Yenthai MannapangAr= Our Swamy MannappangAr

 

tanthayodu ThAyAhi kaappAr= When we remember him and eulogize Him , He will protect us all by becoming our Father as well as the Mother.

 

 

pAyiram 1

 

vEdamuDit desikanE vEdiyar kulattu arase

sAdu canankaLukkut tAvaLamE – pOdu amarum

nin aDiyai enRum ninattiruppAr pAdam en tan

sennitanil sUDum malar.

 

In this First Paayiram , MannappangAr offers his salutations to the adiyArs of Swamy Desikan .

 

Meaning of Paasuram 1 : The poet states that he adorns on his head the sacred feet of the BhaagavatOttamAs , who worship the auspicious ThiruvadigaL of Swamy Desikan, whom he addresses as the king of the kulam of those who follow Veda Maargam. The poet identifies Swamy Desikan as the means and the goal for people of Saatvik disposition ( Saadhu Janams= BhaagavatOttamAs).He reminds us that those Thiruvadis of the Saadhu Janams are the flowers adorning his head .

(Comments) : Veda Mudi means Veda Siras or the head of Vedams , which are Upanishads . Lord RanganAtha conferred the title ( birudhu) of VedAntAchArya

(Vedamudi Desikan) on Swamy Desikan for Veda Maarga PratishtApanam .The poet starts his Sri Sookti therefore with the title given to Swamy Desikan by the Lord of Srirangam.

 

The key word in this Paayiram is TaavaLam , which means abode (iruppidam). This Tamil word's equivalent has been pointed out by Sri VNG Swamy to be "ayanam" meaning UpAyam ( means) and UpEyam ( Goal). Using the Sanskrit poetic tradition of invoking Lakshita-LakshaNai , MannappangAr hails Swamy Desikan as " Saatu janankaLukku TaavaLamE "( iruppidam or safe refuge for the Saadhu Janams as well as the means and goal for their salvation) .Swamy Desikan is the Praapakan and PrApyam for the SaatvikAs . In Vedantha Desika MangaLam , the AchAryan of MannappangAr ( Swamy NayinAcchAr) expresses the same sentiment : " PrApyAya PrApakAyaastu VenkatESAya MangaLam ".

 

The Taniyan for Prabhandha Saaram ( One of the Desika Prabhandhams) of Swamy Desikan echos this sentiment relating to Saadhu Janams : " Saadhu janam Vaazha yenRu SaaRRiya nall Prabhandha Saaram ".

 

AzhwArs have instructed us often that the worship of the BhAgavathAs is even better than worshipping the Lord . Here are 3 examples of AzhwAr aruLiccheyalkaLs in this context :

 

-------- VaNN PonnippEr

aaRu pOl varum KaNNaneer koNDu

Arangan Koil ThirumuRRam

sERu sey ThoNDar sEvadi sezhum

sERu yenn sennikku aNivanE---KulasEkharar: Periya Thirumozhi: 2.3

 

(Meaning): The joyous tears from the devotees overcome by the darsanam of Lord RanganAtha flows copiously like the river Cauveri. That flow inundates

the court yard of the Lord of Srirangam and makes that courtyard

muddy. That mud unites with the feet of the devotees . adiyEn will adorn that mud from the feet of those BhagavathAs on my head and become sanctified !

 

taNN sERai EmperumAn taaLL thozhuvAr

kaaNmin yenn talai mElArE---Thirumangai : Periya Thirumozhi 7.4.1

 

(Meaning): adiyEn will adorn as alankAram the sacred feet of the BhAgavathAs,

who worship the Thiruvadi of the Lord of ThirucchERai .

 

---thUmaNI VaNNan YemmAn tannai

thALum tadakkayuum koopi paNiyum avar kaNDeer

nALum piRappiDai thORum yemai AaLudai nAtharE--Swamy NamAzhwAr:3.7.2

 

(Meaning):The BhaagavathAs who worship the Lord with anjali mudhrA are those who stay as my Lord through my many janmams .

 

Thus in the first Paayiram , MannappangAr salutes the adiyArs of Swamy Desikan .

 

pAyiram 2

 

malarmakaL kOn tALiNaiyai manni iruppArkaL

silar avrAl ceykarumam ennAm – malam aRucIr

vEdAnta dEsikanai vERu AkAtu EttuvAr

pAdAmpuyam namakkup paRRu.

 

In this Paayiram , the poet states that he does not need the BhaagavathAs that have taken refuge in the lotus feet of the Lord but the adiyArs of Swamy Desikan are the objects of his

prapatti . Just like Madhura Kavi declared in his prabhandham , "tEvu maRRariyEn" about his AchAryan , Swami NammAzhwAr , MannappangAr opts for the adiyArs of Desikan over those of the adiyArs of EmperumAn Himself. In two places , Swamy NammAzhwAr expresses a similar sentiment about the superiority of the servants of the Lord over the Lord Himself and declares that such BhaagavathAs of the Lord are His rulers:

"adiyAr adiyAr tamm adiyAr adiyAr tamakku adiyAr adiyAr tamm adiyAr adiyOngaLE "

( ThiruvAimozhi: 3.7.10 ) and "Neekkam illA adiyAr tamm , adiyAr adiyAr adiyAr yemm kOkkaL "( Thiruvaimozhi: 8.10.10) .

 

Thirumazhisai AzhwAr also attests to the superiority of the BhaagavatAs of the Lord over the Lord Himself this way :

 

" Maarvu iraNDu koorAha keRiya KoLaryai vERAha yEtthi iruppArai vellumE maRRavaRai saatthi iruppAr tavam "---- Naanmukhan ThiruvandhAti: 18

Meaning of Paaiyaram 2 : Mahaa Lakshmi , the divine consort of the Lord is seated in the lotus . Her Lord's broad chest is also soft like the Lotus petal . She has also chosen that broad chest of Her lord also as a place of residence . The adiyArs of the Lord of Mahaa Lakshmi perform Prapatti at His sacred feet using the dhvaya mantram: "Sriman NaarAyaNa charaNou SaraNam prapatyE" . The poet MannappangAr poses a question here about the benefits to us from those

BhaagavathAs , who have performed SaraNAgathi at the lotus feet of the Lord (avarAl sey karumam yennAm ?) . The poet answers his own question this way: For people like us , the lotus feet of those who continously eulogize Swamy Desikan are more important as our refuge (AaSrayam).

 

(additional Comments): Through his hundreds of Sri Sooktis and superior anushtAnam , Swamy Desikan pointed out the auspicious path for us to follow and removed thereby our blemishes and aparAdhams. In his Saptati ratna maalikai ( slOkam 21) , PrativAdhi Bhayankaram Annan describes the cleansing power of the SrI Sooktis of Swamy Desikan this way :

" yadheeya charitam sudhAm sucharita vyavastApakam

yadheeya vachanam param sakala samsaya unmoolam ".

 

The blemishless Swamy Desikan ( malam aRuseer VedAnta Desaikan) removes the apachArams and the dhOshams of his adiyArs through his Jn~Anam , anushtAnam and VairAgyam and show them the blessed path to gain the Lord. The doubts that the adiyArs had about the tattvams are removed by the study of the many Sri Sooktis of Swamy Desikan . Therefore , the adiyArs of the most merciful Swamy Desikan holding His sacred feet on thier head as their refuge are the object of protection for us says MannappangAr.

 

pAyiram 3

 

paRRu onRum inRip pArAnkusanaiyE paRRum

cittam uDai vEdAnta dEsikanai – kuRRam illA

anpAl aDaipavarkku ALAkum anparE

enpAl iruppar icaintu.

 

In this Paasuram , the poet states that he holds the adiyArs of the adiyArs of Swamy Desikan in his heart lotus and worships them.

 

Meaning: Swamy Desikan had no interest in the worldly matters and lOka bhOgams . He was totally dispassionate about them . He had however great attachment to one matter . What was that? This was his great devotion and attachment to Swamy NammAzhwAr and His prabhandhams. AzhwAr and His prabhandhams occupied fully the mind space of Swamy Desikan in a matchless manner .

Swamy Desikan created DramidOpanishad Saaram and DhramidOpanishad Taatparya RatnAvaLi to celebrate the saarArthams of Swamy NammAzhwAr's prabhandhams . In his Sri Sookti of PaadhukA Sahasram , Swamy Desikan created the SamaakhyA Paddhati and paid his tribute to Swamy NammAzhwAr by uniting Him with the SaTHAri of the Lord . My ( MannappangAr's) mind

is the place of residence of the adiyAr's adiyar , who lovingly celebrate the anantha klayANa guNams of Swamy Desikan .

 

(Commentary ): Thirumangai AzhwAr salutes the adiyArs of the Lord in a similar context :

 

"EmperumAn taaLL thozhuvAr yeppozhuthum yenn manatthE irukkinRArE"

 

" EmperumAn thALai naaLUm cintippArkku , yenn uLLam tEn URi yeppozhuthum tittikkiumE"

 

" EmperumAn taaLai naaLUm uLLatthE vaippArukku ithu kaaNer yenn uLLam uruhumARE "

 

------- Passages from Kaliyan's Periya Thirumozhi: 7.4

 

(To Be continued )

 

DhAsan , Oppilaippan Koil Varadachari Sadagopan