PeriyAzhwAr's ThiruppallaNDU Paasurams: Part XIII ( The Eleventh Paasuram )

[Guest guest]

Dear BhakthAs :

 

Today we will study the Eleventh Pasuram of ThiruppallANDu :

 

alvazhakkonRumillA ANikOttiyUrk-kOn abhimAnathungan

selvanaip-pOl ThirumAlE ! nAnumunakku pazhavadiyEn

nalvahayAl NamO NaarAyaNAvenRu nAmam pala paravi

palvahayAlum PavitthiranE , Unnai PallANDu kooRuvanE

 

Meaning according to Dr.V.K.S.N.Raghavan

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Oh ThirumAlE ( Lord of Goddess Lakshmi ) ! I am , ever , indeed

Your devotee and servant like Selva Nampi ( who is said to be

the court pandit of Pandyan king VallabhadEvan) , who is bereft of

even any trace of wickedness, who is the leader of ( the residents of)

ThirukkOttiyUr and who stands in high esteem because of his great

love for God and God-Men . Oh the Pure One in all grades (i-e., bereft of

blemishes to the last core ) ! let me sing in praise of You , PallANDu

(May You live long ) after chanting Your multitudes of names and

singing in loud voice and great esteem " NamO NaarAyaNAya "

(Oh Lord ! I pay my obesiance to You ).

 

1. Sri Upanishad BhAshyakArar's Commentary

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Iswaryam seekers have now joined AzhwAr and the delighted

PeriyAzhwAr sings PallANDu to the Lord with them through this

eleventh paasuram ( IswaryAbhi : sahithO MangalAnyAsasthE) .

 

Selva Nampi is the nirvAhakar ( Leader/abhimAna Tungan) of ThirukkOttiyUr

( Sundara GhOshtIpuram ) , the jewel among the dhivya dEsams of Southern

region( Naayaka MaNi) ; He is totally devoid of any gunA dhOshams

(blemishless). " aham , Mama ithyAthi roopa dhur-vyavahAra lEsanApi rahitha:

" ( He is free even from traces of dhOshams like ahankAram and MamakAram ).

 

Selva Nampi has no sambhandham ( links) to dEvathAntharam

( no desire for Gods other than Sriman NaarAyaNan). He is without

taste for prayOjanams other than Moksham and Bhagavath Kaimkaryam.

 

Selva Nampi has no ruchi (desire) for Material wealth (Iswaryam)

or Kaivalyam ( aathmAvalOkanam). He is lofty with Sri VaishNava SrI

because of his travel along the auspicious way marked for

Sri VaisdhNavAs by PoorvAchAryAs . As a result , he is beyond

the influence of AhankAra-MamakArams. " SrI VaishNavathva

abhimAnEna SarvOthkrushta: " . Therefore he is " Selvan " (Sampath-

PoorNan ) . He has a lofty status because of his abhimAnam as

a SrI VaishNavar .

 

Oh Prabhu Sriman NaarAyaNaa ! Sriya: PathE ! adiyEn is also

Your dhAsan like Selva Nampi . adiyEn is an old DhAsan to You

in every way ( Sriya: PathE ! Sampath PoorNaa! Selva Nampiriva

ahamapi Tava praacheena dhAsa : ) .

 

adiyEn has adopted DhAsya Vruthti ( mode of life as Your DhAsan)

as my kula Dhanam (Family's Iswaryam ) and Moola dhanam

(Founding Capital) .Oh Lord ! You are Suddha Svaroopi by every

measure ( ParipoorNa Suddhan ) . adiyEn meditates on the deep meanings of

Your Moola Manthram without the first and last aksharam ( NamO NaarAyaNAya)

and observe Prapatthi with its six angams (aspects) . " Sameechana vidhayA

( nall vahayAl ) aadhyanthAkshara virahENa , sarvAdhikAra BhUtha Moola

mantram anusandhAya paripoorNa prapatthim anushtAya (NamO NaarAyaNA

yenRu) , tathasccha bhOgyathayA bahUni Bhagavan-nAmAni cha sankeerthya

( Naamam pala paravi) , sarvAbhi: prakArai: Paavana ( pall vahayAlum

PavitthiranE ) pallANDu KooruvanE " .

 

Oh Lakshmi Pathy ! having dhAsya vrutthi to You as my Kula dhanam

and Moola dhanam , adiyEn reflects on the meanings of " NamO NaarAyaNa "

and perform poorNa prapatthi to You . After that ( Tathasccha) ,

adiyEn recites Your numerous auspicious names as Parama bhOgyam

( Recite Your most relishable naamAs as supreme enjoyment ).

In a way sililar to Selva Nampi , adiyEn hails You with long life (

PallANDu) and perform MangaLASAsanam for You with Your Dvi ,

aayudhams , Jewelery and Sakala ParivAram .

 

2. Sri Periya ParakAla Muni's commentaries

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In this Paasuram , AzhwAr describes the scene , where IswaryArthees

like ANDakkulatthAr performing MangaLAsAasanam to the Lord like

Selva Nampi of ThirukkOshtiyUr without seeking any prayOjanam

other than Moksham from and Nithya Kaimkaryam to the Lord .

 

The glories of Selva Nampi standing in as the model for all

Sri VaishNavAs are: (1) freedom from PrayOjanAnthara Ruchi ,

(2) freedom from AathmAdheena BhOgam , (3) Freedom from

aparAdha Ruchi , (4) freedom from sathpadha Vanchanai and

(6) Freedom from Saasthra DhigkAram . The above are called

the trespasses of the Lord's commands ( Aj~nAdhilankanam) .

 

Selva Nampi noted for his exemplary dEha Yaathrai ( life as

an embodied soul on this earth) is free from all of the above

blemishes and led a life as an aadharsa purushan ( NirvAhakar,

abhimAna tungar) at ThirukkOttiyUr , the srEshta dhivya dEsam among

the southern uhantharuLiya NilangaL . His title as AbhimAnatungan

arises from his leadership in : (1) Veda Maarga Pravartana , darsana

pravartana abhimAnam , (2) Sakala uthsava pravartana abhimAnam

at the Lord's dhivya desams and (3) Ubhaya VedAntha Pravartana

abhimAnam .These are three boons that made Selva Nampi shine

as Selvan/abhimAnatungan . AzhwAr now reminds the Lord that

he is also an ancient dhAsan of the Lord like Selva Nampi .

 

Until now ( with the eleven Paasurams , AzhwAr invited the three vargams/

categories of people - - Jn~Anis , Kaivalyam seekers and Iswaryam

seekers- - to join his group ) to sing PallANDu to the Lord .They joined and

began to sing PallANDu together . This Paasuram is the nigamana pAsuram

(Summing up paasuram ) for the dhivya Prabhandham of Thiru PallANDu .

 

AzhwAr addresses the Lord here as " Pall VahayAlum PavitthiranE " .

AzhwAr salutes the Lord who relates to many different kinds of

Jeevans ( Jn~Anis , KaivalyArthees and IswaryArthees ) , corrects

them and sets them up to seek aathma rakshA baram from Him .

He makes them recite His thousand names (Thiruvadi thozhuthu ,

aayiram naamam sollap-paNNi ) , and transforms them instantly into the

supreme state of Muktha Jeevans ( Unnil nenju vayyAthE , paavamE

seythu , paavihaL aanavarkkum udanE Moksham anugrahittha

Pavithran : " jadithyEva Moksha PrApthyanuguNa Pavithrathva

dhAyakanE " . YellOrayum pala vahayAlum thirutthum

Paavanathvam udayavanE ! PavitthirenE yenkirAr AzhwAr .

PallANDu PallANDu Unn Sevvadi Sevvi yenRu VaazhthuhirAr .

 

Oh Lord , who appeared before all of us and made Yourself visible

before the eyes of all human beings here with Your dhivya soundharyam ,

soukumAryam and LaavaNyam ! This land is an abode for sins due to

the erring habits ( Trespasses against Your commands ) of its residents .

Even in such an impure land , You , who is beyond the reach of Parama yOgis

,

You have presented Yourself with Your DEvis , parijanams ( Nithya sooris )

paricchadhams ( aayudhams and bhUshaNams) . Fearing any harm

that might come to You and out of overflowing concern and love ,

adiyEn and adiyEn's ghOshti sing PallANDu to You now !

 

3. Thirukkudanthai Desikan's Commentaries

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" Vazhakku allAthathu alvazhakku " ( The path which is not prescribed

by the Lord's SaasthrAs ) is alvazhakku .

 

These alvazhakkus are (1) dEhAthma abimAnam ( confusion that aathmA

and deham are one and attaching oneself to the body and its pleasures

instead of recognizing the differences between perishable body and

the eternal jeevan ) (2) SvathanrAthama Brahmam : the confusion that

the Jeevan is independent and the controller of its own destiny instead of

the Lord , (3) dEvathAnthara ruchi ( seeking gods other than Sriman

NaarAyaNan as the Moksham giver ) and (4) prayOjanAnthara ruchi ( seeking

insignificant golas of life instead of Moksham such as perishable Iswaryam

and unsatisfactory Kaivalyam ) .

 

Once one emulates a BhagavathOtthamar like Selva Nampi ,

one has clear knowledge about our dhAsya svaroopam to the Lord

and then we have to engage in Karthavyam ( that needs to be done as

follow up ). One of them is the recitation of Moola Manthram : " NamO

NaarAyaNAyEthi manthra ; SarvArTa saadhaka: ) . The other karthavyam

is the recitation of the thousand naamAs of the Lord . The observance of

these Karthavyams along with the performance of Prapatthi removes

all asuddhis and amangaLams and qualifies us to sing PallANDu to

the Lord ( MangaLAsAsanam for the Sarva Seshi , SarvEswaran ).

 

4. Thirukkudanthai Sri RanganAtha Swamy's commentary

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AbhimAna Tungan , Selvan : The VaishNava abimAnam through

the statement " DhAsOham " is the resort to us.That makes one

filled with VaishNava Sri . This Iswaryam is Svaroopa PrApthi

( attainable to us through a clear knowledge of our Svaroopam

as the nithya DhAsan to the Supreme Master, Sriman NaarAyaNan ).

 

PazhavadiyEn: Just as Seshithvam ( Being the Supreme Master of all )

is anaadhi aachAram ( ancient trait ) for You , being Your servant /dhAsan

is anAdhi aachAram for adiyEn . My awakenig resulted from the upadEsam

of Moola Manthram ( Sakala veda TaathparyamAna Manthra Rahasyam ).

My activiy thereafte is " adhi thozhuthu aayiram nAmam solluthal " . adiyEn

engages ceaselessly in the contemplation of Your Svaroopa , Roopa,

GuNa Vaibhavams.

 

Thus ends the 11th Paasuram , which celebrates the performance of

MangaLAsAsanam for the Lord by the former IsvaryArthees , who had

joined AzhwAr's ghOshti as ananya prayOjanars . All the three groups

are now united in singing PallANDu to the Lord .

 

PeriyAzhwAr ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,

ThUppul KulatthadiyArkaL adiyAr poRRp-padham pORRi

Dhaasan , Oppiliappan KOil VaradAchAri Sadagopan

 

Srimate Sri Laksminrisimha Divya Paduka Sevaka

SrivaNN Satakopa Sri Narayana Yatindra Mahadesikaya Nama: