67 Days to Go until Srimath Azhagiya Singar's SathAbhishEkam : Veda Adhyayanam by 500 Scholars at Srirangam : Part 6

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A Tribute to NammAzhwAr's Thiruviruttham : Part 2SrI:

 

Dear VedhAbhimAnis :

 

Vedam is every thing for us . Please sponsor

One or More of the 500 Vedic Scholars , who

will do the AdhyApaka Kaimkaryam at Srirangam .

 

It is a life time opportunity for all VedAbhimAnis

to make this happen in our life time and record

selected sessions of Samhitha , Krama , JaDai

and Ghanam renderings of the three Vedams.

 

DaasOham , V.Sadagopan

 

--

 

A Tribute to NammAzhwAr's Thiruviruttham : Part 2

SamslEsham and VislEsham as Bhagavad anubhavam

*************************************************************

 

The prathyaksha-tulya-maanasa-anusandhAnam is

samslEsham . This is equivalent to being with the Lord

and union with Him as His beloved .When AzhwAr does not

get the boon of union with the Lord , he is totally dejected .

He cries out in a heart-rending way . This is VislEsham .

 

In chUrNikai 118, AchArya Hrusdhaya SoothrakArar

describes the two moods of AzhwAr and connects them

to the feeling state behind them this way :

 

" jn~Anatthil tamm pEcchu , prEmatthil peNN pEcchu "

 

In Jn~Ana dasai , AzhwAr is in full control of

himself and speaks as himself ; In prEma dasai

(state) , he is totally out of control with the

feelings of separation and hopelessness and he

assumes the role of a woman deeply in love with

the Lord , who has abandoned her .AzhwAr becomes

ParAnkusa Naayaki .

 

In both states ( samslEsham and VislEsham ) ,

the clear speech associated with samslEsham

and the agitated speech linked with vislEsham ,

the sEshathva prakAsamaana anjali does not change .

AzhwAr's hands are folded in anjali mudrA in

recogniotion of his relationship to the Lord as

a sEshan to the Sarva sEshi . This unchanged

bhakthi of AzhwAr is described as : " tERiyum

tERAthum MaayOn tiratthinaLE itthiruvE " .This

beautiful girl has the same measure of devotion to her Lord ,

whether she is composed from the experience of union with Him

or agitated during the experience of separation from Him .

 

For instance ,in the Thiruvaimozhi Pasuram (2.1.10),

AzhwAr describes his immense suffering over separation

from the Lord this way :

 

" Oh, my supreme Lord ! Oh the first among all Gods !

Why wont You show me Your bewitching countenance ?

My uncontrollable passion for You burns and burns

without an end in contrast to the common materials ,

which stop burning , when their fuel source is exhausted.

Alas ! here, my soul burns and burns in an unparallelled

mannner .This burning process seems to kick my soul outside

of my body . What is the rason for submitting me to this level

of torture ? Oh Lord of many victories ! Please rush to my

(suffering ) side at once and take me in Your comforting arms.

I have grown far too exhausted to bear this separation

any more " .

 

In the happy state of union with her Lord , ParAnkusa-

Naayaki joyously celebrates her happy mood this way .

The paasuram is 2.5.1 of Thiruvaimozhi and has been

enjoyed particularly by ALavandhAr and RaamAnuja :

 

" Oh , What a wonder ! My Lord has come to me now

surrounded by all His nithya sUris to keep me in

His company . Oh , What a Bliss ! He has out of His

infinite compassion come to me , who is totally

undeserving of this honor. He seems to say that I

too deserve Him . He is indeed sarvEsvaran .Oh , What

a beauty ! I am enjoying His bewitching form bedecked

with the radiant white conch , the blazingly effulgent

chakram ,the shining sacred thread , the rathna haaram ,

the vanamAlai , the splendid crown . Even the nithya sUris ,

who are always next to him look more radiant now , perhaps

reflecting the great joy of their Lord arising from

His union with me.That is how I intrepret this unusual

radiance of my Lord .He was looking famished prior to

union with a passionate one like me . Without the union

with me (parama bhakthai ) , He was withering away .He has

now gained a special sparkle .All His abharaNams have

become jaajvalyam now . Now I am taking in the beauty of

His lotus-soft eyes , soft red lips , lotus-like feet and

the whole body of golden complexion . I have now gained a

unique and unparalleled joyous experience from this union .

 

SoorNikai 120 of AchArya Hrudhayam

***********************************

This SoorNikai is as follows :

 

" adiyOm thodarnthu kuRREval , adichciyOmadikkeezhk

kuRREvalAhai avasthAntharam "

 

The first half of the above sUrNikai

is the speech from Jn~anam born out

of SamslEsham and is of the form of a masculine speech .

The second half is that of a woman , who out of

unrequitted love is agitated and speaks in the voice

of a disappointed lover . The soothrakAra describes this

latter state as avasthAntharam .

 

EmperumAn's aprAkrutha divya vigraham ( the divine form

beyond the elements of nature ) destroyed the masculinity

of the AzhwAr and transformed him into an emotionally

involved woman ( ParAnkusa Naayaki ) . That aprAkrutha

ThirumEni of the Lord has been described as being

surrounded by the worshipping nithya sUris and in the

center of a flood of effulgence : " kuzhumit thevar

kuzhAngaL kai thozhac chOthi veLLatthinuLLE

yezhuvathOruru " .The flood of prEmA of NammAzhwAr

flowed towards that radiant presence of the Lord just as

the ordinary floods hasten towards their home , the ocean .

AzhwAr's prEmai flowed both in the maculine and

femenine form to the Lord and mingled with it .

 

Friends , Mother and the Naayaki: their stats of mind

************************************************************

 

The samslEsha-VislEsha anubhavams of NammAzhwAr

are cast as paasurams sung by the friends of

ParAnkusa Naayaki , her concerned mother or by

her lamenting self . In sUrNikai 133 , the sUtrakAra

of Acharya Hrudhayam gives us an explanation

of the relative roles of ParAnkusa Naayaki with

her mother and friends :

 

" sambhandhOpAya palangaLil uNartthi ,

tuNivu pathaRRamAhiRa parajn~AvasthaikaLukkut

thOzhi , thAyAr , mahaL yenru pEr "

 

Reason for the paasurams thru the mouth of ThOzhi

************************************************************

 

The ThOzhi is the one , who intercedes and unites the

nAyakan and nAyaki ( the ParamAthmA and the jeevAthmA ).

In Thirumanthiram ( mUla manthram ) , praNavam denoting

ananyArha sEshathvAdhi sambhandha jn~Anam is the reason

( hEthu) for the union and that prajn~Avasthai came forth

as the paasurams uttered by the mouth of the ThOzhi .

 

Reason for the paasurams of the Mother

**********************************************

 

The prajn~AvasthA in response to the flight of

the daughter due to her (daughter's )firm belief

in upAyam to abandon her mother's home to travel

to her nAyakan's home is the basis of the mother's

paasurams . The thuNivu ( determination ) of her little

daughter to run away leaving the comfort of the

hearth and home for an uncertain future with some one

she(mother ) does not yet trust pains her . The nAyaka

prAvaNyam , which makes her daughter run away instead of

patiently waiting for Him to show up upsets the mother

and she tries to calm down the agitation of the love-lorn

daughter . She reminds the daughter of kula maryAdhai.

She reminds the daughter that in the SiddhOpAyam of

union with the Lord , calmnes is needed and presses on

upAyathAvasAyam as an essential ingredient . That

prajn~AvasthA ( state of consciousness ) of the mother

comes out as her paasurams restraining her daughter

in a state of concern and affection . The Nama: padham

of mUla manthram takes on the role of the Mother just as

the PraNavam took on the role of ThOzhi .

 

The Naayaki's paasurams and NArAyaNa padham

********************************************************

 

The daughter ( naayaki ) does not worry too much

about what others might say ( kula maryAdhai ) in

her state of immense agitation over the union with

her Lord . Her dvarai ( impatience and hurry )

to unite with her lord and enjoy his anantha kalyANa

guNAs ( vailakshaNyam ) drives her and in that

prajn~AvasthA , she can not hold on to her life

any more. The prApya dvarai of the nAyaki pours

out as her paasurams . She places these paasurams

at the lotus feet of her Lord and begs for His grace to

bless her with His union . He is NaarAyaNan ( the last

or charama sabdham of mUla Manthram ) and He is the one

qulaified by praNava (sEshithva svarUpam ) and

nama: sabdham ( saraNyathva svarUpam ) . He is the One

with the svarUpa , guNa vibhUthis (attributes ) implied

by NaarAyaNa sabdham . Like an arrow leaving the bow ,

nAyaki hastens towards the target of Sriman NaarAYaNan

with her paasurams .AdiyEn will cover the Rig Veda Saamyam of Thiruviruttham in

the final posting .AdiyEn ParAnkusa Daasan ,

Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan Please send your samarpaNams in support

of Veda PaarAyaNam to :Sri Hari Raghavan , 231Dixon Landing Road , Apt

150Milpitas , CA 95035