Sri Srinivaasa Vaibhavam- AndAL anubhavam on ThiruvEnkatam- Nacchiyaar Thirumozhi- tenth decad- fifth verse

[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.] Let us enjoy

the last two verses from AndAL on

Thiuruvenkatamudaiyaan now… we had the introduction of

the fifth verse of tenth decad yesterday.

 

Let us enjoy the verse 10.5 today…

 

paadum kuyilgaaL! Ithenna

paadal,n^al vEngada

naadar namakkoru vaazhvuthan^

thaalvanthu paadumin,

aadum karuLak kodiyudai

yaarvan^ tharuLceythu,

kooduva raayidil koovin^um

paattugaL kEttumE. 10. 5

 

In the fifth pASuram, ANDAL looks at a cuckoo singing

happily on top a tree in tirumAlirum cOlai malai. The

cuckoo s song sounds horrible to godai because of her

state of mind. So, she gets mad at the cuckoo and

says: Why do you make such a noise? What kind of song

are you singing? Is this a song? If emperumAn, who is

the Lord of tiruvEnkaTam comes and gives me a life,

then, you can come and sing. If my

tiruvEnkaTamuDaiyAn, who is having garuDan in His

flag, comes and unites with me out of compassion, then

I shall call you and both of us will listen to your

melodious music together and thus honor you.

 

Sri Periya Vaacchaan Pillai enjoys in this

vyaakhyaanam:

 

pADum kuyilgAL! Idenna pADal?: You sang when He and I

were together once. You have been singing ever since.

But, from where did you choose this song today that

falls in my ears like fire?

 

kuyilgAL: The plural here suggests that every one of

the cuckoos is singing without exception. Even in

rAvaNa s goshThi, there was one exception who was a

dharmAtmA viz. vibhIshaNa - vibhIshaNastu dharmAtma na

tu rAkshasa ceshTita: (rAmAyaNam AryaNya kANDam

17-24). But in the goshThi of the cuckoos, there is

not a single cuckoo which is good, and takes pity on

godai by not singing while she is suffering.

 

Idenna pADal: Why are you singing the same song that

you sang when I was together with Him earlier? Is this

for torturing me even more intensely by reminding me

of the time when I was united with Him? This is like

applying sandalwood paste after setting fire on either

side. In the previous pASuram, the sight of the mullai

flowers was like fire being setting on one side of

godai. In the next pASUram, she will be tortured by

the sight of the beautiful peacocks which will be like

setting fire on the other side of godai. The song of

the cuckoos in this pASuram is like trying to apply

sandalwood on her body to appease her after setting

fire on both sides of her.

 

Idenna pADAl: Am I in a position to hear this song

now? I am suffering from the pangs of separation from

my beloved emperumAn. Just as fire will destroy the

place it is in, in addition to anything else that is

in that place, your song will destroy you also in

addition to destroying me. You wicked birds! The fact

that you are not yet destroyed suggests that you are

short of hearing .

 

nal vEnkaTa nADar namakku oru vAzhvu tandAl vandu

pADumin: If they cannot sing this song now, when can

they sing? Godai gives the answer: Just as small

streamlets appear before full-fledged flooding occurs

in a river, there are good signs that suggest that He

is going to come; He has already left the

hard-to-reach paramapadam and arrived at the

easy-to-access tiruvE nkaTam with His flying

garuDakkoDi. This must be just a stop-over before He

arrives at SrIvilliputtUr to bless ANDAL. So, when He

comes and gives me the life with Him that I seek, then

you can come and sing .

 

namakku oru vAzhvu tandAl: My indriya-s are not in a

position to enjoy music or any such entertainment at

this time - (en aimpulanum ezhilum koNDu - periya

tirumozhi 7.5.9 He has taken away the power of my

indriya-s). If He gives me a life such that my ears

can bear to hear music, then you can sing at that

time.

 

vandu pADumin: I cannot even stand your presence now;

just get out of here. You can come back later when

needed . Remember how godai threatened to drive the

cuckoo out of her grove earlier if the kuyil does not

get Her vEnkaTavan (mannu perum pugazh pASuram 5.9.]

 

ADum garuLak koDi uDaiyAr: ADum refers to both a

joyous mood and motion. GaruDa is moving with

emperumAn all the time, and is happy to be united with

Him all the time in his nitya vibhUti. Unlike this,

godai feels that all His other creations around her

and including her are His leelA vibhUti-s, which are

meant to suffer because of separation from Him.

 

SrI kRshNasvAmi aiyangAr observes that this is similar

to nammAzhvAr s feeling that all the other things in

this world (like the nArai etc.)., are also pining for

Him and suffering like Him vAyuntiraiyugaL

(tiruvAimozhi 2.1.1).

 

ADum garuLak koDi: In places where water is kept for

public drinking, sometimes there will be a device (SAi

karam) which brings water within the range of the

mouth of the thirsty person. Similarly emperumAn has

His garuDan who brings Him to those who thirst for

Him.

 

vandu aruL Seidu kUDuvarAyil:

Even though godai is longing for Him passionately, in

godai s case the only appropriate event is that He

should bless her by coming to her Himself, not the

other way. Consistent with her paratantra svarUpam,

she cannot be the one to initiate this union. He has

to come out of great love and unite with godai.

[Compare nammAzhvAr s tiruvAimozhi 8-8-3 en uNarvin

uLLE iruttinEn aduvum avanadu innaruLE ] If she

initiates this union against His will, it is bound to

not materialize anyway. Her initiating a union with

Him against His Will is like someone who accepts a

dAnam of gold whose purpose is to reduce the recipient

s lifetime, and then making a gold ring out of it and

enjoying this while the person is going to die soon

anyway.

 

The proper way to reach Him is by performing

kainkaryam to Him no matter what state we are in. This

is what bhagavad rAmAnuja prays to Lord in SaraNAgati

gadyam that ultimately He wants the bhAgyam to do

nitya kainkaryam to Him after doing prapatti and

reaching paramapadam. Kainkaryam to perumAL is like

the sweet sugarcane juice for a prapanna. Some may

argue that SiSupAla committed lot of sins, and still

ended up in paramapadam. But our AcAryas have clearly

pointed out that this is not the way to get to

paramapadam. SrI AlavandAr's aruLicceyal is that

SiSupAlan was thrown to the gates of paramapadam with

His cakrAyudham just so SiSupAlan will be removed

forever from this world and would not have the chance

to ruin others by making them kRshNa-dveshi s. This is

not the way to reach paramapadam; it should be because

of our genuine and intense desire to reach Him and for

Him to cause it by His Will and His Blessing.

 

Here SrI Periya Vaachaan Pillai gives another episode

to show that our AcArya-s have indirectly blessed

their Sishya-s sometimes to just avoid their causing

harm to others. SrI bhaTTar had a student named periya

dEvap piLLai, who was constantly chiding everyone in

his house. Once SrI bhaTTar sent him to a nearby

village on an errand. SrI nanjIyar remarked: Now that

he has left the house for some time, the people in his

house do not have to listen to his chidings any more

for a while. SrI bhaTTar s aruLic ceyal was: On second

thoughts, rather than letting him loose and giving him

a chance to chide everyone in the town under the guise

of being our Sishyan and thus bringing dishonor to us,

it is better to keep him with us here even though he

belittles us through his actions. From then on, he

kept this Sishya with him permanently.

 

kUvi: ANDAL says she will call these cuckoos when she

needs them viz. when she is together with emperumAn.

 

Anubhavams from SrI Prathivaadhi Bhayankaram

aNNangarachar Swami:

 

Wherever ANDAL turned, she saw the flowers or fruits

(kArrkoDal, mEl tOnRi,kOvai, mullai); so, she closed

her eyes to avoid their himsai. But, now, she is

hearing the sound of the cuckoos and she is asking

them to stop singing because she cannot close her

ears.

 

ADum garuLak koDi uDaiyAr vandu kUDuvar Agil: The

cuckoos may ask how they will know when vEnkaTanAthan

will come and give her life and when they can come and

sing. For this godai s response is that they can know

that just by looking at the dancing garuLak koDi

indicating His arrival.

 

kUvi num pATTugaL kETTumE: Even if they do not

recognize it, she will invite them and listen to their

music.

 

Abhinava Desika SrI UttamUr Veeraraghavchariar swamy’s

wondreful divine anubhavams:

 

ANDAL had encountered flowers and fruits so far in

this tirumozhi. She could not ask them to cease

existing, nor could she tell them not to flower or

grow. But she could tell these cuckoos to stop

singing, and so this is what she is doing.

 

pADal: SrI UV continues to develop the anubhavam that

ANDAL is becoming more and more friendly with

everything around her. By the use of the word pADal,

she is praising the cuckoos for their melodious voice.

 

Idenna pADal: Even though the cuckoo is singing, in

ANDAL s state of mind, it does not appeal to her, and

so she is asking What kind of song is this?

 

SrI UttamUr Swami also paints a beautiful picture

here, playing with the word ADum .

My emperumAN, vEnkaTanAthan is a very good Lord; His

abode, vEnkaTam is also a good place. He has

acknowledged me somehow and I am sure to get some good

life because of His grace. Then, you can come here and

sing for us. For now, you can go there and sing for

Him. He has come to vEnkaTam only to come to me in

SrIvilliputUr; He will listen to your song and start

dancing and faltering. garuDan will also be surprised

at that and start dancing; he will make Him get on top

of him and happily bring Him here; when He comes, He

will definitely bless me and unite with me; then, you

can come here to sing; you can try to make Him come

faster by your singing when He is coming. Even if you

don t come, I will invite you to come and sing for us.

We will listen to your song, enjoy and dance with

delight. [Divine, isn’t it?]

 

AndAL ThiruvaDigaLE SaraNam

Regards

Namo Narayana

dAsan

 

 

 

 

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