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AN OVERVIEW OF PERIYA TIRUMADAL

"Shame Shame!", by Badrinarayanan Seshadri
"An Overview", by P. Dileepan

March 29, 1996

Shame Shame!

By Badrinarayanan Seshadri

We have seen that the person performing madal ERudhal attempts to spread some gossip about his/her lover. parakaala naayaki, in siRiya thiru madal (STM) merely threatens what she is planning to do:

       .... thaamaraip pOR kaNNaanai eNNarum seerp
       pEr aayiramum pidhaRRip perum theruvE
       ooraar ikazhilum ooraadhu ozhiyEn naan
       vaarrar poom peNNai madal.

       I will hurl thousands of unimaginable insults 
       at the lotus eyed one and thus blabbering,
       I will ride the beautiful palmyra stem
       through the big streets
       even if the whole town speak ill of me!

We have heard of the 'sahasranaama' about Him, and in fact every aazhvaar seems to have mentioned about these complimentary epithets (aayira naamam solli, naamam aayiram Eththa ninRa naaraNaa, etc.) but this is a novel concept, this 'sahasra dhooshaNam'!

parakaala naayaki gives us some hint about what this novel sahasranama is, in periya thiru madal (PTM). Let me attempt to translate the relevent portions here:

The threat

        than aruLum aakamum thaaraanEl thannai naan
        min idaiyaar sEriyilum vEdhiyarkaL vaazhvidaththum
        than adiyaar munbum tharaNi muzhudhu aaLum
        kol navilum vEl vEndhar koottaththum naattu akaththum
        than nilaimai ellaam aRivippan ...

        If he refuses me his grace,
        I will expose him and his misdeeds
        to the young women with narrow waists,
        to the brahmins who chant the vedas,
        to his very own devotees,
        to the kings who rule the entire world,
        to those brave soldiers with sharp spears,
        and to the people in every city!

Now, we are intrigued. We can not stand the suspense anymore. We want the juicy bits of gossip. We beg parakaala naayaki for the inside scoop! What did He do?

The scoop

        ....   thaan muna naaL 
        min idai aaychchiyar tham sErik kaLavin kaN
        thunnu padal thiRandhu thayir veNNey
        than vayiRu aara vizhunga kozhum kayal kaN
        mannu madavOrkaL paRRi Or vaan kayiRRaal
        pinnum uralOdu kattuNda peRRimaiyum

        Once upon a time, stealthily, this thief
        jumped the fence into a cowherdess' house.
        While stealing and eating butter and curds,
        the women with fish like eyes caught him redhanded. 
        They grabbed him and tied him tightly
        with a small rope to a wooden mortar.
        He was not even able to free himself!

Shame! Shame!

And then,

        annadhu Or boodhamaay aayar vizhavin kaN
        thunnu sakadaththaal pukka perum sORRai
        mun irundhu muRRa thaan thuRRiya theRRenavum

        Another time, during Indra's festival,
        carts and carts piled up plenty of food.
        Taking the shape of a huge imp, this man,
        gobbled the entire lot of food!
        Others didn't get even a single bite!

Shame! Shame!

And then,

        mannar perum savaiyuL vaazh vEndhar thoodhanaay
        thannai ikazhndhu uraippath thaan muna naaL senRadhuvum

        Once upon a time, he was running
        little errands for the mighty Pandavas!
        The world laughed and made fun of him,
        when he went as a messenger boy
        to the courts of the Kauravas
        full of proud Kings!
        What a shame!

And then,

        mannu paRai kaRanga mangaiyar tham kaN kaLippa
        kol navilum kooththanaayp pErththum kudam aadi
        en ivan ennappadukinRa eedu aRavum

        To please the aayar women, he danced the kooththu,
        with pots in his hands and a noisy little drum
        tied to his waist! 
        The women laughed at him and his dance.
        Oh! How shameful it was!

And then,

        then ilangai yaatti arakkar kulp paavai
        mannan iraavaNan than nal thangai vaaL eyiRRuth
        thunnu sudu sinaththuch choorppaNakaa sOrvu eydhi
        pon niRam koNdu pularndhu ezhundha kaamaththaal
        thannai nayandhaaLaith thaan munindhu mookku arindhu
        manniya thiN eNavum ....

        When SoorppaNakaa, the beauty from Lanka,
        Ravana's fond sister, with teeth sharp like daggers,
        who is always angry at her enemies,
        with uncontrolled passion and lust approached him,
        this angry man cut her nose off!
        He even thinks that is a great achievement!

How shameful! And then,

          ..... vaayththa malai pOlum
        than nikar onRu illaadha thaadakaiyai maamunikaath
        then ulakam ERRuviththa thiN thiRalum maRRivaithaan
        unni ulavaa ulaku aRiya oorvan naan
        munni muLaiththu ezhundhu Ongi OLi parandha
        manniya poom peNNai madal.

        Just at the merest excuse, when Vishvamitra asked him,
        he immediately dispatched the mountain like thaadakai
        to the land of Yama! He does excel in killing and
        maiming the women. What a brave kshatriya he is!
        His brave acts like this are too many to count!

        I will make these deeds known all over the world
        riding on a beautiful palmyra stem!

--Badri Seshadri

An Overview

By P. Dileepan

This note is my meager attempt to present an outline of Tirumangai Alvar's periya thirumadal. This, I hope, will provide a context for Parakala Nayaki's "threats" to our Lord that Badri posted earlier.

Even though I lack critical knowledge of Alvar's works, I embark on this difficult task motivated by nothing else but a keen desire to write about them. Therefore, I seek the forbearance of, and welcome additions and corrections from, more knowledgeable members of this group.

periya thirumadal is credited as the last prabhandham of Tirumangai Alvar (vide Swami Sri Desikar's prabandha saaram). Right after the Alvar finished this prabhandham, our Lord Sriman Narayana consummated His eternal embrace with Parakala Nayaki (PN). Apparently, PN's threats at the end of the prabandham worked. It seems threatening our Lord comes easy to Tirumangai Mannan; for was he not the one who threatened our Lord with his sword and demanded to be initiated into tirumantram (vaaL valiyaal mandhirangoL)?

However, before threatening to "expose" the "misdeeds" of our Lord Sriman Narayana, PN pours out her heart with intense passion and longing. PN starts the prabhandham by first declaring that "mOksham" is only a theory and that "kaamam" is the only real purshaarththam. The other two purushaarththams, namely "dharmam" and "arththam" ultimately results in "kaamam" as well. This section of the prabhandham ends with:

    "...aangu aNimuruval in amudham maandhi iruppaar
          idhu anRE aRaththin payan aavadhu,
    oN poruLum anna thiRaththathE,
          aadhalaal kaamaththin mannum vazhimuRaiyE
                     niRRum naam."

... thus, one enjoys the sweet nectar of the lover's smiling lips; isn't this the object of righteous living; verily this is the object of wealth as well; therefore let us pursue this "divine kaamam"

When pursuing this divine kaamam what is one to do if it is not reciprocated? madal oordhal is a powerful weapon to force the issue, but that is only for men. So, in the next section, PN embarks on an elaborate defense of why women must be allowed to undertake madal oordhal. PN presents two justifications. The first deals with the intolerable nature of unfulfilled love. She pleads, "how can one bear to be roasted by the flames shed by the full moon of open sky?" ("umbarvaay thunnu madhi uguththa thoonilaa neeL neruppil tham udalam vEvathth thaLaraadhaar" - Oh! my, my). The second justification deals with the repudiation of the Tamil tradition that forbids madal oordhal for love stricken women. PN cites several examples of women of northern tradition including Sita Piraatti and Uma.

     "thunnu veyil vaRuththa vemparalmEl panchadiyaal mannan
     iraaman pin vaidhEvi.. "

(having forced Sri Rama to take her along ...) She followed Sri Rama, Her feet, soft as cotton, getting scorched by walking on small sharp stones heated to cinder by the fierce sun

Having established a woman's right to undertake madaloordhal, PN then claims that right for herself by describing her own unbearable passion for our Lord:

     mannum maRikadalum aarkkum,
 
          (the calm seas seem to roar at me)


     madhiyuguttha innilaavin kathirum enRanakkE veythaagum,

          (the rays of the sweet moon strike me like scorching sun)


     thennan pothiyil sezhuncanthin thaathaLainthu,
     manniv vulagai manangaLippa vanthiyangum,
     inniLampoon^ thenRalum veesum eriyenakkE,

          (the delightful breeze from the south, fragrant with
           sandlewood flowers, strikes me like harsh heat wave)


     munniya peNNaimEl muLmuLarik koottagatthu,
     pinnumav vanRil pedaivaayc siRukuralum,
     ennudaiya nencukkO reervaaLaam enseykEn

         (the sound of the sweet nothings the two love birds upon
          a palmyra tree are exchanging sounds to me like a sword
          cutting my heart into two pieces - what can I do!!)


     kannavilthOL kaaman karuppuc silaivaLaiya,
     konnavilum poongaNaikaL kOtthup pothavaNainthu,
     thannudaiya thOLkazhiya vaangi, - thamiyEnmEl
     ennudaiya necE ilakkaaga eykinRaan,
     pinnithanaik kaappeer_thaam illaiyE,

          (Cupid is taking aim at my heart with his sugar cane
           bow and flowery arrows, is there none to save me from
           these deadly arrows?)

The desperate yearning PN expresses in this passage is most exquisite. The "viraha thaapam" flows out like the waters of Niagara falls. This is a far cry from the Alvar's earlier laments therivai maar uruvamE maruvi (I wasted my time seeking the pleasures of young women) in Periya Tirumozhi. The transformation to womanhood is complete when PN bares her heart for inseparable union with,

the Lord who severed the ten heads of Ravana,

the Lord who tore open the immense chest of Hirnyakasipu with his nails,

the Lord who killed Hiranayakshakan with His boarish tusks and rescued Bhumi piraatti,

the Lord who churned the seas and secured "amritham" for the devas,

the Lord who spanned the skies and earth and sent Mahabali to the underworld,

the Lord of Sri, ...etc., etc.

What follows is a captivating listing of dhivya desa archaavathaaras with whom PN yearns for inseparable union. Just a couple of examples:

     maamalarmEl annam thuyilum maNineer vayalaali
          ennudaiya innamudhE

        (my sweet Lord of Thuruvaali surrounded by fields
         filled with large lotus flowers with napping cranes)


    kOvaloor mannumidaikkazhi yemmaayavanai

        (the beguiling Lord of Tirukkovaloor who appeared
         in a narrow passage to enjoy the company of the first
         three Alvars)

For more on this, please see Sri Rengi Sampath's post.

PN ends this section with the ominous,

     emperumaan thennaruLum aagamamum thaaraanEl

       (if my Lord refuses to grant me His grace and union)

What follows is nothing short of extortion! See Badri's post for details.

Alvar uses naayaki bhavam right from his first prabhandham Periya Tirumozhi, but it is in the two Tirumadals that "she" presents a completely transformed womanly personality. Even in thirun^edundhaaNdagam, Alvar betrays maleness when he signs off as "kaliyan sonna" in the last paasuram. In the two thirumadals Alvar shows no trace of maleness and thus our Lord consummates union with PN right after she completes periya thirumadal. This, I think, is an illustration of our true nature, to be a member of our Lord's andhappuram.

It is interesting to note that the Alvar casts doubts about the existence of "mOksham" in the beginning of the thirumadal, but at the end achieves just that!

parakaala naayaki thiruvadigaLE saraNam

-- dhaasan parthasarati dileepan

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Notes

"Alvar's last prabandham" -- Some Sri Vaishnava scholars are of the opinion that thiru nedundhaandagam is the last work of Tirumangai's. -- Mani [Back]

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Mani Varadarajan

Last modified: Wed Mar 31 13:29:28 PST