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Re: Selected excerpts from MahA VidvAn Sri U.Ve. PerukkAraNai Swamy's ThiruppAvai Monograph: Part XXIV-> Seventeenth day : AmparamE TaNNIrE Dinam

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Sadagopan • January 1, 2001 


Srimathyai GodhAyai Nama:
SrimathE RaamAnujAya Nama:

Dear BhakthAs: In the previous Paasuram , the gatekeepers 
were requested to open the doors of NandagOpan's palace
so that the Gopis can get inside and wake up King NandagOpan ,
Queen YasOdhA , Lord  KrishNA and Prince BaladEvan ,
the elder brother of Sri KrishNA .The gatekeepers
obliged and the Gopis stand now in front of the bed 
chambers of each of them and appeal to them to awaken.

Literal Meaning of the Paasuram ( Dr.V.K.S.N.Raghavan):
*******************************************************
Oh King NandagOpA , Our Sire and the one reputed for high
charity in giving away many clothes, abundant water,and
large quantity of food! Kindly awaken ! Oh Queen yasOdhA, 
the foremost scion among women of sterling character (lit.who
are slim and firm like Vanjik Kombhu)! Oh Devi, who is 
the beacon light (of the whole woman kind ! Please rise up!
Oh Lord of Gods , who grew (into a gigantic form) and 
pierced through the space , and measured (with two steps)
all the worlds! Please refrain from sleep and get up! 
Oh Prince BaladEvA ( the strong and powerful Lord) adorning
the golden anklets of a Hero ! May Your younger brother 
and yourself get up without ptrolonging your sleep (uRangEl).

The Inner Meanings of the Paasuram (Sri PBA Swamy)
*************************************************** 
Here NandagOpar, YasOdhai, KrishNan and BalarAman are
sequentially awakened as symbols of AchAryan, Thiru Manthiram , 
the Meaning of Thiru Manthiram and the Essence of 
Thiru Manthiram ( AshtAsharam , Moola Manthram ).

The ascendance of NandagOpar in this order of salutation
(EmperumAN NandagOpAlA )may sound odd , but he is
the NiyAmakan ( commander ) of even the Sarva NiyAmakan
( Our Lord, the controller and commander of one and all).

In this paasuram EmperumAn NandagOpan is identified as
performing dhAnam of Amparam , TaNNIr and sORu . Amparam
stands for AakAsam ( Sri Vaikuntam: ParamAkAsa sabdha
Vaachya pradesam /" nalamanthamillAthOr Naadu ").
NandagOpan is invoked FIVE times in ThiruppAvai
(Paasurams 1,16,17,18 and 21) to perform MangaLAsAsanam
for His generosity , parAkramam and wealth.

YasOdhai is awakened next as "kompanArkellAm kozhundhE
KulaviLakkE". She is the One , who has the bhAgyam of
having the Lord as Her son ( ThiruvilEn yEnonRum 
peRRilEn, YELLAAM DHAIVA NANGAI YASODHAI PERRAALE ).
YasOdhA is the brightest lamp of the GopAla kulam 
(Kula ViLakku) for enhancing the radiance of
" Aayar kulatthinil thOnRum aNi viLakku "( Lord KrishNA).
NandagOpan and YasOdhA are extrapolated to the ranks
of the Lord and His PirAtti here.

Next KaNNan (YasOdhai iLam singam) is awakened with
the appeal ( ampara mooDaRutthu Ongi ulahaLantha 
Umbar kOmAnE ! urangAthu yezhunthirAi). Here, the link
between KrishNan and His earlier ThrivikramAvatharam
is made.Thrice in ThiruppAvai , ANDAL refers to 
ThrivikramAvatharam ( Paasuram 3,17 and 18) as 
"Ongi UlahaLantha Utthaman , UlahaLantha Umbar
KomAnE and anRivvulaham aLanthAi adip pORRI" .
YasOdhai herself warns the people of Gokulam
not to mistake the Kuttik KaNNan as helpless One
and asks them to go find out about His power
and soulabhyam from MahA Bali Chakravarthy 
( SiRiyan yenRu yenniLam singatthai ihazhEl
KaNDAi , siRumayin vaarthayai Maavaliyidaic-
chenRu kEL ".In ThrivikramAavthAram , His sacred
feet touched every one in the Universe independent
of their rank, status , education or tapas. 
KaNNan at Gokulam mingled with the cowherd girls
and boys as well as with kings and sages later
at BrundhAvanam and DhvArakai.Thus , this ease of 
access (Soulabhyam) is common both to KrishNAvathAram
and ThrivikramAvathAram and the Gopis celebrate this
aspect of BhagavAn's kalyANa guNams .

The Gopis awaken KrishNA ; He does not stir.
They recognize that He has to be awakened through His 
elder brother, BaladEvan and address latter as
the heroic one ( SempoRRk Kazhaladi SelvA Bala dEvA").
They ask the brothers to awaken together and bless them 
( Umpiyum Neeyum uRangEl ).The combined appeal to
the BhAgavathOtthaman BalarAman ( AdhisEshAvathAram)
and BhagavAn is for reminding us that BhAgavatha
Seshathvam and Bhagavath Seshathvam are inseperable.

Sri P.B.A. Swamy referred to "Amaparam " earlier as 
AakAsam or Sri VaikunTam (ParamAkAsam). The next 
dhAnam that NandagOpan is known for is the giving
away of water (TaNNIr) for those , who are thirsty.
TaNNIr here stands for Virajai, the sacred river in 
Sri VaikuNTam. The One , who bathes people in Virajai
is recognized as NandagOpan. "sORu" is the annam 
identified in Upanishad ( annam BrahmEthi vyajAnAth).
AchAryan is the One , who helps us experience 
BrahmAnubhavam with Saama GhAnam ( ahamanAthOham
annAthOham). As Swamy NammAzhwAr recognized 
( " Yeduttha pErALan NandhagOpan " ), the king of
Gokulum is equatable to AchAryan.He had the incomparable
wealth of KaNNan as his child and had ParipUrNa 
BrahmAnubhavam.

Inner Meanings: Abhinava Desika UtthamUr Swamy
************************************************
In the pancha kaala PrakriyAs , this paasuram
is linkable to the stage of Bhagavath AarAdhanam ,
where AdhisEshan and othe Nithya Sooris are 
invoked to join the AaarAdhanam for BhagavAn.
"SempoRRk Kazhaladi" identifies with the samarpaNam of 
Paadhukai for the Lord (AdhisEshan ) during one stage 
of the AarAdhanam.

When one porceeds to perform AarAdhanam , the first
salutation goes to AchAryans. In Sri Vaikuntam itself ,
the first salutations are to AchAryAs before approaching
the Lord and His dEvis.The awakening (salutation) 
of the AchAryan in Bhagavath sannidhAnam is covered
in this "AmparamE TaNNIrE sORE " paasuram.

Amparam can be split into am+Param . am means beautiful
and Param means ParamAthma Vasthu. Therefore amparam
means altogether the sarva VyApi Lord ,Sri VishNu-
NaarAyaNan , the AkAra Vaachyan. "TaNNIr " or water
is absolutely essential to grow annam .Hence , 
"TaNNIr " is UpAyam or Bhakthiroopa DhyAnam .
sORu is parama purushArtham as described in 
Upanishad Vidhyais ( Aanandhamaya , Samvarga 
and VaisvAnara Vidhyais): the parmaanna Parama Purusha
Prabhu is the PurushArtham (Ultimate goal and end ).

Inner Meanings by PerukkAraNai Swamy ( Selected Excerpts)
**********************************************************

The gopis say : " Oh NandagOpA ! You give away generously food , 
clothing and water to all those , who seek them. These are 
anithya (perishable items)vasthus .Please grant us as DhAnam ,
the food known as Kuttik KaNNan . He is "uNNUm sORu, 
Paruhu neer ,Thinnum VeRRilai" for us . He is our Taaraka , 
Posahaka BhOgya Nithya vasthu .

The AaypAdi girls had grat attachment to ThrivikramAvathAram.
That is why they referred thrice in ThiruppAvai 
the mysterious deeds of Thrivikraman ( Ongi UlahaLantha,
amparam oodarutthu Ongi ulhaLanatha and anRi ivvulaham
alanthAi adip pORRI). When One has reverence and attachment
for an object , we invoke its name thrice The peace invocation
for instance is made thrice in vedhams ( PraNavam ShAnthi: 
ShAnthi:ShAnthi:). 

" SempoRRk Kazhaladi BaladEvA": the Paadhukai , which is 
embellished with Gold (Kaanchana/SvarNa Paadhukai)of 
the Lord (PadhukE Hema BhUshithE)is saluted here.

In the previous Paasuram, the three Sri VaishNava Rahasyams 
were referred to.In this Paasuram , the MEANINGS of
the three rahasyams are alluded to. Amparam is PraNavam;
sORu is "NaarAyaNAya";TaNNIR is Nama: Sabdham of 
the Moola manthram. ANDAL uses "Am " , the BhIjAksharam
as a woman through choice of the word Amparam. TaNNIr can be
split into TaNN + Neer ( Cool water fall).The UpAyam of
Bhakthi that flows like Tila Thail TAArai is implied here.
Nama: sabdham includes SaraNAgathi.SaraNAgathi is an
angam for Bhakthi and therefore the two upAyams of
Bhakthi and Prapatthi are included by use of 
the word , "TaNNIr ".Our Lord is "SORu " in
the spirit of Swamy NammAzhwAr's anubhabhavam 
( UNNum SORu, Paruhu neer ---).

>From "AmparamE--NandagOpAlA" , AchAryan , who stands
in the form of PithA is invoked. From " KompanArkkellAm--
--YasOdhA ", the Manthram that stands in the role of
Mother is invoked.YasOdhA is the Yasas giving
Mother. The Vedam says in this context :"YasO Brahma:" 
In "SempoRRk Kazhaladi--Umpiyum Neeyum uRangEL",
anugraham from the Lord and His Tamar (BhAgavathAs)
are beseeched. 

May the anugraham of the SaraNya Dampathis and our 
AchAryans bless every one of the electronic sathsanghams
in this new Millenium(01/01/01)and bring us closer to Them .
NaarAyaNa , NaarAyana , NaarAyana !

ANDAL, Azhagiya Singar ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam 
RaamAnuja Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SatakOpan

  

   




  


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