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A SanyAsi ascends the throne : Part 6

From the Bhakti List Archives

V. Sadagopan • July 14, 1997 


Dear Nrusimha BhakthAs : 

On this Aani Svathi day , the day of the constellation 
associated with Sri Lakshmi Nrusimhan , It gives me 
great pleasure to cover the remaining 5 paasurams of Kaliyan
saluting NrusimhAvathAram . In my last posting , It was
my privelege to focus on the six paasurams , three by
PeriyAzhwAr , two by NammAzhwAr and one by Thirumazhisai.
In yet another posting in this series , I summarized the exhilirating
experience of Thirumangai's KshEthrAdanam to Ahobilam 
through his ten paasurams .

The five Thirumangai  paasurams on Sri Lakshmi Nrusimhan 
covered in the current posting are affiliated with 
the following five divya desams :

1. Thiru SaaLagramam --Periya Thirumozhi 1.5.7

2. ThiruvEnkatam -- Periya Thirumozhi 1.10.5

3. Thiru Vaikuntha ViNNagaram-- Periya Thirumozhi 3.9.2

4. Thiru ArimEya ViNNagaram -- Periya Thirumozhi 3.10.4

5. Thiru ThEvanAr Thohai --Periya THirumozhi 4.1.7

This posting will cover the SaaLagrAma KshEthra paasuram . 

THIRU SAALAGRAMA PAASURAM
*************************************

This KshEthram is in Nepal . It is located 60 miles west of 
Khatmandu on the banks of Gandaki river . Like upper AhObilam ,
this divya Desam is not easy to reach . One has to travel by narrow 
foot paths in a sparsely populated area . Much of the year , 
the ice covered roads make the journey difficult . 

The daring Thirumangai AzhwAr reached this " inaccesible " 
Divya Desam with AshtAksharam on his lips and performed 
MangaLAsAsanam to Sri Moorthy and His consort Sri Devi 
of this svayam vyaktha KshEthram . Among the 12 paasurams 
associated with this divya Desam , ten are by Thirumnagai 
and the remininig two are by PeriyAzhwAr . one of the ten SaaLigrama 
KshEthra paasurams of Kaliyan  pays tribute to NrusimhAvathAram .

A majority of Kaliyan's SaaLagrAma paasurams pay 
tribute to RaamAvathAram . It has been suggested 
that Thirumangai was focusing quite 
a bit on RaamavathAram here , since the Name of this 
Divya Desam ( SaaLagRAAMAM ) includes in it the Raama
nAmam . Coming back to the Paasuram dealing with 
the NrusimhAvathAram ( PTM 1.5.7) , AzhwAr visualizes 
Lord Nrusimhan as Visva rUpee and salutes Him as it were 
by the first naamam of Sri VishNu Sahasra Naamam ,
Om VisvAya Nama : This paasuram is as follows : 

yEnOr anja venchamatthuL ariyAi  pariya viraNiyanai
    oonErahahalam pilavu yeduttha oruvan thAnE iru sudarAi 
vaanAi theeyAi maaruthamAi malayAi alai neer ulahanaitthum 
    thAnAi thAnumAnAn tan SaaLagramamamadai nenjE 

This paasuram might have inspired Swami Desikan to state in his 
Sri Sookthi , " ThrilOkyam yEthath akhilam Narsimha Garbham " .
PrahlAdA pointed out  to his father , " YengumuLan Hari " . He was 
attesting to the SarvAntharyAmithvam of the Lord  . In the second part 
of his SaaLagrAma paasuram , Thirumangai salutes that all pervasive ,
VishNu svarUpam of Nrusimha mUrthy eulogized by PrahlAdan . 

Thirumangai visualizes the Lord's ugra svarUpam , when he jumped
out of the pillar in HiraNyan's sabhai . AzhwAr says that every one was
afraid of that fierce form of Vaikunta Kanteeravan ( Naarasimha Vapu:
SreemAn ) . " YenayOr anja ari aayi " can be intrepreted to mean
also that every one except the garbha  bhagavathan , PrahlAdan ,
was afraid of Nrusimha svarUpam . That illustrious Lord of 
unmatchable valour ( oruvan thAnE ) destroyed the arrogant HiraNyan 
in a fierce battle by tearing the asuran's fat chest into two 
( vemsamatthu pariya IraNiyanai oon aar ahalam piLavu
yeduttha oruvan thAn ) . 

In the second half of this paasuram , Thirumangai reveals to us
the truths housed in Brahama SutrAs and Upanishad passages 
about the sarvAntharyAmithvam of the Lord . For  instance , 
Brahma Sutram 1.3.1 clearly states " DhyubhvAdhyayatanam 
svasabdhAth "  ( The abode of heaven and earth ( mentioned 
in MundakOpanishadh II.2.5) is verily Brahman , because 
the unique term used about Brahman occurs therein . 
The above referred Upanishadic passage says : " He in
whom the heaven , the earth and the sky are woven , the mind
also , with all the vital airs ; know Him alone as the Self , and leave 
off other words , He is the bank (sEthu) of the immortal " . 

Thirumangai instructs us that the Akshara Brahman ( Imperishable
Brahman ) referred to in BrihadAraNyaka Upanishad and Brahma 
sutrA 1.3.10 is the support for the two flames ( moon and Sun ) ,
sky ( aakAsam ) , fire (agni ) , wind ( vaayu ) , oceans  , the universes 
and their beings through His aathma svarupam . Brahma sutram 
(1.3.10 ) states , " AksharamambharAnthadhruthE : " ( The imperishable , 
referred to in Br. Upanishad III.8.11 is the supreme Brahman ,
because we find it declared in this passage supports even that 
which is the end of ether ) . The profound statement of Yaj~navalkyA
in Br. Upanishad in his discussions with Gargi is what the AzhwAr 
might have in mind , when he recognized the sarvAntharyAmithvam ,
Visva rUpam of Nrusimhan as :

" -----------------------------------------------oruvan thAnE iru sudarAi ,
  vAnAi theeyAi mAruthamAi malayAi alai neer ulahu anaitthum
  thAnAi thAnumAnAn tan SaaLagrAmamadai nenjE " 

Here , AzhwAr salutes the Divya MangaLa vigraha visishtan ,
Nrusimhan , who through His aathama svarUpam became
the two lights ( Sun and the Moon ) , Sky ( vaan ) , fire ( Thee ) ,
wind ( Maarutham ) , mountain ( malai ) , ocean with billowing 
waves ( alai neer aayi ) , entire universe and all its beings 
( ulahu anaitthum aayi ) . 

The corresponding message found in Br. Upanishad is :
" That which is above the heaven and below the Earth ,
which is also between the heaven and Earth , which is in 
the past , present  and future , that is woven as warp and 
woof in the AkAsA " . 

I will cover the other paasurams of Thirumangai on 
Nrusimhan associated with the Divya Desams of 
ThiruvEnkaTam , Vaikuntha ViNNagaram , ArimEya --
ViNNagaram and DEvanAr thohai in the subsequent postings .

Thirumangai Mannan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam 
Sri Lakshmi Nrusimha charaNou SaraNam PrapadhyE 
Oppiliappan Kovil VaradAchAri Sadagopan