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Re: some doubts on siRiya thirumadal

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Parthasarati Dileepan • March 27, 1996 


>
>Vijay Triplicane (vijayt@acuson.com) wrote:
>
>* My question is this:
>*
>* arraar ivaRRin idai adhanai eydhuvar
>* cheeraar irukalaiyum eythuvar.
>
>* Doesn't this "ivaRRin idai adhanai" mean the center of
>* these three which is poruL? (aRam - poruL - inbam) OR am
>* i missing something????


Badri answered:
>
>'idai' here means 'among'. Thus "ivaRRin idai adhanai"
>should read as "among these [three]" and not as "the one in
>the middle".

As you reach the end of the phrase, aazhvaar includes
all three.


   ivaRRinidai adhanai = the last among these, i.e. inbam

   araar ...

   seeraar irukalaiyum eydhuvaar = they will have the other
                                   two as well, for there is
                                   no "inbam" in the absence of
                                   "aRam" and "poruL"



Vijay continues:
>
>* In the last few lines the aazhwaar even doubts the
>* existence of mOksham and thereby highlights the


      Please see below....



>* significance of the archaa moorthy in this earth.  Could
>* this be bcos the aazhwaar takes the role of an innocent
>* bhaktha ( a girl) for whom all those concepts of mOksham
>* and everything is like greek and latin and hence chooses
>* the one easy maargam to reach HIM which is uncontrolled
>* love towards HIM.
>


Badri answers:
>This is a very common motif in aazhvaar paasuram. Compare
>this with 'ichchuvai thavira yaan pOy indhira lOgam aaLum
>achchuvai peridhum vENdEn aranga maa nakar uLaanE' by
>thoNdar adippodi aazhvaar.


   Badri's observation is absolutely correct, but
   the example is not right.  Thondaradipodi aazhvaar
   rejects just "indhiralOkam" here, but thirumangai
   "rejects" mOksham in favor of the earthly archaa
   moorthees.  Others, as Badri points out, including
   Swami Sri dhEsikar, have done this.  This is just
   a matter relative perception, and also a matter of
   dhayai towards us who are unable to see beyond
   the current realm.

   It is important to realize that thirumangai
   aazhvaar does not doubt the existence of mOksham.
   Consider "aRamudhal naangavayaay, moorthy moonRaay"
   in thiruvezhukooRRirukkai.

   In the beginning of siRiya thirumadal, the aazhvaar
   sets the stage for the high praise he later showers
   on the earthly archaa moorthees by praising them
   as even higher than para vaasudhevan in vaikuNdam
   whose existence is known only through word of mouth
   ("ulagaththaar sollum sol").  Where as, the archaa
   moothees are here and now, waiting to be enjoyed.
   IMHO, siRiya thirumadal is muyal and the archaa moorthees
   are kaakkai, far away, in India :-).  You will agree when
   you listen to siRiya thirumadal, as the recitation
   reaches the end, in a slow deliberate pace, the voice repeats,

      seeraar thiruvEngadamE, thirukkOvaloorE ...

   and reaches crescendo with "aaraamanj soozhndha arangam"
   and then continues, "kaNamangai ..."

   Azhvaar went against the Tamil tradition and portrayed
   a female performing "madal Urdhal" as expression of
   intense and insatiable love.  Madal Urdhal is extremely
   painful and thus the target of this action, a damsel,
   and her family, acquiesces for the fulfillment of the man's
   love.  Parakaala Nayaki risks public ridicule by venturing
   upon this "madal Urdhal" for it is forbidden for women.
   Perhaps there is a lesson for us when we seem to be subjected
   to the ridicule of modern rationalists, for they forget that
   their rationality is a product of the meat machine called
   brain.




-- dhaasan parthasarati dileepan