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amalan aadhi piraan & thiru vaay mozhi

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Sampath Rengarajan • December 2, 1996 


Vijay Triplicane writes:

>In his very first paasuram, aazhwaar says perumaaL's sacred feet
>	"came" towards him. (He didn't go for it.) It is perumaaL's wish and
>	His happiness and thats why HE sent his thiruvadigaL to the
>	aazhwaar. Upon receiving it only did aazhwaar's thoughts "Go"
>	towards him. By this our poorvaachaaryars explain that perumaaL is
>	the one who initiates this devotion in us. He is more interested in
>	coming to us and getting us to Him!!
>
>	In thiruvaaymozhi 8.8.3, nammaazhwaar says
>	uNarvi lumpa roruvanai
>	  avana tharuLaa luRalporuttu,en
>	  uNarvi NnuLLE yiruththinEn
>	    athuvum avana thinnaruLE,
>
>
>	aazhwaar says in the last two lines from above
>	uNarvin uLLE iruththiNnENn
>	=>  i held Him in my heart/soul
>	Then quickly aazhwaar points out that it is not as if he (aazhwaar)
>	out of his effort did this ... and says
>	adhuvum avaNnadhu iNnNnaruLE
>	=>  That is also because of HIS grace.
>	HE (the perumaaL) is the one who wants to be in the heart of His
>	bhakthaas..
>

Mohan writes

>> It is interesting to note how this very verse is cited in Mumuksupatti's
>> discussion on the Lord's exclusivity as the Upaya("ekam" in "...mam ekam
>> saranam vraja...") Manalavamamunigal elaborates on how our simple acceptance
>> through prapatti becomes insignificant when compared to the Lord's "labors"
>> to bring us to Him.  For it is the Lord Who, out of His Boundless
>> Compassion, provides us with the gifts of life and conscience, and Who
>> reveals His Kalyana Gunas through His Avatharas and as the Archa,
>> cultivating in us such devotion as to guide us to Him.

>> Because of this, the Srirangam Acharyas state, prapatti cannot be considered
>> to be an act, i.e. an upaya.  For in actuality, the realization of Him as
>> the Upaya and Upeya "is also because of His Grace."

>> Daasanu Daasan,

>> Mohan

I enjoyed reading the posting on the last line of the beautiful first verse of
thirup paanaazh waar and interpretaions of Sri manavaLa maamunigaL as written
by
Sri Viji Triplicane and Sri Mohan Sagar. It is a very valid argument as far
as the senthamizh patham (ie meanings of this tamil paasuram) goes to take that
the thirup paathanGaL came  to his *mind*, prior to his seeking it. Thrip
paanaazhwaar being the amsam of Lord Ranganatha, the thirup paatham of Lord
Ranganatha and thirp paanaazhwaar are in union all the time prior to this
amalanaathi piraan and while singing this and after that.

This was indicated to the swami Loka saaranga muni in a dramatic way by Lord
Arangan, when he committed the apachaaram to aazhwaar. It is also contended
that these verses  also convey few other *higher* levels sidhdhaantham to
 adiyaars who dwell in (seeking) HIS union all the time. First the line

thiruk kamalap patham vanthu en kaNNilulla vokkinRathE

is also meant that this lotus feet of Lord Ranganatha comes to my *mind* (agak
kaN) all the time or it is seen by my eyes as I meditate on HIM. Nammaazwaar in
his thirvaay mozhi on Lord than oppaar illappan, conludes that decad by
starting,
 "kAnmin ulageer ! enak kaN mugappE nimirntha thaaL" ie "It seems Lord's feet
*said* to bolooga vaasis during vaamana avathaaram, that "Hi folks of this
boolOgam, watch this" and while saying it seems the holy feet also grew and
rose to reach beyond the vaan ulagam. (Thiru mangai continues this sentiment in
his first paasruam on Lord oppiliappan that "paNdai nam vinai keda enRu
thoNdarum amaraarum" ie the devass anticipating this holy feet waited to
cleanse their sins as this holy feet was placed on their lOgam). Coming back to
this verse by nammaazhwaar, he equates himself to this holy feet in this verse
saying "kan mugappE nimirntha thaal iNaiyan" ie if you chant these 10 verses
delivered by me who is the equal (me) to such Holy feet of Lord thiru
viNNagaraan that rose in front og the eyes of bolloga vaasis .... When
Nammaazhwaar equates this holy feet of Lord thiruvikrama, can it be said that
such feet was visible to him at that *instant* he delivered these verses ?. No.
He is an amsam of the Lord and HE had always seen this holy feet of Lord
Oppiliappan in his eyes. This can be said from the same word "thaaL iNaiyan"
(ie thaaLil iNainthu irupppavan or sadaari or one who is associated with this
holy feet all the time [as a sadaari] ie iNai also means that which join. Is he
(nammazhwaar i sthe one who joins us with the Lord ? Yes in the heirarchy or
achaaryaLS HE is the direct connectivity for us to Lord's holy feet and we also
know this by sadaari mahimai) ie I am the one who is always in union at HIS
holy feet, or joined at HIS feet.

This divine experience of azwaars living in union at HIS feet all the time is
captured in sri paadhukaa sahasram (32 steps of the holy paadhukai of Lord
Ranganatha that comes to his mind when 32 upayas of brahma vidhdhais are dealt
by him in 1008 songs).  While delivering these Swami desikan also associates
prapatti as the easily conceivable upaya to seek and rest for ever in Lord
Ranaganathaa's holy paadhukais such that when one's mind is inclined to do
prapatti the Lord's feet comes to them involuntarily searching for their union.
please forgive me as I hesitate to derive from these verses as to which came
first ie the inclination or seeking or the Holy feet. My only aim and
understanding  was to seek HIS union through these vesres. Please also forgive
me for not quoting these exact verses as they were initiated as mukya mantra
to me.


Only blessed can get to have this deep and profound experiences of the Padha
Darsanam of the Lord of Srirangam everywhere either on a any given day or
during all their life (aazwaar's). It is conceived that the aazhwaar is at the
state of "Kruta Krithyan". One can not buy this experience or assume (fake) it
in anyone's own seeking. The blessings of being overwhelmed by this experience
is unique and only those who had this experience *will ever know about it in
great depth*. Many may get occasional glimpses of these holy feet or His subha
Tanu in dreams. There it stops. One is indeed blessed to have a higher level
of experience known as "Tanmayatvam". Thus it is observed that these verses
"vanthu en (agak)kaNNinuLLa vokkinRathE" and "kaaNmin ulageer ! en kaN mugappE
nimirntha thaal Inaiyan" are not one time or that time occurance or event, but
these are continum for these aazwaars who are amsams and form part of Lord
HIMself. These are "ever existing state" in Lord's vibavam of creating the
aazwaars to convey us the "kuRRamaRRa, thELivaana vEtham or the true meaning of
vedas in Tamil ie having no kuRRams or dhOshams" and the complete essence of
vedams.



Coming to the exemplery vyaakyaanams quoted by  sri viji and sri mohan, When it
is said that "one is blessed to have this unique experiece, it can be derived
as one who was chosen by HIM for showering HIS grace" or as said by Sri Mohan

> For it is the Lord Who, out of His Boundless
> Compassion, provides us with the gifts of life and conscience, and Who
> reveals His Kalyana Gunas through His Avatharas and as the Archa,
> cultivating in us such devotion as to guide us to Him.


It is indeed a great blessing. However azzhwaar is arangan HIMself in a way as
he is an amsam of the Lord Ranaganthar (as confirmed to loka saaranga muni).
Can it be applicable to badhdha jivaatmaas who seek HIS union that they can get
this *grace* (that the aazhwaar had) by HIS compassion alone and without any
effort from the badhdha jivans (prapatti). As per srirangam acharyaaLS it is
conveyed that it is possible for one to get chosen by HIM and get this *grace
of HIM* without any *prior* efforts from one's part. This is definetly a valid
statement. The argument that HE is all prevading vibhu and how can we a tiny
souls anu make him or cause him to, shower his grace is accepatable in quantum
level. However, Once having gotten HIS grace, does it take those ones to be in
union with HIM, right away and without anymore efforts from their part ? Did
aazhwaar stop at this point of having HIS grace (of having these kamlap
paathams coming to him first) or proceeded to *seek* HIS union in the following
verses.


In my humble opinion the *derivation* by srirangam schools (as eloquently
conveyed by Sri Mohan) (the first paasuram of amaln aathi piraan) is very
beautiful, and meaningful. However I am also comfortable in saying that it is
indeed more desirable to think of the destiny which the azzwaar *sought*
finally than to skim on this first step. If some are chosen, and some are told
that they have to wait to be chosen, some may think that they are (either they
already are chosen or they are made to seek due to achaaryaaLS grace, but are)
now seeking of the UNION with Lord's holy feet with somewhat of their own
efforts. In tamil it is said repeatedly that "avan anRi Or anuvum asiyaathu".
ie He is vibhu and all of us are anus, and without HIM nothing will ever move.
Having said that in a general way, even *seeking* can be derived as an act
commanded or caused by HIM. But all these arguments stop mentally and once
having *realised* that HE is the causes of all causes either through acharyaaLS
(act of prapatti) or themselves through direct grace of Lord (similar to
azzwaars) one has to *seek* union with HIM. It may not matter what comes first,
it matters what is the *ilakku or destiny*.


In fact azhwaar was shown as Lord Arangan's amsam *even before* aazhwaar sang
that "thiruk kamalap paatham *vanthu* en kaNNinulla vokkinRathE". So the *grace
of Lord* happening prior to his *seeking* (as seen by some in their thiru uLLam
that this "vanthu en (agak) kaNNinuL okkinRathE ie the arrival (vanthu) of this
holy feet precedded) need not be the *only* useful hint as cited before. Since
he is the amsam of Lord, aazhwaar was always in mental union with HIM and hence
aazhwaar was never needed to be *picked up* (or in other words the grace of the
Lord showered first, by making HIS holy feet appear in his agak kaN first, need
not precede in this aazwaar's case) to get HIS grace so that he can seek HIS
union, only *after* this grace has been showered on HIM.


However, having sought HIS physical union in a *vibavam* that Lord HIMself
created by making this aazhwaar *appearing* in paaNar's kulam, aazwaar was
meant to convey the *essence* of vedam to us in a nutshell and in a concise way
(ie.. such is the only mandate for aazwaar as seen by many achaaryaaLS in their
vyaakyaanams of these 10 paasurams). In fact when I get up in the moring in
brahma muhoorththam i chant these 10 paasurams instead of veda mantrams (the
palan is same as these 10 songs convey the essence of vedas) that one is
supposed to chant even before they place their foot on ground. All those
(aazhwaars) who are amsams of lord automatically (tend to track back) seek the
Union with HIM all the time in their mind. Any "viLaiyaatu" or rasa planted by
Lord in the life of these aazwaars is to *derive* more meaningful lessons
(similar to loka saarnag muni getting the indication from Lord Ranganatha even
prior to azzhawaar singing this first paasuram and thiru mangai, thondar adip
podi's events) for bhakthaaLS and gain in seeking HIS thiruvadi from such.
Since Bhakti maargam is a great deal of mana neghichchi, it is also possible
that this holy maargam sees this first verse of amalan aathi piraan such that,
this *first stage* (or a state of mind) {(agak)kaNNiNuLLa vokkinRathE }
conveyed in this first paasuram is only one first step towards union and not
the final destiny. I seek the forgiveness of all the bAgawathALs if my writing
has hurt their feelings or they find it unacceptable. I consider it a baagyam
and sevai for Sri Ranaganaatha paadukai, if anyone feels they learnt something
in these. May Lord Ranganatha's blessings continue to shower on those who seek
HIS union always,

Sri Sri Ranganayikaa samEthara Sri Rangnaatha Swami paadhukaa charanam
Sampath Rengarajan