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thiruppaavai - 6 (thaniyan - 1)

From the Bhakti List Archives

Thirumalai Anandanpillai • December 16, 1997 


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Thiruppaavai - thaniyankaL
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There are 3 thaniyans for thiruppaavai.
One in Sanskrit, by Sri. Paraasara Bhattar
Two in Tamizh, by uyyakkondaar.
PiLLai lOkam jeeyar has written vyaakhyaanams for the above thaniyans.

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paraasara bhattar aruLicheydhadhu:
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neeLaa thunga sthana giri thadi padi suptha mudhbOdhya krishnam
paaraarthyam sthvam sruthi sada siras sidhdham adhyaa bhayanthee |
svOchchishtaayaam sraji nigaLidham yaabalaathkruthya bungthE
gOdhaa thasyay nama idamidham bhooya Evaasthu bhooya: ||

[Let this namaskaaram to Andaal, the one who has awaken the Lord, who is
resting on the breasts of nappinnai, and the one who enjoys the Lord through
her paarathantriyam (that is the essence of the vEdaas and upanishads) be
for all time to come.]

neeLaa thunga sthanagiri thadee suptham - the one (krishnan) who is resting
on the breasts of nappinnai.
neeLaa = nappinnai. there are numerous references in the prabhandham and
the works of our poorvachaaryaas regarding the greatness of neeLaa -
(i) neeLaa kulEna sadrusee, - sundara bahusthavam 107
(ii)  nandagOpaalan marumakaLE nappinnaai (thiruppaavai 18)
(iii)  kulavaayar kozhundhu - thiruvaaymozhi 5-6-11
(iv)  the beauty of nappinnai - thOLi sErpinnai - thiruvaymozhi 4-2-5
(v)  aayanaakiyar mangai vEyathOl virumbinaay - thiruchchandaviruththam 41

On the breasts of such a woman does the aayanukku aayan Krishnan rests
his head and sleep. PiLLai lOkam jeeyar compares krishnan resting on
nappinnai to the dazed state of a person who has taken poison;
This basically denotes the bOkthruthvam (enjoyment) of nappinnai by the
Lord.

thungam denotes loftiness, the superlative. PiLLai lOkam jeeyar says '
thungam enradhaalE aLaviRandha BOgyathaadhishayam sollukiRathu' -
boundless enjoyment.

sva uchchishtaayaam -soodik kaLayappatta - worn and removed (by Andaal)
sraji - garland
nigaLitham  - handcuffed.

She basically handcuffed Him with the garland that was worn by her  and
after that worn by the Lord. PiLLai lOkam jeeyar says ' The one who cuffs
everyone with karma gets cuffed by the garland that was worn by this girl'' -
an example of His swaatantriyam.

krishNam - Krishna

udhbOdhya - waking from sleep (thiruppaLLiuNarththuthal)
sruthisathasirassidhdham  - the 'head' of all vEdaas and upanishads,
the essence.
paaraarthyam - the paarathanthiyam that is the essence of all the vEdaas and
upanishads.

adhyaapayanthee - tell everyone (about her paarathantriyam towards the
Lord, in thiruppaavai)

yaabalaakruthya bunkthE  gOdaa - gOdhaa, who is enjoying the Lord, (with
the force of the paarathantriyam, forcing her enjoyment of Him)

The above thaniyan is said to be composed by sri paraasara bhattar, on the
request of nanjeeyar, when both were in thirukkOshtiyoor. Nanjeeyar could
not bear the separation from Renganaathar, and asked bhattar, to mitigate
His longing, to compose two slOkas - one on Andaal, and the other on the
rest of the aazhvaars. The latter is

'bhootham saraschcha mahadaahvaya pattanaadha
sree bhatisaara kulasEkara yOgivaahaan
bhajtaangirirEnu parakaala yateendra mishraan
sreemath praankusa munim prathOsmi nithyam'

which we recite at the beginning of any divya prabhandham recitation.

Aazhvaar emperumaanaar jeeyar thiruvadigaLE saraNam,

Thirumalai Anandanpillai Varadhan