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ThiruvahIndrapuram RathnAngi Kaimkaryam:Part II, Kaliyan's Paasurams

From the Bhakti List Archives

Sadagopan • February 17, 2003 


SrI:

Dear  BhakthAs:

Thirumangai Mannan had AshtAkshara Manthra Upadesam
from SrIman NaarAyanan Himself and headed straight 
thereafter  to the dhivya  desams of Thiruppirtithi, 
BadarikAsramam , SaaLagrAmam, NaimisAraNyam , SingavELkunRam ,
ThiruvEngaDam , ThiruveLLUr , ThiruvallikkENi , 
Thiruneermalai, Thirukkadalmallai(MahAbalipuram), 
Thiruvidaventhai, Thiruattabhuyakaram , ParamEswara 
ViNNagaram , ThirukkOvalUr and reached finally 
ThiruvahIndrapuram.

ThirukkOvalUr and ThiruvahIndhrapuram are known as Nadu 
Naattu ThiruppathigaL . Kaliyan started with the Vada Naattu
Thiruppathis ( Northern Dhivya desams starting from 
Thiruppirithi  and ending up with ThiruvEngadam) ,
continued on to ThoNDai MaNDala  Thiruppathis 
( ThiruveLLUr to ParamEswara  ViNnagaram) and
then performed mangaLAsAsanam at the two Nadu
Naattu Thirupathis of ThirukkOvalUr and ThiruvahIndhra-
puram . After that , he went on to perform worship
at the many  ChOLa Naattu dhivya dEsams. 

ThiruvahIndhrapuram is the 15th in the order of
the MangaLAsAsanams of the 86 dhivya desams that
he worshipped at and sung  about. 

The ThiruvahIndrapura Paasurams
********************************
In these 10 paasurams , Kaliyan salutes the Lord 
DhaivanAyakan of ThiruvahIndhapuram as the Sarva-
Jagath KaaraNan as  per the definition of the Brahma
Soothram :" JanmAdhyasya yatha: ". He is recognized 
as the Sarava Jagath Kaarana Para  Brahmam , who is 
the Omniscinet , Omnnipotent DayALu  and from whom the universe
and its beings originated . He salutes  Lord DhaivanAyakan 
as " MoovarAhiya Oruvan " , who is responsible for 
the origin , sustenance and dissolution of this
varied and wonderful universe. 

The Essence of the Individual Paasurams
****************************************
In the individual paasurams , Kaliyan described the Lord 
of DevAs ( Dhaiva Naayakan ) as the one who incarnated as
Adhi Varahan and blessed us with VarAha  Charama SlOkam ,
as the Sarva Veda vEdhyan ( Omniscient One who instructed 
His son  Brahma on the four Vedams and their inner meanings ;
as the One who slept soundly on a pupil leef (VaDapathra Saayee)
after safely  placing all the universe in His stomach for
protection during the time of Pralayam ; as the One , who
destroyed HiraNyan for offending His Parama BhAgavathan ,
PrahlAdhan; as the One who incarnated as the MaayAvi Dwarf 
(Vaamanan) to destroy the pride of MahA Bali ; as the Lord
Raamachandran ,who sacrificed His kingdom and roamed 
for 14 years in the forests like DaNDakAraNyam to keep 
His pledge to His father;as the Veera Raaghavan , who cut 
off the ten heads of the King  of Lankaa for the offenses
he committed against His Devi, SithA PirAtti; as the One ,
who broke the Siva  Danus and restored Ahalya from her 
stony  form back to that of a beautiful women to join
her husband; as the One , who through BhAratha Yuddham 
lightened the load  borne by BhUmi Devi.In the  final 
(Tenth) paasuram , Kaliyan salutes the JagadhAdharan
as the Thrivikraman , who measured the Universes 
with His three strides and points  out that no sins
will stay with those , who recite these ten paasurams 
on SrI Dhaiva Naayakan sanctifying Thiruvaheendhrapuram. 

The exquisite descriptions of the flora and fauna 
and the natural scenery of ThiruvahIndhrapuram in 
Kaliyan's  paasurams are beautiful to experience.

Our earth is normally  divided into four categories
in Tamil poetry :(1)Neythal (2) Kurinji (3)Mullai 
and(4)Marutham . 

Kaliyan finds a blessed combination of  the best features of
all these four kinds of lands at  ThiuvahIndhrapuram .
He recognizes therefore This Dhivya Desam as Naa-nilam 
(nAnku nilam) or having the integrated essence of 
the features of the above four kinds of lands . 
Kaliyan's specific references to these four kinds of 
lands have been pointed out by SrI UtthamUr  Swamigal 
in his commnetary :

(1)Kurunji Naadu: " ampozhilUdE serunthi nANmalar
senraNainthu uzhi taru ThiruvayeendhrapuramE"
-- First Paasura Passage

Here is thereference to Serunthi Pushpam , which
is typical of Kurunji Naadu; Kaliyan sees the joyous
honey  bees (Nithyasooris) travelling in dense patterns 
amidst the groves of Serunthi trees , while singing
the thousand names of the Lord . This band of bees had 
feasted earlier on the honey  from lotuses in the pond ,
where  MahAlakshmi stays and  are now  engaged in
BhagavannAma  sankIrthanam .The bees embrace the new
blossoms of Serunthi and travel hither and thither
in their groves.

(2)Mullai Naadu: " MoykoLL Maadhavi SeNpakam muyankiya
Mullaiyam kodiyAda " 
--Third Paasuram Passage

The LakshaNam of Mullai Naadu is woven in this paasuram.
Kaliyan sees the Mullai creeper embracing dense thickets of
Maadhavi, SeNpakam and  Kurukkatthi trees , which themselves 
are flowering trees.

(3)Neythal Naadu(nilam): " SaaRu koNDa menn karumbu iLam kazhai
tadai visumbuRa maNi nizhal sERu koNDa taNN pazhanamathu
yezhil Thihazh ThiruvayeendhrapuramE" 
--Fourth Paasuram passage

The dense forests of towering  sugar cane crops , which
through the shade of their leaves keep the ground as moist
and fertile are being saluted here. Sugar cane crops 
are one of the lakshaNams for Neythal naadu. Even today ,
the region around  Thiruvaheendhrapuram is known for its
cash crop of Sugar cane and sugar  mills.

4)Marutha nilam : " anna-mAmalar aravindhat-tamaLiyil
pedayodum inithu amara , sennelAr kavarik-kulai veesu(m)
taNN ThiruvayIndhrapuramE
-- 7th Paasuram passage 

Here , annams are Thiryaks or birds; the red rice crops
are sthAvaram . The ripe stalks of red rice are waving 
in the wind and that appears like the fan service is
renderd by them to the pairs of Swans resting on red 
lotsues sprouting out of those  rice  fields.This is
an aspect of Marutha nilam .

another  cue to the identification of Marthua nilam at 
ThiruvahIdhrapuram is indicated by  the passage in
the 9th paasuram:" sElkaL paay taru sezhu nadhi 
vayal puhu ThiruvayeendhrapuramE". Here Kaliyan 
sees the fat fish jumping up and  down in rivers 
irrigating fertile fields .

adiyEn will cover the individual Paasurams of
Kaliyan on Thiruvaheendhrapuram in the subsequent
postings.

SrI HemAbhjavalli SamEtha SrI DhaivanAyaka 
ParabrahmaNE Nama:

Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchaari Sadagopan  
                                   
 



 
       
 




  



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