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THIRUPAAVAI AND SANGA TAMIZH : PART 2 (27th Day of Margazhi )

From the Bhakti List Archives

V. Sadagopan • January 11, 1997 


Dear Members of the Prapatthi Group :

We will continue with the ten aspects of Vishnu parathvam sung by 
Sanga Pulavars and GodhA piraatti in this companion posting .

1. Sriman NaarAyaNan is Jaagath KaaraNan

The creation , protection and dissolution of the Universe
is attributed to Sriman NaarAyaNan , when we invoke the name 
of Jagadh KaaraNan . The sanga Kaala literature bases its 
account of creation on the  Upanishadic tradition . In the first Paripaadal ,
the sarvesvarathvam of the Lord is described this way : Poovanum 
Naaramum nee ( The responsibility of the creation done by 
Brahma born of the lotus and his birth are undr Your control ).
In the same paripaadal , the poet declares Sriman narAyaNa as
" Iruvar Taathai " ( the one , who created both Brahman and Sivan ) .

The poet continues and states that that the Lord is TannoppArillappan
( matchless ) this way : innOr anayayai inayayaiAl -- pon aNi nemi valam 
kondu yEnthia manniya mudalvanai --" ( Since it is impossible to 
compare You to any other Gods and since there is none excelling 
You in your anantha KalyANa gunAs , You holding the golden disc
in your hand is the Jagadh KaaraNan . 

Elsewhere , the Sangam literature salutes Sriman NarAyaNa 
in the spirit of Purusha suktham: Pathinaayiram kai mudhu 
mozhi mudalva " ( Sahasraseeshaa Purusha: ---- ) .  
The passage , Mudhu Mozhi Mudalva recognizes that he is 
the ancient Veda Purushan ( Anaadhi and the primal one ) . 

Nal YezhuniyAr salutes the lord as Trikaalaadheethan this way :
" mudinthathum , mudivathum ,muhizhpathum avai moonrum
kadanthu , avai amaindha kazhalin nizhalavai " . This passage 
has many echoes in Vedam and points out that he is beyond 
the past , present and future and that all the trikaalams come 
and rest at His lotus feet . 

All of these concepts related to Jagadh KaaraNathvam
of the Lord is saluted by AndAL both in Her Thiruppavai 
and NacchiyAr Thirumozhi (NT ) . In Thiruppavai , She 
salutes Sriman NaarAyaNa as , " Oozhi mudalvan ,
Paazhiyam thoLudaya Parpanaabhan "  in the fouth verse. 
In the pORRi paadal , She salutes those sacred feet , where 
the three kaalams rest . In  NT , AndAL salutes the Vimalathvam
of the Lord , who creates Brahma on the Lotus of His navel and 
commands him to create the universe ( N.T 14.9 : Naatai padai 
yenru ayaan mudalAtthantha naLIr maamalarundhi veetai paNNi
viLayAdum Vimalan ) . 

2. Sarva Vyapakthvam : All pervasiveness

The omnipresence of the Lord as aathman and his inclusion of the 
chetanAs and AchetanAs as apart of his sariram is saluted by Sangam 
literature ( EvvyunEyum neeyE ) . In another passage , the Sanga poet
declares magnificiently : " TheeyinuL thiral nee, poovinuL naarumum nee ,
kallinuL maNiyum nee , sollinuL vaaymai nee, aRatthinuL anbu nee ,
maRatthinuL maindhu nee , Vedatthu maRai nee, bhoothatthu 
mudalaum  nee , venchudar oLiyum nee, thingaLum aLiyum nee ,
ANAITTHUM NEE , ANAITTHIN UTPORUL NEE  ". After a series of revelations 
about the Sarva Vyaapakthvam of Sriman NaarAyaNA , the poet 
concludes that You are every thing and You are the meaning and
indweller of ALL in this universe of Yours . The Sarira -Saariree doctrine
central to VisishtAdvaitham is saluted here . 

AndAL establishes this all-pervasive Brahman , who has the 
universe as part of His body and who is present in all of His
creation as AntharyAmi Brahman as NAARAAYANAN in her
first and 10th paasuram of Thiruppavai . His svarupam that 
expanded and covered all the worlds is saluted as " Oongi 
ulahaLandha Uttaman " in the third verse . Twice more in 
the 17th and 24th Paasurams , AndAL salutes the Trivikraman
who exapnded to include his worlds in three steps as ,
" ambaramoodaratthu Oongi ulahaLandha umbar kOmAnE 
and AnrivvulahamaLandhaai Adi pORRi ' .

3. Sarvaj~nthvam of Sriman NaarAyaNan/Omniscience 

Sanga literature salutes Him as " NeeyA ninaiva " 
( one who knows every thing as the ever present 
witness ). AndAL shows Kuraivonrumillatha Govindhan 
in her 28th paasuram as the opposite of " Arivonrumillatha
Aaykulatthu sirumiyOm " . 

4. Omnipotence of the Lord ( Sarva Sakthan ) 

In the third Paripaadal , Sriman NaarayaNa is 
referred to as " Aalamum Kadampum " . The reference
is to His swallowing the world and keeping them in
His stomach and releasing them later , while floating
in the PraLayA waters on a leaf of Vata tree ( Aalin Ilayaai 
as saluted by AndaL in her 26th verse ) . The reference
to Kadampu is to His Yoga NidrA on the bed of Adhi Seshan 
in the milky ocean ( PaarkadaluL paiyatthuyinra Paraman in
the second verse ) .

5. Moksha Prathatvam : Giver of the Boon of Moksham

In the same third paripaadal , the exclusive  power of the Lord
to liberate a jeevan from the cycles of births and deaths is saluted
this way : " Maa AyOyE ! maa ayOyE ! maRu piRappu aRukkum 
maasu il sevadi maNi thihazh urubin maa ayOyE ! ".  Kaduvan 
ILaveyinanAr describes the Lord as the one with suddha Sattva body 
and as the one who releases the jeevans from the bound state to 
MukthA state ( release from the cycles of births and the deaths/ na 
punar janmam  ) . Puranaanooru  went one step further and saluted 
the PurushakAthvam of the Consort of the Lord this way in the 358th verse :
" vittOrai vidA aL ThiruvE vidaa athOr IvaL vidapattArE " . This verse 
points out that those , who has distaste for the worldly life are blessed 
by the mediatrix , Maha Lakshmi to attain Moksha Siddhi through her 
pleading with Her Lord , whose side  She never leaves . Those , who can not 
leave the desire  for samsaaric life are not beneficiaries of Her grace 
and are left behind by Her . 

AndAL chooses the salutation , " Maadhavan Vaikunthan " in Her
19th verse and pORRa paRai tharum puNNIyan in the 10th verse 
and the one , who changes the other desires and temptations
( MaRRai Nam kAmangaL maarupavan ) in the 29th verse . AndaL says 
through these salutaitons that the Lord is the Mukthi Daayakan and Ishta 
Praapthan as well as anishta nivrutthan .

6.  The abode of Sarva KalyANa guNAs , Blemishless Nature of the Lord

The sanga literature salutes the Lord as " yeNNirandha Puhazhavai "
( Limitless are those glorious GuNAs of Yours ) . It goes on and praises
this aspect of His glory as " sEval Onghu uyar kodi selvA ! yeval in 
mudhumozhi koorum naRpuhazhavai " ( O Lord with hte banner of 
GarudA ! You are not commanded by any one and You are the one,
whose anantha KalyANa guNAs are sung by the timeless VedAs) .
They sang about his KuraivonrumilA tattvam and 
the demonstration of His anantha KalyANa guNam in many
of His incarnations .

AndAL sings about the limitless auspicious attributes of 
blemishless (KuraivonrumilA Govindhan ) through out
Thiruppavai and sums it up in Her salutation , " Ulahil
tORRamAi niRa sudarE " in her 21st paasuram . 

7. Immeasurable Aprameyathvam of the Lord 

The fourth  paripaadal focuses on the Aprameya aspect in this 
passsage : " Anna marabhin anayOi ! ninnai innan yenru
uraitthal yemakku yevan yeLithu ? " ( O great One with 
such indescribable glories ! How can we of  little intellect
attempt to describe that you are of this type or other ? ) 
Elsewhere the poet addresses the Lord as, " kaaNaa Marabha ! "
( One who can not be measured and described /Yatho vaachA
nivarthantE ) . 

AndAL addresses Him as Maayan in the 5th , 6th and 16th paasurams
and as "Periyaai " in the 21st pasuram of Thiruppavai and chose the words
" aarkkum yeithAthu " in NT 11.6 . She declared that it is impossible to 
take a measure of the Lord's limitless glories .

9. The Sahaja ( Iyarkai ) bhandhu of all the Jeevans 

Inthe thirteenth paripaadal , the poet points out the natural
relationship (svabhAvikam ) of the Lord to His jeevans as
" Annai yena ninai  yee " ( You are like the Mother to the child.
It is such a natural relationship ) .

AndAL declares clearly that the relationship between the jeevans
and the Lord is an unalterable one in her 28th and 29th Paasurams:
" UnRannOdhu uravEl ozhikka ozhiyAthu , yeRRaikkum YEzhEzh 
piravikkum unrannOdhu urrOmEyAvOm ". 

10 . The ancient One decalred by the VedAs as the Primal one

Sruthis ( Maayaa Vaai mozhi /AamnAyam ) declare Him as the primal 
one with the above nine attributes . The Paripaadal declares this 
truth in this way : " KeLviyuL kilandha aasaan urayum --nin urubhu " 
( You are of the form of the Veda ManthrAs that are recited by the 
acharyan , who is recognized as the YajamAnan of the VedAs ) .
Elsewhere , the Paripaadal salutes HIm as Mudhu mozhi mudalvA ! "
( O the primal one saluted by the anaadhi VedAs ! ) . The additional
salutations are  " Vedatthu maRai nee , Tolliyal Pulava ! .
The VishNu parathvam is indicated by all of these salutations.

AndAL declares in Thiruppavai as well as in NT  the unshakable 
truth about Sriman NarAyNA as the primal and fundamental
force behind the functioning of the Universe , its well being . 
AndAL describes Him as the One saluted by the authoritative
VedAs ( OoRRamudayaai ) .  She reveals in NT that He is the meaning 
of the ancient Veda manhtrAs ( Pazhahu naan maRayin PoruLaai , 
NT 4.10 ) and as Veda Mudalvar ( NT 10.2 ) . His manifestation 
in ArchA  form as the essence (meaning ) of the four Vedas 
is again saluted by AndAL in the paasuram passage , " Naan MaRayin
sorr poRuLaai ninRaar " ( NT 11.6 ) . 

***Summary of the connections between AndAl's paasurams 
and  Sanga Thamizh of predecessors

VishNu parathvam is established by AndAL and Sanga Pulavars .
AndAL described Her divine work as conforming to 
the tradition of  singing the Sarvotthamathvam and the anantha 
KulAyaNa gunathvam a la  Sanga Pulavars 
and therefore called Her Thiruppavai as " Sanga Tamizh maalai " .
She recognized and paid tribte to the parama vaidhika matham 
of sangam literature followed by Herself and Her father through
such a choice of a name . 

On this marghazhi SravaNam day , May  we seek the blessings 
of Parama Daya svarupee  AndAL ,  who gave us the Sanga Tamizh Maalai !

Oppiliappan koil VaradAchAri sadagopan