Thirumazhisai"s Prabhandhams --Part 2
From the Bhakti List Archives
• January 18, 1998
Isavara Samvathsaram , Thai month 4th day KrishNa Paksha Panchami , Utthira Nakshittharam January 17 , 1998 Dear BhakthAs : In his fourth paasuram , Thirumazhisai had saluted Sriman NaarAyaNA as Sarva Vaachaka sabdhan . He points out that there is no match for him in this attribute : --- vERoruvar illAmai ninRaanai yemmAnai yepporutkkum sollAnai SonnEn tohutthu vEroruvar illaamai ninRAnai = One who stood in all yugAs and KalpAs as the matchless one ( tannoppArilappan ) YemmAnai = of my Lord yepporutkkum sollAnai = as the object of connotation of every word and being the subject of all predicates ( sarva vAchaka Sabdhanai , Sriman NaarAyaNanai ) SonnEn Thohutthu = I described in a cohesive manner . He talks about the relationship that he has with the Lord in a most moving way in paasuram 7 , which reminds us of ANDAL's declaration " KuRaivonrumillA GovindhA , UnRannOdravEl namakkingkozhikkavozhiyAthu " : inRAha nALayEyAha inicchirithu ninRAha ninnaruL yenpAlathE --nanRaaha naanunaai anRiyilEn kaNdAi NaaraNanE neeyennaiyanriyilai ( Meaning ) : Oh NaaRayaNA ! I may become the object of Your krupA today or it may happen tomorrow or it may happen even after that passage of time. It does not matter. I know that Your special Krupai belongs to me . I do not exist without You and neither do You exist without me. " Unnai anri naan ilEn; yennai inri nee ilai " . What a powerful and penetrating statement on the relationship that he had with Sriman NaarAyaNA ! He celebrates the precious Lord and explains to us His supreme status in the 13th paasuram of NT : --- -------------------------------------veedAkkum meypoRuL thaan vEda mudaRporuL thaan viNNavarkku naRporul thaan NaarAyaNan AzhwAr asks us to pay attention and describes to us who this Sriman NaarAyaNan is ! He qualifies his Lord in three ways : (1) veedAkkum meyporuL = the siddha purushan , who grants us Moksham (2) vEdam mudalp poruL = the one who is understood by the VEdAs ( vEda vEda vEdhyan ) and eulogized by them as Sarva vAchaka Sabdhan (3) viNNavarkku naRpporuL= the parama prApya svarUpan for the dEvAs , mukthAs and the nithya sUris . The seventeenth paasuram is another beautiful one that describes the parathvam of Sriman NaarAyaNan . Here , he describes the relationship between DakshinAmUrthy ( Lord SivA sitting under the pupil tree and explaining sakala-- sAsthrArthams with His silence to the four rishis , Dakshar , Agasthyar , Pulasthyar and MaarkanDeyar ) and Sriman NaarAyaNan . The picture of " DaakshiNya RamyA Girisasya Murthy " ( DakshiNamUrthy Sivan ) sitting under the shadow of a pupil tree in a previous yugam and instructing the four Rishis is a beautiful one . AzhwAr describes as to what that silent instruction on dharma maargam (aRa neRi) was all about . AzhwAr states that Lord DakshiNAmUrthy made the rishis aware of the method of His worship of Sriman NaarAyaNan as Trivikraman ( gyAlam aLanthAnai ) , KsheerAbdhi Saayee ( Aazhi kidanthAnai ) and as Vatapathra Saayee ( Aal mEl vaLarndhAnai ) . AzhwAr points out that Lord DakshiNAmUrthy performed upadEsam on the way in which he worshipped His Lord , Sriman NaarAyaNan ( thAnn vaNangum aaRu uraitthAn ) : Aala nizhark keezh aRa neRiyai naalvarkku mElai yuhatthu uraitthAn meytavatthOn--gyAlam aLanthAnai Aazhik kidanthAnai Aal mEl vaLarnthAnait thAn vaNangum AaRu In his 19th paasuram , the AzhwAr asks in wonderment , " O Lord with the Sudarsana Chakram in Your Hand ! Are n't You the One who protects us with joy for performing SaraNAgathi unto You ! Are N't You the One , who blesses every JeevarAsi with the boon of residence in Sri Vaikuntam when they seek the shelter of Your sacred feet ? -- AazhiyAi --uvanthE Yemmaik kAppAi nee , kaapathanai AavAi nee Vaikuntham YeepAyum yevvuyirkkum nee anRO ? In the thirty second paasuram , the AzhwAr connects the RaamAyaNa , Bhaaratha IthihAsams and Saadhvika PurANams such as Bhaagavatham to the Lord wiht the statement " kathaip poruL thAnn KaNNan ThiruvayiRRnuLLE " . AzhwAr reveals to us that all " the Kathais " and their meanings and the the universes that get created , protected and destroyed in every yugam are inside the Vatapathra Saayee's tiny stomach . We had some discussion recently about the fact or fiction aspects of IhtihAsams and PurANams . For our AzhwAr , these questions do not arise . He suggests that these are real as the Lord Himself , since He holds them in His stomach during the mahA praLayam and denying them will be tantamount to denying Him . AzhwAr's comparison of himself as being more fortunate than Sriman NarAyaNA Himself is contained in Paasuram 51 : yenakkArAvar oruvarE EmperumAn tanakkAvan thAnE marallAl --punakkAya VaNNanE ! unnaip piRaRiyAr yenn mathikku ViNNellAm UndO Vilai ? ( Meaning ) : For me, who has no interest in the fruit of my karmAs , there is only One , which is everything . VaasudEva : sarvam ) . That is Sriman NaarAyaNan , who has no equal . Those who are focussed on fruits of their karmAs would not understand Your mahimai as Visvapathi and AathmEsvaran ( pathim VisvasyAthmEsvaram) . For my mind , which has gone after You and got affixed on Your Lotus feet , there is no price that matches its value ; yes , not even the value of the objects of Svargam will become equal to it . He describes the pitiable state of the men and women , who do not understand the mahimai of our compassionate Lord in his 52nd paasuram : " Evil ones become slaves for money ; collecting sins through receiving gifts and and experience those sins . They walk as human sacrificial animals in exchange for (another's ) head . Such ignorant ones not engaging in the salutation to the Lord ( VenkaTan-0ne who destroys sins) will multiply their sins ( katams ). They eat the sins as fruits and sink in the soft sand of ajn~Anam " . Being a Parama KaaruNika Azchaaryan , Thirumazhisai does not stop with his condemnation of the ones , who have strayed , but he points them out the way to attain salvation through his upadEsam contained in Verse eleven : " Let thy mouth praise , let thy eyes adore , let thy ears hear nAma sankeerthanam about Him . Do thou offer fragrant and fresh flowers after prostrating to Him in reverence and let thy hands be united in anjali mudrA to Him and let thy ever-wavering mind stay fixed on the Lord wearing the fragrant Tulasi garland and high crown , who is attached to me from the beginningless time " . In the 61st verse , he repeats this upadEsam and assures the doubters that no anguish will cross the mental threshold of one , who accepts Lord MadhusUdhanA as sole refuge , for Madhusudana-NaarAyaNan is man's wealth of every kind . In the 56th verse , he points out the greatness (saulabhyam and souseelyam ) of Sriman NaarAyaNA : " avar ivar yenrillai anangavEL ThAthikku yevarum yethirillai kandeer ! " . Here the AzhwAr states that for the Lord , there is no vaishmyam that this one is little and the other one is big . He is sarva sulabhan for His BhakthAs . Those , who resist Him and engage in enimity perish like fire fly in the fire and they do not last out . Because of these unique attributes , there is none , who can match Him in KalyAna guNAs . The AzhwAr tells us that he practises , what he " preaches " and explains to us as to how he spends his time in paasuram 63: unnai teritthu yezhuthi vAsitthum kEttum vaNangi vazhipattum poositthum pOkkinEn pOthu ( Meaning ) : I spend my time on Your earth to comprehend correctly Your svarUpa VisEsham , anantha KalyANa guNams, writing about them , listening to others speaking about them , performing aarAdhanam and kaimkaryams to You . I have made devotion to You my sole vocation . AzhwAr confesses how blessed he has been to sing about Sriman NaarAyaNA and perform nAma japam in the 69th verse : sevikku inbamAvathuvum SenkaNNmAl nAmam bhuvikkim bhuviyathuvE kandeer -- kavikku niRaiporuLAi ninRAnai nErpattEn , paarkkil maRaip poruLm atthanyE ( Meaning ) : What is amrutham for the ear are the Lord's names . For the denizens of this earth , it is also their protection ( Taaraka pOshaka nAmam ) . I have been blessed to use as lakshyam for my paasurams such a Lord , who is the supreme Brahamam ., On deep reflection I comprehend Him as the hidden and profound meaning of the ancient vEdAs , which sing about His svarUpa rUpa guNa vibhavams . After making Sriman NaarAyaNan the subject of his paasurams , AzhwAr states categorically that he will never ever sing about any human being ( Naakkondu maanidam paadEn ) and his poetry will be only on Sri VaikuntanAthan ( Vaikunthac chelvanAr sEvadi mEl paatu ) . In the next ( 76th ) paasuram , AzhwAr reveals that the paasurams of mudal AzhwArs ( Paattum ) , the paancharAthra- vaikAnasa aagamAs (murayum ) the IthihAsa purANAs ( padu kathayum ) , the meanings of vEdAs ( sruthi maRai naankum ) , Manu smrithis (kEtta Manuvum ) , the samashti tEjas ( eettiya theeyum ) , the broad sky ( iru visumbum ) and every thing is a direct product of the Lord's mysterious and wonderous power . In the 81st paasuram he thanks the Lord for his anugraham that resulted in the birth of his Tamil prabhandhams this way : vidhai aaha naRRamizhai vitthi yenn uLLatthai nee viLaitthAi kaRRa mozhiyAhak kalanthu ( meaning ) : You made my heart the field for the cultivation of the Bhakthi crop by planting the seed of glorious Tamizh mozhi and making what I had learned about Your kalyANa guNams as the kernel inside those seeds and entered my mind and produced this rich crop . ( He refers to the importance of the mind since it is the sole factor in people sinking in samsAram or getting out of it and gaining mOksham -- mana yEva manushyANAm kAraNam bhandha MokshayO : " ) . AzhwAr talks further to his mind and tells it that the shADguNya ParipUrNa prabhu , the SaraNyan , ever exists in the mind of those , who meditate on Him wiht devotion . He becomes visible to these ardent devotees and asks his mind to reflect on it ( uLLuvAr uLLatthu uLan kanDAi -- tannappan thAnAi uLan ) . In the 88th paasuram , AzhwAr celebrates such blessed souls , who are able to experience the Lord through their dhyAna samAdhi . He states that those lives are well-lived lives ( seyal theerac chintthitthu vAzhvArE vAzhvAr ) . In the 89th paasuram , AzhwAr salutes such blessed bhagavathOtthamAs and states aasrayaNam of them will immerse one in brahmAnandham and let them even reject parama padham . As for himself , he declares that he has never forgotten the Lord ( dhruva smruthi ) starting from his time of conception as a pindam and the Lord's protection of him . He adds : " Ninrum irundhum yenrum maRanthu aRiyEN " . Whether he was standing , sititing , he never forgot about the Lord as his protector In the final ( 96th ) paasuram , AzhwAr sums up what he has learnt from his deliberations and research and what he has etched in his mind : ini aRinthEn Isarkkum Naanmuharkkum Dhaivam ini aRinthEn EmperumAn Unnai --ini aRinthEn KaaraNan nee kaRRavai nee naRkkirisai NAARANAN NEE nankaRinthEn naan ( Meaning ) : My sarva Swami ! YajamAnA ! PrabhO ! VibhO ! I have now understood You as the Lord of BrahmA and SivA . I have comprehended You as the kaaraNam for their activities . Whatever I have learned sofar is only YOU . Whatever I am going to learn from now on is going to be YOU . O Lord of auspicious actions ! O NaarAyaNA ! All of this , I have comprehended fully . AzhwAr , who was born on Thai Maham proved the Parathvam of Sriman NaarAyaNA and declared in the words of Swami Desikan : " dhaivam maRRilllai yena uraitthA vEdac Chezum porUL Naanmuhan thoNNRaaRRUp paattu " . This conclusion was arrived at by " Mazhisaip pirAn " through a rigorous examination of many religions & Gods ( samayangaL pala terinthu MayOnallAL dhaivam maRRIllai yena uraitthAn ) and rejecting all of them in favor of the only Dhaivam , Sriman NaarAyaNan , the Aadhi dhaivam and sarva KaaraNa bhUthan . Mazhisaip PirAn thiruvadigaLE SaraNam Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan
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