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Thiruppallandu Avatharikai

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TCA Venkatesan • March 26, 2002 


Sri:
Srimathe Ramanujaya Nama:

Dear BhAgavatas,

This posting is a translation of Sri Periyavaccan
Pillai's avathArikai to Periyazhvar's Thiruppallandu.
I am posting this with the kind permission of Sri
Madhavakkannan, who is currently posting a series on
Thiruppallandu in this list. Needless to say all 
errors in this poor effort are mine alone.

The article is available on the web as well at
http://www.acharya.org/azhvar/periyazhvar/tpallan00.html

I have also translated it into simple Tamil using
Adhawin font and it can be read at
http://www.acharya.org/azhvar/periyazhvar/tpallan00-tml.html

adiyEn madhurakavi dAsan
TCA Venkatesan

--

Sri:
Srimathe Ramanujaya Nama:

Thiruppallandu Avatharikai
Excerpted from Sri Periyavaccan Pillai's Vyakyanam 

Sriman Narayana is the Lord of all, the source of all 
and all beings are enslaved to Him. Yet, the 
realization of this knowledge, which would lead them 
to His service and liberation, is lacking in beings, 
leading them to close association with their bodies 
and this world, and false ownership of the same, 
neither of which last much time. Armed with this 
incorrect knowledge they think that they are the 
lord of their surroundings and ignore the bliss of 
being attached to Him. Latching on to the karmas 
that come out of this behaviour they wallow in 
them. Seeing this, the Lord, in order to set them 
on the right path of reaching Him, gave them the 
Vedas and other Sastras and Himself shone through 
them. 

However, due to their attachment to their karmas the 
beings ignored this evidence and its importance and 
so He came down to them as Sri Rama, Sri Krishna and 
other avatars. In Rama avatar, as Sri Rama He 
established the duties of a person to obey his elders 
words; through Sri Lakshmana He showed that a soul's 
duty is service to the Lord; through Sri Bharata He 
showed that kainkaryam to the Lord is attained by 
great attachment to Him; and through Sri Shatrughna 
He showed that the highest form of service to the 
Lord is service to His devotees. As Sri Krishna, He 
taught everyone what true dharma is and how to 
follow it. Thus, He made clear to them what their 
relationship is between themselves and Him. But,
 because one who is far above them came down to 
their level and lived amongst them, they rejected 
His Lordship and refused to listen to His words. 

Therefore, just as a hunter would catch an animal in 
the forest using one of its own kind, He decided to 
teach the beings of this world using a fellow being 
and sent Periyazhvar to this world. Thus, 
Periyazhvar's vaibhavam states that even those that 
were not set in the true path by the Sastras and His 
avataras were saved by Periyazhvar's birth. 

Periyazhvar naturaly possessing His service in his 
mind took to providing flowers for Him by 
maintaining a flower garden near His temple. 

Periyazhvar is also considered greater than the other 
Azhvars for the following reasons. Whereas the others
did service to the Lord so that He may save them, 
Periyazhvar considered His safety as everything to 
himself. They were attached to Him so that He may 
remove their fears, while Periyazhvar was afraid of 
what might happen to Him and looked for ways to 
removing those obstacles. 

Similarly, Thiruppallandu of Periyazhvar is 
considered greater than the prabhandams of other 
Azhvars for the following reasons. Sastras such as 
the Vedas, Puranas etc. can be learnt only by a 
select few. In Thiruvaymozhi of Nammazhvar, the 
trinity of godheads is spoken of in some places, 
thereby forcing one to study it carefully and 
understand the inner meanings of those words. Such 
issues are not present in Thiruppallandu. 

Sri Mahabharatam is so vast that sometimes it is 
difficult to figure out what is the true meaning of 
the work. The pranavam, even though posessing all 
the meanings of the Vedas in it, is so compact that 
one has to study it extensively to understand all 
its inner meanings. Unlike both, Thiruppallandu is 
made of twelve stanzas and explains the true meaning 
of service to the Lord in an easy fashion. 
Additionally, as mentioned by Periyazhvar himself, 
this prabhandam has the ability to take those that 
recite it to the Lord's lotus feet. 

In this pasuram, Periyazhvar upon seeing the Lord 
with His consorts in this world, fears for His well 
being and sings that such things should not fall on 
Him and that His auspicious and divine glory should 
grow forever. 

A question might arise, that seeing the Lord who is 
bereft of anything bad, should not one be requesting 
one's personal upliftment rather than praying for His 
glorification. The answer is that after seeing Him, 
Periyazhvar submerged in the Bhakti that flowed 
immediately and as such forgot His unlimited glory 
and power and assumed that His glorification as his 
own upliftment and started singing. 

Another question might arise, that while Bhakti to the

Lord should free the mind, shine the light in and help

reach Him, how come it can be said that it clouded 
Periyazhvar's mind into singing for His glorification.

The answer is that this is nothing new to Bhaktas. 
The residents of Ayodhya had worshipped all dEvatas 
to protect the guNas of Sri Rama who is the protector 
of all these dEvatas. Despite knowing that Sri Rama 
had defeated Thataka and other asuras, upon hearing 
that Sri Parasurama had come against Sri Rama, Sri 
Dasaratha feared for his son and when Sri Rama won, 
he felt that he and his sons were born again. Sri 
Kausalya also prayed for the glorification of Sri 
Rama. The Rishis of Dandakaranya also prayed for 
the well being of Sri Rama who had come to save 
them. Sri Sita who knows of the greatness of Sri 
Rama also glorified Him and prayed to the eight 
directions to stand in His protection. Even after 
seeing Sri Krishna born with the conch and discus 
in His hands Sri Devaki and Sri Vasudeva fearing 
for His well being from Kamsa prayed to Him to hide 
His form. 

Such behaviour is also seen in this world often. A 
mother who had a child after much waiting would be 
worried about its well being all the time, even when 
the child is under full protection. A person who 
obtains a priceless gem would stay concerned about 
its safety even when it is well protected. Being 
such, it should be no surprise that Periyazhvar 
was worried about the most beauteous, the most 
precious Lord when seeing Him in this world. 

The question may arise that, such behaviour is alright

for those who are trapped in this world and whose 
knowledge is covered with ignorance; how would this be

alright for Periyazhvar who has received the 
uncorrupted, clear knowledge from the Lord Himself; 
how could he swap the fact that He is the protector 
and he is the protected. The answer is that, in the 
matters of this world it would be inappropriate to 
switch roles; however, in the matter of the Lord such 
swapping when made in a manner of praising Him is 
acceptable. 

In addition, such praising of the Lord after realizing

the relationship between ourselves and Him is actually

brought about by that true knowledge itself. The 
highest form of being enslaved to the Lord is wishing 
the greatest glory for Him without considering one's 
self. This high truth of the Vedantas is what is being

stressed in Thiruppallandu. 

In the first two pasurams, Periyazhvar wishes the well

being and glory of the Lord. In the next three 
pasurams, he calls first those who are enslaved to 
the Lord and later even those who are enslaved to  
their own selves as well as to the material world. 
In the next three pasurams all these beings join in 
with Periyazhvar. In the next three pasurams  
Periyazhvar and the others sing the glory of the 
Lord. In the last pasuram, Periyazhvar mentions 
the fruit of singing these pasurams. 

Periyazhvar Thiruvadigale Saranam
Sri Periyavaccan Pillai Thiruvadigale Saranam

Azhvar Emperumanar Jeeyar Thiruvadigale Saranam

=====
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