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Thiruvarangatthu amudhanaar Thirunakshathram- Read Sri Satakopan mama's post..

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Madhavakkannan V • March 29, 2002 


SrI:
SrImathE Ramanujaya namah:
Dearest Srivaishnavas,
Today(Panguni Hastham) is Thiruvarangatthu Amudhanaar Thirunakshathram.
This Swamy is the sishya of Sri KooratthAzhwAn.
Read below the most beautiful write up (on Amudhanaar) by Sri Satakopan mama 
(as usual from him:-) I do not want someone to miss this write up (not on 
this day, especially). For your reading, enjoyment and paying obeisance to 
Sri Thiruvarangatthu amudhanaar, KooratthAzhwAn and Sri Bhashyakarar.
Regards
Namo Narayana
aDiyEn dasAnu dAsan
======================
Life of Thiruvaranagatthu AmudanAr (TVA)- by Sri V Satakopan..
Vaazhi ThirunAmam for Sri TVA:

YenthAthai KoorEsar iNaiyadiyOn VaazhiyE
yezhil moongirkkudi viLanga inghu vanthOn vaazhiyE
nanthAmal YathirAsar nalam puhazhvOn vaazhiyE
nann Madhura kavinilayai naNNinOn vaazhiyE
painthAma Arangan padham paRRinAn vaazhiyE
Panguniyil attha naaL paaruthitthAn vaazhiyE
andhAthi nooRRettum aruLinAn vaazhiyE
aNiyarangatthamudanAr adiyiNaikaL vaazhiyE

This Vaazhi ThirunAmams salutes the pair of
sacred feet of Thiruvarangatthu Amudanar ,
who had KurEsan as his AchAryan .His birth
at ThirumUngirkkudi on Panguni Hastham day ,
his ever-lasting tribute to AchArya RaamAnujA
in the form of 108 paasurams set in the kalitthuRai
andhAthi form are recognized. The most important
part of this Vaazhit thirunAmam identifies AmudanAr
as the One , who attained the status of
Madhura Kavi in illustrious AchArya Bhakthi.

Madhura Kavi declared in his Prabhandham:
"tEvu maRRariyEn" ( I do not know of any God
other than my AchAryan, Swamy NammAzhwAr).
AmudanAr's AchArya Bhakthi asserted itself
in the following words of his Prabhandham ,
where he declares that AchArya RaamAnujA
is his sole succor and sustenance :

" pERonRu maRRillai ninn CharaNanRi ,
  appERaLitthathaRkku aaRu onRumillai,
  MaRRa SaRaNanRi.." (45th paasuram )

Here AmudanAr states that Sri RaamAnujA's
sacred feet are his UpAyam and Phalan and
he can not describe in words the greatest
help given by Sri RaamAnujA to him . AmudanAr
states that there is nothing else to be
attained as a treasure except the sacred feet
of AchArya RaamAnujA for one's ujjeevanam ,
whether they are scholars steeped in Vedhic
lore or common folk without such austere
training.

There are four Taniyans for IrAmAnusa nooRRandhAthi
attributed to Vedhap PirAn Bhattar , SOmAsi ANDAn
and another author .We will salute AmudanAr through
these invocatory paasurams (Taniyans) and cover
the charithram of AmudanAr , the contemproary of
AchArya RaamAnujA , in the next posting .

Taniyan 1 by Vedhap PirAn Bhattar:

munaani vinai ahala Moonkirkkudiyamudhan,
ponnang kazhark kamalap pOthiraNDum--yennudaya
sennik kaNiyAhac chErthinEn, tennpulatthArkk-
kennaik kadavudayEn yann

(Meaning): All of adiyEn's ancient paapams
have been banished with the smaraNam of
the sacred feet of AmudhanAr. He was born in
the village of Moonkirkkudi. His sacred feet are
the most desirable and lovely like the lotus
flower. AdiyEn is wearing them as the abharaNam
for my head.How can adiyEn become the target
now of the Yama kinkarAs and their tortures ?
No way.

Taniyan 2 by Vedhap PirAn Bhattar:

nayam taru pErinbhamellAm pazhuthenRu naNNInar paal
sayam taru keerthi RaamAnusa Muni thALiNai mEl
Uyarntha guNatthut ThiruvarangatthamudhOnkumanbAl
iyampum KalitthuRaiyandhAthi Odha visai nenjamE

(Meaning): Here , the prayer is to one's nenju
to agree to recite the sacred prabhnadham of
IrAmAnusa nooRRandhAthi of AmudhanAr.

EmperumAnAr is the glorious One , who blesses
us with victory over the afflictions of SamsAram ,
once we seek His sacred feet as refuge after
clearly recognizing that the material pleasures
are evanescent and ephemeral. Oh My mind, Please
agree to recite the Prabhandham of AmudhanAr set
in kalitthuRai metre in the form of an andhAthi ;
AmudhanAr's dhivya prabhndham originated from
his saraNAgathi with MahA visvAsam at the sacred
feet of RaamAnujar and the love that flowed from that
sacred rite taking the shape of RaamAnuja
nooRRandhAthi is for our ujjeevanam.

Taniyan 3 by SOmAsi ANDAn :

sollin thohai koNDu unathadip pOthukkut thoNDu seyum
nallanbharEtthum unn naamamelAm yenRan naavinuLLE
allum pahalum amarumpaDi nalhu aRu samayam
vellum Parama, IrAmAnusa! ithenn viNNappamE

(Meaning): Here SOmAsi ANDAn wishes his tongue
to recite the ThirunAmams of IrAmAnusan eulogized
by His adiyArs.

Oh RaamAnujA , who has the glory of winning over
the six darsanams and demonstrated that they are
no match to Sri VaisNava darsanam ! This is my
prayer to You ! May Your ThirunAmams celebrated
by your adiyArs in their paasurams stay on my tongue
day and night for my enjoyment and ujeevanam.

Taniyan 4 used in mElnAttu Thiruppathis:

iniyenn kuRai namakkemperumAnAr ThirunAmatthAl
  muni tanatha nooRRettu SAAVITHRI  yennu nuNNporuLai
kani tantha senjcholl KalithuraiyandhAthi paaDithanthAn
  punithan ThiruvarangatthamuthAhiya PuNNiyanE

(meaning): We have nothing missing in our lives , now
that we have the prapanna Saavithri -- the 108 pasurams
of RaamAnuja nooRRandhAthi celebrating our AchAryan's
sacred name set in kalitthurai andhAthi, blessed by
the puNya moorthi , ThiruvarangatthamudanAr . Meditating
on the deep meanings of this Prabhandham , we do not
have any more wants in this world . We do not
lack any thing.

Introduction on the vaibhavam of AmudhanAr:
There are three utthAraka (uplifting )
manthrams besides the AshtAkshara and Dhvaya manthrams
for Sri VaishNavites . The latter two are received
directly from a SadAchAryan. The other three
are SrimathE NaarAyaNAya nama: ,
SrimathE SatakOpAya nama: and SrimathE
RaamAnujAya Nama:

These are considered amudha mozhis and it
is appropriate we think of AmudhanAr
and his Sri Sookthi in this context.It is
also appropriate to recall that the name
"AmudhanAr" was given to periya Koil Nampi
by AchArya RaamAnujA himself.

The manthram , "SrimathE RaamAnujAya nama:"
is dear to the tongue and mind of all
Udayavar sampradhAyins and this manthram
and the 108 paasurams extolling AchArya
RaamAnujA's greatness are generally
viewed as AmruthAksharangaL.Let us
recite Sri RaamAnuja NooRRandhAthi
during his Thirunakshathream .It is
also my request to Sri Thirukkudanthai
Rengarajan to post a series of articles on
the individual paasurams of this Prabhandham
for our benefit.

AmudhanAr's lineage
Sri AmudhanAr was born at Srirangam.
His father's name was ANiarangatthamudanAr ,
who was steeped in service to Sri RanganAthan .
The other name for our AmudanAr is Moongilkudi
amudhanAr denoting the ancient village from
which his ancestors came prior to settling down
in Srirangam. AmudhanAr lived for 128 years
on this earth .

AmudhanAr's blessings:
AmudhanAr's devotion to AchArya RaamAnujA
was equal to that of the unparalleled devotion
that Madhuara Kavi AzhwAr had for SwamyNammAzhwAr.
AmudhanAr was saved by AchArya sambhandham. Prior to
being saved by the limitless of DayA of AchArya RaamAnujA ,
Amudhanar was the purOhithar for Sri RanganAthA
and was filled with rajO guNam and had ill feelings
towards AchArya RaamAnujA for the boons granted
to him by Sri RanganAthA .He resented the granting
of the title of Udayavar by Sri RanganAthan. In those
days , AmudhanAr was known as Periya Koil Nampi.

RaamAnujA's plan and Sri RanganAthA's Sankalpam:

As RaamAnujA began to fulfill the command of
Lord RanganAthA to manage the day to day affairs
of the temple , Amudhanar got angrier and angrier
and placed many obstacles in the way of RaamAnujA
and caused deep pain to RaamAnujA . The despondent
RaamAnujA wanted to dismiss AmudhanAr from temple
service to achieve the smooth running of the affairs
of the temple. One day , Lord RanganAtha appeared
in the dream of RaamAnujA as an old Brahmin and said:
" Periya Koil Nampi is dependent on Me for a long time.
rest is Your ThiruvuLLam " and disappeared. RaamAnujA
shared his dream with KUrEsan and concluded that
the Lord did not want him to dismiss Periya Koil Nampi
from His service and that the Lord wanted Nampi
to engage in some other kaimkaryam other than purOhitham.

KurEsan responded and mentioned that the Lord wants
RaamAnujA to correct the undesirable ways of Nampi
and to engage him in AchArya kaimkaryams . RaamAnujA
suggested that KUrEsan himself correct Nampi's
destructive ways and bring him back to the fold of
BhAgavathAs . KUrEsan accepted the suggestion of
his AchAryan as command and engaged the scholarly
Periya Koil Nampi in discussions and slowly  but
surely changed Nampi to mend his previous ways.
KUresan brought Nampi before RaamAnujA and placed
Nampi at his feet . AchArya RaamAnujA was overjoyed
at the transformation in Nampi and was about to accept
him as his sishyan.

KUrEsan becoming the AchAryan for Nampi:
Periya Koil Nampi was a great scholar and
AchArya RaamAnujA recognized that extraordinary
scholarship and felt that Nampi's vidhvath
was far superior to his own and therefore recommended
that KUrEsan become the AchAryan to nampi instead of
him. Recognizing the sweetness of speech of Nampi ,
AchArya RaamAnujA gave the name of "AmudhanAr"
to Nampi. From then on , Periya Koil Nampi came
to be known as " Thiruvarangatthu AmudhanAr ".
He was also addressed with reverence as
"PiLLai AmudhanAr ".

AchArya RaamAnujA taking control of Temple service:
Few days after becoming the Thiruvadi of
KUrEsan , AmudhanAr's mother passed away.
AmudhanAr was performing her Charama kaimkaryam.
The day of yEkOdhishtam came ( the day after
sabhinDIkaraNam). Because of the earlier
quarrels that Nampi had with his relatives , he could not
get anyone to accept his invitation to officiate
in the ceremonies. AchArya RaamAnujA realized
the desperate state AmudhanAr was in and suggested
that KurEsan to take part in the ceremony and
bring it to a saasthraic conclusion without
any vignams.

In this important srArddha ceremony ,
there is a stage, when the Brahmin chosen to
accept the ritual food should say , " I am
satisfied with the offerings " (susampannam ,
Sarvam sampUrNam , ThrupthAsma: ).When that stage
arrived , KUrEsan stalled and did not say
the prathivachanam , "ThrupthAsma:". AmudhanAr
was deeply disturbed and asked waht else needs to
be done . AchArya RaamAnujA had instructed KUrEsan
to ask as dhAnam , PurOhitham and PurANa
patanam for Sri RanganAthan , which were
the heriditary rights of AmudhanAr family .
When KUrEsan asked for these two dhAnams ,
AmudhanAr had no choice except to agree. Thus AchArya
RaamAnujA was able to get control of
the temple administration from AmudhanAr and
appointed KUresan to serve as the chief priest
and pourANikar for the Lord . That is how ,
ParAsara Bhattar , the son of KUrEsar got
the title of Sri rangEsa PurOhithar later.

RaamAnujA's daya for AmudhanAr:
Lord RanganAthA was very pleased with the turn of events.
RaamAnujA felt bad that such a great scholar (AmudhanAr)
was stripped of his erstwhile major responsibilites
and out of his (RaamAnujA's) spirit of compassion went to
the residence of one of his AchAryan ,Thiruvaranga
PerumAL arayar .There , he begged his achAryan
to grant as boon(DhAnam)  Iyarpaa SrikOsam
to him . He requested his AchAryan not to recite
the Iyarppaa thousand , which was his assigned duty.
He instructed  AmudhanAr on the recitation of
Iyarppaaa and asked him to take over the recitation
of this thousand from the Arayar. All the maryAdhayais
for such kaimkaryam were deflected to Amudhanaar
from that day onward.Arayar recited all other
isaippaa other than Iyarppaa.AmudhanAr was
also put in charge of Iyarppaaa recitation at
Sri RanganAyaki ThAyAr sannidhi.

The composition of RaamAnuja NooRRandhAthi:
AmudhanAr was moved by the dayA of RaamAnujA
and composed the 108 paasurams of Sri RaamAnuja
NooRRandhAthi and recited in front of NamperumAL.
On a SapthAvaraNam day , Lord RanganAthA asked
RaamAnujA not to accompany Him on His Raaja Veedhis
and stopped all vAdhyams and asked Sri VaishNavAs
to recite the RaamAnuja NooRRandhAthi. From then on ,
NooRRandhAthi is recited after Iyarppaa at PerumAL
and ThAyAr sannidhis at the command of NamperumAL .

AchArya RaamAnujA obeyed the wish of Lord RanganAthA
and included the recital of NooRRandhAthi at the end
of Iyarppaa recitation , just as KaNNinuNN SiRutthAmpu
is recited at the end of Mudal Aayiram. Thus AmudhanAr
is to AchArya RaamAnujA just as Madhura Kavi is to
Swamy NammAzhwAr. The two prabhandhams by Madhura kavi
and Thiruvarangatthu AmudhanAr are like Naayaka
rathnams adorning the gem necklace .

In Sri VaishNava sampradhAyam , AchAryan is recognized
as the avathAra visesham of Sriman NaarAyaNan. Therefore ,
one worships one's AchAryan as not different form EmperumAn .
Such AchArya abhimAna nishtaaLs appreciate deeply
Madhura Kavi's sincere declaration , "dhEvu maRRaRiyEn".
AmudhanAr declared in this respect : " surakkum Thiruvum
uNarvum solappuhil vaayamudham parakkum iruvinai
paRraRavOdum patiyiluLLIr ! uraikkinranan numakkiyAn
aRancheeRum uRu kalyai thurakkum perumai RAAMAANUSAN
YENRU SOLLUMINE ".

In every one of his NooRRandhAthi paasurams ,
AmudhanAr placed the ThirunAmAm of RaamAnusar
for our benefit .We look forward to Sri RengarajAn's
postings in the days to come to have  a special
celebration on the Vaibhavam of AchArya RaamAnujA
and his reverence to AzhwAr's Sri Sookthis.

Daasan, Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan

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