Thirucchinna Maalai of Swami Desikan : Part 1
From the Bhakti List Archives
• March 18, 1997
Dear Members of the Bahkthi group : One of the respected members of the group asked me to write on the master piece of Swami Desikan revered as Thiruchinnamaalai . I am glad to do so . ORIGIN OF THIRUCCHINNA MAALAI ***************************************** Swami Desikan was born as VenkatanAthan in the AgrahAram known as Thoopul , which is very close to Kanchi VaradarAjan"s temple . Swami"s family was deeply involved with the worship of Sri VaradarAjan . As a child , VenkatanAthan (Swami)was blessed by the great NadAthur AmmAL (Sri Vaatsalya VaradAchAr Swamy ) ., He was a great Acharya recognized by Sri VaradarAjA as His own mother out of the concern and vaatsalyam (affection ), the AcharyA showed in presenting hot milk at the right temperature to the Lord during His evening aarAdhanam . Sri VaradaAjA was moved and exclaimed , " Yen AmmAvO " .The name AmmAL thus got attached to Sri Vaatsalya VaradAchAr , the author of Prapanna PaarijAtham and a great exponent of Bhagavadh RaamAnuja SiddhAntham. ANUGRAHAM OF A GREAT BHAKTHA OF VARADARAJA ************************************************************* NadAthur AmmAL recognized the VaradarAja anugraham on Swami Desikan , when he saw latter as a child accompanying his maternal uncle , Sri ApuLLAr to his KalakshEpam at the temple . It was the desire of AmmAL to bring up Swami Desikan as his own direct disciple . AmmAL however was advanced in age and could not carry out his own wish. He instructed his disciple ApuLLar to serve as a Guru and prepare VenkatanAthan for the great role he was destined to play later as a Parama VaishNava Guru and defender of the Bhagavadh RaamAnuja SiddhAntham . UTHSAVAMS OF VARADARAJA& USE OF THIRUCCHINNAM ****************************************************************** Swami Desikan spent his youth at Thoopul/Kanchi and attended the many uthsavams of Sri VaradarAjan . During those uthsavams , Swami Desikan was thrilled to hear the naadham generated by the pair of Thirucchinnams, which served an important purpose in the Uthsavams of theLord of Kaanchi . Thirucchinnam is a ceremonial mangaLa vaadhyam used to announce Lord VaradarAjA's PurappAdu for the Uthsavam and his progression through the routes of travel assigned for the uthsavam . DISPUTE ON DIVYA PRABHANDHAM AT KANCHI ******************************************************** At one time after Swami Desikan "s return to Kaanchipuram from Thiruvaheendrapuram and Srirangam , he was pained to witness a dispute at Kanchi . The dispute centered around the appropriateness of reciting Divya Prabhandham of AzhwArs in front of Lord VaradarAjA during His uthsavams . The protesting group objected to the nonsacredness of the compositions of AzhwArs since number of them were not born as Brahmins and averred further that the Tamil prabhandhams did not have the same level of sacredness as that of Sanskrit Vedaas . SWAMI DESIKAN'S DEFENSE OF DIVYA PRABHANDHAMS ****************************************************************** Swami Desikan's reverence for the Sri Sookthis of AzhwArs was profound. He had composed MunivAhana Bhogam earlier to celebrate the greatness of ThiruppANAzhwAr . Swami Desikan volunteered to debate the protestors and won handily in the debate . He proved that the Vedic doctrines are the central topic of theAzhwAr's divya prabhandham and quoted chapter and verse from the Sanskrit VedAs and Upanishads and related them to the aruLiccheyalgaLs of the AzhwArs. The protestors were dumb founded and agreed with Swami Desikan that it was very appropriate to have Divya Prabhandha Ghoshtis leading Sri VaradarAjan's bhavani during His uthsavams . LORD VARADRAJA' S REWARD FOR SWAMI DESIKAN ************************************************************* Lord VaradarAjA was very pleased wiht the skill and devotion of Swami Desikan . The Lord ordered through the ArchakAs that one of the two Thirucchinnams used in His uthsavams should be presented to Swami Desikan as SammAnam (Reward for the service rendered to estblish the supermacy of Tamil VedAs ) . >From that day on until now ,only one Thirucchinnam is used during Lord VaradarAjA's uthsavams . THE DHVANI VISESAHM OF THIRUCCHINNAM **************************************************** When one hears the sound of Thirucchinnam at the temple uthsavams , one can not help admire the majesty and sweetness of this mangaLa vaadhyam . When Swami Desikan heard the naadham of Thirucchinnam at the vahana mantapams and the Raja Veedhis of Lord VaradarAjA , he was overcome by that sound and what it symbolized . That Vaadhyam through its high pitched notes announced the purappaadu and sanchAram of the Lord , who is the object of description of AshtAksharam , Dhvayam an the Sarama Slokam . The naadham of Thirucchinnam reminded him of the arrival of the Lord , who is the object of celebration by the Arya VedAsand the Tamil VedAs . It was the type of Heccharikai to alert the VaradarAja bhakthAs to get ready to greet the Lord , the Veda Prathipaadhyan and to receive His blessings . The association of the Naadham of Thirucchinnam with these blessed thoughts made Swami Desikan compose a Tamil prabhandham called "Thirucchinna Maalai " . He thanked Lord VaradarAjA for honoring him with one of the two sacred Thirucchinnams and placed his new composition at the lotus feet of the Lord of Hasthigiri known for His affection for the Sri Sookthis of the AzhwArs . THE SUBJECT MATTER OF THIRUCCHINNA MAALAI ********************************************************** This compositon of Swami Desikan has 11 verses set in the Tamil Meter known as YeNN SeerAsiriya Viruttham containing 8 lines in each of the verses . The first six verses cover the essential meanings (saarArtham ) of Thirumanthiram ( AshtAksharam ). The seventh verse provides the visEshArtham of Dhvayam . The 8th and the 9th verses describe the mukhyArthams of Sarama Slokam . The tenth verse is a general salutation to the Vaibhavam of Lord VaradarAjA . The 11th verse is the saaram of AchArya Upadesam . Here Swami Desikan points out that the sweetness of this Prabhandham can be enjoyed only by those , whose devotion for Lord VaradarAja (pErinbham ) exceeds that of their devotion for the vanishing pleasures of this life (SiRRibham ) . DHVANI VISESHAM OF THE VERSES OF THIRUCCHINNA MAALAI ************************************************************************* The first 7 lines of each of the 10 verses of Thirucchinnamaalai end with the word , " VandhAr ". The last line ends with an assertion , " VandhAr thAmE ". Every one of the first 7 lines announce the arrival of Lord VaradarAja as indicated by the naadham of Thirucchinnam .The last line is a celebration recognizing almost with awe , Yes indeed , He has arrived ( VandhAr thAmE ) . Each of the first 7 lines of the ten verses describe the great Lord who arrived and salute one or other of his kalyANa GuNAs or His miraculous deeds related to the protection of His devotees or the punishment of the enemies of His bhakthAs . The musical effect of reciting or listening the verses of Thirucchinnamaalai is most deelctable . It brings VaradarAjA's uthsavams and His bhavani to the accompaniment of the Veda and Prabhandha ghoshams right in front of our mind's eye . THE FAMOUS VERSE OF THIS PRABHANDHAM (10TH VERSE) ********************************************************************** This verse is also included in yet another Tamil Prabhandham of Swami Desikan known as " Meyviratha Maanmiyam " ( The glory of Sathya Vratha Kshethram /Kanchipuram ) . This verse is the result of Swami Desikan's anubhavam of the sound of Thirucchinnam as the sound raised by Nitya Sooris with that visEsha vaadhyam during the uthsavams o fthe Lord at kanchi . The verse is the one , which Mrs.Satyan wrote to me few weeks back : atthigiriaruLAlapperumAL vandhAr aanaipari thErinmelazhahar vandhAr KacchitanniR kaNN kodukkum PerumAL vandhAr karudhavarantharu Daiva PerumAL vandhAr mutthimazhai pozhiyumuhil vaNNar vandhAr moolamena volamida vallAr bvandhAr uttaravedhikkuLLEyuthitthAr vandhAr umbar thozhum kazhaludayAr vandhAr thAmE (meaning ) : PeraruLaLa PerumAL is the most beautiful Lord , who rides on the elephant , horse and Ratham during His uthsavams. He is the one , who gave back the eye sight to the blind bhaktha , Haritha VaaraNa Bruthyar . He is the one , who showers His boons on those , who meditate on Him. He is the one , who is present as the dark rain cloud ( KaaLa Megham ) , who blesses us with MokshAnugraham . He is none other than the Gajendra Varadan , who came to the rescue of the elephant , when it cried out " O Adhi Moolam , Please save Me from the grip of the crocodile " . He is the Lord , who appeared in the sacred fire of the Asvamedha Yaaga Vedhi of His son , Brahma Devan on top of Hasthi Giri . He is the same Lord , who is worshipped by the Muktha Jeevans and the Nitya Sooris. Our PerurALa PerumAl of this many attributes has indeed arrived amidst us . PerundEvi ThAyAr Sametha Sri VaradarAja SwaminEh Nama: Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan
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