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thiruvallikkENi 8-I (periya thirumozhi)

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Vijay Triplicane • March 28, 1997 


Hello,
	This pAsuram describes the gajEndra mOksham, sung for the Lord 
	VaradharAja at thiruvallikkENi. 
I was talking to my ammaa y'day about the previous pAsuram (paLLiyil Odhi..)on 
sri narasimhar.. It is such a coincidence that she had just then come back from the dhavana uthsavam for sri azhagiya siN^gar at thiruvallikkENi..
(Dhavanam is a kind of green leaflike flower..It keeps the body cool so the 
perumAL will be fully decorated with that dhavanam.. It is getting hotter in 
madras, right? will be difficult for perumAL, thats why!!..)
 

meenamar poygai nNaaNmalar koyvaan
 vEtkaiyi NnOdusen RizhinNdha,
kaanamar vEzham kaiyeduth thalaRak
 karaavadhan kaalinaik kadhuva,
aanaiyin thuyaram theerappuL LoornNdhu
 senRunNin Raazhithot taanai,
thEnamar sOlai maadamaa mayilaith
 thiruvallik kENikkaN dEnE. (2)     2.3.9

A free Translation:
-------------------
when the elephant went to the pond full of fishes to fetch fresh folwers for 
the Lord, the crocodile in the pond grabbed the elephant's foot by its mouth. 
The elephant wailed in pain. On hearing this our Lord immediately rushed to the
spot riding on the Garuda and just touched his chaN^gu to kill the crocodile and
save the elephant. I (the AzhwAr) had the greatest blessing to have the dharshan
of this Lord at thiruvallikkENi where the groves are rich with honey filled 
flowers and which has  many grand buildings rich in architectural splendour.


meen amar poygai-
*********************
The pond where the fishes swim,

(poygai - pond)

n^aL malar koyvAn vEtkaiyinOdu senRizhin^dha-
***********************************************
...(The elephant) went to the pond to fetch some fresh flowers for the perumAL...

(n^AL malar - the fresh flowers, koythal - to fetch, vEtkai- intense desire)

kAn amar vEzham kai eduththu alaRa-
*************************************
...The elephant who lives in the jungle, cried loudly holding up its trunk...

(kAn=> kAdu- jungle, vEzham - elephant, alaRa - to cry)

karA adhan kAlinaik kadhuva-
******************************
...the crocodile grabbed hold of the elephant's foot...

(karA - crocodile, kadhuvudhal => kowvudhal- to hold something by one's mouth, getting ready to eat..)

aanaiyin thuyaram theerap puL oorn^dhu-
***************************************
...In order to save the elephant from its grief, the Lord rushed to the spot on his Garuda,...

(aanai - elephant, thuyaram - grief: It seems the elphant is not grief stricken
because it was afraid of his life, But was more concerned that he could not 
offer the fresh flowers to the Lord! That is what the thuyaram here means-
say our AchAryAs.. It is this excellent anubhavam that makes it more 
interesting..

senRu n^inRu Azhi thottAnai-
*****************************
On reaching the place, He stopped and just touched his chaN^gu  to kill the crocodile and save the elephant..

This is another piece of this pAsuram which has been hevily commented. Instead 
of saying Azhi vittAnai (He directed the chaN^gu), AzhwAr just says Azhi 
thottAnai( He touched His chaN^gu), even though both conform to the metre of 
this pAsuram. PerumAL on hearing the elephant's wail felt so bad and wanted to 
be in the spot immediately to save his bhakthA. PerumAL being the great great 
Lord, has so many protocols that He has to adhere to before leaving out, 
vELukkudi Sri KrishNan says... All the nithya sUris have to sing praises, 
viswakshEna has to personally take care of all the protocols..the chAmaram,
visiri..have to be offered.. He has to be dressed very well.. He has to see 
Himself in a big mirror.. the garudA has to get ready too.. the vAdhyams have 
to be played.. the chaN^gam has to be blown.. thAyAr has to see Him off..

Our dear Lord knows all these..  He grew restless.. All He wanted was to be 
there for His bhakthA (Like our kAnchi varadhan disappeared from kAnchi to 
give dharshan to dhoddAchAr swamy at shOliN^gar.) He immediately summoned the 
Garuda and avoiding all the protocols, He sat on the shoulders of Garuda and 
started.. 

He would have even ran all by Himself, but wanted to adhere to atleast this 
protocol, and hence chose to fly by the garudA, it seems.. On reaching the 
place all his jewels and garlands were in great disarray, all of them were on 
His back.. and He couldn't even wait to take His chaN^gu and direct it at the 
crocodile. On his mere touch His Ayudham, knowing the Master's thought directed 
itself at the enemy... 

Isn't this anubhavam so fulfilling... I remember Sri Dileepan's nice posting  a
while back on the same subject.. If u have it could you please share it again ?


With such rich anubhavam filled vyaakyanams by our AcharyAs we all should try 
to taste atleast a drop of this nectar ocean..any debate of which is superior 
doesn't take us anywhere close to Him or His anubhavams... I am digressing 
again...

thEn amar sOlai mAda mAmayilai-
*******************************
...The city of mylai (thiruvallikkENi) which has groves full of  honey rich 
flowers and big buildings..  

thiruvallikkENi kaNdEnE -
*************************
I was blessed to have His dharshan at thiruvallikkENi

sri rukmiNi sametha sri pArththasArathi swamy thiruvadigaLE charaNam
dhaasan
Vijay Triplicane
(Viji)