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TerazhandhUr MahAthmyam : Part 4

From the Bhakti List Archives

Sadagopan • March 4, 1999 


Dear BhakthAs :

In this posting , we will enjoy excerpts from
the Periya Thirumozhi 7.7 decad saluting 
Aamuriviappan . We will focus on two individual
paasurams ( 7.7.1 and 7.7.2) of Kaliyan . He addresses 
the Lord as " AzhundhUr mEl disai ninRa AmmAnE ". 
He complains to the Lord having His residence on 
the West side of TherazhundhUr about his five senses 
subjecting him to every kind of torture and humiliation ; 
Kaliyan goes on to state that he has arrived at the lotus 
feet of the Lord with the express purpose of escaping 
from these unbearable and ceaseless sufferings . 

The word pictures that Kaliyan paints and the images
that he brings before his/our eyes are the most delectable .
Some evocative examples of his exquisite anubhavam are :

maal vaNNaa , mazhai pOl oLi vaNNaa 

Thiruvukkum ThiruvAhiya selvA ,

ChaandhOghA-PouzhiyA-TaittiriyA-Saama vEdiyanE

Aayaa , Theevaai NaaghaNiyil thyuilvaanE 


Periya Thirumozhi : Paasuram 7,7.1
***********************************

Thiruvukkum ThiruvAhiya SelvA DhaivatthukkarasE Seyya KaNNA
Uruvacchenjudar Aazhi vallaanE UlahuNDa voruvaa ThirumArbhA 
oruvaRkku AaRRi uyyum vahai yenRaal udan ninRu eivar yennuLL 
                                          puhunthu ozhiyAthu
aruvit thinrida anji ninnadainthEn AzhundhUr mEl ninRa ammAnE 


MahA Lakshmi ( Thiru ) is " sarvAkAra sthira samudhayAm 
sampadham " (i-e) , She blesses one with undecaying 
wealth of every kind . Here , Kaliyan salutes Aamuruviyappan 
as " Thiruvukkum ThiruvAhiya Selvan ". Kaliyan recognizes 
the Lord of this divya desam as the wealth of even Maha Lakshmi ,
who is the very embodiment of all auspicious wealth . He is 
thus recognized as Srinidhi or the nidhi of Sri Devi 
Herself .

Thirumangai recognizes next this Srinidhi as 
the Lord of nithya sooris and hence addresses
the Lord with awe as " dhaivatthukkarasE ". 

Maha Lakshmi is saluted as "SrEyO mUrthi "  .
She is the One who is the auspiciousness behind all
auspicious attributes and is found seated on
the Chest of the Lord , who destroyed the Raakshasan ,
Madhu and there She is radiantly illuminating 
the chest region ( Vaksha: peetim Madhu vijayinO 
bhUshayanthim svakAnthyA ).Kaliyan salutes that 
Lord , whose chest is adorned with the radiance
of this SrEyO mUrthy as " ThirumArbhA ".

Now Kaliyan's eyes  shift their attention from 
the chest region to the upper right hand , where he
has the sevA bhAgyam of SudarsanAzhwAn spurting out 
fierce flames in all directions . Kaliyan is overwhelmed 
by the blinding sight of the Satha vakthra agni hEthi 
HethIsvaran . One name for Sudarsanan ( Lord's revolving
disc ) is HethIsvaran . One of the sixteen weapons
( shOdasa Aayudham ) belonging to the HethIsvaran 
is satha Vakthra hEthi or the One hundred-mouthed ,
flame spouting weapon . The gigantic flames spurting
out of the Sudarsanam rotating ceaselessly on the right 
hand of Aamuruviappan and the reflection of that ruby red
light in His lotus eyes elicits the MangalAsAsanam :
" seyya KaNNA ! uruvam semsudat Aazhi vallAnE ". 
The heightened redness of the lotus red eyes 
begets the salutation : Seyya KaNNA ! ". 

Next , Thirumangai visualizes the Lord , who 
swallowed all the universes in His tiny stomach 
and floated on a pupil leaf moving rapidly 
with the swollen currents of the universal deluge .
Kaliyan salutes the most merciful Lord , who saved
the Universes and their beings by swallowing 
them and keeping them safe in His tiny stomach 
as " Ulahu uNDa oruvA ". 

To this MaayOn , Kaliyan appeals and asks Him
to save him from the terrors of the five powerful 
boxers (five senses ) , who are pounding him 
to a senseless state .Kaliyan screams with
pain and appeals to the powerful Lord to free
him from the unbearable sufferings caused by 
not one , but five of these bullies .

Periya Thirumozhi Paasuram 7.7.2
*********************************
In this paasuram, The Lord with His DEvi
responds to the plea of His dear Bhakthan
and frees Kaliyan from his sufferings .
The ecstatic AzhwAr breaks forth into
an eulogy and tenderly salutes the divya
Dampathis for their upakAram . In this 
Paasuram , Kaliyan recognizes the Lord 
as Veda NaarAyaNan and surrenders at 
the feet of SaraNya dampathis . We will
elaborate on this exquisite Paasuram in 
the next posting .

Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan