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ThiruveLLakkuLam Divya Desam : Part 2

From the Bhakti List Archives

Sadagopan • May 20, 1999 


Dear BhakthAs : 

We will continue with Kaliyan's salutations to
the EmperumAn of ThiruveLLakkuLam . In his first 
paasuram , Kaliyan begs Lord SrinivAsan of this
divya dEsam to banish all his samsAric sorrows 
and free him from all his anxieties and fears .

Comments on the First Paasuram
*******************************

Thirumangai's paasuram requesting the powerful Lord's 
intervention reminds us of the Yajur Veda manthram :

    visvA rUpANi prathi munjathE kavi: 
prAsAveedh BHADHRAM dvipadhE chathushpathE
    vi nAkamakhyath savithA varENyOnu 
prayANamushasO virAjathi --Yajur Vedam:XII-3

(Meaning): " God is adorable , Omniscient maker
of the Universe , worthy of adulation at dawn; He 
shapes all of the material objects seen in this universe.
He blesses the quadrepeds and bipeds and REMOVES ALL 
OF THEIR DISTRESSES AND ANXIETIES ". 

He removes all the samsaaric afflictions and confers 
lasting aanandham through the boon of Brahma Jn~Anam 
to those who surrender unto Him .Without partiality ,
He blesses the two-footed and the four-footed beings 
and pervades the universe that He created as Sarva VyApi,
VishNu . It is this parabrahmam that the above Yajur Veda
manthram saluted .It is this Bhadra NaarAyaNan that 
Vedam saluted with the words : "prasAveedh BHADHRAM ".

AzhwAr's paasuram is as follows :

KaNNAr kadal pOl ThirumEni kariyAi
  naNNAr munai venRi koLvAr mannu NaangUr
thiNNAr mathiL soozh ThiruveLLakkuLatthuL
  aNNA , adiyEn idaraik kaLayAyE --PTM:4.7.1

In the first line of the above paasuram , Kaliyan
compares the Bhagavath svarUpam as the deep and expansive 
one , like the dark, deep ocean ( kaNNAr kadal pOl
thirumEni KariyAi) . "KaNN aar kadal " refers to 
the bluish-black ocean that stretches as far as One's 
eyes could see and is filled with mysterious , soothing 
beauty .Kaliyan hints that the Lord's hue is reminding
him of that dark blue hue of the deep ocean .Just as we 
enjoy the mystery and the beauty of the blue ocean
without winking , Kaliyan says that he was intensely
engaged in enjoying the extraordinary soundharyam of
the Lord of ThiruveLLakkuLam .

The next line of the Paasuram is : " NaNNAr munai venRi 
koLvAr mannu NaangUr ". Here , Kaliyan celebrates 
the greatness of the citizens of this divya dEsam ."NaNNAr" 
means enemies .There are two kinds of enemies for us.
One is the external one and the other is the internal one
( BhAhyam and Aandhram ).The external VirOdhi (enemy) ,
has to be won over with the help of weapons like sword
and spear . The internal one has the limbs of arrogance,
jealousy , anger et al. This aandhra enemy has to be won by 
Bhagavadh DhyAnam , Moola manthra-Dhvaya Japam and
SaraNAgathi at the Lord's sacred feet . Kaliyan was 
familiar with the ways of a Kshathriyan prior to his
transformation as a Sri VaishNavan through the Lord's
intervention . As a result , Kaliyan was conversant
with the battle plans for winning both the BhAhya and 
Aandhra chathrUs . As the proverb goes , only the serpent 
can know of the other serpent's "legs ". Kaliyan was thus
able to recognize that ThiruveLLakuLam was filled
with the citizen-BhagavathAs , who have won over both the kinds of
fights by defeating soundly the Aandhra and BhAhya ChathrUs .
  
In the  third line of this first paasuram , Kaliyan
refers to the strength of the ramparts that protect
the Lord's temple and addresses the Lord of this divya dEsam
as the one surrounded by mighty walls ( mathiLs ); his 
paasura vaakhyams are : " TiNNAr mathiL soozh
ThiruveLLakkulatthuL aNNA ". The strength of 
the protector  is hinted by the reference to the strength 
of the ramparts surrounding His temple.The word aNNA stands
for the strong brother or father figure , who rushes to the 
rescue of the young/weak one in the family , who is frightened .
Kaliyan addresses endearingly the towering Father figure ,
Lord SrinivAsan at ThiruveLLakkuLam as "aNNA ".With Kaliyan's
usage of the word , aNNA , the divya dEsam came to be 
known as aNNan kOil .

In the final line of the paasuram , Kaliyan appeals movingly
to his aNNan to come to his rescue to drive away all of
his fears and sorrows (aNNA, adiyEn idar kaLayAyE ).Kaliyan
says : " Oh my sarva Swami ! Oh Lord of the hue of the deep , 
dark ocean ! Oh Lord , who lives in the kshEthram populated
by parama bhaagavathAs ! I am losing my foothold in this
ocean of samsAram and am being tossed about violently by
its gigantic waves . I am overpowered by the ceaseless
waves of the ocean of samsAram and at any moment , I am going
to drown . Please give me Your powerful hand and lift me
out of my miseries and place me in the cool shade of 
Your sacred feet ".

Kaliyan recognizes here that the fruit of SaraNAgathi
at the most powerful Lord's feet is Moksham and therefore
asks for the removal of all anisams (inauspiciousness and 
obstacles ) that stand in the way of his Moksham .

Kaliyan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam 
AdiyEn , Oppiliappan Koil V.Sadagopan