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UpadEsa Rathna Maalai: Paasurams 39-45

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Sadagopan • November 9, 1999 


THE FIVE COMMENTATORS OF THIRUVAIMOZHI
***************************************

PiLLAn nanjeeyar PeriyavaacchAn PiLLai
  TheLLAr Vadakkut thiruveedhip PiLLai
ManavALa Yogi ThiruvAimozhiyaik kaattha
  guNavALar yenRu nenjE kooRu....(39)

(Meaning ): Oh My Mind! Please reflect upon the glories of 
the five commentators of NammAzhwAr's ThiruvAimozhi , who
through their vyAkyAnams protected this sacred work . 
Oh my dear Mind ! pelase remember these five mahAns ,
who performed such a noble kaimkaryam are Thirukkuruhai
PirAn PiLLAn , Nanjeeyar, PeriyavaacchAn PiLLAn ,
Vadakku Thiruveedhi PiLLai of clear Jn~Anam and
VaadhikEsari Azhagiya MaNavALa Jeeyar .

EXPRESSION OF THANKS TO THE FIVE COMMENTATORS
**********************************************

MunthuRavE PiLLAn MudalAnOr seytharuLum
  antha viyAkkiyaikaL anRu aahil --anthO
ThiruvAimozhip poruLait thErnthu uraikka valla
  GuruvAr --ikkaalam nenjE kooRu ...(40)

(Meaning ): Oh My Mind! If in the earlier times
PiLLAN and the rest of the four commentators had
not blessed us with their vyAkyAnams on ThiruvAimozhi ,
who could today intrepret the deeper meanings of
this dhivya Prabhandham ? How lucky indeed we are ,
thanks to their magnificient kaimkaryams !

THE AVATHAARAM OF THE AARAAYIRAPPADI
*************************************

TheLLArum Jn~Anat thirukuruhaip pirAn
  PiLLAn --yethirAsar pEraruLAl --uLLArum
anbhudanE MaaRan MaRaip poruLai anRu uraitthathu
  inbham mihum AaRAyiram .....(41) 

(Meaning): AaRAyirapppadi is the commentary on
ThiruvAimozhi , which is delectable to experience.
This commentary arose because of the parama krupai 
and deep affection that AchArya RaamAnujA had for
his Jn~Ana puthran, Thirukkuruhai PirAn PiLLAn of
clear intellect . 

(Comments): The thirty two letter unit is known as
a grantham . Since PiLLAN's commentary had 6,000
granthams , it came to be known as AaRAyirappaDi.

THE AVATHAARAM (BIRTH) OF ONPATHUNAAYIRAPPADI
********************************************* 

tanjeerai jn~AniyarkaL thaam puhazhum VedAnthi
  Nanjeeyar thaam Bhattar nallaruLAl --yenjAtha
aarvamudan MaaRan MaRaip poruLai aaynthu uraitthathu
  yEr onpathainAyiram .....(42)

(Meaning):The beautiful OnpathinAyirappaDi is
the commentary on Swami NammAzwAr's ThiruvAimozhi
housing the deep intutive anubhavams of Nanjeeyar
revered as the Vedanthi , the object of ParAsara
Bhattar's parama Krupai .

THE BIRTH OF THE IRUPATTHU NAALAYIRAPPADI
******************************************

NampiLLai tammudaya nalaruLAl yEviyida
  pinn PeriyavAcchAn PiLLai athanAl--inpu
aavaru patthi MaaRan MaRaip poruLaic chonnathu
  irupatthu naalAyiram .... (43)

(meaning ): Irupatthu naalAyiram is the profound 
commentary of PeriyavAcchAn PiLLAn on the Tamizh Vedam of 
Swami NammAzhwAr , which arose as a pravAham out of  
latter's aanandha roopa Bhakthi for Sriman NaarAyaNan .

The AchAryan of PeriyavaacchAn PiLLAn , NampiLLai ,
commanded his sishyan with great affection to write 
a commentary on Swamy NammAzhwAr's ThiruvAimozhi and
PeriyavaacchAn PiLLAn followed his AchAryan's command 
with reverence .Thus arose the illustrious Irupatthu-
naalAyirappaDi grantham .

(Commnets): The AchAryAs write commentaries on
PoorvAchAryA's works for a number of reasons .
Some wrote their commentaries for the upliftment
of future generations ; some wrote to capture 
the swift flow of their AchAryA's upadEsams
into managable pools of knowledge for the enjoyment of
later generations ;some wrote to display their 
scholarship and their command of the subject matter;
some wrote these commentaries to follow the order
(niyamanam) of their AchAryans . Among these many 
types of commentaries, PeriyavAcchAn PiLLai's
Irupatthu naalAyirappadi belogs to the category
of the one born out of an AchAryA's command 
(niyamanam) to a sishyan.

THE BIRTH OF THE MUPPATTHAARAAYIRAPPADI 
*****************************************

teLLiyathA NampiLLai seppu neRi tannai
  VaLLal Vadakkut thiruveedhip PiLLai --intha
naadaRiya MaaRan Maraip poruLai nanku uritthathu
  Eedu MupatthARAyiram ...(44)

(meaning): Based on the clear and profound kaalakshEpams
of NampiLLai , his student ,the generous Vadakkut thiruveedhip-
piLLai made it possible for the whole world to enjoy the great
insights of his AchAryan on Swamy NammAzhwAr's ThiruvAimozhi .

(Comments): Vadakku Thiruveedhip PiLLai (VTP)attended his
AchAryan's KaalakshEpams all day and wrote it all down on 
palm leaves during the nights without seeking his 
AchAryA's permission .PeriyavAcchAn PiLLai(PVP) was 
a fellow sishyan of VTP and was also attending 
NampiLLai's kaalkshEpams ; He was commanded however
by NampiLLai to write an authorized commentary on ThiruvAimozhi
based on his kaalkshEpams .PVP executed the command
of his AchAryan and made him happy. Meanwhile , VTP
completed his unauthorized monograph and presented it 
to his AchAryan for receiving his blessings.The AchAryan
was offended by his sishyan's apachAram in writing 
a commentary without his permission and therefore 
he confiscated that work and supressed it from 
circulation . Later, Lord RanganAthA intervened 
and thus the Eedu MuppatthARAyiram paDi became 
available to the world.

THE BIRTH OF THE PANNEERAAYIRAPPADI
************************************

anbhOdu Azhagiya MaNavALac cheeyar
  pinpOrum kaRRarinthu EsuhaikkA --tamm periya
bhOthamudan Maaran Marayin poruLuraitthathu
  yEthamil PannIrAyiram....(45)

(Meaning): VaadhikEsari Azhagiya MaNavALa Jeeyar 
blessed us with the blemishless PannirAyirappaDi,
containing the meanings ( padham by padham )of 
Swami NammAzhwAr's Tamizh MaRai ,ThiruvAimozhi .
This VyAkyAnam is in the form of Prathi padhaartha-
roopa vyAkyAnam to permit the future generations 
to comprehend the deeper meanings of the words used 
by Swami NammAzhwAr and to propagate it further 
to the next generation .

(Comments): VaadhikEsari Jeeyar was a brilliant AchAryan.
He wrote some times commentaries , which were some what
at variance with the upadEsams of poorvAchAryAs .Out of
the thoughtful consideration to the great genius of 
VaadikEsari Jeyar , MaNavALa Maamunigal salutes 
this commentary as " yEthamil panneerAyiram " or
the blemishless commentary of 12,000 granthams .

Daasan, Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan