mudhalvanai pAdiya mudhalAzhwArgaL-2

From the Bhakti List Archives

• October 22, 1997


Respected sri vaishNavALs,
SrimAn vEnkata nAthArya kavitArkika kEsari /
vEdAntAchArya varyOmE sannidatthAm sadAhridi //

poigaimuni bhoothathAr pEyAzhwAr thaN porunalvarunkurukEsan vittuchitthan/
tuyya kulasEkaran naM pANanAthan thondaradippodi mazhisaivandhajothi/
vaiyamellAm maraiviLanga vALvElEndhum mangaiyarkOnenRivargaL
magizhndhupAdum/
seyyatamizh mAlaigaL nAm theLiyavOdhith theLiyAdha maRainilaNgaL
theliginRomE/ (from AdhikAra sangragam by Srimad vEdAntha Desikan)

(Continued from part 1.......)

.... So, they had come to Thirukkovilur and each of them had a separate
Darshan of Trivikraman (the Lord who appeared as vAmanan, a small
brahmachari boy, took viswaroopam and measured the entire universe in one
step in vAmanAvatAram) called "UlagaLandha perumAL" and obtained His
katAksham. 
Due to Heavy rain, poigaiAr had to take shelter in a small narrow koodam(
hall/verandAh) of a house nearby, and being exerted himself so much due to
walking, lied down in that place; After some time, BhoodhaththAr knocked
the house and requested if he can be accommodated due to heavy rain
outside.
Being a bhakta, (a) bhaktA does not see who asks for; He offers help as
long and as much as he can even if it amounts to more inconvenience to him-
a lesson we all have to learn) he welcomed bhoodhaththAr lovingly saying"
Inside, there is place for one man to lie down; but two can sit; please
come in  "(oruvar padukkalAm; iruvar amaralAm). After formal introduction,
it took little time to realise that they are birds of the same feather; and
they talked and discussed about emberumAn's leelA's and guNAs. There is yet
another knock and there stands our pEyar asking for a favour to accommodate
him due to heavy downpour. Not surprisingly, both bhaktAs said in chorus
"Please come in; We can stand and accommodate you also" (oruvar padukkalAm;
iruvar amaralAm; moover niRkalAm). It is in Giving that we receive; 
All three joined themselves in discussing Glorious attributes of
Trivikraman Sriman nArAyaNan and were deeply excited to describe what each
one of them felt and feel towards their (our) Lord. They felt happy
exchanging information of various sthalam(temples) visited by them and were
getting more and more excited to know from one another their great
anubhavangaL. 
While they were standing all the time (in a space that is just sufficient
for only three people to stand) discussing namperumAls' nityakalyANa guNas,
suddenly they found themselves cramped; and they could not even move about;
It was real sqeezing against each other; They were perplexed as to why all
of a sudden, there is less space as if there are more than three persons; 
And there appeared (with the help of their Divine vision blessed by the
Lord Sriman nArAyaNan), sakshAth sriman nArAyaNan (chathur bhujam, chandra
roopam, sanghu, chakram, Bright ThirumaN and srichoorNam on His beautiful
forehead; pattu peethAmbharam, karpoora vasam, (Brothers, Are yous eyes not
welled with tears with pErAnandham; I am sure they are) ...
Three AzhwArs were literally crying, tears rolling down their cheeks, Goose
pimples all over their bodies; Chests expanded as if they are going to
burst with full of happiness; Their palms were glued to each other; and
they were feeling highly elated; 
Each one of them (one by one) sang 100 poems(pasurams) flowing from their
mouths as if they are clear "neerOdai", stream of river; BhagavAn listened
to them with His full concentration and satisfaction all their pasurams and
after blessing them, disappeared. 
They always went together to other temples, and 
On their way, the three azhwArs also were blessed with 1. a darshan of
sitapiratti, lakshmana, bharatha, sathrukna, hanumathsametha Sri
Ramachandra at Ayodhdhi, 2. a darshan of Lord ThiruvEnkadamudaiyAn down the
hill (not at tirumala, but at tirupathi), when they hesitated to step on
the Hill and turned back; such a place is called "AzhwAr theertham" even
today. 3. Offering a charkAyudhA to Vishnuvarthanan, a king at kanchipuram
for winning a battle. and 4. later, joining with another azhwAr, by name
Thirumazhisai azhwAr (on their way), about whom we will see in
the next post.

A Glance at their marvellous compositions:
1.poigaiAzhwAr composed the first 100 pAsurams "mudhal thiruvandhAdhi"
(andhAdhi means the first word of one verse will be last word of the
previous verse )starting with the first one:
vaiyam thagaliyA, vArkadlE neyyAga/ veyyakkadirOn viLakkAga/
sudarAzhiyAn adikkE soottinEn son mAlai/ Idar neenghugavE enRu/

Meaning:Lord nArAyaNa, who holds the Divine chakrAyudha, is the cause of
this wonderful universe and the seas I am singing these mAlai(Garland) of
verses(pAsurams) and dedicating to Him, whose vision, I had in the light of
the lamp of the earth, and oil being the seas, the sun being the source of
the light;  
 
2.bhoodaththAzhwAr composed the second 100 pAsurams "irandAm
thiruvandhAdhi" starting with the first one:
anbE thagaliyA, ArvamE neyyAga/ inburugu sindhai idu thiriyA/
naNpurugi GnAna chudar viLakku EtrinEn/Gnana thamizh purindha nAn/

meaning:Here, it is the love as the lamp and involvement as the oil and
azhwAr says" I dedicate myself to the service of the lord, by singing this
song that blesses wisdom(GnAna), with love as the lamp, endearing
involvement as the oil(Ghee), and knowledge as the wick of the torch". 

3.PEyAzhwAr composed the third 100s called "moonRAm thiruvandhAdhi", with
the first one as follows:
thirukkaNdEn, ponmEni kaNdEn- thigazhum/arukkan Ani niRamum kaNdEn-seruk
kiLaRum/ ponAzhi kaNdEn puri sangham kai kaNdEn/ 
en Azhi vaNNan pAl inRu/ 
What a song! AzhwAr just says:" I found the Glorious, GOLDEN form of the
Lord. I have seen the Glory of Sri and nArAyaNa and His beauty and His Sea
colour, His brightness and brilliance like the Sun and His sanghu (Divine
Conch) on one hand and chakrA (Discuss) on the other;"

AzhwAr thiruvadigaLE saraNam
Ram Ram
adiyEn madhavadAsan