SrI:
SrImatE rAmAunjAya nama:
SrImath varavara munayE nama:
In the 14th pAsuram, AndAL wakes up the the bhAgavathOththmai, “nAvudaiyAy”. The greatness of this gOpikai was that she was blessed with fine speech (thirunAvIr padaiththavaL). While she was the one who said she would wake up all the other damsels, she herself fell asleep and was being woken up now (ungaLai munnam yezhuppuvAn vAy pEsum). As the waking up of the young gOpikAs continues, they get ready to sing the glories of the beautiful emperumAn who is adorned with His shankhu-chakra divyAyudhangaL. Below are glimpses of thiruppAvai vyAkyAnam explaining: nAvudaiyAy’s vAk vaibhavam and the majestic shankha-chakra with which emperumAn bestows His darshan.
The glories of her exquisite oral grace
நாவுடையாய் என்னை க்ஷேபித்துக்கொண்டாகிலும் வருகிறதென்னென்ன “நாரிக்வேதவிநீதஸ்ப நாயஜுர் வேததாரிண:”என்றும் “நூநம்வ்யாகரணம் க்ருத்ஸ்நம்” “ஸம்ச்ரவேமதுரம் வாக்யம்” என்றும்- நீயெல்லாம் படுத்தினாலும் உன்பேச்சிலினிமை கேட்கும்படி நாவீறுடையவளன்றோ.
The greatness of nAvudaiyAy’s vAk (speech) is compared to the following-
thiruvadi’s vAk vaibhavam-
When separated from SrI sithai pirAttiyAr and when looking for Her in the forests, SrI rAma and SrI lakshmaNa arrived at a place called pampA saras. Upon detecting the presence of the two mighty brothers, thinking they might be sent by vAli, sugrIva sent SrI hanumAn to check on them. When hanumAn saw the two brothers, he introduced himself saying that he was the son of vAyu, the minister of sugrIva and was sent to inquire about who the two brothers. Hearing this, SrI rAma turned to lakshmaNa, asking him to respond carefully (with jAkrathai). Our AchAryAs question why SrI rAma should ask lakshmaNa to respond carefully when hanumAn was actually talking to SrI rAma. It is beautifully explained here that this was so because per conventions, a minister (manthri) must always be reciprocated by a person commensurate to his level, i.e. another minister. Hence, lakshmaNa was asked to respond. Moreover, he was asked to respond with care. SrI rAma said so because the utterances of hanumAn reflected extraordinary brilliance. SrI rAma celebrates the vAk vaibhavam of hanumAn, saying –
“nAn rigvEda vinItasya nA yajurvEda dhArina:|
nA sAma vEda viduSha: shakhyam Evam vibhAsitum ||”
SrI rAma says that not a non-scholar of the rig, sAma and yajur vEda can speak like this (na arigvEda…na ayujurvEda…). This double negation implied the positive. SrI hanumAn was an exemplified scholar marked by the knowledge of all the vEdAs and his speech was illustrative of this. Thus, SrI rAma, who is glorified as “vAkmi SrImAn”, glorifies the vAk vaibhavam of SrI hanumAn. Our AchAryAs comment here that a vidvAn celebrates another vidvAn!
swAmi manavALa mAmunigaL’s vAk vaibhavam-
Just as how SrI rAma celebrated the vAk vaibhavam of SrI hanumAn, periya perumAL glorified the exquisite oral grace of manavALa mAmunigaL. On the last day of the bhagavath viShaya kAlakshEpam, namperumAL, greatly impressed with mAmuni’s expositions of the thiruvAmozhi vyAkhyAnam, manifested Himself as a young boy named “aranganAyakam” and appeared in front of the gathering, glorifying swAmi by rendering the beautiful “SrIshailEsha dayApAthram…” thaniyan.
 |
| manavALa mAmunigaL rendering eedu |
Such was the greatness of the bhAgavathOththmai, nAvudaiyAy.
emperumAn with His resplendent disc and conch
சங்கொடு சக்கரம் ஏந்தும் தடக்கையன்
AndAL, in this pAsuram, sings- “shangkodu chakkaram Endhum thadakkaiyan”. When explaining this, several references of emperumAn bestowing darshan with his two majestic divyAyudhangaL are quoted.
“ஆழியொடும் பொன்னார் சார்ங்கமுடைய வடிகளை யின்னாரென்றறியேன்” என்று- அநுபவிப்பாரைப் பிச்சேற்றக்கடவ திருவாழியையும், திருமேனிக்குப் பரபாகமான ஸ்ரீபாஞ்சஜந்யத்தையும், முற்படத்தன்னை யெழுதிக்கொடுத்துப், பின்னை எழுதிக்கொள்ளுகிற திருக்கண்களையுமுடையவனை.
nammAzhwAr’s Vs thirumangai AzhwAr’s anubhavam
In the vyAkhyAnam, it is explained that on one hand, there is one who is completely immersed in enjoying emperumAn’s shankha-chakram while on the other, there is one who says he does not know what it is.
In the vyAkhyAnam, it is explained that on one hand, there is one who is completely immersed in enjoying emperumAn’s shankha-chakram while on the other, there is one who says he does not know what it is.
With no response to his thoodhu to paramapadham in this 8th thiruvAimozhi of the 6th decade, nammAzhwAr in his 9th thiruvAimozhi sings, (thiruvAimozhi 6-9-1)
நீராய் நிலனாய்த் * தீயாய்க் காலாய் நெடுவானாய் *
சீரார் சுடர்கள் இரண்டாய்ச் * சிவனாய் அயனானாய்! **
கூராராழி வெண்சங்கு ஏந்திக் * கொடியேன் பால்
வாராய் * ஒரு நாள் * மண்ணும் விண்ணும் மகிழிவே
“kUrArAzhi veNsangku Endhik * kodiyEn pAl vArAy * oru nAL * maNNum viNNum magizhavE”- AzhwAr requests emperumAn to give darshan with His shankhu and chakram (kUrAzhi vensangku… vArAy). In nampiLLai’s vyAkhyAnam, it is explained that unlike bharathAzhwAn who stayed where he was asked to stay (i.e. in nandhi grAmam, rendering the duties of a King at the kingdom), AzhwAr says he is like lakshmaNa when singing this padhigam, who said he would go to the forest with SrI rAma despite SrI rAma asking him not to come.
Similar to this, in the vibhUti adhyAyam (Chp 11) of the SrI gIthai, arjunA says-
 |
| nammAzhwAr (at thirukkatchi) |
“kirItinam gadinam chakra hastam ichchAmi tvAm drashtum aham tathaiva
tEnaiva rUpEna chatur bhjEna sahasra bAhO bhava vishva mUrtE”.
arjunA, after having seen emperumAn’s mighty universal form, requests SrI kriShNa to appear in His four-armed form. It is here that swAmi nammAzhwAr is compared to arjunA in the AchArya hrudaya grantham.
 |
| thirumangai AzhwAr (at thiruvAli thirunagari) |
“pon Ar sArngam udaiya adigaLai innAr enru ariyEn” (periya thirumozhi 10-10-9). Here, AzhwAr says that he is not able to identify/recognize emperumAn despite His giving darshan in His divya mangaLa four-armed form with His beautiful shankhu-chakra. periyvAchchAn piLLai explains that AzhwAr had fainted, being completely mesmerized in the thoughts of emperumAn.
Thus, it is shown that one AzhwAr desires to see emperumAn with his divyAyudhangaL while the other is not able to see!
Has emperumAn bestowed such darshanam in rAmAvatAram, kriShnAvatAram and archAvatAram?
When doing vichAram on this, our achAryAs present beautiful pastimes.
rAmAvatAram:
At the pampA saras, upon seeing the two divine brothers, SrI hanumAn says,
“AyatA: cha suvrttA: cha bAhava: parighOpamA: |
sarva bhUShaNa bhUShArhA: kim artham na vibhUshitA: ||”
He says, “AyatA:”, which is the plural form of hand. Per grammar, it is the plural form referring to more than two. When analyzing this, our AchAryAs point out that it is not the hands of the two brothers that are being glorified but it is the four-armed form that SrI hanumAn was given darshan of that made him say ‘AyatA:’ when glorifying the beauty of emperumAn’s hands. Further, vAyu, the father of hanumAn had once told him that if, upon seeing someone, he feels uniquely divine and ecstatic (the feeling of one’s bones melting), such a person would be none but the Supreme Lord. After seeing rAma ppirAn, SrI hanumAn really did feel this way. His sincerity and dedication made him the greatest among the devotees of the Lord and hence, SrI hanumAn was bestowed with the katAksham of emperumAn. It is shown explicitly in kambha rAmAyaNam that he later reports to sugrIva that he saw emperumAn with His shankhu-chakrangaL.
At another instance, when rAvaNa died, mandOdhari laments and arrives at the place of death. As she rushed to scold SrI rAma, the sight of the beautiful Lord who showed her His four-armed form led her to glorifying the mighty form; she says-
“tamasa: paramO dhAtA shakha chakra gadAdhara: |
shrIvatsavakshA nityaSrIrajayya: shAshvatO dhruva: ||”
kriShNAvatAram:
Our AchAryAs state that SrI kannan was born with his shankha chakram; as soon as He took birth, He appeared in his beautiful four-armed form, dispelling all darkness.
In periyAzhwAr thirumozhi (2-1), AzhwAr says, “ammanE appUchchi kAttukinrAn”(அம்மனே அப்பூச்சி காட்டுகின்றான்). When showing the abhinayam for this pAsuram, which describes SrI kannan’s transcendental pastimes with his friends, the araiyar flipped his eye-lids, illustrating that kannan used to do this to scare his friends when playing. The araiyar, while demonstrating this, now quickly changed the abhinayam raising his two arms, showing the holding of the shankham and chakram. Seeing this change in araiyar’s expression, emperumAnAr was quick to comment, “embAr neer irundhIrA?” It was indeed embAr in the gathering who had corrected the araiyar. Not only was embAr an expert in shAstrAs but was also adept at abhinayam.
vedAnta dEsikan, in his, yAdavAbhyudhaya grantham, says “sujAta rEkhAtmaja shankha chakram thAmrOdharam tasya…”- when seeing the fruit seller, selling fruits from the forest, SrI kannan desires to eat them. Since fruits were exchanged for grains, He went to the store room at nandagOpan’s thirumALigai and gathered as much as grains His little hands could hold. By the time he walked from the inside to the fruit seller at the gate, there was hardly anything left in His hands. Finally, He dropped whatever was in His hands in her basket. At this time, the lady saw the divine imprints of shankham and chakram in His hand (“sujAta rEkhAtmaja shankha chakram”). Having given Him all his fruits, she was struck with wonder when she noticed at home that her basket was filled with splendid jewels. bhattar, in his rangarAja sthavam, says “taistaishcha rEkhAmayai:”- it is the beautiful shankhu-chakra imprints that are marked in emperumAn’s hands.
periyAzhwAr also says that the shankhu-chakra imprints are also present on emperumAn’s feet such that the AyppAdIs needn’t put kOlam given that SrI kannan’s beautiful shankhu-chakra footprints decorate the streets of AyppAdi with the disc and conch patterns!
archAvatAram:
கையினார் * சுரி சங்கனல் ஆழியர் * நீள் வரை போல்
மெய்யனார் * துளப விரையார் கமழ் நீள் முடி எம்
thiruppAn AzhwAr says “kaiyinAr suri sangkanal Azhiyar” when describing periya perumAL. ananthAzhwAn asks bhattar regarding this- “Does periya perumAL have four hands?”. bhattar replied that thiruppAnAzhwAr was bestowed with transcendental eyes and the kaTAksham to see periya perumAL in the four-armed form with His shankam and chakram; however, with mundane eyes, we are only able to see two.
In this way, our AchAryAs establish that emperumAn is seen with His divyAyudhas at different places.
TRANSLATED from the works of Mūāyirappadi (swAmi Periyavāchchān Piļļai, Ārāyirappadi (swAmi Azhagiya Manavāļā Perumāļ Nāyanār) and the kAlakshEpams of revered vidvAns.
AndAL thiruvadiklaey sharanam | emperumAnAr thiruvadikaley sharanam
No comments:
Post a Comment