Fun chain reaction

 What fun GOD must be having just got the ball rolling. A little child missing her mother gets anxious and approaches her grand mother and ...m.......

Narayana

 This must have been the idol seen by Ramanujacharya in the caves when he was on the tour to the puri jaganatha temple on his way back from Kashmir.

Munnai irundu.

 – AzhwAr enjoyed his love and became mad. The [overwhelming] bliss he acquired was so much that it would nullify the svarUpam of both emperumAn and AzhwAr; to control that flow and pacify AzhwAr, ISvaran withdrew himself a little bit from the union with AzhwAr. Still, since AzhwAr got separated from emperumAn, that separation will not stop until having its impact [on AzhwAr]; being overwhelmed with grief, like a person who lost his wealth along with the bag will open and check everything which resembles his bag [AzhwAr too checks everything which resembles emperumAn]; as said in thiruvAimozhi 1.7.2 “vaippAm marundhAm” (wealth and medicine – goal and means), for AzhwAr, emperumAn is the wealth; thus, when AzhwAr sees objects which resemble emperumAn or objects which are related to emperumAn, he considers them to be emperumAn himself and checks closely only to find out that they are not emperumAn and unable to give up, becomes pained by that.

[Is there any one who suffered like this?] As said in SrI rAmAyaNam AraNya kANdam 60.35 “kvachith udh bhramathE vEgAth kvachith vibhramathE balAth | kvachith maththa ivAbAthi kAnthA anvEshaNa thathpara:” (SrI rAma who is searching for sIthA, is looking around and looking above; at one place he looks around in all directions with his ability, at other place he looks like a mad man), after getting separated from pirAtti, perumaL out of great grief, roams around looking above, stops after some time even unable to doing so, going from tree to tree, and asking “did you see maithili?”, searching in every river – AzhwAr is now going through the same grief as SrI rAma. The mother, seeing her [parAnkuSa nAyaki’s] suffering, speaks about her state and her words, and speaks about her own suffering on seeing her daughter’s suffering, and withdraws; finally emperumAn returns to AzhwAr and pacifies him to conclude this decad.

Each pAsuram is discussed subsequently.

• pAsuram 1
• pAsuram 2
• pAsuram 3
• pAsuram 4
• pAsuram 5
• pAsuram 6
• pAsuram 7
• pAsuram 8
• pAsuram 9
• pAsuram 10
• pAsuram 11

adiyen sarathy ramanuja dasan

maNNai irundhu thuzhAvi – She will search with her hands, for all the vastness of earth which was under his divine feet as said in thirunedunthANdagam 5 “maN muzhudhum agappaduththu ninRa endhai” (my father who stood having all earth under his divine feet). She likes the earth only due to its relationship with bhagavAn; but his relationship is not specific to single entity/object. [Was there anyone who was attached to places related to bhagavAn?] SrI rAmAyaNam bAla kANdam 29.22 “mayAthu bhakthyA thasyaiva vAmanasya upabhujyathE” (Due to my devotion to vAmana, I have an attachment to this land). SrI rAma asked sage viSvAmithra “What is this beautiful hermitage which is in front of us?” and sage viSvAmithra replied “Previously, this place known as sidhdhASrama, was inhabited by SrI vAmana; after he arrived here, out of devotion towards him, I would often just stay here with great attachment to this land”. Those who have attachment towards bhagavAn will not let go [of such objects that are related to him] as said in mahAbhAratham AraNya parvam “vishNur mAnusha rUpENa chachAra vasudhAthalE” (vishNu assumed the human form of chakravarthi thirumagan (son of dhaSaratha chakravarthi) and wandered on this earth).irundhu – It appears that, before this state [of being seated], she was going through agony and was standing, walking etc in a disorderly manner.thuzhAvi – It appears that she cannot let go of the earth; Like a person with piththa (a type of imbalance in bile fluid) cannot take his hands off sandalwood paste [which gives coolness to the body]; if takes his hands off, he will be affected with over-heating of his body.

While they are looking at her and thinking “she looks confused”, she is looking at them and saying “are you confused?” [she is properly engaged thinking about vAmana and has become bewildered, while they are not thinking about emperumAn and being clear].

vAmanan maN idhu ennum – She says “Isn’t this vAmana’s earth?”. She says “isn’t this gandha (fragrance) from the divine feet [of vAmana]?”. Earth is famously known as “gandhavathi pruthivI” (Earth has fragrance); but she (parAnkuSa nAyaki) knows that it is due to the relationship with bhagavAn who is known as “sarvagandha:” (source of all fragrance). She says “He begged and made it his own”. When it is his, he need not give it to her as he gave it to indhra; when it is his, it naturally belongs to her too. It is not possible to get her away from searching the earth saying “It does not belong to him”.idhu ennum – When it is

prathayaksham (perceivable by the eyes), do you still have doubt about the ownership of the earth? While she can perceive now, what happened in the past [vAmana measuring the world], she cannot [physically] see emperumAn, who measured it, now.viNNaith thozhudhu – As she was able to perceive now, what happened in the past, she is also able to perceive the interactions of the other [spiritual] world right here. As said in “akkarai, ikkarai” (there, here), for them [AzhwArs], even here [in this material realm], the other [spiritual] world will be visible clearly; just like, for us, even there [spiritual realm], this material realm will be clearly visible. Some (dharmaputhra/yudhishtra and others) saw paramapadham when they were in the ASramam of sage ArshtishENa. Due to having same name [vyOma (sky), paramavyOma (spiritual sky)] and UrdhvAkAram (being in higher position), parAnkuSa nAyaki worships this sky as paramapadham.avan mEvu vaikuntham – Unlike this place where he united with me and separated, SrIvaikuNtam is an abode where he never leaves. Highlights the difference between avathArams [which have specific time frame] and his presence in paramapadham [which is eternal]; and her not wanting to lose him [like he is always in paramapadham].kai kAttum – Thinking about his singular form there and her state of not being to enjoy him there, becoming weak, unable to speak, she will simply point to that direction. Thinking about the presence of nithyasUris [eternally free souls] in paramapadham and about her own nature to be like them, yet not having that, becoming weak, becomes incapable of speaking further [and just shows by sign language].

• kaNNai uNNIr malga ninRu – Tears start flowing from her eyes when she thinks about not being able to enjoy him eternally in paramapadham unlike avathArams [which are time bound].
• kadal vaNNan ennum – He made her go mad by manifesting his [beautiful] form; she too highlights how he made her go crazy. His presence there resembles the embodiment of a dark sea properly – she talks about that.
• annE – She is crying out “Oh mother!” out of great agony. It can also be “mannE”.
• en peNNai – As said in “yuvathiSchakumAriNi” (one who is both a youth and child – the transition stage), she is not yet matured to be united with emperumAn.
• peru mayal seydhArkku – He gave more agony to her than the agony of those who are in separation from him. She only looked at objects similar to him and grieved [Here, the distinction between AzhwAr and other nAchchiyArs like sIthA, ANdAL is highlighted. They did not suffer as much as AzhwAr did in separation].
• en seygEn – Shall I bring him to her to relieve her from her agony? Shall I make her realize that she should wait until he arrives?
• pey vaLaiyIrE – Oh ones with bangles! Like those who remain without wetting their feet even in great flood, you are remaining firmly with your bangles! Can you tell me how you retain your bangles? I will also try to apply that to my daughter [In traditional literature, it is shown that when in sorrow of separation, one becomes weak and the bangles will slip from the hands].

ayarkkum – (unable to see objects which resemble or relate to him, she) faints

(on gaining consciousness, thinking that “he will not come in this state”)

suRRum – in all directions

paRRi nOkkum – repeatedly sees;

(as he is not visible, thinking that he is staying far)

agala – stretching (the eyes)

nIL nOkkuk koLLum – sees for long;

viyarkkum – (unable to locate him even there, out of anger in love) sweats a lot;

mazhai pOlE – like rain

(flowing tears, pushed out by the fire of anger)

kaN – upto the eyes

thuLumba – filled with

vem – revealing the inner heat

uyir koLLum – breathes heavily;

mey – (unable to bear the heat) the body, unable to sustain

sOrum – becomes very tired;

peyarththum – further

(Since the desire pushes her to speak)

kaNNA – Oh krishNa (who is easily approachable by ladies at all times)

enRu – as

pEsum – calls out;

(thinking that he arrived on hearing that name)

perumAnE – Oh my lord (who favours me more than I can imagine)

vA – shall you come?

enRu – as

kUvum – calls out;

mayal – (in this manner) causing madness

peru kAdhal – having great love

en pEdhaikku – for my disobedient daughter

val vinaiyEn – most sinful me (who sees her in such suffering)

en seygEn – what shall I do? Implies – Shall I bring the lord who refuses to come? or shall I tolerate this suffering of my daughter

Sonnaal

 sonnaal virOdhamithu aagilum solluvEn kENminO,

ennaavil in_kavi yaanoruvarkkum kodukkilEn,
thennaa thenaavenRu vaNdu muralthiru vEngadatthu,
ennaanai ennappan emperumaanuLa NnaagavE.       3.9.1

In the decad beginning with "SonnAl virOdham idu",
Azhwar makes it crystal clear that while praising
human beings and demigods [devathAntharam] can bestow
on us only passing ephemeral pleasures ("Chittrinbam")
[which again is due to the Lord?s mercy on them] it is
only the Lord's praises which can confer upon us
everlasting Bliss ("andamil pErinbam") which will
enable us enjoy Him as well serve Him  at His Lotus
feet forever and ever and no looking back thereafter.
He would also confer the welfare of ours in this world
what He deems fit for us so that there is no
interruption of our kaimkaryam towards Him even here. 

AzhWar says.." I know you will not relish and you will
consider me as your enemy for saying these things, Oh
Guys! All of you have been running after material
pursuits; This may not be palatable to you. But,
having known that you are going to ultimately lose it
and I can not bear to see that, I am saying this: that
is : Don?t sing about anyone else except Emperumaan
Sriman Narayanan. I will offer my poems to only Him,
who is the unbounded limitless Bliss. With my tongue,
I will NOT sing anyone else. My Emperumaan, who is
like the Big Elephant at TirumalA is My dear Father;
To Him only, I will offer my Sweet poems and no one
else"; AzhwAr, in this decad of Thiruvaaimozhi 3.9, advises

us, the materialists and the "earthly" persons NOT TO
SING IN PRAISE OF ANY OTHER PERSON except Emperumaan,
Sriman Narayanan. This includes demigods as well. He
calls all samsaaris and tries to correct them by
telling "When the JeevAthman is His servant and is His
Property, please do not let yourself talk and praise
other non-permanent people. He also feels extremely
happy about himself and his fortunate birth for being
blessed with the capacity to sing in praise of the
Lord Sriman Narayanan amongst other persons in this
world (like us) who have totally forgotten the
Emperumaan and have been singing and praising the
Non-permanent people and the transitory material
things. (Read them as it is most appropriately
applicable to each one of us!)

"Even though it is unpleasant for you (those of you
who waste your time worshipping other deities) to hear
this, I am going to say it, and please listen (for
your own good):  I will not waste my sweet words of
praise on anyone except My Lord who stands like an
elephant in tiruvE'nkaTa malai."

In the phala-Sruti for SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam,
bhIshma tells yudhisThira: [from Sri N Krishnamachar's
writeup]

itIdam kIrtanIyasya keSavasya mahAtmanah   |
nAmnAm sahasram divyAnAm aSesheNa prakIrtitam   ||

Thus the thousand divine names of bhagavAn keSava, the
Supreme Being, Who is worthy of being praised, have
been sung in their entirety".  

Here the choice of the word keSava signifies that He
is the Creator of Siva and brahma; mahatmA refers to
His being the Supreme Person;  the term divya
signifies that these thousand nAma-s are worthy of
being recited both in this world and in parama-padam;
and the word kIrtanIyasya emphasizes that He alone is
worthy of being praised.  

Meaning of this verse thus means: Some may take
offense, yet I shall say it, please listen, my songs
are for no one but my ruler, my master, the Lord of
Thiruvengadam!"

Why does the Azhvaar feel the above may cause offense
to some?  To answer this question think of a commoner
going about telling everyone that he has no romantic
interest towards the crown princess.  Why would anyone
want to do this?  There is no need to express this
lack of desire.  In fact expression of such
disinterest may even provoke retribution from the
royal court censuring his audacity. Why state the
obvious?  Yet, the Azhvaar states the obvious.  Why? 
To guide the rest of us who seem to get confused from
time to time.(The princess analogy is from Sri
Uttamoor Swamy?s commentary)

why is that Sriman Narayanan alone is the One to be
worshipped and praised? Does Veda say and declare
that? Does a vaidIka accept?For this query: Sri
Alavandhar answers: [asking the question himself?]The
answer verse is of Stotra Ratna of ALavAnDAr to
understand the significance  of  Sriya: Pathi Sriman
Narayanan. Our Acharya asks the question and then
explains  the eternal and sacred  principle of the
Divya Dampathis this way:

ALavandhaar asks: "Who is the Lord of Sri Devi? What is the resting place of Satva Gunas? Who is the Lotus eyed Lord?Who is called the Purushottaman by the Smrithis and Sruthis?Who is the one in whose crore of a part the entire universe with its Chetanas and Avhetanas find their dwelling? He answers these rhetorical questions subaequently and says : O Narayana! Tvadhanya: Ka: There is no one besides You that deserves these Naamas and attributes. 

Not.

 

Pugazhum

Highlights from thirukkurukaip pirAn piLLAn‘s introduction

pugazhum – After inviting his heart and his heart-like devotees who are desirous in kainkaryam to enjoy thiruvEnkamudaiyAn, and while engaging in enjoying him, in-between, AzhwAr enjoyed thirumalai (divine hill) seeing its most enjoyable nature, and then enjoying by singing about thiruvEnkatamudaiyAn having everything as his body (being the in-dwelling soul of everything), his nature of not being touched by the defects of the entities he pervades and his being together with divine forms, ornaments, weapons, consorts, servitors etc.

Highlights from nanjIyar‘s introduction

In fourth decad – emperumAn manifested his all-pervading nature to AzhwAr to fulfil his prayer of wanting to serve and AzhwAr becomes very excited. emperumAn pervades and has as his wealth, all entities such as the great elements (earth, water, fire, air and ether), the result of such elements (in variegated forms), illuminous objects, tasteful objects, songs etc which are pleasing to the ears, purushArthams (goals) such as mOksham etc, brahmA, rudhra et al, the progenitors. Not only he is pervading them all without being affected by their defects, he is also having the glories due to his distinguished forms. Meditating upon such emperumAn who is the lord of SrI mahAlakshmi, since those who meditate upon his auspicious qualities would become very weak [due to being separated from such great personality] as said in periya thiruvandhAdhi 34 “kAlAzhum nenjazhiyum kaNsuzhalum” (my legs become weak and unable to stand, heart is melting and eyes spinning) and thus being unable to serve physically and as said in thiruvAimozhi 4.3 decad “kOvai vAyAL“, emperumAn would accept even AzhwAr’s words (desiring for various kainkaryams) as kainkaryams performed, AzhwAr engages in vAchika kainkaryam (service by words) by glorifying him using the words that identify his wealth as himself (the one who has such wealth).

Highlights from vAdhi kEsari azhagiya maNavALa jIyar‘s introduction

In fourth decad – Since nArAyaNan who is always with all chEthana (sentient beings) and achEthana (insentient beings) is the recipient of the kainkaryam (service) which was desired by AzhwAr in the previous decad, AzhwAr meditating upon his all pervading nature, highlights the following aspects:

1. being the prakAri (in-dwelling soul) of all the great elements and their variegated forms
2. being the prakAri (in-dwelling soul) of the transformed forms of the great elements
3. being together with distinguished forms
4. being the prakAri (in-dwelling soul) of distinguished objects such as precious gems etc
5. being the prakAri (in-dwelling soul) of tasteful sweet items
6. being the prakAri (in-dwelling soul) of the various sounds in the form of vEdham, gAnam (songs) etc
7. being the prakAri (in-dwelling soul) of purushArthams such as worldly pleasures, liberation etc
8. being the prakAri (in-dwelling soul) of the important personalities of this world such as brahmA et al
9. being the prakAri (in-dwelling soul) of all such entities
10. still not being affected by the defects of the objects he pervades

Meditating upon these aspects, AzhwAr  performs vAchika kainkaryam (service by words), by glorifying his inseparable nature from all entities, using the names of the entities he pervades which are much like his divine names.

Highlights from periyavAchchAn piLLai‘s introduction

See nampiLLai‘s introduction.

Highlights from nampiLLai‘s introduction

Previously, AzhwAr craved to serve saying in thiruvAimozhi 3.3.1 “ozhivil kAlamellAm udanAy manni vazhuvilA adimai seyya vENdum“; Iswara manifested his sarvAthmabhAva (being the soul of everything) to him to fulfil all his craving. But, both will remain unfulfilled, since emperumAn would not engage him in service and AzhwAr would not serve him. emperumAn is of the nature as said in mahAbhAratham udhyOga parvam 87.13 “… nachEchchathi janArdhana:” (janArdhana is desireless in accepting anything), he is easily worshippable and will be satisfied with whatever he gets. AzhwAr’s love is unending love; when he manifested his all-pervading nature to fulfil his cravings, AzhwAr starts meditating upon his auspicious qualities instead of engaging in service and became as said in periya thiruvandhAdhi 34 “kAlAzhum nenjazhiyum kaNsuzhalum” (my legs become weak and unable to stand, heart is melting and eyes spinning). And emperumAn is of the nature that he will accept AzhwAr’s [loving] words as all types of kainkaryams as seen in thiruvAimozhi 4.3.2 “punaiyum kaNNi enadhudaiya vAsagam sey mAlaiyE vAn pattAdaiyum ahdhE” (my collection of words is your garland and your decorative clothes are also the same).

For AzhwAr, bhagavAn‘s true nature, qualities, wealth, pastimes are all enjoyable; instead of enjoying them as seen anywhere, like one would place diamond, pearls etc in a necklace and enjoy, AzhwAr is enjoying all objects by observing them together with bhagavAn and enjoys them. For AzhwAr, bhagavAn’s qualities and wealth are without any difference. Just like the qualities cannot exist or be seen without bhagavAn (who is the abode of such qualities), his wealth too cannot exist or be seen without his presence. Moreover, for a mukthAthmA, even leelA vibhUthi (material realm) is enjoyable since it belongs to emperumAn; whereas it is said in chAndhOgya upanishath 8.12.3 “nOpajanam smaran” (AthmA will not contemplate about the material body after reaching the spiritual realm), it is only saying that mukthAthmA will not experience the material realm due to karma (bondage). Once, one becomes a mukthAthmA where there is no thoughts that are influenced by karma (bondage), everything will then be seen as owned by bhagavAn and thus will be enjoyable.

In this material realm, some are said unfavourably as in periya thirumozhi 11.6.7 “eNNAdha mAnidaththai eNNAdha pOdhellAm iniyavARE” (It is pleasing whenever I don’t think about those who don’t think about bhagavAn) and others are said favourably as in periya thirumozhi 7.4.4 “pErALan pErOdhum periyOrai orukAlum pirigilEnE” (I will never separate from those great people who recite the names of emperumAn); this is the gyAna dhaSA (state after knowledge has dawned in an individual). But in prApthi dhaSA (in the liberated state), this difference will not be observed and everything will be enjoyable [since everything is owned by bhagavAn]. Though everything is owned by Iswara, some are condemned as in nAnmugan thiruvandhAdhi 53 “pollAdha dhEvaraith thEvarallAraith thiruvillAth thEvarai thEREnmin” (those who are not worthy of seeing, lacking divinity, not with SrI mahAlakshmi – don’t consider them as Gods); when SAsthram is fully analyzed we will observe acceptable and unacceptable aspects. emperumAn blessed AzhwAr with pristine knowledge without any blemishes, so that he can enjoy all his qualities, wealth etc., without any limitation. emperumAn blessed him with ultimate knowledge that he is not disturbed by thoughts that are influenced by his past karma (virtues/vices).

Having seen bhagavAn‘s true nature, forms, qualities etc as shown by him, AzhwAr sees that

• emperumAn has as his wealth all entities such as the great elements (earth, water, fire, air and ether), the result of such elements (in variegated forms), illuminous objects, tasteful objects, songs etc which are pleasing to the ears, purushArthams (goals) such as mOksham etc, brahmA, rudhra et al, the progenitors;
• not only that, he being present in all these entities as antharAthmA (in-dwelling soul) but not being affected by the defects of these entities [unlike jIvAthmA who gets affected] which can be understood clearly through the strength of pramANam (authentic source) as in rig vEdha – muNdaka upanishath “… anaSnannanya: …” (paramAthmA being separate from jIvAthmA does not endure the results of karma unlike jIvAthmA, while both are residing in the body like two birds in a tree) and thus greatly shining;
• in such wealth, just like the words indicating an entity will also indicate the soul in-charge of that entity [for example, if one calls a person named rAma, it applies to both the body and the soul inside the body], the same word also indicates paramAthmA who is the soul of that jIvAthmA;
• seeing that all words, whether distinguished words such as nArAyaNa etc which are unique for bhagavAn or other common words, indicate sarvESvaran only ultimately; being grateful after seeing that the wealth of bhagavAn is not separate from him and looking like garland on shoulder (nicely fitting) and is part of what is to be enjoyed;
• since he is unable to perform all kainkaryams as greatly desired previously;
• bhagavAn too is of the nature that he will accept any service as all services rendered to him as identified in thiruvAimozhi 4.3 “kOvai vAyAL” decad,

AzhwAr engages in kainkaryam through his words (praises), like a person collecting fruits from trees amidst a huge gush of wind [where he will run around with anxiety fetching fruits], he becomes bewildered think “should I say this?”, “should I say that?” and so on. Thus, AzhwAr engages in all kinds of kainkaryams as prayed by him in “vazhuvilA adimai seyya vENdum nAm” (should serve in all aspects without leaving any service).

Each pAsuram is discussed subsequently.

• pAsuram 1
• pAsuram 2
• pAsuram 3
• pAsuram 4
• pAsuram 5
• pAsuram 6
• pAsuram 7
• pAsuram 8
• pAsuram 9
• pAsuram 10
• pAsuram 11

T / V N

 Thondaradippodi Alvar or Vipra Narayana is one of the twelve alwars saints of South India who are known for their affiliation to Vaishnava tradition . The verses of alwar are compiled as naliyeram Divya prabandam and the 108 temples revered are classified as divya desham. Thondaripodi is considered the tenth in the line of the twelve azhwars.

As per Hindu legend, he was born as Vipra Narayana and got devoted to Ranganatha of the Srirangam Ranganathaswamy temple. Since he worshipped even the dust from the devotees of Ranganatha, he attained the name Thondaradipodi.

His works are the Tiruppalli Ezuchi having ten verses and Tirumaalai having forty five verses, both of which are counted among the 4000 stanzas in the Nalayira Divya Prabandam. The works of Thondaradipodi and other azhwars contributed to the philosophical and theological ideas of Vaishnavism. Along with the three Saiva nayanmars, they influenced the ruling Pallava kings of the South Indian region, resulting in changing the religious geography from Buddhism and Jainism to the two sects of Hinduism.

In South-Indian Vishnu temples, Thondaradipodi azhwar has images and festivals associated with him. The Vasantha Utsavam festival is celebrated in Srirangam and for nine days in the garden believed to have been maintained by him. The verses of Thondaripodi and other azhwars are recited as a part of daily prayers and during festive occasions in most Vishnu temples in South India.