Selected Excerpts from MahA VidvAn Sri
U.Ve. PerukkAraNai Swamy ' ThiruppAvai Monograph'
In the previous Paasuram , the gatekeepers were requested to open the doors of NandagOpan's palace so that the Gopis can get inside and wake up King NandagOpan , Queen YasOdhA , Lord KrishNA and Prince BaladEvan , the elder brother of Sri KrishNA .The gatekeepers obliged and the Gopis stand now in front of the bed chambers of each of them and appeal to them to awaken.
Literal Meaning of the Paasuram ( Dr.V.K.S.N.Raghavan):
*******************************************************
Oh King NandagOpA , Our Sire and the one reputed for high charity in
giving away many clothes, abundant water,and large quantity of food! Kindly
awaken ! Oh Queen yasOdhA, the foremost scion among women of sterling
character (lit.who
are slim and firm like Vanjik Kombhu)! Oh Devi, who is the beacon
light (of the whole woman kind ! Please rise up!
Oh Lord of Gods , who grew (into a gigantic form) and pierced
through the space , and measured (with two steps) all the worlds! Please
refrain from sleep and get up! Oh Prince BaladEvA ( the strong and
powerful Lord) adorning the golden anklets of a Hero ! May Your younger
brother and yourself get up without ptrolonging your sleep (uRangEl).
The Inner Meanings of the Paasuram (Sri PBA Swamy)
***************************************************
Here NandagOpar, YasOdhai, KrishNan and BalarAman are sequentially
awakened as symbols of AchAryan, Thiru Manthiram ,
the Meaning of Thiru Manthiram and the Essence of Thiru Manthiram
( AshtAsharam , Moola Manthram ).
The ascendance of NandagOpar in this order of salutation (EmperumAN NandagOpAlA )may sound odd , but he is the NiyAmakan ( commander ) of even the Sarva NiyAmakan ( Our Lord, the controller and commander of one and all).
In this paasuram EmperumAn NandagOpan is identified as performing dhAnam
of Amparam , TaNNIr and sORu . Amparam
stands for AakAsam ( Sri Vaikuntam: ParamAkAsa sabdha Vaachya pradesam
/" nalamanthamillAthOr Naadu "). NandagOpan is invoked FIVE times in ThiruppAvai
(Paasurams 1,16,17,18 and 21) to perform MangaLAsAsanam for His generosity
, parAkramam and wealth.
YasOdhai is awakened next as "kompanArkellAm kozhundhE KulaviLakkE". She is the One , who has the bhAgyam of having the Lord as Her son ( ThiruvilEn yEnonRum peRRilEn, YELLAAM DHAIVA NANGAI YASODHAI PERRAALE ). YasOdhA is the brightest lamp of the GopAla kulam (Kula ViLakku) for enhancing the radiance of " Aayar kulatthinil thOnRum aNi viLakku "( Lord KrishNA). NandagOpan and YasOdhA are extrapolated to the ranks of the Lord and His PirAtti here.
Next KaNNan (YasOdhai iLam singam) is awakened with the appeal ( ampara
mooDaRutthu Ongi ulahaLantha Umbar kOmAnE ! urangAthu yezhunthirAi).
Here, the link between KrishNan and His earlier ThrivikramAvatharam is
made.Thrice in ThiruppAvai , ANDAL refers to ThrivikramAvatharam
( Paasuram 3,17 and 18) as "Ongi UlahaLantha Utthaman , UlahaLantha
Umbar KomAnE and anRivvulaham aLanthAi adip pORRI" . YasOdhai herself warns
the people of Gokulam not to mistake the Kuttik KaNNan as helpless One
and asks them to go find out about His power and soulabhyam from MahA Bali
Chakravarthy
( SiRiyan yenRu yenniLam singatthai ihazhEl KaNDAi , siRumayin vaarthayai
Maavaliyidaic- chenRu kEL ".In ThrivikramAavthAram , His sacred feet touched
every one in the Universe independent of their rank, status , education
or tapas.
KaNNan at Gokulam mingled with the cowherd girls and boys as well as
with kings and sages later at BrundhAvanam and DhvArakai.Thus , this ease
of access (Soulabhyam) is common both to KrishNAvathAram and ThrivikramAvathAram
and the Gopis celebrate this aspect of BhagavAn's kalyANa guNams .
The Gopis awaken KrishNA ; He does not stir.They recognize that He has
to be awakened through His elder brother, BaladEvan and address latter
as the heroic one ( SempoRRk Kazhaladi SelvA Bala dEvA"). They ask the
brothers to awaken together and bless them ( Umpiyum Neeyum uRangEl
).The combined appeal to the BhAgavathOtthaman BalarAman ( AdhisEshAvathAram)
and BhagavAn is for reminding us that BhAgavatha Seshathvam and Bhagavath
Seshathvam are inseperable.
Sri P.B.A. Swamy referred to "Amaparam " earlier as AakAsam
or Sri VaikunTam (ParamAkAsam). The next dhAnam that NandagOpan
is known for is the giving away of water (TaNNIr) for those , who are thirsty.
TaNNIr here stands for Virajai, the sacred river in Sri VaikuNTam.
The One , who bathes people in Virajai is recognized as NandagOpan. "sORu"
is the annam
identified in Upanishad ( annam BrahmEthi vyajAnAth). AchAryan is the
One , who helps us experience BrahmAnubhavam with Saama GhAnam (
ahamanAthOham annAthOham). As Swamy NammAzhwAr recognized ( " Yeduttha
pErALan NandhagOpan " ), the king of Gokulum is equatable to AchAryan.He
had the incomparable wealth of KaNNan as his child and had ParipUrNa
BrahmAnubhavam.
Inner Meanings: Abhinava Desika UtthamUr Swamy
************************************************
In the pancha kaala PrakriyAs , this paasuram is linkable to
the stage of Bhagavath AarAdhanam ,where AdhisEshan and othe Nithya Sooris
are invoked to join the AaarAdhanam for BhagavAn. "SempoRRk Kazhaladi"
identifies with the samarpaNam of
Paadhukai for the Lord (AdhisEshan ) during one stage of the AarAdhanam.
When one porceeds to perform AarAdhanam , the first salutation goes to AchAryans. In Sri Vaikuntam itself , the first salutations are to AchAryAs before approaching the Lord and His dEvis.The awakening (salutation) of the AchAryan in Bhagavath sannidhAnam is covered in this "AmparamE TaNNIrE sORE " paasuram.
Amparam can be split into am+Param . am means beautiful and Param means
ParamAthma Vasthu. Therefore amparam means altogether the sarva VyApi Lord
,Sri VishNu- NaarAyaNan , the AkAra Vaachyan. "TaNNIr " or water is absolutely
essential to grow annam .Hence , "TaNNIr " is UpAyam or Bhakthiroopa
DhyAnam . sORu is parama purushArtham as described in
Upanishad Vidhyais ( Aanandhamaya , Samvarga and VaisvAnara Vidhyais):
the parmaanna Parama Purusha Prabhu is the PurushArtham (Ultimate goal
and end ).
Inner Meanings by PerukkAraNai Swamy ( Selected Excerpts)
**********************************************************
The gopis say : " Oh NandagOpA ! You give away generously food , clothing
and water to all those , who seek them. These are
anithya (perishable items)vasthus .Please grant us as DhAnam , the
food known as Kuttik KaNNan . He is "uNNUm sORu,
Paruhu neer ,Thinnum VeRRilai" for us . He is our Taaraka , Posahaka
BhOgya Nithya vasthu .
The AaypAdi girls had grat attachment to ThrivikramAvathAram. That is why they referred thrice in ThiruppAvai the mysterious deeds of Thrivikraman ( Ongi UlahaLantha, amparam oodarutthu Ongi ulhaLanatha and anRi ivvulaham alanthAi adip pORRI). When One has reverence and attachment for an object , we invoke its name thrice The peace invocation for instance is made thrice in vedhams ( PraNavam ShAnthi: ShAnthi:ShAnthi:).
" SempoRRk Kazhaladi BaladEvA": the Paadhukai , which is embellished with Gold (Kaanchana/SvarNa Paadhukai)of the Lord (PadhukE Hema BhUshithE)is saluted here.
In the previous Paasuram, the three Sri VaishNava Rahasyams were
referred to.In this Paasuram , the MEANINGS of
the three rahasyams are alluded to. Amparam is PraNavam; sORu is "NaarAyaNAya";TaNNIR
is Nama: Sabdham of the Moola manthram. ANDAL uses "Am " , the BhIjAksharam
as a woman through choice of the word Amparam. TaNNIr can be split into
TaNN + Neer ( Cool water fall).The UpAyam of Bhakthi that flows like Tila
Thail TAArai is implied here. Nama: sabdham includes SaraNAgathi.SaraNAgathi
is an angam for Bhakthi and therefore the two upAyams of Bhakthi and Prapatthi
are included by use of the word , "TaNNIr ".Our Lord is "SORu " in
the spirit of Swamy NammAzhwAr's anubhabhavam
( UNNum SORu, Paruhu neer ---).
>From "AmparamE--NandagOpAlA" , AchAryan , who stands in the form of
PithA is invoked. From " KompanArkkellAm--
--YasOdhA ", the Manthram that stands in the role of Mother is invoked.YasOdhA
is the Yasas giving Mother. The Vedam says in this context :"YasO Brahma:"
In "SempoRRk Kazhaladi--Umpiyum Neeyum uRangEL", anugraham from the Lord
and His Tamar (BhAgavathAs) are beseeched.
May the anugraham of the SaraNya Dampathis and our AchAryans bless every one of the electronic sathsanghams in this new Millenium(01/01/01)and bring us closer to Them .
NaarAyaNa , NaarAyana , NaarAyana !
Soodikkoduttha NaacchiyAr ThiruvadigaLE Saranam ,
Sarvam KrushNArpanam asthu
RaamAnuja Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri
SatakOpan
Web page kaimkaryam by R.Venkat