Selected Excerpts from MahA VidvAn Sri
U.Ve. PerukkAraNai Swamy ' ThiruppAvai Monograph'
The Meaning of this Paasuram ( Dr.V.K.S.N.Raghavan)
Oh Lord VaruNA who is the prsding deity of ocean-like burst of
rains! (We pray to you so that ) you please do not make your gift very
small(i.e. be bounteous towards us). We request you (in the form
of clouds) to pour plenty of rains in the world;first you should
get into the womb of the deep seas and take excessive water ( so that even
the sea becomes bereft of water),make thunder (uproar), and go higher up
(in the sky); (the color of ) your body should become as dark as
that of the primordial cause of the world ( Oozhi Mudalvan= Jagath Kaarana
BhUthan); you should become resplendent with lightning, just as the dazzling
discus (Aazhi=Chakram) held on the hand of Lord PadmanAbha with broad shoulders;
you should make a thunderous roar like the conch(Paanchajanyam) held on
the hand of the Lord; you should bring forth rains in abundance without
any cessation,--the rains just like the shower of arrows coming forth in
succession from the bow (Saarangam) of the Lord.;your rains should be for
the good of the world so that the world flourishes ; and ,through your
rains , we will have plenty of water and also happily take the ceremonial
bath during Maarghazhi month. ( Lord VishNu's important weapons--discus,
conch and bow are cited here , in a form of invocation as it were;
and Lord PadmanAbha is indicated as the JagathkAraNan-- the primordial
cause ).
The Inner Meanings of this Paasuram
| Aazhi Mazhaik KaNNA | Oh Venerable AchAryAs , who pour down the rain of Jn~Anam and whose eyes are flodded with the showers of aanandham (bliss) through Bhagavath anubhavam ! |
| Nee onRu kai karavEl | Please bless us with all the meanings of the three rahasyams without holding back any. |
| Aazhiut-pukku | after entering the milky ocean of Upanishads |
| muhanthu kodu | taking the quintessential meanings |
| aarthu yERi | and roaring like a lion |
| Oozhi mudalvan uruvam
pOl mey karutthu |
You (AchAryAs) who have the dark hue of the Lord due to your constant meditation of that dark-complexioned Lord and You who are filled with infinite dayA similar to that of the Lord and who are the embodiment of His compassion (Tanmayathvam) |
| Paazhiyam thOLudai PaRpanAbhan kaiyil Aazhi pOl minni | You who have the radiance arising from your dhivya Jn~Anam |
| Valampuri pOl ninRu athirnthu | You roaring like HayagrIva ghOsham (Jn~Anandha maya vijaya ghOsham) |
| thAzhAthE | thinking that there will be inauspiciousness , if You (as AchAryAs)do not perform upadEsam to your sishyAs |
| Saarngam Udaittha
Sara Mazhai pOl |
showering the Jn~Ana varsham ( torrent of Jn~Anam) like the bhANa Varsham ( the torrent of arrows leaving KodhanDa Raaman's Saarangam bow) |
| Ulahinil Vaazha | For the people of the world to survive and live |
| Mahinzthu peythidAi | please rain (of Jn~Anam) with joy
|
| naangaLum mahizhnthu
Maarghazhi neerAda |
so that we will engage in the most exalted (Maargha seersham
/thalai
siRantha ) act of Prapatthi/SaraNAgathi at Your sacred feet ! |
(Summary ): In the Ongi UlahaLantha Utthaman Paasuram ,ANDAL equated
AchAryAs to "VaLLal Perum PasukkaL" or
the most generous and lofty milk cows.The sishyAs through the anugraham
of these AchAryAs drink the milk of Jn~Anam.
In the 4th(next) paasuram , the AchAryAs are compared by ANDAL to the
dark , rain-baring , monsoon clouds that pour down
Jn~Anam on those , who seek their refuge and uplift them from the taapams
of samsAram and prepare them for Moksha Siddhi
through the sacred rite of aathma-samarpaNam.
SadAchAryAs serving as KaaruNyAmrutha Meghams
Sri P.B. AnnangarAcchAr Swamy(PBA) has given us ten pramAnams
from purAnams and AzhwAr paasurams that effectively compares SadAchAryAs
to rain bearing clouds .At the end of that discourse , Sri PBA Swamy has
quoted the Sanskrit slOkam ,
( LakshmInAthAkhya Sindhou Sataripu jalatha: praapya KaaruNya neeram----DesikEndhra
pramoukai:);this slOkam describes how the KaaLa Megham named Swamy NammAzhwAr
plunged deep into the ocean of DayA known as LakshmInArAyanan
and showered copiously on the mountain peak (Naathamuni) and how those
auspicious waters flowed from there in the form of
two fountains ( UyyakkoNDAr and MaNakkAl Nampi) , which joined to form
the river ( AaLavanthAr) and which entered
into the immense lake of RaamAnujA ; That lake overflowing with Jn~Ana
theertham exited through 74 sluices ( 74 SimhAsana
adhipathis) to bless the samsAris continously .
AchArya RaamAnujA as a Daya-laden rain cloud
adiyEn is reminded of the many passages in Swamy Desikan's YathirAja Sapthathi that eloquently compare AchArya RaamAnujA to the rich daya-laden cloud cooling us ( SamsAris) with and uplifting us through the downpour of divine Jn~Anam :
Sruthi Surabhaya: SuddhAnandha abhivarshuka VaaridhA:
--SlOkam 47
(These clouds have the fragrance of VedAs and shower the purest of
pure bliss all around).
udhgruhNItham upanishadsu nigUDam arTam --
---SlOkam 25
( here AchArya RaamAnujA's hands dipping into the deep ocean of Upanishads
and bringing out their essential meanings (SaarArthams) is described.
SlOkams 30 (paanIya Sindhu:) , 32 ( anthyam varNam
prathayathi), 60 ( (nirucchEdhA Yathipathi DayA
dhivya taDinee --samAplaavayathi/ that never drying GangA pravAham
known as YathirAja"s Daya immerses me
in it ).
Abhinava Desikan's insights
One Illustrative example of the brilliant insights backed up by
Ubhaya VedAntham of Abhinava Desikan
is given below:
The ThiruppAvai vratham observers are ParamaikAnthis ( Those who will not worship anyone other than Sriman NaarAyaNan and will not ask anything for themselves); hence , they will not pray to the rain god VaruNan (DevathAntharam) for boons to bless them with abubdant showers.The Gopis addressed therefore the God of rain as "Aazhi Mazhaik KaNNan " .KaNNan is the name for the adhyakshakan /nirvAhakan (commander) of the rain clouds.He is the antharyAmi of the Meghams.The gopis addressed Him as Jn~Ana VairAgya KaaruNya KalyAna guNa samudhram and Sarva Tanthra Svathanthran and invoked HIM for the copious rain for the Subhiksham (well being ) of the world .
The greatness of ANDAL's reverence for Tamizh language
Sriman PerukkAraNai Swamy points out that ANDAL has used the unique Tamizh letter (Zha) ELEVEN TIMES in this paasuram : Aaazhi , Mazhai , OOzhi , Paazhiyam , thAzhAthE , Vaazha , Maarghazhi , Mahizhnthu ---.The use of letter "Zha" is unique for Tamizh BhAsahi (language) ANDAL's father used it (ZHA) TEN TIMES in 285th Paaasuram of Dhivya prabhandham ( Kuzhal IruNDu--).It looks like the daughter went beyond him in this matter !
This paasuram is a great one that celebrates the glories of SadAchAryans
and their KaaruNyam .There are many other deep meanings that adiyEn could
not include due to the need to keep the postigns brief.adiyEn will be faced
with this dilemma throughout this series of postings and request devotees'
understanding. There is so much more .
The total thirty paasurams of ThiruppAvai have been grouped in
to six sets of five by AchAryAs (5x5+5=30).
These six sets of five focus on the following six topics:
(1) First Five: The ways/steps to perform NOnbhu are described.
(2) Second Five: Maidens , who have recently fallen in love with the Lord are awakened.
(3) Third Five: Those , who are deeply in love with KrishNan for a long time and born in great kulam are awakened.
(4) Fourth Pentad:At NandhagOpan's house , DhwAra PaalakAs, NeeLai and KaNNan are awakened.
(5) Fifth Pentad: The Maidens prepare KrishNa to a state in which He can listen to their appeal .
(6) Sixth Pentad: Krishnan is ready and the Gopis reveal the purpose of their visit and pray for the boons of eternal kaimkaryam .
These sets of six paasuram pentads have also been described to carry five sets of other meanings:
(1) Laksha panchakam (pentad) to salute the five laks of maiden at AaypAdi , who particpated in the vratham .
(2) AvathAra panchakam dealing with the five states of the Lord ( Param in First Paasuram , VyUham in second , Vibhavam in the third, AntharyAmi in the fourth and ArchAvathAram in the Fifth paasuram of today .
(3) The third set of meanings relate to artha Panchakam ( The
Lord, The Jeevan , the means , the Phalan of
SaraNAgathi and the obstacles that stand in
the way of attaining that Moksha Siddhi).
(4) The fourth set of meanings focus on the Karma , Jn~Ana , Bhakthi Yogams and the two ways of Prapatthi Yogam ( Sva Nishtai and AchArya Nishtai).
(5) The fifth level of meanings comes under the title of Kaala panchakam , which is the five divisions of time of the day for a Sri Viashnavan : Abhigamanam ,UpAdhAnam , Ijyai , SvAdhyAyam and Yogam .Please refer to Sri VaishNava Dinasari postings on the Bhakthi list for additional information.
(6) The sixth level of meanings focus on BhAgavatha Svaroopa panchakam :
(a) SathkAra Yogya PradhAnar
(b) SallAbha Yogya PradhAnar
(c) SahavAsa Yogya PradhAnar
(d) Bheethi Yogya pradhAnar
(e) Preethi Yogya PradhAnar (Bhakthi paravasar)
The above are five different kinds of BhaagavathAs known for one or other unique features in Bhagavath- BhAgavatha Bhakthi.
Inview of these glories, ThiruppAvai has assumed the role of a rare dhivya prabhandham .It contains the quintessence of the meanings of the Major Upanishads.
Additional information on artha panchakam concepts and their coverage
in ThiruppAvai Paasurams as well as the deeeper meanings referred to in
this introductory posting for the first set of five paasurams can be accessed
in the 1996 Marghazhi
postings archived in the Bhakthi List under AzhwArs/ANDAL section.Sri
Venkat Iyengar's home page on SrivilliputthUr has also valuable additional
information including beautiful images of ANDAL and RangamannAr.Please
enjoy them. Sri Venkat (adiyen) Iyengar of Bharain has audio
files of the ThiruvallikkENI GOshti headed by Sriman M.A. VenkataKrishNan
Swamy reciting
melodiously the Paasurams of ThiruppAvai in the most traditional manner.Click
here
to listen to them.
Soodikkoduttha NaacchiyAr ThiruvadigaLE Saranam ,
Sarvam KrushNArpanam asthu
RaamAnuja Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri
SatakOpan
Web page kaimkaryam by R.Venkat