Friday, 31 January 2014

MoondrAm thiruvandhAdhi-Paasuram-18



Sri Parthasarathi thunai
Srimathe ramanujaya Namaha
Srimad Vara Vara MunayE Namaha
Sri vAnAchala mahA munayE Namaha
 

Paasuram-18

“vAi mozhindhu vAmananAi mAvalipAl moovadimaN
  neeyaLandhu konda nedumAlE – tAviyanin
  enjA eNaiyadikkE yEzhpirappum ALAgi
  anjA thirukka varul”
" வாய்மொழிந்து வாமனனாய் மாவலிபால் மூவடிமண் 
  நீயளந்து கொண்ட நெடுமாலே -தாவியநின் 
  எஞ்சா  விணையடிக்கே யேழ்பிறப்பு மாளாகி 
  அஞ்சா திருக்க வருள் "
Sri Vanamamalai deivanayaka perumal as vamana moorthy
 vAmanan Ai – In the form of Vamana;
mAvalai pAl – In front of mahabali;
vAi mozhindhu – (childish) uttered some words;
moo adi maN – 3 foot steps of land (begged for);
aLandhu kOnda – measured and got;
nedumAlE – sarvEshvara, Oh! Supreme lord;
enjA – (In beauty) no shrinking;
tAviya – leaped;
nin eNai adikkE – for your 2 divine feet;
yEzh pirappum – In all the 7 births;
Al Agi – becoming the servant;
anjAdhu erukka -  be without fear;
nee aRul – you please grace me; 


Introduction 

(vAi mozhindhu) you who do not allow your property to go astray should take control of me and grant me your divine service and remove all the fear in my mind that arises due to the hurdles in this samsara says azhvar 

Commentary 

(vAmananAi vAi mozhindhu) Oh! Supreme Lord you hid your true nature and posed to be a small vAmana and stood in front of mahabali begging for 3 feet of land. 

(mAvalipAl moovadimaN nee aLandhu koNda nedumAlE!) You begged for 3 feet of land as a small boy and once it was granted stretched yourself as Trivikrama to measure all the 3 worlds; 

(nedumAlE) You are sarvEshvaran (Master of all) as you placed your divine feet on everyone's head.  Though you could have easily killed mahabali and granted Indra his property due to your bhakthavatsalyam, you subdued yourself and stood like a beggar in front of mahabali.

 (tAviya nin enjA enaiaddikE) to that 2 divine feet which measured the worlds effortlessly, that which belongs to the  remarkable master, that which has an everlasting ultimate beauty and those 2 that match only each other; 
 The "Ekaram" refers to anaryArhasEshatvam – surrendering only to those divine feet; 
Since only those divine feet touched all our heads; and since it alone belongs to the vaguththa sEshi (unchangeable master) and due to its mesmerizing divine beauty there is no chance that one will leave these and surrender to any other feet; Like the toddler admiring the breast of the mother more than any other part of her body a devotee/prapanna cherishes only the divine feet of the lord more than any other part of His divine body; 

(yEzh pirappum ALAi) Doing divine service for all the births to come; 
Swamy nammazhvar reiterates the same, "ozhivil kAlamellAm vudanAi manni vazhuvilA adimai seyya vEndum nAm" [Thiruvaimozhi 3-3-1]
JitantE stotra declares"In all my births I aspire only for vaishnavatva"
Sri Andal says, "ERRaikkum yEzh yEzh piravikkum vundannOdu vuRROmE AvOm vunakkE nAmAt seyvOm" 

(anjAdirukka aRul) Please allow me to live devoid of fear. 

What is azhvar's fear?  Stirred by the distractions in the samsara there is always a fear of loosing the divine service.  So peyazhvar here prays to Sri Vamana bhagavan to remove his fear and grant him uninterrupted divine service.  If the Lord does that azhvar is ready for any number of births.  But why atall azhvar wants to take more births?  We are all afraid of snakes because it is poisonous but a person immunized and treated and capable of getting over the effect of the poison doesn't mind the snake bitting him and demonstrate it like a fun game to the spectators.  Similarly Life in this world is filled with hindrances and hurdles but for those who have been treated with divine grace of the lord taking birth is never a problem and it is like enjoying in the divine abode of the Lord.

Interesting points from DivyArthdeepikai of kanchi swamy

In this paasuram azhvar quotes vamana avatara since that was when the lord went begging to uphold His property.  Azhvar is one another property of the Lord now azhvar begs the Lord to take Him under His possession.  Is it not a known fact that the Lord is the master and azhvar His servant?  The fear of azhvar here is due to the hurdles (tapathrayam) in the samsara he may loose his thirst for the divine service to the supreme Lord.   Thereby azhvar prays to the Lord to grace him to remove his fear and keep him ever in His service.
 

Azhvar emperumAnAr Jeeyer thiruvadigalE sharaNam
Jeeyar thiruvadigalE sharNam

Thursday, 30 January 2014

MoondrAm thiruvandhAdhi-Paasuram-17



Sri Parthasarathi thunai
Srimathe ramanujaya Namaha
Srimad Vara Vara MunayE Namaha
Sri vAnAchala mahA munayE Namaha
 

Paasuram-17

“sendra nAl sellAdha senkaNmAl engalmAl
  endranAl ennALum nALAgum- endRum
  eravAdha endhai enaiyadikkE ALAi
  maRavAdhu vAzhththuga en vAi”
"சென்றநாள் செல்லாத செங்கண்மா லெங்கள்மால் 
 என்றநா லெந்நாளும் நாளாகும் -என்றும்
 இறவாத  வெந்தை யிணைய டிக்கே யாளாய் 
 மறவாது வாழ்த்துகவென் வாய்." 
Thiruvallikeniyaan thiruvadi
senkaNmAl engaL mAl endRa nAL – if a day arises when, ‘It is realized that the red lotus eyed Krishna is filled with immense love towards us’
sendRa nAL – past days;
sellAdhA (nAL) – days to come;
ennALum – All days;
nAL Agum – All are good days;
endRum eRavAdha endhai – my master who is immortal;
enai adikkE – to the 2 divine feet;
ALAi – surrender;
maRavAdhu – without forgetting;
en vAi vAzhththuga – Let my mouth praise;

Introduction

Since the Lord is always accompanied by the divine mother, I will not have any hinderance in attaining the result.  If there is a day when I realize His involvement with me, then all the days before and after become useful days.  Going forward let my mouth never endingly talk his praise.

Commentary

(sen kaNmAl engaL mAl endRa nAL sendRa nAL sellAdha ennAlum nALAgum)  If there comes a day when I realize that that red lotus eyed sarvEsvaran, graced me with his cool eyes and showered his love on even people connected to me, then not only this day when my knowledge blossomed but all those past days that prepared me for this flowering and all those days that are going to follow becomes very important days in my life.  So irrespective of the past or present or future every day in my life is meaningful and cherishable, since past ended in this day and future starts from this day of jnanavikAsam (blooming of knowledge) that leads to ultimate happiness.

In the second half of the paasuram peyazhvar explains how he is going to spend rest of his days.

(endRum eRavAdha endhai) “bhoothAnAm yO avvyaya: pithA:” (eternal father of all the jeevas) my father

(eNai adikkE ALAi) One lotus foot of the divine Lord can be compared only to His other lotus Foot.  Each foot is comparable only to the other.  And I am a humble servant of his divine feet.

(en vAi maRavAdhu vAzhththuga) Let my mouth sing mangalasasanam to Him perpetually. 

Though Azhvar here explicitly tells only about singing his praise, it can be inferred that he is aspiring to do divine service to the Lord with all his three karanas-Mano (by mind), vAk (by speech) and kAyam (physically).

Interesting points from DivyArthdeepikai of kanchi swamy

Azhvar in this paasuram declares that once we attain the realization then not that day but the days spent before and those to come all become good days.  How is it possible?  If a pauper suddenly gets a lot of wealth he then forgets the pain he has undergone in the past and feels as if he has enjoyed all through his life. Once the stomach is filled completely the days of hunger never come to our mind.  Similarly azhvar says once I have reached the Lord my days of sorrow spent all are good as it has led me to today.  Now that I have got my realization the days to come are all going to be good.  No one who is happy today will think that his days to come will be filled with sorrow.  It is human nature to believe that we are going to remain with the same name, fame and happiness ever.  So azhvar in this paasuram says that since the past ended in today and today is the start for the following days all my days are cherishable once I have attained the Lord’s divine feet.


Azhvar emperumAnAr Jeeyer thiruvadigalE sharaNam
Jeeyar thiruvadigalE sharNam