MoondrAm thiruvandhAdhi thaniyan vyakhyanam

Sri Parthasarathi thunai

Srimathe ramanujaya Namaha

Srimad Vara Vara MunayE Namaha

Sri vAnAchala mahA munayE Namaha

Moondram ThiruvandhAdhi thaniyan vyakhyanam

mUnRAm thiruvandhAdhi Thaniyan as explained by Sri PiLLai LOkam jeeyar

mrugE vishAka sambhootham nAdhamowni padhAsritham

jnAna yOgAthi sampannam kurukAtyakshamAsrayE

 Thai vishAkam-KurukaikAvalappan

 "SeerArum mAda thirukkOvaloor adhanul

  kArAr karumugilai kAnappukku-OrAth

  thirukkandE nendruraiththa seerAn kazhalE

  vuraik kaNdAi nenjE vugandhu"

(mUndRAm thiruvandhAdhi - Thaniyan)

Thiruvallikeni pEyAzhvar

 This thaniyan was rendered by a shisya of swamy nathamunikal,  kurukaikavalappan, one who learned the bhakthi yoga rahasya from swamy nathamunikal.  The first three azhvars namely poigai, bhoodham, and peiAzhvars have the qualities of parabhakthi, parajnAna and paramabhakthi predominantly gleaming in them respectively and thereby had the special vision to enjoy the bhagavat sAkshAtkaram (divinity in front of their eyes).  All three were so deeply immersed in enjoying the divine qualities of sriyapathi that they all got completely detached from the worldly affairs.  All 3 due to divine grace of Sriman Narayana met at thirukkOvaloor and among them the one born in "mAdamAmayilai" and named as "mahadhAhvayar" and the one who has reached the ultimate paramabhakthi state sung with utmost devotion the divyaprabandham, moondrAm thiruvandhAdhi starting with 'thirukkandEn' visualising the divine beauty of the divine couples in front of him and elaborating the same to one and all.  'Oh! Mind constantly meditate on the divine feet of that great mahan instructs kurukaikavalappan to his mind in this thaniyan.

(seerArum mAda thirukkOvaloor) "seerArum maRaiyAlar niRaindha selvath thirukkOvaloor " [periya thirumozhi 2-10-8].  Here he is referring to the place Thirukkovalur, which is rich in tradition and culture and filled with palaces that host scholars and righteous pious persons.

The other meaning being - Since it is an abode of 'kOvalan who is Ayan' [King who is a cowboy]-it is called as thirukkOvaloor.  Thereby the place has both bhagavata and bhagavat sambhandam (The adjective refers to bhagavatas and the noun refers to bhagavan)

(voor) 'thAnugandha'oor – place cherished by emperuman.  Since the lord enjoyed joining the mudal azhvars in the edaikazhi (corridor) along with his consort and from that day remains in archa roopam showing various kalyana gunas to the world.

(adhanuL) Why did he enjoy squeezing himself along with the mudal azhvars in the corridor?

 Inside resided a rishi who was a sadhanAntaraparan (one who believed in doing sadhana-tapas to attain the lord);

Outside were the samsaris-prayOjanAntaraparam (those who came to the lord to fulfill their wishes);

Mudal azhvars didn't fall into both the above categories.  They are ananyasAdhanar (sriman Narayana is the only means) and ananyaprayojanar (Sriman Narayana is the only goal).  They believed Lord Sriman Narayana to be the upaya (way) and upEya (goal).  So emperuman cherished joining them, even though the place was hardly sufficient for a person to lie down.

 (adhanuL kAnappukku) In such a special place they had a special darshan.  How were they able to see in such darkness? With the help of the light "vayyakadhirOn vilakkAga" (mudal thiru-1) "nanburugi jnAnasudar ERRinEn" (erandam thiru-2)

"varuththum puRaviruL mARRa empoigaipiran maRaiyin kuruththin poruLaiyum senthamizh thannaiyum kootti, ondRath thiriththu andrEriththa thiruvillakkai" (iramanusa nooRRandhAdhi-8)

"eraivanai kAnum edhayath thirulkeda jnAnamennum niRivilakkERRiya bhoodhath thiruvadi" (iramanusa nooRRandhAdhi-9)

 Thereby the first 2 azhwars removed the outside (worldly darkness) and inside darkness (darkness of the mind-ignorance) by singing the first 2 andhAdhis that has been collectively reiterated by thiruvarangaththamudhanar in his iramanusa nooRRandhAdhi.

 Since darkness was removed, peyazhvar had a clear vision.

(kArAr karumugilai kAnappukku) "mazhai mugilE pOlvAn thannai seeraNgu marai alar niRaindha selva thirukkOvalooradhanuL kandEn" (per.thirumozhi 2-10-10) says kaliyan.  Similar to kaliyan's anubhavam the mudal azhvars also wished to have divine darshan of the lord (a black hued cloud) ready to shower rain.  They found shelter in this place to escape from the lowkika rain and ultimately landed in the darshan of alowkika kamAmruthavarshi- great shower of divine grace – kAlamEgam (black cloud)

 Peyazhvar expresses the same in his paasurams:-

"polindiruNda kArvAnil minnE pOl thOndri malindhu thiruvirundha mArban" (moondram thiruvandhAdhi-57)

(kAnappukku) "Angu arumbi kaNNeer sOrindhu anbhu koorum adiyavarkatku AramudhmAnAn tannai thirukkOvaloor adhanuL kandEn nAnE" (per.Thiru. 2-10-4) as per the above words, azhvar a devotee filled with love and affection stepped into the divine experience of divine darshan.

(thirukkOvalooradhanuL kArAr karumugil) "kurunkudiyulmugil" (thirunedunthandakam-17) similar to the kalamEgam (dark cloud) in thirukkurunkudi this is also a cloud that showers rain of grace.

(kArAr karumugil) The dark clouds indicate rain and so does the dark color of emperuman's thirumEni, ever waiting to shower unconditional grace on one and all.

(kAnappukku) "endrEnum katkaNNal kANaththagAdhadhAgaiyAlE, nenjennum vutkaNNal kAnappugundhu" says nammazhvar in periya thiruvandhadhi-28 [Being ineligible to see you with my eyes I try to see you inside my heart]

 (OrA) Kept on reiterating the wish to see the lord and thereby meditated on the same and,

(thirukkandEnendruraiththa) Immersed in the divine anubhavam, the joy azhvar experienced poured down as paasurams starting with 'thirukkaNdEn' to uplift all of us.  The first two lighted lamps removed the darkness and the third enjoyed the fruit of darshan.  The first two were in the state of jnAna and bhakthi and the third in the state of sAkshAtkAram.

"manniya pEriruL mAndapin kOvalul mAmalarAL tannOdu mAyanai kAndamai kAttu tamizhthalaivan" (erAmAnusa nooRRandhAdhi-10) says amudhanar.

(seerAn kazhalE) The sripadham (divine feet) of one who is sriman (pEyAzhvar) due to enjoying the sriman (Sriman Narayana) who is always with 'sri' (piratti).  PeyAzhvar is the only azhvar who started his prabhandam with thiru and ended with thiru.

(vuraikaNdAi nenjE vugandhu) Like azhvar elaborating his divine darshan, oh! Mind you also elaborate your divine darshan of azhvar.

"yatthi manasA dyAyathi tat vAchA vadhathi" [what you think in mind, say the same with your mouth]

(nenjE vugandhu) Oh! My mind you support me in bhagavat/bhagavata matters.

"mana Eva manushyAnAm kAranam bhanda mOkshayO:" says Vishnu puranam 6-7-28 [Mind plays the major role in leading us to moksha or samsara] Instead of pushing me into samsaram you make me feel the goodness in bhagavat/bhAgavata vishayam

(vugandhu vurai) stepping one step higher than bhagavat vishayam, since you are talking bhAgavata vishayam talk with pride.

"vuRREn vugandhu paNiseidhu" (thiruvai 10-8-10)

"tanimAth deivaththu adiyavarkku eninAm AlAgavE esaiyumkol voozhi thOroozhi OvAdhE" (thiruvasiriyam3 ]

 Conclusion: Those srimans who had bhagavat sAkshAtkAram and have given the same in words for the pleasure of the samsaris, their divine feet have to be celebrated and honoured always concludes the thaniyan

Kurukaikavalappan thiruvadigalE sharaNam

Pillailokam Jeeyer thiruvadigalE sharaNam