MoondrAm thiruvandhAdhi-Paasuram-26

Sri Parthasarathi thunai

Srimathe ramanujaya Namaha

Srimad Vara Vara MunayE Namaha

Sri vAnAchala mahA munayE Namaha

 

Paasuram-26

“siRandha en sindaiyum senka Naravum

  niRaindha seer neeL kachchi vuLLum-vuRaindhadhuvum

  vEnkatamum vekkAvum vElukkai pAdiyumE

  thAmkadavAr taN thuzhAyAr”

"சிறந்தவென் சிந்தையும் செங்க ணரவும் 

 நிறைந்தசீர் நீள்கச்சி யுள்ளும் - உறைந்ததுவும் 

வேங்கடமும் வெ ஃகாவும் வேளுக்கைப் பாடியுமே 

 தாங்கடவார் தண்டுழா யார்."

Thiruvekka yathotakari and Thiruvelukkai Alari emperuman

taN thuzhAyAr thAm – His Excellency adorning the cool tulasi garland;

kadavAr – Omnipresent;

vuRaindhadhuvum – those places where He resides permanently are;

siRandha en sindhaiyum – (on top of the list) my outstanding mind;

sem kaN aravum – Red eyed thiruvanandhAzhvan (glowing divine serpant bed);

niRaindha seer – filled with richness;

neeL – vast;

kachchi vuLLum – in the divyadesa thirukkachchi (kancheepuram);

vEnkatamum – thirumalai;

vekkavum – thiruvekka (sonna vannam seidha perumal koil);

vElukkai pAdiyumE – (and) thiruvElukkai;

Introduction

Earlier azhvar talked about his mind’s act of surrendering to the Lord, now turning towards the Lord Peyazhvar exclaims “Oh! He cherishes to be in my heart even more than the divyadesas (vugandharulina nilangal)”.

Commentary

(tan thuzhAyAr thAm) Emperuman who adorns the cool tulasi garland indicative of His ubhayavibhooti nAyakathvan (Master of two abodes).

(vuRaindhadhuvum) with great satisfaction and joy resides permenantly in;

(siRandha en sindhaiyum) On top of the list in my superior heart;

The Lord desires to stay with pleasure in azhvar’s divine heart overriding the nithyasooris (thiruvanandhAzhvan and others) or the wonderful divyadesams celebrated by all the azhvars.  That is why the adjective ‘siRandha’ is added to azhvar’s heart.

For the very same reason the Sanskrit and Tamil Vedas coherently declare,

“hrudhaya tat vijAneeyAt vishvasyAyatanam mahat” [tai-nA]

“nenjamE neeL nagarAga erundha” (thiruvai 8-2)

“ananthanpAlum...oodivandhen manakadalil....” (periyazhvar thirumozhi 5-4-8,9,10)

So how did the Lord reach azhvar’s heart? All as a result of the colossal penance He underwent in various divyadesams.

(senkaN aravum)Like the eyes of a person intoxicated by alcohol, thiruvanandAzhvan’s eyes are ever red intoxicated drinking the divine nectar (Araa amudhu-deva’s madhu as declared by vedantha).  The Lord with great delight reclines on top of the divine serpant bed. (Reference to adisesha connotes to all the nityasooris.)

(niRanindha seer neeL kachchi vullum) Kanchi is a home of not one but many divyadesams.  Wealth of Kanchi is the divine temples.  Taking various forms emperuman aspires to attract more and more jeevas like azhvar towards Him.

His excellency in an attempt to trap the suffering jeevatas in this samsaram choose azhvar’s exceptional heart, the red eyed divine serpant bed, and opulent kanchi as His places of permenant residence.

So is that all? No there are many more, to add some of them:

(vEnkatamum vekkAvum vElukkai pAdiyumE thAm kadavAr) He also resides with joy in thiruvEnkatam (divine seven hills of Lord Srinivasa), thiruvekkA (yathOtakari sannadhi, kanchi), thiruvElukkai (ALazhagiya singaperumal sannadhi, kanchi).  Not being able to ignore His properties the Lord, the owner stays in all the divyadesas and administers each one of them.

Note from Kanchi swamy’s divyArthadeepikai : VElukkai pAdi can be read as vElukkai divyadesam or split as two vElukkai and pAdi-thiruvAipadi;

Thereby in this paasuram, azhvar wants to highlight the very point that even though the Lord takes various forms and decorates various divyadesas, and to establish His supremacy resides in kanchi and on top of the divine serpant (or among the nithyasooris) all these are nothing but sadhana stalas (place of penance) His ultimate goal is azhvar’s exceptional heart (siddha stala).  But why? Ashritha rakshanam (protecting the devotees) is His goal epitomized by the divine thiruthuzhAi garland which is his characteristic emblem.

The above paasuram can otherwise be interpreted as follows:

(niRaindha seer neeL kachchi vuLLum vEnkatamum, vekkAvum,vElukkai pAdiyumE vuRaindhadhuvum thaN thuzhAyAr thAm siRandha en sindhaiyum senkaNaravum thAm kadavAr)

Similar to His irresistible stay in kanchi, thiruvENkatam, thiruvekkA and thiruvElukkai, for the very purpose of protecting his followers adorning the divine tulasi garland also rejoices on top of the serpant bed and similarly with great ecstacy inhabits my exceptional heart.

Above interpretation considers kanchi, thiruvekkA and thiruvElukkai each as 3 individual divyadesas. ‘thAm kadavAr’ – ‘cherishes as His belongings’

Wrapping up, in whatever way it is interpreted the emphasize is on the Lord relishing/valuing the stay in azhvar’s heart more than His stay among the nityasooris or in the various divyadesas.

Azhvar emperumAnAr Jeeyer thiruvadigalE sharaNam

Jeeyar thiruvadigalE sharNam