MoondRam thiruvandhAdhi-Paasuram-34

Sri Parthasarathi thunai

Srimathe ramanujaya Namaha

Srimad Vara Vara MunayE Namaha

Sri vAnAchala mahA munayE Namaha

Paasuram-34

“andriv vulagam aLandha asavE kol

nindRirundhu vELukkai neeNagarvAi-andRu

kidandhAnai kEdil seerAnai munkanjaik

kadandhAnai nenjamE kAn”

"அன்றிவ்வுலகம் அளந்த வசவே கொல் 

  நின்றிருந்து வேளுக்கை நீணகர்வாய் - அன்று 

 கிடந்தானைக் கேடில் சீரானை முன்கஞ்சைக் 

 கடந்தானை நெஞ்சமே காண் "

nenjamE – Oh mind!

andRu – once upon a time;

nindRu – in a standing posture;

evvulagam – All these worlds;

aLandha – due to measuring;

asavE kol – tiredness;

vELukkai – in thiruvElukkai;

erundhu – in a sitting posture;

neeL nagar vAi – (in thiruvekkA) a big divyadesa;

andRu – that day;

kidandhAnai – one who reclined;

kEdu el seerAnai – one with flawless divine qualities;

mun – earlier;

kanjai -kamsa;

kadandhAnai – one who won over and killed;

kAN – contemplate;

Introduction

When the supreme masters existence, perseverance and predilection are all for the welfare of the devotees oh mind is it not but natural for us to get into the fold of His excellency?

Commentary

(andRu evvulagam nindRu aLandha asavE kol andRu vELukkai erundhu neenagarvAik kidandhAn) The very same supreme Lord who once upon a time measured the worlds with His divine soft feet traversing through the hard mountains and forests, for all our sake in spite of none of us requesting for the same, probably due to the hardship involved later sat in thiruvElukkAi and further to rest better reclined in thiruvekkA.

“thALAl vulagam aLandha asavE kol.....mAvallikENiyAn IinthalaivAi nAgaththanai” (nan.thiru.35)

“nadandha kAlgal nondhavO....kudandhaiyil....kidandhavAru..”(thiruchan-61)

“kodiyAr mAda kOlooragaththum....eppadi thAn neeNdu thAviya asaivO paNiyAyE” (thiruvai 8-3-5)

In the above paasurams, thirumazhi azhvar and nammazhvar sympathitically sing the state of the resting emperumans in the similar lines of peyazhvar

(kEdil seerAnai) The Lord who has flawless, endless divine qualities;

(mun kanjai kadandhAnai) Earlier, during the krishnavatara, the Lord killed kamsa who plotted in many ways to see the end of krishna but reached that end himself. Small krishna effortlessly overcame all the plots of kamsa and finally kicked kamsa out of this world and treated all of us with His divine stories.

(nenjamE kAN) Oh! Mind always contemplate on Him.

Azhvar emperumAnAr Jeeyer thiruvadigalE sharaNam

Jeeyar thiruvadigalE sharNam

MoondRam thiruvandhAdhi-Paasuram-33

Sri Parthasarathi thunai

Srimathe ramanujaya Namaha

Srimad Vara Vara MunayE Namaha

Sri vAnAchala mahA munayE Namaha

Courtesy: starworlds.blogspot.co.uk

Paasuram-33

“bAlaganAi AlilaimEl paiya vulagellAm

mElorunA LundavanE meimaiyE-mAlavanE

mandharaththAl mAneerkadal kadaindhu vAnamudham

andharaththArk keendhAi nee andru”

"பாலகனாய் ஆலிலைமேல் பைய உலகெல்லாம் 

மேலொருநாள் உண்டவனே மெய்ம்மையே-மாலவனே 

மந்தரத்தால் மாநீர்க்கடல்  கடைந்து வானமுதம் 

அந்தரத்தார்க் கீந்தாய்நீ யன்று. 

mEl oru nAl – Once upon a time;

balaganAi – in the form of an Infant;

Al elaimEl – on top of a banyan leaf;

ulagam ellAm – entire cosmos;

paiya – slowly;

meimaiyE – truly/really;

vundavanE – one who swallowed;

mAlavanE – outstanding (extremely big);

nee – (such a personality) you;

andru – that day;

mandhiraththAl – with the mandhara mountain;

mA neer kadal kadaindhu – churned the big ocean;

vAn amudham – divine nectar;

andharaththArkku – for the residence of upper world (devas);

eendhAi – presented;

Introduction

The Lord might be easily accessible but will he also provide what we require? Why not! Answers azhvar. The lord's divine manifestations show what He is capable of! He protected all of us even when we didn’t ask for refuge during pralaya and He took so much personal pains to bless the devas with their selfish benefit of obtaining the divine nectar.

Commentary

(bAlaganAi) Oh! A small infant amidst the huge pralaya flood. Anyone who even thinks of this state gets mentally disturbed. What will happen to this small beautiful child lying on top of a small banyan leaf amidst the pralaya jalam?

(Alelai mEl) In the ocean of water, the infant is not lying on top of some hard surface but on a freshly born tender banyan leaf.

(mElorunAl ulagellAm vundavanE!) Surprisingly this very child has swallowed the entire cosmos earlier. This act is not destruction instead it is protection in disguise and without any request raised.

(paiya vundavanE) The Lord is cautious even while swallowing. He slowly swallows and places each and everything safely and securely inside His stomach and not leaving anything outside.

(meimaiyE vundavanE) It is no magic but the supernatural powers of the supreme Lord that allows Him to swallow the cosmos in reality!

(mAlavanE!) By His agadithagatinA sAmarthyam (special super powers unique to the supreme Lord alone) stands unique from all the so called superior souls viz., Brahma, Rudra, Indra and all devatas. mAl indicates superiority.

(nee) you, embodiment of great potentials;

(andru) that day, when the devas came requesting for the divine nectar for the purpose of retaining their mortal body immortal;

(mandharaththAl mA neer kadal kadaindhu) Using the big mandhara mountain as a stirrer, churned the huge milky ocean effortlessly;

(vAnamudham andharaththArkkeendhAi) vAn – special ; andharam – sky/Akash; You blessed the residence of the upper world (svargavasees) with the special nectar (to make them immortal);

(engu) here; when He gives what the devas requested wont He not fulfill our desires?

Interesting points from DivyArthdeepikai of kanchi swamy

Rakshana (protection) is of two types anishta nivaranam (removing the obstacles) and ishta prApanam (granting the desires); In this paasuram azhvar highlights how emperuman does both - protecting in the stomach during pralaya (anishta nivaranam) and churning the milky ocean to grant the devas divine nectar (ishta prApanam);

Azhvar emperumAnAr Jeeyer thiruvadigalE sharaNam

Jeeyar thiruvadigalE sharNam

MoondRam thiruvandhAdhi-Paasuram-32

Sri Parthasarathi thunai

Srimathe ramanujaya Namaha

Srimad Vara Vara MunayE Namaha

Sri vAnAchala mahA munayE Namaha

Paasuram-32

“pArkadalum vENkatamum pAmbum panivisumbum

nooRkadalum nuNNoola thAmaraimEl-pArpat

tirundhAr manamum edamAgak koNdAn

kurundhosiththa gOpAla kan”

"பாற்கடலும் வேங்கடமும் பாம்பும் பனிவிசும்பும் 

நூற்கடலும் நுண்ணூல தாமரைமேல் -பார்பட் 

டிருந்தார் மனமும் இடமாகக்  கொண்டான்

குருந்தொசித்த கோபால கன்."

kurundhu – kurundha trees;

osiththa – one who split apart;

gOpAlakan – kannapiran, guardian of cows;

pArkadalum – ThirupArkadal (divine milky ocean);

vEnkatamum – Thirumala (the divine seven hills);

pAmbum – thiruananthAzhvan (the divine serpant);

pani visumbum – The divine abode, paramapada (untouched by heatness/difficulties of samsara) cool like snow;

nool kadalum – ocean of texts, sruthi and other sastras;

nuN noola thAmarai mEl pAl pattirundhAr manamum – In the heart of the yogis, who with the aid of the vedas control their senses and meditate in their minds

edam Aga koNdAn – reserves as place of residence;

Introduction

The divine abodes of the Lord where He descends for our benefit with absolute mercy on each one of us is limitless.

Commentary

(kurundhu osiththa gOpAlakan) During the krishnAvatara, in gokula grass and trees turned out to be asuras. The demons as instructed by kamsa took any form with the ulterior motive of killing krishna. But krishna as child's play killed the demons and did dushta nigraham (destruction of the evil) and shista paripalanam (protecting the virtues) saving the gokula vasees and cows. One such asura took the form of a kurundha tree that krishna effortlessly split apart and brought happiness to the gopalas.

First Azhvar talked about the greatness of krishna who was in this world only for a short span of time during the incarnation then in the rest of the paasuram azhvar proceeds to list out the places where the very same Lord resides even today.

(pArkadalum) ThirupArkadal celebrated as 'koopeedu kEtkum edam' (place where emperuman reclines for listening to devas worries)

(vENkatamum) ThiruvENkatam (the divine seven hills) amidst the forests inhabited by monkeys and hunters. The centre place where both monkeys and nithyasooris surrender to the Lord.

(pAmbum) AdhisEsha, the divine serpant waiting to grasp any type of service to the Almighty ('sendrAl kudaiyAm') at all times ('ozhivil kalamellAm vudanAi manni vazhivilA adimai')

(pani visumbum) Ever cool paramapadam, one place where none of the sAmsaric heat (tapatrayas) can reach.

(noor kadalum) ocean of pramanas, viz., sruthi, smrithi, Ithihasa and puranas

(nuNNoola thAmaraimEl pAl pattirundhAr manamum) The sacred texts, the sastras declare about the indweller (antaryami) inside the heart on a lotus like pedestal, hrudhayakamalam (“padmakOsapratheekAsam Hrudhayam chApyathOmukam”- Heart similar to a inverted Lotus) (Tai-NA) of the yogis who by their yoga practice control their senses and meditate on the lord inside them.

(edam Agak koNdAN) choose the above places to reside with pleasure.

Thus the supreme Lord exhibits His grace and simplicity by dwelling in various places in order to capture the attention of the souls that go astray in this world of misery.

Interesting points from DivyArthdeepikai of kanchi swamy

pani visumbu – that place that cools all the heat generated due to the samsara;

NuNoola thAmaraimEl – Lotus that which has fine strands (it is well known that lotus is a flower with fine strands), on top of which resides goddess Sri Mahalakshmi; manam - divine chest; mErpAl – on top; So it can be otherwise said that the Lord resides in the divine chest of Sri Mahalakshmi who resides on top of the lotus with fine strands.

Azhvar emperumAnAr Jeeyer thiruvadigalE sharaNam

Jeeyar thiruvadigalE sharNam

MoondRam thiruvandhAdhi-Paasuram-31

Sri Parthasarathi thunai

Srimathe ramanujaya Namaha

Srimad Vara Vara MunayE Namaha

Sri vAnAchala mahA munayE Namaha

Paasuram-31

“evai avan kOil eraNiyana dhAgam

avaiseidhari vuruvamAnAn –sevitheriyA

nAgaththAn nAl vEdhath thuLLAn naRavERRAn

pAgaththAn pAr kada luLAn”

"இவையவன் கோயில் இரணியன தாகம் 

அவைசெய் தரியுருவ மானான் -செவிதெரியா 

நாகத்தான் நால்வேதத்துள்ளான் நறவேற்றான் 

பாகத்தான் பாற்கட  லுளான்.

eraNiyanadhu – HiranyAsura’s;

Agam – chest;

avaiseidhu – split into pieces;

ari vuruvam AnAn- incarnated as Narasimha;

sevi theriyA nAgaththAn – one who reclines on thiruanandhAzhvan, who has invisible ears (eyes does dual function of seeing and hearing for snakes);

nAl vEdhaththuLLAn – one who is the primary subject of all the 4 Vedas;

naRavu ERRAn pAgaththAn- one who accepted rudra, who accepted honey like sweet ganga on his head, as part of His divine body;

pAr kadaluLAn – one who reclines in thirupArkadal (divine milky ocean);

avan – That supreme Lord’s;

kOil evai – temples these are (those mentioned in the previous paasuram);

Introduction

In this paasuram azhvar elaborates the divine quality of that supreme Lord who resides in the above places to remove the enemies of devotees and one who is filled with seela guna that enables Him to get along with even those with durahankara (Ego and pride).

Commentary

(evai avan kOil) All those mentioned in the previous paasuram are places where the Lord resides ever with joy. Earlier azhvar mentioned them to be the capital (headquarters) places now he proceeds to say they are also His places of pleasure. A king has separate places for official purpose and personal pleasure but emperuman considers divyadesams to serve as places of administration and joy. So thereby there is no room for punarukthi (repeating that which is already told) or otherwise it is like reiterating/instructing to the mind “Oh! mind when He exhibits Himself in so many places just for our sake don’t ever loose this opportunity “

“evai avan kOil” can be considered as one sentence and rest of the paasuram as another sentence or otherwise “eraiNiyanadhAgam … arivuruvamAnAn...pArkadalAn avan kOil evai” can be considered as single sentence.

Starting from 'eraNiyanadhAgam' azhvar enjoys the Lord's divine quality of Ashridha virOdhi nirasanam (removing/killing the enemies of bhakthas/devotees) and Ashridha rakshanam (protecting devotees)

(eraNiyanadhAgam avai seidhu ariyuruvamAnAn) The divine Lord took the form of Narasimha (that form which didn’t fall under Hiranya's series of conditions (varam)) to tear the well built body of Hiranya apart.

That body that which was single ('adhu') now has become so many pieces ('avai'). It is interesting to note that due to the swiftness with which the whole episode happened azhvar here reverses the order of happening. (The Lord first took the form of narasimha and then tore Hiranya while azhvar says He split Hiranya to pieces and became Lion form. The time gap is so insignificant that it doesn’t matter to say what happened first)

Thus, after elaborating on the Lord's AshridhavirOdhi nirasana svabhava azhvar proceeds to highlight His excellency's Ashridha samslEsha and Ashridha rakshana svabhava.

(sevitheriyA nAgaththAn) “chakrhusravA:” (one who has eyes as the hearing organ) “katsevi” are titles given to snake in sanskrit and Tamil. Here Adhisesha is referred to as “sevitheriyA nAgam” (snake with invisible ears). One may think Adhisesha's body is incomplete since the ears are not visible, but amazingly that is the place where the supreme Lord rejoices and reclines.

(sevi theriyA nAgam) “sa srunOtyakarna:” In a way, Adhisesha also resembles His excellency who is declared as one who hears without ears.

(nAgaththAn) shows the almighty's Ashridha samslEsha svabhavam (togetherness with His devotees)

Author of arumpadavurai reads this as “sevitheryAn AgaththAn” and explains as one who resides in the Agam (divine body) of thiruananthAzhvan, with invisible ears.

But how do you know that the Lord is 'sevitheriyAnAgaththAn'?

(nAlvEdhaththuLLAn) “amithowjA: paryanka:” (kowsheethakee) [Ananthan, with superior powers is the Almighty's divine bed] Thus the flawless Vedas themselves declare the Lord's AshridhasamslEsha svabhava.

Leave alone Adhisesha who is one among the nithyasooris always filled with sattva guna, emperuman is comprehensible even to rudra, filled with tamOguna.

(naRavERRAn pAgaththAn) The supreme Lord has given part of His body to one who holds lowly alcohol in his hands.

NaRavu-kaL (alcohol); Rudra is personified as the devatha who dances in a graveyard applying ashes all over his body and holding alcohol in his hands or otherwise naRavu can refer to honey; arumpadakarar gives another meaning – one who accepted the honey like gangus on his head;

naRavERRan can also be split as naRavu+E-Ru who has accepted alcohol and the bull.

Alcohol is capable of intoxicating and blinding one's knowledge and it is common to equate a person without knowledge to an animal (jnAnEna hena: pasubhi: samAna:) Rudra drinks alcohol and rides over a nescient bull but the Lord is least worried He still gives rudra place in His divine body (jnAnamaya-filled with knowledge). What an amazing quality![sowseelya]

Further, that karunaikadal (ocean of mercy) for the sake of brahma rudras who come to Him for lowly material benefits (shudhrapalam) reclines in thirupArkadal.

(pArkadaluLAn) 'Won't the devas come to me at least for material benefits' awaits the Lord in the milky ocean (koopeedu kEtkum edam – place where the yelling of devas for mercy is heard)

When the divine Lord stays with pleasure in so many places just for our sake Oh! Mind can you lose Him?

Interesting points from DivyArthdeepikai of kanchi swamy

PeyAzhvar rejoiced singing about the various abodes of emperuman in the previous paasuram and not being able to move out of that anubhavam continues to sing “evai avan kOil”.

ThiruvanandhAzhvan is celebrated as “sevi theriyAnagaththAn” similar to his quality of hearing and seeing with a single organ, with the same body Adhisesha does number of divine services to the Lord “sendrAl kudaiyAm erundhAl singAsanamAm...”

Azhvar emperumAnAr Jeeyer thiruvadigalE sharaNam

Jeeyar thiruvadigalE sharNam