MoondrAm thiruvandhAdhi-Paasuram-38

Sri Parthasarathi thunai  

Srimathe ramanujaya Namaha

Srimad Vara Vara munayE Namaha

Sri vAnAchala mahA munayE Namaha

Vishvaroopa darisanam

Paasuram-38

“thAnE thanakku vuvaman thannuRuvE evvuruvum

  thAnE thavavuruvum thAragaiyum – thAnE

  erisudarum mAlvaraiyum eNdisaiyum aNdath

  thirisudaru mAya eRai”

"தானே தனக்குவமன் தன்னுருவே எவ்வுருவும் 

தானே தவவுருவும் தாரகையும்-தானே 

எரிசுடரும் மால்வரையும் எண்டிசையும் அண்டத் 

திரிசுடரு மாயவிறை ."

ev vuruvum – All objects;

than vuruvE – all that which forms part of His  body;

thavam vuruvum – Brahma and others who got celestial body as a result of their penance;

thAragaiyum – stars;

thAnE – All His forms;

eri sudarum – glittering fire;

mAl varaiyum – gigantic mountains;

eN disaiyum – all the eight directions;

aNdaththu – Inside the cosmos;

eru sudarum – Chandra and surya;

thAnE Aya eRai – The Lord who manifested as all the above;

thanakku thAnE vuvaman – (matchless) He is allegorical to Himself;

Introduction

That special person who has fallen in such great love towards me is not an ordinary personality but the supreme power who cannot be compared to anyone else other than Himself;

Commentary

First azhvar proclaims that nothing in this world is comparable to that supreme Lord and further continues to reason out the same.

(thannuruvE evvuruvum) The sruthis (Vedas) and various other pramanas  (authoritative texts) declare,

“yasya athma sareeram” “yasya pruthvee sareeram” [Bruh 5-7]

“tAni sarvAni tat vapu:” [vi.pu.1-22-86]

“tat sarvam vai harEs tanu: [vi.pu. 1-22-38]

“jagat sarvam sareeram tE” [Ra.yu 20-26]

Everything else other than Himself is part of the divine paramatma’s divine body;

(thAnE thavavuruvum thAragaiyum)

“yugakOti sahasrAni vishnumArAdhya padmabhoo:I

 Punas trailOkya dhAdhruthvam prApthavAnidhi sushruma: II [bha. Sabha 14-8]

[After meditating on Sri mahA Vishnu for thousand crores of yugas brahma once again received the post of Brahma, the master of three worlds]

“mahAdeva: sarvamEdhE mahatma huthvAtmAnam dEvadEvO bhabhoova” [bha.santhi 20-12]

[Siva, called as mahadeva sacrificed himself in the yagna called sarvamEdhan and then became devadevan]

Thus the so called superior demigods viz., Brahma, Rudra and all the glittering stars and astonishing mountains all form part of the divine body of that supreme Lord;

‘thAn’ – He; everything else His prakaras.

Azhvar refers to Brahma, Rudras (superior sentinent beings) and the achetanas (insentient objects) stars and mountains in unison to avoid confusion of trimurthi Ikhyam, devatha Ikhyam, Athma Ikhyam etc.  Thereby azhvar clearly stresses the point of sareera athma bhava in this paasuram;

(erisudarum) that fire which is capable of burning;

(mAl varaiyum) colossal mountains;

(endisaiyum) “disascha nArAyana: vidhisascha nArAyana” (narayanOpanishad)

He is all the four directions and the 4 sub-directions;

(aNdaththu erusudarum thAnE Aya eRai) He is Chandra and surya the most glorious objects in this cosmos;

Here azhvar points to certain objects as a referral to all created objects (kArya nilai) and those behind the creation (kArana nilai) encompassing everything as a whole;

The ‘E-karam’ in ‘thAnE’ stresses the point of oneness and no other person in comparison;

“jyOtheemkshi vishnur bhuvanAni Vishnu:

 vanAni vishnur kirayO disascha

 nadya: samudrAscha sa Eva sarvam

yadhasthi yannAsthi cha vipravaya” [Vi.pu.12-12-38]

Oh Brahmin! Everything glowing is Vishnu; worlds are Vishnu; Forests, mountains, directions, rivers, oceans all are Vishnu; He is unchanging chetanas and changing achetanas declares the Vishnu purana;

Thus the Lord is the sole prakAri (master/owner) and everything else that fall under the category of either kArya (created) or kAraNa (reason for creation) are His prakArAs (inseparable entities); {prakAras – Apruthaksiddha –Inseparable property)

No example can be quoted to explain the supreme Lord as there is no second for Him; (thAnE thanakku vuvaman)

Interesting points from divyArthadeepikai of Sri Kanchi swamy

This poetry contains ‘Ananya alankaram’. Similar to saying ‘the moon is beautiful like the moon’ or ‘The war between Rama and Ravana can be compared only to that same war’

Azhvar emperumAnAr Jeeyar thiruvadigalE sharaNam

Jeeyar thiruvadigalE sharaNam

MoondrAm thiruvandhAdhi-Paasuram-37

Sri Parthasarathi thunai  

Srimathe ramanujaya Namaha

Srimad Vara Vara munayE Namaha

Sri vAnAchala mahA munayE Namaha

ennai Aludaiappan-Sri Parthasarathi emperuman

Paasuram-37

“avarkku adimai pattEn agaththAn puRaththAn

  vuvarkkum karunkadal neeruLLAn-tuvarkkum

  pavalavAip poomagalum panmanip pooNAram   

  thigazhum thirumArvan than”

"அவற்கடிமை பட்டேன் அகத்தான் புறத்தான் 

  உவர்க்குங் கருங்கடல் நீருள்ளான் - துவர்க்கும் 

  பவளவாய்ப் பூமகளும் பன்மணிப் பூணாரம் 

திகழுந்  திருமார்வன் தான் "

avarkku –For that supreme Lord;

adimai pattEn – (I) became a servant;

vuvarkkum karunkadal neer vuLLAn – one who reclines on the salty sea water;

tuvarkkum pavalam vAi poo magaLum – and that divine mother with red coral like mouth/lips;

pal maNi pooN- Divine jewels studded with different types of gems;

aaram – long chains;

thigazhum – adorned;

thirumArvan thAn – (in the) divine chest of His excellency;

agaththAn puraththAn – (my) mingled everywhere internally and externally;

Introduction

In the 35^th paasuram, azhvar started his divine services (seshavriththi) according to his true nature viz. prostrating the Lord et all without just stopping with singing.  Consequently the Lord started enjoying azhvar appearing in various forms disregarding His supremacy and greatness.

PeyAzhvar’s experience in this paasuram is very much similar to nammazhvar’s divine experience in “vArikkoNdu vunnai vizhunguvan kAnil endru ArvamuRRa ennaiozhiya ennil  munnam pAriththu thAn ennai muRRap paruginAn” [thiru 9-6-10]

Commentary

(avarkku adimai pattEn)  As per my aspiration “yAm thozhudhum kai” I started to engage in His divine service; to that Lord who is actually not reachable physically or even to my imagination;

(agaththAn puraththAn) But that Lord took many forms and started enjoying myself inside and outside just like sowbari (who took 50 bodies to live with 50 wives)

Nammazhvar reiterates the same in [thiru 4-7-6]”nAlthOrum ennudaiya AkkaiyuLLum AviyuLLum alla puRaththinuLLum neekamindri engum nindrAi”

But why should that supreme Lord lower Himself so much to enjoy azhvar? Is He someone without a place to live, things to enjoy or people to rejoice with?

Oh! No.  He is not a poor person but the supreme power (ubaya vibhooti Nathan, nithyasoori nayakan) but still simply passionate to enjoy me declares azhvar in the rest of the paasuram:-

(vuvarkkum karunkadal neeruLLAn) He is atop the salty ocean waters;

“tAnOr peruneer tannuLLE thORRi adhanul kaNvalarum vAnOr perumAn” [thiru 1-5-4]. In similar lines we can consider peyazhvar also referring to the waters during srushti (time of creation) and the Lord (srushtikartha) lying on the same or otherwise periyavachan pillai comments that the reference here is to thiruparkadal (ksheerabhdhi sayee)

But then the adjective salty water (‘vuvarkkum karum kadal’) might seem inappropriate.  Here Sri puttur swamy and kanchi swamy submit two different opinions****

“neelakadal kadaindhAi” [thiru 10-10-7] Did the lord churn the milky ocean or blue colored ocean?  He churned the milky ocean only but due to the reflection of His divine blue colored physique the ocean waters appeared to be blue in color.  Similarly here karun kadal due to the dark colored Lord reclining on top.

(tuvarkkum pavaLavAi poomagaLum panmaNip pooN Aram thigazhum thirumArban thAn) Periya piratti (goddess Sri Mahalakshmi) the red coral like lipped beauty, sitting atop a lotus like the collective form of all the beauty of the lotus personified and innumerable jewels and ornaments studded with variety of precious glittering gems all adorned in His divine chest;

That supreme Lord ignored His divine residence (thirupparkadal), His special objects of joy and His divine consort and advances taking various forms to enjoy my lowly self inside and outside instantly after I fell to His divine feet realizing my true self.

Interesting points from divyArthadeepikai of Sri Kanchi swamy

****How can we say Milky Ocean as ‘vuvarkkum kadal’?

Sri puttur swamy : Milky Ocean though similar to milk in color but similar to regular ocean water to taste (salty).

Sri Kanchi swamy: It is well known that the Lord reclines in both the milky ocean and on top of regular ocean waters. So probably Sri periyavachan pillai’s commentary should read “thirupArkadalOpAdhi vuppukadalaiyum vAsasthAnamAgavudaiyanAi” and there is probably a printing error.

Highlight of this paasuram – “agaththAn puraththAn” I just attempted to surrender to Him, He immediately took various forms and encircled me inside and outside and started enjoying admires azhvar.

Azhvar emperumAnAr Jeeyar thiruvadigalE sharaNam

Jeeyar thiruvadigalE sharaNam