A) Naama sankeerthana vaibhavam
Sri vallabhethi varadEthi
jihvE keerthana kEsavam (16)
hE goApalaka.. (21)
krishNO rakahsathu (33)
srI nAtha nArAyaNa (36)
anantha vaikuNta.. (37)
Thus Kulasekara extols namasakeerthanam and its glories. Swami Desikan with fullunderstanding of AzhwAr thiruvuLLam and of the viabhavam of Naama sageerthanam,refers to the same in these verses
1. Abheethisthavam – 7th verse- rama dayitha..
2. asyEsAnA (Sri sthuthi- 8th verse)
3. icchaameena – DasavathAram – 12 th verse
B) Thirumanthra, Dwayam- arrtha vaibhavam
There are three meanings in Thirumanthram.
1- Offering ourselves to the Lord Sriya: Pathi Sriman Narayanan
2- Offering our protection bharam to Him
3- Offering the fruit of such a bhara samarpaNam to Him as well
These three meanings are enjoyed by acharyas and scholars through PraNavam,Narayana sabdham, and nama sabdham.
In Dwayam, there are three meanings:
1. the means; 2. The Goal (fruits), the destruction of the avidyA which is the
enemy to upAyam (means or the way)
In the same meaning, Swami Kulasekara refers in his verses.
1. Thirumanra artham
Alasyam vyapaneeya bhakthisulabham dhyAyasva nArAyaNam
lOkasya vyasanApanOdhanakarO dAsasya nakshama:
nAnAgnAnamapAsya ChEthasi namO nArayanAyEthyamum
manthram sapraNavam praNAmasahitham prArthayaDhvam muhu:
Swami Desikan (in ThirumathrArtham)
Swami mentions in Rahasya mAtruka- Thus, the seed of all Vedas, namely praNavambegan to sprout and grew in 2nd padham (NamO) and in 3rd padham nArAyaNAya – the utterer gets the knowledge (jnAnam) upto phala (the goal or purhsartham)
*Ippadi thirumanthiratthilE sarva vedangaLukkum vidhaiyaana mudhal padhatthilE(praNavam) muLaitthu iraNdaam padhatthilE (namO) vaLarndhu , moonRaampadhatthile (Narayanaya), phala paryanthamAna samyak jnAnatthai udaiyavanukku…
2. For Dwaya artham –
King Kulasekara mentions: bhavathu SaraNamEkO vishNupOthO narANAm (Mukunda maala
– 12)
vaikuntha enbathOr thONi peRaadhu uzhalginREn (NaachiyAr Thirumozhi 5-4)
pAdAmbhOjE varada bhavathO bhakti nAvam prayacCha
< Mukunda mala – 14)
Swami Desikan also refers to Kulasekara’s words “un saraNallaal saraNillai”
(PerumAL Thirumozhi -5-1 taru thuyaram) in Dwayarrtham, enRu kazhalgaLavaiyE saraNaagak koLgiRapadiyum… (in Rahasya maatrukai)
Holding onto the Lotus feet of the Lord as the only refuge and redemption
saying, “there is no other recourse than Your Lotus feet”…
In summary, his 105 verses are categorized as follows:
There are 105 Bhakthi-laden paasurams in PerumAl Thirumozhi
housed in ten decads. The subject matter of these ten
decads are:
(1) AzhwAr’s yearning to worship Lord RanganAthan at
Srirangam and celebration of his Bhagavath PrAvaNyam
(devotion to the Lord).
(2) Reverence for the devotees of Lord RanganAthan and
yearning to join that Bhagavatha GhOshti(aanukoolya-
Sankalpam).Celebration of his Bhaagavatha PrAvaNyam
( devout disposition to the BhAgavathAs of the Lord).
(3) Renunciation of the impediments to God-Realization,
AzhwAr’s parama vairAgyam , rejection of Ihika-
PurushArthams (pleasures of this world )out of his great
love for the sacred feet of Lord RanganAthan (Praathikoolya-
Varjanam).
(4) KulasEkhara”s moving prayer to the Lord of Venkatam for His DayA
to be born as any thing on His hills for removal of obstructions
to Moksha Siddhi(kaarpaNyam).Expressions of His desire to have
the sevai of the Lord of Venkatam at all times
(gopthruva varaNam).
(5) AzhwAr’s total dependence on the mercy of the Lord of
VitthuvakkOdu and AzhwAr’s mahA visvAsam in the Lord
as a SaraNAgathan(Aathma NikshEpam/Bhara NyAsam).
Describtion of the varieties of realtionships
between the JeevAthmA and the ParamAthmA : Mother and
the helpless Infant , straying Husband and Pathivrathai,
unsteady king and loyal subject,Curing Surgeon and
the sick patient,the stable ship and the exhausted bird
seeking refuge in it in the middle of the ocean ,
the life-giving Sun and the Lotus that needs it
for its existence , the life giving rain and the crop that
depends on it , the vast Ocean and the many rivers that
enter into it (ananaya Gathithvam and Aakinchanyam).
(6) Celebration of Naayaki-Naayaka BhAvam in the form of
a Gopi, who never had any samslEsham (union) with
the Lord expressing Her longing for Him (madhura bhakthi).
(7) Celebration of the Mother-child love through the anubhavam
of Devaki vis-a-vis Bala KrishNan after VasudEvar moved Him
to AaypAdi for”safety”. The Mother(Devaki) , who had to give up
her own child and her missing the Aanandham of enjoying her
child growing up. Frustrated Devaki’s lament about her
misfortune(dourbhAgyam). AzhwAr experiences the sorrow of
Devaki and relates it to his vislEsham (seperation )from
the Lord.
(8) Celebration of another type of Mother-Child love through
the joyous anubhavam of Kousalai singing lullaby to her child ,
Raamachandran. MangaLAsAsanam of ThirukkaNNapuram PerumAL
as RaamAvatharan.In this avathAram , BhagavAn was not separated
from His birth mother. AzhwAr enjoys the anubhavam of
the blissful mother (Kousalai)singing lullaby to her SuprajA.
(9) Reflection on the Father-Son seperation ( Lord Raamachandran
as Son and Dasarathan as the Father)and articulation of
the sorrow of the father after the exile of his dear son.
AzhwAr identifies himself with Dasaratha here.The lamentations
of Dasaratha are heart-breaking.This is AzhwAr’s anubhavam
enjoying the Lord as his puthran.
(10) The tenth and final decad provides the climax to AzhwAr’s
exploration of the relationship (Sambhandham )between
the Lord and himself as His Bhakthan seeking liberation from
the SamsAric ills to perform nithya kaimkaryam to
Him . AzhwAr’s joy breaks forth in the form of
MangaLAsAsanam for Thillai Thirucchithrakoota EmperumAn.
AzhwAr visualizes the Lord of Dhivya Desam as the happy
Raamachandran enjoying the beauty of Chithrakootam hills
with SithA PirAtti . AzhwAr uses the occasion to bless us
with SankshEpa RaamAyaNam ( RaamAyaNa Saaram).
This decad is Srimath RaamAyana Sarvasavam indeed !
UtthamUr Swamy’s special monograph on Srimath RaamAyaNa
Sarvasavam provides excellent description of the tattvams
celebrated by the great Raama BhakthA , KulasEkhara AzhwAr
in many paasurams of PerumAL Thirumozhi. It would be
appropriate to recall here the two slOkams summarizing
the 18 tattvams behind Srimath RaamAyaNam that were
revealed by Thirumalai Nampi to his nephew RaamAnujA
over a period of one year at Thiruppathi:
VidhyA sarvAapi bhAhyathyajanamakhila
saddhdharma aadhyAthmikArthA : I
arTaanAm panchakam Sriraghupathi paratatthvam
Prapatthi: padham tath( pumarTa:) II
Seshathvam Paaratantryam tadhavadhiragathithvam
virakthirgurOrdhruk I
SrIsAhyam nirbharathvam suvasathirapi
TaddhdhyAyitha-ashtaadasArTA: II
Aazvaar, Emberumaanaar, Jeeyar Thiru Adikalley Sarannam.
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