nammAzhwAr did his avatAra in this iruL tarum mA jnAlam in order to remove the darkness of ignorance, and bring out the SAstrArthas to this world. Therefore he sang four prabandhas which are considered as 4 vEdas. tirumangai AzhwAr has sung 6 prabandhas (periya tirumozhi, tirukkurundANDaham, tiruneDuntANDaham, tiruveahukkooTTriukkai, Siriya tirumaDal and periya tirumaDal) which are called 6 vEdAngas.
This prabandha called tiruvezhukkooTTrirukkai is in the 3rd Ayiram called iyarpA and is the 8th prabandha as arranged by Sreeman nAdamunihaL.
As he himself says, tirumangai AzhwAr was indulged in worldly pleasures with no Bakti at BagavAn or BAgavatas, ‘venriyE vENDi veezh poruTkiNangi vEr kaNAr kalaviyE karudi, ninrava nillA nenjinai uDaiyEn’, ‘sAndEndu men mulaiyAr taDandOL puNarinba veLLattu AzhndEn’. emberumAn made a sankalpa to shower His nirhEtuka kaTAkSha on him and make him an instrument to correct the people. He felt this AzhwAr cannot be corrected by SAstra and tatvOpadESa. He thought He would reveal His divya mangaLa vigraha and bring him to His side. ‘viShayangaLil Azhndu tirihinra ivarai SAstirangALai kATTi tirutta muDiyAdu; nam azhahai kATTiyE meeTkavENum’. AzhwAr forgot every thing else and become His dAsa. ‘vEmbin puzhu vEmbanri uNNAdu, aDiyEn pinnum un sEvaDiyanri nayavEn’.
emberumAn not only revealed His divya mangaLa vigraha but also did upadESa of tirumantra and mantrArtha. He revealed His Seela guNas etc and divya dESas where He resides as archAvatAra, which is the upper limit of tirumantrArtha. AzhwAr visited all the divya dESas and sang ‘vADinEn vADi…………..’ and enjoyed His archA moorti in all these places.
emberumAn decided to make him understand the alpatva and asthiratva of this world. AzhwAr developed a deep disgust over this worldly life. ‘irupADeri koLLiyinuL erumbE pOl’ ‘pAmbODoru kooraiyilE payinrArpOl’. He cries bitterly revealing his utter inability to continue life in this world. ‘paNiyAi enakku uyyum vahai paranjOdee’ ‘andO aruLAi aDiyErku un aruLE’ But emberumAn did not fulfill his wish immediately as a mother would refuse to give food even though the child cries for it, waiting for the indigestion to go. So too emberumAn did not reveal Himself to Him ‘ivarkku muTTra mudirnda parama Bakti pirakkumaLavum nAm muham kATTuvOmallOm.’
AzhwAr’s state was simply beyond description. His thirst for Him grew so much that he fell in to the river of BagavadnuBava, splashed water on his face, limbs and body, drank some, gasped for breath and again splashed water on his body. AzhwAr speaks about Him, bow his head at His tiruvaDi, meditate on Him, even after doing all these in (tiruneDuntANDaham) he was not satisfied. This rather increased his thirst rather than lessening it. AzhwAr expresses this in t his prabandha ‘ninnaDiyiNai paNivan varum iDarahala mATTrO vinaiyE’ he surrenders himself at His tiruvaDi with anguish.
What is tiruvezhukkooTTrirukkai?
tirumangai AzhwAr is a great poet. There are 4 types of poet—Asukavi, madhura kavi, cittirakkavi, vittArakkavi. Asukvi—One who writes poetry instantaneously and spontaneously, madhurakavi—One whose poetry is beautiful with similes, alliterations and alankAras (rhetoric), vittArakkavi—vistAra kavitva—elaborate descriptions etc, as seen in periya tirumozhi, tirukkurundANDaham, tiruneDuntANDaham, tirumaDal etc. cittirakkavi—There are many varieties—‘EkapAdamum ezhukooTTriukkaiyum, kAdaikkarappum karandurai seyyuLum, kooDaccadukkamum, kOmoottiriyum, ivai mudalAvana chittirakkaviyE’ ‘mAlai mATTrE chakkaram suzhikuLam EkapAdam ezhukkooTTrirukkai, kAdai karappE, karanduraippATTE, pAdamayakkE, pAvin puNarppE, kooDasadukkam, kOmoottiriyE, OrinattezhuttAluyarnda pATTE, oTTru peyarttal, oru poruTpATTE, chittirappAvE, visittirappAvE, vikarpa naDaiyE, vinAvuttaramE, saruppadO pattiram sArndavezhuttE, varakkamumaTTrum vaDa noorkaDaluL, orukkuDan vaitta udAraNa nOkki , virittum maraittum miraikkavippATTum, terittuppADuvadu chittirakkaviyE’---so in the list revealed in grammatical texts.
These are such chittirakkavi in Sanskrit literature too—‘chakrabandham, padma bandham, muraja bandham, nAga bandham, ratha bandham etc’ SiSupAla vadha, yamaka ratnAkaram, pAdukA sahasram, lakShmee sahasram, pratApa rudreeyam etc are examples of chittirakkavi.
tiruvezhukkooTTrirukkai is in the form of a ratha (chariot). The chariot has 2 parts upper and lower. Each part contains 7 rows (North South). The first row (East West) has 3 squares the second row will have 2 extra and so on. Thus there are 7 vertical rows. Similar is the pattu of the second part (lower part) but in reverse order i.e., the first row (horizontal) will have 13 squares and the rest of the rows will have each less by 2.
The final row will have 3 squares. In the text veerasOzhiyam a brief description of the arrangement of ezhukkooTTrirukkai is given.
The picture given shows clearly the chariot form. The number are filled in each square. These number are found in the pASura either as Sabda or as artha. The other special and salient features if explained will be very elaborate. Interested people may find more details in texts or from experts.
Sometimes a word denoting no. may also have apt meaning for eg.,‘oru pErundi iru malar tavisil’ here iru means both number as well as ‘great’. Similarly onriya, anjiraiya, nAlvAi, iruneer, onri, Arupodi etc are words used in this prabandha having both Sabda and artha. This type can be found in Sanskrit literature too. For eg. in sudarSana Sataka the SlOka ‘Ekam lOkasya cakShuh:’ the number 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,100,1000 are given. In the place of 9 the word ‘nava’ is used which means both the number and new’.
All AzhwArs are always in BagavadanuBava. Their feelings and expressions are poured out in prabandha. In such a case how come they are in tune with poetical metre, rules of alankAra, chitra kavi etc, as if they are deliberately written. Here too in tiruvezhukkooTTrirukkai the pattern of a ratha is as if deliberately thought out and written. But it is not so. When vAlmeeki cursed the hunter who killed one of the pairs of birds, His SOKa came out as SlOka ‘mA niShAda pratiShThAm’ etc. If a riShi blessed by brahma can do so why not AzhwAr who is blessed by sAkShAt paramAtma? What is there to wonder about? Therefore these prabandhas are spontaneous born out of the grace of emberumAn.
Of the AzhwArs only tirumangai AzhwAr has sung chitra kavi after him many Baktas like tirukkuruhai perumAL kavi rAyar has written mAranalankAram’ in ezhukkooTTrikkai. It is about nammAzhwAr. It starts with ‘oru nani tihiriyin iru visumbozhukkattu oru jnAnrorupahal oDiyA uzhappin’ and ends with ‘jnAna pooraNa suKOdaya naveera mAna pooDaNa kuruhApuri vasOdaya …… …. kaimmArevanee kaikkoNDaduvE’.
tirujnAna sambandar, on of the saiva samayAchAras, has written a kooTTrirukkai in dEvAram ‘OruruvAyinai mAnAngArattu eeriyalbAi oru viN mudal boodalam’ and ends with ‘ninnai ninaiya vallavarillai neeNilattE’
pulavar nakkeerai has also sung a kooTTrirukkai in padinOrAm tirumurai. It starts with ‘OruDambu eeruruvAyinai’ and ends as ‘pAdam senniyir paravuvavan paNindE’.
Thus there are 2 tiruvezhukkooTTrirukkai in vaiShNava literature and 2 in saiva sampradAya.
In the work called mAranalankAram there is ratha bandha. But instead of number there will be letter. The ratha bandha which has numbers alone are called ezhukkooTTriukkai.
In this prabandha starting with ‘oru pErundi’ ending with ‘iru vahai payanai onrAi virindu ninranai’ has in the end some passages which are stOtras which is written in the middle or space between two triangles i.e. the center of the ratha.
This prabandha is one of the type called AsiriyappA. AsiriyappA is of 4 types—nErisai Asiriyappa, nilai maNDila AsiriyappA etc. This prabandha is called nilai maNDila AsiriyappA.
taniyan
by emberumAnAr
vAzhi parakAlan vAzhi kalai kanri
vAzhi kuraiyaloor vAzhvEdan—vAzhiyarO|
mAyOnai vAL valiyAl mandirangoL mangaiyarkOn
tooyOn suDar mAna vEl ||
This taniyan is a mangaLASAsana to tirumangai AzhwAr and his 6 divya prabandhas which are like forts on all sides of emberumAn protecting Him from enemies. He hails the ‘vEl’ which is the Ayudha of AzhwAr.
tirumangai AzhwAr defeats all those opponents who are non vaidikas; His works remove the dOShas of kali. He was born in tirukkuraiyaloor and was the king of tirumangai nahar. Long live AzhwAr! Long live his spear that threatened emberumAn. He received the tirumantrOpadESa right from emberumAn Himself.
In order to convert the samsAris into mumukShus emberumAn showered His nirhEtuka kaTAkSha on tirumangai mannan. He, dressed like a bridegroom, along with periya pirATTi who was dressed as a bride, was walking along the forest region, both of them fully decked with gold and diamond jewelry. tirumangai AzhwAr found a good chance to loot them. He brandished his sword and took away all the jewels. He couldn’t however, remove the arukkAzhi ring on His toe. He tried to pull it out with his teeth but could not do so. He threatened the ‘bridegroom’ to kill Him if He doesn’t tell him the mantra which He has put on it. emberumAn threw His arms around his shoulder and did the upadESa of aShTAkShara. Suddenly the thief became a jnAni and Bakta.
tooyOn—Though AzhwAr did Bagavat BAgavata kainkaryas by stealing money, they are done for the sake of emberumAn alone. So they are not pApa karmas. Therefore emberumAnAr calls him ‘tooyOn’.
tiruvezhukkooTTrirukkai [2672]
oru pErundi iru malar tavisil|
oru murai ayanai eenranai ||
When all the worlds were destroyed during praLaya He created brahma from His nABi kamala in order to create again. He gave the vEdas with the help of which he can create the worlds as before. ‘uyya ulahu paDaikka vENDi undiyil tOTTrinAi nAn muhanai’—periyAzhwAr
‘emberumAn! You are the cause of all the creations; Hence You must protect them Yourself (rakShaNa) tavisu—beat
………… oru murai
iru suDar meedinil iyangA mummadiL |
ilangai irukAl vaLaiya orusilai
onriya eereyiTTrazhal vAi vALiyin
aTTanai ……………
AzhwAr talked about the creation. Now he says one who is the creator should also be the rakShaka. when there is any threat to the created world He takes all the trouble to protect them from destruction. He burnt the city of lanka (like they burn the beehive) with His bow sArnga that had bent ends with a bow that had sharp teeth, terrible look and emitting fire.
All the gods were afraid of rAvaNa oru suDar meedinil iyangA—even the sun and the moon were afraid to move over his territory. ‘pahalvan meeyangAda ilangai’-- periya tirumozhi.
iru suDar—sun and the moon
meedinil—on lankApuri
iyanga—to move;
iyangA—they don’t move. This shows how rAvaNa was a yama to all the dEvatas
mummadiL—The city was protected by 3 natural forts—made of forests, mountains and seas on all sides. Even hanumAn was very much astonished at the wealth of the city. rAma burnt this city with His terrible arrows (aTTanai)
vALi—arrow. It has three qualifying phrases—irukAl vaLaiya oru silali onriya, eereyiTTru, azhalvAi.
eer—to kill
aTTanai—burnt.
………moovaDi nAnilam vENDi
muppuri nooloDu mAnuri ilangu
mArvinin iru pirappu oru mANAhi
oru murai eeraDi moovulahu aLandanai
In the last sentence AzhwAr talked about Sree rAmAvatAra where He accomplished the task with the help of an arrow.
Now he talks about vAmanAvatAra where emberumAn accomplishes the task with the help of His beautiful form.
indra requested Sreeman nArAyaNa to help him get back the lost kingdom from mahAbali. So BagavAn takes the birth in a BrAhmaNa kula. As a brahmachAri—wearing the sacred thread with kriShNAnjana (deer skin) tied to it. He went to the yAgaSAla of mahAbali and begged three pieces of land. When He received the gift He grew immensely as trivikrama and measured all the worlds with 2 tiruvaDi’s and sent mahAbali to pAtALa lOka.
nAnilam—The Boomi, the Boomi that has 4 types of land—kurinji, mullai, marudam and neidal,
kurinji—mountainous region
mullai—forest region
marudam—the cities
neidal—costal region
The commentators say there is division called nAlai (desert), since any land if it loses its characteristic features become barren, uninhibited which is called nAlai.
muppuri nool—the sacred thread has 3 strands.
mAnuri—a piece of deer skin tied to the sacred thread
mAn koNDa tOl mArbin mANiyAi—periya tirumozhi.
irupirappu—the brAhmins are called ‘dwijas’ who have 2 births one birth from the mother’s womb and the second when he learn vEdas. ‘janmanA jAyatE Soodrah karmaNa jAyatE dvijah’
eeraDi moovulahu alandanai—tirvikrama measured the Boomi and the lOkas below it with one tiruvaDi and all the upper worlds with another tiruvaDi.
nATTrisai naDunga anjirai paravai
Eri, nAl vAi mummadam irusevi
oru tani vEzhattu arandaiyai oru nAL
iru neer maDuvuL teerttanai…………
AzhwAr talks about gajEndra mOkSha, a famous story. Once gajEndra went to a lotus pond to pluck a beautiful fresh flower to offer at the tiruvaDi of emberumAn. He was caught by a crocodile. He cried ‘AdimoolamE……...immediately Sreeman nArAyaNa left periya pirATTi, climbed on to garuDAzhwAr, pressed him hard to go fast (to save the elephant). People of all the worlds not knowing what is wrong, were looking aghast fearing there is going to be a praLaya and the world is going to end. (nAl tisai naDunga).
anjirai—garuDa flew fast as he knew what emberumAn is going for. Therefore AzhwAr calls him ‘a bird with beautiful wings’.
nAlvAi—nAl—to hang. i.e. the elephant has a long mouth (trunk) Therefore he is called nAlvAi.
mummadam—the rut flows from 2 sides of His face and from the male organ.
iru sevi—large ears or 2 ears
Why should AzhwAr describe an elephant so elaborately in this context? This is the place where AzhwAr is talking about the kAruNya of emberumAn; the description the elephant seems out of context. The answer is—gajEndra was in danger; BagavAn has saved His Bakta from the enemy. After he was out of danger, AzhwAr who speaks the words of emberumAn through His mouth, fondles Him saying, ‘Oh! Such beautiful mouth, such a charming ears etc’ and Oh! idu oru kAlazhahum iduvoru kaiyazhahum idoru talaiyazhahum idoru muhavazhahum ennE! oru kuzhandai kiNaTTril vizhundu pOha adanai eDuttu kariayilE pOTTavarhaL ivvAru solli solli mAindu pOvArhaLanDrO! appaDiyE emberumAnum yAnaiyin kAlai mudalai vAyininrum viDuvitta pin adanuDaiya vAyum seviyum mudaliya avayavayangaLin azhahilE Azhndu karaindamai tOTTra anda Bagavat samAdhiyAlE AzhwAr Anaiyai varuNikkinrArenga’.
‘nAl vAi mummadachchevi—enrArpOlE solluvadukku karuttennennil prajai kiNaTTrilE vizhundAl kAdum kuNDavALiyum kAlum talaiyum vaDivum irundapaDi en kAN enbAraippOlE iDarpaTTa idinuDaiya avayavangaL avanukku AkarShakamAmpaDiyAlE solluhiradu’— periyavAchchAn piLLai.
oru tani vEzham—gajEndra who has unsurpassed Bakti towards Him.
arandai—duhKa.
…………muttee
nAn marai aivahai vELvi aru tozhil
andaNar vaNangum tanmaiyai …………
muttee—gArhapatya, Ahavaneeya and dakShiNAgni nAnmaraihaL—rik, yajur, sAma and atharvaNa vEdas.
It is vEdavyAsa who divided the vEdas into 4. Before he did so the vEdas were called taittiriyam, pouDiyam, dalavakAram and sAmam.
aivahai vELvi—brahmayajna, dEvayajna, Bootayajna, pitryajna and manuShya yajna. These are called pancha mahA yajnas.
brahma yajna—to read vEdas daily.
dEva yajna—to do agnihOtra etc for the dEvas
Bootayajna—to give food to animals
pitr yajna—to give tarpaNa to the deceased ancestors
manuShya yajna—to do upachAra to the atithis (guests) who come home.
arutozhil—to chant vEdas and to teach other; to do yAgas for himself and do for others; to give dAna and to receive dAna.
emberumAn is worshipped by BrAhmaNas who do fire sacrifice daily, who perform pancha mahA yajnas and who have 6 karmas.
………aimbulan
ahattinuL seruttu nAnguDanaDakki
mukkuNattu irANDavai ahaTTri onrinil
onri ninru Angu iru pirapparuppOr
ariyum tanmaiyai ………
emberumAn is perceived by the yogis who control their senses possess sAtvika guNa.
aimpulan—eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin
ahattinuL seruttu—not allowing them to enjoy the worldly viShayas but employ them to go inside and enjoy the antaryAmi BagavAn.
nAnguDan aDakki—‘AhArA, nidrA, Baya, maithunAni samAnyam Etad paSuBir narANAm’. Desist from too much indulgence in eating, sleeping, fearing from duhKa, and pleasure of women. These four are common for both animals and men. Therefore they should be controlled by vivEkis. mukkuNattu irANdavai ahaTTri—satva, rajas and tamas are the 3 guNas. rajas produces anyathAjnAna and tamas produces vipareeta jnAna. Only satva is conducive to jnAna.
emberumAn is known to yOgis who control the indriyas, are moderate in eating, sleeping etc. are possessed of satva guNa alone. They don’t fall into the pit of samsAra. They understand the swaroopa and swaBAva of emberumAn.
nAngu uDanaDakki—the four can be—manas, buddhi, ahankAra and chitta (or) to utter falsehood, talk ill of others in their absence, use harsh words and to speak uselessly.
irupinappu—anAdi samsAra (or) the tow karma Palas–puNya and pApa and the consequent samsAra.
………mukkaN nATTrOL
aivAi aravODu Arupodi saDaiyOn
arivarum tanmai perumaiyuL ninranai
The SAstras say one cannot understand Him by any amount of self effort. paramaSiva thinks proudly I am mukkaNNan; I am nAgABaraNa; I wear ganga on my head, toNDaraDippoDi AzhwAr says ‘peNNulAm saDaiyinAnum piramanum unnai kANbAn eNNilA oozhi oozhi tavam seidAr veLhi nirpa’ in tirumAlai that he could not have Bagavat sAkShAtkAra.
aivAyaravODu—Some riShis were performing tapas in dArukAvana. They did not respect Siva who appeared before them. Siva wanted to curb their pride and harm the pAtivratya (chastity) of their wives. He came as a hunter and begged food in there houses and polluted women too. The riShis were angry at his act, performed an aBichAra yAga and sent serpents, Bootas, deers, tiger, muyalaka, veNDalai to kill Siva. But Siva wore the serpents as his ornaments, took the Bootas as his gaNas, took the deer in his hand, killed the tiger and wore its skin, stamped on muyalaka and took veNDalai in his hand. Thus he made them powerless.
Aru podi SaDaiyOn— When emberumAn took trivikrama avatAra and lifted His tiruvaDi to brahmalOka, he washed it with his kamaNDala jala. The water came down as AkASa ganga which Siva wore on his head.
There is another story—Bageerata, the king of sun dynasty performed severe tapas for many years to purify his forefathers, the sons of sAgara (who were burnt to ashes by kapila muni by dissolving the ashes in ganga. The AkASa ganga came down with such a fore that Bageerata feared she would wash off the whole earth. He requested Siva to bear her on His head. Sva did so for 2 purposes—to purify himself and to curb her pride. He let her out to flow slowly. She washed the ashes of sAgara putras and gave them good lOkas.
Siva could not find the end of emberumAn’s glory by his efforts.
Ezhulahu eyiTTrinil koNDanai, kooriya
arusuvai payanumAyinai, suDar viDum
aimbaDai angaiyuL amarndanai sundara
nATTrOL munneer vaNNa ninneeraDi
onriya manattAl, oru madi muhattu
mangaiyar iru varum malarana angaiyin
muppozhudum varuDa arituyil amarndanai
hiraNyAkSha, the bother of hiraNyakaShipu rolled the earth like a mat and hid it under the ocean. emberumAn at the request of all the dEvas and riShis took varaha avatAra, went inside the ocean, killed the asura with His tusk, lifted the Boomi, spread it in its place.
It is also said that in the pAdma kalpa (previous to the present SwEta varaha kalpa), the Boomi got submerged in praLaya jala and varAha perumAn lifted it with His tusk.
Ezhulahu—Ezhu does not denote the number 7 but in an upalakShaNa for all the worlds (or) the Boomi with 7 dweepas (islands)-nAvalarteevu, iralitteevu, kusaiyin teevu, kiravunjatteevu, sAnmalaitteevu, tengin teevu, puTkarat teevu.
kooriya arusuvai payanumAyinai—There are 6 types of tastes like sweet, salt etc. He is as enjoyable as the food with these tastes. ‘uNNum sOru paruhum neer, tinnum veTTrilai ellAm kaNNan’— nammAzhwAr. ‘achchuvai kaTTi engO arusuvai aDisilengO’—tiruvAimozhi.
munneer—the sea consists of water from 3 sources—rain water, spring water and river water.
nineeraDi amarndanai—‘vaDiviNaiyilla malar mahaL maTTrai nilamahaL piDikkum mellaDi’ ‘padmA dhAtree karAByAm parichita charaNam rangarAjam BajEham’.
The beautiful Sree dEvi and Boo dEvi always sitting near His tiruvaDi gently press it when He does yOga nidra on tiruvanandAzhwAn.
malaran—malaranna—flower-like
arituyil—yOga nidra.
neri murai nAlvahai varuNamumAyinai
mEdahu aimperum boodamum neeyE
arupadam muralum koondal kAraNam
EzhviDai aDanga seTTranai aruvahai
samayamum aruvaru nilaiyinai aimbAl
Odiyai Aha tiruttinai aramudal
nAngavaiyAi moortti moonrAi
iruvahai payanAi onrAi virindu
ninranai ………………
nAlvahai varuNamum—The 4 varNas (castes) are—BrAhmaNa, kShatriya, vaiSya and Soodra. It is said the BrAhmaNas are born from His face, the kShatriyas from His shoulders, the vaiShyas from His thighs and the Soodras from His tiruvaDi. There fore He alone is the 4 varNas. He alone made the SAstras wherein He has given the varNa dharmas, made them follow them and the mode of worship for each varNa.
varuNam—is the tamizh form of varNa of Sanskrit. varNa also means colour. In those days when the varNa was strictly maintained and the dharmas followed, did not allow the mixture of varNas by inter marriage etc. Therefore the people belonging to that particular varNa could be easily identified easily from their colour. Thus varNa became synonymous with jAti.
mEdahum aimberum boodamum neeyE—The pancha mahA Bootas are AkASa, vAyu, agni, water and prithvi. These mahA Bootas are under His control. mEdahu—Where the Atmas enter and live. The Atma without Sareera cannot experience any suKa or duhKa. Hence it takes a Sareera made up of 5 Bootas. emberumAn is the antarAtma in all the Sareeras made up of 5 Bootas.
arupadam muralum koondal kAraNam EzhviDai aDanga seTTranai— arupadam— SaTpada— bees having 6 legs. muralum—buzz, koondal kAraNam—for the sake of nappinnai pirATTi, a neeLA dEvi amSa , born of a shepherd called kumBa in AyarpADi He defeated the powerful 7 bulls belonging to him, kept as kanyA Sulka, and married nappinnai.
aruvahai samayamum arivaru nilaiyinai—The 6 bAhya matas are—sAkkiyar, ulookyar, bouddhar, chAruvAkar, pASupadar and gaNAdar. They are called bAhyas, because they don’t take vEda as final pramANa. They don’t, therefore understand His swaroopa, roopa, guNa viBava aiSwarya etc. emberumAn can be understood only by those who get His krupa like the AzhwArs.
aimbAl Odiyai Ahattu iruttinai—Odi-hair; aimbAl—which has five characteristics like dark, curly, fragrant, thick and long and curly. He has periya pirATTi in His tirumArbu. ara mudal nAngavaiyAi— The 4 puruShArthas are dharma, artha, kAma and mOkSha. He is the giver of all of them.
moorti moonrAi— He is the antaryAmi of brahma and rudra to do the SruShTi and samhAra kArya; as He imself taken up the pAlana kArya (maintenance).
iruvahai payanAi—The good and evil karmas give the Palas as puNya and pApa which in turn give the Pala as suKa and duhKa.
onrai virindu ninranai—The sookShma chidachid viSiShTa brahman (brahman endowed with chidachid as His Sareera in subtle form) is the sthoola chidachid viSiShTa brahman. (He alone is the brahman whose Sareera is made upof sthoola-gross chidachid objects) ‘mAya vAmananE madusoodA nee aruLAi, teeyAi, neerAi, nilanAi, viSumbAi, kAlAi, tAyAi, tandaiyAi, makkaLAi, maTTrumAi, muTTrumAi, neeyAi nee ninravAru ivai enna niyAyangaLE’—tiruvAimozhi.
Here the garland of letters from the tiruvezhukkooTTrirukkai (the ratha bandha) ends.
The rest of the prabandha is stOtra.
………kunrA madumalar sOlai
vaNkoDi paDappai varupunal ponni
mAmaNi alaikkum senneloN kazhani
tihazhvanam uDutta karpOr puri sei
kanaha mALihai nimirkoDi visumbil
iLampirai tuvakkum selvam malhu ten
tirukkuDandai andaNar mandira mozhiyuDan
vaNanga vADaravamaLiyil arituyil
amarnda parama ninnaDiyiNai paNivan
varum iDarahala mATTrO vinaiyE
AzhwAr elaborately spoke about His chEShTitas, swaroopa, swaBAva starting from ‘oru pErundi’ upto ‘onrAi vrindu ninranai’ He lies in yOga nidra on tiruvanandAzhwAn in tiukkuDandai revealing His tiruguNas.
AzhwAr describes the fertility of the land, the profuse water of kAvEri river, the high raised buildings, the culture of brAhmaNas, the forest wealth etc.
The city is full of flower gardens where flowers full of honey are seen; where the perennial river kAvEri flows bringing precious gems with her waves; the land is fertile with red paddy fields irrigated by ponni. There live learned men in tall buildings whose flags touch the moon traveling over the buildings. The vEda GOSha is always heard in the houses of 3 castes filling the sky. Here lives emberumAn worshipped by vEda mantras. He lies in yOga nidra on AdiSESha who has spread-out hoods because of his permanent sambandha with emberumAn. Oh! neDumAl! I seek Your tiruvaDi please remove my samsAra tApas.
karpOr puri sei—It can also be red as karpOr purisai periyavAchchAn piLLai prefers the first reading ‘karpOr puri sei’, which means the city where vidvAns reside. another Sree sookti says ‘tozhil OrappaDA ninruLLa madiLhaLaiyum uDaiyadAi’ which means a city whose forts are made up of decorated stones (karpu Or purisei).
Both the readings are accepted.
The flags on the top of the buildings touch the moon in the sky.
ADaravu—AdiSESha is always happy because he has the nitya sambandha with emberumAn. So he spreads his hoods.
amaLi—Bed
ari tuyil—yOga idra—‘uranguvAn pOla yOgu seyyum perumAn’
In this prabandha AzhwAr has poured out His anguish and does deerGa SaraNAgati at His tiruvaDi. But emberumAn has a different sankalpa. He wants AzhwAr to sing some more prabandhas to make people mumukShus. Hence He does not reveal Himself to AzhwAr.
Therefore AzhwAr sings siriya tirumaDal and periya tirumaDal.
idangkoNda nenjchaththu iNangkik kidappana *
enRum ponnith thadangkoNda thAmarai sUzhum malarndha thaN pUngkudandhai *
vidangkoNda veNpal karundhuththi sengkaN thazhalumizh vAy *
padangkoNda pAmbaNaip paLLi koNdAn thiruppAdhangkaLE
tiruvezhukkooTTrirukkai muTTriTTru
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