Thirupavai is called as Sanga
Tamil because it has all three modes of enetertainment iyal(prose literature),
isai(poetry/music) and natakam(drama). The fourth pasuram is in the form of a
drama (natakam).
aazhi mazhai(k) kaNNaa onRu nee kai karavEl
In the first three pasurams Andal
Nachiar addressed her friends but here she addresses aazhi mazhai(k) kaNNaa
which means aazhi mazhaiku annan and refers to deity in charge of rain showers.
Why does she address this deity all of a sudden now? The deity stood in front
of Andal Nachiar as he heard her sing in the previous pasuram that the
surrounding area will be blessed by good rain showers by singing the praise of
the Lord. The deity in charge of rain wanted to perform kaimkaryams to Andal
and her friends.
This pasuram shows us about the
way in which the celestials seek to serve true Bagawathas. Purusha Suktam says
that the devas will appear before those people who have sought refuge under the
protection of Lord Narayana to find out if they could be of any help. The old
108 divya desam temples do not have a sanctum for navagraha devathas. Vishnu
temples in general do not have sannidhi for navagraha devathas the only
exception is the temple of Koodalazhagar in Madurai. The reason why Vishnu
temples don’t have a sannidhi for navagraha devathas is because Vishnu is the
Supreme Being. The navagraha devathas work under His control. Since we worship
the controller of the navagraha devathas there is no reason to worship the
controlled navagraha devathas. Vedam has said that those people who have faith in
Lord Vishnu as the Supreme Being as their sole protector will be saluted by
other deities.
kanakaruchirA kAvyAKhyAthA
shanaIscharaNOchithA
shrithagurubuDhA BhAsvadhrUpa
dhvijADhipasEvithA
vihithaviBhavA nithyam viShNO:
padhE maNipAdhukE!
thvamasi mahathI vishvEShAm na:
shuBhA grahamaNdalI
Swami Desikan states that the
planets, namely; the Budhan, Sukran, Sani, Guru Rahu, Ketu, Mangal, Soorya and
Chandra in the celestial sphere cling to the Padukai of Perumal. Hence the
planets do not harm those people who seek refuge under the divine feet of
Perumal and worship His padukai thus making it unnecessary to have a sannidhi
for navagraha devathas.
aazhi uL pukku mugandhu kodu aarthu Eri
The deity in charge of rain asked
Andal Nachiar how and where he should shower rain.
Andal Nachiar asked him to shower
rain everywhere even in the area inhabited by sinners showing us her
maternal affection for all jeevatmas. She asked him to drink water completely
from the middle of the ocean (azhi) leaving only the sand. She insists that he
should drink water from the middle of the ocean as it will be free from
pollution.
She said, ‘On your way back to
the shore you should announce your approach by rumbling. To show us that you
have consumed enough water, your body should look as dark as the body of Lord
Narayana.’
Andal didn’t say you should look
dark like Narayana but said that his body should look dark like the body of
Narayana. The reason Andal said that his body should be like the body of
Narayana and not that he should look like Narayana is because he can only try
to dress like Narayana. He will not be able to be as compassionate as Lord
Narayana.
Once a year Namperumal at Sri
Rangam dresses up as Thayar; his costume is known as Mohini Alankaram. Sri
Parasara Bhattar was known always to favour Ranganayaki Thayar. Once when Perumal dressed up as
Mohini, He sent for Bhattar. After Bhattar arrived, Perumal expected Bhattar to
state that Perumal looked exactly like Thayar but Bhattar replied that even
though Perumal dressed up like Thayar He lacked the compassionate glance of
Thayar in both His eyes since one eye of Perumal is the Sun used to scorch
enemies and only the other eye is the moon cool full of compassion turned
towards His devotees. Bhattar stated that both the eyes of Thayar were cool
like the moon and she showered compassion even on Her enemies. Similar to Perumal being unable to look just
like Thayar, the deity in charge of rain will never be able to look like
Perumal.
Picture 1: Namperumal Mohini Alankaram.
aazhi pOl minni valamburi pOl ninRu adhirndhu
She insists that the deity of
rain should produce brilliant lightening that look like the Sudarsana Chakra in
the hands of Perumal with beautiful broad shoulders. Perumal has broad
shoulders to show that He protects everyone at all times from every kind of
danger produced by everybody else. She asked the deity of rain to produce
thunder to sound similar to Panchajanyam. Panchajanyam causes happiness in the
heart of Bagawathas but fear in the minds of their enemies.
thaazhaadhE saarnga mudhaiththa sara mazhai pOl
vaazha ulaginil peydhidaay naangaLum
maargazhi neeraada magizhndhElOr
She asked the deity to shower
rain in the same way in which the arrows shot by Lord Rama fall on His enemies in
a shower but Andal asked the deity of rain to make rain showers to cause benefit
to everyone. She asked him to provide shower after they finish their morning
bath and that the showers should not hinder any Bagawathas. Everyone should
feel happy to receive the rain showers.
Alternate Meaning:
aazhi mazhai(k) kaNNaa onRu nee kai karavEl
Arjuna requested Perumal to give
him upadesam by saying the following slokam. (Ref:
http://www.bhagavad-gita.org/Gita/verse-02-07.html)
This Slokam is chanted by Sri
Vaishnavas while requesting an Acharyan to accept him/her as a disciple and
perform samasrayanam. The slokam has to be adjusted for the word “sishyaha” as
it is in masculine gender by women. This fourth pasuram was composed by Andal
Nachiar for us to use in place of the difficult Sanskrit slokam to request an
Acharyan to accept us as his disciple. The pasuram also speak about the
characteristics of a good Acharyan.
An Acharyan’s eyes should be wet
because of his happiness in serving Perumal as well as sorrow in seeing that we
do not strive to attain Perumal’s divine feet. The Acharyan should provide good
instructions even if the disciple doesn’t have the mentality to accept good
instruction. The Acharyan should correct the errors made by the disciple.
aazhi uL pukku mugandhu kodu aarthu Eri
Swami Ramanujar said that, ‘Swami
Alavandar is an ocean of nectar. I dip in this ocean and obtain the best gems
to give to my disciples.’
This means that the Acharyan
should research and analyze the granthams written by poorvacharyas, understand
the concepts and state with great conviction the instructions to his disciples.
oozhi mudhalvan uruvam pOl mey kaRuththu(p)
While listening to the lectures
of our Acharyan we get the feeling that we are in the presence of Perumal
Himself. Perumal appeared like dark rain bearing clouds when He created this
Universe.
paazhii am thOLudai(p) paRpanaaban kaiyil
Of the twelve names Perumal
chanted daily while wearing thiruman, the eleventh name is Padmanaban & the
twelfth is Damodaran. Padmanaban denotes
superiority as Perumal is with Brahma on
the lotus that appeared from His navel. Brahma in turn created Shiva thus as
Padmanaba, Perumal shows us that He is the chief of both Brahma as well as
Shiva.
Lord Krishna incarnated as the son of
Devaki & Vasudeva. He appeared as a child but along with His consort.
Devaki and Vasudeva obtained Goddess Sridevi as their daughter-in-law on the
same night! Parents await the birth of their grandchild after their son has
been married. Devaki and Vasudeva did not have to wait for a long time as on
the Lord’s lotus like navel they found His son Brahma sitting on a lotus bloom
chanting the Vedas! To describe the child Brahma on the Lord’s navel,
Sukacharyar used the word balakam in the slokam “Tam adbhutam Balakam” in
Srimad Bagawatam. The word “Ka” is used to denote Brahma. Sukacharyar could
have used “Balan” to depict the divine child but he specifically used the word
“Balakam” to draw our attention to Lord Brahma present in the navel of the
Divine Child. Both the words “bala” as well as “balakam” mean child. The word
“balakam” is used in the sloka to let us know about the divine child who
appeared with “ka”!Hi name Damodaran reveals
His simplicity and ease of accessibility, saulabhyam.
As
a child, Krishna was bound to a mortar by Yashoda. Yashoda did not tie Krishna
but Krishna allowed himself to be tied to the mortar by his mother. If he had
wished to remain untied, she could have never accomplished this feat. His glory
increased because he let himself be tied by Yashoda; his coming down to our
world is similar to heads of states interacting with common people to gain
popularity, the only difference is that Paramatma is not looking to gain
popularity. He has only our interest in his heart and works to help us. After
Krishna brought down the two Yamalarjuna trees with the mortar He was tied to, Yashoda
inspected Krishna to make sure He wasn’t hurt by the falling trees. ‘How did
you manage to drag the mortar? She questioned Him.
She
looked at His waist and was shocked. She hadn’t tied the rope tightly but
somehow the rope had scarred Krishna’s waist. His smooth waist now displayed
the rope marks. Krishna sported the rope marks with pride to show us the ease
with which we can approach Him and even bind Him if only we felt an ounce of
love Yashoda had for Him.
yamm durgraham
sumanasO manasAapi nityam
bandacchidam
paramam ISam udAharanti |
dAmnA nibaddha iti
Susruma tamm bhavantam
nAlam
babhUvitha! bata! slathanAya tasya ||
MEANING:
Oh KrishNA ! You
are beyond comprehension in the past, present or future even
by one with an
auspicious mind. You are eulogized by the DevAs as the One who
can break the bonds
of our KarmAs and as being always with the lady of
Supreme
auspiciousness, Sri Devi. We hear that You known for such power and
majesty and yet
were tied to a hustling mortar with fine rope and you could
not
loosen Yourself from that knot. What a surprise!
aazhi pOl minni valamburi pOl ninRu adhirndhu
An Acharyan shines with the
effulgence of Sudarasana Chakra and sounds like the Panchajanyam in the hands
of Padmanabhan while establishing the paratvam(superiority) of Perumal in
debates.
thaazhaadhE saarnga mudhaiththa sara mazhai pOl
An Acharyan must bless his
disciple with many kalakshepams/upanyasams and shower his disciple with divine
knowledge similar to the way in which Lord Rama showered His enemies with a
rain of arrows.
vaazha ulaginil peydhidaay naangaLum
The instructions provided by the
Acharyan must be possible for the disciples to follow in this world.
maargazhi neeraada magizhndhElOr
The disciples should lead a happy
life feeling grateful to their sadacharyan for showing them the right path. The
sadacharyan should feel happy that he was able to save the chetanams and show them
the right path that leads out of samsara.
This pasuram must be chanted by
disciples while requesting an Acharyan to guide them by providing them with
spiritual instructions.
Continued On: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2012/12/thirupavai-pasuram-5.html
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