Thirupavai Pasuram 6

Continued From: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2012/12/thirupavai-pasuram-5.html

Thirupavai pasurams are split into six groups of five pasurams each. The first group of five pasurams provide introduction about the Pavai Nombhu.  The first pasuram shows that the only qualification to attain moksham is the desire to reach moksham. Therefore the path of saranagathi is open to everyone.

The second pasuram informs us about the dos and donts to be followed while performing the Pavai Nombhu. The third pasuram tells us that if we perform the nombhu with the only intention of pleasing Lord Krishna, He will grant us all kinds of wealth to make our life comfortable in this world itself. The fourth pasuram reveals to us that all the celestial beings (devathais) rush to perform kaimkaryams to the true Bagawathas of the Lord. The fifth pasuram shows us the importance of performing Hari Nama Sankeerthanam to get rid of all our sins.

From the sixth to the fifteenth pasuram, Andal wakes up her friends to join her to perform the nombhu as a group. These pasurams show us that Bagawath Vishayam has to be enjoyed in the company of many people by forming sat sangams. It is not prescribed to enjoy the divine qualities of the Lord in solitude.

The ten pasurams from sixth to the fifteenth are thus “tirupalliezhuchi” for Bagawathas.  Even today in major Divya Desams like Sri Rangam, it is customary to send someone to wake the Bhattacharyars during the month of Margazhi. These ten pasurams show us the qualities of true Bagawathas. The following are the main qualities expected in a Bagawatha.  True Bagawathas will lend a deaf ear when people speak ill of them or others, they turn a blind eye and do not notice the faults of other people. They act dumb and refrain from speaking ill of others.

According to our sampradayam there are 11 sense organs along with a person’s mind. There are five gnanendriyams (ears, eyes, nose, tongue, skin) and five karmendriyams (feet, hands, excretory organs, reproductory organs, mouth). Only by bringing the ten sense organs listed above under control could a person control his/her mind.  The sense organs must be awake to enjoy the qualities of the Lord while remaining dormant to worldly inputs. Andal Nachiar through the next ten pasurams esoterically awakens the ten sense organs to cooperate with mind to enjoy the qualities of the Lord.

They also esoterically represent waking up the ten Azhwars. The next ten pasurams convey the essence of each of the ten Azhwars teaching thus summarizing the entire 4000 divya prabandhams in just ten pasurams! Andal Nachiar uses 18 names to address her friends in the next ten pasurams. The number 18 is very significant as there are 18 Divya Desams in Pandya Nadu where Andal Nachiar incarnated. The Bagawad Geetha contains 18 chapters thus through the next ten pasurams and via the 18 names Nachiar also gives us the essence of Bagawad Geetha. There are 18 consonants in Tamil language which represent the Jeevatma while the vowels represent Paramatma.

In this pasuram Nachiar addresses her friend as “piLLaay” to show us that she starts by waking up the newest member to their group first. The pasuram is in the form of a conversation between Nachiar and her friend.

puLLum silambina kaaN

We can only wake up those people who are really sleeping. It is difficult to wake those who pretend to be asleep. This is shown in the sixth pasuram. The friend pretends to be asleep and refuses to wake-up because she is immersed in the qualities of the Lord and is enjoying His qualities in solitude. She doesn’t want to come out of her reverie.

Nachiar calls to the girl, ‘PiLLay, wake up and come with us. Even the birds are awake and chirping merrily!’

The girl answered Andal Nachiar thus proving that she is not really asleep. ‘I don’t believe that the birds are awake. How can they be awake so soon? We just returned home after our meeting on the banks of Yamuna!’

puLLum refer to birds as well as the Brahmins. Both the birds and the Brahmins are called as “dwijas” which means “twice born”. A bird first takes birth as an egg and it has a second birth when it hatches from the egg. A Brahmin first takes birth as a child and has a second birth when he receives the Gayathri mantropadesam during the upanayanam ceremony. Therefore “puLLum” refers to the Brahmins who are twice born.  “puLLum siLambina kaaN” refers to the Vedic chanting coming from the patasalas. The Brahmins get up very early in the morning during the Brahma Muhurtham and chant the Vedic manthrams. Thus Andal Nachiar lets her friend know that it is the auspicious time of Brahma Muhurtham. 

puLLaraiyan kOyilil

veLLai viLi sangin pEraravam kEttilaiyO

puLLaraiyan refers to Garudazhwar the Lord of birds. This word also means “the one who is the Lord of Garudazhwar”. Once, Sheerabhdhinathan’s diamond crown was taken by Virochana. Perumal let Virochana get away with His crown as it was part of His bigger plan. Perumal asked Garudazhwar to retrieve the crown from Virochana. Garudazhwar very easily obtained Perumal’s diamond crown. He was flying back to Sheerabhdhi via Vrindavan. Garudazhwar happened to look down and he saw the beautiful Lord Krishna playing in Vrindavan wearing a crown made of peacock feathers. Garudazhwar was mesmerized by the Lord’s beauty; he stopped at Vrindavan and placed the diamond crown on Lord Krishna’s head. The large crown automatically reduced in size to fit the head of child Krishna.

Lord Krishna returned home in the evening. Yashoda was surprised to see Him wearing an expensive crown.

‘Krishna, where did you get this crown from?’ asked Yashoda.

‘An eagle gave it to me’

Yashoda started to panic thinking that an Asura in the guise of an eagle had placed a crown that contained some evil spell on her son’s head. She removed the crown and had it checked by the priests who declared the crown to be free of evil spells.

Yashoda then took the crown to a jewellery appraiser and was surprised to find out that the crown was priceless. Feeling that such a priceless crown is only fit to be worn by Perumal, she donated the crown to the Perumal temple in Gokulam. Later when the Yadavas moved to the South, they relocated the temple to the town of Melkote! Thus the “Selva Pillai” of Thiru Narayanapuram, Melkote is referred to as puLLaraiyan in the pasuram since Selva Pillai wears the diamond crown offered by Garudazhwar during the “Vaira Mudi Sevai”.

It is customary to use the conch during Thiruvaradhanam at temples in order to call the Lord’s devotees to attend the festivities at the temple. Thus Andal Nachiar asks the girl to listen to the sound of conch being blown during Thiruvaradhanam. She draws our attention to the white colour of the conch to show us that it is blown during the satvik time. To sleep during such a satvik time ends up increasing our tamo gunam. Thus Andal Nachiar requests the girl to get up from bed.

piLLaay ezhundhiraay should be split as piLLay ezhundu iraay. That is, Andal Nachiar tells the girls that the girl would be considered to be truly alive only if she gets up to join their sat sangam. If she still remains in bed, even though she is living she will not be considered to exist in this world.

pEy mulai nanchundu

kaLLa(ch) chakatam kalakkazhiya(k) kaalOchchi

When the girl feels uncomfortable to stop dreaming about Lord Krishna in private and to join Andal and her friends to experience the Lord as a group, Andal tries to shock her by stating that Lord Krishna drank milk from the poisoned breast of an evil witch and kicked the Asura in the form of a wheel. Even though these events happened in the past, the girl jumps out of her bed afraid that another witch and an Asura had come once again to harm Krishna.

veLLaththaravil thuyilamarndha viththinai

Andal Nachiar asks the girl to meditate upon the Lord of Sheerabhdhi who is resting on Adisesha amongst the waters of the milky ocean. She teaches her friend that the Lord at Sheerabhdhi is the “seed” that is the “cause” for this Universe.

uLLaththu(k) kondu munivargaLum yOgigaLum

Nachiar teaches us that we should meditate upon the Lord at Thiruparkadal before going to bed. Munivargal are people who meditate upon the Lord while Yogigal are people who do kaimkaryams to please the Lord. Both the Munivargal and Yogigal go to bed with the image of Sheerabdhinathan in their minds.

meLLa ezhundhu ari enRa pEraravam

uLLam pugundhu kuLirndhElOr embaavaay

In the morning, the Munivargal and Yogigal get up very slowly from bed so as not to disturb the Sheerabdhinathan residing in their hearts. Once they get up they chant “Hari” loudly for seven times.

Thus Andal Nachiar asks her friend to get up as all the Munivargal and Yogigal have started their day by chanting “Hari” seven times.

puLLum silambina kaaN puLLaraiyan kOyilil

puLLum refers to a Brahmin who has studied vedas and is hence considered to be a dwija like a bird. puLLaraiyan refers to Garudazhwar as the king of all birds. At Srivilliputhur we can see Andal Nachiar with Rangamannar as well as Garudazhwar in the same sanctum. Andal Nachiar and Rangamannar are present with Garudazhwar to show us that Nachiar is present with Perumal and her father Periazhwar. This is because Periazhwar is considered to be the incarnation of Garudazhwar. Thus puLLaraiyan is Periazhwar. Garudazhwar is considered to be our Acharyan as his wings represent knowledge and practice. An Acharyan requires both knowledge as well as practice to maintain his status as a preceptor. Periazhwar was highly knowledgeable and he followed his anushtanams regularly thus he has two wings representing knowledge and practice like Garudazhwar.

veLLai viLi sangin pEraravam kEttilaiyO

This line narrates the incident when Periazhwar participated in the debate arranged by king Vallabha Pandiyan to establish Lord Narayana as the Supreme Being. veLLai viLi sangin pEraravam is the announcement made at the king’s court to introduce Periazhwar as Bhattar Piran.

piLLaay ezhundhiraay pEy mulai nanchundu

kaLLa(ch) chakatam kalakkazhiya(k) kaalOchchi

Andal Nachiar addresses her father as piLLaay because he was naïve like a child and sang Thirupallandu to offer protection to the protector of this entire Universe. Periazhwar was well learned. He knew the Vedas thoroughly. His knowledge matured into Bakthi. He performed kaimkaryams to Perumaal with devotion. Slowly Periazhwar’s devotion matured into “agnanam” when Azhwar felt immense love for the Lord in his heart.

After Azhwar won the debate, king Vallabha Pandiyan arranged a victory procession for Azhwar. As Azhwar on top of an elephant went through the streets of Madurai, Perumal wanted to witness the event like a proud parent attending the convocation of his/her child. As Perumal is present everywhere and sees everything He need not have appeared before everyone to witness the procession. The reason Perumal appeared with Thayar on top of Garudazhwar was to show the common people that He was feeling very proud of his Azhwar.

The moment Azhwar saw Perumal with Piratti, Azhwar felt very worried. Azhwar was afraid that Perumal might be affected by “drishti dosham” , “evil eye” as He has become visible to everyone. Azhwar did not realize that nothing in this Universe is capable of harming of Perumal. Azhwar felt maternal love for Perumal and sang mangalasasanam for Perumal’s protection just like the way in which Devaki sang mangalasasanam for her child Krishna. Periazhwar forgot about Perumal’s supreme capabilities as a result of his motherly love for Perumal. He is the only Azhwar who has sung mangalasasanams and have sung about offering “thiruvandhikappu” to Perumal to protect Perumal.

A true Bagawatha exhibits love for Perumal like Periazhwar. This line represents all those Bagawathas who like Periazhwar worry about Perumal’s safety.

Once, Swami Nadadoor Ammal was present at the sanctum of Lord Varadaraja while the Bhattacharya was offering milk to Perumal. Swami Nadadoor Ammal saw steam rise through the thick cloth which covered the pot of milk. As the Bhattacharya was about to offer hot steaming milk to Perumal, Swami stopped him.

‘Please don’t offer steaming milk as it might scald His tongue!’

The Bhattacharya was surprised , ‘Swami, you mentioned in your Upanyasam on Purusha Suktam that Perumal’s tongue is made of agni; how can this milk scald His tongue when the tongue is made of Agni?’

Swami Nadadoor Ammal explained to the Bhattacharya that even though Purusha Suktam says that His tongue is made of fire we must offer milk to Him with love just like the way in which a mother offers milk to her child after testing the temperature of milk is bearable. Nadadoor Ammal then offered milk to the Lord with love. The Lord was very pleased with Swami’s maternal love for Him that He called Swami as “Ammal”.

veLLaththaravil thuyilamarndha viththinai

Periazhwar’s name is Vishnu Chittar. The name means that he is always thinking about Lord Vishnu. Periazhwar in the following pasuram in iraNDAm tirumozhi tells diseases not to affect the city which is the home of Perumal. The city referred to by Periazhwar is his body which is the home to Parkadalnathan.

     nei kuDattai paTTri Erum erumbuhaL pOl nirandu engum

kai koNDu nirkinra nOihAL kAlam pera uyya pOmin |

mei koNDu vandu puhundu vEda pirAnAr kiDandAr

pai koNDa pAmbaNaiyODum paNDanru paTTinam kAppE || One ||

Azhwar sings that Perumal came to reside in his heart along with Thayar. Perumal also brought the entire milky ocean and His snake bed along with Him when He came to reside in the Azhwar’s heart. As a proof that Perumal exists in our heart as Parkadalnathan, Azhwar asks us to close our ears and listen to the sound of waves” paravai tirai pala mOda” produced by the milky ocean.

  aravattu amaLiyinODum azhahiya pAr kaDalODum

aravinda pAvaiyum tAnum ahampaDi vandu puhundu |

paravai tirai pala mOda paLLi koLhinra pirAnai

paravuhinrAn viTTu chittan paTTinam kAvar poruTTE || Ten ||

Thus to teach us the essence of the above pasuram composed by Periazhwar, Andal Nachiar asks us to meditate upon the Lord of Sheerabhdhi who is resting on Adisesha amongst the waters of the milky ocean in our heart.

uLLaththu(k) kondu munivargaLum yOgigaLum

Periazhwar is a munivar because he is constantly thinking about the Lord. He is also a yogi because he performed pushpa kaimkaryams to please the Lord.

meLLa ezhundhu ari enRa pEraravam

Periazhwar was fond of doing Hari Nama Sankeerthanam. He instructs everyone to name their children after our Lord so as to avoid going to hell.

uLLam pugundhu kuLirndhElOr embaavaay

If we follow the instructions of Periazhwar and meditated with love upon Sheerabdhinathan, we will feel coolness in our heart that spreads happiness.

Continued On: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2012/12/thirupavai-pasuram-7.html