Thirupavai Pasuram 20

Continued From: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/01/thirupavai-pasuram-19.html

Kanchi Varadaraja Perumal

muppaththu moovar amararkku mun senRu

kappam thavirkkum kaliyE thuyil ezhaay

Thayar was ready to grant the girls their wishes but Perumal asked her to wait so that they could listen to the further arguments made by the girls.

The girls wanted Perumal to come to them therefore they said, ‘why is it that when it comes to bless us, you wait for permission from Thayar but when the celestials ask your help you rush to them immediately? You rush to them to quell their fears as they stand shivering out of fear but you don’t rush to us even though we stand outside your door shivering from the cold. How can you be so partial? As soon as the Devas seek your help you rush to their aid in style.’

Andal Nachiar added, ‘once when Malyavan attacked the Devas you rushed to their aid. Unable to fight against you Malyavan ran away from the battle field but you continued to chase him. Malyavan was surprised that you continued to chase him since he was weaponless. He asked you why you didn’t follow the Kshatriya Dharmam and refrained from chasing a defeated soldier who was running away from the battle. You replied that you make your own Dharmam which you follow with the sole intention of protecting the Devas. Is your Dharmam established only to protect the Devas and not for us?’

As there was still no sign of Perumal at the door, Nachiar continued her arguments.

seppam udaiyaay thiRal udaiyaay setraarkku

veppam kodukkum vimalaa thuyil ezhaay

‘Once when Lord Brhama was estranged from Goddess Saraswati, he was unable to perform Bakthi Yogam in order to meditate upon you as his other two wives Savithri and Gayathri wouldn’t let him meditate in solitude. As his concentration was constantly shattered, he started to cry like a child. He decided to perform a severe penance in order to regain his concentration. He was told that his lack of concentration was because of the sins he had accumulated. He was asked to perform 1 crore Ashwa Medha Yagam as an expiatory rite but since performing Ashwa Medha Yagam is a difficult task for even Brahma and that too 1 crore Ashwa Medha Yagams, he was asked to come down to the town of Kanchi on Earth and perform 1 yagam there. Anything a person does in the town of Kanchi gets multiplied by a crore thus Brahma was asked to perform the Ashwa Medha Yagam at Kanchi as 1 yagam would give the result of having performed 1 crore Ashwa Medha Yagams. (Sins committed while at Kanchi are also multiplied by a crore; therefore Kanchi is like a double edged sword!) You then appeared as Devathi Rajan from the sacrificial fire in order to bless Brahma. You accepted all the offerings including the offerings to be given to the Devas. The Devas then rushed to the Yaga Salai and asked for their rightful share. You informed them that Brahma will not pay them tax in the form of offerings and you asked them to be satisfied since they got to see you as

Devathi Rajan. Thus you even helped Brahma by not allowing him to pay his dues to the Devas but when we come to your door step it is not fair that you ignore us!’

Kanchi Varadaraja Perumal (Devathi Perumal) with Perundevi Thayar

In this pasuram Nachiar sings Mangalasasanam for Kanchi Devaperumal (Varadaraja Perumal).  As Nachiar is able to see the future, she knows that Varadaraja Perumal is the one who would raise Swami Ramanujar, protect him from all the harm done by his jealous colleagues and hand Swami safely over to Lord Ranganathan at SriRangam.

Nachiar sings that Perumal is “seppam udaiyar thiral udaiyar” i.e. He is very honest and never hides the way in which He operates. During Ramayana, after Vibhishana surrendered to Lord Rama and was accepted by Lord Rama, Ravana sent two spies over to Lord Rama’s side in order to find out the strength of Lord Rama’s army.  As soon as the two spies came, Lord Rama’s Vanara patrol spotted them and captured them.  They were about to kill the spies when the Lord stopped them. Lord Rama then gave a complete tour to the spies and provided them with all the information. As Lord Rama is the most powerful being He has nothing to fear and reveals His strength to even His enemies. During the war when Ravana became weaponless, Lord Rama sent Him back unharmed and asked Ravana to return the following day. Those who approach the Lord are destroyed and yet He is pure. Azhwar sang that, ‘iraneeyan maarbai pilandha punithan! I.e. one who ripped the chest of Hiranyakashipu and killed Him is blameless!’

Perumal melted after hearing the sweet arguments made by the girls. He said to Nappinnai Piratti, ‘see how beautifully they argue? I have to go now to bless them!’

‘I won’t let you go as I want to be the first one to go to them!’ said Piratti as she pulled Perumal back.

seppenna men mulai(ch) chevvaay(ch) chiRu marungul

nappinnai nangaay thiruvE thuyil ezhaay

Perundevi Thayar accompanies Varadaraja Perumal during utsavam to make Him bless us.

The girls watched the conversation exchanged between Perumal and Thayar. Andal Nachiar addressed Piratti, ‘You have beautiful breasts, red lips and are born on a Tuesday. You have a tiny waist and are very beautiful. You should use your beauty to make Him bless us but instead you look as if you are competing with us! You are Goddess Sri Devi; therefore open the door for us in order to accept us!’

Perumal said “maam ekam charanam vraja” in the last slokam of Bagawad Geetha; even though Perumal asked Arjuna to perform saranagathi at His feet, by “maam” he meant Himself along with Thayar since wherever Perumal is there Piratti is automatically present since He is Srinivasan. Hence Saranagathi should be performed at the feet of both Perumal as well as Thayar. They are to be worshipped together. This pasuram also reveals that Nappinnai Piratti is also the incarnation of Goddess Sri Devi even though she is the incarnation of Neela Devi Nachiar. Goddess Sri Devi stays with Perumal as Nappinnai in Gokulam and as Rukmini Piratti in Dwaraka.

Perundevi Thayar with Varadaraja Perumal dressed as Lord Krishna standing on top of kalingan holding the tail of kalingan in His left hand.

As soon as Piratti heard Andal Nachiar and her friends appeal to her, she said, ‘please tell me what you need?’

ukkamum thattoLiyum thandhu un maNaaLanai

ippOdhE emmai neeraattElOr embaavaay

Andal Nachiar said, ‘give us each a fan, mirror and then perform mangala snanam for us so that we can marry your husband!’

To us it seems like a very bold request when Nachiar asks Nappinnai Piratti to allow her and her friends to marry Piratti’s husband. A clue to this request is found in Swami Uyyakondar’s Taniyan for Andal Nachiar. In the Taniyan “soodi(k) koduththa sudar(k) kodiyE..” Swami Uyyakondar says that Nachiar composed the pasurams to obtain Lord Thiruvengadamudayan as her husband and seeks Nachiar’s blessings to make us follow the procedures properly during the month of Margazhi. We know that Nachiar did not sing about Lord Srinivasan in her pasurams. She wished to marry Lord Ranganathan and in the twentieth pasuram has sung about Lord Devathi Rajan. Even when she did not mention about Lord Srinivasan we can take the pasurams to have sung the glories of Lord of Tirumala due to concept of “dharma aikiyam”. Even though Nachiar appears to have sung the glories of different Perumal they are all the one and same Lord Narayana. The Pancharathra and Vaikasana Agama Shastras instructs on proper procedures to worship the Lord in archai form. The Agama shastras prohibit the worship of other deities like Lord Shiva, Parvati etc. in idol form while the same shastras allows the worship of Lord Narayana in various forms at different temples. The agama Shastras do not consider the fact that Perumal is the antaryami of Lord Shiva, Parvati et al as a qualification for allowing people to worship their idols since Perumal is also the antaryami of us as well ; but, the same shastras allow the worship of Lord Ranganathan, Devathi Rajan, Srinivasan etc. as even though they are worshiped in different forms they are the one and same Lord Narayana.

Thus it is established that Andal Nachiar wished to marry Thiruvengadamudayan. Nachiar tries to remind Piratti about the wedding ceremony of lord Srinivasan with Padmavathi Thayar with the above Thirupavai verse.

Lord Srinivasan with Sri Devi and Bhu Devi

The Vedas took the form of a lady called Vedavati. She wished to wed Lord Vishnu. She performed severe penance in a forest. One day Ravana was flying over the forest in his Vimanam when he spotted the beautiful maiden. Ravana wished to marry Vedavati and approached her. He proposed marriage to Vedavati but she declined because she wished to marry Lord Vishnu. Ravana never took “no” for an answer from women. Therefore he tried to force her and tried to carry her away. As she was no ordinary lady, she produced fire from her eyes. Annoyed because Ravana had disturbed her penance, she cursed Ravana that she herself would come back to destroy him and then  she entered the fire. Thus Vedavati went to reside in the world of Agni waiting for the right opportunity to destroy Ravana. Meanwhile Ravana performed a penance to seek the blessing of Lord Siva. He cut off each of his heads and offered them as oblation in a fire. As he was about to cut off his last head, Lord Siva appeared before him pleased with Ravana’s devotion. He made all the heads of Ravana regrow and told Ravana that his heads would grow back even when someone cut them off. Ravana bowed down so that the five heads would touch one feet of Lord Siva. Goddess Parvati was very surprised that Ravana only bowed down with his five heads instead of all ten heads. Lord Siva replied to her that since Siva and Parvati always exist in one form as “Ardhanariswaran”, and because Ravana considered that women in general existed only for his enjoyment he did not bow down with his five head which were near the side of Parvati Devi. Thus Parvati Devi felt insulted and cursed that a woman would be the cause of Ravana’s ruin strengthening the earlier curse cast by Vedavati.

Later when Lord Rama went after the illusory deer, He requested Lord Agni present in the sacred fire at His ashram to protect Sita Piratti. It is the duty of Lord Agni to protect the wife and children of a householder per the request made by the householder when he wedded his wife in the presence of Lord Agni.

As soon as Lord Rama left, Lord Agni spoke with Sita Piratti, ‘Devi, please enter the sacred fire immediately as Ravana is approaching the ashramam. There is a lady called Vedavati in my world who is waiting for an opportunity to ruin Ravana. As soon as you enter the sacred fire, she will come out of the fire having taken your appearance. ‘

Piratti agreed to Lord Agni’s request and Vedavati took her place and entered the prison of Ashoka Vanam. After the war, Lord Rama asked Vedavati in the guise of Sita Piratti to enter the fire in order to retrieve His wife. Lord Hanuman was the only other person who wasn’t worried about Lord Rama’s request as due to the grace of Piratti, his tail had not been burnt even when Ravana had set fire to it. As soon as Vedavati entered the fire, Lord Agni appeared with the real Sita Piratti along with Vedavati. Thus Lord Rama saw two Sita Pirattis! The real Sita Piratti pleaded with Lord Rama and asked Him to wed Vedavati as well. Lord Rama promised to wed Vedavati during the 28^th kali yugam.

Piratti was upset that Lord Rama had not wedded Vedavati immediately. After returning to Sri Vaikuntham, Piratti made use of Brigu Munivar’s curse and left Perumal to express her disappointment that Perumal had not wedded Vedavati.

Vedavati took birth as Padmavathi. Piratti went to stay at Kolhapur and meditate upon Perumal. Perumal incarnated as Srinivasan in order to fulfill Piratti’s wish and marry Vedavati. Soon the wedding ceremony was fixed and Perumal had to borrow money from Lord Kubera as Piratti was not near Him. On the day of His wedding ceremony it was time to perform “mangala snanam” for Perumal. This had to be performed either by the groom’s mother or His wife. Since Perumal had no mother and it was not known if Vakulamala His adoptive mother had a husband, she was not allowed to perform mangala snanam. The Devas then asked if Goddess Saraswati would perform this ritual but she declined since Perumal was her father in law. The Devas then asked Parvati Devi to perform the ritual but she too declined as sisters were not allowed to perform the ritual. Perumal then asked lord Surya to go and ask Piratti to come to the wedding hall. He asked Lord Surya to lie to Piratti stating that Perumal was not feeling well. Lord Surya was afraid to lie to Piratti as he was afraid that she might curse him. Perumal threatened to curse Surya if he did not follow through with Perumal’s instruction. Thus Lord Surya approached Piratti at Kolhapur and asked her to come to Tirumala as Perumal was not feeling well. Piratti rushed to Tirumala and found Perumal in the get-up of a groom. The Devas thought that Piratti might make a huge fuss seeing that her husband was getting ready to marry another girl.

Perumal informed her that He had incarnated to fulfill her wish by marrying Vedavati who has incarnated as Padmavathi. To the surprise of all those gathered, Piratti performed the mangala snanam happily as she had been waiting eagerly for the day when Perumal would wed Vedavati.

Lord Srinivasan with Padmavathi Thayar

Thus we need Piratti’s blessings in order to get Perumal. It is said that by just falling in love with Perumal’s Thirumeni one could attain a good state but Surpanaka lost her nose for falling in love with Lord Rama. She lost her nose because she did not approach Lord Rama properly via Piratti but felt that Piratti was her competition and hence decided to remove Piratti from the equation.

Even though Surpanaka tried to harm Piratti, Piratti wanted Perumal to marry Surpanaka as well. As per “Divya Suri Charitram”, Perumal blessed Surpanaka to take birth as a beautiful apsara woman called as Deva Devi. When Deva Devi approached Thondaradipodi Azhwar, Lord Ranganathan then existed in the form of Thondaradipodi Azhwar (sort of like Avesha Avataram) in order to be with Deva Devi. When the king arrested Thondaradipodi Azhwar for taking Lord Ranganathan’s golden vessel, it was Lord Ranganathan Himself who was in the jail in order to make up for cutting off Surpanaka’s nose during Ramavataram. Andal’s favourite month is the month of birth of Thondaradipodi Azhwar as she is ever happy that Perumal blessed even Surpanaka.

Piratti strives to make Perumal accept everyone. Nappinnai Piratti immediately opened the doors and joined the girls. She assumed leadership and taught the girls the proper way to follow in order to make Perumal come to them.

Alternate Meaning:

muppaththu moovar amararkku mun senRu

kappam thavirkkum kaliyE thuyil ezhaay

seppam udaiyaay thiRal udaiyaay setraarkku

veppam kodukkum vimalaa thuyil ezhaay

A disciple must be dedicated to his/her Acharyan and perform kaimkaryams to both Acharyan as well as Perumal.  As long as our Acharyan is present we do not even require the help of the Devas to wipe away our troubles as our Acharyan always comes forward to help us. We can free us from all kinds of trouble by chanting Acharya Taniyan. The Acharyans are honest and they use their intelligence to win over people who spread anti-Vedic thought is debates. Orally they destroy the people who go against Perumal and they do not have any selfish motive when they scold those who went against Perumal.

Acharyan is compared to Perumal and disciple to Nappinnai Piratti in this pasuram.

seppenna men mulai(ch) chevvaay(ch) chiRu marungul

nappinnai nangaay thiruvE thuyil ezhaay

Disciple’s beauty is to use the knowledge obtained from the Acharyan in the proper way and to follow the day to day anushtanams regularly. The knowledge and anushtanam (practice) are the disciple’s breasts.  The disciple chants taniyan regularly and safeguards the secret instructions of the Acharyan. Just like the way in which Piratti incarnated to serve Perumal, a disciple always serves Acharyan thus gaining the name Nappinnai. A good disciple obeys his Acharyan and is full of good qualities. Like Piratti who makes Perumal accept us, a disciple makes and Acharyan accept us and the Acharyan in turn makes Perumal & Piratti accept us.

ukkamum thattoLiyum thandhu un maNaaLanai

ippOdhE emmai neeraattElOr embaavaay

The ukkam given by Acharyan is the Dwaya Manthram. A fan is used to dispel heat. The gopis asked for fan as they felt warm even in winter as they were in the company of Krishna. We need the fan called Dwaya manthram to dispel the discomforts caused by samsara. The manthram could be chanted whenever we feel tired as it refreshes us. The manthram is chanted in the ears of people who are on the death bed to ease the discomfort caused because of death. The manthram removes discomfort in life as well as during death.

The mirror referred in this context is the Asthaksharam. Like a wife who sees her husband standing behind her looking at her with love in the mirror, a jeevatma must meditated upon itself as the servant of the Lord while chanting the “ma” shabdham and see the loving Lord while chanting the “Aa” shabdham in the same manner in which the wife saw her reflection as well as her husband’s reflection in the mirror. The disciple must chant the Asthaksharam while meditating upon the 101 qualities of Perumal mentioned in the manthram.

Thus we seek Dwayam and Asthaksharam from our Acharyan so that we can chant the manthrams while relishing their meaning thus enjoying Moksham in this world itself.

Continued On:http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/01/thirupavai-pasuram-21.html