Thirupavai Pasuram 9

Continued From: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/01/thirupavai-pasuram-8.html
Picture of: Vanjula Valli Thayar with Narayur Nambi at ThiruNarayur Divya Desam (Nachiar Koil)
Importance is given to Thayar over Perumal at this Divya Desam. Please notice in the following picture that Thayar is pointing her hand at her thiruvadi thus showing us that we must first perform Saranagathi at her lotus feet. Also notice that Thayar seated on Perumal's vakshashthalam is wearing a beautiful green silk pavadai.

 

thoomaNi maadaththu sutrum viLakkeriya(th)

In the ninth Pasuram Andal Nachiar sings as herself instead of assuming to be a gopi girl. She doesn’t sing about any indications to show that the day has dawned but instead describes the girl inside the house. Andal Nachiar with her friends is standing outside the home of a rich girl. They can see that the house is bedecked with precious gems. Nachiar says that the house is bedecked with the “best” gems. The meaning of “best” gem can be obtained if this pasuram is compared with the Nammazhwar pasuram on Irattai Tirupathi. 

 Devapiran of Tholai Villimangalam

Nammazhwar says that Tholai villimangalam is built by using defect less gems. This means that earlier the gems had some defects which have been corrected. Thus Nammazhwar’s gems refer to Muktatmas who reach Vaikuntham after being liberated from samsara while Andal Nachiar’s gem represent the Nithya Athmas like Garudazhwar at Sri Vaikuntham who never fell down to samsara and hence were always perfect.

The best items are often used by the wife while the lower quality items are used by the husband. Thus Devapiran of Tholai villimangalam has the defect less gems while the gopi girl has the best gems. The gopi girl in this pasuram represents Thayar. This pasuram invokes Thayar .

The room in which the girl is sleeping is radiant as it is decorated with precious gems but a lamp is lighted for spreading auspiciousness.

thoopam kamazha(th) thuyilaNaimEl kaN vaLarum

The girl is sleeping on a soft mattress that induces sleep as soon as a person lies on it. The room is filled with smoke emitted by sweet smelling incense.

Kan valarum is used to speak with Bagawathas; so even though this girl is a friend as she is a Bagawatha hence “kan valarum” is used in this pasuram. The girl is sleeping like Kumbakaranan because she has performed Saranagathi at the Lord’s feet therefore she is free from all kinds of worries. She has the same mentality as Sita Devi; the girl knows that she has handed over herself to lord Krishna therefore the onus of protecting her falls on Him. Thus she is free of all cares and sleeps peacefully. This shows that she has Maha Vishvasam on the Lord. The other girls have Maha Vishvasam as well but their over enthusiasm to see Lord Krishna as soon as possible makes them feel apprehensive whereas, this girl is sleeping peacefully as she has subdued even her enthusiasm. A prapannan is a person who has done prapatti at the Lord’s feet. Such a person should not worry about anything in life; if a prapannan starts to worry about his/her life it translates to the fact that this person does not have any belief in God or God’s ability to protect him/her. A prapannan should not worry about reaching Vaikuntham either as, he/she must have belief that Perumal will definitely grant moksham to anyone who performs prapatti. A prapannan must lead a carefree life and wait for the arrival of the Lord like the girl shown in this pasuram by lighting lamp and by burning fragrant incense sticks to welcome the Lord. Andal Nachiar marveled the girl’s Maha Vishvasam; Nachiar started to feel jealous of this girl who is a fictitious character created by Nachiar as even Nachiar was unable to live a carefree life like this girl. Andal Nachiar wished to have some sort of tie with the girl and thus called the girl as “mamaan magale”. Mother’s brother is called as “mama” therefore Nachiar is calling this girl as her cousin i.e. mother’s brother’s daughter.

ThirumangaiAzhwar sang the following pasuram in which he considers family ties to be diseases.

* thAyE thandhai enRum * thAramE kiLai makkaL enRum *

nOyE pattozhindhEn * unnaik2 kANbadhOr AsaiyinAl **

vEyEy pUmpozhil sUzh * viraiyAr thiruvEngkadavA! *

nAyEn vandhadaindhEn * nalgi ALennaik koNdaruLE 1

If we compare the ninth Thirupavai pasuram with the above pasuram by Thirumangai Azhwar it makes us wonder if Andal Nachiar contradicted the above pasuram by addressing the girl as “maman magale” but it is not so since Thirumangai Azhwar only called those family members who prevent us from reaching Perumal as diseases. All the other family members who inspire us to think about Perumal are necessary for us to continue our spiritual journey. Thus Nachiar addressing the girl as “mamaan magale” is justified.

A king while performing the Ashwamedha Yagam sends 400 people along with the horse to protect the sacrificial horse from his enemies. It is prescribed in the Vedas that the horse should be led by the king’s father’s sister’s son.  The horse should be followed closely by the king’s mother’s sister’s son. The king’s father’s brother’s sons are not allowed as they compete with the king for the ancestral property and thus may plot against the king by harming the sacrificial horse.

Thus Andal forgot for a moment that she has assumed the role of a gopi and called the girl as “mamaan magale” wishing to have some sort of ties with the girl as Nachiar was overcome by emotions after thinking about the girl who was sleeping peacefully because she has belief in Prapatti and Perumal’s ability to save her.

While taking up Sanyasahrama, a man must vow that he has given up love for wealth, his children, wife and all kinds of family ties. Ramanjacharyar took up sanyasa at the age of forty as his wife hindered his progress along the spiritual path. As his wife sought a materialistic life, he left his property to her and then took up sanyasa.  He was asked to vow aloud that he had given up his family ties. To this Ramanjacharyar said that he had given up on all family ties except his sisters’ sons Mudaliyandan and Nadadoor Azhwan.  When he was asked to explain why he refused to cut his ties with his nephews, Ramanjacharyar replied that he only had to cut-off those ties which prevent him from reaching the Lord but he could retain those ties which help him to reach the Lord.

Thondaradipodi Azhwar had said that “sombare ugathi polum.” Thondaradipodi Azhwar has said that Ranganathan is loved by lazy people. The lazy people referred to by Azhwar in the above pasuram are those people who are disinterested in everyday materialistic life thus appearing to be lazy to the common people. These people show only interest in doing kaimkaryams to the Lord and spend their time meditating upon the Lord thus appearing to be lazy to the common people. Thus the girl is considered as lazy by Andal Nachiar in the pasuram as she is not interested in normal materialistic life. 

 Sri Bakthavathsala Perumal of Thirukannanmangai.

Thirukannamangai Andan lived performing kaimkaryams to Sri Bakthavathsala Perumal. Once, two hunters came to the temple separately. They left their footwear outside and asked their dogs to guard their footwear.  Each dog started to chew the other hunter’s footwear and as a result a fight ensued between the dogs to save their master’s footwear. The fight became fatal and the two dogs killed each other. The hunters came outside unaware of their dog’s fate. The moment they came to know that their dogs had attacked each other and had been killed, the hunters who were very attached to their pet started to fight with each other and ended up killing each other as well. Swami Thirukannamangai Andan arrived at the scene as he came to worship Bakthavathsala Perumal. He was informed by the people about the hunters’ fate. The moment he heard this he went inside the temple and sat down near Bakthavathsala Perumal. He said that if even a foolish hunter had fought for the sake of his dog why wouldn’t Perumal fight to protect His devotees? Thus Thirukannamangai Andan called himself as Bakthavathsala Perumal’s dog and stayed near Perumal forever. He withdrew himself completely from everyday activities as he had profound belief that Bakthavathsala Perumal would take care of him.

Thus the girl sleeping inside the house appeared lazy since she had a similar attitude like Swami Thirukannamangai Andan.  

Thumani mada anaimel reminds us of Nachiar koil as this divya desam is known as Sugantha Giri (fragrant hill).

Manimada koil refers to temple with a unique architectural style where the inner sanctum is built at a raised level with steep steps leading to the sanctum. The sanctum is constructed in such a way that elephants cannot enter the sanctum easily. Please see the following picture.

A view of the manimada style architecture at the main sanctum of Nachiar Koil

There were two Siva Bakthas in Kailasham. They started to fight with each other while plucking flowers to worship Lord Shiva in Kailasham. Thus Lord Siva cursed them to take birth on Earth. One devotee was born as a spider while the other took birth as an elephant. The spider and the elephant lived at Thiruvanaikoil. They performed kaimkaryams to Jambhukeswarar since they still retained the same vasanai they had in Kailasham. The spider noticed that the Lingam did not have a roof. It started to spin a web over the Lingam to form a roof. After the spider finished building a roof out of cobweb, the elephant came to worship the Lingam by pouring water over the Lingam. The elephant noticed the cobweb formation and cleaned the web with its trunk. The next day the spider once again made a new roof while the elephant later cleaned it. This went on for a few days. The angry spider decided to wait nearby to see who was destroying the roof. It espied on the elephant cleaning the roof in the evening. The angry spider then went inside the elephant’s ear and soon both the spider and the elephant died. The spider then took birth as a Chola King.

Prior to the King’s birth an astrologer paid a visit to his parents and informed them that the child was destined to be an emperor if it took birth at a particular hour. Thus the queen was tied upside down to induce labour. The child was born at the prescribed time but the queen died during child birth. The child was born with reddened eyes and hence was called as Senkan Chozhan. Senkan Chozhan became an emperor. He carried the same memory imprint of performing kaimkaryams to Lord Siva and as a result he built 70 temples for Lord Siva. He retained the impression from his prior birth as a spider and hence did not want elephants to enter the sanctum. As a result he started to construct temples with raised sanctums that could only be reached through very steep steps.

Parvati Devi felt bad that Lord Siva’s devotee had been cursed to take birth as a spider and now as a king. Just before the king was born, Parvati Devi had asked Lord Siva to help the devotee attain Moksham. As granting Moksham is not within the capacity of Lord Siva, Lord Siva incited the astrologer to inform the king’s parents that the child must be born at a particular time. This is because the time mentioned by the astrologer was the time when Lord Hayagreevan would look at the birth of the child. If Lord Hayagreevan looked at the child it would definitely attain Moksham. The deity which would look at children when they are born varies with time. According to the quality of the deity which glance at the child the child’s character will be defined.

As Lord Siva had requested Lord Vishnu to bless the king and grant him moksham, Perumal arranged for the king’s enemies to collaborate with each other and thus defeat the king in a war. The defeated king was angry with the astrologer who had informed his parents that the king must be born at a particular time. The king was angry because he was no longer the emperor and his mother had died giving birth to him.

The king went in search of the astrologer and located the astrologer at Thiru Narayur. The astrologer informed the king that he had been expecting the king to pay him a visit. The astrologer mentioned that he could help the king to win back his kingdom if the king did prapatti at the feet of Perumal. Thus the king agreed and performed prapatti which was accepted by Perumal. Perumal then gave a special sword to the king with the help of which the king defeated his enemies and regained his kingdom. To thank Perumal, the king built the temple at Thiru Narayur in the style of “Manimada” temple. Thus this stanza refers to Nachiar Koil.

Thus with the intention of invoking Vanjula Valli Thayar, Andal Nachiar sings this pasuram. At both Thiru Narayur and Sri Villiputhur, Vanjula Valli Thayar and Andal Nachiar are given more importance than Perumal. At Thiru Narayur, Thayar accompanies Perumal during all the festivities when they tour the streets as the Divine couple but Thayar is always a few steps ahead of Perumal and she is the one who holds the Satari as well as the reigns. 

 Picture of Vanjula Valli Thayar with Narayur Nambi

Medhavi Maharishi was residing at Thiru Narayur. He wished for the Lord to become his son-in law. To fulfill the rishi’s desire, Goddess Lakshmi incarnated as his daughter and was named Vanjula Valli. At the appropriate moment, Perumal appeared before the rishi as a Brahmachari. The rishi invited him over to his house for lunch. After Perumal finished eating, the rishi sent his daughter with a jug of water to give to Perumal. Perumal caught hold of Vanjula Valli’s hand when she gave Him the water jug and refused to let go off her hand. As Thayar complained to her father, Perumal revealed His identity to the rishi. The rishi was very happy and gave his daughter to Perumal in marriage but imposed a condition on Perumal that at this Divya Desam Thayar should be given more importance than Perumal. This is the only Divya Desam where Azhwar has done mangalasasanam for Thayar. Thirumangai Azhwar sang the following pasuram in Peria Madal for Vanjula Valli Thayar.

irumpozhil sUzh

mannu maRaiyOr thirunaRaiyUr mAmalai pOl *

ponniyalum mAdak kavAdam kadandhu pukku *

ennudaiya kaN kaLippa nOkkinEn * - nOkkudhalum

mannan thirumArbum vAyum adi iNaiyum *

pannu karathalamum kaNgaLum * - pangkayaththin

ponniyal kAdu Or maNivarai mEl pUththadhu pOl *

minni oLi padaippa vIzh nANum thOL vaLaiyum *

manniya kuNdalamum Aramum nIL mudiyum *

thunnu veyil viriththa sULAmaNi imaippa *

mannu maradhagak kunRin marungkE * - Or

inniLa vanjchikkodi onRu ninRadhu thAn *

annamAy mAnAy aNimayilAy AngkidaiyE *

minnAy iLavEy iraNdAy iNaichcheppAy *

munnAya thoNdaiyAyk keNdaik kulam iraNdAy *

anna thiruvuruvam ninRadhu

Thirumangai Azhwar in says in the above pasuram that he went to Thiru Narayur and saw a “Vanji creeper” next to an emerald green mountain. The mountain is Perumal and the creeper is Thayar. Azhwar says that he saw a swan, a deer, a peacock, lightening, 2 bamboo shoots, 2 pots, 2 kovai fruits and 2 fish.

Thayar stands like a deer. She walks gracefully like a swan.  Her hair is beautiful like peacock feathers. Her waist is like a flash of lightening very small; only a flash is visible. Her shoulders look slender like young bamboo shoots. The pots represent Thayar’s breasts which reveal her as the mother of all. Her lips are red like the kovai fruit. Her eyes are beautiful like fish.

Mameer avalai ezhupeero

Mami (mother’s brother’s wife) is asked to wake the sleeping girl. Mameer is in plural form to show the greatness of women in general. Even though there is only one mami, she is referred to in plural form to show the greatness of women. A wife is often referred to in plural form as she is considered to be the embodiment of the following five women. Thus Dhara in Sanskrit is in plural form as one wife is equal to the following five women. Wife serves food with affection like a mother, she serves like a servant by taking care of household chores, she exists as Lakshmi Devi in the house by taking care of finances, she acts as a romantic partner, she is patient like Bhumi, she provides consultation like a minister or a lawyer.

Nachiar seeks the help of her aunt to awaken the sleeping girl.

‘We tried to wake her but she doesn’t; is she?’ asked Nachiar.

‘My daughter is very chatty; don’t call her dumb!’

‘Then maybe she is deaf,’

‘But she has sharp hearing like a snake and can hear even a pin drop!’

‘Then she must be lazy. This is why she refuses to leave her bed.’

‘But she helps out with all my chores and she also helps you when she visits you. How can you say that she is lazy?’

‘Could someone have put an enchantment on her making her fall into deep slumber?’

‘Oh! How do we break the enchantment?’ asked the aunt with concern for the safety of her daughter.

‘The only remedy is to chant Vishnu Sahasranamam, ’stated Nachiar, ‘please say “ma Mayan, Madhavan, Vaikunthan” in her ears. She will definitely wake up,’

Ma Mayan is the name given to the Lord to show that he makes the impossible possible. He pulls strings because He is Goddess Lakshmi’s husband and hence tries hard to help us reach Moksham. Thiru Narayur the Lord is visible inside the sanctum even from the street. Vaikunthan is one of the names of Perumal as well as the name of Perumal’s city.

Alternate Meaning:

 Picture courtesy antaryami.net

This pasuram reminds us about Budath Azhwar as he sang about the importance of Vishnu Sahasranamam. Perumal’s mace (Gathai) incarnated as Budath Azhwar. Gadam in Sanskrit also means diseases. This Azhwar taught us that chanting Sri Vishnu Sahasranamam (i.e. Hari Nama sankeerthanam) cures diseases.

Ref: Sri Bhutat Azhwar’s Irandam Thiruvandhadhi (Text with free translation and commentary by N. Rajagopalan I.R.A.S (Rtd.))

Surrum vilaku eriya is Bhuthath Azhwar as he lit a lamp made out of his love for Perumal which along with Poigai Azhwar’s lamp helped Pei Azhwar to see Tirukovalur Perumal. 

Azhwar declared himself as the best Tamilian. To prove that his expertise in Tamil, he sang that Perumal lives in that mountain where the male elephant plucks young bamboo shoot and blends it in honey to feed the female elephant. 

The meaning of this pasuram was understood when Ramanjacharyar explained Dwaya Mantropadesam along with Asthaksharam and Charama Slokam. Sri Anathazhwan said that pasuram Ramanjacharyar was the male elephant mentioned in the Budath Azhwar’s pasuram as he mixed the bamboo shoot called Dwaya Manthram in the honey called Asthaksharam and Charama Slokam and fed the sweet mixture to disciples like Anathazhwan.

Thus Andal Nachiar sang the ninth pasuram to remind us about the Vaibhavam of Budath Azhwar.

Summary:

The residence of Bagawathas should be considered as sacred space. Thoo mani madam

If we have any ties with a Bagawatha we should consider ourselves to be blessed as this relationship will save us.

Only if a Bagawatha grants us permission we should enter their space.

Whenever we face trouble we should do Bagawan’s Nama sankeerthanam. It is the only remedy to cure all diseases which was prescribed even by Charakar  in Charaka Samhita.

Continued On: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/01/thirupavai-pasuram-10.html