||    Ranganik KaaNpatheppO?: Sri Parasara Bhattar's anubhavam    ||

adiyEn posted on ThiruppANAzhwAr's birthday an article with a krithi to be sung in VasanthA Raagam with the pallavi of "Ranganaik KaaNNpatheppO, kasthUri Ranganaik KaaNNpatheppo?". That krithi had four charaNams. In that krithi, AdiyEn was following the foot steps of great AzhwArs and noble AchAryAs like Paraasara Bhattar , who in his agony over the loss of sevai of Sri RanganAthan crystallized his anguish through the famous Sri RanganAtha SthOthram with six slOkams and two stray verses (Muktakas).

A dozen years ago Sri U.Ve. VidvAn Purisai NadAdUr Sri KrishNamaachAr Swamy had written about this sthOthram in Nrusimha PriyA. AdiyEn will expand on the theme of that article, which may not be readily available to many and provide some additional information points regarding the anubhavam of PoorvAchAryAs and AzhwArs regarding their vislEsham (anguish resulting from separation) from Sri RanganAthan.

We will start this posting with the salutation to Sri RangEsa PurOhithar, Sri ParAsara Bhattar , the precocious son of Sri KuratthAzhwAn:

Sri ParAsara BhattArya: Sri RangEsa PurOhitha:
Sri VatsAnga Sutha: SrimAn srEyasE mEasthu bhUyasE

SrI Bhattar's Life and Sri Sookthis
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Sri Bhattar was the svIkAra Puthran of Sri RanganAthan. He was born as a direct result of the grace of Srirangam Dhivya dampathis. His parents were KuratthAzhwAn and ANDAL ammayAr. Sri RaamAnujA chose the name of ParAsarA for the child of his prime disciple, KurEsan. Srirangam Dhivya Dampathis rocked the cradle of their svIkAra puthran in front of their AasthAnam and brought up the child . Hence there is no surprise that Paraasara Bhattar had the intutive and brilliant insight into the cardinal doctrines of Sri VisishtAdhvaitham and blessed us with profound Sri Sookthis in Sanskrit ( AshtaslOki,Superb commentary on Sri VishNu Sahasra Naamam , Bhagavadh GuNadarpaNam, the sixty one slOkams on Sri RanganAyaki, SriguNarathna Kosam, Sri RanganAtha sthOthram for our daily recital ,the 232 slOkams of SrirangarAja sthavam serialized now in Nrusimha PriyA by Dr.V.N.VedAntha Desikan, TattvarathnAkarA, Lakshmi KalyANam; in Tamil, and maNi PravALam, he has blessed us with Thirumnajana Kattiyam, Commentary on Kaisika PurANam and many brilliant nirvAhAs on the terse passages of NammAzhwAr's ThiruvAimozhi.

ParAsara Bhattar's self-exile from Srirangam
*********************************************

KurEsa had a royal disciple by the name of Virasundara Brahma Raayan. His fellow sishyar was PiLLai PiLLai AzhwAn, who was very dear to KurEsan. Latter was living in a house that was at the middle of Sri RanganAthA's sannidhi prAkAram known as Thrivikraman prAkAram. The rampart walls had fallen down and needed to be reconstructed. Paraasara Bhattar instructed Virasundara Brahma Raayan to construct a new rampart wall without destroying the residence of PiLlai PiLLai AzhwAn.

Bhattar suggested that the king follow the route taken by Thirumangai, when he built the wall of one prAkAram by skirting the nandhavanam of ThoNDaradip Podi AzhwAr. The king rejected his AchArya KumAran's suggestion and destroyed the house of KurEsan's dear sishyan for the sake of building a straight wall. He hurt deeply the feelings of Bhattar further by behaving in a haughty manner. Bhattar decided to leave Srirangam and exiled himself in ThirukkOttiyUr and returned to Srirangam after the demise of the king , who had committed parama BhAgavathApachAram and AchArya apachAram .

The RanganAtha SthOthram was born during this time of Bhattar's exile in ThirukkOttiyUr, where the agony of Bhattar's separation form Sri RanganAthan and Sriranga KshEhtram poured out in a lyrical form. These six main and two stray verses are recited by Sri VaishNavAs daily (nithyAnusandhAnam). The metres chosen for the six original verses of Sri RanganAthA sthOthram are in Sragdhara, SikhariNi , MandakrAnthA and IndravajrA. Readers are referred to Dr. S.PamanAbhan's Ph.D thesis on ParAsara Bhattar for a detailed study of the lyrical beauty of the individual slOkams of the sthOthram. AdiyEn will focus on the anubhavam aspects from the point of AzhwArs.

Sri Parasara Bhattar's sorrow over being exiled from Srirangam was unbearable, even if it was a self-imposed exile. He settled in ThirukkOttiUr. There, he had the daily darsanam of Soumya NaarAyaNan and ThirumAmahaL NaacchiyAr resting under the shade of their AshtAnga VimAnam . Bhattar was surrounded by BhagavathAs there, who flocked to hear his KaalakshEpams and nirvAhams. Yet, he pined for the life at Srirangam and the darsanam of Sri RanganAyaki SamEtha Sri RangarAjan at Srirangam. His anubhavam must have been similar to that of AchArya RaamAnujA at Mekote and Swamy Desikan at Sathyamangalam, when both had to live away from Srirangam .AdiyEn is just using my imagination based on the study of AzhwAr's paasurams to understand what MIGHT HAVE BEEN Bhattar's reason to choose ThirukkOttiUr over Kaanchi, SrivilliputthUr or ThirumAlirum chOlai for his self-imposed exile from Srirangam .

ParAsara Bhattar's choice of ThirukkOttiyUr
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When Bhattar left Srirangam on his own due to displeasure with the local king, he wanted perhaps to live close to Srirangam and yet outside the borders of the king, who committed unforgivable Bhaagavatha and AchArya apachAram. He chose ThirukkOttiyUr indeed as the place to wait. The other reason could be his own familiarity with the AzhwAr's aruLicheyalkaL as his indicators (soochakam). For instance, Thirumozhisai AzhwAr pointed out in his Naanmukan ThiruvandhAthi (34 th Paasuram):

kuRippu yenakkuk KottiyUr meyyAnai yEttha
kuRippu yenakku nanmai payakka--

(Meaning): adiyEn had two intentions (goals):
(1)It was my intention to have the darsana soubhAgyam of the Lord of ThirukkOttiyUr and eulogize Him
(2) It was my intention to receive sakala soubhAgyams (nanmai) through that sevai and kaimkaryam to Him .

Bhattar also reminded himself perhaps about the aruL mozhi of Kaliyan in his Periya Thirumozhi (7.1.3):

thArEn piRarkku UnnaruL yennidai vaitthAi
aarEn athuvE paruhik kaLikkinREn
kaarEy KadalE malayE ThirukkOtti-
urE yuhanthayai uhanthadiyEnE

(meaning): Oh Lord of ThirukkOttiyUr ! You blessed me with Your anugraham and I became the receptacle for Your dayA.AdiyEn enjoys that grace without satiety. You have given Yourself away to BhakthAs as the most generous One. AdiyEn will not share You with avaishNavAs. I have chosen You as my Lord , who is resting in the sayana thirukkOlam at the Milky Ocean , Srirangam and ThirukkOttiUr and also standing on top of the Venkatam hills.

The displeasure with an avaishNavan like the offending Veerasundaran and the sEvA bhAgyam of the Lord in reclining pose at ThirukkOttiyur as in Srirangam might be two of the reasons for the choice of ThirukkOttiUr by Bhattar as a dhivya dEsam to wait it out.

The other reasons for Bhattar's selection of ThirukkOttiUr might be surmised from the hailing of PeriyAzhwar right at the beginning of his Thirumozhi celebrating the birth of KaNNan at ThirkkOttiUr (PeriyAzhwAr Thirumozhi:1.1). In the concluding paasuram of this patthu, PeriyAzhwar
states:

sennalAr vayal soozh ThirukkOttiUr
mannu NaaraNan piRanthamai
minnu nool Vittuchitthan virittha, ipp-
pannu paadal vallArkku illai paavamE

Just as Andal recognized SrivilliputthUr as ThiruvAayipADi, PeriyAzhwAr recognized ThirukkOttiUr as ThiruvAipADi and celebrated Sri Soumya NaarAyaNan as KaNNan, Kesavan , NaarAyaNan and performed MangaLAsAsanam for this dhivya dEsam as the place of birth of Lord KrishNA.

Yet another possible reason for Bhattar's choice of ThirukkOttiUr for residence is the connection of AchArya RaamAnujA to ThirukkOttiyUr nampi. This dhivya Desam was the seat of great anushtAthAs and Vedic scholars and sishtAs. PeriyAzhwAr attests to this fact abundantly in his PeriyaazhwAr Thirumozhi paasurams. For instance in his Thirumozhi 4.4 , PeriyAzhwAr says:

" dEva kaariyam seythu Vedam payinRu Vaazh ThirukkOttiyUr.."

( ThirukkOttiUr with Sri VaishNava sampath known for the assembly of those , who perform daily AarAdhanam for the Lord as established in the Nithya granthams and for those , who practice the Vedic injunctions for
BhAgavath and BhAgavatha Kaimkaryams )

" KuRRaminRi guNam perukki GurukkaLukku anukoolarAi
seRRam onRumilAtha vaNN kaiyinArkaL vaazh ThirukkOttiUr "
--PTM: 4.2

( The Sri VaishNava assembly at the blessed ThirukkOttiUr is known for (1) aanukoolya sankalpam (2) PrAthikoolya varjanam (3) indriya nigraham (4) well developed aathma guNams (5) blemishless AchArya Bhakthi (6) freedom from jealousy and ahnakAram and(7) great generosity . It is
their nithya vaasam at ThirukkOttiUr that tilted the scales for Bhattar to choose this dhivya desam for temporary stay).

" bhUtham iynthodu vELvi iynthu pulankaL iynthu poRikaLAl
yEtham onRilAtha vaNN kaiyaarkaL vaazh ThirukkOttiUr
Naathanai Narasinghanai navinRu yEtthuvArkaL uzhakkiya
Paadha thooLi paduvathAl ivvulaham bhaakkiyam seythathE "
PTM: 4.6

(meaning): Neither through their bodies made of pancha-bhUthams nor by five senses nor by their five indhriyams would the Sri VaishNavAs of ThirukkOttiUr commit any Bhagavath-BhAgavatha apachArams. They dedicate their pancha bhUtha sarIram to serve the other Sri VaishNavALs and use thier senses and Indhriyams for Bhaagavatha Kaimkaryams. They are the most generous ones. They eulogize Lord NarasimhA , when they move about and by the imprint of their feet this earth (ThirukkOttiUr) becomes the most fortunate place anywhere .

" karumtaDa muhil VaNNanaik Kadai koNDu kai thozhum BhaktharkaL
iruntha ooril irukkum maanithar yetthavankaL seythAr kolO ? "
PTM: 4.7

(Meaning): How fortunate indeed are those, who live in ThirukkOttiUr known for the nithya vaasam of the great Sri VaishNavAs, whose livelihood is the celebration of dark-hued Soumya NaarAyaNan through sthOthrams day and night, the conductance of uthsavams for Him regularly, the unceasing meditation of Him ? They must have done noble penances to have the BhAgyam of living in this dhivya dEsam of Soumya NaarAyaNan and ThirumAmahaL.

"---ThirukkOttiUr , nambanai Narasinghanai navinRu
yEtthuvArkal kaNDakkAl , YempirAn chinnangaL ivarivar
yenRu aasaikaL theervanE "--PTM : 4.9

(meaning): In the dhivya desam of ThirukkOttiUr , adiyEn will quench my thirst for the darsanam and the worship of Sri VaishNavAs , whose devotion to Achyutha-Bhaktha Vathsalan are exemplary. When adiyEn comes across these VaishNava sikhAmaNis, who loudly proclaim the name of BhagavAn Narasimhan , adiyEn would recognize them immediately as the true insignia of the Lord and long for their association and be totally contented with my life .

Such is the Sri VaishNava samrutthi (sampath/selvam) of ThirukkOttiUr that Sri ParAsara Bhattar chose as his place of residence outside Srirangam .

On this PramAthi Marghazhi maasa piRappu day , let us offer our deep salutations to Sri Godhai and start with the first of the six slOkams of Sri RanganAtha SthOthram of ParAsara Bhattar in this posting :

" Saptha prAkAra madhyE sarasija mukuLOthbhAsamAnE vimAnE
KaavErI madhya dEsE mrudhuthara paNirADD bhOga paryanga bhAgE
nidhrAmudhrAbhirAmam kaDini kaDasira: paarsva vinyastha hastham
PadhmAdhAthrI karAbhyAm parichitha charaNam RangarAjam bhajEham "

(Meaning): In the middle of the island formed by the two CauvErys , in the center of the seven ramparts (PrAkArams), inside the lotus bud-like vimAnam known as Sriranga VimAnam (PraNavAkruthi VimAnam), the beautiful Lord RanganAthA rests in YoganidhrA with His right hand near His crown and the left hand at the left side in kaDi bhantham . At his Paadha Kamalam is seen Sri RanganAyaki pressing the tender feet of Her dear consort . AdiyEn salutes this auspicious subhAsrayam of Sri RanganAthan at Srirangam.

Comments(1):

These six slOkams along with two Muktaga slOkams form the set of eight slOkAs of Sri RanganAtha-SthOthram that is connected with the days of exile of Bhattar at ThirukkOttiUr. Bhattar returned later to Srirangam and poured his heart out to the Dhivya Dampathis of Srirangam through the 232 slOkams of Sri RangarAja Sthavam and the moving slOkams of GuNarathna KOsam eulogizing Sri RanganAyaki ThAyAr as the young SitA Piratti at the budding stage of Her youth (i-e)the prAyam some where between saisavam (infancy) and Youvanam (kumAri dasai).

Bhattar saluted the "iLamkumaran ", Sri KasthUri-Rangan , as the beautiful Young Raaman in his ThirunedumthANDakam nirvAham of stanza 21
( maivaNNa naRumkunji kuzhal pin thAzha--) and connected that Sri RangarAman with His divine consort SitA in his famous commentary on the anubhavam of Kaliyan's solloli .

The sorrowful exile at ThirukkOttiUr and the the AadhAra Sthuthi (Sri RangarAja SthOthram) provided the AadhAra sruthi for the later works of Bhattar eulogizing his "parents" , the dhivya Dampathis of Srirangam .

AdiyEn will link the passages of Sri RangarAja Sthavam and GuNarathna Kosam, wherever appropriate to illustrate the enduring bhagavath anubhavam of Bhattar for the " nithyOtsava SamAyukthar " of Srirangam. The first 62 verses of SrirangarAja Sthavam (the poorva KhANDam of Dhvyam) where Bhattar approaches the Sriranga VimAnam and the Lord resting in His Garbha Graham are the most important for us in this context.

Comments(2):

Line 1 of the first slOkam is: " Saptha prAkAra-madhyE , sarisajamukuLOthbhAsamAnE VimAnE " .

2.1: Saptha PrAkAra madhyE: without counting the adaya VaLainthAn (that which bent and circled to reach Him) veedhi -- the eighth outter courtyard or rampart circling the others -- there are seven (saptha) inner PrAkarams . That is what Bhattar refers to here and connects it to the seven lOkams :(1) BhU lOkam (2) Thruvikraman Veedhi/ Bhuvar LOkam (3)KiLIcchOzhan AkaLankan SuRRU/Svarga lOkam (4)Thirumangai Mannan veedhi/Makara lOkam (5)KulasEkaran Veedhi/jana lOkam (6) Raaja mahEndran PrAkAram /TapO lOkam (7) Dharma Varman suRRu/Sathya lOkam . In the middle of these seven prAkArams symbolizing the seven worlds , Sri RanganAthan rests on AdhisEshan. The seven NaacchiyArs of SriranganAthan is connected to His seven prAkArams. SlOkam 36 of SrirangarAja Sthavam is pertinent here.

In the 247 paasurams of AzhwArs on Sri RangarAjan , we come often across the salutations to the beautiful aspects of Sriranga raajadhAni including the amthiLs of Srirangam and the CauvEry river .Swamy Desikan also pays tribute to Sriranga kshEthra darsanam in his Kaavyam , Hamsa SandhEsam .

2.2: Sarasija mukuLOthbhAsamaanE vimAne: Sarasija mukuLam means an unique and beautiful bud of Lotus that has not yet opened up.. He is that lotus bud (Taamarai mottu) in the lotus pond of Srirangam . The radiance of that lotus bud is making the Sriranga VimAnam effulgent (BhAsamAnE vimAnE). That bud is the AadhAra JyOthi , Svayam JyOthi and Param JyOthi saluted in the Upanishads. The description of the Sriranga VimAnam is provided by Bhattar in his Sthavam and there he describes the VimAnam as the replica of Parama Padham (Sri VaikunTam or aparAjitha Nagaram or AyOdhyA nagaram). Bhattar pays special attention in one of his sthavam slOkams to the Nrusimha Moorthy presiding over the Sriranga VimAnam . AdiyEn wrote last year in the 18 article series on Sriranga Vaibhavam on the Vedic sambhandham of the Sriranga VimAnam and its kalasams.

Bhattar ThiruvadigalE SaraNam,
Oppilappan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan


 

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