||    Two Paasurams on Lord AarAvamudhan    |

SrI Kamlavalli ThAyAr SamethA SrI SarangapANi

Sri SaarangapANi of Thirukkudanthai , who plays a central role in our sampradhAyam by bringing back the lost 4000 divya Prabhandhams through Acharya Nathamuni via Swami Sri NamaazhwAr has been eulogized by seven AzhwArs with 53 exquisite paasurams . We will focus on two paasurams saluting the AparyApthAmrutha SaarngarAjan in this and the subsequent notes.

PeyAzhwAr's Paasuram on this Veda Purushan
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This AzhwAr describes the five mangaLa kshEthrams , where Sri Lakshmi NaarAyaNan elects/opts to live and points out that Thirukkudanthai is one such special divya dEsam . The paasuram is the 30th one in MoonRAm ThiruvandhAthi:

sErntha ThirumAl kadal Kudanthai Venkatam
nErnthavenn sinthai niRai visumpum- vAyntha
maRai Paatakam ananthan vaNDuzhAikkaNNI
iRaipAdiyAyavivai

Here pEy AzhwAr identifies for us the preferred residencies/rAjadhAnis of Sriman NaarAyaNan . With the choice selection of the words , " VaNN ThuzhAi kaNNI Ananthan " , Our AzhwAr reminds us that he is talking about Sriman NaarAyaNan of anantha kalyANa guNams ( Ananthan of limitless auspicious attributes ) adorning the fragrant and beautiful ThuLasi Garland (VaNN thuzhAik kaNNi Ananthan).

He goes on to say that he will now identify His preferred RaajadhAnis (Capital Cities =iRai paadi aaya ivai)and lists some of them (ivai). Pey AzhwAr identifies five of them as (1)Srirangam /BhUlOka Vaikuntam ,where He gives us His Panguni Utthara sEvai with His dEvi (2)THIRUKKUDANTHAI , (3)ThiruvEnkatam (4)Milky Ocean and (5)ThiruppADakam . AzhwAr says here that the Lord of such Pancha (five)RaajadhAnis has now chosen his heart lotus as the most preferred and permanent residence among them all.

Alternatively , these five preferred residencies of Sriyappathi can be intrepretted as (1) ThiruppARkkadal or the milky ocean ( sErntha ThirumAl kadal ), where the Lord is present with MahA Lakshmi (2) NiRai Visumpu or Sri Vaikuntam/aprAkrutha divya desam (3)Thirukkudanthai (4) Thiruppathi and (5) ThiruppADakam. By pointing out that the Lord of Lakshmi is now residing at his heart , he hints that his heart is as pure and auspicious as these divya dEsams ( Kudanthai-Venkatam nErntha yenn chinthai ).

Interpreted at yet another level , Pey AzhwAr is saluting the five forms in which Sriman NaarAyaNan manifests Himself: (1)Param (2)VyUham (3)Vibhavam (4) Archai and (5)AntharyAmi. These are His Veda PramANa svarUpams as revealed by the Famous Veda Manthram:

" ambhasya pArE , Bhuvanasya madhyE ,
Naakasya prushtE mahathO mahIyAn I
sukrENa jyOthIgumshi samunuppravishta :
PrajApoathisccharathi garbhE antha:"

-- First Manthram of Sri MahA NaarAyaNOpanishad

(one level meaning) : " The Lord of Creation , who is present in the shoreless waters , on the earth and above the heaven and who is greater than than the great , having entered the shining intelligences of creatures in seed from , acts in the foetus (which grows into the living being that is born /SarIra-SaarIree doctrine).

This Upanishad vAkhyam is saluting the ParandhAman , the Supreme Para Brhamam , who is the supreme jyOthi (Param JyOthi)in His exalted states of immanence and transcendence. This Parama Purushan , Sriman NaarAyaNan is described to us as the same PrajApathi , who creates and sustains vast oceans , limitless worlds and the highest heavens and enters as a seed (antharyAmi Brahman) and spark inside the living creatures. This is the same ParamAthman ensouling the universe in His virAt form.

Another level of meaning of this Upanishadic (sruthi)vAkhyam that the AzhwAr incorporated in His paasuram is as follows:

The Lord's residences are Vedaas , Thirukkudanthai and the AzhwAr's blemishless mind. They are co-equal in auspiciousness.AzhwAr links the five states of Sriman NaarAyaNA in this paasuram.

(1)The "ambhasya pArE" section of the MahA NaarAyaNOpanishad is related to "sErntha ThirumAl kadal " vAkhyams of AzhwAr. ThirumAl sErntha kadal is KsheerAbdhi , where Sriman NaarAyaNan is present in the VyUha nilai with Thiru ( MahA Lakshmi ). At Srirangam and Thirukudanthai , "Ambhasya PaarE" can be taken to indicate the Lords RanganathA and AarAvamudhan rsting on the banks of Cauveri river equivant to the milky ocean in its sanctity. Both Sri Ranganaathan and Sri AarAvamudhan had common residence at one time at Srirangam under PraNavaakruthi and Vaidhika VimAnams respectively. Later Sri AarAvamudhan left for Thirukkudanthai with His Vaishika VimAnam .Both KasthUri Rangan ( Sri Ranganaathan ) and Sri Hema Rangan ( Sri AarAvamudhan ) are still rsting on the banks (paarE) of CauvEri river .Lord SrinivAsan of ThiruvEnkatam joined Thirukkudanthai as PaathALa SrinivAsan later.

(2)"Bhuvanasya madhyE" portion relates to the Vibhavam manifestation, where Sriman NaarAyaNan moved in this world as Raaman and KrishNan . At Thirukkudanthai and Srirangam , ubhaya Moorthy pradhAnathvam is recognized (i-e)., the Uthsavar is celebrated as Sri Ramachandran and the Moolavar is saluted as Sri KrishNan. This refers to the Vibhavam manifestations of the Lord at Thirukkudanthai , ThiruvEnkatam , ThiruppADakam ,Srirangam et al.

(3) "Naakasya PrushtE "portion of the veda Manthram links to the ParA or Param state of the Lord , where He is present as Sri Vaikunta Naathan. With the choice of " NiRai Visumpu " AzhwAr salutes the Param manifestation of the Lord .

(4) "JyOthigumshi samanupravishta" portion of the Veda manthram connects to the ArchA form of the Lord at Thirukkudanthai , ThiruppADakam et al. The Suddha-satthva-maya Lord enters the Vigrahams there and sanctifies them by His JyOthi .

(5) "PrajApathi: Charathi garbhE antha:" portion of the Veda manthram connects to the antharyAmi state of manifestation of the Lord . "Yenn chinthai niRai iRai" vAkhyams of the AzhwAr refers to this AntharyAmi Brahmam.

Thus Pey AzhwAr's Paasuram salutes the PARA VaasudEvan of VyUhA form (SankarshaNa , Pradhyumna , Aniruddha , VaasudEvA form) resting on the PraNavAkruthi VimAnam and at the milky ocean (sErntha ThirumAL kadal).

This paasuram salutes next Sri Raama -KrishNAvatharan of VIBHAVAA manifestation presiding at Thirukkudanthai with His dear Consort Sri KomaLAmbhA and goes on to celebrate the ARCHA mUrthys at ThiruvEnkatam et al and finally THE ANTHARYAAMI FORM inside the AzhwAr's heart.

THUS PEY AAZHWAAR IN THIS PAASURAM WITH RICH MEANINGS POURS OUT THE ESSENCE OF THE VEDHA MANTHRAM IN SACRED TAMIL AND REVEALS THE NATURE OF THIS PANCHAAVATHAARAN OF THIRUKKUDANTHAI .

Thirumangai's love (prEmai) and deep attachment for the Lord of Thirukkudanthai is profound. He went ahead and saluted the Lord of Thirukkudanthai in every one of his Divya prabhandhams. He built a car ( Chitthirai thEr ) for Him and seated Him there with His ubhaya NaacchimAr and offered at their feet the extraordinary poem of ThiruvEzhukURRirukkai in the chithra kavi format.

After the AzhwAr left Thirukkudanthai and traveled to other divya dEsams , the memory of the enchanting Lord AarAvamudhan would not leave him. While he stood performing mangaLAsAsanams to EmperumAns of the other divya dEsams , his tongue slipped into praising the glories of the Lord of Thirukkudanthai. Thirumangai lost himself over the delectable smaraNam of the great Lord of Thirukkudanthai and His great upakAram of initating him into the mUla manthram as his AchAryan and thereby saving him from samsAric terror.

AzhwAr visualized the Kidantha nambi ( reclining parpUrnan ) of Thrukuddanthai effortlessly in front of ThirunarayUr SrinivAsa nambi. The images of the two archA mUrthys merged in his mind and the form of Sriman NaarAyaNan came to the fore. This happened to him at many divya dEsams like Thiruneermalai, ThirunarayUr, ThiruvAli, ThiruvazhundhUr, Thiru Naagai, ThirucchERai, Srirangam ThiruppEr nagar, SaaLagrAmam and ThiruviNNagaram .

Thus from the cold mountains of north to the green Cauvery delta, the memory of AarAvamudhan of Thirukkudanthai persisted in the mind of Thirumangai. That sweet memory would never leave him. His mind melted quickly over the experience of the delectable tasting of the insatiable
nectar of Thirukkdanthai . During such times , he will call aloud the name of the Lord of Kudanthai and address Him as "aaviyE , amudhE ,Kudanthai UttamA ,TaNN Kudanthai nagarALA , Kudanthai kudamADee , YenthAi , Yenthai tanthai tamm ammAnE ,EmpirAnE , Kudanthai kidanthu uhantha MyndhA , Kudanthai kidantha MaalE , pacchai thEnE , PaimponnE , amarar sennippoovE , kunreduttha ThOLA and NediyAnE (Oh my soul! my nectar ! Oh the noble One of Kudanthai , Oh Lord of the cool city of Kudanthai , Oh Lord who balanced many pots on Your limbs at the crossings of the streets of Kudanthai , Oh my Father ! Oh the Lord of my father's father , Oh Supreme Master , Oh little Lord (KuttikkaNNAn)
who enjoys Your yoga nidhrai at Thriukkudanthai , Oh young and sweet honey , Oh unadulterated gold !Oh the flower that glistens on the heads of the devAs , Oh Govardhana GiridhAri and the tall One).

He will conclude these lucid reveries with the statement,

" Kudanthia talaikkOvinai KudamAdiya koothanai--
YemmAnai YempirAnai yetthAl maRakkEnE "

How can I forget Him , the Lord of Thirukkudanthai , my Sarva Swami ? There are no ways to forget Him , even if I wanted to .That would be the AzhwAr's conclusion .

In this context was born the Periya Thirumozhi Paasuram (6.10.1), which will be the subject of this posting:

Kidantha Nambi Kudanthai mEvi kEzhalAulahai
idantha Nambi , YengaL Nambi yeRign~raranazhiya
kadantha Nambi kadiyAr Ilangai ulahai yeeradiyAl
nadantha Nambi Naamam sollil NamO NaarAyanamE

Thirumangai uses the name of Nambi five times here to remind us that He is the PanchAvathAran manifesting in His Para , VyUha , Vibhava , ArchA and AntharyAmi forms .

During 1998 , Sri Sampath Rengarajaan , a native of Thirukkudanthai posted a short article on the significance of the name Nambi. He pointed out that the name Nambi stands for the most perfect One (ParipUrnan)and AchAryan . Thirumangai was following the path of Swami NammAzhwAr , when he called the Lord of ThirunaRayUr as his nambi or ParipUrNa AchAryan as a result of receiving SamAsrayaNam directly from the sacred hands of SrinivAsan of NaacchiyAr Koil . Swami NammAzhwAr had shown the way earlier by addressing the Lord of ThirukkuRungudi as Nambi Ten times in his mangaLAsAsanam ( ThiruvAimozhi :5.5 ).Swami NammAzhwAr saluted the dasAvathAran at ThirukkuRungudi and Thirumangai eulogized the PanchAvathAran at Thirukkudanthai and concluded that the "Vaishnava Nambi" of Thirukkudanthai is the fundamental meaning of NaaraayaNa sabdham .

In his paasuram on Thirukkudanthai uttAna sayana Nambi , Thirumangai reveals the fundamental truth that AarAvamudhan is the kernel of NaarAyaNa sabdham . AzhwAr says that the Kudanthai kidantha Nambi is the same Nambi , who lifted the World ( BhU Devi ) on His tusk as BhU VarAhan (Ulahai idantha Nambi) ;He is the same One , who crossed the ocean and reached LankhA through Raama sEthu during His RaamAvathAram (Ilankai kadantha Nambi ); He is OUR Nambi (YengaL nambi); He (Thirukkudanthai Nambi) is the sameNambi , who measured the earth and sky with His two steps as Thrivikraman (Ulahai YeeradiyAl nadantha Nambi ).

Azhwar concludes this paasuram with the assertive statement that the naama sankIrthanam of this ParipUrNan (Nambi) of Thirukkudanthai is equivalent to His AshtAkshara Manthra Japam. AzhwAr says : "Kidantha nambi naamam sollil , namO NaarAyaNamE" .AzhwAr asks us to remember that this Kidantha Nambi of Thirukkudanthai , the sarva KalyANa GuNa nidhi , is the AadhArap poruL of NaarAyaNa sabdham.

NamO NaarAyaNAya ,
Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan
 

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