||    A Tribute to NammAzhwAr on His VaikAsi VisAkam birthday    ||

Sriman MadhavakkaNNan's wonderful article today on the ThiruvenakatamudayAn's Paasuram , AhalahillEn --, is the most fitting tribute to the glories of the Lord of Seven Hills on our Kulapathi's birthday . What a coincidence or AzhwAr's sankEtham for Sri MadhavakkaNNan that this special paaasuram dealing with Dvaya Manthram moved onto the Center stage on the day of days , AzhwAr's birthday ! The sincere Kaimkaryam performed by our Sri MadhavakkaNNan seems to have its own rewards. It is wonderful to read these soulful postings from Simhapuri.

Sri Murali Rangaswamy's tribute to AzhwAr and Saama Vedam transforming into Thiruvaimozhi added to today's special celebrations.

I would like to share with you the PurvAchAryA's commentary on this most important paasuram on ThiruvenakatamudayAn and add some additional thoughts . The two Saranagathi pasurams addressed to Sri Oppiliappan (Yennappan yenakkAiyuhuLAi--) and Sri VenkatEsan ( AhalahillEn --) are the two most important paasurams to me in the entire Thiruvaimozhi .

I will summarize what I have learnt from the commentaries of PurvAchAryAs , the Navaneetham Family ( Navaneetham Sri KrishnamAcchAr Swamy , Dr. VedAntha Desikan , Sri Gopala Desikan ) , UttamUr Swamy and PrathivAthi Bhayankaram AnnamAcchAr Swamy . One can not write enough about these great paasurams of NammAzhwAr .Naatha Muni was initiated by NammAzhwAr Himself into this Paasuram. His grandson, ALavandAr captured the essence of this Paasuram in his SthOthra Rathnam slOkams. His great grand disciple, AchArya RaamAnujA enshrined the spirit of this paasuram in his SaraNAgathi Gadhyam. Swami Desikan and other AchAryAs elaborated on this paasuram to offer their tributes to our Sri VaishNava SampradhAyam in an endearing/enduring manner.

AhalahillEn Paasuram
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In the first decad of Thiruvaimozhi , AzhwAr points out that Sriman NaarAyaNan is upAyam ; the second decad focuses on the athibhOgyam (most delectable) aspects of the Lord ; the third decad shows that the Lord has divya mangaLa Vigraham ; the fourth decad asserts that the Lord is the most superior means for moksham ; in the sixth decad , AzhwAr performs SaraNAgathi to ThiruvenaktamudayAN with his AhalahillEn paasuram :

ahalahillEn iRayum yenRalarmEl MangaiuRai maarbA !
niharil puhazhAi ! ulahamUnrudayAi ! yennai aLvAnE !
niharil amarar munikkaNangaL virumbhum ThiruvEnkatatthAnE
puhalonRillA adiyEn unn adikkeezhamarnthu puhunthEnE

The above paasuram is the tenth in this decad. Through the preceding nine paasurmas, NammAzhwAr completed the five angAs of SaraNAgathi and in the tenth, he performed the actual SaraNAgathi at the Lotus feet of the SarvalOka SaraNyan at Thirumalai. In the earlier decad, he cried soulfully: koovikkoLLum kaalam innam kuruhAthO ? ( Will not that time to call me to Your sacred feet come very soon ? ) . He had great aarthi (longing) for reaching the cool shade of Lord's holy feet to escape from the scorching heat of SamsAram . He had no patience for krama prApthi . He introduced himself as " terithal ninaithal yeNNalAhAt thirumAlukku uriya thondar thondar thondan SatakOpan " ( that he is the servant of the servant of the servant of Sriya: pathi, whose glories are beyond the comprehension through either acquired knowledge , manthra japam or dhyaanam ).

AzhwAr had great dvarai ( urgency ) and acute longing to rest at the Lord's cool feet . He recognized that it was not enough just to have the longing . He had to perform an anushtAnam to realize the fruit of that longing . He chose the UpAyam of Prapatthi . He recognized that Prapatthi to the ArchA murthy is the better upAyam than Prapatthi to other forms of the Lord such as Param , VyUham , Vibhavam and AntharyAmi . He concluded next the performance of Prapatthi to the ArchAmUrthy standing on top of Venakata Giri. This is the sequence of happenings starting from the first paasuram ," Ulahamunda peruvAyA --" to " ahalahillEn --" .

Swami Desikan's description of the ten paasurams
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In Taatparya RathnAvaLi, Swami Desikan captures in his inimitable style the essence of these 10 paasurams dealing with SaraNAgathi at the sacred feet of the Lord of the seven hills . He concludes that Azhwar assessed that Sri VenkatEsan is the most appropriate one to receive his saraNAgathi and then performed it.

The last two lines of this summary of Swami Desikan is as follows:

prApyA prApyathva yogAth svajana vijanayO: sath prapatthavya bhaavAth
uchE naatham SaraNyam sruthisatha vidhitham VenkatEsam SatAri :

The last line describes NammAzhwAr performing SaraNAgathi to his Lord VenakatEsan , who is understood well by the VedAs . The first line refers to his being near to His BhakthAs and AsrithAs ( svajana prApyathvAth ) and being far away from bhaktha dhvEshis ( vijana aprApyathvAth ). References here are to the Paasura vAkyams: vandhAy pOl vArAyi and vandhAyi polE vArAthAi "

Finally , Swami Desikan connects " AhalahillEn " part of the paasurem with "Sath prapatthavya bhAvAth ". He salutes the Vaatsalya , SwAmithva, Souseelya , SoulabhyAdhi guNams of Periya Piratti that are shared by Her Lord equally and Her purushaakAram ( merciful intercession quality/sipArsu to Her Lord ) and performs the SaraNAgathi to the Sruthi satha vidhitha VenkatEsan , who is prapadhana sulabhan (easy of access for Prapatthi ) .

We started this series of postings on the Isvara Vaikaasi Visaakam day, which has been celebrated by Sri MaaNavALa MaamunigaL as " Vedam Tamizh seytha meyyan yezhil Kuruhai Naathan avatharittha nALL " . VaikAsi VisAkam day is indeed the day devoted to saluting the Master of the beautiful Thirukkuruhai , who transformed the rigorous Sanskritic VedAs in to DrAvida BhAshai . It is very appropriate that MaNavALa MaamunigaL goes on to wonder:

uNdO vaikAsi VisAkatthuk koppuru nALL ?
( Is there any auspicious day that matches the glory of the VaikAsi VisAkam day ? No.)

uNdO SatakOparkkopporuvAr ?
( Is there anyone that can match the illustrious glory of our Kulapathi, NammAzhwAr ? No. )

uNdO ThiruvAimozhikkoppu ?
( is there any divya prabhandham that can match the magnificience of ThiruvAimozhi ? None )

tenn KuruhaikkundO oru paar tanil okkumUr ?
( are there any divya desams that match the auspiciousness of ThirukkuruhUr that gave birth to our Kulapathi ? No ).

These rhetorical inquiry and the answers implicit in these questions soundly establish the utter sacredness and the extraordinary bhakthi yogam of NammAzhwAr that culminated in the performance of his SaraNAgathi at the lotus feet of ThiruvenkatamudayAn , which are covered up to His ankles with the most fragrant flowers used by the DevAs during their aarAdhanams . At this divya desam linked with the charama SlOkam and saraNAgathi , AzhwAr elected appropriately to perform his SaraNAgathi .

At the Thirumalai divyadesam , AzhwAr showed us what is hEyam ( that to be detested and pushes aside ) and what is upAdhEyam ( that to be desired and welcomed ) . He had been discussing earlier as to what is thyAjyam ( to be abandoned ) and what is upAdhEyam( to be acquired) . He repeatedly explained to us that being engaged in worldly pleasures and siRRinbam is paramAvathi dukkham ( the limit of sorrows ).

He instructed us that the engagement in kshudhra vishaya laabham (gains realized from engagement in lowly and alpa vishayams) only produces klEsam (anxiety and loss of tranquility). The arrogance that comes from pursuit of paltry activities leads to a state (gharvam) that stands in the way of enjoying "anthamil pErinbham " , which is the charamAvathi Sukham ( end limit of aanandham ) arising from being part of a bhAgavatha ghOshti engaged in bhagavad guNAnubhavam. That is niradhisayAnandha hEthu , which is just the opposite of anantha klEsa hEthu .

As a result of the ascendance of the RajO and TamO guNams , the samsAri develops the five fold ajn~Anam that NammAzhwAr instructed us to stay away from:

" maranthEn unnai munnam " --ParasvarUpa ajn~Anam

" yAnE yennai aRihilAthE "-- aathma svarUpa ajn~Anam

" Odiyum uzhanRum uyirkaLE konREn uNarvilEn "--VirOdhi
vishaya ajn~Anam

" piRavi nOy aRuppAnEaNilEn irunthEn " --upAya Vishaya
ajn~Anam

" aazhiangankai ammAnai yEtthaathu ayartthu " -- PurushArtha
vishaya ajn~Anam

These five ajn~Anams ( Jn~Athavya pancha ajn~nams ) made the aathmA forget the Lord ( maRanthEn ) .

After overcoming this five fold ajn~Anam thru the development of Jn~Athavya panchaka jn~Anam as instructed by the seeker of mOksham , one attains nirasthAdhisaya aahlAdha sukha bhAvam ( anthamil pErinbham or limitless joy and tranquliity ) . AzhwAr himself alludes to the acquisition of the five types of Jn~Anams this way in his paasurams :

" ninnai nenjil uyuum vahai uNarnthEn "-- Para svarUpa
JN~Anam

" ninRa onRai uNarnthEnukku " --aathma svarUpa jn~nam

" ahaRRa nee vaittha mAyavallai eimpulangaLAmavai
nankaRinthanan "-- VirOdhi Vishaya Jn~Anam

" avanatharuLAlural poruttu yenn uNarvin uLLE
irutthinEn "-- upAya Vishaya Jn~Anam

" aam parisu aRinthukondu "-- PurushArtha vishaya Jn~Anam

The acquisition of these pentad of Jn~Anam led to the niradhisAyanandham . As Azhagiya MaNavALa PerumAL NaayanAr summarized for our benefit in his AchArya Hrudhaya Saara sUthram , " karma krupA bheejam poy ninRa aruL purintha yenkira avidyA souhArthangaL " . Karma bheejam is the avidhyai ( poy ninRa-rooted in untruth); KrupA bheejam is the souhArtham ( aruL purintha – blessings resulting from the Lord's grace) .Our Lord is the mUlam for both the karma and krupA bheejams .When the aathmA
realizes and declares its ancient and timeless NaarAyaNa sambhandham ("adiyEn adainthEn muthal munnamE"), the krupA bheejam and the SouhArtham come into play. This NaarAyaNa sambhandham is the opposite of achith sambhandham that immerses one in avidhyA and samsAram with anAthi klEsam . Artha panchaka jn~Anam leads to satthva guNa pUrthi (perfection of satthva guNam ) and ends up in the anubhavam of mOksha sukham .

NammAzhwAr was like the thousand-rayed Aadithyan thru his thiruvAimozhi upadEsam . His avathAram has been saluted as the VakuLa bhUshaNa bhaskarOdhayam ( the Sun rise with the fragrance of VakuLA blossoms adorning him ). He is the BhAskaran and yet differs from the regular DivAkara-Bhaskaran in that the latter can only remove the external darkness ; the VakuLa BhUshaNa bhAskaran however removes both the inner and the outter darkness ( ajn~Anam).

His love for the SaraNyan was sahajam (natural) as he himself pointed out :" tazhuvi ninRa kaathal tannAl " . It has been compared to the inseparable parimaLam of thirut thuzhAi . His bhakthi was not one that was earned or granted as a boon . It was of the sahajaa variety or that was intrinsic to him from the jaayamAna katAksham . This is the krishi palam ( the fruit of the harvest of the Lord ) of BhagavAn . That is the entire outcome of the nirhEthuka krupA of the Lord ( ThirumAlirum chOlai malai yenRennat ThirumAlvandhu yenn nenju niRayap puhunthAn ). The most merciful Lord ( " aaRa nalvahai kAttum ammAn " ) grew the Jn~Anam of the AzhwAr by union with him and increased the bhakthi of the AzhwAr by separation from him ( samslEsham-VislEsham: kalavi and pirivu ) . The experience of the AzhwAr thru these avasthAs (modalities of anubhavams of union and separation) has been compared by the AchArya Hrudhaya suthrakAraar as being similar to the experience of SithAp Piraatti in Srimadh RaamAyaNam .

Experiencing the heights of aanandham during the Union with the Lord and suffering profoundly from the separation from Him , AzhwAr celebrated the guNa pUrthi of the Lord blessing him at each of the divya desams . He pointed out to us that Archaavatharam witnesses the guNa pUrthi ( the perfection of the auspicous atributes of the Lord reaches its pinnacle in Archai in contrast to the other four states of His existence ) . He arrived at Thirumalai and declared that ThiruvEnkata KshEthram is the treasure for both the humans and the celestials ( TaNNaruvi VEnkatamE vAnOrkkum MaNNOrkkum vaippu ) . He saluted the Lord as " niharil puhazhAi " with great vaatsalyam .He revealedthat the DayAsindhu at Thirumalai is the father , mother and the sustaining force for times past , present and future (pOhinRa kaalangaL pOya kaalangaL pOhu kaalangaL thAi Tanthai uyir aahinRaai). He gratefully acknowledged the unique vaathsalyam of the Lord of Thirumalai and saluted Him as " Yenkat paasam vaittha Paramsudar chothi "and " Niharil puhazhAi ThiruvEnakatatthu EmperumAnE " .

AzhwAr then performed his dheerga SaraNAgathi at Thirumalai in his "ahalahillEn" paasuram. SaraNAgathi has been described as the ealboration (vivaraNam) of the essence of dhvayam (DhvyArtha VivaraNam) by Sri PiLLai LOkAcchAr in his work revered as "Saara sangraham " . This SaraNAgathi led to the state of " avidhyA nivarthaka, jn~Ana pUrthi pratha , Bhagaavth prasAdhOthitha Moksha lAbham ". In the next posting , we will go deeper into the word by word meaning of the AhalahillEn Paasuram as per our pUrvAchAryAs .

AzhwAr ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,
Oppiliappan koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan


 

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