thuRappEn

thuRappEn

thiruviNNagar 3

turappEnallEn inbam turavAdu ninnuruvam
marappEnallEn enrum maravAdu yAn ulahil |
pirappEnAha eNNEn piravAmai peTTradu nin
tirattEnAdanmaiyAl tiruviNNaharAnE ||

Oh! emberumAn! Who resides in tiruviNNahar! i may renounce the worldly pleasures but definitely not the bliss of Your experience. Why is it so? Because i cannot forget Your fascinating form. Certainly after experiencing this bliss i will not be born in this dark world. Earlier i was “marandEn unnai munnam” and also ”adanAl iDumbai kuzhiyil pirandE eittuzhindEn” because of me forgetting You. Because You have blessed me i have become Your dAsa.

turandEnArvachcheTTra SuTTram turandamaiyAl
SirandEn ninnaDikkE aDimai tirumAlE |
arandAnAi tirivAi unnaien manattahattE
tirambAmal koNDEn tiruviNNaharAnE ||

Oh! viNNahar emberumAn! i have renounced my love towards those who are amicable to me; hatred towards those who are opposed to me and association with those apparent bandhus. i feel these are the impediments in meditating on You. Now i have You alone in my mind. Hence i can seek Your tiruvaDi to do kainkarya now.

arandAnAi tirivAi—You are dharma incarnation. Yet You seek people and roam in search of them. See ANDAL’s tiruppAvai “undannai piravi perundanai puNNiyam yAmuDaiyOm”. When You are “arandAn” do You expect any dharma on my part to reach You?

turandEn— i have left my rAga, dwESa and association with samsAri like viBeeShaNa who said “parityaktA mayA lanka”. AzhwAr expresses similarly before doing SaraNAgati.

mAnEi nOkkunallAr madipOl muhattulavum
oonEi kaNvALikku uDaindOTTandu unnaDaindEn |
kOnE kurunguDiyuL kuzhahA tirunaraiyoor
tEnE varupunal Soozh tiruviNNaharAnE ||

kOnE! tirunaraiyoor tEnE! i tell You one thing i am very much afraid of the arrow-like eyes which shoot at me and kill me. The doe-like innocent look on the moon-like faces of women deceive me and trap me in the net of samsAra. Like one running away from a snake i run away from their look. Oh!! kurunguDi kuzhaha! i seek Your tiruvaDi and ask protection.

BaTTar replied nanjeeyar when he asked “why should AzhwAr mention tirunaraiyoor nimbi here when he is going to sing about Him in hundred pASuras in a short while”? That “when river is going to be in spate it will show indication before hand”.

SAndEndumen mulaiyAr taDandOL puNarinbaveLLattu
AzhndEn arunarahattazhundum payanpaDaittEn |
pOndEn puNNiyanE unnaieidieidien teevinaihaL
teerndEn ninnaDaindEn tiruviNNaharAnE ||

emberumAn! i was a great sinner and enjoyer of worldly pleasures before i come to You. i sought the soft breasts of women and ran to embrace them thinking that is the greatest bliss one could have in this world. i little knew it was the door to hell.

emberumAn! You are the very incarnation of puNya. Hence You can remove my pApas. When i come to know this i renounced the pleasures of those worldly things (hell disguised as heaven) and seek You alone who can give unending unalloyed bliss.

Why should the AzhwAr uses the phrases “SandEndum men mulaiyAr” “taDandOL puNar inba veLLam”- the words which can turn even a sanyAsi in to a samsAri? In fact AzhwAr’s idea is to dissuade one from such pleasures. BaTTar replied there are three ways of expressing an idea-

To speak about anything as it is
To speak in such a way that the highly emotional matter is made insipid
To highlight even a small matter
tirumangai AzhwAr has the talent to express even a trivial matter mountain-like. His poetical vision exaggerates the realities.

maTTrOrdeivameNNEn unnai enmanattuvaittu
peTTrEn peTTraduvum piravAmai emberumAn |
vaTTrAneeL kaDalSoozh ilangaiyirAvaNanai
SETTrAi koTTravanE tiruviNNaharAnE ||

emberumAn! tiruviNNaharAnE! It is You who ruined the city of lanka (surrounded by deep seas) as well as its king the mighty rAvaNa. Likewise You ruined my enemies which prevent my thinking and meditating on You alone. Hence i never think of anyone else as god except You. If i had thought of them, i am sure i would be thrown into the wombs and tombs again and again. Since i have resorted to You alone i have gained what should be gained i.e. paramapada.

maiyoN karungaDalum nilanum maNivaraiyum
SeyyaSuDariraNDum ivaiyAyaninnai nenjil |
uyyum vahai uNarndEn uNmaiyAl ini yAdum maTTrOr
deivam piridariyEn tiruviNNaharAnE ||

In the last pASura AzhwAr said ‘maTTrOr deivam eNNEn’. Now the same idea is expressed with reason for being so. Oh! tiruviNNaharAnE! The dark deep seas, this BoomaNDala, the kula parvatas, the luminaries of the sky like the sun and the moon—all these are nothing but You. They are Your body and You are their Atma. When i understand this truth in my mind, then not only do i cut off the knots of births and deaths but also gain mOkSha and Bagavatkainkarya. If i had not done so but thought of any one else as God, then i would find myself in no better condition than being a samsAri.

vErE kooruvaduNDu aDiyEn viritturaikkum
ArE neepaNiyAdaDai nin tirumanattu |
koorEn nenjutannAl guNangoNDu maTTrOrdeivam
tErEn unnaiyallAl tiruviNNaharAnE ||

tiruviNNaharAnE! i want to make a special request and i shall tell You in a very few words without any need for further discussion. It is this—i don’t know any other god except You. Even if i find some auspicious guNas in them (if at all i find) i shall not seek them as my rakShaka. i shall not even utter their names (i say maTTrOr deivam) .

aDiyEn vErOr kooruvadu uNDu—i don’t want to express my thoughts amidst the group of people. i shall tell You when i am alone with You.

viritturaikkum ArE paNiyAdu—i want to briefly but explicitly explain my point. Not like geetAchArya who started with something, go on explain them, which arjuna did not understand clearly. Hence he put several questions, which kriShNa had to explain in nearly six hundred slOkas. Finally He comes to the point and explained prapatti (sarva dharmAn parityajya--------). You should listen to me carefully and take the essence of it.

The idea expressed is—AzhwAr wants BagavAn to listen to his request and say ’AzhwAr! I understand Your point. I am Your protector, You seek my tiruvaDi’.

muLindeenda vengaDattu mooripperungaLiTTrAl
viLindeenda mAmarambOl veezhndArai ninaiyAdE |
aLindOrnda Sindai ninpAlaDiyErku vAnulaham
teLindE enreiduvadu tiruviNNaharAnE ||

Oh! tiruviNNaharAnE! i have seen many powerful and might men sink into the desert land of samsAra and are completely dried like huge trees uprooted by mighty elephants. This indeed is samsAra which sucks the sap out of you! i fear the samsAra on seeing their destiny. i think of You alone who is extremely compassionate and who can extricate me from under the sand dunes of the desert. BagavAn! Please give me paramapada which is the abode of highest bliss. Please tell me when You propose to take me there.

muLindeenda – samsAra.

viLindeenda mA maram—powerful kings.

SollAi tirumArvAn unakkAhittoNDupaTTa
nallEnai vinaihaL naliyAmai nambunambee |
mallA! kuDamADee! madusoodananE! ulahil
SellAnalliSaiyAi tiruviNNaharAnE ||

Oh! tirumAl! mallA! kuDamADee! paripoorNa! madhusoodana! viNNaharAnE! You are so great that even my sins You take as virtues (puNya). Since pirATTi is present at Your side (tirumArba!). Do anugragha to me so that my karmas do not touch me! Since i am Your dAsa (toNDupaTTEnai).

It is found in eeDu lecture on tiruvAimozhi on the pASura ‘keDumidarAyavellAm’ (10-2-1). He narrated an incident which happened earlier. Once they were enjoying an utsava (festival) of azhahiya maNavALan. The procession stopped at the bank of river kAvEri for sometime. BaTTar and others were simply chanting some pASuras too. It was time for sandhyAvandana. Some Sree vaiShNavas wanted to leave the place to perform the daily ritual. BaTTar quoted this pASura of tirumangai AzhwAr and said BagavAn will not consider it as pApa if sandhyAvandana is not performed since they are now dAsas of Him enjoying His presence. ‘unakkAhi toNDu paTTa nallAnai vinaihaL naliyAmai nambu’.

tArAr malarkamalattaDam Soozhnda taNpuravil
SeerAr neDumaruhil tiruviNNaharAnai |
kArAr puyal taDakkaikkaliyan olimAlai
ArAr ivaivallAr avarkku allal nillAvE ||

tirumangai AzhwAr, the chief of tirumangai has sung these pASuras on emberumAn at tiruviNNahar a city with plenty of lotus ponds containing big lotus flowers, cool shady forests and long wide streets. Those who read and meditate on the meaning o f these pASuras will be rid of their pApas instantaneously.

tiruviNNaharam is the divya dESa identified with uppiliyappan sannidhi. ‘uppu’ means ‘salt’. ‘iliappan’ means one who does not have it. Hence even now the prasAda in this divya dESa is done without adding salt. The sthaLa purANa says so. But tirumangai AzhwAr and nammAzhwAr mentions His name as oppiliyappan sannidhi which means He who has no equal nor superior to Him. We feel it is the right meaning. But let us not neglect the sthaLa purANa too. Hence let us accept both the names ‘uppiliyappan’ as well as ‘oppiliyappan’ as right.