vaNdAr

vaNdAr

thiru-k-kaNNapuram 10

vaNDAr poo mAmalar mangai maNa nOkkam
uNDAnE unnai uhandu uhandu undanakkE |
toNDArnEku en seihinrAi sollu nAl vEdam
kaNDAnE kaNNapuratturai ammAnai || One ||

In the last pASura AzhwAr asked “kaNNAra kaNDu koNDu kaLikkinradu ingu enru kolO”. Even though he asks “when shall i see You” his real idea is “when do You intend to show Yourself to me”. Whatever He desires that alone is accomplished. Hence AzhwAr asks “en seihinrAi sollu”.

Oh! emberumAn! My swAmi! tirukkaNNapurattu ammAnE! You drink the kaTAkSha of periya pirATTi to sustain Yourself who is revealed by four vEdas. i desire very much to do kainkarya to you and you alone. But You should tell me what is in Your mind.

en seihinrAi sollu-This reveals the whole SAstrArtha. Any kind of sAdhana and any amount of sAdhana will not enable one to reach Him unless He wishes to take him. periyapirATTi’s puruShakAra causes Him to decide in favor. Hence AzhwAr says “ vaNDAr poo mAmalar mangai maNanOkkam uNDAnE”. AzhwAr is sure BagavAn will do anugraha to him to receive his kainkarya since periya pirATTi’s vision is His jeevAdhAra.

toNDAnErku -To me who desires Your kainkarya. “tEShAm satatayuktAnAm” – to those who desire Your sambandha always. The former expression should be interpreted similarly.

nAl vEdAm kaNDAnE–There are two prayOgas – kartari and karmaNi. In kartari prayOga it means – He who knows four vEdas in karmaNi it means He who is known by four vEdas. If we take kartari there is no depth of meaning in saying He knows four vEdas. But karmaNi the expression “He who is revealed by four vEdas” suits the context and the fact. BaTTar has interpreted it in karmaNi.

2. peruneerum viNNum malaiyum ulahEzhum
urutAra ninnuL oDukkiya ninnai allAl |
varudEvar maTTruLar enru en manattu iraiyum
karudEn nAn kaNNapuratturai ammAnE || Two ||

emberumAn Vour greatness is beyond words. Others may say “so and so is the supreme Lord” “so and so is the greatest God”. Those gods may also feel the same. But i am certain there is no other supreme Lord except You since it is He who put the mountains, seas, worlds etc., etc., in a corner of His stomach strung together like a garland. Didn’t that “garland” include kailAsa parvata too along with him who resides there? “angaN jnAlam uNDa pOdu veLLi verpu ahanradO” will i ever think of those who came out of Your stomach during creation as the supreme Lord?

3. maTTrum Or deivam uLadu enru iruppArODu
uTTrilEn uTTradum unnaDiyArku aDimai |
maTTrellAm pEsilum nin tiru eTTezhuttum
kaTTru nAn kaNNapuratturai ammAnE || Three ||

In the last pASura AzhwAr said he won’t think of anyone as God. Not only that he will not mix with the tAmasa beings who think there are other gods who are equally great. He says i have nothing to do with them. As for me i always associate myself with Sree vaiShNavas.

He says “Your tiru aShTakShara mantra reveals so many things of which what i feel the essence is “BAgavata SEShatvam” ( uTTradu unnaDiyarku aDimai)”.

All the vEdas and vEdAngas speak of arta pancaka. They are - swaroopa of BagavAn, swaroopa of jeeva, the means to attain Him, swaroopa of Pala, swaroopa of virOdhi (obstacles). “mikka irai nilaiyum meyya uyir nilaiyum takka neriyum taDaiyAhi tokkiyalum oozhvinaiyum vAzhvinaiyum Odum kuruhaiyar kOn yAzhinisai vEdattiyal” briefly explains the arta panchaka.

The thousand pASuras of tiruvAimuzhi speak artapanchaka.

The praNava (Om) reveals jeevAtma swaroopa; the namah reveals the upAya and virOdhi swaroopa; the nArayaNa Sabdha reveals paramAtma swaroopa; the chaturti (fourth case) “Aya” reveals the Pala swaroopa. Thus aShTAkShara is sakala vEda sAra. AzhwAr, however, says “maTTrellAm pEsilum” meaning he is interested in only one arta i.e., BAgavata SEShatva (uTTradum unnaDiyArku aDimai).

Where is BAgavata SEShatva found in tirumantra? The namah Sabdha speaks of BAgavata SEShatva. na maha means “not mine”. Hence this Sabdha removes ahankAra and mamakAra. When they are removed Bagavat SEShatva is obtained which extends to BAgavata SEShatva. Hence in the aShTakShara namah speaks BAgavata SEShatva. piLLailOkAchArya quotes this pASura in mumukShupaDi when he explains the namah Sabdha.

4. peNNAnAL pEriLam kongai in Ar azhal pOl
uNNA nanjuNDu uhandAyai uhandEn nAn |
maNNALA vAL neDungaNNi madu malarAL
kaNNALA kaNNapuratturai ammAnE || Four ||

Oh! emberumAn! You are the Lord of Boomi pirATTi and the loving consort of periya pirATTi. You drank the poisoned milk of pootana that no one would dare to drink.

emberumAn i may not be a very desirable person for You. But for You who drank the poisoned milk of pootana who came to kill, am i baser than that milk? Am i more poisonous than that poison? Is there not periyapirATTi to do puruShakAra for me? (madu malarAL kaNNALA). Is she not ever united with You?

5. peTTrArum suTTramum enru ivai pENEn nAn
maTTrArum paTTrilEn AdalAl nin aDaindEn |
uTTrAn enru uLLattu vaittu aruL sei kaNDAi
kaTTrAr sEr kaNNapuratturai ammAnE || Five ||

The parents give birth to us after satisfying their carnal desires. Then they don’t take care of you. “poruL kaiyuNDAi sella kANil pOTTri enru ETTrezhuvar iruL koL tunbattinmai kANil ennE enbArum illai” the relatives who seek you and respect you when you have money leave you unceremoniously the very minute they come know that you are a pauper. Such people i don’t care. The gods who shower boons on those who do a little tapas, who promise help and leave you in distress, i don’t consider as eeSwara. i seek You alone whether You take or not. “kaLaivAi tunbam kaLaiyAdozhivAi kaLaikaN maTTrilEn” (nammAzhwAr). Hence You should take me think “this fellow has sought me after leaving everything else as his only asylum”. If You don’t do so what use of You who leave the paramapada and pArkaDal to stay in tirukkaNNapuram? You ask the vaidikas in Your city who are well versed in vEdas whether what i say is true or not (kaTTrAr sEr kaNNapuram).

uTTrAnenru –Some people interpret as follows BagavAn thinks “this AzhwAr has roamed incessantly in samsAra; has undergone untold sufferings; at last has come to me. Let me not reject him as a pApi but let me do anugraha and protect him from further agonies”. The same idea is expressed by toNDaraDippoDi AzhwAr “maTTrumOr deivam uNDE madilA mAniDarhAL uTTrapOdanri neengaL oruvanenru uNaramATTeer”.

6. Etti un sEvaDi eNNi iruppArai
pArttirundu angu naman tamar paTTrAdu |
sOttam nAm anjudum enru toDAmai nee
kAttipOl kaNNapuratturai ammAnE || Six ||

Oh! kaNNapuratturai ammAnai! You should protect me in such a way that the cruel yama BaTTas who normally wait for the time of death, not come to me since i think of You and Your tiruvaDi always. Let them salute me and say “Oh! AzhwAr! We are afraid to come near you” and make them afraid even to touch me.

7. veLLai neer veLLattu aNainda aravaNai mEl
tuLLu neer meLLa tuyinra perumAnE |
vaLLalE un tamarkku enrum naman tamar
kaLLar pOl kaNNapuratturai ammAnE || Seven ||

Oh! SwAmi! You lie on tiruppArkaDal doing yOganidra on tiruanandAzhwAn in order to hear the cries of woes of Your Baktas and dEvas. Not only that You lie here in tirukkaNNapuram for the common folks like me to come and see You. Oh! vaLLalE! perumAnE! kaNNapuratturai ammAnE! The cruel yama BaTTas not only not touch Your dAsas but never would dare come in front of them. They hide themselves like thieves behind the door. “sittiraguttan ezhuttAl tenpulakkOn pori oTTri vaitta ilachchinai mATTri tooduvar ODi oLittAr”( periyAzhwAr). Such is Your praBAva (greatness).

8. mANAhi vaiyam aLandaduvum vALavuNan
pooNAham keeNDaduvum eeNDu ninaindirundEn |
pENAda valvinaiyEn iDar ettanaiyum
kANEn nAn kaNNapuratturai ammAnE || Eight ||

emberumAn! kaNNapuratturai ammAnE! i tell You one thing. Listen carefully! i was a mahApApi and total ajnAni earlier (never thought the Sareera is different fron Atma). i acted accordingly. But now i find myself totally changed person. This happened when i mused over how You measured the worlds as vAmana and how You split open the chest of hiraNya as narasimha. By these mere thoughts my pApas vanished, my ajnAna was removed and i find i am closer to You.

9. nATTinAi ennai unakku mun toNDAha
mATTinEn attanaiyE koNDu en val vinaiyai |
pATTinAl unnai en nenjattu irundamai
kATTinAi kaNNapuratturai ammAnE || Nine ||

swAmi! You have shown so much of grace on me that it made me Your dAsa; caused the destruction of all my sins; made me sing about You in these pASuras. This reveals Your greatness and my meanness. It clearly exposes the state before and after. periyavAchchAn piLLai says– “ivarai pADuvitta mukkOTTai irundapaDi” it is said that there was a place called mukkOTTai in keraLa where dumb were taken to be cured. The greatness of the place was such that they would speak and even sing poetry too. AzhwAr says that tirukkaNNapuram is a “mukkOTTai” for him.

10. kaNDa seer kaNNapuratturai ammAnai
koNDa seer toNDan kaliyan olimAlai |
paNDamAi pADum aDiyavarkku enjnAnrum
aNDam pOi ATchi avarkku adu arindOmE || Ten ||

tirumangai AzhwAr has sung these pASuras on tirukkaNNapuram emberumAn. Those Sree vaiShNavas who sing them and think them as their aiSwarya will certainly go to paramapada and rule over the nitya sooris. They will have this as the greatest object of attainment.

About Sree vaikuNTha, it is known through the vaikuNTha gadya of Sree rAmAnuja AchArya. Here AzhwAr says tirukkaNNapuram is similar to Sree vaikuNTha in all respects which any one can easily go and experience.