SrI:
Dear SrImathi GeethA Rangarajan :
You have focused on a very important paasuram of
Swamy NammAzhwAr. This is a gem of a Pasursam
where Swamy NammAzhwAr challenges the Lord directly
(SavAl viduhirAr and asks the Lord to dare his challenge).
The mood shift in AzhwAr from this Paasuram to the last
Paasuram in this decad is delightful to experience.
Srimans T.C.A.Venkatesan, M.G.VasudEvan and SrI PadmanAbhan Iyengar
as well as Dr.Sarathy have reponded to you alrady . The references of
Periya Thirumozhi verses (3.5.5 and 3.5.8) by SrIman PadmanAbha
Iyengar is very apt in this context.
I will just add a few more comments . Let us start with
the word by word meaning for the Paasuram of TVM 5.1.1
and follow that up by extended comments :
kaiyAr sakkaratthen KarumANikkamE yenRenRu
poyyE kaimai sollip puRamE puRamayAdi
meyyE peRRu ozhindhEn vidhi vaaykkinRu kappArAr
ayyO ! KaNnapirAn ! aRayO inipponAlE
ThiruvAimozhi: 5.1.1
puRamE puRamayAdi = (While) wandering amidst all external
and transient pleasures (Vishaya sukhams)
yenn kai aar sakkarutthu}
KarumANikkamE } = I uttered "Oh my invaluable dark jewel
of a Lord with the Hand adorning
the beautiful disc named Sudarsanam
although I did not have any preethi
or esteem for You or for that radiant
Sudarsanam shining Your hand .
I pretended as though I am filled
with affection for You . My intent
was to cheat the world .
yenRu yenRu poyyE }
kaimai solli } = I acted as though I have deep devotion for You ,
which you knew was a deceitful act on
my part and through that deciet , I misled
others about my state of devotion to You.
What did you do on witnessing this vanchakam of mine?
How did you respond to my deception?
meyyE peRRu ozhindhEn = Out of Your NirhEthuka krupA ,
You accepted my insincere act as
true devotion and showered me with
the immense grace that You reserve for
Your Bhaktha SirOnmaNis.
How should I react to what happened ? How should I react
to this totally undeserving gift of Yourself to this
decietful person ?
Vithi VaaykkinRu kappAr aar? = When Your nirhethuka /avyAja
KrupA showers on one , who can
stop that ?
During this process , the deceitful me got the better of
the deal . How am I to react ?
ayyO KaNNapirAn = Oh MahOpakAri! Sarva SulabhA! It is a pity
that You lost Your svatanthram in this contest
with me . I cheated You but You granted me
victory and lost your independence (SvAtantryam)
in the process .
This exclamation , "AyyO" comes out of AzhwAr
as a joyous reaction (yekkaLippu /exultation).
AzhwAr could not believe what happened to him .
He thought PerumAL will see thru his kapata naatakam
intended for the people of the world and ignore him.
The nirhEdhuka KrupA of KaNNan however created in Him
vismruthi ( forgetfulness) ,ajn~Anam ( absence of
knowledge ) and asakthi ( powerlessness). As a result,
He overlooked the deceit of AzhwAr and granted
AzhwAr His full anugraham. AzhwAr is now joyous and
he blurts out "ayyO" because he got this unexpected
and undeserving anugraham of the lord (" poyyE solli
meyyE peRRu ozhindEn"). What a grand prize winner
I am shouts the AzhwAr in joy over this incredible
turn of events.
arayO inip-pOnAlE = It is victory for me . After recieving this
MahA BhAgyam , even if You want to leave me ,
it would not be possible for You , since You
have lost Your independence (Svatanthram).
You have become adhInam to me. "aRayE aRai"
declares the AzhwAr exulting with the dhvani
of a victor shouting at the one , who has been
defeated in the contest . Ingu ,AzhwAr savAl
viduhiRAr. AzhwAr challenges the Lord to leave him
and predicts that He can not , since He is no longer
a Svatantra Purushan.AzhwAr says: " I won thru my
deceitful act. You lost . This is true. athanAl ,
nAnn yengum ithai paRayadippEn" AzhwAr shouts
with joy :" arayO arai ,aRayO aRai ".
Overcome by His dayA for the soul, the Lord did not use
the full power of His Sarvajn~athvam (Omniscience ) and
Sarva sakthithvam ( Omnipotence) to see through the AzhwAr's
acting .His nirhEthuka KrupA took over , every thing
else was pushed aside and the soul became the beneficiary.
In the same spirit , AzhwAr exclaims in the next paasuram that
he is a perfect impostor calling the Lord's names with
feigned affection . Inspite of it , The Lord did not ignore
the AzhwAr but entered in to his soul with all His VibhUthis
due to His nirhEthuka krupA. Dahara VidhyA upAsana Phalan has
now been gained by the AzhwAr. He exults and declares: " With You
in me now , Oh Lord , You the possessor/owner of my soul
have become subservient to me ! This is indeed a reverse
of the normal order of things ".
The seventh Paasuram in this decad is another jewel of
an anubhavam by Swamy NammazhwAr as to how the nirhEthuka
krupA of the Lord swept him of his feet even as he was
pretending to be full of devotion . The mighty Lord's
limitless grace to a lowly person like him moves
the AzhwAr and he declares that there is hope for
even the vilest of sinners amongst us:
"AmmAn aazhip-pirAn Avan yevvidatthAn yAnAr
yemmA Paaviyarkkum vidhi vaaykkinRu vaaykkum kaNDeer ".
In the next paasuram , AzhwAr whose anubhavam of
the nirhEthuka KrupA of the Lord trasformed him
declares in all sincerity that the Lord KannapirAn
is all to him (VaasudEva saravam ithi) . AzhwAr
states unambigously that KaNnapirAN , who showered
His avyAja krupA is the integrated essence of all
the objects dear to the humans : their wealth, adoring wife ,
loving parents and earthly power.
In the tenth paasuram of this decad , Swamy NammazhwAr
reflects with utter humility about the transformation
in him as a result of the Lord entering in to him out
of His nirhEthuka krupA . AzhwAr declares solemnly:
" He IS NOW in me. He is WITH ME NOW. We enjoy each
other . Through this blissful experience , I have understood
that this bhAgyam of union with Him did not arise from
my effort at all , but from His immense DayA pravAham ".
Swamy NammAzhwAr ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,
Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan
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