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Oppiliappan List Archive: Message 00193 Dec 2003

 
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Dear friends,
 
(14) "engallai munnam ezhuppuvAn?"

This expression is one of the profoundest in the
TiruppAvai. It is redolent of the most glorious
'satsangh' ever to have occurred in history --the
'satsangh' of the holy AzhwArs.

The literal meaning of this expression is: "We that
are the first awoken ones?" The term "engallai" is
first-person-plural "us"; "munnam" means "first" and
"ezhuppu" means "awakened". 

The word "ezhuppu" in Tamil is an extraordinary one
indeed. It means literally "to awaken" but actually
signifies three distinctive states of perception
combined in one -- i.e. "awakening", "arising" and
"super-cognition". 

At first glance, the distinction may seem like
needless hairsplitting. But it is actually quite
important if only we realize that one may "awaken"
from sleep but not necessarily have "arisen" (from
bed); and that one may have both "awoken and arisen"
and still not be Conscious (remaining, so to say, in a
nether state of deep stupor or somnolence). 

The word "ezhuppu", however, signifies the state of
super-consciousness where all 3 spiritual states of
"awakening", "arising" and "super-cognition" combine.
Such a state of supreme alertness in human
consciousness is what is called "spritual awakening"
--- "ezhuppu".

The idea of "spiritual awakening" is a dominant theme
in the TiruppAvai. It is expatiated in stanzas 5
through 16 of the song, where AndAl's milkmaids, going
from door to door in the "aayarpAdi" village, raise
the cry of "ElOr empAvaay!" in order to tell
slumbering humanity -- "Awaken! Arise! And behold!
Behold God in the clear light of your own spiritual
consciousness?!"

A 'satsangh' is a collection of persons who have
shaken off the slumber and sloth of their spirit. They
have "awoken" from the plane of the mundane, "arisen"
to the spiritual realm and become "conscious" of the
divine reality. They have begun to see everything in
the clear light of divine knowledge and understanding.

Many, many centuries ago, a lonely traveler, who'd
been journeying for days and miles, wearily reached
the temple town of Tirukovalur (South India). As he
entered the town looking for a place to rest his tired
body and mind, night fell. It also began to rain. He
could find no proper shelter. Finally perceiving a
dinghy, dilapidated shanty-shed outside a temple, he
scurried into it. Wet, tired and shivering, he lay
down there.

Shortly thereafter, another traveler arrived at the
same spot and asked if he could take shelter along
with the first one. To which the first replied,
"There's place here sufficient for only one to lie
down. But there's enough for two if they can sit
huddled together. Come right in, if you please".

After a short while, a third traveler arrived at the
same spot and asked to be accommodated. The two inside
replied, "There's space only for two to sit huddled
here but there's enough for three to stand around
together. So come in, if you please!".

And so there they stood, all three, in blinding
darkness, three weary travelers, squeezed and wedged
together in the cold space of a temple-shed, wet,
uncomfortable, half-awake and half-asleep?

After a little while, they began to feel a terrible
suffocation. Suddenly they felt the presence of a
fourth person lurking amongst them. This fourth person
could not be seen but his presence was undeniable. The
"Presence" began exerting so much pressure against
each of them, it became impossible for the three to
budge even an inch. They wriggled, struggled, heaved
this way and that but in the end it only made things
worse?

Unable to bear the discomfiture anymore the three at
last cried out, "Hello! Is anyone else here amongst
us? If so, please show yourself! Why do you make it
difficult for us? We can hardly breathe. Show
yourself, whoever you are, O stranger!" No sooner had
they said this than the "Stranger" revealed himself to
them! The "Presence" made itself known to all three of
them who became wide-awake! It was none other than the
Almighty!

As soon as the revelation occurred, the first traveler
broke out into a rapturous song: 

   vaiyam thakaLiyaa* vaar_kadalE neyyaaga,* 
        veyya kathirOn viLakkaaka,* 
      seyya- sudaraazhi yaanatikkE* 
 soottinEn_sol maalai,* idaraazhi neengukavE enRu.  

     "The Earth is my Lamp, the Ocean is Oil,
        And the radiant Sun the Flame!
 I offer this garland of songs at the Lord's feet -
     May we cross life's Sea of misery!" 

A torrent of 100 verses ensued thereafter -- in a
paroxysm of mystical delight! Later they came to be
called the "mudal tiruvandAdi"! The singer was
Poigai-AzhwAr, the first amongst the holy AzhwArs!

Then it was the turn of the second traveler to break
out into ecstatic song: 
   
     anbE thakaLiyaa* aarvamE neyyaaka,* 
       inpuruku sinthai iduthiriyaa,* 
     nanburugi NYaanac sudarviLakku ERRinEn*
       naaraNaRku* NYaanath thamizhpurintha naan. 

    "Love is my Lamp, Eagerness the Oil,
      My Heart is Wick; Melting myself,
    Lighting the lamp of my soul
  I offer in worship this garland of Tamil verses!" 

Another outpouring of 100 verses of soul-stirring
fervor followed! It was the "irandAm tiruvandAdi"! The
singer was Bhutadh AzhwAr, the second amongst the
pantheon of 10 AzhwArs!
       
Next, came the turn of the third traveler and he began
to sing in all-consuming ecstasy:

     thirukkaNdEn* ponmEni kaNdEn,* 
      thikazum arukkan aNin^iRamum kaNdEn,* 
    serukkiLarum ponnaazi kaNdEn* 
  puri sangam kaikkaNdEn,* ennaazi vaNNanpaal inRu. 

   "Behold! I have seen today my Lord of ocean-hue!
     And his consort the Lotus-dame!
   He wields the fiery discus and conch,
    Behold! He shines like the radiant sun!" 

Thus began another song of 100 celestial verses. It
was the "mUnrAm tiruvandAdi" of the third AzhwAr,
PeyyAzhwAr!

The mystic travelers were the first 3 among 10
AzhwArs; hence they came to be known as "mudal" (or
"munnam") AzhwArs! The songs they sang -- the first
300 verses of the 4000 songs of the
'Divya-Prabhandham' -- were songs to celebrate "Man's
spiritual awakening" ("ezhuppu"). Poigai Azhwar
symbolized the state of "awakening"; Bhutadh AzhwAr
symbolized "arising" and Peyy-AzhwAr (who sang
"kandEn, tirukandEn") symbolized the third state of
"super-cognition"! 

Together the three "mudal AzhwArs" represented true
"spiritual awakening" in the complete and Vedantic
sense of the term. They were the "first awoken-ones"
indeed alluded to in the phrase of the TiruppAvai:
"engallai munnam ezhuppuvAn?"!

Without fear of contradiction, it may be claimed too
that the sacred hymns of the "nAlAyira
divya-prabhandham" owe their very origin and
inspiration to a "satsangh" --- the mystic 'satsangh'
of the "mudal AzhwArs" who found themselves brought
together by divine pre-ordain at Tirukovalur!
 
               *****************
               (to be continued)

Regards,

dAsan,
Sudarshan
 



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