Dear BhakthAs:
Let us sample today some passages
from BhUthatthAzhwAr's
Second ThiruvandhAthi celebrating the anantha
KalyANa
GuNams of the Lord and his upadEsams on how
to attain
our Lord as the most coveted gift/parisu
.
Another Garbha SrImAn
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Poygai AzhwAr reminded us that as an embryo
residing
in the womb of the lotus in the PushkaraNi
of ThiruvehhA
dhivya dEsam , he turned in the direction of
SrIrangam and
worshiped Lord RanganAtha.
BhUtthatthAzhwAr reminds us in the 87th Paasuram
of
his Second ThiruvandhAthi that he did not start
enjoying
the Lord only today or yesterday but as the
embryo
in the womb of the Kurukkatthi flower at
Maamallapuram ,
he had the saakshAthkAram(direct vision )
of the Lord of
ThirukkOttyUr and right there and then ,
he offered his worship
to SrIman NaarAyaNan :
" anRu karuk-kOttiyuL kidanthu kai thozhuthEn
kaNDEn
ThirukkOtti Yenthai tiRam "
This AzhwAr was also born inside a flower and was
not
born out of the womb of a woman(ayOnijar) . He
was
a garbha SrImaan and had the blessings of the
avyAja
KaruNA Moorthy without any SaadhanAnushtAnam
(observance of rites or means) as a just
developed
embryo.
The focus of BhUthatthAzhwAr in his
paasurams
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BhUthatthAzhwAr's ThiruvandhAthi Paasurams
are
full of UpadEsams of an AchAryan and he instructs
on
ways to reach Sadhgathi .For instance in the
second
Paasuram of his andhAthi , AzhwAr reveals to us
the power of recitation of SrIman NaarAyaNan's
ThirunAmams that befit His unique
Svaroopam,
Roopam and GuNams. The recitation of His
nAmAs
with the understanding of their meanings as
revealed by
the SaasthrAs from the height
of Bhakthi will result
in the Lord raising us to the level of
sacredness of
Nithyasooris serving Him at
SrIvaikuntam:
Jn~AnatthAl nanku uNarnthu NaaraNan
nAmangaL
thAnatthAl maRRavan pEr sARRinAL
--vaanatthu
aNI amarar aakkuvikkum ahthanRE ,
nangaL
PaNi amarar kOMAn parisu
The " parisu " ( reward) that we get from
the Lord of
the DevAs ( amarar kOmAn ) out of His udhAra
svabhAvam
for reciting His many names with devotion and
understanding
of their meanings would be the elevation to the status of
the Nithyasooris (Vaanatthu aNi amarar
aakkuvikkum).
Other Selected Passages Of Second ThiruvandhAthi
**************************************************************
(1) Paasuram 10: " KaavalanE ! ---yEtthiya
nAvudayEn ,
PoovudayEn , ninn uLLi ninRamayAl , kAvadiyEn
patta kaDai "
Oh Protector of all Janthus ! I am Your servant .
I have
flowers in my hand for worshipping You. Since I
consider
You as my protector (Rakshakan) , my tongue is
poised
to eulogize You. Please remove all my deficencies
and
humiliations ( ThAzhvukaL) that I have
experienced over
a very long time and protect me .
(2) Passage from the 14th Paasuram:
" Pazhi pAvam koNDu ingu vAzhwAraik-kooRAthE --
yeNDisayum pErtha kara nAnkudayAn pEr Odhiya pEthaikAL ,
Theertthakkarar aamin
thirinthu"
Oh Fools , who commit sins knowingly and
unknowingly !
Abandon your efforts in praising fools like
yourselves , who are
SamsAris ; instead sing all over the land
about
the glories of Lord Thrivikraman who
shattered the eight
directions with His growing form and His
four shoulders .
When you sing about those many names of the Lord
, You
will make the very land that you reside in as the
holiest one
and will acquire the title of holy one purifying
others through
your contact ( theertthakkarar
aamin).
(3) The Twenty First Paasuram: Here AzhwAr
wonders about
the diffiuclties in reaching narakam , while the
Lord has blessed
us all abundantly with all KarmEndhriyams and
Jn~Endhriyams
to worship Him . Such a worship that could be
readily
peformed by the people would
prevent them from sliding into
narakam. AzhwAr says: " Oh Chethanams ! God has
given you
a body to seek His
protection. He has given mind to you to meditate
on Him. There are plenty of lotus flowers for you
to place at the sacred
feet of the Lord. There is plenty of time
for you to perform
AarAdhanam to the Lord. There is your
head for
the Lord to place His sacred feet on . With all
these favorable
factors assisting you , oh chEthanams
, it would indeed be
impossible for you to end up in narakam
".
(4) Thirty Second Paasuram: Here AzhwAr describes
his joy
over his good fortune . He says:" ThirumAlE
sinthai mahizhnthathu"
( Oh SrInivAsA ! my mind is in a blissful state
as a result of
meditating on You). "maRRum unn PaadhamE
pORRI
mahizhnthathu " (My speech following manas
performed
mangaLAsAsanam for Your sacred feet and
reached a state of
bliss)."aaham sooznthu thuNinthu azhal aazhi
sankham avai
paadi aadum thozhil mahizhnthathu" ( My body
performed
pradhakshiNams around You and Your BhaagavathAs ,
sang
in praise of Your fiery Sudarsanam , resplendent
conch
and other weapons . My mind did not care if
others called me
a mad man and persisted with these acts and took
them
as my vrutthi and jeevanam(livelihood)
.
(5) Thirty ninth Paasuram: Here AzhwAr instructs
us on
the quintessence of Veda-VedAntham: " Othatthin
poruL
mudivum itthanayE " ( The essence of all
Vedams is just this).
Please master the ways of reciting the Lord's
Sahasra naamams
( Utthaman pEr yEtthum tiRam aRimin). If you are
unable to do that ,
please sing about the nAmAs of the Lord of
SrI Devi. That is
VedArTa Saaram ( adhanai maatteerEl Maadhavan
pEr
solluvathE Otthin surukku).
(6) The 44th Paasuram is another splendid example
of
UpadEsam to us : " SiRanthArkku yezhu thuNayAm
SenkaNNmAl nAmam
maRanthArai maanidamA vaiyyEn "
( I will not consider with my mind those who
forgot
the names of our Lord --with the lotus soft
eyes--
as belonging to the human race . Those
names of our Lord
are the celebrated cause , means and
companion in
the journey to Moksham for the revered SrI
VaishNavAs ) .
(7) In the 50th Paasuram , AzhwAr reminds us of
his proud
existence by reciting in front of every one , the
many divine
names of the Lord ( ThirumAlai sonna peru peyarE
pEsi yArr
muhappum Avanai azhaippEn ). He says that he will
shout
loudly and proudly the names of the Lord as
Maayavan ,
Aayavan and Yaadhavan in joyful recall
of His incarnation
as KrishNan .
(8) In the 55th paasuram , AzhwAr reminds us that
that he has never
forgotten the Lord in this life and it is his
intrinsic nature(svabhAvam ) to
think of Him at all times as his Lord and
protector in this life and
in all the seven births to come ( yenRum maRanthu aRiyEn ;
yEzh pirappum yeppozhuthum ninRu ninaippu ozhiyA neermayAl).
(9) In the 64th Paasuram , AzhwAr addresses Lord
KrishNa
and tells the Lord that Your Naamam is the
mukhyArTam
(essence of the meaning) of ithihAsams and
purANams
( KaNNA ! kathayum perum poruLum Ninn pErE
).After
enjoying Your auspicious guNams and Naamams , I
long
now for the acquisition of the bliss
of visualizing You in person
as the nithya sooris do in SrIvaikuntam ( sadhA
pasyanthi Sooraya: ).
(10) In the 100th paasuram , AzhwAr addresses the
Lord endearingly
as "MaalE ! NediyAnE ! viyan thuzhAi kaNNiyanE !
KaNNanE!
ViNNavarkku mElA ! " ( Oh Lord with profound deep attachmen to
Your adiyArs ! Oh Lord , who grew to measure
the universe
as Thrivikraman! Oh Lord of Nithya Sooris! Oh KaNNA adorning
the marvellous ThuLasi garland ! ). AzhwAr
reveals then to the Lord
his mind set at the end of his andhAthi : "
yAnn udaya anbu
yenn tann aLavu anRu" ( The passion/kaathal that adiyEn has for You
is not containable by me . It knocks me off my feet . Please remember
that this profound love/prEmai adiyEn has for You will not
diminsh in intensity
untill enjoying Your divine roopam (saakshAthkAram ) in person
as the Nithyasooris do at SrIvaikuntam
).
Tomorrow, on the avathAra dinam of
PEyAzhwAr , we will enjoy
selected paasurams of this Mudhal AzhwAr's Third
ThiruvandhAthi.
NamO NaarAyaNAya ,
Oppiliappan KOil VaradAchAri Sadagopan