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Dear Sri Jyothi

Let me share with you the articles from archives on Saranagati tattvam 
in Thiruppavai..

I am referring to Sri Anand Karalapakkam Swami's write up and Sri 
Satakopan Swami's article.

Hope this helps
Regards
Namo Narayana
dAsan
*****

The 29th verse of Thiruppavai is the essence of Saranagati tattvam. It 
is the most wonderful and divine pasuram. 

Dear BhakthAs: This is the Third of the PradhAna-
BhUtha Thiruppavai PaasurankaLs ( 27,28 and 29th) ,
where the name of Govindhan is invoked for the third
time . In Sankalpam , we invoke the name of Govindhan
thrice : Sri Govindha Govindha GovindhA . This paasuram
is like Sankalpam for Bhagavath DhAsyam .The name of 
"GODHA " is inside the name of Her lord:"GOvinDHA".
When we say Govindha, Govindha, Govindha three times ,
we invoke the name of GOdhA embedded in there .

This 29th paasuram is  the last of the ThiruppAvai paasurams , 
where ANDAL concludes Her Prabhandham in the role of 
a Gopi describing the feelings of fellow Gopis performing 
Paavai nOnbhu . In the 30th Paasuram (Vangakkadal Kadaintha ) , 
ANDAL speaks with Her own voice/ThAnAna Tanmayil Paadiyathu .

Until now , the Gopis under the leadership of ANDAL
were mentioning "paRai" and were seeking it from the Lord. 
In this paasuram , they elaborate on the meaning of that
paRai . They state the true purposes of their performance
of the nOnbhu as threefold : (1) Our objective (uddhEsyam) 
is to perform nithya kaimkaryam at Your holy feet (2)We can 
not live away form You  even for a second(3) Please banish 
any other thought or desire that might interfere with 
the fulfilment of the above two uddhEsyams (PBA Swamy). 

SuddhAnandha Bharathi sums up the purport of this Paasuram
as: " Let us always , even unto our 7th birth be with Thee ,
serving Thy will alone ! Oh GovindhA ! Change all other 
desires in us into this unique aspiration to be Thy 
humble servant " .

Upanishad BhAshyakArar describes the plea and goal of
the Gopis this way: " Itha: Param , SarvEshu Janmasu
thvath SwAmikA yEva Bhavaama:, tavaiva Kaimkaryam 
karavAma: , asmAkam vishyAnthara spruhAm nivarthaya".
This is the summary ofthe meaning of "yeRRaikkum 
yEzhEzh piRavikkum unn-thannOdu uRROmEyAvOm ,
unakke naamAtccheyvOm , maRRai namm kAmangal 
mArrElO". 

In the previous paasuram , the angams of Prapatthi
were alluded to. In this paasuram, the fruit (phalan)
of the Prapatthi is described and the Phalan 
is placed at the sacred feet of the Lord ( Phala
SamarpaNam).

The Literal Meaning of the Paasuram (Dr.Raaghavan )
***************************************************
Oh Lord GovindhA! May You listen to us (the cowherd
girls) (1) who approach You at the very small hours of 
the day-dawn , and (2) who bow down to You , the purpose 
and aim of our singing in praise of Your golden , lotus-like
pair of feet. You, who took birth in the race of us,--
the cowherds, earning our livelihood by grazing and rearing 
the herd of cattle , can not deny us the humble (divine) 
service (to be rendered unto You). Hearken , Oh Lord ! it is 
not only that we desire to receive the drum (from You) today
(lit. in this sojourn of birth) , but we desire , in fact , 
that let us be ever --throughout the births , sevens of
generations --the kith and kin of You , let us perform all
kinds of Kaimkaryams to You alone; You make us rid of
other desires !

The commentaries on Individual paadha vAkyams
**********************************************
(1)SIRRAM SIRU KAALE VANTHU : AruNodhaya Kaalam chosen by 
the Gopis out of great desire to assemble and arrive
at the mansion of the Lord is referred to here .They want
KrishNA to know that the intensity that drove them to 
undertake this nOnbhu inspite of the cold and time.

The time at which the Jn~Anam about the Lord happens
is the siRRam siRu Kaalam .AzhwAr says in this context :
"kaalai nann jn~Anat thuRai padinthAdi" . The dawning of
the Jn~Anam about EmperumAn through SadAchArya Upadesam
is this SiRRam SiRu Kaalai. The time from Prapathti to
the shaking of the mortal coils is the SiRRam SiRu 
Kaalam for the Prapannan. This is the time , when MunivarkaL 
and Yogis rise gently and start Hari nAma sankIrthanam.

Gopis seem to say that it is difficult to see You (KrishNA)
once the day has dawned. You would go on to the pastures to
graze the cows and that is why we have come to see You
at the siRRam siRu Kaalai at Your mansion .

Andal reminds us of the KshaNa Karthavya upAyam of 
Praaptthi ( that which is done in siRiya kaalam )
with the invocation of the words, "siRRam sIRu kaalE".

(2)VANTHU UNNAI SEVITTHU:Gopis ask KrishNA to think
about the way they came in that cold morning with
dew drops on their heads .They remind Him that they 
have come driven by their fears about their 
aakinchanyam and ananya gathithvam and have come to
worship Him and pray for Kaimkarya Sri."Unnai" here 
reminds Him of His dayai towards aasrithAs for
whom He has declared earlier that he will forsake 
everything dear to Him to protect them ( saraNAgathAs).
"Sevitthu" refers to the Veda Vaakyam: " BhUyishtAm tE 
NAMA Ukthim vidhEma".We have come here with anjali bhaddha 
hasthams since we know about our mElayAr's saying : 
" Ohr anjaliyum uNDaRukka maattAthu". You melt like sugar 
in water ,when a Bhakthan stands before You with anjali 
mudhrA . That indeed is anjali Vaibhavam. Therefore we have 
come before You at the early dawn withfolded hands(sEvitthu).

(3)UNN PORRAAMARAI ADIYE PORRUMPORUL KELAAI: AzhwAr
showed us the way: " KaRRinam mEyttha Yenthai KazhiLiNai 
paNimin neerE ". Your Thiruvadis are Parama BhOgyam .
"PoRRum " means the eulogy without expecting anything 
in return. " PallANDu paaduvuthaRkku PallANDu paaduvathE
Phalan "( the fruit of singing pallANDu is the singing of 
pallANDu itself). With EmperumAn's anugraham , the one who 
sings pallANDu has the phalan of singing pallANDu (pORRi )
many , many times .This is the poruL of our pORRuthal.

(4)KURREVAL:KuRREval can be split into KuRu+yEval. This means
sakyamAna-yEval or the Kaimkaryam commanded by the Lord .
This is the " ozhivil kaalamellAm udanAi manni" seyyum
Kaimkaryam. This is the "vazhuvilA " kaimkaryam with out 
any blemish.

(5)YENKALAI ( KURREVAL YENKALAI): Here the Gopis say
that KrishNA should not reject their kaimkaryams 
(KurrEval yenkalai koLLAmaR pOhAthu).Gopis ask 
for five items:(1)You (The Lord) should accept our
kaimkarayms(2) We have not come here seeking drums
and Kodi, but we seek uninterrupted kaimakryam
to You (3)We should never ever be devoid of  
the relationship of Seshathvam ( You as Swami and
us as Your servants: uRROmEaavOm) )(4)Because of this 
seshathva-sambhandham , we are seeking Kaimkaryam 
(5)Please bless us so that our minds will stay away from
anything and everything other than You and permit us 
to perform Sarva dEsa, Sarva Kaala , Sarva avasthA 
kaimkaryams .

As parmaikAnthis , the Gopis do not expect any rewards
other than Kaimkarya PrApthi. The Gopis remind Him that
it is not a situation of " dEhi mE dadhAmi tE" ( I will
give You this and You will give me that).They seek 
kaimkaryam at " Srimathou Hari Charanou" without
any bhEram pEsuthal. 

(6)MARRAI NAMM KAAMANKAL MAARRU: Here ,"Unn TannOdu 
uRRamOyAvOm " depicts the meaning of PraNavam in 
AshtAkshara Moola Manthram; "UnakkE aatccheyvOm "
refers to NaarAyaNa Sabdham in Moola Manthram;
" MaRRai Namm kaamankaL maaRRU" refers to the "Nama:"
sabdham .

(7) MAARRU: Our Lord has the power to transform 
attachment of any kind and turn it towards Him.
He is Sarva VasIkaranan. He will never abandon 
a Prapannan. He will corect them , when they stray 
and bring them back to His fold once again. 

The inner meaning of this Paasuram (PerukkAraNai Swamy)
*******************************************************
: "Oh Lord! Please listen to the fruits of performing 
SaraNAgathi ( KshaNa Kaala Saadhyam) at Your lotus feet 
and engaging in MangaLAsAsanam of those holy feet !
You (who was born in our kulam to bless us )should 
accept our ( pasu prAya Jeevans)kaimkaryams and 
grant us Moksham. We are not desirous of Isvaryam
of the world and Kaivalyam . Oh Lord ! You as 
sarvaj~nar ( Omniscient ) should comprehend this
clearly.We will always be cognizant of our Seshathvam
to You as Sarva Seshi.We will perform Sarva desa,
Sarva Kaala , Sarva avasthA Kaimkaryams. We will
deflect the joy of our Kaimkaryam to You alone
( Phala SamarpaNam).


SaraNAgathi nOnbu : In thiruppAvai, nAchchiyAr 
(AndAL) most  mercifully explains about the parama 
hitam viz.SaraNAgathi  alias Prapatti and how 
Sriman NArAyaNA acts as the  "upAyam" (means) and 
the "upEyam" (goal). This is the most important 
knowledge one should posses. All other knowledge 
if it doesn't make one finally understand this hitam, 
will invariably make one undergo the repeated birth 
and death cycle in this samsAra. Since thiruppAvai
explains the parama tattvam (Sriman NArAyaNa-
the supreme reality), parama hitam (prapatti) and
parama purushArtham (kainkarya sAmrAjyam at
Sri vaikuNTham) beautifully, it is very highly 
regarded by our AchAryAs.

d. Seed for vEdAs :  ThiruppAvai is rightly revered 
as the seed for vEdAs ie. "vEdam anaiththukkum 
viththAgum ". The rich swApadEsams from thiruppAvai 
makes it as a seed for explaining the whole gamut 
of vEdAs. Infact, one can go on and on about the 
various vEda vAkhyams explained by nAchchiyAr 
through the words and phrases appearing in the 
pAsurams. There are many phrases in thiruppAvai 
which were highly inspiring to our AchAryAs like 
ALavandAr and BhAshyakArar to interpret many 
upanishad vAkhyams properly. AndAL blesses one 
with the proper jn~Anam to understand vEdAs through
this thiruppAvai itself.

e.Combination of  iyal, isai and nAdagam : Another
most admiring feature of thiruppAvai is the most
wonderful combination of iyal( poetry), isai(music) 
and nAdagam (drama). NAcchiAr Herself says "sangath 
thamizh mAlai muppadum thappAmE". ThiruppAvai's 
poetic composition by itself is beyond words. Added
to that, thiruppAvai is a "pAmAlai" highly fit to
be sung. When these two combine, one will very
esily get bhagavad anubhavam. DrAmA is the
most effective medium of bringing out various
types of emotions related with bhagavad anubhavams
and thiruppAvai by itself is in the form of a 
drAmA (what happened so is presented as a drAmA).
Thus, when the great poetry and music is combined 
with the effect of drAmA ( "thiruppAvai pAttu ARu 
ainthum ", 6 scenes with 5 pAsurams for each scene), 
one's deep involvement with thiruppAvai is beyond 
any question. 

f. ThiruppAvai is a mantram : ThiruppAvai is a 
mantram that can benedict all the purushArthams (
but, most importantly, the reciter will be blessed
by AndAL to get sadAchArya sambandham and have
the prapatti performed  by the blessings of the
AchArya). The reciter of thiruppAvai becomes most 
dear to PerumAL. 

  Some may doubt as to whether Divya Prabandhams
will have the power of "mantrams". But, 
nAthamunigaL clearly demonstrated without any doubt
about the great power of divya prabandham - that
they too have the potency like that of a mantra.
nAthamunigaL being a great yOgi, performed the
japam of kanninunsiruththAmbu for thousands of 
times and obtained the sAkshAtkAram of NammAzhwAr.
Such is the glory of divya prabandhams.

 To know more about the glories of divya 
prabandhams, one needs to remember the incident
of govindar's ( empAr) conversion. By the trick
of yAdavaprakAsar, govindar, the cousin of rAmAnujar
 became a staunch shiva bhaktA and this pained the 
heart of emperumAnAr very much - since govindar was
so fortunate to take birth in a Srivaishnava family
and so close to obtain the kainkarya sAmrAjyam at
paramapadam, and now went far away from that path/
sampradAyam. Thus, thirumalai nambigaL took the 
task of converting govindar back to Srivaishnava
sampradAyam and started the upanyAsam on Srimad 
rAmAyanam, near to the place where govindar( a 
nAyanAr then) will procure flowers for shiva pUjA.
Since NambigaL was the greatest authority in 
rAmAyanam, it attracted many people's attention 
there and they were spell bound by the kalyANa guNAs
of rAmapirAn and were listening to it with tears in
their eyes. But, govindar never got disturbed by
rAmAyanam and just carried out his job routinely. 
NambigaL then started bhagavad gItA and explained 
well about the paratvam of PerumAL. Then also,
govindar was stubborn. As a last resort, NambigaL
started the upanyAsam on the drAvida vEdam 
thiruvAimozhi. The most nectarian pAsurams of
our dearmost nammAzhwAr started drilling the heart
of govindar and when it came to "emberumAnukkallAl
poovum poosanaiyum thagumE ? " (2.2.4) ie. 
"Except emperumAn nArAyaNan, which other deities
deserve worship through flowers?", govindar jumped
down from the tree and threw out the rudrAksha mAlai
and the flowers, and prostrated flat unto the 
thiruvadi of NambigaL with tons of tears from his 
eyes and repented a lot for his deeds - loudly 
uttering "thagAdhu thagAdhu (for anya dEvatAs) and 
emperumAnukkE thagum". 

 This is the power of divya prabandham. What the 
likes of rAmAyanam and gIta can't achieve, was 
easily achieved by the DrAvida vEda. Divya prabandham
deeply melts one's heart and makes the svaroopa 
jn~Anam blossom and obtain highest taste for bhagavad 
bhAgavatha kainkaryam.
 
ThiruppAvai especially is highly sacred. This is a 
highly mangaLakaramAna (very auspicious) divya 
prabandham. It is filled extensively with mangaLa
vAkhyams (AndAL Heself being a mangaLa dEvatai).
The vEda mantrams require so much discipline and
have strict rules and regulations to be recited.
But, our thiruppAvai is free of all such problems.
It is beyond any doubt and is a fact that for all
the problems in one's life , whatever be it,
thiruppAvai is the medicine. AndAL says "yengum
theiru aruL pettru inburuvar" - be it here in leelA
vibhUti OR at nitya vibhUti. 

In Srimad BhAgavatham, Sukabrahma maharishi says that
gOpIs observed "kAtyAyani nOnbu" wherein they made the
image of pArvati dEvi through sand (at the banks of
river yamunA) and worshipped her in the early morning
and prayed to obtain Krishnar as their husband. The
objective of AndAL and Her friends is also the same
thing and is also true that AndAL transformed Herself
as a gOpI.

Did then AndAL adopt kAtyAyani nOnbu ?? All the
paramaikAntins will in one voice say that AndAL didn't
observe kAtyAyani nOnbu. Though the desired objective
is very good, praying to anya dEvata (demi-gods) for
that is a _big_ minus point. ParamaikAntins never ever
pray to anya dEvatAs(*), whatever their objective may be.
For paramaikAntins, Sriman nArAyaNA Himself is the
upAyam and the upEyam. They act as a pati vrata sthrI
and do not pray to anya dEvatAs. This is also very
important for those who are desirous to obtain moksham
and perform eternal kainkaryam to the divya dampati
at Sri VaikuNTham.

Needless to say, AndAL is a paramaikAntin. So, AndAL
didn't pray to pArvati (**) and the prayer was to
PerumAL Himself, to attain Him ( "nArAyaNanE nammakkE
paRai tharuvAn", "unnakkE nAm At cheivOm" etc).
Then, which nOnbu did AndAL adopt, if it was not
kAtyAyani nOnbu ?

This issue was settled once for all by the great mahAn
"abhinava dESika Uttamoor vAtsya VeerarAghavArya
mahAdESikan" in swAmi's wonderful commentary (prabandha
rakshai) on thiruppAvai.

Uttamoor swAmi gives the reference to skAnda purANam
wherein the mArghazhi nOnbu (mArgaseersha mAhAtmyam)
is explained by PerumAL Himself to chaturmukha brahmA.

PerumAL says that the mArgazhi nOnbu is a very great
vrattam; but dEvAs inorder to confuse people( so that
everyone won't observe it in the correct way and thus
won't proceed that quickly to Sri VaikuNTham) have
introduced many fake-mArgazhi vrattams.

PerumAL explains about the actual mArgazhi nOnbu.
Herein, snAnam, wearing of OordhvapuNdram, tuLasi
mAlai etc are also mentioned. Thirumanjanam to PerumAL
with the blow of conch will make the pitrus
(ancestors) attain svargam. Charity of cow, food and
performance of Uttsavam to PerumAL durinmg mArgazhi
pournami will immensely please Him ( AndAL refers
to them as "nAtkAlE neerAdi", "aiyamum pichchiyum
ANdanaiyum kaikAtti,"pAnchajanyamE pOlvana SankangaL",
"ambaramE, thaNNeerE, soRE yaRam seiyyum" etc ).

PerumAL gives a case study as that of gOpIs at gOkulam,
who observed this nOnbu ( by taking bath early in the
morning, performed worship, offered Him food (pongal)
etc) and obtained Himself.

When Lord BrahmA asked PerumAL about the place at which
this nOnbu has to be observed, PerumAL answered
"MathurA" !! This is the biggest problem with PerumAL.
He is the one who also told emperumAnAr to be at
SriRangam itself. This confused all the Sri VaishnavAs
as to whether everyone has to pack themselves and
settle at Sri Rangam OR is it allright to stay at other
divya dEsams etc. SwAmi Desikan in Srimad Rahasya Traya
sAram explains the thiru uLLam of PerumAL that
"Srirangam" is only a upalakshanam and that one can stay
at any place where ParamaikAntins(prapannAs) are present
and discussing about the glories of PerumAL.

Eventhough PerumAL will let out such statements, AndAL
won't. She made an amendment to the statement of PerumAL,
since it is not possible for everyone to go to mathurA
and perform the nOnbu. AndAL thus said "yengum thiru
aruL pettru inburuvar" and one can perform this nOnbu
from anywhere.

In skAnda purANam, it is not explicitly said that rain
will be one of the results of this vrattam. But, for
AndAL, the nonbu that she observes should result in rain
also (as per the wishes of village people). Uttamoor
swAmi says that may be AndAL knew of some pramAnam by
which gOpIs used this nOnbu (which can grant many a
wishes) to result in rain OR AndAL Herself had some
sAkshAtkAram of some aspects of the nOnbu OR introduced
some of Her own.

Thus, this nOnbu is _not_ that of kAtyAyani vrattam
and is very much different from it.


(*): Names of anya dEvatAs do appear in
sandhyAvandanam, yaj~nAs etc. But paramaikAntins do not
worship anya dEvatAs then also. They take the primary
meaning of those names which refers to Sriman nArAyaNA,
the parabrahman, and thus worship Him only. But, in
certain circumstances, a specific anya dEvata is
supposed to be meditated upon with the antaryAmi as
nArAyaNA - this appears in sandhyAvandanam ; there are
also brahma vidyAs like this. Since these are sAstric
injunctions which one has to perform while adopting it,
there is nothing wrong - still the worship is for the
antaryAmi only. But, there is no sAstric injunction to
pray to anya dEvatA for obtaining krishna etc. So,
paramaikAntins will not adopt it, even as a prayer
to the antaryAmi(nArAyaNA pervading the body of pArvati
dEvi and present along with the jIvAtmA having the post
of pArvati dEvi) of pArvati dEvi. what to speak of
praying to her directly !!

(**) : In nAchchiyAr thirumozhi, AndAL doesn't pray to
 the anya dEvata manmadhan, rather to the manmadha
 manmadhan kannapirAn (krishnar). Krishnar is the
 kAma dEvan. Only paramaikAntins can understand the
 thiru uLLam of AndAL. Refer to Uttamoor swAmi's
 vyAkyAnam(ie. commentary) for a detailed discussion
 on these issues and study Thiruppavai at the feet of AchArya



--- In SriRangaSri@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, sudarshan krishna 
<supersystem_bks@...> wrote:
>
> respected sir
> can u send the details on sharanagathi in tiruppavai as i have to 
prepare a paper on that and present on kodarai vellum day in temple
> aidyen
> jyothi
> 
> 
>       Add more friends to your messenger and enjoy! Go to 
http://messenger.yahoo.com/invite/
>



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