SrI:
SrimatE Raamaanujaaya Namaha //
SrimatE Nigamaanta Mahaa Desikaaya Namaha //
SrIman! SrI Ranga Sriyam anupadravam anudhinam Samvardhaya/
SrIman! SrI Ranga Sriyam anupadravam anudhinam Samvardhaya//
KAvEri VardhathAm kAlE, kAlE varshathu vAsava: /
SrI RanganAthO jayathu Sri Ranga Sri cha VardhathAm//
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SRI RANGA SRI VOL.08 / ISSUE # 23 dated 5th May 2007
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IN THIS ISSUE:
1. "BALA KHAANDAM" PART -7 OF SRIMAD RAMAYANAM DISCOURSES IN THE
HINDU TEMPLE OF ATLANTA.
(SRI ANBIL RAMASWAMY SWAMI)
2.TAATPARYA RATNAVALI - SUBMISSION 19 - SLOKAM 12 -PART 4
(SRI N. KRISHNAMACHARAIAR SWAMI OF CHICAGO)
3. MAAL UGANDHA AASIRIYAR ? Life of Thirumangai AzhwAr
(V. MADHAVAKKANNAN, Singapore)
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30 Issues of Vol. 6
50 Issues of Vol. 7 and
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1. "BALA KHAANDAM" PART -7 OF SRIMAD RAMAYANAM DISCOURSES IN THE
HINDU TEMPLE OF ATLANTA.
(ANBIL RAMASWAMY)
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34. AHALYA
They stepped into a hermitage that looked so deserted that Rama
wanted to know its background. The Sage narrated the story of Sage
Gautama with his wife, Ahalya.
The word "hal" means "blemish". With "a" prefixed, it means "One
without any blemish" One day, when Gautama was away, DEvEndra took
the form of Gautama and entered the hermitage with the intention of
sexually exploiting her. Kamban says that since it was DEvEndra, the
very lord of the Celestials who had desired her, she did not resist
his advances. When after the event, Indra was stealthily leaving the
hermitage; Gautama saw him and divined what had happened.
"pukku avaLODum kaamap pudu maNa maduvin tERal
okka uNDu iruthalODum uNarndanaL uNarnda pinnum
takkadu anru enna OraaL taazhndanaL iruppa taazhaa
mukkaNNaan anaiya aatral munivanum muDugi vandaan" (KR- Bala- 476)
He cursed Indra to lose his masculinity and acquire innumerable
female reproductive organs all over his body and cursed Ahalya to
become a stone for her complicity. When she begged to be pardoned,
he said that she would get rid of her curse and get restored to her
old glory, when at a later time Rama stepped on her lying in the
form of a stone. Actually, she came back to life when Rama stepped
on the stone.
Kamban describes the scene in the words of Viswaamitra:
"mai vaNNathu arakki pOril mazhai vaNNathu aNNalE un
kai vaNNam angu KaNDEn kaal vaNNam ingu KaNDEn" (KR- Bala- 481)
"When you fought with the black Raakshasi ThaaTaka, I saw there the
power of your arms; now, here, I saw the power of your feet"
Here a question arises, how with this track record of infidelity,
Ahalya is listed (and that too as the first) among
reputed "Pativrataas" (chaste women) as found in the SlOkam:
"Ahalyaa droupadee taaraa seetaa manDodari tathaa/
praatah kale smarEt nityam mahaa paataka naasinee//"
35. THE HAVOC THAT SHADOWS PLAY!
H.H. Srimad Andavan, Poundarikapuram Asramam, Srirangam explains:
Sadaananda was the son of Gautama and Ahalya. He was the PurOhita of
King Janaka. When Viswaamitra came to Janaka's court, he
inquired:'"After the liberation from the curse consequent on Rama's
stepping on the stone, did my parents extend due courtesies to Rama?
Did Rama offer his "PraNaams" to them or did he consider my mother
as still faulty and refused to do so?"
"guruNaa mama sangataa mama maataa?
iha aagatEna raamENa prayatEnaa abhivaadita:?" (VR- Bala-Sargam 51)
Viswaamitra answers:
sangataa muninaa patnee bhaargavENa Eva rEnukaa (ibid)
Your parents joined even as Jamadagni and ReNuka joined together.
Why this comparison between these two incidents?
ReNuka, used to bring daily water from the tank in a wet mud pot
freshly made by her with her own hands. By virtue of her chastity,
the wet pot would hold water. One day, as she was making the pot,
she saw a shadow in the sky crossing overhead. A Gandharva couple
was happily traversing in the sky. For a moment, she thought, why
she could not be as happy. This very thought seemed to have foiled
her attempt in making a pot. She tried lot of times but failed. When
questioned on the delay, she did not reply. The Sage came to know
what had happened. Treating this as a lapse in her chastity, he
ordered his son, Parasurama to behead her. Parasurama did just that
but prayed that his mother should come back to life and lead a life
as before not remembering his beheading her.
It is the mischief of a shadow that played a villain in both the
cases of ReNuka and Ahalya and invites us to a flashback:
Indra wanted to marry Ahalya but was disappointed when Gautama
married her. He sent Urvasi, TilOttamai and others to entice Gautama
but they refused saying that Gautama's wife was more beautiful than
them. Indra thought that if Gautama could not be enticed, it should
not be difficult for him to sexually exploit Ahalya. When Indra
appeared before her taking the form of Gautama, she was happy that
she now got an opportunity to avenge Indra for his evil designs. So,
she sent her shadow to Indra. In his intoxicated, infatuated state,
Indra mistook the shadow as Ahalya. And, when he was returning from
the hermitage imagining he had succeeded, Gautama spotted him and
cursed.
"mathim chakaara durmEdhaa: dEvaraaja kudoohalaath" does not mean
that she was happy that dEvaraaja himself had desired her. On the
other hand, it should be taken as
"dEvaraaja Saapa kudoohalaath" which would mean that she was happy
that Indra was heading to his disaster for his misadventure through
Gautama's curse. This would be clear if "mathim Chakaara" is read
as "mathyaa chakaara" This shows her presence of mind whereby she
avoided cursing Indra herself and leaving the task to her husband.
In the process, however, she also got cursed unjustifiably. That is
why Gautama relented and advised a way out for her relief from his
curse on her.
We will now digress a little to look at the background of
Viswaamitra.
36. THE ETERNAL FEUD - VASISHTA AND VISWAAMITRA
1. NANDINI EPISODE: (Sargams 51 to 56)
Once, Viswaamitra went to VasishTa's Asramam with his huge retinue.
VasishTa had a cow by name Nandini that could procure whatever
VasishTa desired. He asked the cow to produce delicious and
sumptuous food for the guests. Viswaamitra was wonderstruck to know
that a mere cow could do so much. He asked VasishTa to sell the cow
to him and was prepared to offer whatever it took as price. VasishTa
refused. Viswaamitra tried to drag her away by force whereupon
Nandini pleaded with her master. He asked her to produce a battalion
of soldiers who could vanquish the troops of Viswaamitra. The cow
immediately produced a huge army that totally wiped out
Viswaamitra's entourage. When he sought to aim powerful astras,
VasishTa's DanDam (staff) intercepted them. This was too much of a
humiliation for Viswaamitra. Understanding that his might as Raja-
Rishi was no match to the Brahma-tEjas of his rival, he proceeded to
do severe penance to acquire powers similar to that of VasishTa. But
failure was awaiting him at every turn in his quest.
2. TRISANKU EPISODE (Sargam 57 to 60)
Proceeding South with his wife, he did penance for 1000 years at the
end of which Brahma conferred on him the title of "Raja Rishi".
Because he had not subdued "Kaama" and "krOda", his penance was not
wholly successful. At that time, there was a king called Trisanku of
Ikshvaaku dynasty. "sanku" means "sin" He had committed three great
sins:
1. He forcibly married the daughter of a Brahmin
2. He killed the cow belonging to his Guru and
3. He ate food that was not offered to his Kula deivam Sri
Ranganatha.
So, he was called "Tri-sanku" He wanted to ascend to heavens with
his physical body. He approached his Kula guru, VasishTa but the
Guru would not oblige him. He then turned to the sons of VasishTa
who also refused to help. As he came to them over the head of
VasishTa, they cursed him to become a "ChaNDaaLa". Straight he
proceeded to Viswaamitra and pleaded for help. Since his arch rival,
VasishTa had refused, he became mighty happy to pitch in and help
Trisanku and offered to do a Yagjna for the purpose. On hearing the
news, the sons of VasishTa ridiculed Viswaamitra saying it was not
for a Kshatriya to perform the Yagjna which only a BraahmaNa was
entitled to do. Viswaamitra out of ego cursed them to languish in
Naraka for 700 lifetimes. At the conclusion of the Yagjna, when the
sacrificial offerings were offered, none of the dEvas propitiated
came forward to receive them. Using the power of his Tapas done so
far, he directed Trisanku to ascend to the heavens. But, Indra
struck him down as unfit to reach his place and hurled him down.
Trisanku fell upside down screaming for help. Viswaamitra stopped
him in mid air and created a whole new duplicate Swargam for him as
also duplicate beings. This is called "Trisanku Swargam". Terrified
what else the Sage was up to, the dEvas prayed to him for mercy and
Viswaamitra relented. But, these venting of ego, wrath etc. had set
at naught all the potency of the elaborate penance he had undertaken
earlier.
3. SUNASCHEPA EPISODE (Sargams 61 and 62)
Ambareesha, a King of AyOdhya was performing a yaaga. Indra stole
his sacrificial cow. The priests told the king that if the cow could
not be traced, he would have to offer a human sacrifice, if the
Yaaga were to be concluded successfully. In spite of intense search
in all the three worlds, he could not find the cow and had to resort
to human sacrifice which could be done only with the consent of the
human. Who would offer oneself as a victim? Ambarisha came upon one
Sage Riseekar who was living with his wife and three sons. When the
king requested him to help, he would not part with his eldest son;
the lady would not give away the last son. SunaschEpa was the middle
son who inferred that his parents were willing to offer him for the
sacrifice. He came forward to accompany Ambareesha for the purpose.
On the way, SunaschEpa spotted his maternal uncle, Viswaamitra doing
penance with other Rishis. He approached his uncle and narrated his
plight and pleaded for a way out of the situation. Moved by this,
Viswaamitra asked his sons to help SunaschEpa. But, they were in no
mood to do this. Viswaamitra cursed them the same way he did to the
sons of VasishTa earlier. Viswaamitra then initiated a powerful
protective mantra to SunaschEpa that would save him without damage
to the Yaaga. He asked him to recite them just at the nick of time
when he was about to be offered as "bali" SunaschEpa did just that.
And his life was spared. Ambarisha had the satisfaction of having
performed his Yagjna successfully.
In the process, the power of penance that Viswaamitra had
laboriously built up got neutralized. And he was back to "Square one"
4. MENAKA EPISODE (Sargam 63)
Viswaamitra had to start from scratch in his pursuit but destiny
would not let him succeed!
Fate arrived in the form of the beautiful divine damsel "mEnaka" who
darted like lightning in front of him. Viswaamitra could not resist
her charms and begged her to stay with him. She agreed and 10 long
years had passed like a split second at the end of which he realized
how he had spoiled his chances of spiritual uplift-ment by yielding
to carnal pleasures. For 1000 years, he was engrossed in intense
Tapas on the banks of River Kowsiki resolving to abjure anger and
lust. But, did he really do so?!
5. RAMBA EPISODE (Sargam 64)
This time, it was the turn of "Ramba" another divine damsel
like "mEnaka". She was sent by Indra to try her charms on the "Raja
Rishi". "Once bit, one becomes twice shy". This time, the Sage
became vigilant and found out that it was the handiwork of Indra
conjointly with Manmatha. He cursed Ramba to become a stone for
10,000 years. Though he controlled his "desire", his anger took its
toll on his spiritual merit. Now another spell of remorse overtook
him after which he realized his folly in cursing her for the
mischief of Indra but desisted from cursing anyone. He even
mitigated his curse on Ramba by saying that VasishTa would rid herof
the curse in due course.
6. VISWAAMITRA GRADUATES TO BECOMES A BRAHMA RISHI (Sargam 65)
Viswaamitra repaired to the Western direction and was immersed in
relentless Tapas. When he was about to take food, Indra came again
in the form of a Brahmin and begged him for food. Viswaamitra knew
that he cannot deny food to a seeker lest his Tapas should go waste.
Without uttering a word, he gave away all the food to the Brahmin
with his whole heart and starved. Observing absolute silence,
consuming nothing but air, he spent the next 1000 years in severe
penance. Consequent on this, flames and smoke arose from his head
and commenced scorching heaven and earth. The dEvas got alarmed at
the development and pleaded with Brahma that he should bestow the
title of "Brahma Rishi" on Viswaamitra. He was not satisfied and
said that nothing could satisfy him unless his arch rival were to
spell out that he was indeed "Brahma Rishi" The dEvas made straight
to VasishTa and begged him to declare Viswaamitra as "Brahma Rishi"
VasishTa obliged them by doing so. Thus, finally, Viswaamitra
graduated to become
"Brahma Rishi""
37. BOY MEETS GIRL
At long last, Rama and LakshmaNa with Sage Viswaamitra arrived the
outskirts of Mithila. The flags on the tall ramparts seemed to wave
welcome to them. As they walked the Royal road to the palace of
Janaka, all eyes were on Rama and there was none who did not admire
the charming appearance of the handsome Rama. When Rama looked up,
he saw Sita looking passionately at him from the balcony of her room
in the top floor. Instantly, they fell in love at first sight.
Kamban describes the scene vividly thus:
eNNa aru nalathinaaL inaiyaL ninruzhi
kaNNoDu kaNN iNai kavvi onrai onru
uNNavum nilai peraadu uNarvum onriDa
annalum nOkkinaan avaLum nOkkinaaL (KR- Bala- 519)
They seemed to swallow each other by mere sight: they seemed to rope
in each other's heart. Thus, Rama of bull-like strength and Sita of
sword-like eyes entered each other's heart.
Parugiya nOkku enum paasathaal piNithu
Oruvarai oruvar thum uLLam erthalaal
vari silai aNNalum vaaT kann nangaiyum
iruvarum maarip puku idayam eidinaar (ibid 521)
We saw that Kamban never forgot that Rama and Sita were the Divya
Dhampatis and not ordinary humans. So, he says that they were not
any strangers but had met again after leaving their sojourn in the
milky ocean. He rhetorically asks: "Silence is deafening when two
old familiar faces meet again in another location" and became one in
soul except that they were in two different bodies"
"marungu iLa nangaiyum vasai il aiyanum
orungiya iraNDu uDarkku uyir onru aayinar
karunkaDal paLLiyil kalavi neengip pOi
pirindavar kooDinaal pEsal vENDumO?" (ibid 522)
Did not VaLLUvar say: kaNNoDu kaNN nOkku okkin, vaai sorkaL enna
payanum ila?
(To Continue)
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2.TAATPARYA RATNAVALI - SUBMISSION 19 - SLOKAM 12 -PART 4
(SRI N. KRISHNAMACHARAIAR SWAMI OF CHICAGO)
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SrI:
SrImate SrI ra'nga rAmAnuja mahA deSikAya namaH.
tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Submission 19 - Slokam 12 Part 4 - tiruvAimozhi
1.2 contd.
? pASuram 1.2.9 starting with "oDu'nga avan kaN".
oDu'nga avan kaN viDum pinnum Akkai
oDu'ngalum ellAm viDum pozhudu eNNE. (1.2.9)
avan kaN oDu'nga, oDu'ngalum ellAm viDum; pinnum Akkai viDum
pozhudu, eN. ? When you devote your thought, word and deed to Him,
all your karma-s will be removed from you; then, until your
prArabdha karma-s (those karma-s that have already started giving
fruits) are exhausted and your soul leaves your body, keep
meditating on Him.
svAmi deSikan describes the key guNa sung in this pASram
as "sa'nkoca unmocakatvAt" (oDu'ngalum ellAm viDum) ? because He
frees us from all the limitations to His kai'nkaryam. "avan kaN
oDu'nga, ellA oDu'ngalum viDum" - Once we turn the three instruments
(namely uLLam, urai and Seyal) towards Him, He removes all the
enemies to bhagavat kai'nkaryam that we encounter, such as our sins,
our ignorance (avidyA), etc. avidyA or ignorance is the lack of
realization that we are eternally subservient to Him, the lack of
realization of our role as a jIva ? namely, to be performing eternal
kai'nkaryam to Him, and the lack of realization that He is the only
goal to be attained, and that He alone is the means to attain Him.
Meditaing on His kalyANa guNa-s will automatically lead to the
intense desire to perform kai'nkaryam to Him. lakshmaNa declares:
aham asya avarah guNaih dAsyam upAgatah ? It is my sa'nkalpam to
perform kai'nkaryam to rAma because of His kalyANa guNa-s.
All the obstacles to attaining Him ? such as avidyA, karma, etc. are
not natural attributes of the self; if we resort to Him by turning
the karaNa-s towards Him, these obstacles disappear automatically.
If we devote our thought, word and deed in His kai'nkaryam, then
once the body falls, moksham is guaranteed ? Akkai viDum pozhudu eN ?
once we get control of our karaNa-s, we should eagerly look forward
to the time that our body falls, so that we attain Him.
Again, all that is needed from us is the control of the three karaNa-
s of thought, word and deed, and diversion of these towards Him. He
takes care of the rest in attaining Him. This is available to
everyone who has controlled the three karaNa-s and turned them
towards Him, and so He is sarva saman and sarva yogyan ? One who can
be attained by all.
? pASuram 1.2.10 starting with "eN perukkannalattu".
eN perukku an-nalattu vaN pugazh nAraNan
oN poruL IRla tiN kazhal SerE. (1.2.10).
"eN perukku an-nalattu oNporuL Iru ila; eN perukku vaN pugazh IRu
ila; Iru ila vaN pugazh nAraNan tiN kazhal SEr" ? "Surrender at the
never-failing Feet of nArAyaNan, who has as His possession the
infinite collection of jIvAtmA-s whose nature is one of infinite
bliss and knowledge, and who Himself in full of Infinite auspicious
qualities".
For ease of understanding the meaning of this pASuram, it is useful
to remember the following words: IRu ? antam, end; IRu ila ?
uncountable, immeasurable, infinite. The phrase `IRu ila' is to be
taken with `eN poruL an-nalattu oN poruL IRu ila', `vaN pugazh IRu
ila', and `IRu ila vaN pugazh nAraNan'. `nalam' refers to auspicious
qualities ? recall `uyarvara uyar nalam uDaiyavan', in the very
first pASuram of tiruvAimozhi. vaN = strong, bounteous, liberal; oN
= bright, beautiful, abundant.
svAmi deSikan captures the essence of this pASuram through the
words "jagad avanan" ? (nAraNan tiN kazhal SEr) - The Protector of
everything in all the Universes. An alternate pATham is "jagad
ayanan", a direct reference to nArAyaNan, the name that has the
word "ayana" embedded in it. ayanam means `abode'. Since He is the
final resting place for all the beings, the nArAyaNa nAma uniquely
applies only to emperumAn. AzhvAr's instruction to us in this
pASuram is - "vaN pagazh nAraNan tiN kazhal SErE" ? "Resort to the
divine Feet of Lord SrIman nArAyaNa who is endowed with infinite
kalyANa guNa-s, and whose divine Feet will never ever forsake anyone
who surrenders to them".
There are several interpretations for the nArAyaNa nAmam. The one
that AzhvAr specifically picks in this pASuram is
- He who is the Lord of the countless jIva-s who by nature are
j~nAna Ananda svarUpa-s" ? eN perukku an-nalattu IRu ila oN poruL;
- Has infinite kalyANa guNa-s - IRu ila vaN pugazh nAraNan
- Has the auspicious and never-failing Lotus Feet to those who
surrender to Him ? tiN kazhal.
As the Lord and Owner of all the jIva-s, He is the Protector of all ?
jagad avanan, the guNa described by svAmi deSikan. His infinite
kalyANa guNa-s are there solely for the protection of the jIva-s -
na te rUpam na cAkAro nAyudhAni na cAspadam tatA'pi purushAkAro
bhaktanAm tvam prakASase" - (jitante - 1-5) - His Atma svarUpa, His
ma'ngala vigraha, His divine weapons, His dwelling SrIvaikunTham,
none of these are for His benefit; they are all for the benefit of
His devotees, and He Himself belongs to His devotees. His Lotus Feet
never fail anyone who seeks their protection ? "sakRdeva prapannAya
tavAsmIti ca yAcate | abhayam sarva bhUtebhyo dadAmyetad vratam mama
|| AzhvAr himself declares that it is bhagavAn's nature to protect ?
kAkkum iyalbinan kaNNa perumAn" (tiruvAimozhi 2.2.9). All these are
captured by svAmi deSikan in the phrase "jagad avanan".
SrI ve'nkaTeSAcArya uses the version "jagad ayanatayA", and gives
the explanation ? "Sine He is the AdhAra or Support for all the
worlds, the antaryAmi in everything, and the sole means to attain
Him". He is sarva ArAdhyan because of these attributes or guNa-s.
Thus, AzhvAr is instructing us through the ten guNa-s sung in the
ten pASuram-s of tiruvAimozhi 1.2 that bhagavAn is `sarva yogyan' -
as described by svAmi deSikan in the last line of Slokam 12 of
tAtparya ratnAvali - "upAdiSat sarva-yogyam".
-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan
(To be continued).
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3. MAAL UGANDHA AASIRIYAR ? LIFE OF THIRUMANGAIAZHWAR
(V. MADHAVAKKANNAN, Singapore)
SrI:
SrImathE Gopaladesika Mahadesikaya nama:
Dearest all,
ThiruvAli nAdu was part of ChOzhA kingdom. There, Ali nAdAr
(belonged to the fourth caste), an Army General (ThaLapathi) of
ChozhA king earned the king's goodwill and respect with his devoted
work. He and his wife, vallitthiru were blessed with a beautiful
male child, whom they named neelan (due to his dark (neela mEga)
colour. He was born in the year nala, on a karigai mAsam, kritigai
nakshathram, full moon day and was an incarnation of the Lord's
SArngam (Divine bow). Neelan grew up a shrewd smart boy, learning
Tamizh and Sanskrit and mastered them; became well versed in sword
fight(vAL payiRchi), vil viddhai with, Horse riding, elephant
riding, etc. He grew up a young, intelligent, smart, healthy,
strong, handsome lad (and yet simple and modest with a religous mind
like his parents) and not surprisingly, people liked him very much.
When Neelan's father got old, the chOzhA king, having heard about
Neelan, appointed Neelan as the Army General(ThaLapathi). He was
agile, dynamic, young and was good at battle fields; and hence
captured the neighbouring states; The king was immensely pleased and
presented him a small portion of his kingdom, a place called
Thirumangai, as a tribute and made him a KING! (He was thereafter
called "Thirumangai mannan".) That was his first success. And that
became the cause for his slipping from all bhakti, devotion,
religion etc., etc., and the success of reaching the SimhAsanam at
such a young age, (with no chance of becoming a king, otherwise)
went to his head. He took to all vices; He was deeply caught in
seeking sensual pleasures. The parent were helpless and could do
nothing but pray to the Lord to correct their son.
The Lord Sriman nArAyaNA did listen to them. He had organised such a
situation that made a dEvamAdhu by name sumangalai(who was
performing the kainkaryam of fanning(sAmaram)the Lord) to appear as
the most beautiful daughter of a local doctor in Tirumangai, in the
name "kumudhavalli" (based on a "sApam" given by kapila muni for her
laughing at an ugly face and coarse voice of his disciple). Being an
incarnate of dEvamAdhu, she was exquisitely pretty and could attract
even a recluse. Our "new" king, Thirumangai mannan heard of her
alluringly feminine beauty and wished to see her immediately. When
he saw her, he was so much cativated by her darting glance at him,
he fell head over heels for her and proposed to marry her.
Kumudhavalli, through her father, stipulated two prerequisites for
him to qualify for marrying her. They were
1. Her husband should be a (or become a) Sri vaishNavA, wear
ThirumaNkAppu on his forehead, and be a true bhaktA of Sriman
NarayaNan. (Sriman Narayanan Himself spoke through her) and
2. Her husband should feed daily 1000 (ONE THOUSAND!) vaishNava
bhakthALs.
Our mannan, being intoxicated by her looks, agreed after listening
to her conditions immediately. They got married.
So there he was. With a bright ThirumaNkAppu, thuLasi mAlai, he paid
obeisance to Sriman NarayaNa. He started the annadhAnam for 1000 Sri
vaishNava bhaktALs. Slowly day by day, our mannan was transfering
into a true, sincere devotee of the Lord and was getting tremendous
satisfaction from feeding Sri vaishNavALs daily. The enjoyment of
Bhakti and BhagavatOttamAL sEvai were really experienced by
Thirumangai mannan. While this was going on, the entire "gajAnA"
(treasury) was spent on the annadhAnam kainkaryam. So he could not
even send the "tax" which he was supposed to send to the chOzhA king
every year. So, chOzhA sent a message to pay the tax; but since our
mannan could not pay and sent back a reply saying that he will not
be able to pay. ChOzhA king got wild and sent soldiers to bring him.
Our hero sent them back effortlessly with his fighting skills.
ChOzhA king himself came with a heavy army and attacked Thirumangai
mannan. Even though Thirumangai mannan's army is small, he fought
with tremendous skills and he won the battle. His horse went near
the chOzhA king and he got down from the horse. He said: "Oh pErarasE
(Big king!), I did not send the tax- I don't deny. But did I spend
the money on trivial matters? It was spent for Sri VaishNavALs. How
can I stop when your soldiers came to imprison me?". Our chOzhA king
was hurt due to his defeat and did not listen to all this. He
said,"I made you a king. I gave you all these luxuries. Now you are
not even grateful. and you fought with me, too" Our mannan got hurt
very badly by that "grateful" statement. He was very much grateful
to chOzhA king for all that he had done. So Thirumangai mannan threw
away his sword and bowed down before the king and said " Chozha
mannA! what a word you spoke about me! Am I ungrateful? You forgot
all kingdoms which I captured for you. Now I am standing in front of
you. Go ahead and do waht you wish to do with me".
The chOzhA king melted and was moved. He hugged thirumangaimannan
and said "Don't worry. I know you. But we should pay respects to
pErarasar-chitRarsar relation and hence, you are to send your tax
within 3 days. Till then, you will be imprisoned in the perumAL
temple." There was no way he could get any money and hence, he
begged the Lord to help him. The Lord appeared in his dream and
suggested him to go to the banks of river vEdhavathi near kanchi
where he could find a big treasure of Gold coins and jewels. He
narrated the dream to the chOzhA king and thirumangaimannan and few
ministers went to kanchi, vEdhavathi river banks and did find a BIG
TREASURE. Having heard this news, chOzhA king got up from the throne
and whole heartedly bowed down to Thirumangai mannan for his bhakti
and thee Lord's mercy on him. He said" I have done a great mistake
of taxing a great bhakthA for a small tax issue and caused a
hindrance to BhagavathALs' anna dhAna kankaryam. Please take all
this treasure and let me send you back with full Royal honours. You
need not insult me by paying the tax any more!". The mannan came
back with more wealth and with great honours. The citizns of
Thirumangai were greatly thrilled by their king and kumudhavalli was
proud of her husband.
They revived their kainkaryam for 1000 Sri VaishNanvALs more
aggressively and attained their happiness and satisfaction as usual.
Again, they found themselves left with no wealth for the kainkaryam.
With a view to keeping the promise to his beloved wife, he had to
resort to highway robbery from rich people. With the booty, he
continued the kainkaryam. One day The Lord Sriya: patih Sriman
NarayaNan and Vishnu pathni Sri MahAlakshmi appeared on the highway
as a"just married" couple with lots and lots of jewels adorned them.
Our mannan turned robber heard of a new rich young couple's coming
on the Highway and immediately rushed with his adiyALs. He was very
happy to see Them with so many jewels and thanked God(!) for that.
They also had a bag containing more ornaments. Our anti-hero
demanded Them to surrender all they had. They did precisely waht was
instructed to Them; all with Their katAksham on our hero. They put
all their ornaments on a piece of cloth. When Thirumangai mannan
tried to lift the bundle of ornaments he just could not even move it
a bit! He was shocked and perplexed as to why it was so difficult to
move it! He went near the Lord Sri mahAvishNu and with a fierce look
into His eyes, asked Him " What is the manthram you have for lifting
this bundle?. Tell me, else, I will kill you both." He threatened
Them with a sword. The Lord and the PirAtti smiled with a gentle
mandhahAsam. He asked Thirumangai mannan to come near him and
whispered in his right ear the ashtAkshara mantra. Having heard
those EIGHT SYALLABLES (AshtAksharam) right from none other than the
mantra devatha SRIYA: PATHI himself, his mind, heart became pure!.
All his dirt had disappeared! He was simply electrified by the
AshtAksharam. He got goose pimples all over his body; He got
undescribable blissful happiness! He prostrated fullt at Their Lotus
feet with eyes full of tears at Their mercy to bless him despite his
shortcomings and negative qualities. They blessed him with Their
karunai kataaksham. Then They disappeared. He realised His
ThiruviLaiyAdal and the purpose of his birth and poured out tamizh
pAsurams on the Lordas if it comes from just opened dam ("madai
thirandha veLLam pOl"). He looked at the sky and kept on crying
ceaselessly for Their dayA on his lowly self. His hands and the legs
were shivering with tremendous amount of Bhakti and love for the
Lord.
He came back galloping on his horse to narrate the entire exciting
incident to the beloved kumudhavalli. Kumudhavalli, before he
started even, asked him as to why his face looked so bright, serene,
divine and beaming that day. He said "kumudhA, I have reached the
purpose of my manushya janmam kumudhA. I have seen NARAYANA,
kumudhA. (nAn kaNdu koNdEn NARAYANAnai ). He was too excited to
even complete his statements in a coherent manner. (After all, he
has been initited by SarvEswaran Himself!). Kumudhavalli
said, "Then, I have also reached the purpose of my deputation (by
Lord through kapila muni)" and she narrated her story. Our AzhwAr
became all the more blissful and happier to know that The Lord
Sriya: pathi had sent Kumudhavalli only to set him right from his
wrong path and "ThadutthAkoLLified" him. He could not control his
tears and sobbed heavily at the Lord's mercy on him. Then he sang
GREAT PASURAMS (on NARAYANAN's name) and visited almost about 80
temples (out of 108 Divya dEsams). He built the fort and kOttai
(ramparts) of Srirangam without affecting or spoiling
ThoNdaradippodiAzhwAr's nandhavanam. ("pAdi pAdi paraparappAi
thirinthAr")
His compositions were :
1. Periya thirumozhi
2. Periya thirumadal
3. SiRiya thirumadal
4. Thiru nedunthANdakam (TNT)
5. Thiru KurunthANdakam(TKT)
6. Thiru vezhuk kurrirukkai.
His pAsurams are marvellous; excellent and have unsurpassed beauty
in them. parAsara Bhattar made use of his TNT to win over his
counter part, a advaitin scholar in his arguments and later the
advaitin became his disciple 'nam jeeyar'. Sri RanganAtha himself
heard and was greatly pleased with that argument reenacted from
Bhattar quoting from TNT (Please read excellent posts of Sri V.
SadagOpan on TNT and TKT during Feb 96 from Bhakti Archives - a real
feast to each one of you).
Thirumangai AzhwAr (a KING, a person who enjoyed the bhOgams so
much) walked all the way and visited almost all temples. He is
simply GREAT, my dearest brothers and sisters. He is just SUPERB
AzhwAr. His wordings are his outpourings straight from his heart.
We will conclude this post with my favourite pAsuram of this AzhwAr:
Here is one of his periya thirumozhi pasurams:
vAdinEn vAdi varundhinEn manatthaal/
perun thuyaridum idumbaiyil piRanNdhu/
koodinEn koodi iLaiyavar thammOdu/
avar tharum kalaviyE karudhi/
OdinEn Odi uyvadhOr poruLaal/
uNarvenum perumpadhan therindhu/
naadinEn nAdi nadi nAn kaNdukoNdEn/
nArAyaNA vennum nAmam.
Being born into this body, a reservior of profound sorrow, I am
repenting, melting and crying, I am filled with pathos and self-
pity;I have let myself run after beautiful women, seeking the
sensual pleasures from their union; Through the grace of our Lord I
have now realized that there is a greater goal and That will deliver
me into eternal happiness; I have been searching for this state and
have now found it in THE SWEET NAME NARAYANA.
This pASsuram will bring tears to the eyes of any Vaishnava for
AzhwAr's Bhakti and love and his heart longing for the lotus feet of
our Lord Narayana.
Thirumangai AzhwAr thiruvadigaLE saraNam
Regards
Namo Narayana
dAsan
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