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 # 06 dated 10th November 2006
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EDITORIAL
Dear Bhagavatas:
As Sri Anbil Ramaswamy Swami is in Cleveland, I am sending this on
his behalf.. Swami is available at:
25807 Iris Court, Westlake, OH-44145
Phone # (440) 716- 0771 Cell # (770) 876- 9188
You may contact him.
Regards
Namo narayana
dAsan Madhava Kannan
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INTHIS ISSUE:
1."THE MIGHTY AND THE ALMIGHTY ? A CLASH OF WILLS?? Part-4"
BY ANBIL RAMASWAMY
(This is from his talk at Sri Hayagrivar Temple , Pondicherry on
31st May 2006)
2."DRAMIDOPANISHAD TATPARYA RATNAVALI" ? PART- 6":
BY SRI N. KRISHNAMACHARIAR SWAMI OF CHICAGO
3."MAAL UGANDHA AASIRIYAR ? LIFE AND WORKS OF AZHWARS
Part ?3- VAIBHAVAM OF MUDHAL AAZHWAARS
BY SRI MADHAVA KANNAN SWAMI, SINGAPORE
CO-MODERATOR OF "SRI RANGA SRI"
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1. "THE MIGHTY AND THE ALMIGHTY- A CLASH OF WILLS? ? PART 4-
GOD'S WILL AND MAN'S FREE WILL
BY ANBIL RAMASWAMY
(This is from his talk at Sri Hayagrivar Temple , Pondicherry on
31st May 2006)
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(Excerpts from Chapter 11of"Hinduism Rediscovered")
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The interrelationship of "Gods will" and "man's free will" may be
summed up as follows:
?I may do what I like; but whether I can do at all depends on God's
will.
?I may live as I choose; but whether I live at all depends on God's
will.
?I may breath any air pure or polluted; but whether I breath at all
is decided by God's will
?I may see hear, smell, feel or taste as I like (of course, subject
to mundane limitations and societal restrictions); but whether I am
enabled to see, hear, smell, feel or taste is beyond my control. It
is in God's control.
?The 'may' is within my power and free will 'whether I can at all'
is in the power and will of God.
God is no doubt responsible for creation of man but not for the
differences that exist between them. For a plant to grow land,
water, air and sunshine are quite necessary. If any one of them is
absent plants cannot grow. But, what accounts for the growth of
different kinds of plants say Mango or Neem or Jack-fruit? Neither
the land nor the water nor the air nor the sunshine is responsible
for the sprouting of the different plants. But, it is the seed of
the particular plant sown that is responsible for the sprouting of
the particular plant. God is responsible for creation much in the
same way as land, water, air and sunshine but the differences in the
creatures are due to their past actions precisely as the seeds in
the case of plants. Our actions depend on our 'Vasanas' inherited
over countless lives and God dispenses the seeds precisely as per
our Karma. God is indifferent to the fruits of Karma while we are
concerned and affected.
According to St. Bernard " Grace is necessary for salvation;
Freewill equally so. But grace in order to give salvation; freewill
in order to receive it. Therefore, we should not attribute part of
the good work to grace and part to freewill; it is performed in its
entirety by the common and inseparable action of both; entirely by
grace, entirely by freewill but springing from the first in the
second"
Some scholars think that the idea of a future life depended on
previous behavior must have developed from a long period of keenly
observing plants, trees and fields. Hinduism believes that land
gives 'birth' repeatedly if healthy seeds are sown and tended. They
saw that plants do not really die; the death of a plant is a process
by which it renews itself in the spring. In a sense, each life of a
plant ends in a death in order to be reborn. A plant's re-growth is
determined by the healthy or unhealthy conditions of former births.
Scholars believe that Hinduism felt the same to be true of all
living beings.
Suppose, you give a goldsmith some amount of gold for making a
chain. Someone else gives some gold for making a ring. The goldsmith
cannot be blamed of partiality when he delivers the chain to you and
the ring to the other person. He delivers to the respective
customers whatever they had desired. Though God has powers to do
anything he likes, He does dispense the end products exactly as
desired by the individual creatures as expressed through
their 'Karma'.
If one realizes this truth, one would not curse God as being partial
or without eyes or without mercy. Lord Krishna says
"Works do not cling to me. In me there is no desire for fruits
whoever understands me as such; he is not bound by Karma"
BG 4 / 14 Na mam karmani limpanthi na me karma phale spruhah
Iti maam yO bhajanthi karmabhir na sa badhyate"
In the mundane world itself, we are subject to so many restrictions,
forces and curbs on our actions. Let us see why a person does not
normally go astray. Quite a few are intrinsically averse to it due
to their Vasanas. But, a large majority of us do not indulge in
immoral activities firstly, because of the innate fear generated by
our conscience; secondly, the feeling of shame should we be caught
red handed by a disapproving peer group where we would like to
maintain our prestige;, thirdly, the fear of punishment on detection
by the police, courts or other law enforcing authorities and last
but not the least due to the fear of contracting diseases say for
example - in the case of AIDS. Even people given to beastly habits
in the matter of food and sex are now returning to the mainstream of
disciplined life and are inclined to "preserving family values" not
because of any real change of heart but because of the irony that it
needed such a dreadful scourge as AIDS to correct them.
To Continue
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2."DRAMIDOPANISHAD TATPARYA RATNAVALI" ? PART- 5":
BY SRI N. KRISHNAMACHARIAR SWAMI OF CHICAGO
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SrI:
SrImate SrI ra'nga rAmAnuja mahA deSikAya namaH.
tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Solkam 3 - Part 5 of avatArikA.
Slokam 3:
pA'ncAlI gAtra SobhA-hRta hRdaya vadhUvarga pum
bhhAvanItyA
pAyau padmA sahAye praNayini bhajatah preyasI
pAratantRyam |
bhaktih SR'ngAra vRttyA pariNamati muneh bhAva bandha
prathimnA
yogAt prAg uttarAvasthitir-iha viraho deSikAs-tatra
dUtAh ||
One of the very first things that svAmi deSikan emphasizes is the
nAyikA bhAvam that is assumed by nammAzhvAr in finding _expression
to his intense devotion and love towards emperumAn. His inability
to bear the separation from bhagavAn leads to his outpourings
through SR'ngAra bhAvam. In the case of nammAzhvAr, he assumes the
role of parA'nkuSa nAyaki, and expresses the agony of separation
from emperumAn through many of his pASuram-s. This is the topic of
this Slokam by svAmi deSikan.
The natural question can arise in people's minds as to how
nammAzhvAr, who is the personification of bhakti nishThA, can be
distracted by thoughts such as assuming the role of a female deeply
in love with bhagavAn, feeling the pangs of separation, and
indulging in activities such as sending the birds etc. as
messengers. To understand these, one has to have a feel for how a
bhakti yogi's mind acts, what the bhakti yogi goes through as part
of his/her meditation, and what the bhakti yogi's sole goal in life
is. This is what svAmi deSikan explains to us in this Slokam, and
thus explains AzhvAr's nAyikA bhAvam etc.
draupadi was not an ordinary mortal. She was born out of the homa
kuNDam. As such, she excelled in beauty that made her female
friends feel intensely attracted to her beauty, to the point that
they wished they could assume the forms of males so that they could
enjoy her beauty. svAmi deSikan gives this analogy to describe the
assumption of nAyikA bhAvam by the AzhvAr-s ? they feel intensely
attracted to emperumAn to the point that they want to enjoy Him by
assuming the role of His nAyikA-s or consorts. BhagavAn's tirumEni
is so beautiful that the AzhvAr-s are overwhelmed by it, to the
point of their feeling like embracing Him tightly. One upanyAsaka
praises this unique aspect of the devotional outpourings in the SrI
vaishNava sampradAyam, where the nAyikA bhAvam gives the intimacy to
AzhvAr-s where they can take liberty with Him to embrace Him, to
chide Him, to quarrel with Him, etc., and thus enjoy Him in many
different ways. Let us look at a more detailed meaning of the Sloka.
- pA'ncAlI gAtra SobhA-hRta hRdaya vadhU varga pum-
bhAvanItyA ? Just as the close friends of pA'cAlI who saw her beauty
as they were taking bath together, were attracted to her so much
that they started assuming the role of males in their minds
- patyA, praNayini padmA-sahAye preyasI pAratantRyam
bhajatah muneh ? SrI parA'nkuSa muni, whose devotion and dedication
to emperumAn who is the Lord of all and the loving Consort of padmA
(mahAlakshmi) developed into the level where he prayed for complete
subservience to bhagavAn
- bhAva bandha prathimnA ? and since his attachment to
bhagavAn grew to such an extent that
- bhaktih SR'ngAra vRttyA pariNamati ? his natural love to
emperumAn in the form of his natural devotion (bhakti) started
manifesting itself in the form of love towards him that resembled
the love that His Consort would have towards Him (SR'ngAra bhAvam ?
intense attraction).
- The yogAt prAg uttarAvasthitir-iha viraho deSikAs-tatra
dUtAh - In AzhvAr's pASuram-s, we see that sometimes he feels close
to emperumAn, and feels happy, and at other times, he feels the
intense separation from Him, and starts sending messengers in
different forms to bhagavAn, to inform Him of his longing for union
with Him. What does all this mean? In the fourth line of this
Slokam, svAmi deSikan explains that for one in bhakti yoga, the
times when the bhakta is immersed in deep and concentrated
meditation of Him, this is the time of association with Him
(samSlesham), and the intervening states when this concentration is
broken, it is a feeling of intense separation from Him (viSlesham).
They undergo the experience of intimate and full enjoyment of Him
during their periods of intense meditation, and when they are not in
meditation, they long for that same union with Him physically, and
since that does not materialize, it manifests itself in the form of
their intense feeling of separation, which turns into expressing
themselves in their nAyikA bhAvam. Since the AcArya-s show the path
that will result in the continued state of meditation on Him for
prolonged intervals without interruption, they are
called `messengers' or dUta-s in our tradition. This is what svAmi
deSikan points out in the fourth line ? yogAt prAg uttara avasthih
iha virahah; deSikAs-tatra dutAh.
Thus, in a nutshell, svAmi deSikan explains the concept of nAyikA
bhAvam that is so common and widely prevalent in our AzhvArs'
compositions, the cause of samSleshham (union with Him) and
viSlesham (separation from Him) that AzhvArs exhibit repeatedly, and
the role of the AcArya-s in our tradition, all in the four short
lines of this Slokam.
-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan
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To Contimue
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3."MAAL UGANDHA AASIRIYAR ? LIFE AND WORKS OF AZHWARS
Part ? 2- BY SRI MADHAVA KANNAN SWAMI, SINGAPORE
CO-MODERATOR OF "SRI RANGA SRI"
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SrI:
SrImathE Gopaladesika mahadesikaya nama:
Alwars (in pure Tamil "AzhwAr") means "One who immerses himself".
They really, deeply immersed themselves in their devotion and bhakti
towards the Lord Sriya: Pathi Sriman Narayanan. The AzhwArs
are reported to be incarnations of NithasUris of Sri
Vaikuntam, namely, the weapons, the Vanamaali, the GarudA, et al.
They lived like human beings and burst out bhakti laden great works
for the sake of humanity. The works of Alwars stood mysteriously a
replica of the Vedas themselves and therefore came to be known as
Dravida Veda. In fact, there is a view that even the great
Rishis are no match to the greatness of the Alwars because
these Rishis got their 'jnAnam' ( wisdom) as a result of their
own actions of 'spiritual merit' ( Punyam) whereas the wisdom of
the Alwars was the direct result of the Lord's divine grace and
therefore called ' Divyam'. It is because of this that the works
of Alwars is called ' Divya Prabandham' are 4000 poems
(pAsurams).
These works of AzhwArs are non-paralleled in every sense- be it
in sentiment, style or syntax. They take even a casual reader
on a guided tour into the esoteric exegesis of the Vedas
without offending the provisions of exclusions and prohibitions
enjoined in the study of the Vedas in original. (by Sri Anbil
Ramaswamy, USA)
AzhwAr's paasurams (poems) called naalaayira dhivyap prabhandam
composed by twelve AzhwArs. The paasurams were collected and
brought out by one of the much revered Sri vaishnava AchAryAs
called Sriman Naathamuni. By the time of sriman Naathamuni (9th
century A.D.) the AzhwAr paasurams were not lost or unknown. It
was by divine grace of Sriman Narayanan that Sriman Naathamuni
came to know of the Tamil poems praising Lord Vishnu. It is
believed that Sriman Naathamuni heard some devotees visiting his
home town of VeeranaaraayaNapuram (present day kaattu mannaarkudi
near Mayilaadurthurai or Mayavaram) singing a few (11) Tamil songs
starting with "aaraa amudhE adiyEn udalam" and ending with
"... kurugoor sadagOpan
kuzhalil maliyach sonna Or
aayiratthuL ippatthum,
mazhalai theera vallaar kaamar
maanEy nOkkiyarkE."
(NammAzhwAr's Thiruvaaymozhi 5.8.1 - 5.8.11)
Sriman Naathamuni was greatly excited and enchanted with the
exquisite beauty of the poems. He approached the devotees and
enquired about its origin. The ending of the 11
poems, "aayiratthuL ippatthu,"(means this ten of the thousand)
suggested that there are many more such poems (may be
thousand?). This possibility intrigued Sriman Naathamuni.
Unfortunately, the devotees were unaware of any other poems
besides the eleven they had just finished reciting. However, they
suggested to Sriman Naathamuni that he may try enquiring in the
town of thiruk kurugoor, present day AzhwAr thiru nagari near
thirunelvEli. So he set out to travel from kaattumannarkudi to
thiruk kurugoor, a long journey indeed in his time. There he
found one paraangusa daasar. From him, Sriman Naathamuni learnt
11 more paasurams called kaNNinuN sirutthaambu. These were
composed by Madhurakavi AzhwAr and all 11 paasurams are in praise
of kurugoor SadagOpan (NammAzhwAr). Sriman Naathamuni was
excited to have doubled his collection. But this only whetted his
desire to seek out the more than 1,000, promised in the first set
of paasurams he fell in love with at his home town.
Paraangusa daasar suggested that he repeatedly recite this
great kaNNinuN sirutthaambu (sung in praise of Sri Sadagopan-
NammAzhwAr) in the hope of pleasing the Lord. Sriman Naathamuni
took his advice sincerely and recited it about 12,000 times! It
is said that NammAzhwAr was impressed with Sriman
Naathamuni's persistence and appeared before him. NammAzhwAr was
so impressed that he revealed to Sriman Naathamuni not just the
1102 paasurams of his own "thiruvaay mozhi", but also all the
rest of the paasurams composed by the other eleven AzhwArs. From
this, we may deduce that it is Sriman Naathamuni, who gathered
the Tamil treatise (these 4000 peoms) praising Lord Vishnu composed
by the twelve AzhwArs. Sriman naathamuni called this collection
of paasurams or prabhandams naalaayira dhivya prabhandam or
draavida vEdham. (Courtesy: from Sri Vaishnava Home page of Sri
Mani Varadarajan,USA)
Due perhaps to historical reasons, much of these treasures had been
lost to humanity for a while. Thus It was given to the great
Naathamuni to retrieve and revivify them in their pristine
glory for the benefit of posterity. The long line of the lineage
of preceptors who followed him kept the torch burning and handed
them over to successive generations . We can justifiably be proud
of the rich heritage. It is our duty, therefore, to familiarize
ourselves with the lives and works of these preceptors, the
least we can do as a token of our gratitude for the invaluable
treasures bequeathed to us.
We do not have authentic and full information about the lives of
AzhwArs other than what is narrated in the Guru parampara. However,
on the basis of their verses and the verses written by acharyas as
thaniyans [invocatory verses on the respective azhwArs and paying
obeisance to them], we can give an indication of their lives, period
and their greatness.
Mudhal AzhwArs: [first three among the 12 AzhwArs]
These three AzhwArs namely Poigai AzhwAr, bhoothatthAzhwAr and
PaeyAzhwAr are the earliest among the 12 AzhwArs and are called
mudhal AzhwAr. According to the traditions, they were born in the
same year of SiddArti, same month of Aippasi and on three
consecutive days respectively. The stars were: ThiruvONam, avittam
and Sadhaym. They were not born like us; they appeared and hence
they were ayOnijas. Their period was estimated as 7th century A.D.
(Though we are not attaching any significant importance to it, it is
better to have a datum)
Poigai AzhwAr, an incarnation of MahAvishNu's paanchjanyam (Divine
conch, sanghu in Tamil) is also called Adhi kavi. poigaiAr appeared
on the ThAmarai mottu (lotus bud) in a pond in tiruve:ka near
kancheepuram in the proximity of Yathothkaari temple. He is so named
because of his birth in Poigai [tank]. He is also knows as Saroyogi,
indicating his birth in a saras. [Remember bhootham saras cha
mahadhaahvya bhatta nAtha? sloka].
BhoothatthAzhwAr the second AzhwAr was born at Kadanmallai
[Mahabhalipuram] near Chennai. He was found near the Kurukkatthi
flower and hence also called as poo thatthAzhwAr. Another view is:
He is named so because of the possession of divine jnAnam out of
God's grace [Sri SMS Chari writes in his book on AzhwArs: bhootha ?
Sanskrit equivalent of Pootha means- etymologically one who has
gained sattaa or sustenance by spiritual knowledge [bhoo sattaayaam
vaachi]. He is also known as bhootha muni, hence. He is an
incarnation of Divine mace (called kaumOdaki) of our Lord
mahAvishNu.
The Third AzhwAr- paey AzhwAr was born at Mylapore in Chennai. The
term paey means one who is possessed. And this AzhwAr was possessed
and intoxicated with the intense love and bhakti for the Lord Sriman
Narayanan and hence he was called paey AzhwAr. He is also called
Mahadhaahyvar, signifying his greatness as one who had experienced
God. He is an incarnation of the sword of mahAvishNu (called
nandaki), appeared in sevvalli (Red alli-lily) flower in a well of
AdhikEsava perumAL koil at mylapore (in madras).
NammazhwAr, (our azhwAr), the greatest azwAr about whom we will see
later, has addressed these three azhwArs as "innkavi pAdum parama
kavigaL" meaning the greatest poets who sang the loveliest songs or
the sweetest songs; All three azhwArs were blessed with tamizh jnAnam
(knowledge) and bhakti uLLam; All of them, though were not known to
each other, were singing the glories of sriman nArAyaNan, and were
going from place to place visiting the PerumAL temples to get
blessed with Lord's Darshan. They had no other thoughts but for
nArAyanan and lived like sanyAsis (recluses); The Lord perhaps
wanted them to get together and liked to listen to their discussion
about Him and His kalyANa guNAs.
So, they had come to Thirukkovilur and each of them had a separate
Darshan of Trivikraman (the Lord who appeared as vAmanan, a small
brahmachari boy, took the huge tall form as Trivikraman and measured
the entire universe in one step in vAmanAvatAram)
called "UlagaLandha perumAL.
Let us enjoy this wonderful scene from sri Sdagopan Iyengar Swami's
article]<quote>It was a dark and stormy night at Tirukkovalur, with
rain coming down in torrents, the threatening roar of thunder
shaking all souls and with flashes of lightning serving as the only
illumination. It was a night when none would venture out and
everyone had shut himself up tight in his home. Yet, it was a night
on which three Yogis, who had the Lord entrenched in their hearts,
chose to be out and about. When they reached Tirukkovalur separately
by different routes, they found all houses shut, all choultries
locked up, with the inmates unlikely to open up. The first to reach
was Poigayazhwar, who found a narrow passage in the front portion of
an ashramam belonging to Mrigandu Maharshi and lay down, prepared to
spend the night among the inhospitable and confined environs.
Sometime later, Bhootattaazhwar too discovered the same place and
finding someone already occupying the space, enquired whether there
would be room for one more person. The first occupant welcomed the
stranger, saying that if there was space enough for one person to
lie down, two could sit there. An hour or so passed and there came
knocking another worthy, wet and drenched to the skin and seeking
shelter in the passage. He too was welcomed by the other two, who
thought that three could at least stand comfortably in the small
space, which could seat two and provide a bed for one. The three
Azhwars were thus standing in the pitch dark, sharing with one
another their experiences of the Lord and His auspicious attributes.
All of a sudden, they felt rather tight pressed. Where they were
standing comfortably earlier, they now felt that the available space
had diminished, as if a fourth person, unknown to the other three,
had entered the narrow passage and was crowding them. Apparently,
someone had sneaked into the already constricted space without
announcement and was standing as one with them.
As it was pitch dark and they had no way of producing light,
Poygaiazhwar hit upon the idea of lighting a novel lamp. Using the
elements of nature as ingredients, considering the whole earth as a
lamp, the waters of the salty seas as oil and with the shining Sun
as the wick, he lit a glorious lamp that would shine forever and
show up with clarity even the tiniest speck of dust. For his part,
Bhootattaazhwar lit another lamp, using entirely home-made
ingredients, all available within oneself and yet the hardest to
find in any human being: he fashioned a lamp out of his unfathomable
love for Emperuman. Oil for the lamp was his uncontrollable urge to
see the Lord and the wick was his intellect, made sweet and melting
by constant contemplation of the Lord's auspicious attributes.
Such was the extraordinary illumination provided by the two lamps
lit by these two Yogis, that the third, Sri Peyazhwar, was able to
see clearly the fourth person who had been squeezing them tight.
First and foremost, Azhwar's eyes alighted on the glorious form of
Sri Mahalakshmi adorning the broad chest of the intruder-"Thiru
kanden" sang out Sri Peyazhwar, exulting in the wonderful spectacle
that greeted his eye. Having realized, from the presence of the
Divine Consort, that it was none other than the Paramatma Sriman
Narayana who had entered the passage and was squeezing the trio,
Azhwar's sight fell next on the glorious golden tirumeni of the
Paramapurusha-"Ponmeni kanden". The brilliant and blazing complexion
of the stranger imprinted itself upon Azhwar's eyes, prompting him
to comment ecstatically on the same-"Tigazhum arukkan ani niramum
kanden". The Lord's Divine Discus and the Cosmic Conch adorning His
upper hands presented a spectacular sight to the thirsty eyes of
Azhwar-"Serukkilarum Ponnaazhi kanden, puri Shankham kai kanden".
The three Azhwars, inspired by the grand spectacle of Emperuman's
glorious form in their midst, poured out their devotion in a hundred
beautiful verses each, brimming over with Bhakti.
These are the paasurams which served as forerunners of the four
thousand nectarine verses that were to be composed by the other
Azhwars. Though there is no direct internal evidence in the Divya
Prabandas of one Azhwar eulogizing another (except in the case of
Sri Madhurakavi and Sri Andal), Sri Nammazhwar refers to these
three "pioneer" Azhwars as "Paaley Tamizhar, Isaikaarar, patthar",
paying generous tribute to their devotion and the beauty of their
compositions.
<unquote>
Each of these 100 verses (pasurams) flowing from their mouths as if
they are clear stream of water; in andhadhi style. These three works
which constitute the earliest poetical compositions contributed by
the Vaishnava saints of South India contain philosophical and
theological ideas of Srivaishnavam. Sriya: Pathi listened to them
to the utmost pleasure and satisfaction all their pasurams and after
blessing them, disappeared.
>From then on, they always went together to other temples, and On
their way, the three azhwArs also were blessed with
1. a darshan of sitapiratti, lakshmana, bharatha, sathrukna,
hanumathsametha Sri Ramachandra at Ayodhdhi,
2. a darshan of Lord ThiruvEnkadamudaiyAn down the hill (not at
tirumala, but at tirupathi), when they hesitated to step on the Hill
and turned back; such a place is called "AzhwAr theertham" even
today.
3. Offering a charkAyudhA to Vishnuvarthanan, a king at kanchipuram
for winning a battle. and
4. later, joining with another azhwAr, by name Thirumazhisai azhwAr
(on their way)
A Glance at their marvelous compositions:
1. poigaiAzhwAr composed the first 100 pAsurams "mudhal
thiruvandhAdhi" (andhAdhi means the first word of one verse will be
last word of the previous verse )starting with the first one: vaiyam
thagaliyA, vArkadlE neyyAga/ veyyakkadirOn viLakkAga/ sudarAzhiyAn
adikkE soottinEn son mAlai/ Idar neenghugavE enRu/
Meaning:Lord nArAyaNa, who holds the Divine chakrAyudha, is the
cause of this wonderful universe and the seas. I am singing these
mAlai(Garland) of verses(pAsurams) and dedicating to Him, whose
vision I had is the light of the lamp of the earth, and oil being
the seas, the sun being the source of the light;
2. BhoodaththAzhwAr composed the second 100 pAsurams "irandAm
thiruvandhAdhi" starting with the first one: anbE thagaliyA, ArvamE
neyyAga/ inburugu sindhai idu thiriyA/ naNpurugi GnAna chudar
viLakku EtrinEn/Gnana thamizh purindha nAn/
meaning: Here, it is the love as the lamp and involvement as the oil
and azhwAr says" I dedicate myself to the service of the lord, by
singing this song that blesses wisdom(GnAna), with love as the lamp,
endearing involvement as the oil(Ghee), and knowledge as the wick of
the torch".
3. PEyAzhwAr composed the third 100s called "moonRAm
thiruvandhAdhi", with the first one as follows: thirukkaNdEn,
ponmEni kaNdEn- thigazhum/arukkan Ani niRamum kaNdEn-seruk kiLaRum/
ponAzhi kaNdEn puri sangham kai kaNdEn/ en Azhi vaNNan pAl inRu/
What a song! AzhwAr just says:" I now beheld the Goddess by the side
of my Lord who has the luster of blue ocean; I saw the lustrous
divine body of golden colour [of Mahalakshmi]; I perceived the
radiant sun-like form; I saw the most beautiful chakra that glows
fiery in the battle field and the lovely conch shell [sankhu] in the
most beautiful hands of the Lord.
AzhwAr EmperumAnAr Desikan ThiruvaDigaLE saraNam
Regards
Namo narayana
dAsan
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To Continue
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