Tiruppaan Alvar

by Sri P. Dileepan
November 13, 1994

Tiruppaan Alvar's thirunakshatram falls on rOhiNi in the month of kaartthikai.

Tiruppaan Alvar at Woraiyur, his birthplace

Tiruppaan Alvar's life is illustrative of what Sri Vaishnavas have always considered important, i.e., being a servant of Lord's servants. Nammalvar expresses this concept very forcefully in Tiruvaymoli 3.7.9:

  kulanthaangu saathikaL naalilum
    keezizinthu, etthanai
  nalanthaa nilaathasaN daaLasaN
    daaLarka Laakilum,
  valanthaangu sakkarath thaNNal
    maNivaNNaR kaaLenRuL
  kalanthaar, adiyaar thammadi
    yaarem madikaLE.

If an individual is a devotee of Lord Vishnu, then, even if he belongs to a lowly caste, you must consider his devotee's devotee as your lord.

Nammalvar's above verse is acted out in Tiruppaan Alvar's life story. Being of low birth, Tiru Paana-naathan was not permitted to enter the Tiruvarangam (Srirangam) temple. Yet, the Alvar's bhakti was unparalleled. One day, upon seeing the Tiruvarangam temple gopuram from a distance, Alvar went into a trance. He was standing in the middle of the road leading to the temple from the Kaveri river. At that time the chief priest Lokasaaranga Muni was returning to the temple with a pot full of Kaveri water intended for thirumancanam (abhishekam) for Lord Ranganatha. Upon seeing a Paanan (low caste minstrel) obstructing his way, he scolded him to move away at once. Immersed in meditation on Lord Ranganatha and oblivious to his surroundings, our Paanan did not respond. To draw his attention, the priest picked up a small stone and threw it at him. It struck Tiruppaan's forehead. Coming back to this world, he profusely apologized for the transgression and ran away. There are two versions of what then ensued. When the priest reached the temple, Version 1: the temple door was locked from inside even though there was no one inside; Version 2: blood was streaming out of Lord Ranganatha's forehead.

That night Lord Ranganatha appeared in the priest's dream and chastised him for striking his bhakta with a stone. He then instructed the priest to carry the Alvar upon his shoulders and bring him to the temple. Realizing his great misdeed, Lokasaaranga Muni searched out Tiruppaan, found him and despite the saint's humble protests, carried him in broad daylight for everyone to see. The priest carried the Alvar in a procession around the temple and finally took him inside the sanctum. The sight of a "high brahmin" carrying an untouchable on his shoulders and taking him inside the temple must have caused quite a stir!

Upon entering the sanctum, Tiruppaan Alvar, overcome with emotion upon seeing the Lord with his own eyes, sang 10 paasurams in His praise. This Prabandham is called amalan aadhipiraan. Alvar describes in exquisite detail each part of the Lord Ranganatha's thirumEni (sacred body) starting from kamala paadham (lotus feet), to neeNdavap periya vaaya kaNgaL (long, large eyes). The bhakti rasam is unsurpassed by any other Alvar. Consider this,

	kaiyinaar surisanganal
	  aazhiyaar, neeLvarai pOl
	meyyanaar, thuLaba viraiyaar kamazh neeLmudi em
	aiyanaar, aNi aranganaar aravin aNaimisai
	  mEya maayanaar,
	seyyavaay aiyO! ennaich
	  sinthai kavarndhathuvE!

	He is holding his conch and disc 
	His body is like a long	mountain range 
	The thuLasi He is wearing is giving out
	   sweet fragrance
	He, my Lord, is wearing 
	   an enormous crown 
	His mouth is like a red coral, Oh! 
	My Lord Ranganatha is sleeping 
           on the bed formed by Adisesha, 
	And this sight has captured my mind.  
	
	(surisanganal = conch; aazhi = disc; varai = mountain, 
	 thuLba = thuLasi,  aravin aNai = bed made of snake)

The last pasuram in the Prabandham is,

	koNdal vaNNanaik, kOvalanaay veNNey
	uNda vaayan en uLLam kavarnthaanai,
	aNdar kOn aNi arangan en amudhinaik
	kaNda kaNkaL maRRonrinaik kaaNaavE.

	I have seen the One whose color is like dark rainclouds
	He is the one with the mouth that swallowed the
	   butter of cowherds,
	He is the Lord of the devas,
	He is Lord Ranganatha, 
	He is my nectar, my life!
	My eyes have seen my Lord and will not see anything else!

	(koNdal=rain cloud; aNdar kOn = Lord of devas)

Notes

1. Scholars are of the opinion that Tiruppaan Alvar lived around the 9th century C.E.
2. It is clear from all this that among Sri Vaishnavas there should be no place for caste differences and prejudice. Unfortunately, this seems to be true only on paper these days.

Back to the Sri Vaishnava Home Page

Add/View comments on this page.