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From: TCA Venkatesan (vtca_at_yahoo.com)
Date: Mon Mar 25 2002 - 08:56:23 PST
Sri:
Srimathe Ramanujaya Nama:
Dear BhAgavatas,
I am posting this translation of Sri Periyavaccan
Pillai's avathArikai to Periyazhvar's Thiruppallandu,
with the kind permission of Sri Madhavakannan who
is already posting a series of articles on
Thiruppallandu in this list.
Needless to say all errors in this article are mine
alone. If you see any errors or have any comments,
kindly send them to me.
The article is available on the web as well at
http://www.acharya.org/azhvar/periyazhvar/tpallan00.html
I have also translated it into simple Tamil using
Adhawin font and it can be read at
http://www.acharya.org/azhvar/periyazhvar/tpallan00-tml.html
adiyEn madhurakavi dAsan
TCA Venkatesan
--
Sri:
Srimathe Ramanujaya Nama:
Thiruppallandu Avatharikai
Excerpted from Sri Periyavaccan Pillai's Vyakyanam
Sriman Narayana is the Lord of all, the source of all
and all beings are enslaved to Him. Yet, the
realization of this knowledge, which would lead them
to His service and liberation, is lacking in beings,
leading them to close association with their bodies
and this world, and false ownership of the same,
neither of which last much time. Armed with this
incorrect knowledge they think that they are the
lord of their surroundings and ignore the bliss of
being attached to Him. Latching on to the karmas
that come out of this behaviour they wallow in
them. Seeing this, the Lord, in order to set them
on the right path of reaching Him, gave them the
Vedas and other Sastras and Himself shone through
them.
However, due to their attachment to their karmas the
beings ignored this evidence and its importance and
so He came down to them as Sri Rama, Sri Krishna and
other avatars. In Rama avatar, as Sri Rama He
established the duties of a person to obey his elders
words; through Sri Lakshmana He showed that a soul's
duty is service to the Lord; through Sri Bharata He
showed that kainkaryam to the Lord is attained by
great attachment to Him; and through Sri Shatrughna
He showed that the highest form of service to the
Lord is service to His devotees. As Sri Krishna, He
taught everyone what true dharma is and how to
follow it. Thus, He made clear to them what their
relationship is between themselves and Him. But,
because one who is far above them came down to
their level and lived amongst them, they rejected
His Lordship and refused to listen to His words.
Therefore, just as a hunter would catch an animal in
the forest using one of its own kind, He decided to
teach the beings of this world using a fellow being
and sent Periyazhvar to this world. Thus,
Periyazhvar's vaibhavam states that even those that
were not set in the true path by the Sastras and His
avataras were saved by Periyazhvar's birth.
Periyazhvar naturaly possessing His service in his
mind took to providing flowers for Him by
maintaining a flower garden near His temple.
Periyazhvar is also considered greater than the other
Azhvars for the following reasons. Whereas the others
did service to the Lord so that He may save them,
Periyazhvar considered His safety as everything to
himself. They were attached to Him so that He may
remove their fears, while Periyazhvar was afraid of
what might happen to Him and looked for ways to
removing those obstacles.
Similarly, Thiruppallandu of Periyazhvar is
considered greater than the prabhandams of other
Azhvars for the following reasons. Sastras such as
the Vedas, Puranas etc. can be learnt only by a
select few. In Thiruvaymozhi of Nammazhvar, the
trinity of godheads is spoken of in some places,
thereby forcing one to study it carefully and
understand the inner meanings of those words. Such
issues are not present in Thiruppallandu.
Sri Mahabharatam is so vast that sometimes it is
difficult to figure out what is the true meaning of
the work. The pranavam, even though posessing all
the meanings of the Vedas in it, is so compact that
one has to study it extensively to understand all
its inner meanings. Unlike both, Thiruppallandu is
made of twelve stanzas and explains the true meaning
of service to the Lord in an easy fashion.
Additionally, as mentioned by Periyazhvar himself,
this prabhandam has the ability to take those that
recite it to the Lord's lotus feet.
In this pasuram, Periyazhvar upon seeing the Lord
with His consorts in this world, fears for His well
being and sings that such things should not fall on
Him and that His auspicious and divine glory should
grow forever.
A question might arise, that seeing the Lord who is
bereft of anything bad, should not one be requesting
one's personal upliftment rather than praying for His
glorification. The answer is that after seeing Him,
Periyazhvar submerged in the Bhakti that flowed
immediately and as such forgot His unlimited glory
and power and assumed that His glorification as his
own upliftment and started singing.
Another question might arise, that while Bhakti to the
Lord should free the mind, shine the light in and help
reach Him, how come it can be said that it clouded
Periyazhvar's mind into singing for His glorification.
The answer is that this is nothing new to Bhaktas.
The residents of Ayodhya had worshipped all dEvatas
to protect the guNas of Sri Rama who is the protector
of all these dEvatas. Despite knowing that Sri Rama
had defeated Thataka and other asuras, upon hearing
that Sri Parasurama had come against Sri Rama, Sri
Dasaratha feared for his son and when Sri Rama won,
he felt that he and his sons were born again. Sri
Kausalya also prayed for the glorification of Sri
Rama. The Rishis of Dandakaranya also prayed for
the well being of Sri Rama who had come to save
them. Sri Sita who knows of the greatness of Sri
Rama also glorified Him and prayed to the eight
directions to stand in His protection. Even after
seeing Sri Krishna born with the conch and discus
in His hands Sri Devaki and Sri Vasudeva fearing
for His well being from Kamsa prayed to Him to hide
His form.
Such behaviour is also seen in this world often. A
mother who had a child after much waiting would be
worried about its well being all the time, even when
the child is under full protection. A person who
obtains a priceless gem would stay concerned about
its safety even when it is well protected. Being
such, it should be no surprise that Periyazhvar
was worried about the most beauteous, the most
precious Lord when seeing Him in this world.
The question may arise that, such behaviour is alright
for those who are trapped in this world and whose
knowledge is covered with ignorance; how would this be
alright for Periyazhvar who has received the
uncorrupted, clear knowledge from the Lord Himself;
how could he swap the fact that He is the protector
and he is the protected. The answer is that, in the
matters of this world it would be inappropriate to
switch roles; however, in the matter of the Lord such
swapping when made in a manner of praising Him is
acceptable.
In addition, such praising of the Lord after realizing
the relationship between ourselves and Him is actually
brought about by that true knowledge itself. The
highest form of being enslaved to the Lord is wishing
the greatest glory for Him without considering one's
self. This high truth of the Vedantas is what is being
stressed in Thiruppallandu.
In the first two pasurams, Periyazhvar wishes the well
being and glory of the Lord. In the next three
pasurams, he calls first those who are enslaved to
the Lord and later even those who are enslaved to
their own selves as well as to the material world.
In the next three pasurams all these beings join in
with Periyazhvar. In the next three pasurams
Periyazhvar and the others sing the glory of the
Lord. In the last pasuram, Periyazhvar mentions
the fruit of singing these pasurams.
Periyazhvar Thiruvadigale Saranam
Sri Periyavaccan Pillai Thiruvadigale Saranam
Azhvar Emperumanar Jeeyar Thiruvadiglae Saranam
=====
Email: mailto:vtca@yahoo.com
TCA Venkatesan: http://www.acharya.cc
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