thiruvallikkENi - 8-H (periya thirumozhi)

From the Bhakti List Archives

• March 25, 1997


Hello,
I was little too busy at Work and hence the delay.. 
This one is about the prahladha's story, the hiraNya vadham. This beautifully explains  the sri narasimha  avathaaram. 
-Viji


paLLiyi lOdhi vanNdhadhan siRuvan
 vaayilO raayira nNaamam,
oLLiya vaagip pOdhavaaNG kadhanuk
 konRumOr poRuppila Nnaagi,
piLLaiyaich cheeRi veguNduthooN pudaippap
 piRaiyeyiR Ranalvizhip pEzhvaay,
theLLiya singka maagiya dhEvaith
 thiruvallik kENikkaN dEnE. (2)     2.3.8

-periya thirumozhi by sri thirumaN^gai AzhwAr

A free translation:
-------------------
On hearing the young, school boy, prahlaada, chanting the 1000 names of sriman
NarayaNa, He (HiraNya) got madly infuriated. He questioned the presence of 
sriman narayaNa and hit the pillar and out came Sri narasimha, the one with 
sharp teeth like the piRai(a phase of the moon), eyes like fire balls, and big mouth. I ( AzhwAr), was blessed to have the dharshan of this perumAL who is like a 'beautiful' lion at this dhivya dhEsam, thiruvallikkENi. 
(Sri Rengi has written a nice posting on 'theLLiya' siN^gam a while back.. explaining the beauty of the choice of the word theLLiya in the context of a lion (siN^gam) )

Word for Word Translation:
--------------------------
paLLiyil Odhi vandhadhan siRuvan vAyilOr Ayira n^Amam- 
********************************************************
The small kid prahladha came back from school and was chanting the 1000 names of sriman nArayaNa 

(Odhi - Having studied; siRuvan - small kid)

oLLiya AgipOdha AN^gu adhanukku onRum Or poRuppu ilan Agi-
*********************************************************
On hearing this sonorous chanting, hiraNya coudn't control his anger

(oLLiya  Agi - Beautifully chanted )

piLLaiyai seeRi veguNdu thooN pudaippa-
***************************************
He vehemently scolded his son and hit the pillar (asking whether Lord NarayaNa
is in it??)

(veguNdu - kObappattu, in a fit of anger; thooN - pillar)

piRai eyiRu anal vizhi pEzh vAy-
*********************************
Breaking the pillar, came sri Narasimha with sharp teeth like a phase of the moon (curved and sharp!), eyes like fire balls glowing  and Big wide mouth,

(piRai- as in "moonRAm piRai"!, eyiRu- teeth, anal - fire )

theLLiya siN^gam Agiya dhEvai-
******************************
Refer to sri Rengi's post for a nice explanation..
The Lord who is like this beautiful lion...

(theLLiya - clear/ also beautiful, the Lord Sri Narasimhar is called Sri azhagiya siN^gar and the TP Koil street (where we used to live..) is actually theLLiya siN^ga perumAL kOil street and NOT thuLa siN^ga perumAL as people call it now..,  True to this name of azhagiya siN^gar, He is very very beautiful.
His thirumuka maNdalam is so clear (theLivu) and glowing. Once just before the 
azhagiya siN^gar thEr (the car festival) was about to start, we boarded the thEr through a narrow entrance,  went close to the perumAL, and got immersed in his beauty (controlling the greatest urge to 'touch' Him). Suddenly these god sent policemen came rushing to attend to some sorta confusion at the entrance and 
sealed the entrance, leaving me and the perumAl and just one or two priests..
for few loooong minutes... I was dumbfounded by His beauty.. felt like crying..
That was a gggreatt experience!!!! Anyway i am digressing...

thiruvallikkENi kaNdEnE -
*************************
I was blessed to have His dharshan at thiruvallikkENi

sri rukmiNi sametha sri pArththasArathi swamy thiruvadigaLE charaNam
dhaasan
Vijay Triplicane
(Viji)