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ThiruviNNagarappan Thirumanjanak Kattiyam : Part 1

From the Bhakti List Archives

Sadagopan • November 6, 1998 


Dear BhakthAs :I will have the Kattiyam
portion first and will include meaning/comments
in paranthesis after each of the Kattiyam sections .

Sri Oppilaippan Thirumanjanak Kattiyam
***************************************

1 . Jaya Vijayee Bhava ! Sri Bhagavan NaarAyaNa !
PanchAvathAra ! Swamin ! paraak ! BhU Vallabha ParAk !

( Hail to Thee ! Oh Lord NaarAyaNA ! May Thou be
  victorious !Oh Lord , who took five manifestations 
  at ThiruviNNagar as Yennappan , Ponnappan , Mutthappan ,
  MaNiappan and ThiruviNNagrappan ! Oh the supreme Master
  of the Universe ! Hark ! Oh dear one to Bhumi Piraatti !
  Hark ! This type of announcements is used at Royal courts 
  by VaithALikAs or KattiyakkArars to announce the presence/
  arrival of Kings. Our Lord is King of Kings and Deva Raajan .
  Hence , such a Kattiyam is a fitting start ).        

2 .sankalpa kalpalathikAm avadhim kshamAyA :
   svEcchA VarAhamahisheem sulabhAnukampAm I
   Visvasya mAtharam akinchana kAmadhEnum
   VisvambharAm asaraNa: SaraNam prapadhyE II 

( It is common tradition to salute the PirAtti of 
  the Lord first because of Her PurushkAram or 
  power to plead with Her Lord to pardon our 
  gross sins and grant us Moksham . Here the Prayer
  Of Swami Desikan to Bhumi DEvi in his BhU sthuthi
  is included . This is the first slOkam of BhU sthuthi
  of Swami Desikan .

  Meaning of this slOkam : Bhumi DEvi is like a Kalpaka
  creeper that grants the wishes desired by those who are
  Her adiyArs ; She puts up with the trespasses of adiyArs
  and forgives them. In this matter , She is the limit of
  forbearance .She readily grants Her grace to Her adiyArs.
  She stands in the role of Mother of the universe and 
  treats all chEthanAs with equal affection .She is a veritable
  wish granting KaamadhEnu for those , who perform Prapatthi
  to Her , when they are unable to undertake Bhakthi Yogam 
  as their preferred route for their salvation .I ,Swami Desikan,
  who has no other succor surrender unto Her with the above 
  auspicious kalyANa guNAs )   

3.Srimacch SaDAri Kalivairi Mahath SarObhi:
  nAthAgamAntha gurumukhya gurUtthamaisccha I
  samvAnchithAthisayitha priya mangaLou Thau
  Bhuvallabhasya charaNou SaraNam prapathyE II

( This is the eighth slokam of Sri Oppiliappan
  Prapatthi sthuthi . The saraNAgathan says here : 
  " I perform Prapatthi at the sacred feet of 
    ThiruviNNagarappan , which have received 
    the exalted mangaLAsAsanams of NammAzhwAr , 
    Thirumangai ,Poygai AzhwAr , pEy AzhwAr , 
    Naatha Muni and NigamAntha MahA Desikan ".)   

4.yaavadh AvarthathE chakram yaavathee cha VasundharA I
  thaavath tvamiha Sarvasya SwAmithvam anuvarthaya  II
 
( This is the twelfth slOkam of Sri Oppilaippan
  MangaLam . The author prays to the Lord :
  " Oh ThiruviNNagarappA ! May Thou Lord over this 
    universe as Sarva Swaami and protect all janthus
    as long as there are Chandran,Sooryan and the stars ). 


5.udhyath kOti divaakarEndhu subhagam peethAmBharAlankrutham
  naanAbhUshaNa bhUshitham navaghana shyAmam prasannAnam I
  lAvaNyAmbhunidhim nirasthalavaNam Srisankha chakrAnjitham
  SrivaikuntapurAdhipam Subhatanum BhUmyA: pathim samsrayE II

( This is the first slOkam of Sri Oppiliappan"s
  SuprabhAtham and also serves as a dhyAna slOkam .

Meaning: I worship always the Lord of Bhumi Devi ,
ThiruviNNagarappan , who appears in effulgence 
like crores of rising Suns ; He is resplendent
with all kinds of Jewelery and is bedecked in a
beautiful peethAmbharam ; He has the dark bluish hue
reminding one of the dark clouds of the rainy season 
and has a cool countenance , which is a treasure house
of beauty ; He adorns Sudarsanam and Paanchajanyam
in His upper hands and destroys completely the sins
of those who worship Him ; He has banished any desire for
salt in His naivEdhyams consistent with the promise He made 
to Sage MarkandEyA to win the hand of his daughter in
marriage at Tulasi Vanam ).  
  
6. taapAn kshipan prasavithA sumanOgaNAnAm
   pracchAya seethaLataLa: pradisan phalAni I
   tvath samgamAdh bhavathi Maadhavi labdhapOsha:
   saakhA satairadhigathO HarichandhanOsou II

( This is the seventh slOkam of Bhu Sthuthi of
  Swami Desikan .Here, the famous AchAryA points
  out that ThiruviNNagarappan's glories grow 
  multifold as a result of His union with Bhumi Devi.
  Swami compares the Lord to a Harichandhanaa tree
  saluted by hundreds of Veda saakhAs and points out
  that this wish granting tree becomes reinfoced in its
  power to bless the prapannAs due to its association
  with Bhumi DEvi.There is only one thAyAr at 
  ThiruviNNagar(viz)., Bhumi DEvi and the Lord 
  is never ever separated from Her ). 

7 .taapatrayeem niravadhim bhavathee dhayArdhrA :
   samsAra garma janithAm sapadhi kshipantha:I
   maathar bhajanthu madhurAmrutha varsha maithreem
   MaayA Varaaha dayithE mayi thE katAkshA : II

( This is the 31st slOkam of Bhu Sthuthi of Swami
  Desikan. Since ThiruviNNagar is NaacchiyAr Koil ,
  where there is prAdhanyam for Bhumi DEvi , we salute
  Her especially . Her Lord would enjoy it and welcome 
  it even more than salutations directed at Him .

Meaning of the SlOkam : Oh Mother of the Universe ! 
Oh Devi who incarnated as the divine consort of Your
Lord , who appeared out of His own volition as Varaaha
Murthy ! This samsAram is a veritable parched summer.
The three tApams desicate the chethanams in samsAric
existence . The intense sufferings from the three kinds
of Taapams are instantly quelled by your cool kataakshams .
May Your cool glances resembling the nectarine rain fall on
me also and destroy my taapams ) . 


8.tvam mE aham mE kuthastath tadhapi kutha 
  idham vEdamUla pramANAth
  yEthaccha aNAdhisiddhAth anubhava vibhavAth
  tarhi sAkrOsa yEva I
  kvAkrOsa: kasya GithAdheeshu mama vidhitha:
  kOathra sAkshee sudhee syAth 
  hantha tvath pakshapAthee sa ithi nrukalahE
  mrugyamadhyasThavath tvam II

( This passage is from the Thirumanjanak Kattiyam
of ParAsara Bhattar for Sri RanganAthA . This is 
the first of the stray verses of his Kattiyam 
sung in front of Sri RangarAjA during His 
Thirumanjanam even today . This is in the form
of a captivating dialog between a stubborn chethanam 
and its Master, the Lord Himself .

The Lord of Srirangam notices the "impunity and
stubbornness " of the Jeevan , which considers itself 
to be a svathanthra purushan . The Lord in wet clothes
from His just begun Thirumanjanam reminds the argumentative
Jeevan that it is not independent and it is His property 
as attested by VedAs , GitA and men of wisdom . The Jeevan
disagrees with the Lord wearing a TuLasi garland on His 
wet body . ParAsara Bhattar reminds us that the situation
of the Lord proving His claim over His Lordship over
the protsting and deluded Jeevan is like practise of 
DivyA referred to in smr*ithi texts . Divya practise 
relates to taking an oath to give testimony . To prove
the ancient sesha-Seshi relationship between the Jeevan
and the Lord , Parasara Bhattar constructed this wonderful,
imaginary dialog :

Lord : tvam mE ( You are Mine ; I own You ).

Jeevan : aham mE ( No, I belong to myself; I am independent)

Lord : Kuthas tath? (No, How could that be possible ?)

Jeeavn :Tadhapi kutha: ? ( How about Your own claim ? )

Lord: idham vEda moola pramANAth ( My claim is based on 
the authority of the VedAs )

Jeevan : yEthacchAnaAdhi siddhAth anubhava vibhavAth
( My position however is based on my own experience , 
which is " beginnigless in nature").

Lord : Tarhi SaakrOsa yEva( But that position of yours
has alrady been repudiated )

Jeevan : KaakrOsa: kasya ? ( where and by whom was
this repudiated ? )

Lord: GitAdheeshu mama vidhitha: ( By Me , ofcourse ! 
I repudiated it clearly in GitA )

Jeevan: kOathra Saakshi: ? ( Pray , who is the witenss
for Your repudiation in GitA ? )

Lord: Sudhee: syAth ( A man of wisdom and clear mind)

Jeevan :Hantha, tvath pakshapaadheesa ( Well , well!
Then Your wise man is partial to You ).

Lord's above conversation with the deluded soul 
reminding of its eternal sesha realtionship (servitude)
to the Lord is to be remembered by us during 
the Thirumanjanam . He is attesting to that sacred
truth with wet cloth and Tulasi garland .

( To be continued )
Oppiliappan KOil Varadachari Sadagopan