Naanmugan Thiruvandhaadhi-6 "anbhaavaay! aaraa amudhamaavaay!"

From the Bhakti List Archives

• November 18, 1998


>From: "Madhavakkannan V" 
>Subject: Naanmugan Thiruvandhaadhi-6 "anbhaavaay! aaraa 

Dear BhakthAs :

What a beautiful Paasuram ! '
what an anubhavam ? It is such a  wonderful 
translation by Sri MadhavakkaNNan !
May I suggest to Sri MadhavakkaNNan to continue 
to split the complex compund words of this
great Poet -AzhwAr as he has done here to 
help us appreciate in depth the beauty of the Tamil 
phrases that the AzhwAr has chosen to enjoy 
the spoecial relationship that he enjoys with
the Lord of Thirukkudanthai and His piraatti ?
Thanks Sri MadhavakkaNNan !
V.Sadagopan   

  
>59. "anbhu aavaay!Aaraa amudhu aavaay! * adiyEnuk/
>inbhaavaay ellaamum neeyaavaay*- pon paavai/
>kELvaa! KiLaroLi yen kEsavanE! * kEdinRi/
>aaLvaaykku adiyEnan aaL./
>
>Oh My EmperumaanE! The One who is so loving and kind towards me! The One 
>who is the sweetest insatiable nectar to me! The One who blessed me to 
>have Him as the Absolute ultimate reservoir of Pleasure! The One who is 
>also everything else (means, all other pleasures too!) Oh Kamala NathA! 
>EmperumaanE! The One who shines so lustrously by uniting with the Golden 
>Lotus faced Kamalai always (MahAlakshmi)! The Faultless, Blemishless 
>Lord, You are! And You have enslaved me, (who is always Your servant), 
>out of Your own compassion and mercy on me.

Additional musings on this paasuram 
*************************************

Thirumazhisai Azhwar had special connection to
Sri AarAvamudhan of Thirukkudanthai . He commanded 
the Lord to get up and speak to him and the Lord,
who knows the power of His bhakthan over Him responded
as told ( another YathOkthakAri , another Bhujanga 
Sayanan ).He stayed in that UdhyOga Sayanam
pose and is looking at us too even today .

Thirumazhisai AzhwAr spent His last days at Thirukkudanthai
and attained His lotus feet at this divya desam .
When our AzhwAr addresses the Lord here in 
the 59th paasuram as " AarA amudhu aavaay ",
"anbhu aavAi , adiyEnukku inbhAvAi ,
ellAmum nee aavAi " , Our AzhwAr is enjoying 
his great aanandhAnubhavam in the spirit 
of NammAzhwAr , who declared later , 

" AarAvamudhE adiyEn udalam nin paalanbhAyE
  neerAialainthukaraiyavurukkuhinRa nedumAlE 
  seerAr sennal kavari veesum sezhuneert Thirukkudanthai
  yErAr kOlam thihazhak kidanthAi kaNDEn ammAnE "

Both the AzhwArs refer to the AparyApthAmrutham ,
the insatiable nectar that the Lord is and His 
Parama prEma svarUpam with the emphasis on 
the words , "AaarAvamudhE " and " anbhu ". 

Although the AzhwArs had aaraatha kaadhal
to the divya desa EmperumAns of all divya desams ,
they stayed put at one place (Srirangam for KulasEkarar
and Thondaradipodi, Thirukkudanthai for Thirumazhisai
and ThirukkuruhUr for NammAzhwAr and SrivilliputthUr
for PeriyAzhwAr ). For their niranthara smaraNai ,
they chose one ArchA mUrthy in the  spirit of 
" TaamarchayEth ,taam praNamEth ".

As KethANdapatti AchAryA once said , " Sri Saarnga dhanva: 
srOthrasya" sravaNa aanandha anubhavam creates "rOmAnjam 
tanuthE ".The hearing of the praise of the anantha kalyANa 
guNams of Sri SaarngarAjA of Thirukkudanthai makes one's hair 
stand up in joy as a result of that aanandhAnubhavam .

The prathipadha VyAkyAnam for the Paasura Vaakhyams
of Thirumazhisai will be a wondeful experience to 
enhance one's bhakthi to AarAvamudhan and melt one's
heart . No wonder NammAzhwAr recognizes the residence
of Thirumazhisai and other Parama BhakthAs in 
this KshEthram as " nalatthAl mikkAr Kudanthai
KidanthAi" and " vaazh tol puhazhAr Kudanthai
kidanthAi ". Thirukkudanthai Desikan , who 
established the Munithraya SampradhAyam 
and the Vamsam of AgnihOthram Thatha Desikans 
are examples of these "nalatthAl mikkaar"
and " Vaazh Thol puhazhAr " who followed 
the AzhwArs as great AchAryAs at this divya desam
sanctified by the sacred feet of Thirumazhisai .

The AzhwArs and  the AchAryAs enjoyed Sri Ranganaathan
Himself as AaarAvanudhan :" AarAtha aruL amudham pothintha
Koil " , when they salute Srirangam and its ArchA mUrthy .
MathurAnthakam Sri VeerarAghavAchArya Swamy has pointed out 
the relationship between " Rangan " and " SaaRANGAN " thru 
invocation to the Ooha nyAyam (inference logic mehtod ) used 
by the MeemsakAs . He has pointed out that one has 
to infer from the "Rangi Sabdham " the Saarngi Sabdham "
and understand the unison of thought ( karutthu oRRumai)
between the two sabdhams .This 59th paasuram is therefore
mukOllAsakaram ( that makes the face of the Lord of 
Thirukkudanthai beam with joy )to AarAvamudhan .

Following  along the path shown by Thirumazhisai ,
Thirukkudanthai Sri Gopala MahA Desikan saluted 
the Lord here this way :

sathyam jyOthi: sruthi parishathAm apramEyam PramEyam
kalyANAnAm avikalagraham paavanma pavanAnAm 

(meaning): As the unmistakable and sole target of
the assembly of innumerable Veda manthrams , this 
treaure house of all ausopiciousness and purity ,
which (SaarngarAjan ) shines as eternal effulgence
(jyOthi)at Thirukkudanthai and may that jyOthi
shine forever in my mind ( satyam jyothi: mE
chitthE sadhA bhAthu ) .

The kiLaroLi of AarAvamudhan is saluted by AzhwAr 
in the mannner shown by Vedams ( tath Subrahm '
jyOthishAm JyOthi: ) and Upanishads ( tamEv aBhAntham 
anubhAthi sarvam tasya bhAsA Sarvam idham bhAthi ).
With the reflected jyOthi of that AADHI PARAM JYOTHI ,
all others gain their prakAsams (" ellAmum nee aavAi " ,
both vyaktham and avyaktham ) . 

When Thirumazhisai salutes AarAvanmudhan as 
" KiLaroLi yenn KesavanE " , he is saluting 
the Parama vyOma Bhaaskaran of Bhaaskara KshEthram ,
who in the other AzhwAr's anubhava kramam have been 
enjoyed as :

" sudar oLiyAi nenjinuLLE tOnrumen sOthi nampi" ,
"ulahinil thORRamAi ninRa sudarE " ,
PaNiyAyenakku uyyum vahai ParamjyOthi ' adn
" Mudic ChOthi, Muhac ChOthi, aDic ChOthi , 
paDic chOthi and KaDic ChOthi and paramchudar chOthi ". 

Thirumazhisai in this pasuram acknowledged the parama
bhAndhavyam as " kEdinRi aaLvAiykku adiyEnan aaL,
(" and You have enslaved me ,who is always Your servant ,
out of Your own compassion and mercy for me " ) .
In the spirit of NammAzhwar , who revealed the sarva-
rakshakthvam of our Lord of Thirukkudanthai as 
" kaLaivAi thunpam kaLayA thozhivAi kaLai kaNN 
maRRilEn " . He wnet on to say , " isaivitthennai unn
tALiNai kezhiruthtum ammAnE " and "theerA vinaikaL
theera yennai aaNdai Thirukkudanthai UrAi " .
This sambhandham of Seshan to Sarva Seshi ,
Sri AarAvaudhan is celebrated here so profoundly
by Thirumazhisai AzhwAr .

What a beautiful Paasuram ! What a beautiful
anubhavam ! NaarAyaNa , NaarAyaNa ,

Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan 
BahudhAnya Kaarthikai Third Day .