A Tribute to ThiruppANAzhwAr : Kaarthikai RohiNI Thirunakshathram: Part I , The longing to have the darsanam of ArangatthammAn ( Part II , The anubhavam of the darsanam of Thiruvaranga ThirumAl) .

From the Bhakti List Archives

• November 24, 1999


Dear Sri RanganAtha BhakthAs : 

Yesterday was Kaarthigai Krithtigai . On that
PourNami day , Thirumnagai was born and stood
at Thiruvarangatthu ThirumuRRam and feasted on
the beauty of ThiruvudayAL MaNALan of Srirangam.

Thirumangai declared there with immense sense of
satisfaction :

" --PerumAnai TannadiyAr manatthu yenRum thEnAhi ,
amudhamAhi thihaznthAnai , mahizhinthu orukkaal
AanAyanai kaNDathu ThennarangatthE "

(Meaning):I saw with great joy (with my own eyes)
the Supreme Lord , who prefers to reside permanently
in the heart lotuses of His adiyArs as nectar 
at the dhivya dEsam of Srirangam .

Here the mangaLAsAsanam is for Periya PerumAL (Moolavar)
giving darsanam to Thirumangai in the form of
RaajagOpAlan , the cowherd of BrindhAvanam .

Thirumangai recognizes Him as the One resplendently
resident in the heart lotuses of His adiyArs as
the delectable honey and amrutha svarUpan .

Thirumangai went on to say : " Aamaruvi nirai mEyttha 
ANi ArangatthammAnai , -- mai vaNNam karu muhil pOl 
thikazh vaNNa Maragathatthin  avvaNNa VaNNanai yaan 
kaNdathu ThennarangatthE " . He reminded us that he
had the darsana soubhAgyam of the cowherd with 
the dark hue of the rainy season clouds grazing His 
cows and calves at the southern dhivya desam of Srirangam .
This experience of parakAla Naayaki is very sililar
to the darsanam of ANDAL at the end of Her Dhivya 
Prabhandham , NaacchiyAr Thirumozhi . 

Just before Thirumangai AzhwAr , another dearest Bhakthan
of Punal Arangatthu AmmAn stood on the banks of Cauveri
at URayUr , closed his eyes and had the darsanam of
his dear one and was lost in that rapturous vision .
With the music of his lute accompanying his
sweet voice , this Bhaktha sikhAmaNi , who came to
be known later as ThiruppANAzhwAr sang about his 
misfortune of not being able to see the Lord at 
His sanctum because of his birht status . The rest of 
the incidents that followed from the ThiruviLayAdal of 
ArangathammAn are well known.

ThiruppANar was brought to the Sannidhi of Sri RangEsan
on the shoulders of  Loka Saaranga Muni , performed 
MangaLAsAsanam for his Lord with the glorious AmalanAdhippirAn 
paasurams and merged thereafter with the Lord's param JyOthi . 
Swami Desikan was moved by that Bahktha Charithram 
that he blessed us with a ChillaRai Rahasyam known as 
" Muni Vaahan BhOgam ". 

In this special two postings for ThiruppANAzhwAr's
Thirunakshathram , adiyEn will start with the decription
of the longing of ThiruppANar to have the darsanam of 
His Lord and then conclude with his joy over the 
blessings arising from that sevai .The first posting 
will be in the form of a song befitting ThiruppANar's 
role as the bard-singer of the Lord's glories .The krithi is
set in Raagam VasanthA as the cool morning breeze 
comforts him on the banks of the fast flowing Cauvery 
river :

Pallavi:     Ranganik KaaNNpatheppO ?
             KasthUri Ranganik KaaNNpatheppo? 

AnuPallavi:  KaaroLi VaNNanai , KOmaLak KaNNanai ,
             oLi mathisEr ThirumuhatthAnai (Ranganai KaaNpatheppO)

CharaNam I : Malarc chOlai Thiruvarangat ThirumAlai,
             YeNN disayum paraviya maa perum sOthiyai (KaaNpatheppO)

CharaNam II: RaamanAik KaNNanAi niRaintha Disai ViLakkinai
             aNi pozhil tannil , Aamaruvi nirai mEyttha (Ranganai-- )

CharaNam II :ThEsudait thEvanai , TamaruLLam kOil Vaazh NaathanAi 
             VEdhanai, yenn Aaviyaai , amuthanaai niRkum( Ranganaik--)

CharaNam III:Maiyyal seythu yenn manam kavarnthAnai , KaRpahamAi ,
             KaathalanAi kamazhum kaamuhanai , PaaviyEN KaaNNpatheppO?
             ( Aananandha Ranganaik kANpatheppO? )

SrimathE RanganAyaki SamEtha Sri RanganAthAya NamO Nama:
ThiruppANAzhwAr ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,
Daasan, Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan