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Thiruvaimozhi NooRRanthaadhi of Sri MaNavALa MaamunigaL

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Sadagopan • October 16, 1999 


Dear BhakthAs :

One of the most beautiful Prabhandhams of 
Sri MaNavALa MaamunigaL ( MM )is known as
ThiruvAimozhi NooRRanthAdhi (TN). There are exactly 
100 paasurams in this prabhndham and each of the paasurams
is a summary of each of the 100 decades of 
Swami NammAzhwAr's ThiruvAimozhi .

As a dhivya prabhandham , TN of MM has some extraordinary
features :

1) First of all it is set in the anthAdhi thodai 
style , where the last word of each paasuram becomes 
the first word of the next paasuram as in the case
of ThiruvAimozhi of Swami NammAzhwAr.

2)The brilliant summary of each of the 100
decades in just four lines corresponding to
them is an extraordinary testimony to the genius 
of MM in capturing the essence of those 100 decades
of Swami NammAzhwAr .Each paasuram sums up brilliantly 
the uyir karutthu of that decade. 

3) The salutation to Swami NammAzhwAr is specifically
included in each of these 100 paasurams by his name
(MaaRan ).

4)Two extraordinary restrictions that MM imposed
on himself during the composition of the verses 
of TN are:(a) the first word of each paasuram of TN
begins with the first word of the decade of
ThiruvAimozhi that he is summarizing (b)the last word
of the paasuram be the first word of the next decade
of ThiruvAimozhi(TVM) .In between these two 'must "words from
Swami NammazhwAr's ThiruvAimozhi  , MM housed other words 
pregnat with meaning to capture the essence of that decade .
This is remarkable testimony to the skills of MM
as a divine poet , who was the subject of the paripUrNa
anugraham of Lord RanganAthA of Srirangam .

The Two Taniyans for TN
*************************

allum pahalum anubhavippAr tangaLakkuc
  chollum poruL thohuthtu uraitthAn--nalla
ManavALa Maamunivan MaaRan maraikkut-
taNavA NooRRanthAdhi thaan.......(1)

(Meaning ): The most benovolent MM blessed us with 
a condensed essence of MaaRan's TVM in the form of 
a nooRRanthAdhi using sweet words and deep meanings
so that all of us can enjoy it heartily day and night . 

mannu puhazh sEr MaNavALa Maamunivan
  tannaruLAl uttporuLkaL tannudanE--sonna
ThiruvAimozhi NooRRanthAdhiyAM thEnai
  oruvAthu arundhu nenjE uRRu......(2)

(meaning ): Oh my mind ! May thou be blessed to drink 
without let the honey of ThiruvAimozhi nooRRanthAdhi 
with its deep meanings bequeathed to us with great 
dayA for us by the great MM of undiminishing glory .

The Individual Paasurams of TN: The First Decade of TVM
*********************************************************

uyarvE PARAN padiyai uLLathellAm thAnn kaNdu 
  uyarvEda nErkoNduraitthu --mayarvEthum 
vaarAmal Maanidarai vAzhvikkum MaaRan soll
  vErAhavE viLayum Veedu ...........(1)

(Meaning ): Swami NammAzhwAr experienced directly
the svarUpa-svabhAva visEshams , the glorious
anantha kalyANa GuNams pertaining to Sriman NaarAyaNan's 
illustrious nature as the Supreme divinty (PARAN) 
and His unparalleled dayA svabhAvam ; MaaRan described 
further these tattvams in the light of immortal Veda 
Manthrams . Maaran did this for our upliftment and Moksha 
siddhi (attainment of Moksham )through the banishment of 
our false knowledge ( aj~nAnam) with his Sri Sookthis .

Comments on MM's summary of the first decade 
*********************************************

(1) This decad has 11 paasurams . The paasurams have 
richness in the choice of words (sabdha Poushkalyam ) 
and depth of meaning (artha Poushkalyam).

(2) "uyarvE Paran PaDi ':the SvarUpa-SvabhAva VisEshams of 
Sriman NaarAyaNan is cast here in the light of TaittirIya 
Upanishad Vaakyam ( Satyam Jn~Anam anantham BrahmA ) is
celebrated by MM here . His glories as Paran
and ParAth-Paran is saluted through the recognition 
of His svarUpam as Ubhaya VibhUthi Visishtan 
( the prAkruthic and the aprAkruthic worlds , the  owner
of the LeelA VibhUthi , this world and the Nithya VibhUthi, 
 Srivaikuntam ).

(3)" Uyar Vedam nEr KoNdu Uraitthu ": Swami NammAzhwAr's 
Sri sookthis sing in unison (Eikya KhaNtam )with
the teachings of Vedam and vedAntham . The end result
is Ubhaya VedAntha Eikhya Kantam or the synergy between
the Veda-Vedanthams and ThiruvAimozhi Paasurams .

(4) The first six paasurams of this decad cover the first 
two chapters of Brahma Soothram ( SamanvayAdhyAyam and
AvirOdhAdhyAyam ) as intrepreted by Sri BhaashyakArar.

(5)" mayarvu yEthum VaarAmal" : Sriman NaarAyaNan removed 
completely  the "mayarvu" of Swami Nammazhwar and he 
in turn removed our "mayarvu" , which consists of
 dEhAthma Bramama ( the confusion that the body is 
the Aathman ), various doubts regarding the siddhAntham
and forgetting the true doctrines learnt earlier through
a sadAchAryan . 

(6)" MaaRan soll vErAhavE viLayum Veedu " : Any tree does not
arise without the root .Similarly , Moksham can not be attained
without the grace of Swami NammAzhwAr. His grace is thus 
the causative principle behind the realization of Moksha Siddhi .

Daasan, Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan