Thirumaalai(48)

Sri Parthasarathi thunai,

Srimathe Ramanujaya Namaha

 

“ Mattrondrum vEinda Maname Madhilarangar

  Kattrinum meitha kazhalinai keezh- uttra

  Thirumaalai paadum seer Thondaradipodi Emperumaanai

  Eppozhudum peesu”

 

“ Srimat Krishna samahvaya Namo yaamuna soonave

  yetkadAkshai kalakshyAnAm sulabha: Sridara: sadaa”

 

Pranams,

 
Paasuram-29
 

“OorilEn kAniyillai oravu mattroruvar ellai

  pAril nin pAdha moolam pattrilEn parama moorthi

  kAroli vannanE! KannanE! KadaruginrEn

  Arular? kalaikanammA! arangamAnagarulAnE!” 

This is an excellent paasuram in which alwar literally cries that he
has no other go, so perumal should by all ways save him and remove all
his samsAric miseries.  This paasuram and the second paasuram ‘pachai mA
malai pOl mEni’ are two paasurams which come to our memory as soon as
we think of the thirumaalai prabandham since they are so very
captivating.   Adiyen really enjoys Unnikrishnan singing these two paasurams in
sweet music which really makes all of us forget ourselves.  Let us now
dive deep into the meanings of this paasuram as given by Sri PVP(though
the writing will be limited to adiyen’s lack of knowledge and
ignorance). 

OorilEn kAniyillai oravu mattroruvar ellai:  Alwar says he doesn’t have
any place to live and no relatives.  Alwar left his birthplace
Thirumandangudi and left all his property and happily came to Srirangam to do
bhagavat/bhAgavata kainkaryam.  We may now wonder if alwar is feeling
for the same.  Some people sell their property and then feel for doing
the same due to the attachment they have on them.  But alwar is not one
among them, then why does he feel that he doesn’t have any land or
relatives?  Lets see what answer Sri PVP has for this.

We do not understand alwar’s mind but thank god we have our beloved
acharya Sri PVP to tell us the correct meaning. 

The vyakhyanam goes as follows: “dEvareer nithya vAsam pannum oorilE
pirakka pettrilEn” “ salagramam thiruvayOdhi koil mudaliya
thirupadhigal…”. 

One should be blessed to be born in a divya desam.  A child born in a
divya desam, from its childhood is always under the kataksham of
bhagavan and bhagavatas.  Sri Alavandar says “Oh! My lord give me a janma,
even if it is a keeta janma(low birth) only in Srirangam where I will be
blessed with bhAgavatas pAdha dhooli”.  In Thiruvallikeni we find even
small small kids reciting prabhandams fluently and taking part in
ghostis with great enthusiasm.  During the summer vacation kids like to enjoy
playing but here kids enjoy spending their time making vahanams for
kutti perumal and decorating their perumal for veedhi purappadu with Sri
Parthasarathi.  This is the magimai of taking birth in a divya desam. 
The minds of even the kids are always filled with bhagavat vishayam.  
So according to alwar ‘oor’ means only divya desam.  Even if we are not
blessed to be born or to live in a divya desam if we have a land or
property over there then atleast to look after it we will frequently visit
the divya desam.  At that time we can visit the perumal over there. 
Even if we are not interested in going to the temple still the temple
gopuram will surely give darshan to us even from a far of distance. 
Perumal will come in purappadu and we will have his darshan.  Our acharyas
say, that is why in those days they built such tall gopurams since even
the gopuram darshanam can wash all our sins.  What an excellent
vyakhyanam.  “dhanathAlum vilaiyAlum vundAi avvoorilE sendru kAniyAlum padiyAi
sparusam vundAi errukka”. 

Here alwar feels for not possessing even such a land in a divya desam
so that he will visit often, atleast due to the interest he has in
maintaining his property safely. Then atleast if we have a relative in a
divyadesam then we will visit them frequently thereby visiting the
divyadesam.  Alwar has left his sareera bhandus and not much interested in
them but here he feels that he doesn’t have a athma bandhu in Srirangam to
visit.  But it is a amazing truth that all Srivaishnavas have in some
way some relative in Srirangam since it is our head quarters and Sri
ranganatha and ranganachiyar likes Srivaishnavas to always live under
their shade.  That is why acharyas born in various places finally came and
settled in Srirangam under the divine grace of the divya dampathis. 
Sri Ranganatha ordered Sri Ramanuja to stay in Srirangam itself and not
to go anywhere else in his last days(“Atraiva SrirangEsa sugamAsva”). 
Sri Manavala Mamunigal in his Arthi Prabhandam proudly declares
“Thiruvarangar seer arulukku elakkAgap pettrOme, thiruvarangam thirupadhiyE
erruppAga peetrOme”. 

If we see closely alwar doesn’t say just he has no relatives rather he
says he has no other relative.  Is there a relative for him in
Srirangam, then?  YES.  He has one athma bandhu who is his relative forever,
Sri ranganatha.  So now alwar continues to talk to the same bandhu. 

  pAril nin pAdha moolam pattrilEn parama moorthi:  But then oh!
Ranganatha though you are my only bandhu I have failed to fall under your
feet and beg for your help.   

kAroli vannanE! KannanE! KadaruginrEn:  Oh! The lord who is black in
color like the clouds, which gives a cooling effect to our eyes and one
who has a eye filled with karunyam, kannan ! I am crying due to deep
sorrow 

Arular? kalaikanammA! arangamAnagarulAnE:  But then who is there other
than you to remove my sorrow? Oh lord, who is in Srirangam, please save
me from this misery , cries alwar. 

Swami desikan in his kAmAsikAshtakam beautifully says, “tvayi rakshathi
rakshakai: kimanyai: tvayi chA rakshathi rakshakai kimanyai:”

In a hospital a person is in his death bed.  All his relatives and
friend say don’t worry we are there here to save you.  We are all with you. 
Will this do anything to save the man if bhagavan has decided to take
his life off?  If the man is destined to die then can even the best
doctor in the world save the person?  Similarly there is a fight between
two persons.  One person says I will kill you! but then the other person
is a bhakthan and emperuman has decided to save him can the first
person do any harm to him?  So no one can do anything against bhagavan’s
sankalpam.  So alwar here says only person who can remove my miseries is
emperuman and none other. 

In Mahabharata,  DuriyOdhana wanted to win the war so he came to
sahadEva who was a great scholar, one of the pancha pandavas himself to get a
date for the bali which has to be given before the war for victory. 
SahadEva being a true scholar couldn’t say something untrue so he told
him to do the same on the amavasya day.  If DuriyOdhana did give the bali
on that day then he is sure to win but Sri Krishna has decided the
result of the war to be otherwise so he went to the extent of changing even
the amavasya day to give victory to his bhakthas, the pandavas.  Such
is bhagavat sankalpam. 

AzhwAr emberumAnAr jeeyar thiruvadigaLE saraNam

Adiyen Ramanuja Dasyai

Sumithra Varadarajan