Thirumaalai(29)

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-15
 

“meiyerkkE meiyanAgum vidhiyilA ennai pOla

  poiyerkkE poiyanAgum putkodiyudayakOmAn

  uyyapOmunArvinArgatkku oruvanendru vunarintha pinnai

  iyappAdu aruththu thOndrum azhaganoor arangamandrE”

 

meiyerkkE meiyanAgum vidhiyilA ennai pOla:   Emperuman’s originial
abode is the SriVaikundan.  But due to his apAra kArunyam he came down to
lift us all up to his nithya vibhoothi and thereby settled in Srirangam
and other divya desams.  But we are all so attached to the leela
vibhoothi that we refuse to even go near bhagavan and get lifted from this
samsAra sAgaram.  So it has been long since emperuman descended down that
now when we ask him to which place he belongs to, he says I belong to
Srirangam forgetting his original abode.  Like many of us, though our
grandparents belonged to some remote village we call ourself to belong to
chennai or whichever city we have been born and brought up.  Alwar in
this paasuram shows how emperuman acts according to our belief.  If we
think him to be true he remains true and if we think he doesn’t exist
then he acts the same.  That is why when a robber robs a vigraham in a
temple thinking it to be simply a stone, emperuman remains like a stone
and hence doesn’t do anything to save himself.  “yA drishi yA drishi
shraddha siddhir vinthathi mAnavaha:”  whatever result is obtained depends
on our dedication.  If we have 100% bhakthi then emperuman comes to our
call 100%, if we have only 50% faith in him then he turns up to be 50%. 
Sri Krishna in bhagavat geetha says, I give you darshan in whatever
form or color you wish for.  Like a mirror which reflects whatever is got
in front of it, bhagavan also reflects our feelings.  That’s why alwar
says “meiyerkkE meiyanAgum” he is true to those who are true.  A
nAstikan considers the idols in the temples to be mere stones so emperuman
never shows his magimai’s to them.  But prahladan considered bhagavan to
be everywhere even in the pillar so the bhagavan Sri hari appeared
immediately from the pillar. “angu appozhudhe thOndriya en singa piran”.

Sri Ramanuja went in search of thirunArAyanapuram rAma priyan till
Delhi.  There in the bhAtsha’s place rAma priyan was enjoying the love of
the bhAtshA’s daughter.  When Sri rAmAnuja requested the girl to give
him his lord the princess refused.  So the king ordered that if his lord
came along with him he can take him.  Ethirajar called, “vArAi chella
pillai” and the emperuman came and sat in the hands of udaiyavar. 
Everyone was surprised to hear the sound of the chalangai and to see the
idol in the hands of udaiyavar.  Others thought it to be a idol so
emperuman didn’t do anything when they carried him to Delhi, the princess
thought him to be his lover so the emperuman did all leelas with her and
ethirAjar thought him to be his chella pillai(beloved son) and hence he
ran to the call of his father and sat in his lap.  So however we think
of him, emperuman transforms to the same.  Here Sri PVP’s vyakhyAnam
goes as follows:

“meiyerkku- than svaroopaththai kAttikkoduppan

poiyyerkku- thannai kAttikkodukkAmal poiyanAi erruppAn”

 

poiyerkkE poiyanAgum putkodiyudayakOmAn:  The above words ‘vidhiyilA
ennai pOla can be either joined with the first part or the proceeding
part.  If we join with the second part, like vidhiyilA ennai pOla
poiyerkkE poiyanAgum then it shows the naichiyAnusandhAnam of thondaradipodi
alwar.  It is a greatest quality of a srivaishnava to consider himself to
be the lowest of the lowest.  A true srivaishnava accepts the mistakes,
even if it was not his mistake at all.  As andal says, ‘nAnEthan
Ayiduga’ and like bharatha in ramanyanam who accepted that, he was only
responsible to send Sri Rama to forest though he was no way responsible. 
Similarly alwar considers himself to be a cheat, a poiyen, who has
cheated bhagavan and stolen the kArunyam of bhagavan.  But can we consider
alwar to be a cheat, so for us it will be better to combine ‘meiyerkkE
meiyanAgum vidhiyilA ennai pOla’ where we say that alwar is meiyen and
emperuman is also true to alwar. 

Alwar said meyyerkkE meiyanAgum and poiyerkkE poiyanAgum, then we will
ask who will become true for those who are true? And who will become
false for those who cheat? Alwar answers, he who has the garudan in his
flag will become the above.  Pul in tamil means bird and the king of
birds is garudan and the lord who has garuda kodi is Sriman Narayanan.

 

uyyapOmunArvinArgatkku oruvanendru vunarintha pinnai:  Our sastras say
‘Udhisyathe! JAkarathe’.  It wakes up the jeevatmas whose eyes are
closed by agyanam.  It says if you wake up and believe me I will show you
bhagavan.  But it never forces anyway to accept what it says blindly. 
If you have the bhakyam you will realize the truth.  On the first day, a
child is given some sugar to taste and at the last a hand full of rice
is put in our mouth.  That is life.  Still inbetween we run to obtain
wealth and enjoy the lowkika pleasures.  We lag to think about the lord
who is capable of dissolving all our miseries in this world and take us
to the eternal bliss where there is no miseries and from where we will
never return.  But if we really have faith in him and understand he is
our only protector then,

 

iyappAdu aruththu thOndrum azhaganoor arangamandrE :  he clears all our
doubts and comes in front of us and makes us enjoy his divine beauty. 
Astonished by his beauty when we ask him who he is?  He says I belong
to thiruvarangam and disappears.  If he has said I was rama or Krishna
then we cannot see him today since the avataram is over.  If he says I
am vaikundapathi or sheerapthinAdan, then we can never approach his
place.  But then he said that he belonged to srirangam which is in this
same leela vibhoothi, in the same time of our life tenure and he is highly
accessible by each one of us.  Then why should we hesitate and miss his
sevai and kainkaryam?

 

AzhwAr emberumAnAr jeeyar thiruvadigaLE saraNam

Adiyen Ramanuja Dasyai

Sumithra Varadarajan