Day-52 Satrumurai
Satrumurai Pasurams-29 and 30
6th March 2015 was the concluding day of Tirunedunthandakam upanyasam at Tirukudanthai Andavan Manimandapam Srirangam. Ubha Ve. Adoor Asuri Madhavachariar’s upanyasam started in the month of Margazhi as “Tiruppavai and Tirunedunthandakam”.After Tiruppavai was completed Tirunedunthandakam was taken up exclusively and everyone enjoyed swami’s explanations and anubhavams. On the Satrumurai day the final two pasurams were taken up. Parakala nayaki has total faith in Perumal and knows that He will not forsake her. Perumal exists as Para ,Vyuha, Vibhava, Antaryami and Archa. Para roopam is enjoyed by nityasuris, Vyuham by Sanath kumaras, Vibhava refers to the avatharams of Perumal which are between 32-40 in number. Haardam or antaryami swaroopam can be seen by those who know yoga rahasyam. Yoga rahasyam was lost to the world after Kurugaikavalappan. Alavandar who was supposed to learn it missed the date he had to be with Kurugaikavalappan as he was in Tiruvanthapuram and regreted that he had no puspaka vimanam to take him there. So Antaryami darshanam is not possible for people like us. Archa alone can be approached by everyone. The divyamangalamurthis have had prathistai by devas, rishis, kings and by laymen. They have had the mangalasasanams of azhwars and have come to be known as divyadesams. When Perumal has revealed Himself to so many bhakthas, He will definitely not forsake me says Parakala nayaki.
Swami then gave a synopsis of Tirunedunthandakam. The first 10 pasurams are spoken by Kaliyan as Tirumangai azhwar and talk about “Tatva, Hitha , Purushartham.” There are two means to attain Him-Bhakthi and Prappathi. In the next ten Parakala nayaki in the state of Parankusa nayaki is talked about by her mother and these are ‘Thayar-pasurams.’ The next nine pasurams are in the form of a conversation between Parakala nayaki and her friend. This friend is sympatetic to Parakala nayaki who confides her experiences with Perumal and how much she suffers when separated from Him. The 30th pasuram is spoken in the voice of Tirumangaiazhwar himself. Tirumangaiazhwar does not go to moksham at the end of these pasurams he does’ Madal Ooduthal’ after Tirunedunthandakam.
Pasuram-29
In the 29th pasuram Ramavatharam is spoken about and then ‘Amrutha manthanam'(churning of the ocean of milk). As Rama He built a bridge across the ocean and defeated with the help of His kodandam Ravana who knew no defeat . As Krishna He lifted the Govardana hill with His little finger and He resides in Tiruvinnagar as Oppiliappan and is lying down in Tirukudanthai as Amudhan. At this juncture swami recalled how his acharyan Tirukudanthai Srimadh Andavan would get tears in his eyes when a pasuram about Amudhan was recited. Andavan swami did adhyapaka kainkaryam for Amudhan from a very young age and had a special affection for Him. He proved His swamithvam yet again by winning Kumbhagan’s daughter Nappinai after conquering seven ferocious bulls. Ravana on seeing Rama’s gaambhiryam realized that He was none other than Narayana but his ahamkaram( ego )prevented him from surrendering to Him. So the Lord who conquers bhakthas by His saulabhyam wins virodhis by His Shouryam (valour).His weapons rush to protect His devotees like Gajendrazhwar and the same weapons bring about the destruction of virodhis. And it is the very same Perumal who gave the world the 4000 divya prabhandams who is lying down as the cool Aravamudhan amidst the Kaveri waters in Tirukudanthai and standing as the unparalleled Oppiliappan in Tiruvinnagaram. Parakala nayaki says “I do not follow dharma, nor do I know the Vedas , I know no bhakthi nor do I know anything about the atma, but I love You unconditionally and keep thinking about You, Come when You want to.”
Pasuram-30
The 30th pasuram is the “phala shruthi” pasuram spoken by Tirumangaiazhwar himself. He says this creation ‘Tirunedunthandakam’ is ‘Vedantha-Sastram’. It begins with’Tatva, Hitha, Purushartham ‘ and then moves on to ‘Thayar-pasurams’. Tirumangaiazhwar is happy to have created this master-piece . Whenever an acharya’s teachings are taught to a ‘ sath-paatram’ (a deserving student) he gets happy. Acharya smaranam comes when his teachings are taught. This is what Bhaghavadh Ramanuja meant when he said “study Sri Bashyam, and I will be with you.” Dravida shruthis(Tamil pasurams ) give the same phalam (results) as Vedas, Ithihasas and Puranas. The punyams and papams which stand as barriers to moksham are crushed We get close to Him. When dark clouds fill the entire sky rain is imminent. Accompanied by thunder and lightning it falls on everyonee equally without any discrimination. Perumal’s grace is like this. So also an acharya’s karuna which makes them engage in continuous kalakshepams so that His anugraham falls not only on Nityasuris but on all jeevatmas. They constantly engage in imparting gnanam. The Lord did Hamsavatharam and Hayagrivavatharam to reveal ‘ sukshma vedartham’. He incarnated as Nara and Narayana to do upadesam of ‘Nivritthi dharmam'(inward contemplation).Even today we can see Narayana and Nara peaks in Badrikashrama. The Nara peak being the shishya is at a lower level than the Narayana peak. It is a practice for a poet to write his name at the end of his creation. All azhwars have done it as also swami Desikan. Thus Tirumangaiazhwar in the concluding pasuram states that this Tirunedunthandakam is the creation of Parakalan who is like Yama to those who give wrong interpretations to Shruthis. Those who read these verses with their meaning will be rid of their papams and will develop a love for archanubhavam while on earth .
After the conclusion there was prasada distribution (pulihore and sakkarai-ponagal) prepared by swami himself. Then sambavanai for swami took place as a token of thanks. Having fed us with gnanam, and making clear difficult passages by splitting them into parts, he made us understand and enjoy the sublime creation of Tirumangaiazhwar. Swami would be present in the mandapam 15 minutes ahead of time and patiently explain even silly questions. He took trouble to read the translation and corrected wherever needed. This took a lot of responsibility from me. A translation can never convey the impact of the original but it has been done only so that those who do not know Tamil also get to enjoy Azhwar’s wonderful creations. It was with apprehensions that the translation was started. The encouragement of Anudinam, Mukundan swami, and Ubha.Ve Madhavachariar swami ‘s goodness to examine the write-ups that made this possible. Tirumagaiazhwar whose sannidhi we visit everyday in Dasavatharan sannidhi and our acharya Mukkur Srimadh Azhagiasingar have made this happen.
Writeup & Video : Vyjayanthi & Sundararajan
