Discourse On Amalanadhipiran – Day 22 Concludes

Amalanadhipiran Upanyasam  (Sattrumurai)  by Dr. S. Lakshmi Kumar Tatachariyar (Pudukkottai Vasudevan) Day-22  Pasuram-10

 We have come to the concluding pasuram of Amalanadipuram rendered for the past 22 days by Ubha.Ve. Dr.Laxmi kumara Tatachariyar swami. We would have liked a lot of Srirangamvasis to have joined us in the beautiful anubhavam but since swami is a working person timings had to be scheduled according to his convenience. We must say it was a wonderful experience and we were transported to the world of Tiruppanazhwar and Swami Desikan during the discourse. Depending on the feedback and suggestions we may request swami for more such talks. Swami concluded the discourse on 12/5/2015. Now, to come to the Sattrumurai pasuram , swami had explained how Perumal was Neela meghavarnan. Like the rainbearing clouds which put an end to the intensity of the summer’s heat Perumal has ‘shramaharatvam’( ending troubles) and ‘ahladhatvam’(confering happiness). The clouds give what is useful to mankind. The salty sea water is transformed to sweet potable water.   Thus His ‘paratva-saulabhyam’ is manifested. He is a ‘Hithaishi’ (does what is good for us).

 He is addressed as ’kovalanai’. Go’ means Vedams and He is ‘shruthipratipadhyan’. ‘Go –means   vak(speech). He can be seen through sastras with divya-chakshus(divine- vision).This is paratvam,. His grazing of cows in Brindavanam and dancing for a ball of butter is saulabhyam. Azhwar says He is like ghee lying hidden in just milked milk. That is He is present in fresh milk but cannot be sighted. To get ghee , we need to boil the milk, cool it add a spoonful of curds and leave it to set and become thick curds. The curds have to be churned till we get butter and the butter has to be heated to form ghee.We are like fresh milk. We have no idea about  prakruthi-purusha difference. Learning sastrams is equal to the boiling of milk. By boiling all unnecessary elements are removed. After the milk is cooled Bhaghavatha sambandam comes in the form of curd .Sastra gnana prapthi takes place. When the milk is transformed into curds we  become a ‘bhaghavathan’. The churning refers to vedantha vicharam. rajas and  tamo  gunams go and satvam comes up like the butter . The butter is heated to form ghee that is we are ready for prappathi . Perumal loves the gnani so He stole butter and holds a ball of butter in His Hands.

‘Unda vayyan’- He does anubhavam of chetanam. A father loves the sight of his son. The son gets elated to be with his father. So also Perumal loves devotees just as much as they love Him. He swallowed not only butter (saulabhyam) but the entire cosmos (Paratvam).

‘en ullum’- My mind and heart which were involved in mundane and materialistic pursuits have  been conquered by Him. Even though we have no qualification He reveals Himself to us. He is’Andarkon’ the Swami of all andams (worlds) but has made Srirangam His home. With Him came all nityasuris, celestials who take some form or other and reside here. He is Amudhan but there is no toil involved in obtaining this Amudhan  who is obtained by a mere anjali. Whatever He touches becomes Amritham. He gave the devathas the amritham they wanted and obtained for Himself Lakshmi Amritham .

Talking of Amudhan Tirumangaiazhwar usually talks of Rama and Krishna alternatively.Rama’s avatharam was under Punarvasu star as if to indicate He would have a punar avathara as Vasudeva’s son. The rishis of Dandakarnya who longed for union with Him took birth as the vrajagopikas. Andal’s love is Krishna but She calls Rama  as ‘manatthuku iniyan'(pleasing to the mind.) Krishna loved to tease girls whereas Rama went to such great lengths to get back Seetha. Rama thus stole all our hearts and is the Amudhan referred to by Tiruppanazhwar for NamPerumal is none other than Rama. Swami then dealt at length about the use of ‘my, ‘ and mine by azhwar and whether they indicated ahamkaram. Swami Desikan says that azhwars had no ahamkaram/mamakaram and use of these words show that He is antaryami  to everything in creation.

‘Marronrinai kannave’ describes azhwar’s elation on sighting Perumal. His state was like a poverty stricken man sighting a pot of gold. While seeking small pleasures our eyes and mind wanders but when we get purushartham our eyes spy nothing else. Bhuma vidhya says that the person who has seen Him sees nothing else, hears nothing else.

‘Maronrinai kannave’ can be interpreted thus:Tiruppanazhwar after seeing Periya Perumal did not see Brahma or Shiva who had come to worship Him.

‘Marronrinai kannave ‘- Bhakthas fall into 3 categories-aarthi jignasu and gnanis. Aarthi or artharthi take His ashrayam for wealth. The jignasu seeks kaivalyanubhavam that is sighting and enjoying his own atma. A kaivalyarthi is like a forsaken woman and gets heyam (no good) . The gnani seeks Sriyapathi alone.

‘Marronrinai kanave’ can also be interpreted thus-The mind sees everything as ‘Bhaghavatha vibhuthi’. All divyadesa Perumals reside on His Tirumeni. Para,vyuha and vibhava roopams reside in Him’ Srirama did not know how to reward Hanuman so He gave him a hug. Hanuman cherished the Hug so much that he wanted to stay with that body on earth itself and even refused Vaikuntalokam. Nammazhwar also wanted only His Feet. These Feet were the target of Tiruppanazhwar too.

Swami Desikan created ‘Munivahana bhogham’ to explain Tiruppanazhwar’s Amalanadipiran. Swami avers that Srirangam is ‘Pranava swaroopam’ and adresses azhwar as’ nam pannanathan’. Tiruppanazhwar sowed the seed for Swami Desikan’s Padhuka Sahasram. When recited with belief this Amalanadipiran confers all the goodness which ensues by ashtakshara mahamantra japam. Periya Perumal brought Tiruppanazhwar from the banks of Kaveri to His sanctum sanctorum. He brought swami Desikan from Kanchipuram(via Kollidam) to Srirangam. Like Tiruppanazhwar is ‘nam pannan’ swami Desikan is ‘nam vedantharyan’ for Periya Perumal( it was He who conferred the title Vedanthacharyan). Swami Desikan acknowledges that all his vedanthagranthams were based on Amalanadipiram. Amalanadipiran will give us ‘Ranganatha-krupa’.

Tiruppanazhwar Tiruvadigale sharanam!

Part-1

Part -2

Writeup & Video : Vyjayanthi & Sundararajan