Selected Excerpts from MahA VidvAn Sri
U.Ve. PerukkAraNai Swamy ' ThiruppAvai Monograph'
This 26th Paasuram is about Isvaran, the 26th Tatthvam. The Upanishad points Him out as the 26th Tattvam ( Tamm shat-vimsakam ithyAhu:). The importance of the number 26 among the Tattvams is seen at Hasthigiri of Lord VaradarAjan . The chEthanam (the Jeevan as the 25th tattvam )climbs the 24 steps (SarIram with 24 tattvams , which is an obstacle for mOksham ) to get to the sannidhi of Isvaran on top of the Hasthigiri waiting for it (jeevan) pateiently as the 26th and the Supreme Tattvam.
Literal Meaning of "MaalE MaNivaNNA " Paasuram (Dr.Raghavan)
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(Here ,the young gOpis request the granting of drum , lamp , flag ,
canopy et al). Oh the embodiment of pure disinterested love ! Oh
Lord of wonderful colour of the blue sapphire gem! May You listen
to us
(1)who perform the " bathing during Maargazhi", an observance
the great ancient people followed and
(2) who are in the need of following SIX things (for the vratham):
(a)superior conches similar to Your great Paanchajanyam, which have
the white hue of milk and which through their tumultous sound shakes all
the worlds
(b) giant size drums/bhEris
(c) PallANDu singers
(d)decorative lamps
(e)dhvajam-banner& flags and
(f)a big canopy .
Oh Lord MaayAvin! the One who just reposed as a baby on a banyan leaf (Vatapathra-saayin) in the waters of PraLayam ! Kindly bless us with these six vrathOpakaraNams through Your limitless grace.
BhUvarAhAcchAr Swamy's observations about his paasuram
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Lord KrishNA seated on His simhAsanam asks the Gopis to explain the
self-contradiction in their appeals:
" Oh Gopis ! You say You have come to get materials from me for
Your nOnbhu and in the same breath say that You have
come to enjoy My company. Those who desire my company need to
eschew all other desires . Moreover, What is this nOnbhu that You
refer to ? Who has prescribed it and what are the accessories recommended
for that nOnbhu?".
Gopis respond:
" Oh Lord , the Cowherds proposed this vratham to gain auspiciousness. We readily responded since it came handy to see Your face and sing about Your glories . We observe this nOnbhu also to express our gratitude towards those cowherds , who have brought about our union under this pretext".
Although there is no direct Vedic injunction (to perform this nOnbhu), we do it bacuse our ancestors have performed it (mElayAr seyvanagaL). We give more importance to our learned ancestors than to any other injunctions ".
ANDAL is giving us the message (upadesam) that age old customs , traditions and practises of our AchAryAs are to be respected and observed with great care.
By enumerating all the accessories for the nOnbhu , ANDAL is speaking
about SAAMYAPPATTHI --where the liberated
soul gets emblems and insignias similar to that of the Lord , Sri VaikuntanAthan.
The address of the Lord as " MaalE " is to depict the Lord's unlimited love and concern for the Jeevan. It is the stand-in for the word " Maam " (MAmEkam SaraNam Vraja )in the Charama SlOkam .
The address of the Lord as "AalinilayAi" in the final paadham of this paasuram refers to His immense prowess as revealed by the word "AHAM " in the same charama slOkam (AHAM thvaa sarva paapEbhyO MokshayishyAmi maa sucha:)."Maam" shows His easy accessibility (Soulabhyam) and "AHAM " , His omnipotence.
The Inner meanings of the Paasuram (Abhinava Desikan )
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We perform hrudh-Yaagam (mAnasIka aarAdhanam) first and then engage
in BhAhyArAdhanam ( external aarAdhanam). Latter has six steps (aasanams)
as established by sishtAgresarars ( done by the leaders of righteous conduct:
mElayAr seyvanakaL) . The word group "mElayAr seyvanakaL vENDuvana " is
the essence of this paasuram , where sishtAchAram (Conductof the
noble ones)is celebrated as the way to follow ,whenever one is in
doubt.
The six Aasanams are:
(1) manthrAsanam
(2) SnAnAsanam
(3)alankArAsanam
(4)bhOjyAsanam
(5) punar-manthrAsanam and
(6) paryankAsanam .
We have to seat the Lord in each of the six aasanams and offer upachArams. The six accesories desired by Gopis for the AaarAdhanam match with the six aasanams :
(1) blowing of the conch (pranava nAtham) is manthrAsanam
(2)Vadhya ghOsham is performed in SnAnAsanam/ Thirumanjanam
(3)during alankArAsanam , manthra pushpam and recitation of aruLiccheyalkaL
& Vedic chanting.This is equivalent to singing PallANDu
(4) The samarpaNam of NaivEdhyam for the Lord is known as lighting
a lamp
(5)During punar-manthrAsanam , vij~nApanam is made whether the
Lord desires any sanchaaram on Garudan , His kodi (Dhvajam) and
(6) in paryankAsanam , the vidhAnam (canopy)is spread over the Lord's
bed . Thus , the six upakaraNams ( Sankhu , Parai, PallANDU-isaippAr
, Kola ViLakku , Kodi and VidhAnam ) are mappable to the six Aasanams
prescribed for the six stages of external AarAdhanam for the Lord. This
Bhagavath AarAdhana Kramam is covered in detail in the AchArya RaamAnujA
CD ROM released last year.
Inner meanings by Sri PBA Swamy
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The Gopis seek Maarga seersha AvagAhanam (Marghazhi neerAtam ) as the
most illustrious Bhagavath prApthi margam ( the means to attain
the Lord) , namely , resting under the comforting doctrine of AchArya
abhimAnam and total visvAsam in
that AchAryan .Swamy Desikan's NyAsa Tilakam passages (viz),
" andhO anandha grahaNa vachaka:" and " dhatthE Rangi nijamapi padham DesikAdEsa
kaankshi" are cited as illustrations as how we should follow AchArya Niyamanam
to attain full phalan of Prapatthi.
The Gopis driven by BhAva PradhAna nirdEsa nyAyam ( revealing their
dominant bhAvanai/behavior of following AchArya Nishtai) want to
become the six accessories that they seek : Sankhu ( to become suddha
Saathvikars and not to leave Lord's hand ever);PaRai ( to become like sounding
to clebrate the glories of achAryan and their paramparai);PallANDu isaippAr
( like PeriyAzhwAr to sing PallANDu to Him ); Kola ViLakku (to become
endowed with Svayam PrakAsam ); Kodi is Dhavajam
( to hold the flag of "Srimallakshmana YogIndhra siddhAntha Vijaya
dhvajam );VidhAnam ( Like the nithya- sUri, Garudan , who is equated to
VidhAnam by Swamy AaLavanthAr in His sthOthra rathna slOkam : DaasassakhA
vaahanamAsanam dhvajO VIDHAANAM vyajanam ThrayImaya:). They seek
like Garudan , " sarva desa , sarva Kaala , sarva avasthOcitha
asEsha Kaimkaraya" anubhavam from KrishNA.
"mElayAr SeyvanakaL " is the jeeva naadi for this paasuram. ANDAL, received Upadesam from Her AchAryan ,PeriyAzhwAr the GarudAmsar , about the GithOpanishad slOkam 3.21and She blesses us with that upadEsam :
yadhyadhAcharathi srEshtastatthEvEtarO Jana:
sa YathpramANam kuruthE LokastadhanuvarthatE
(Meaning):" Whatever a great man does, other men also do.whichever standard he sets, the world follows it...With regard to any duty , which is being performed with all its ancillaries by an eminent personage, the people with imncomplete knowledge will do it with the same ancillaries".
SvApadEsArthams by PerukkAraNai Swamy
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MaalE MaNivaNNA ! = Oh Lord of exquisite beauty and who has unlimited love for the chEthanams
Maarghazhi neerAduvAn = for performing the superior act of SaraNAgathi
mElayAr vENDuvana = if You want to hear about the rites
seyvanaikaL
to be performed by us for that upAyam
kEttiyEl
recommended by our noble ancestors ,
we will tell You about them.
pOlvana
= The aanukoolya sankalpam arising
sankhangaL
from the sankha dhvani, which is like
the Jn~Anam-giving Pranava nAdham
pOypAdudai
= the prAthikoolya varjana sankalpam arising
paRayE
from the vast , apourushEya Vedam serving
as the resonating BhEri (PaRai) naadham
pal aaNdu = for a long time
isaippArE
= (accumulating )the pahala thyAgam arising
from those with visvAsam
kOla VilakkE = having mahA visvAsam (in YOU)
kodi
= experiencing utter helplessness about
our ability (to protect ourselves)and seeking
Your grace like a flag fluttering
in the fierce wind (KaarpaNyam)
vidhAnam
= (seeking )gopthruva varanam , all these
angams of SaraNAgathi ,
aruL = Oh Lord , please bless us with them.
PerukkAraNai Swamy has 30 pages of commentary on this paasuram .His elaborations on Karthavyam ( that which must be done), ThyAjyam ( That which needs to be abandoned) , the daily duites of Men and Women as Sri VaishNavAs are very important areas for reflection . adiyEn can capture only a limited portion due to limits of space and time.
Soodikkoduttha NaacchiyAr ThiruvadigaLE Saranam ,
Sarvam KrushNArpanam asthu
RaamAnuja Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri
SatakOpan
Web page kaimkaryam by R.Venkat