SrI
Srimathe ramanujaya namaha

Simple English Meaning for Thiruppavai

By

Sri.V.Satakopan


Selected Excerpts from MahA VidvAn Sri U.Ve. PerukkAraNai Swamy ' ThiruppAvai Monograph'

Fourth Pasuram ( Azhi mazhai kaNNaa..)

 On this fourth day of ThiruppAvai Vratham , adiyEn will Cover " Azhimazhaik KaNNA " paasuram , where Godhai and
Her friends sing in praise of " God VaruNA , the God of rains" and request Him to bless them with copious rains
for the Maarghazhi vratham observance .

The Meaning of this Paasuram ( Dr.V.K.S.N.Raghavan)
 
Oh Lord VaruNA who is the prsding deity of ocean-like  burst of rains! (We pray to you so that ) you please do not make your gift very small(i.e. be bounteous  towards us). We request you (in the form of clouds) to pour plenty of rains in the world;first you should  get into the womb of the deep seas and take excessive water ( so that even the sea becomes bereft of water),make thunder (uproar), and go higher up (in the sky); (the color of ) your body should become as dark as  that of the primordial cause of the world ( Oozhi Mudalvan= Jagath Kaarana BhUthan); you should become resplendent with lightning, just as the dazzling discus (Aazhi=Chakram) held on the hand of Lord PadmanAbha with broad shoulders; you should make a thunderous roar like the conch(Paanchajanyam) held on the hand of the Lord; you should bring forth rains  in abundance without any cessation,--the rains just like the shower of arrows coming forth in succession from the bow (Saarangam) of the Lord.;your rains should be for
the good of the world so that the world flourishes ; and ,through your rains , we will have plenty of water and also happily take the ceremonial bath during Maarghazhi month. ( Lord VishNu's important weapons--discus, conch and bow  are cited here , in a form of invocation as it were; and Lord PadmanAbha is indicated as the JagathkAraNan--  the primordial cause ).

The Inner Meanings of this Paasuram
 

Aazhi Mazhaik KaNNA   Oh Venerable AchAryAs , who  pour down the rain of Jn~Anam  and whose eyes are flodded with  the showers of aanandham (bliss)  through Bhagavath anubhavam !
Nee onRu kai karavEl  Please bless us with all the meanings of the three rahasyams   without holding back any.
Aazhiut-pukku  after entering the milky ocean  of Upanishads
muhanthu kodu    taking the quintessential meanings
aarthu yERi  and roaring like a lion
Oozhi mudalvan uruvam 
pOl mey karutthu 
You (AchAryAs) who have the dark  hue of the Lord due to your constant    meditation of that dark-complexioned Lord and You who are filled with  infinite dayA similar to that of the Lord and who are the embodiment of His compassion (Tanmayathvam)
Paazhiyam thOLudai  PaRpanAbhan kaiyil  Aazhi pOl minni You who have the radiance arising   from your dhivya Jn~Anam
Valampuri pOl ninRu athirnthu  You roaring like HayagrIva ghOsham (Jn~Anandha maya vijaya ghOsham)
thAzhAthE  thinking that there will be inauspiciousness , if You (as AchAryAs)do not perform upadEsam  to your sishyAs
Saarngam Udaittha 
Sara Mazhai pOl 
 showering the Jn~Ana varsham ( torrent  of Jn~Anam) like the bhANa Varsham ( the torrent of arrows leaving KodhanDa Raaman's Saarangam bow)
Ulahinil Vaazha  For the people of the world to survive   and live
Mahinzthu peythidAi  please rain (of Jn~Anam) with joy
 
naangaLum mahizhnthu  
Maarghazhi neerAda  
 so that we will engage in the most exalted (Maargha seersham /thalai
 siRantha ) act of Prapatthi/SaraNAgathi at Your sacred feet !

 

(Summary ): In the Ongi UlahaLantha Utthaman Paasuram ,ANDAL equated AchAryAs to "VaLLal Perum PasukkaL" or
the most generous and lofty milk cows.The sishyAs through the anugraham of these AchAryAs drink the milk of Jn~Anam.
In the 4th(next) paasuram , the AchAryAs are compared by ANDAL to the dark , rain-baring , monsoon clouds that pour down
Jn~Anam on those , who seek their refuge and uplift them from the taapams of samsAram and prepare them for Moksha Siddhi
through the sacred rite of aathma-samarpaNam.

SadAchAryAs serving as KaaruNyAmrutha Meghams

 Sri P.B. AnnangarAcchAr Swamy(PBA) has given us ten pramAnams from purAnams and AzhwAr paasurams that effectively compares SadAchAryAs to rain bearing clouds .At the end of that discourse , Sri PBA Swamy has quoted the Sanskrit slOkam ,
( LakshmInAthAkhya Sindhou Sataripu jalatha: praapya KaaruNya neeram----DesikEndhra pramoukai:);this slOkam describes how the KaaLa Megham named Swamy NammAzhwAr plunged deep into the ocean of DayA known as LakshmInArAyanan
and showered copiously on the mountain peak (Naathamuni) and how those auspicious waters flowed from there in the form of
two fountains ( UyyakkoNDAr and MaNakkAl Nampi) , which joined to form the river ( AaLavanthAr) and which entered
into the immense lake of RaamAnujA ; That lake overflowing with Jn~Ana theertham exited through 74 sluices ( 74 SimhAsana
adhipathis) to bless the samsAris continously .

AchArya RaamAnujA as a Daya-laden rain cloud

 adiyEn is reminded of the  many passages in Swamy Desikan's YathirAja Sapthathi that eloquently compare AchArya RaamAnujA to the rich daya-laden cloud  cooling us ( SamsAris) with and uplifting us through the downpour of divine Jn~Anam :

Sruthi Surabhaya: SuddhAnandha abhivarshuka VaaridhA:
--SlOkam 47
(These clouds have the fragrance of VedAs and shower the purest of pure bliss all around).

udhgruhNItham upanishadsu nigUDam arTam --
---SlOkam 25
( here AchArya RaamAnujA's hands dipping into the deep ocean of Upanishads and bringing out their essential meanings (SaarArthams) is described.

SlOkams 30 (paanIya Sindhu:) , 32 ( anthyam varNam
prathayathi), 60 ( (nirucchEdhA Yathipathi DayA
dhivya taDinee --samAplaavayathi/ that never drying GangA pravAham known as YathirAja"s Daya immerses me
in it ).

Abhinava Desikan's insights

 One Illustrative example of the brilliant insights backed up by Ubhaya VedAntham of Abhinava Desikan
is given below:

The ThiruppAvai vratham observers are ParamaikAnthis ( Those who will not worship anyone other than Sriman NaarAyaNan and will not ask anything for themselves); hence , they will not pray to the rain god VaruNan (DevathAntharam) for boons to bless them with abubdant showers.The Gopis addressed therefore the God of rain as "Aazhi Mazhaik KaNNan " .KaNNan is the name for the adhyakshakan /nirvAhakan (commander) of the rain clouds.He is the antharyAmi of the Meghams.The gopis addressed Him as Jn~Ana VairAgya KaaruNya KalyAna guNa samudhram and Sarva Tanthra Svathanthran and invoked HIM for the copious rain for the Subhiksham (well being ) of the world .

The greatness of ANDAL's reverence for Tamizh language

 Sriman PerukkAraNai Swamy points out that ANDAL has used the unique Tamizh letter (Zha) ELEVEN TIMES in this paasuram : Aaazhi , Mazhai , OOzhi , Paazhiyam ,  thAzhAthE , Vaazha , Maarghazhi , Mahizhnthu ---.The use of letter "Zha" is unique for Tamizh BhAsahi (language) ANDAL's father used it (ZHA) TEN TIMES in 285th Paaasuram of Dhivya prabhandham ( Kuzhal IruNDu--).It looks like the daughter went beyond him in this matter !

This paasuram is a great one that celebrates the glories of SadAchAryans and their KaaruNyam .There are many other deep meanings that adiyEn could not include due to the need to keep the postigns brief.adiyEn will be faced with this dilemma throughout this series of postings and request devotees' understanding. There is so much more .


Some more..

adiyEn has covered sofar the first four of six pentads of ThiruppAvai. Tomorrow ,adiyEn will cover the special meanings of the fifth paasuram.This is an appropriate time to describe breifly the natural divisions into which the meanings of
ThiruppAvai have been classified.

The total thirty paasurams of ThiruppAvai have been  grouped in to six sets of five by AchAryAs (5x5+5=30).
These six sets of five focus on the following six topics:

(1) First Five: The ways/steps to perform NOnbhu     are described.

(2) Second Five: Maidens , who have recently fallen in love   with the Lord are awakened.

(3) Third Five: Those , who are deeply in love with KrishNan  for a long time and born in great kulam are awakened.

(4) Fourth Pentad:At NandhagOpan's house , DhwAra PaalakAs, NeeLai and KaNNan are awakened.

(5) Fifth Pentad: The Maidens prepare KrishNa to a state  in which He can listen to their appeal .

(6) Sixth Pentad: Krishnan is ready and the Gopis reveal   the purpose of their visit and pray for the boons of eternal kaimkaryam .

These sets of six paasuram pentads have also been described to carry five sets of other meanings:

(1) Laksha panchakam (pentad) to salute the five laks     of maiden at AaypAdi , who particpated in the vratham .

(2) AvathAra panchakam dealing with the five states of   the Lord ( Param in First Paasuram , VyUham in second ,  Vibhavam in the third, AntharyAmi in the fourth and  ArchAvathAram in the Fifth paasuram of today .

(3) The third set of meanings relate to artha Panchakam  ( The Lord, The Jeevan , the means , the Phalan of
     SaraNAgathi and the obstacles that stand in the way  of attaining that Moksha Siddhi).

(4) The fourth set of meanings focus on the Karma ,  Jn~Ana , Bhakthi Yogams and the two ways of Prapatthi Yogam ( Sva Nishtai and AchArya Nishtai).

(5) The fifth level of meanings comes under the title of  Kaala panchakam , which is the five divisions of time of the day for a Sri Viashnavan : Abhigamanam ,UpAdhAnam , Ijyai , SvAdhyAyam and Yogam .Please  refer to Sri VaishNava Dinasari postings on  the Bhakthi list for additional information.

(6) The sixth level of meanings focus on BhAgavatha  Svaroopa panchakam :

    (a) SathkAra Yogya PradhAnar
    (b) SallAbha Yogya PradhAnar
    (c) SahavAsa Yogya PradhAnar
    (d) Bheethi Yogya pradhAnar
    (e) Preethi Yogya PradhAnar (Bhakthi paravasar)

The above are five different kinds of BhaagavathAs known for one or other unique features in Bhagavath- BhAgavatha Bhakthi.

Inview of these glories, ThiruppAvai has assumed the role of a rare dhivya prabhandham .It contains the quintessence of the meanings of the Major Upanishads.

Additional information on artha panchakam concepts and their coverage in ThiruppAvai Paasurams as well as the deeeper meanings referred to in this introductory posting for the first set of five paasurams can be accessed in the 1996 Marghazhi
postings archived in the Bhakthi List under AzhwArs/ANDAL section.Sri Venkat Iyengar's home page on SrivilliputthUr has also valuable additional information including beautiful images of ANDAL and RangamannAr.Please enjoy them. Sri Venkat (adiyen) Iyengar of Bharain has audio files of the ThiruvallikkENI GOshti headed by Sriman M.A. VenkataKrishNan Swamy reciting
melodiously the Paasurams of ThiruppAvai in the most traditional manner.Click here to listen to them.

Soodikkoduttha NaacchiyAr ThiruvadigaLE Saranam ,
Sarvam KrushNArpanam asthu
RaamAnuja Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SatakOpan



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