Srirangam---bhUlOka vaikuntham Part 2 Poetic garlands by AzhwArs to Lord RanganAtha பல ல ண ட பல ல ண ட பல ல ய ரத த ண ட பல க ட ந ற ய ரம மல ல ண டத ண த ள மண வண ண! உன ச வட ச வ த ர க க ப ப PallANdu pallandu pallayiraththandu palakodinurayiram mallandathin tholmanivanna! un sevvadisevvithirukkappu Meaning: Oh, Lord possessing strong shoulders and sporting the hue of blue gem! One who conquered the wrestlers (of Kamsa), may your glorious feet prevail and preserve for many thousands and thousands of years and forever. That is how VishNucittar (also known as PeriyAzhwAr) greeted Lord Vishnu in his mangalasasanam when the Lord gave him darshan upon his triumphant return from the court of the PANDya king Vallabhadeva after establishing the universal supremacy of Lord Vishnu. The first decade (actually 12 songs) of PeriyAzhwAr s tirumozhi starts with the lines given above and goes on to eulogize the Lord s greatness. This type of eulogy is unusual in the sense that humans do not give benediction to the Almighty. However, PeriyAzhwAr, born in SrivilliputtUr in PANDya kingdom, adopted this unique way of expressing his love towards God and hence he is given the honor of being placed first among all AzhwArs with the sobriquet PeriyAzhwAr (meaning great AzhwAr). PeriyAzhwAr sang 35 verses on Lord RanganAtha out of a total of 473 pasurams. Other AzhwArs have also eulogized the Lord in their own way singing His praise in various VaishNavaite shrines. Collectively such works (4000 verses) are grouped under nalayira divya prabhandham (NDP). The shrines wherein the presiding deities were sung about by one or more of the AzhwArs came to be known as divyadesams. After passing through a few centuries of relative oblivion on account of the dominance of Jainism and Buddhism in South India, Hinduism enjoyed a renaissance of sorts from the 6 th century CE onwards when some prominent Saivite and VaishNavaite saints secured royal patronage of their respective sects of Hinduism from the PallavA, PANDya, and SOzha kings. That started the golden age of Saivism and VaishNavism. Let us look at some poetic garlands assembled by the AzhwArs on Srirangam and Lord RanganAtha. Page 5 of 18
PeriyAzhwAr (PA) describes Srirangam in one verse as: க ன ற ட க ழ ம க ல ப ல க வ ளகள ப ல க ரகடல ப ல ந ன ற ட கணமய ல ப ல ந றம டய நட ம ல ர க ன ற ட ப ழ ல ந ழந த க ட ய டய ர ம லயணவ மன ற ட தன றல உல ம மத ளரங க மன பத வ. (NDP 410) KunRADu kozhumukilpol kuvalaikalpol kuraikadalpol ninradu kanamayilpol niramudaiya ^nedumalur kunrudu pozhil^nuzhaindhu kodiyidaiyar mulaiyanavi manrudu thenral ulam madhilarangamenbadhuve. Meaning: The Lord has the hue of the dark rain clouds which traverse the hills, the dark blue hyacinth flowers, the rumbling waters of the sea, and that of the dancing peacock. What is His abode? It is Srirangam wherein the gentle breeze surrounds the rampart walls and courtyards after traveling through the hills and gardens and embracing the bosoms of the slender damsels of the town. PA was not only a great devotee of the Lord but a versatile poet too as seen in his deft handling of similes let alone the beautiful poetic construction. He does not stop with using one comparison of the Lord s hue but uses a multitude of them. He sees the dark complexion of the Lord in the rain clouds, the hyacinth, the ocean, and the peacock. ANDAL: PA s foster-daughter Sri ANDAL goes one step further in loving the Lord and wanting to possess Him all for herself. She recalls her imaginary conversation with the Lord and blames Him for resting on the celestial serpent and ignoring her thus making her bangles fall off her hands as a result of her pining for Him. எழ டய வ ம னம. எ னர க த ன த, ழலழக வ யழக க ணழக, க ழ எ கமல வழக ர ம ன, எ டய கழ வ ள ய த கழ வ ள ய ய க ன ர (NDP 608) ezhiludaiya vammanaimir ennarangat tinnamudar kuzhalazhagar vayazhagar kannazhagar koppuzhil ezhukamalap puvazhagar emmanar ennudaiya kazhalvalaiyait tamum kazhalvalaiye AkkinarE Page 6 of 18
Meaning: Oh, my beautiful friends, Lord RanganAtha s flute, mouth, eyes, and the lotus that ascends from his navel are all splendorous making Him all the more handsome. He made my loosely-worn bangles (that I wear on my wrists) fall off (as a result of my yearning, in vain, for His proximity to me) Sri ANDAL is addressing her friends about her misery in having to be separated from her Lord. She resorts to even calling Him names such as vicious and deceitful. Despite such personal insult she hurls, she praises Him as being available to all lowly beings but unreachable by even lofty souls. She agonizes over (His avatar) Rama s miseries in having to be separated from SItA but yet she accuses Him of ignoring her. She then describes Srirangam as the city that is protected by Him who conquered SisupAlan and married RukmiNi. Her love towards the Lord oozes with feminine charm in addition to the undying devotion. She wrote 10 verses on Lord RanganAtha and a total of 173 pasurams in all covering Krishna and the presiding deities at other VaishNavaite shrines. KulasEkarAzhwAr: KulasEkarAzhwAr was a cera king who was a great devotee of Rama and Krishna. He was the author of PerumAL tirumozhi consisting of 105 pasurams included in NDP. He wrote 31 pasurams on Srirangam and 11 on tirupadhi. Let us look at one verse he wrote about Lord RanganAtha. க ல ர ந த நட ஞ ச ர ங கம க னற சங கம க லய ழ க ட ந தண ட க ற ற வ ள வ ள க ல ர ந த கத க கர டன என ன ம வன ற க கட ம பற வ ய வய னத த ம ப றஞ ச ழ க ப ப சல ர ந த நட ங கழன ச ல ச ழ ந த த ர வரங கத தரவ ணய ல பள ள க ள ள ம ம ல னக கண ட ன பக கலவ யய த வல வ ன யன என ற க ல வ ழ ம ந ள (NDP 654) KOlArntha neduncharngam kunar sangam kolaiyazhi kodunthandu korra volval kalarntha kathikkarudan ennum venrik kadumparavai yivaiyanaiththum puranchuzh kappa selarntha nedungazhani solai suzhntha thiruvarangat tharavanaiyil palli kollum malonaik kandinpak kalavi yeydi valvinaiyen enrukolo vazhum nale Meaning: A long bow like a scepter, a curvy conch, a punishing discus, a powerful mace, a strong shining sword, and the swifter-than-wind bird Garuda---all these surround the Lord protectively who is reclining on his serpent bed in the sacred place surrounded by fertile fields wherein lots of fish jump and play. That place is tiruvarangam. When will I, bearing the burden of my past actions, be able to realize the happiness of getting an encounter with the Lord? tondaradippodi AzhwAr: He was born as vipranarayana in the sozha country and moved to Srirangam in his adult life. He lived a celibate life in a hermitage and cultivated a flower garden in Srirangam to serve the daily floral needs of the temple from that garden. After temporarily deviating from his service to the Lord (being subjected to an ordeal by divine design at that) lured by a beautiful danseuse he was put back on his regular track by the Lord Himself. His literary work consists of a tirumalai (a poetic garland for the Lord)--45 pasurams) and a tiruppalliyezhucci (awakening of the Lord--10 pasurams) all on Srirangam and Lord Page 7 of 18
RanganAtha. The latter work, awakening the Lord, formed the precedent for PrathivAthi Bhayankaram AnnangarAcAryAr (circa 1500 CE) to write VenkatEsa SuprabhAtham that is recited every morning at Tirupadhi. Let us look at one of his verses in praise of Lord RanganAtha. க டத ச ம ட ய வத த க க ணத ச ப தம ந ட ட, வடத ச ப ன ப க ட ட த தன த ச ய லங க ந க க கடல ந றக கடவ ளந த அரவ ணத த ய ல ம கண ட, உட லனக க ர க ம ல என சய கன உலகத த ர! (NDP 890) KuDathisai mudiyai vaiththuk kunathisai patham nitti, vadathisai pinpu kattith ten disai yilankai nokki kadal ^nirak kadavu Lenthai aravanait tuyilu makandu, udalenak kuruku malo enseygen ulagattire! Meaning: The Lord with the hue of the dark blue ocean is lying down on the serpent bed with his head to the west, feet to the east, back to the north, and face to the south. This sight makes my body melt in devotion. What shall I do (other than submit to the Lord)? In one of his heart wrenching verses, UrilEn kaniyillai uravu marroruvar illai.. (ஊ லன க ண ய ல ல உறவ மற ற ர வர இல ல--NDP 900), he appeals to the Lord that he has no place of his own, no property nor relatives and that he wants only the Lord s holy feet as refuge. He was so enamored at the sight of the dark green idol of the Lord at Srirangam with coral red lips and mouth, and lotus eyes that made him declare that he would not trade that experience even for the post of the chief of the celestials (NDP 873; paccai mamalaipol meni.. பச ச ம ம ல ப ல மன...) ThirumazhisaiyAzhwAr: He was born in a place called tirumazhisai, in the PallavA kingdom, as a lifeless piece of flesh and abandoned by his parents who were of noble birth. By the grace of the Lord he got life and was raised by a couple belonging to a low caste and lived to do service to the Lord. When his disciple, KaNikkaNNan, was banished from the kingdom by the king for refusing to invite the AzhwAr to perform a miracle for him, the AzhwAr too left town while imploring the Lord of KAnchipuram to do likewise, which the Lord obeyed. The kingdom became desolate and the king realized his error and requested the AzhwAr to return (along with the Lord). Despite his devotion to the Lord and his recognition by the king, people of the upper caste were reluctant to consider him as a real person of merit. In his poignant verse kulangalaya IriraNDil onrilum pirandhilen.. க லங கள ய ஈ ரண ட ல ஒன ற ல ம ப றந த லன (NDP 841), he agonizes that he was not born in one of the four upper castes, did not get well-versed in the arts, did not conquer the five senses; but then declares that he was so determined to seek the lotus feet of the Lord and nothing else. In all ThirumazhisaiyAzhwAr sang 14 verses on Lord RanganAtha out of a total of 216 pasurams. ThirumangaiyAzhwAr: He was christened nilan (ந லன ) at birth, grew up learning martial arts and the languages, and achieved immense expertise in all the fields related to fighting and scholarship. He was appointed as the sozha king s general and enabled the king to conquer other territories which made the king appoint him as a feudal king for a small portion of his kingdom called Thirumangai. Having achieved success early in his life, he was indulging in sensual pleasures. Later he was drawn by divine grace to serve the Lord and His devotees, got into trouble with the king as a result, fought with the king, conquered him, surrendered to him later, resorted to robbery to serve the devotees of the Lord, and finally got back to serving the Lord full time again. He built the ramparts around the Srirangam temple, visited almost 80 temples (the most by any AzhwAr) on foot and sang on Page 8 of 18
the deities in various temples. He was the second most prolific composer of the prabhandhams (next only to nammazhwar) writing 1253 in all. His verses on Lord RanganAtha total 73 (again the most by any AzhwAr). His famous verse ( Ezhai Edhalan kizhmagan ennadhu.. ஏ ழ ஏதலன க ழ மகன என ன த NDP 1418) describes his gratitude to the Lord at Srirangam for having re-tracked him into serving Him. Other AzhwArs: It is nearly impossible to dwell on the greatness of the outpourings of all the AzhwArs singing the praise of the Lord in this short write-up. The foregoing is just a small sample of the poetic genius and the quest for the divine by the AzhwArs. To sum up, NammAzhwAr was the most prolific composer of all (12 on Srirangam and 1296 prabhandhams in all). TiruppANAzhwAr wrote 10 prabhandhams, all on Srirangam. PoygaiyAzhwAr sang just 1 verse on Srirangam (out of a total of 100), BhUdattAzhwAr covered Srirangam in 4 verses (out of a total of 100), and peyazhwar wrote 2 verses on Srirangam (out of a total of 100 stanzas). Some general reading: 1.http://members.tripod.com/~sriramanujar/azhwars.html 2.http://www.ramanuja.org/sv/prabandham/index.html 3.http://www.tamilnation.org/sathyam/east/pirapantam/pm0005a.pdf This story of the month is contributed by Dr. Sethuraman Subramanian and he can be reached at mahakavi@nc.rr.com Page 9 of 18