Thirumangai AzhwAr’s Paasuram on

ThirukkAvaLampAdi

Annotated Commentary in English by

Shriman Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SaThakOpan

 

INTRODUCTION:

 

Thirumangai Mannan completed his MangaLAsAsanam of ThirunAngUr MaNikkooda Divya desam and arrived thereafter at the ThirukkAvaLampAdi KaNNan’s sannidhi. Here, Kaliyan performed SaraNAgati in the manner prescribed by the dvaya Mantram.

SrI Kaliyan performed SaraNAgati at the sacred feet of this divyadampati!

At the ThirunAngUr divya desams that he had visited earlier, Kaliyan had celebrated FIRST the deep meanings of NaarAyaNa sabdham in AshtAkshari; NEXT, he expressed his happiness over the banishment of all that stood in the way of SaraNAgati (upAya virOdhi vargams) with Bhagavath anugraham. He was now ready to perform his SaraNAgati at the sacred feet of the divya dampathis of ThirukkavaLampAdi.

In this series of ThirunAngUr Paasurams from the first divya desam to now, Kaliyan started with Sriman NaarAyaNa Sabdha artha anusandhAnam and moved on here (at ThirukkAvaLampAdi) to SaraNAgati anusandhAnam.

Let us dwell briefly on the upAya VirOdhi Vargams (Things that stand in the way of Moksha phalan) as one of the five doctrines Of artha Pancakam or the set of Five that we need to understand clearly as a Saadhakan.

 

ARTHA PANCAKAM AND MOKSHA PRAPTHI VIRODHI:

The five doctrines to be understood clearly by a Mumukshu (one who desires Moksham) are:

1. Iswara svarUpam
2. Jeeva Svaroopam
3. The Upayam to be performed to gain moksham: Bhakthi or Prapatthi yOgam
4. The fruits of pursuing that upAyam: Moksha Phalan and
5. The obstacles that stand in the way of gaining that desired Phalan (Moksha PrApthi VirOdhis).

The 12th Sundara Simham e-book on artha Pancakam of Swamy Desikan describes the details on each of these five tattvams in great detail: http://www.sundarasimham.org

Kaliyan was blessed to understand the anishTams (inauspicious) prApthi VirOdhis. He chased them away with the anugraham of the ThirunAngUr divya dEsa divya dampathis and performed his SaraNAgati at ThirukkavaLampAdi.

The refrain in the paasurams of this divya desam is: “KAvaLampAdi mEya KaNNanE neeyE kaLai KaNN”. Oh KaavaLampAdi KaNNaa! You instructed us: “maamEkam SaraNam vraja” (Surrender to Me alone and I will grant You Moksham) in Your Carama slOkam! As per Your upadesam, KaNNaa, You alone (neeyE) are the object of my SaraNAgati (KaLai KaNN). Please grant adiyEn Moksham!

 

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திருக்காவளம்பாடி

(திருநாங்கூர் திருப்பதி)

ThirukkAvaLampADi

(ThirunAngUr Tiruppathi)

 

PerumaaL: GopAlakrishNan

thAyAr: maDavaral Mangai, Sengamala nAcchiyAr

VimAnam: Svaymbu

theertham: thaDamalar poigai

Prathyaksham: Senaitthalaiavar (Vishvaksenar), Rudran

MangaLaaSaasanam: Thirumangai AzhvAr

 

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Thirumangai AzhwAr

Periya Thirumoli 4.6

 

ThirukkAvaLampAdi ThirukkOil

 

PAASURAM 1

thAvaLanthu ulagamuRRum thadamalarp poygaipukku
nAvaLam navinRanggEttha nAgatthin nadukkam thIrtthAy
mAvaLam perugi mannu maRaiyavar vAzhum nAngai
kAvaLam pAdimEya kaNNanE! kaLaikaN nIyE

 

Prose Order:

ulaham muRRum thaa vaLantthu tadam malar poygai pukku angu naa vaLam navinRu yEttha naaagatthin nadukkam theertthAy:

These first two lines of the Paasuram salute;

1. ThrivikramAvathAram of the Lord and
2. The matchless bhaktha vaathsalyam of the Lord, who came rushing to the lotus pond, where GajEndhrAzhwAn worried deeply about the interruption to his Bhagavath ArAdhanam.

maa vaLam perugi mannu maRaiyavar vAzhu nAngai kAvaLampAdi mEya KaNNanE! neeyE kaLai kaN:

In these two last lines of the first paasuram, AzhwAr salutes;

1. the Vaidhika samrudhdi of this divya desam and
2. his absolute Prapatthi to the Lord of this divya desam alone.

 

MEANING:

Oh Lord! Who jumped up and measured all the worlds with Your two steps as Thrivikraman! When Your dear bhakthan, GajEndhran entered the lotus pond to pick a lotus flower to offer at his ArAdhanam for You and his leg was caught in the powerful jaws of the crocodile instead; that interrupted his offering of the freshly picked lotus flower for You; the king of the elephants addressed You then as “AdimoolamE” and sought Your help desperately. When all the demi gods recognized that Gajendhran’s scream for rescue was for You, the Primordial Lord, they stayed put in their places. At that time, You could not bear to watch the suffering of Your dear bhakthan and rushed helter-skelter to the lotus pond and freed Your parama bhakthan, GajEndhran, from the violent jaws of the crocodile and accepted the offering of the Lotus flower by that king of elephants. You rewarded Gajendran for his steadfast devotion in appealing for you with Your unique nAmA and removed any worry he might have had about the interruption to his daily ArAdhanam. Such is Your bhaktha vaathsalyam and Apath BhAndhava guNam! At this divya dEsam of ThirunAngUr ThirukkavaLampAdi dear to you because of the abundance of Vaidhika sampath (aisvaryam), adiyEn follows Your upadEsam to Arjuna, (mAmEkam SaraNam Vraja) and seek You alone as the upAyam for adiyEn's SaraNAgati.

 

COMMENTS:

The name of this divya desam is KAvaLampAdi, the place which has the power to protect SaraNAgatAs without fail (KaapathaRkku VaLam koNDa pAdi). GajEndhran had always the Lords names on his tongue. When the crocodile caught hold of his leg and try to drag him down into the water, then GajEndhran shouted loudly the Lord’s name (Adimoolam) and thereby appealed for the Lord’s protection. The Lord appeared almost instantaneously at Gajendhran’s side to destroy the crocodile and to prove that He is both Adhi Moolam as well as Apath VimOchakan.

GajEndhra Moksham is described by Sukha Brahmam in the 8th skandham of Srimad BhAgavatam. Sri NaarAyaNa Bhattadhiri follows Sukha Brahmam’s description about Gajendhra rakshaNam in the 26th daSakam of SrImad NaarAyaNeeyam. Bhattadhiri asks a rhetorical question about the power of BhagavAn’s Bhaktha Vaathsalyam and Apath vimOchanam and answers it this way: “tvat bhaktAnAm kutra utkarsha lAbha: na?” (Among Your BhakthAs performing ArAdhanam for You, who indeed has failed to gain the fruits of that ArAdhanam?).

 

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PAASURAM 2

maNNidanthu EnamAgi mAvali valitholaippAn
viNNavar vENdacchenRu vELviyil kuRaiyiranthAy!
thuNNena mARRArtthammaith tholaitthavar nAngai mEya
kaNNanE! kAvaLanthaN pAdiyAy! kaLaikaN nIyE

MEANING:

Oh Lord of KAvaLampAdi who took VarAhAvathAram! Oh Lord who lifted BhUmi Devi from under the oceans in response to the prayers of DevAs! You took VaamanAvathAram to destroy the power of MahA Bali belonging to the asura race and restore the aisvaryam to the dEvAs, who sought Your refuge! You are indeed our object of SaraNAgati (KaNNanE neeyE kaLai kaN). You arrived at MahA Bali’s Yaaga Saalai as a dwarf Brahmin; You left Your pride behind as SarvEsvaran then and sought the alms of three feet of land. You are the owner of every thing in this and the other world as ubhaya vibhUthi nAthan and yet You begged before MahA Bali on behalf of the DevAs since they are the members of ASritha santhathi (those who sought refuge at Your sacred feet). You made it appear as though these three feet of land did not belong to you but to MahA Bali and hence it was fine for You to ask for it from MahA Bali. During the anushTAnam of SaraNAgati, we offer Your own property (AtmA) to You as samarpaNam and You accept it with joy. MahA Bali’s situation is like that subtle principle of SaraNAgati. Further, MahA Bali was the grandson of Bhaktha PrahlAdhan and therefore he also belongs in a way to Asrita Santhathi. That probably invoked Your compassion for him as well.

Here, the AzhwAr salutes this divya desam as kAvaLam taN PAdi (the divya desam which is cool because of the deep and verdant groves). The Lord of this divya desam, BrundAvana charan is addressed as “kAvaLam taNpAdiyAi”.

The abhimAnam of KaNNan for this divya desam reminding Him of His boyhood days is revealed by the choice of words for His salutation: nAngai kAvaLampAdi mEya KaNNaa.

 

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PAASURAM 3

uruthezhu vAli mArvil oru kaNai uruvavOtti
karuthudai thambikku inbak kathirmudi arasaLitthAy
parutthezhu palavum mAvum pazhamvizhunthozhugum nAngai
karutthanE! kAvaLanthaN pAdiyAy! kaLaikaN nIyE

MEANING:

The Vaali Vadham and Sugreeva PattabhishEkam is remembered by Thirumangai

in this Paasuram. The Lord is addressed as “KarutthanE” or Sarva Jagath Srushti kAraNan The fecundity of the groves and abundance of the fruits in those cool, well watered groves of KaavaLampAdi is described as “Parutthu yezhu palavum maavum pazham vizhunthozhuhum nAngai KaavaLampAdi”. The fat and ripe fruits from the Mango and Palaa (Jack) trees have fallen on the ground, burst open and flood the floor with honey at this divya desam. Kaliyan’s description of the scenes of nature are always gripping. Kaliyan is reminded of the Madhu Vanam of Srimad RaamAyaNam, where the joyous monkeys gorged the fruits and honey to celebrate HanumAn’s successful completion of his mission to LankA. Kaliyan chooses a special event in Srimad RaamAyaNam now (Vaali Vadham).

Oh Lord! You are not only Srushti karthA (Karutthan) but You are also Jagath rakshakan and maintain dharmam, whenever it slips. When Vaali stole his brother’s wife and tormented that brother (Sugreevan), You killed the angry Vaali with a powerful arrow of Yours and restored Sugreevan back to his wife and crowned him as the king of the Monkeys. You fulfilled the pact that you made with Sugreevan. You are indeed our goal for Prapatthi.

Vaali was a son of Indhra. In the first battle between Vaali and Sugreevan, Lord Raamachandra could not destroy Vaali because the distinction between them was not clear. He hesitated to send an arrow that by mistake would have killed Sugreevan. He asked Sugreevan in the next round of confrontation to wear a garland to recognize him right away in the intensity of His battle with Vaali. At the appropriate occasion, Lord Raamachandra sent a fierce arrow to punish Vaali and destroyed him.

 

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PAASURAM 4

munaimugatthu arakkanmALa mudigaL patthaRutthu vIzhtthu,
Angu anaiyavaRku iLaiyavaRkE arasaLittharuLinAnE
sunaikaLil kayalkaLpAyach surumbuthEnnugarum nAngai
kanaikazhal kAvaLanthaN pAdiyAy! kaLaikaN nIyE.

MEANING:

Memories of Raghuveeran persist in Kaliyan’s mind. He chooses another PattabhishEkam performed by the heroic Lord. This coronation also deals with the destruction of one brother (haughty RaavaNa) and crowning of the other (VibhIshaNa).

RaavaNan was a great sinner. He abducted SithA PirAtti. He was so sure of his invincibility that he thought that nobody can kill him. He knew that his heads will regenerate themselves on being cut. Lord Raamachandra met RaavaNa in battle and cut all his ten heads (munai mudi arakkan maaLa mudigaL patthu aRutthu vIzhtthu) and killed him. After that heroic battle, which culminated in the destruction of RaavaNan, our Lord Raamachandra fulfilled His promise by presenting the kingdom of Lankha that He won to VibhIshaNa and performed PattAbhishEkam for him. Kaliyan addresses this Raghu Veeran wearing the resounding ankle AabharaNam (kanai kazhal kAvaLampAdiyAy) that recognizes His heroism in defeating and destroying the mighty RaavaNa in battle. The captivating sound arising from the anklet AbharaNam (Veera KaDayam) assures us protection against SamsAric ills and offers SaraNAgati to the ASrithAs.

At this divya desam, there are ponds full of fishes moving hither and thither and the bees drink the honey from the flowers blossoming in those cool and deep ponds (sunaikaLil Surumbu thEn nugarum nAngai kAvaLam taN pAdi).

 

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PAASURAM 5

padavara ucchi tanmEl pAynthupal nadangkaLseythu
madavaral mangaithannai mArvagatthu irutthinAnE!
thadavarai thangu mAdath thagupugazh nAngai mEya
kadavuLE! kAvaLanthaNpAdiyAy! kaLaikaN nIyE

MEANING:

From the battle field in LankA, Kaliyan shifts his gaze to a pond in the middle of YamunA river, where lived a poisonous snake named KaaLiyan with his wives and children. He made that pond inhabitable by injecting poison into it. The birds and beasts that drank the water from this pond died. KaNNan knew about this snake that caused such havoc. He got on top of a tree on the banks of that pond and jumped over the hoods of the multiheaded snake KaaLiyan and pounded its heads with His strong feet as if He was training His dance steps. The snake was completely subdued and the wives of KaaLiyan begged the Lord not to kill their husband but leave the marks of His sacred feet on the hoods as a reminder that KaaLiyan will not engage in anymore mischief. Our merciful Lord approved the request of the Naaga Pathnis and KaaLiyan left that pond and escaped to another location and led a peaceful life. At this SrI KrishNa KshEthram, Kaliyan celebrates the KaaLiya mardhanam of Lord KrishNa:

 “pada aravu ucchi tan mEl pAynthu pala nadangaL seythu”. Our Lord practiced all the routines prescribed in the Naatya Saasthram of Sage BharathA on the hoods of KaaLiyan and crushed them.

Next Kaliyan’s mind shifts to ThirumalA and Lord SrInivAsan, whose nAma sankeerthanam is “GovindhA, GovindhA”. Kaliyan salutes the AlarmEl Mangai uRai Maarbhan (Vakshasthala Lakshmi dharan) as “ Madavaral Mangai tannai mAarvu agatthu irutthinAnE”.