PAsuram 3.8.4 - ciRaiyAr uvaNap puL

ciRaiyAr uvaNap puL onRERi anRu
tisai nAngu nAngum iriyac ceruvil
kaRaiyAr neDuvEl arakkar maDiyak
kaDal cUzh ilangai kaDandAn iDam tAn
muRaiyAl vaLarkkinRa muttIyar nAl vEdar
ai vELvi ARangar Ezhin isaiyOr
maRaiyOr vaNangap pugazh eydu nAngUr
maDimADak kOyil vaNangu en mananE!

 

A. SrImad tirukkuDandai ANDavan:

AzhvAr is instructing his mind to pay respects to sarveSvaran, who suppressed and subdued rAkshasa-s like mAli, sumAli etc in ilangai and is now stationed in maNimADak kOvil.

Even before the ages of rAvaNa and others, rAkshasa-s like mAli, sumAli etc were tormenting the deva-s. When the deva-s surrendered to emperumAn, He got on garuDa, who had wings favorable for flying, and went and fought with the rAkshasa-s. Some rAkshasa-s ran away in all the eight directions; some died in the battle. emperumAn who vanquished the rAskhasa-s, who had unclean, blood-stained spears, is now living in maNimADak kOvil.

The agnihotra brahmaNa-s in this place preserve trikAla-agni-s, do pa'nca mahA yaj~nams, have learned the six anga-s of vedam-s and are experts in sapta svaram-s. These special brahmaNa-s worship perumAL who is living in maNimADak kOvil. No other place has this fame.

 

B. SrI PVP:

anRu –

During those days when rAkshasa-s were terrorizing the earth

ciRaiyAr uvaNap puL onRERi –

the lord climbed on periya tiruvaDi – garuDan, who could fly with his strong wings,

tisai nAngu nAngum iriyac ceruvil kaRaiyAr neDuvEl arakkar maDiyak kaDal cUzh ilangai kaDandAn –

conquered ilangai surrounded by the ocean, making several rAkshasa-s having blood-stained spears, fly away from the battle field on all directions

iDam tAn –

that lord is now stationed in this divyadESam

muRaiyAl vaLarkkinRa muttIyar nAl vEdar ai vELvi ARangar Ezhin isaiyOr maRaiyOr –

the elite brAhmaNa-s in this place do homams per vedic methods; they perform the three agni-s - gArhapatyam, AhavanIyam, dakshiNAgni; they are well-versed in Rg, yajur, sAma and atharvaNa vedam-s; they do the panca yaj~na-s like brahma yaj~nam, bhUta yaj~nam, deva yaj~nam, manushya yaj~nam etc; they are experts in the six vedAngams – SikshA, vyAkaraNam, chandas, niruktam, jyotisham, kalpam; and, they know the seven musical svarams – nishAdam, Rshabham, gAndhAram, shaDjam, madhyamam, dhaivatam, pa'ncamam.

vaNangap pugazh eydu nAngUr –

this place has become very well renowned from these very learned brahmaNa-s worshiping perumAL in this tirunAngUr divyadEsam.

maDimADak kOyil vaNangu en mananE! –

Oh my mind, enjoy this divine lord who is living in tirumaNimADak kOvil.

 

C. SrI UV:

uvaNam is 'suparNam'. Since garuDan has feathers that do not tire for even very long distances of flying, he has earned the name, 'suparNan'.

PerumAL made sure that rAkshasa-s did not stick around even in islands like ilangai. Will He let them here in our place? Leaving His abode, upendran (vishNu) has come to love living in this tiruppati; so, it is very special.

 

D. SrI PBA:

aivELvi –

brahma yaj~nam: chanting 'brahmayaj~na praSnam' – one praSnam from vedam everyday

1. deva yaj~nam: doing agnihotram

2. bhUta yaj~nam: offering animals as bali

3. pitR yaj~nam: doing tarpaNam for pitR-s

4. manushya yaj~nam: offering food for guests in the house

ARangar (experts in 6 parts of vedam-s) -

1. SikshA: shows how akshara-s must be pronounced and how to do sandhi with them [study of phonetics] and other topics

2. vyAkaraNam (linguistic analysis or grammar represented by pANini's celebrated sUtra-s)

3. niruktam: (explanation of difficult Vedic words) show the difference between prakRti and pratyayam/vikRti/change and their meanings

4. chandas: talks about gAyatrI, tRshTubh, jagatI etc

5. jyotisham: Since veda karma-s must be performed at the right times, this declares those times

6. kalpam: the kalpam-s written by mahaRshi-s like ASvalAyana, Apastamba etc explain the vaidika karma-s to be followed.

Ezhin isai (amarakoSam chapter I, part 8 nATyavargaH.1 presents this list) -

nishAdaH Rshabha gAndhAra shaDja madhyama dhaivatAH |
pa'ncamascetyamI sapta tantrI kaNThotthitAH svarAH ||

AzhvAr is implying that experts in even heavenly music were living in this divyadESam.

In nArada SikshA 1.5.3 and 1.5.4, sage nArada describes how each sAma veda svaram is derived from the sounds made by a bird or an animal in its appropriate season.

shaDjaM vadati mayUro jAvo rambhanti carshabham |
ajAbike tu gAndhAraM kraunco vadati madhyamam ||
pUshpasAdhAraNe mAle kokilo vakti pa'ncamam |
aSvastu dhaivataM vakti nishAdaM vakti ku'njaraH ||

· nishAdam: an elephant's trumpeting

· Rshabham: the mooing of the cow

· gAndhAram: bleating of the goat

· pa'ncamam: cuckoo's melodious whistle

· shaDjam: peacock's call

· madhyamam: kraunca’s (heron) cry

· dhaivatam: horse's neigh

So, 'Ezhin isaiyOr' can also be taken to mean that this tirumANimADak kOvil had all these animals like elephants, cows, birds etc that produce the sweet saptasvaram-s.

 

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