Some Reflections on tirunIrmalai divya desam

 

The toNDai nADu divya dEsam of tirunIrmalai is worshipped by tirumangai AzhvAr as "neDumAlavan mEviya nIr malai". The choice of word "mEviya" has special significance. Kaliyan recognizes this Malai as the One, where the sarva phalaprata Sriman nArAyaNan is pervasively present in many forms (ninRAn, irundAn, KiDandAn) to shower His anugrahams on His AsritALs. nedumAl refers to the deep Asrita vAtsalyam of emperumAn of this divya desam known for His extended vyAmoham for those, who seek His sacred feet as rakshaNam. This sacred malai gets saluted like the tirumAlirumcOlai malai and tirumaLai.

Tirumangai Mannan's anubhavam of tirunIrmalai reminds us of Svamy NammAzhvAr's anubhavam of TirumAlirumcOlai malai, where He says:

tirumAlirumcolai malai enREn, enna
tirumAl vandu en nencu niRayap pukundAn

Here, Swamy NammAzhvAr wonders about the paramAnugraham that He received by just saying the name of tirumAlirum cOlai malai. Immediately, the Lord assumed that NammAzhvAr had called Him with utter devotion and real fervour and He arrived and entered the AzhvAr's heart immediately and fully occupied that space. Swamy NammAzhvAr acknowledges that he just invoked

the name of the Hill, where the Lord resides; he did not perform any special act such as Prapatti. The very mention of the name of the sacred hill, where He resides was sufficient for the Lord to rush to the AzhvAr's side and enter into his heart with relish and pervade it. Similarly, the mention of tirunIrmalai by Kaliyan was sufficient for the Lord to pervade the heart of His dear bhaktA, who waited for six months for the floods to subside to realize the saubhAgyam of darsanam of the Lord at tirunIrmalai (toyAcala nAthan). As Svamy Desikan would observe later on tirumalai, the anukampA of SrInivAsan flowed like a river made of delectable cane sugar juice towards him and he performed Prapatti to the malai itself (prapadye tam girim prAya: SrInivAsAnukampayA, ikshusAra-sravantyeva yanmUrtyA SarkarAyitam).

Tirumangai addresses this Malai as a mAmalai (mighty mountain) because it is the seat of the Lord, who showers His grace on those, who think of Him without let (anavaratam) - "niccam ninaivArkku aruL seyyum avarku

iDam mAmalai Avadu nIrmalaiyE". The celebration as mAmalai is also connected to that sacred hill being the choice residence of emperumAn with many arcais and avatArams:

ninRAn irundAn kiDandAn naDandARku
iDam mAmalai Avadu nIrmalaiyE.

The most interesting reference to the Lord of this divya desam as "nIrAr pErAn nedumAl" (nIr vaNNan, the one having the word of Jalam/nIr in His name). This reference has the most interesting links to Vedam and Upanishads. The Mantra Pushpam celebrates the central role that nIr/Jalam plays in creation and the tight link to Sriman nArAyaNa. Manu Maharishi states in this context:

Apo narA iti proktApo vai narasUnava:
tA yadasyAyanam pUrvam tena nArAyaNa: smrta:

 — Manu smrti 1.10

Meaning:

The water was created by nara-emperumAn. So, the word "nAram" refers to water. During creation time, He uses water as His place of residence; so emperumAn is called "nArAyaNan".

Many mantrams of Yajur, sAma and AtharvaNa Vedams declare that a person, who meditates on Apa: (Jalam) as sarvadevatA svarUpam is bound to gain all purushArthams (pushpavAn prajAvAn pasumAn bhavanti). The sandhyA vandana mantrams (ApohishTA mayo bhuva:, citram devAnAm udagadanIkam, tasmA arangamAma va: yasya kshayAya et al) help us understand the significance of Apa: and from those one can link it to nIrvaNNan. The 29th anuvAkam of aruNa praSnam dwells on the cosmic relations between 'Apa:' and all the created entities of the para brahmam: "Verily all this is water. All the created beings are water. The vital breaths in the body are water. Quadrupeds are water. Edible crops are water. Ambrosia is water. The luminaries are water. Vedic formulas are water. Truth is water. All deities are water. The three worlds denoted by bhU: bhuva: and suva: are all water". The source of all these is the Supreme denoted by the syllable "Om".

The svarUpam of paramAtman is eulogized as Apa: (Water) by another Veda Mantram:

"He is resplendent and His multifaceted effulgence is referred to in this rk as "sAmrAD" (perpetually shining, virAD (manifoldly shining) and svarAD (Self- luminous).

 

The e-books in the Sundarasimham series (106th e-book on Mantra Pushpam) and the 38th e-book in the Sri Hayagrivan series about aruNa praSnam (8th and 22nd anuvAkams) go into great details about the immanence of the Apa: tatvam. The URLs are: http://www.sundarasimham.org and http://www.srihayagrivan.org

The first mantram of MahA nArAyaNopanishad (ambhasya pAre … prajApati: carati garbhe anta:) celebrates the supremacy of Sriman nArAyaNa and points out that one preferred place of His residence for blessing His devotees is the waters of the Milky Ocean.

We address tiunIrmalai as toya giri or toyAcalam (nIr malai). The fourth mantram of Maha nArAyaNopanishad instructs us on the connection between our Lord Sriman nArAyaNa and toyam especially at the time of creation after praLayam.

yata: prasUtA jagata: prasUti toyena jIvAn vyasasarja bhUmyAm |
yadOshadhIibhi: purushAn paSUgumSca viveSa bhUtAni carAcarANi ||

Meaning:

From whom the creatrix of the world Prakrti was born, He who created the

jIvAs (beginning with the four faced Brahma) along with water and He who entered into all such created entities, moving and non-moving such as herbs, plants and animals and PurushAs (as their innerself) is Brahman.

toyam or Apa: is praised by the 112th Mantram of MahA nArAyaNopanishad in a grand manner:

Apo vA idagum sarvam viSvA bhUtAnyApa: prANA vA Apa: paSava
Apo-annamApo-amrtamApa: samrADApo virADApa:
svarADTApaScandAgumsyApo jyotigumshyApo yajUgumshyApa:
satyamApa sarvA devatA Apo bhUrbhuvassuvarApa Om ||

Meaning:

All this is verily waters. All the entities are waters. The vital airs are waters. The animals are waters. Waters are nectar. Food is waters, waters shine out brilliantly. Waters shine out by themselves. Waters are not having any other one ruling over them. The VedAs are waters. The luminary bodies are waters. Truth is waters. All gods are waters. BhUh, BhUva:, suvah, Om".

Let us conclude our salutations to nIrvaNNa PerumAL (toyagiri nAthan) with a prayer for Purification by the toyam (Apa:):

Apa: punantu prthivIm prthivI pUtA punAtu mAm |
punantu brahmaNaspatirbrahmapUtA punAtu mAm |
yaducchishTamabhojyam yadvA duScaritam mama |
sarvam punantu mAmApoasatAm ca pratigrahagum svAhA ||

Meaning:

"May waters purify the earth! May the earth thus purified, purify me. May nArAyaNa, the Lord of the Four-faced BrahmA purify the earth. May the earth purified by ParamAtman purify me. The left over that are eaten, the food that ought not to be consumed - whatsoever sinful deeds done by me and the gifts received from bad people - may waters purify all these and me".

As Tirumangai AzhvAr patiently waited for six months for the floods at tirunIrmalai to subside so that he can have the darsana saubhAgyam of the arcA mUrtis at toyacala divya desam, he might have reflected on these Veda Mantrams.

After the passage of almost 1200 years, an Asramam of Srimad PaunDarIkapuram ANDvan Svamy is rising next to the tirunIrmalai temple to serve as a center for Vedic worship and locus for sat sangam by AstikAs following Bhagavad RaamAnuja siddhAntam.

adiyEn requests all of you to participate in the SamprokshaNa utsavam planned for July 9 at TirunIrmalai and support nityArAdhanam for Lord HayagrIvan at the Asramam and visit the divya desam of TirunIrmalai.

dAsan,

Oppiliappan kOil V. Sadagopan

 

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TirunIrmalai

Divya dEsam