TiruppuLLambhUtankuDi gOpuram

 

B. SRI PVP:

maNNum viNNADum tOnRAdu iruLAi tunni mUDiya nAL –

when the bhUmi, svargam and other worlds were all engulfed in darkness (during sRshTi time)

annamAgi arumaRaigaL aruLic ceyda –

the faultless sarveSvaran took the form of a swan and imparted the knowledge of vedas to brahmA.

amalan iDam -

this is where my svAmi has chosen to reside in. He is faultless because He helped brahmA without even expecting anything in return

minnu cOdi navamaNiyum vEyin muttum cAmaraiyum ponnum ponni koNarndalaikkum –

ponni/kAvEri brings down with her precious gems, pearls, cAmarams, gold etc and deposits on the river banks here.

puLLambhUta'nkuDitAnE –

in this divya dESam, tiruppuLLambhUta'nkuDi.

 

C. SRI UV:

The 'swan' avatAram will be brought up again in periya triumozhi 5.3.8 and 5.7.3. These follow the footsteps of periyAzhvAr's tirumozhi (1.9.10) –

tunniya pEriruL Suzhndu ulagai mUDa
manniya nAnmaRai muRRum maRaindiDa
pin ivvulagainil pEriruL nInga, anRu
annam adAnAnE accO accO…..

tirumangai AzhvAr expands on this concept in Peria tirumozhi, 11.4.8 - “munnulagangaL Ezhum...”. In hamsa sandeSam, SrI deSikar talks about hamsa avatAram teaching the veda-s - “vAnavarkkum munivarkkum nalgi”; a detailed account can be had from SrImad bhAgavatam (11.13) – hamsAvatAra vriddhAntam. Uddhavar asks kRshNa in which form He instructed veda-s to sages like sanakar etc. kaNNan said, “sanakar etc worshiped their father, brahmA and asked about the yoga position needed for those who desire salvation. 'dhyAyamAnaH praSnabhIjam nApyapadyata karmatI' (11.13.18) – brahmA was engulfed in the darkness of 'lack of knowledge' and meditated towards Me. I took the form of a swan for His sake. When sanakar and others saw Me, they asked Me who I was. Upon their request, I taught them the knowledge about the world, how the worlds end, the awareness, dream, sleep and death states of the jIvans, how I am Omnipresent in My 'knowledge' form, and how the worlds are not individual entities but a part of Me and are subservient to Me. Know that this revelation is important for those who seek salvation”.

No matter however much one knows, it is not enough if the connection between SarIram – body and Atma – soul, is not understood. AzhvAr is referring to this in the terms “maNNum viNNADum iruLAi”. A swan has the capability of separating water and milk. Like that, one should be able to be distinguish between the creation and paramAtmA, and also between the body and the soul. emperumAn appeared as a swan to prove that this can be achieved only through sattva guNam. He appeared as a swan and removed the darkness; hence called 'amalan'.

navamaNi…. pearl and gold are included in the navamaNi – nine precious gems; but a special mention of made of the pearl from the bamboos and gold brought by ponni (river kAvEri); this is to show that pearls and gold are brought in large quantities.

It is possible these are being offered to emperumAn as a fee for the instructions imparted by Him as a swan long time back.

 

D. SRI PBA:

One time when at the end of a kalpa, brahmA was asleep, the four veda-s got out of his face and were walking around in the form of men. An asura named, somukhan, who had obtained several boons by doing severe meditations, kidnapped them, engulfed the three worlds in darkness, and hid in the flood waters. The lord took the form of a humongous fish, got into the waters and recovered the hidden veda-s. He then took the form of a swan, that has the talent to separate essence from non-essence and taught veda-s to brahmA.

minnu cOdiyum navamaNiyum –

compare with SrIra'ngarAjastavam – pUrva Satakam, Slokam 21 – kAvEri varNanam about the wealth that kAvEri brings –

ca'ncat cAmara candra candana mahAmANikya mukta utkarAn
kAverI laharIkaraiH vidadhatI paryeti sA sevyatAm ||

(the flood waters of kAvEri bring for her son-on-law, lord ranganAtha, huge amounts of camphor, sandal, precious gems, pearls etc).