And thiruvinnagar paasurams here

 

The saraNaagathi vaakyams used by Kaliyan at Thirumalai and ThiruviNNagar are echoed in the ten paasurams of ThiruveLLakkuLam. Here are three instances:

 

ThiruveLLakkuLam (*) and ThiruvEnkatam (**)

(A) TiNNAr mathiL soozh ThiruveLLakkuLatthuL (*),

aNNA, adiyEn idaraik kaLayAyE - Peria Thirumozhi (PTM) 4.7.1.

(A) SeppAr tiNNvarai soozh ThiruvEnkata maamalai (**),

yenn appA! vanthadainthEn adiyEani aatkoNdaruLE - PTM 1.9.5

(B) SenthAmarai neer ThiruveLlakkulatthuL (*)

yenthAi! adiyEn idaraik kaLayAyE - PTM 4.7.2

(B) ThEnEy poompozhil soozh ThiruvEnkata maamalai (**),

yenn aanAi vanthadainthEn adiyEnai aatkoNdaruLE - PTM 1.9.2

 

ThiruveLLakkuLam (*) and ThiruviNNagar paasurams (**)

(A) sElAr vayal soozh ThiruveLlakkulatthuL (*)

maalE! yenn valvinai theertharuLAyE - PTM 4.7.7

(A) sollAi ThirumArvA! unakkAhi ThoNDu patta

nallEnai, vinaikaL naliyAmai nampu nampI!
mallA KudamADi MadhusoothananE, ulahil
sella nallisayAi ThiruviNNagarAnE (**) – PTM 6.3.9

The intense mood of the AzhwAr is very much the same at the three divya dEsams presided over by Lord SrinivAsan. Identical words flow out of Kaliyan’s lips at these three divya dEsams having Lord SrinivAsan as their presiding deity.

 

PROGRESSION OF THE PILGRIMAGE OF KALIYAN

ThiruveLLakkuLam is one of the twelve ThirunAngUr divya dEsams. Kaliyan salutes the Lords of these twelve KshEthrams close to his birthplace in the following sequence and performs mangaLAsAsanam for them in his Periya Thirumozhi (PTM):

1. ThiruvAli-Thirunagari: PTM-3.5, 3.6 and 3.7 patthus
2. ThirunAngUr MaNimADakkOil: PTM-3.8
3. Sri Vaikuntha ViNNagaram: PTM-3.9
4. Thiru arimEya ViNNagaram: PTM-3.10
5. Thiru DEvanAr Thokai: PTM-4.1
6. Thiru VaNN puruDOtthamam: PTM-4.2
7. ThirnAngUr Semponn seykOil: PTM-4.3
8. ThirunAngUr ThiruttheRRiampalam: PTM-4.4
9. ThirumaNikkUtam: PTM-4.5
10. ThirukkAvaLampADi: PTM-4.6
11. ThiruveLLakkuLam: PTM-4.7
12. ThiruppArthan PaLLi: PTM-4.7

ParakAlan starts his mangalAsAsanam at ThiruvAli Thirunagari, which is very close to his avathAra sthalam and concludes the salutations at ThiruppArthan PaLLI. In this series of twelve ThirunAngUr Thiruppathis, ThiruveLLakkuLam takes the 11th place. The Lords of the divya desams come together on the night of the next day of Thai amavasyai (sukla paksha prathamai) on Garuda Vaahanam and bless their dearest Bhakthan in grateful appreciation. Those twelve Garuda sEvais in one location is a blessed sight indeed to see.

 

KALIYANS SALUTATIONS TO THE EMPERUMAN OF THIRUVELLAKKULAM

In his first paasuram, Kaliyan begs Lord SrinivAsan of this divya dEsam to banish all his samsAric sorrows and free him from all his anxieties and fears.

 

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Thirumangai AzhwAr

PERIYA TIRUMOZHI 4.7

PAASURAM 1

kaNNAr kadal pOl thirumEni kariyAi
naNNAr munai venRi koLvAr mannu naangUr
thiNNAr mathiL soozh ThiruveLLakkuLatthuL
aNNA, adiyEn idaraik kaLayAyE

MEANING:

In the first line of the above paasuram, Kaliyan compares the Bhagavath svarUpam as the deep and expansive one, like the dark, deep ocean (kaNNAr kadal pOl thirumEni kariyAi). “kaNNaar kadal” refers to the bluish-black ocean that stretches as far as One’s eyes could see and is filled with mysterious, soothing beauty. Kaliyan hints that the Lord’s hue is reminding him of that dark blue hue of the deep ocean. Just as we enjoy the mystery and the beauty of the blue ocean without winking, Kaliyan says that he was intensely engaged in enjoying the extraordinary soundharyam of the Lord of ThiruveLLakkuLam.

The next line of the Paasuram is: “naNNAr munai venRi koLvAr mannu naangUr”. Here, Kaliyan celebrates the greatness of the citizens of this divya dEsam. “naNNAr” mean enemies. There are two kinds of enemies for us. One is the external one and the other is the internal one (BhAhyam and Aandhram). The external VirOdhi (enemy), has to be won over with the help of weapons like sword and spear. The internal one has the limbs of arrogance, jealousy, anger et al. This aandhra enemy has to be won by Bhagavadh DhyAnam, Moola manthra-Dhvaya Japam and SaraNaagathi at the Lord’s sacred feet. Kaliyan

was familiar with the ways of a Kshathriyan prior to his transformation as a Sri VaishNavan through the Lord’s intervention. As a result, Kaliyan was conversant with the battle plans for winning both the BhAhya and Aandhra chathrUs. As the proverb goes, only the serpent can know of the other serpent’s "legs”. Kaliyan was thus able to recognize that ThiruveLLakuLam was filled with the citizen-BhagavathAs, who have won over both the kinds of fights by defeating soundly the Aandhra and BhAhya ChathrUs.

In the third line of this first paasuram, Kaliyan refers to the strength of the ramparts that protect the Lord's temple and addresses the Lord of this divya dEsam as the one surrounded by mighty walls (mathiLs); his paasura vaakhyams are: “tiNNAr mathiL soozh ThiruveLLakkulatthuL aNNA”. The strength of the protector is hinted by the reference to the strength of the ramparts surrounding His temple. The word aNNA stands for the strong brother or father figure, who rushes to the rescue of the young/weak one in the family, who is frightened. Kaliyan addresses endearingly the towering Father figure, Lord SrinivAsan at ThiruveLLakkuLam as “aNNA”. With Kaliyan’s usage of the word, aNNA, the divya dEsam came to be known as aNNan kOil.

In the final line of the paasuram, Kaliyan appeals movingly to his aNNan to come to his rescue to drive away all of his fears and sorrows (aNNA, adiyEn idar kaLayAyE). Kaliyan says: “Oh my sarva Swami! Oh Lord of the hue of the deep, dark ocean! Oh Lord, who lives in the kshEthram populated by parama bhaagavathAs! I am losing my foothold in this ocean of samsAram and am being tossed about violently by its gigantic waves. I am overpowered by the ceaseless waves of the ocean of samsAram and at any moment, I am going to drown. Please give me your powerful hand and lift me out of my miseries and place me in the cool shade of your sacred feet”.

 

COMMENTS:

Kaliyan recognizes here that the fruit of SaraNaagathi at the most powerful Lord’s feet is Moksham and therefore asks for the removal of all anisams (inauspiciousness and obstacles) that stand in the way of his Moksham.

Thirumangai’s paasuram requesting the powerful Lord’s intervention reminds us of the Yajur Veda manthram:

visvA rUpANi prathi munjathE kavi:
prAsAveedh BHADHRAM dvipadhE chathushpathE
vi nAkamakhyath savithA varENyOnu
prayANamushasO virAjathi — Yajur Vedam: XII-3

MEANING:

God is adorable, omniscient maker of the Universe, worthy of adulation at dawn; He shapes all of the material objects seen in this universe. He blesses the quadrupeds and bipeds and removes all of their distresses and anxieties.

He removes all the samsaaric afflictions and confers lasting aanandham through the boon of Brahma Jn~Anam to those who surrender unto Him.Without partiality, He blesses the two-footed and the four-footed beings and pervades the universe that He created as Sarva VyApi, VishNu. It is this parabrahmam that the above Yajur Veda manthram saluted. It is this Bhadra NaarAyaNan that Vedam saluted with the words: “prasAveedh bhadhram”.

 

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PAASURAM 2

konthAr thuLava malar koNDu aNivAnE
nanthAtha perum puhazh vEdhiyar naangUr
senthAmarai neert-thiruveLLakkuLatthuL
yenthAi, adiyEn idaraik-kaLayAyE

MEANING:

Oh my most merciful Father adorning Thulasi garland with its tender shoots of flowers! Your dhivya dEsam of ThiruveLLakkuLam is full of Vedic scholars with undiminishing fame regarding their Jn~Anam. You preside over this dhivya dEsam known for its pushkaraNi full of blossoming red lotuses. Oh my Father! Please remove all the obstacles that stand in my way of gaining Sathgathi!

 

COMMENTS:

Thiruvinnagarappan was saluted by Kaliyan as “pOthalar nedu mudip- PuNNiyan” (one who adorns the garlands on His tall crown with flowers, which have blossomed that dawn). Here, Kaliyan visualizes His Lord at ThiruveLLakkuLam as adorning cool TuLasi garland with just blossomed TuLasi flowers. He sees assemblies of accomplished Veda Viths of enduring fame in this dhivya dEsam. Like NandhA ViLakku, whose jyOthi does not diminish, the illustrious fame of these Vedic scholars does not undergo any changes.

Kaliyan makes a reference to the PushkaraNi with budding lotus flowers in this Paasuram (SenthAmari neer ThiruveLLakkuLam). It was here Kumudavalli, an apsaras sporting with her friends was left behind by her friends and was adopted by a couple of ThiruveLLakkuLam. Her beauty became known all around and Kaliyan, a local chieftain, proposed marriage to her. She placed two conditions for marrying Kaliyan of Thirumangai:

(1) He becomes a VaishNavan and has SamAsrayaNam and

(2) He feeds 1000 BhagavathAs per day for one year.

Kaliyan was so smitten by the beauty of Kumudavalli that he accepted those conditions and married her. He waylaid unsuspecting travelers, when he ran out of funds to support the TadhiyArAdhanam. One day, he robbed the Lord, and PirAtti, who appeared as a newly wed couple adorning valuable jewelry to tempt Kaliyan. After robbing the couple, Kaliyan could not lift the loot and accused the bridegroom of casting a spell so that the bundle containing the jewelry could not be lifted. Our Lord asked Kaliyan to come near so that he can reveal that mantram behind the spell and performed upadEsam on ashtAksharam. Kaliyan was now was blessed to receive the Moola mantra UpadEsam from the Lord Himself and became ecstatic and ascended to the sthaanam of one of the twelve AzhwArs. All of these blessings arose from that lotus pond in front of the temple, where Kumudavalli transformed herself to be the dharma pathni of Kaliyan and gave up her life as a celestial maiden. Kaliyan hints at all those auspicious happenings linked to the Lotus pond of ThiruveLLakkuLam (SEnthAmarai neer ThiruveLLakkuLam).

Kaliyan appeals ardently for the Lord of this dhivya dEsam to destroy all the anishtams (inauspiciousness) standing in the way of his sathgathi (adiyEn idarik-kaLayAyE).

Veda mantrams are full of supplications to the Lord to destroy all obstacles that confront the SaadhakAs. For instance, one atharva Mantram passage Prays: “amai: amithram mardhaya”. The word “amai:” means diseases or Idars in

the way of a Saadhakan; “amithram” means adversaries. The prayer here is for the destruction of these adversaries (VirOdhis). Kaliyan’s Prayer is: “adiyEn idaraik-kaLayAyE”. The prayer is to the Lord, who is the knower of all our paths (Gaathuvitthama of Yajur vEdam), who helps us attain the targeted PurushArthams of life (yathO vrathAni paSpaSE - Yajur Veda Mantram).

 

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PAASURAM 3

KunRAl kuLirmAri tadutthuhanthAnE
nanRaaya perumpuhazh vEdhiyar naangUr
senRAr vaNangum ThiruveLLakkuLatthuL
ninRaai, nediyaay! adiyEn idar neekkE.

MEANING:

Oh Lord Standing tall at ThiruveLLakkuLam known for its Vedic scholars of enduring repute! When Indhran mistook You as a mere human being during Your KrishNAvatharam and pelted Gokulam with torrential hail and freezing rain, You lifted and held the Govardana Hill and offered protection to the citizens and cattle of Gokulam. Indhran understood Your Parathvam and fell at Your sacred feet and performed Govindha PattAbhishEkam to acknowledge You as His Master. Oh Lord worshipped by all the Vediyars of ThiruveLLakkuLam! Please remove all of the obstacles to reach Your sacred feet at Parama Padham and to perform Nithya Kaimkaryam to You there.

 

AVATHARIKAI:

Here again the prayer is for the banishment of all “idars” (anishtams) to the attainment of Moksha Sukham. In all the ten Paasurams, Kaliyan refers to ThiruveLLakkuLam being rich with Vedic lore and anushtAnam. This dhivya desam is a veritable chathur Veda Mangalam. In this Paasuram, Kaliyan salutes the Vedic scholars again: “nanRAya perum puhazh Vedhiyar naangur ThiruveLLakkuLam”. These Vedic scholars do not just have Puhazh (fame) but Perum Puhazh (great fame). Their fame rests on their clear awareness of UpsanAs advocated by the Upanishads and their skill in conducting Yaagams and Yaj~nams prescribed by the Karma KaaNDam portion of the Vedams.

You lifted gOvardhana hill

 

Kaliyan’s prayer for the destruction of Moksha VirOdhis is an echo of the 315th Saaman, which is the same as the Rg Veda mantram (V.32.1):

“Oh Resplendent Lord! Cut asunder the dark forces and liberate the fountains of true knowledge. Please shower Your blessings on us and destroy all wickedness”.

 

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PAASURAM 4

kaanAr kari kompu athosittha KaLiRE
nAnAvahai nallavar manniya naangUr
tEnAr pozhil soozh ThiruveLLakkuLatthuL
AanAi, adiyEnukku aruL puriyAyE.

MEANING:

Oh Lord presiding over the dhivya dEsam of ThiruveLLakkuLam known for its beautiful groves filled with honey-laden flowers and for its dense population of Saadhu janam skilled in the practice of all kinds of vidhyais and kalaas! You stand there proudly like a majestic elephant. Once at Kamsan’s court, You broke the tusk of the royal elephant that was set upon You and killed it although You were a small boy. Oh mighty Lord! Please shower Your blessings (aruL) on this servant of Yours and lead me to sathgathi.

 

COMMENTS:

The prayer of Kaliyan is an echo of many Veda Mantrams recited by the “nAnAvahai nallavar” (various kinds of auspicious Brahmins). One such mantram takes this form:

kavim agnim upa stuhi satyadharmANam adhvarE | devam ameevacAtanam ||

 —  (32nd Saaman and Rg Vedam: I.12.7).

This mantram says: “May we offer our homage to the Sarvajn~an, Who is omniscient and is the sustainer of the Rutham (eternal laws) of His universe. He is the only one, who destroys the evils (apparent or concealed) through His supreme benevolence”. Kaliyan’s prayer “adiyEnukku aruL puriyAyE” is along these Vedic lines in a dhivya dEsam that is reputed for its Veda GhOsham.

 

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PAASURAM 5

vEdAr ThiruvEnkatam mEya viLakkE
nAdAr pugazh vEdhiyar manniya naangUr
sEdAr pozhil soozh ThiruveLLakkuLatthAy
paadA varuvEn vinaiyAyina PaaRRE.

MEANING:

Oh the supreme jyOthi on top of ThiruvEnkatam hills! adiyEn has arrived at ThiruveLLakkuLam surrounded by beautiful (verdant) groves and populated by Vedic scholars celebrated for their Jn~Anam by the whole country. adiyEn is singing at Your dhivya dEsam about Your glories. Please spare me from the destructive impact of my vinaikaL and bless adiyEn with Your anugrahams.

 

COMMENTS:

ThiruvEnkatamudayAn is Utthara VenkatEsan and the archaa Moorthy at ThiruveLLakkuLam is DakshiNa VenkatEsan. Kaliyan salutes hence both ThiruvEnkatamudayAn and ThiruveLLakkuLatthu EmperumAn. This salutation to the Lord present everywhere from north to south, from East to West has echos in a celebrated Veda Mantram found in Saama, Rg and atharva Vedams (1231st Saaman / UtharArchikam, Rg Vedam: VIII.4.1 and atharva Vedam: XX.120.1):

yadindra prAg apAg udannyagavaa hUyase nrubhi: |
simA purU nrushUto asyAnavEsi praSardha turvaSe ||

 

MEANING:

Oh resplendent Lord, in whichever quarter, You may be dwelling, whether in the east, west, north or south, men invoke You to come for their well being. Oh destroyer of evils, Oh excellent One, May You readily come when invoked, to them who follow You and possess vigor.

 

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PAASURAM 6

kallAl kadalai aNai katti uhanthAy
nallAr palar vEdhiyar manniya naangUr
selvA, ThiruveLLakuLatthuRaivAnE
yella idarum kedumAru aruLAyE.