Thirumangai Mannan and Kumudavalli nAcchiyAr

 

Thirumangai Mannan's immense love for the PerumAL of ThiruppullANi comes pouring out in his pAsurams where he expresses his devotional fervour in the guise of ParakAla nAyaki — a lovelorn lady feeling the passion of unrequited love for her absent lover. His pAsurams reminds one of the intense feelings found in the kritis of another RAma bhakta — Satguru Sri ThyAgarAja Swamigal. The kritis composed by Sri Satguru Swami during the period when due to unfortunate circumstances he was parted briefly from his ArAdana MUrthy, illustrate the pangs of devotional love he suffered being deprived of the company of his swami. Just as gold is made pure by being burnt in fire and beaten by the gold smith, the hearts of Satguru Swamigal and Thirumangai Mannan were scorched by the fire of separation from BhagavAn and purified by the removal of the dross of mundane existence. Thus they were blessed by BhagavAn with Eternal Bliss. Kavi KALidAsan wrote: "taptena taptamayasA ghaTanAya yogyam" describing the emotional cries of the Gopikas who were parted from SrI KrishNa. Similar to the gopasthrees, both Kaliyan and ThyAgarAja Swamigal also cried out in heartfelt affection and devotion for BhagavAn and were united with Him in Bliss.

Thirumangai Mannan has devoted the entire 3rd and 4th Thirumozhi (20 pAsurams) in his Peiya Thirumozhi under the 9th Decad for ThiruppullANi Kshetram and the PerumAL. Assuming the role of a lady, ParakAla NAyaki, who relates to her friend (Etazi) the turmoil of her mind that is lost to the bewitching beauty of EmperumAn, Kaliyan recounts the details of how:

• EmperumAn spent countless hours with ParakAla nAyaki under the shades of the Punnai tree captivating her heart

• EmperumAn stayed with her near the rows of screw-pine trees (thAzhai flower — kaithaki) and enchanted her with His sweet talks

• EmperumAn cunningly seduced her in the Mango groves and

• EmperumAn decorated her hair with flowers and played with her.

ParakAla Nayaki says that she has lost her sleep totally due to constant thoughts of the ThiruppullANi nAthan, who has cheated her after stealing her heart with honeyed words. But eventhough He has cheated her and disappeared now, she adds that she would never abandon the belief that He is her swAmi and she will strictly observe the prescribed dharmAnushTAnams in the hope that He will return back to her someday.

In these pAsurams Kaliyan expresses beautifully the lovelorn cries of a lady who feels abandoned by her Svami. Kaliyan says: "Oh my mind! What am I to do? Why does my Lord play with me so? Why is He so uninterested in me? What can I do to diminish this unbearably heart-rending sorrow caused by His rejection of me? Oh My mind! I keep melting like dew drops by the very thought of Him, so where will this lead me? I am not even capable of ending my unfortunate Life! After sweet-talking me into believing that He will never leave me, my SvAmi has now disappered from my sight and has gone hiding. Unable to bear this separation I have no recourse left but to keep chanting His name over and over again and lose sleep over His thoughts and thus spend the rest of my miserable Life! The very Lord who profusely promised that He loves me, has for no apparent reason, now chosen to stay away without any show of compassion! But come what may, my friend! We will not give up our nithyAnushTAnams and we will continue to chant His divya nAmams and prostrate at His Lotus Feet. These practices will definitely yield only positive results! Let us worship and pray at the ThiruppullANi temple wherein He dwells permanently."

As seen above Kaliyan brings to life the intensity of emotions such as love, anger, sorrow and despair that occurs between a lady and her Lord. Sri ThyAga Brhmam was another ardent devotee of Lord RAmachandra who expressed similar sentiments in his keerthanais.

In his HarikhAmbOji rAga kriti, "cani tODi tevE O manasA!" Sri ThyAgarAjar imagines himself to be a lady and Sri RAmachandran to be his Lord — husband;

and says: "Oh Mind! Please go and fetch my Lord; the mahApurushan — Sri Ramachandran — immediately. I wish to be in His loving company for long ages, so please go and fetch Him to me quickly. He has greater tejas and soundaryam (beauty) than a hundred ManmathAs and He is renowned for protecting all erring/unfortunate souls — pathitharkaL. So please bring Him to me at once!" The keerthana vaakyams are as follows:

Pallavi:

cani toDi tevE O manasA!

Anu Pallavi:

kanikaramudo kani kara miDi cirakAlamu sukha manubavimpa vEgamE

caraNam

patitula brocE paTTAdhi kArini paramArtha mata vasishThA nusArini
dyuti nirjita Sata SambarArini dhureeNa tyAgarAja haruccArini

In the YadukulakhAmbOji kriti, "celimini jalajAkshu gaNTe cepparayya meeru", ThyAga Brahmam says: "Hey BhakthAs! Did you see my Lord anywhere? I pray to you please inform me of His whereabouts, so that I, who am in utter despair due to His disappearance, will find some succor. He is the One Who carries the bow and arrow in His hands and is called as KodaNDapANi. His eyes brim over with compassion and makes one yearn for His glances forever. One can never tire of looking at His thirumukha maNDalam which captivates ones heart and steals one's senses. He is a Master in understanding His devotees and is very shrewd in polite conversations. He is my Lord, my prANa nAthan! Deprived of His presence I have lost weight and am full of despair. I lost myself to Him from the moment I saw Him! The agonies of my heart are indescribable! Oh Bhakthas — you who are well aware of my pitiable state — please convey my plight to Him! Please help me!" The vaakyams of this kriti is reminiscent of the lovelorn pleas of ParakAla NAyaki (Thirumangai Mannan) in the ThiruppullANi paasurams that were discussed earlier. The entire kriti is as follows: