Meaning and Commentary in English

Amalanadipiran

Of

Tiruppanalwar

With

Meaning and Commentary in English

By D. Ramaswamy Ayyangar

 

Advocate, Madras-7

 

Published By

Vishishtadwaita Pracharini Sabha

7, Nathamuni Street,

T’NAGAR, MADRAS-17

 

 

 

AMALANADIPIRAN

 

Out of the 24 Prabandhas that go to make up the “Nalayira Divya Prabandham” this is the 17th in chronological order. It is the shortest of all the twenty-four, containing as it does only 10 verses. Its name is taken from the opening words of the work. There is another Prabandham, Kanni-nun-chirutthambu having its opening words as its name. Incidentally it is the next shortest Prabandha. It has 11 verses. These two Prabandhas are the last two out of the 9 that go to make up ……..

(the first part though not exactly the first thousand) out of the 4000. The only other Prabandham that derives its name from its opening word is Nanmugan Tiruvandadi …….

The Alwar who has given to us this ……….. is Tiruppanalwar. In common with the first four Alwars Poigai Alwar, Bhoothathalwar, Peyalwar and Tirumalisai Alwar, he also appears to have been an Ayonija, born of no one. He has this in common with Tirumalisai Alwar, viz., that he was brought up by persons who were regarded in those days as of inferior caste. Tiruppanalwar’s foster, parents were of the Panar (……) caste, a sort of wandering minstrels or songsters, ‘Tiruppanalwar’s birth place is said to be ……… (Woraiyur), now a suburb of Tiruchirapalli. It is known to Vaishnavites as Nichulapuri

(……….), It is also known as Garr), and is celebrated by that name by Tirumangai Alwar who came after Tiruppanalwar.

Tiruppanalwar is believed to be an amsham (partincarnation) of Shrivatsa (the mole on the Lord’s chest). The ten Alwars are referred to by Vedanta Deshika as an …… (Neo-Dashavatharam) of the Lord Himself. The Alwars came into the world with the set purpose of spreading the Bhakti cult among mankind. Both by precept and example they turned men’s attention Godward. Each achieved this Purpose in a different way.

Tiruppanalwar’s method is simple, short and straight.

A great love towards God . seized the Alwar’s soul even while he was quite young, Accustomed to song and music he came to the banks of the River Kaveri flowing near, and facing Shrirangam in the north, used to meditate upon the Lord of that shrine about whom, whose beauty, and whose grace he had heard from elders, and he Sang His praises.

Not being able to cross the Kaveri and Step into Shrirangam because of social barriers, he was content to stand on the other side of the sacred river, and sing about the glory of the Lord to his hearts content. Sometimes in the fullness of his love he used to go into trance and remain in that state for some hours. On one such occasion it happened that the Temple Paricharaka from Shrirangam, who used to fetch water from the Kaveri for the Lord’s Abhishekam and worship, found him near the slender Stream that was running in the southern edge of the bed of the River Kaveri, and shouted to him to take himself away. Being in a trance the Alwar did not stir, The Paricharaka took a pebble and hurled it at the Alwar. It struck him in the face above the eyebrow and caused bleeding. Startled out of his trance, the Alwar realised what had happened, and hurriedly went away from the spot profusely apologising for his unwitting apachara (fault). The Paricharaka took the water from the River to Shrirangam, happy and complacent at the thought that he had been able to carry pure water unpolluted. But his happiness and complacency were very short-lived, for when he went into the Sanctum Sanctorum, he was shocked and dismayed beyond words to see blood trickling from the face of the Lord at the exact spot in the face where his pebble had hit the devotee. He realised the great sin he had committed, and was struck with remorse. That might the Lord of Rangam appeared in his dream and, reminding him of the heinous sin committed that morning, made him understand that the only way of expiating for it was to somehow bring that great devotee to His presence. As soon as day dawned the Paricharaka rushed to the spot where the devotee used to stand and sing, reckoned himself lucky when he found him there, approached him and delivered to him the Lord’s own command in the dream. The Panar-devotee felt exhilarated and happy beyond words, but politely refused to comply with it because it was unthinkable that he could step on the sacred soil of Shrirangam. The temple priest — his name was Loka-Saranga-Muni — who was very anxious to make amends for the heinous crime committed by him the previous day, came out with a ready solution. ‘O! Bhakta so dear to the Lord! You need not do what you feel is wrong — stepping on Shrirangam soil. I shall carry you on my shoulders and take you to the Lord’s presence within the shrine’. Panar did not know what to do. On the one hand there was the Lord’s command that he do come to Him. On the other, the prospect, none too pleesant, of having to ride on the Priest’s shoulders — an act which was not only distasteful but also sinful in his eyes. Ultimately the Priest’s importunities prevailed and after crossing the River-bed and before entering Shrirangam he allowed himself to be carried by Lokasaranga Muni, thereby earning the appellation — Munivahana — one riding on a Muni as on a vehicle. He closed his eyes tight and opened them only when he was made to descend from the shoulders of the Muni, straight in front of the Lord — that Sleeping Beauty of Shrirangam along with the Smiling Beauty (Utsava) in front, with His two Consorts. And what he saw then has been described in the Prabandham he then sang, and which made him an Alwar.

The enjoyment vouchsafed by the Lord to the Alwar of His superb Tirumeni from Foot to Head …… is enshrined in the 10 verses of the Prabandham, The first 9 verses enjoy respectively the ………and the …….. in that very order. (Lotus Feet, Garmeat, Navel, waistband, chest, neck, red Mouth, eyes and the whole Body) The last verse states how his eyes which saw that Nectar 4upg will never see anything else. And they did not ; for the Alwar immediately thereafter merged into the Lord, his individual soul being swallowed up by that Paramapurusha, All-Soul.

Acharyas have found several excellences in this Prabandam. Vedanta Deshika was so deeply impressed with it that he wrote a commentary on it, a compliment which he has not paid to any of the 23 other prabandhams. His commentary which goes by the name of Muni-vahana-bhogam (……) or the enjoyment of the Muni-vahana (another name for Tiruppanalwar to the Prabandham as in overflow of ecstatic refers to the Prabandham as an overflow of ecstatic enjoyment ………. It is also said there that this Prabandham is neither too long and tiresome, nor too short and cryptic. It does not indulge in being didactic or polemic.

That emperor among commentators — Vyakayana Chakravarthi — Periavachan Pillay also refers to these and several other merits. Vedanta Deshika draws particular attention to an excellent feature of this Prabandham viz., that even the Alwar’s name does not find mention at the end or anywhere in the work. ……….. That is the extent of the intense enjoyment vouchsafed by the Lord to this Alwar.

Let us now go to the Prabandam itself, and try to understand somewhat the meaning and message of the verses.

 

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