sri:
srimathE rAmAnujAya nama:
srimadh varavaramunayE nama:
sri vAnAchala mahAmunayE nama:
In the previous article (http://ponnadi.blogspot.in/2012/11/archavathara-anubhavam-kurathazhwan.html) we enjoyed kUrathAzhwAn's archAvathAra anubhavam.
Let us now move on to see how bhattar enjoyed archAvathAra emperumAn.
Let us start with the thanian for bhattar was submitted by none other than NanjIyar who was reformed by bhattar and who gave up everything and took up sanyAsAshramam to simply keep serving his AchAryan.
srI parAchara bhattArya srIranGgEcha purOhitha: (ஸ்ரீ பராசர பட்டார்ய ஸ்ரீரங்கேச புரோஹித:)
srIvathsAnGgasutha: srImAn chrEyasE mEsthu bhUyasE (ஸ்ரீவத்ஸாங்கஸுத: ஸ்ரீமான் ச்ரேயஸே மேஸ்து பூயஸே)
Simple translation:
Let parasAra bhattar who read purANam to NamperumAL, who is the son of kUrAthAzhwAn and who is fully filled with srivaishnavasri (kainkarya srI) bless me with all goodness.
kUrathAzhwAn and ANdaL (parents of bhattar), even though married, were fully detached from material desires. Their only objective in life was to serve emperumAn and emperumAnAr. Once, when AzhwAn and ANdAL were stuck in their thirumALigai and could not go to the temple and did not have any prasAdham to eat, ANdAL meditates on NamperumAL and asks him why he is making some one like AzhwAn (who is so attached to him) starve? Hearing this NamperumAL, immediately sends his aravaNai (last meal in the night) prasAdham to AzhwAn's thirumALigai with all honors. AzhwAn surprised at the sudden arrival of prasAdham asks ANdAL if she prayed in her heart for such thing. ANdAL accepts that she did. AzhwAn being very upset at ANdAL for asking anything from emperumAN, accepts a few morsels of prasAdham in honor of the same and just picks two handful of prasAdham and gives them to ANdAL. By the grace of those two handful of prasAdham, ANdAL eventually gives birth to two beautiful children who were eventually blessed by embAr first and emperumAnAr subsequently. emperumAnAr names them parasAra bhattar and vEdha vyAsa bhattar to acknowledge the great contribution of parAsara maharishi and vEdha vyAsa maharishi towards establishing vishNu parathvam clearly. Thus, he also fulfills one of his vows to ALavandhAr that he will glorify these 2 maharishis.
As shown in the eedu vyAkyAnam by NampiLLai, emperumAnAr ordered to AzhwAn to give parAsara bhattar as an adopted son to sri ranga nAchiAr and periya perumAL. AzhwAn obliges and bhattar becomes the son of emperumAn himself officially. He had such unparallel glories and was taken care by periya pirAtti herself in her sannidhi when bhattar was an infant. bhattar himself declares that he was raised by perumAL and thAyAr in srIranga rAja sthavam - slOkam 17 as "srI ranGgarAja kamalA padha lAli thathvam" (ஸ்ரீ ரங்கராஜ கமலா பத லாலி தத்வம்). It is explained that bhattar, as an infant/baby, used to sleep in periya perumAL's sannidhi in a craddle, and perumAL and pirAtti will sing lullAby for him. Once, he went and picked the bhOgam that was kept in front of emperumAn for offering before the offering was done. emperumAn became so pleased with that (just like the father gets pleased when the child picks his food before he eats) and happily consumed the offering.
While many times, he can be seen as a proud son (in a good way) of periya perumAL and periya pirAtti (this is explained as rAja kula mAhAthmyam), he was also completely surrendered to them with total humility. His naichyAnushandhAnam is unparallel and let us see some of his great qualities briefly.
In srI ranganAtha sthOthram, he identifies an incident where a dog entered the temple and a samprOkshanam was performed immediately. Hearing this, he runs to periya perumAL and asks him, if the archakas did samprOkshanam for a dog entering the temple (just in the prAkAram), every day he (considering himself lower than a dog) is entering up to the sannidhi and why he is not ordering for a samprOkshaNam every day.
Also, in a the same sthOthram, he declares that he would rather be born as a dog in the streets of srIrangam than being born as brahmA or any other dhEvathais.
mAmunigaL glorifies bhattar along with ALavandhAr and AzhwAn for their naichyAnusanthAnam in his yathirAja vimsathi 15th slOkam. He says "chudhdhAthma yAmuna gurUththama kUraNAtha bhattAkkya dhEchika varOktha samastha Naichyam" (சுத்தாத்ம யாமுன குரூத்தம கூரநாத பட்டாக்க்ய தேசிக வரோக்த ஸமஸ்த நைச்யம்) - all the naichyAnusanthAnam done by the pure souls like ALavandhAr, AzhwAn and kUrathAzhwAn actually fits him (mAmunigaL) aptly and he says emperumAnAr's mercy is the only way for him for salvation.
Needless to say, bhattar was very attached to periya perumAL and more attached to srIranga nAchiAr.
When some one visiting from thirumalai was attending the kAlakshEpam of bhattar. At that time he sneezed and called out for thiruvEnkatamudaiyAn. bhattar immediately got upset and instructed him to call out for thiruvaranganAthan. This swamy from thirumalai went back there and told ananthAzhwAn this story. ananthAzhwAn asks him to go back to bhattar and explain him that thirumangai AzhwAr himself identifies that we should constantly recite thiruvEnkamudaiyAn only as seen in periya thirumozhi 5.5.1 "veruvAdhAL vAy veruvi vEnGkatamE vEnGkatamE enginRALal" (வெருவாதாள் வாய் வெருவி வேங்கடமே வேங்கடமே என்கின்றாளல்). For that, bhattar replies that in that padhigam, AzhwAr is taken the bhAvam of parakAla nAyaki's mother and she has misunderstood that parakAla nAyaki is calling out for vEnGkatam and if it was parakAla nAyaki herself, she would have only said aranGgamE! aranGgamE! (அரங்கமே! அரங்கமே!).
Also, bhattar's attachment towards thAyar is greater than perumAL (as a child will be more attached to mother than father). In thiruppAvai Azhi mazhai kaNNA pAsuram, it is shown that once NamperumAL adorned NachiAr thirukkOlam, invited bhattar over and asked him how he looks. bhattar looking at NamperumAL tells him that everything is good but the kAruNyam in his eyes are not at the same level as thAyAr. His exact words are "NAchchiyAr vizhi vizhikka onNnNAthu" (நாச்சியார் விழி விழிக்க ஒண்ணாது) - emperumAn cannot have the same merciful vision as thAyAr.
When the local king vIra sundhara brahma rAyan (who was actually a disciple of AzhwAn) was building a madhiL (fort) in the sixth prAkAram of srirangam, he tried destroying the thirumALigai of piLLai piLLai AzhwAn who was a dear sishya of AzhwAn. bhattar stopped him saying that his madhiL is not going to protect emperumAn but it is the mangaLAsAsanam of great devotees that will protect emperumAn, the king did not want to listen and opposed bhattar's views. bhattar being disturbed by this, decided to leave srirangam and went to thirukkOtiyUr. He was very saddened by the separation from periya perumAL and periya pirAtti during his stay and kept constantly thinking about his return. Finally when the king died, bhattar was informed of that news, and bhattar immediately felt sorry for the king who committed apachAram to him. He started his return and at that time his extreme desire and love to see the thiruvarangam dhivya dhEsam and emperumAn was poured out in his beautiful grantham named "srirangarAja sthavam". This is divided in to two parts "pUrva sathakam" and "uththara sathakam". pUrva sathakam was compiled and sung by him during the journey to thiruvarangam and uththara sathakam was sung in thiruvarangam itself after the return. They both are full of beautiful meanings and let us enjoy a little bit from them.
It is explained by our pUrvAchAryas that srirangarAja sthavam explains dhvaya mahA manthram. pUrva sathakam explains the pUrva vAkyam (first line) of dhvayam where we surrender to emperumAn through the purushakAra of pirAtti and uththara sathakam explains the uththara vAkyam (second line) of dhvayam where we request for kainkaryam to both pirAtti and perumAL for their pleasure.
Let us first see bhattar's anubhavam in pUrva sathakam.
In the first 8 slOkams, bhattar beautifully glorifies the guruparamparai in the following order:
Immediately after glorifying the guru paramparai, bhattar establishes the svarUpa nirUpaka dharmam of emperumAn in slOkam 9. Let us enjoy that now.
asthi vasthu idham iththaNthva prasanGkkyANa parAnGmukam (அஸ்தி வஸ்து இதம் இத்தந்த்வ ப்ரஸங்க்க்யாந பராங்முகம்)
srImadhyAyathaNE lakshmIpadhalAkshaika lakshanNam (ஸ்ரீமத்யாயதநே லக்ஷ்மீபதலாக்ஷைக லக்ஷணம்)
Simple translation:
parabrahmam whose svarUpam (true nature) and svabhAvam (qualities) cannot be comprehended and who is recognised by the presence of saffron pieces from sri mahAlakshmi's lotus feet on his chest is lying on the AdhisEshan in srirangam periya kOil as periya perumAL.
bhattar identifies the most important quality that will identify emperumAn - that is sriya:pathithvam (being dear husband of pirAtti). This is similar to his own words in srI guNa rathna kOsham - "vEdhANthAs thathva chiNthAm murapithurasi yathpAdhachihNais tharaNthi" (வேதாந்தாஸ் தத்வ சிந்தாம் முரபிதுரஸி யத்பாதசிஹ்நைஸ் தரந்தி), i.e., when vEdhAntham had a doubt on "who is the supreme god?", it quickly looked at the chest of all dhEvathas and concluded that the one who has the saffron pieces from the lotus feet of pirAtti is the supreme. Here bhattar also categorically establishes right at the beginning that parabrahmam is none other than periya perumAL. It is this archAvathAra emperumAn who clearly shows us his supreme nature.
In slOkam 12, bhattar enjoys the beauty of the sriranganAthan with his panchAyuthams. For the ones who are devoted to emperumAn, these panchAyuthams are seen as ornaments and weapons that will protect them as and when required. But for the ones who consider emperumAn as their enemies, these panchAyuthams are seen as weapons that will quickly destroy them.
Similar to thoNdaradippodi AzhwAr, bhattar enjoys the beauty of thiruvarangam, the glories of cauvery and the attachment of cauvery towards periya perumAL, etc., in this prabhandham.
After entering the temple, he enjoys the srIranga vimAnam, sEnai mudhaliAr (and thiruvadi and vibhIshaNAzhwAn who are inside the same sannidhi), panchAyuthams, etc.
Then he enters the garbhagruham and glorifies NamperumAL's and periya perumAL's beauty and qualities in great detail. Similar to thiruppANAzhwAr, bhattar enjoys all the divine parts of emperumAn's thirumEni in many slOkams.
In slOkam 110, periya perumAL's parathvam and saulabhyam are beautifully enjoyed by bhattar.
krItam srIranGgEchayithu: upathANIkrutha bhuja: (க்ரீடம் ஸ்ரீரங்கேசயிது: உபதாநீக்ருத புஜ:)
vidhIchAdhIchathvAth katatha ithi samsprushya vathathi (விதீசாதீசத்வாத் கடத இதி ஸம்ஸ்ப்ருஷ்ய வததி)
NihINANAm mukkhyam charanNamithi bhAhus thadhithara: (நிஹீநாநாம் முக்க்யம் சரணமிதி பாஹுஸ் ததிதர:)
spputam bhruthE pAdhAmbhujayugaLam AjANu Nihitha: (ஸ்ப்புடம் ப்ருதே பாதாம்புஜயுகளம் ஆஜாநு நிஹித:)
Simple translation:
periya perumAL's right hand (which acts like the pillow) is showing his lengthy crown and establishes his parathvam saying "this crown fits perfectly to show that I am the lord of brahmA, shiva, etc". His left hand which is stretched upto his knee (having hands upto the knee is shown as a great quality in sAmudhrikA lakshaNam) is showing his thiruvadi that is easily approachable by everyone.
In the 111th slOkam, periya perumAL's chest is beautifully narrated as the residing place of periya pirAtti.
malayajachachiliptham mAlathIdhAmathalpam (மலயஜசசிலிப்தம் மாலதீதாமதல்பம்)
sumanNisaravidhANam kausthubhasvasthidhIpam (ஸுமணிஸரவிதாநம் கௌஸ்துபஸ்வஸ்திதீபம்)
dhaNujavrusha vishnNOllEka chithranYcha (தநுஜவ்ருஷ விஷ்ணோல்லேக சித்ரஞ்ச)
lakshmI lalitha gruham upAsE ranGgasarvamsahOra: (லக்ஷ்மீ லலித க்ருஹம் உபாஸே ரங்கஸர்வம்ஸஹோர:)
Simple translation:
I worship periya perumAL's thirumArbhu (chest) as the beautiful residing place of sri mahAlakshmi. His chest is decorated with a mixture of sandal wood paste and camphor, the base of the chest is like a soft flower bed, the top of the chest is decorated with many beautiful jewels, it is lighted by kausthuba mani (stone), it has the marks created by the horns of 7 demoniac oxes that looks like artwork.
In the 113th slOkam, bhattar again enjoys both parathvam and saulabhyam in the periya perumAL's thirumEni. periya perumAL's chest having periya pirAtti, thuLasi mAlai, vanamAlai, and sri kausthabam confirms he is the supreme. The same chest also has the necklaces given by yasOdhai which confirms his saulabhyam.
In the 116th slOkam, bhattar again shows emperumAn's parathvam through as seen visually in periya perumAL's navel itself.
thrayO dhEvAs thulyAs thridhyamidhamadhvaithamadhikam (த்ரயோ தேவாஸ் துல்யாஸ் த்ரித்யமிதமத்வைதமதிகம்)
thrikAthasmAth thaththvam paramithi vitharkkAN vigatayan (த்ரிகாதஸ்மாத் தத்த்வம் பரமிதி விதர்க்காந் விகடயன்)
vibhOr NAbhIpadhmO vidhichiva NidhANam bhagavatha: (விபோர் நாபீபத்மோ விதிசிவ நிதாநம் பகவத:)
thadhaNyath bhrUbhanGkIparvathithi sidhdhANthayathi Na: (ததந்யத் ப்ரூபங்கீபர்வதிதி ஸித்தாந்தயதி ந:)
Simple translation:
This slOkam is conveying the exact same message of NammAzhwAr's periya thiruvanthAdhi pAsuram 72 - "mudhalAm thiruvuruvam mUnRenbhar" (முதலாம் திருவுருவம் மூன்றென்பர்).
Some say that all the three dhEvathas (brahmA, vishNu, shiva) are equal (thrimUrthy sAmya vAdham). Some say these are three are non-different from each other (thrimUrthy aikya vAdham). Some say there is a higher brahmam than these 3 dhEvathas. But the navel of emperumAn clears any such doubts since this is the root cause of brahmA (and subsequently shiva, etc). So this itself is sufficient to prove that everything is controlled by emperumAn's katAksham only. Also, the fact that the lord of creation brahmA is created by emperumAn from his navel, proves that he is the cause of all causes.
It can also be understood that such great brahmam, out of his saulabhyam comes and appears in between brahmA and shiva who are bound by karma as if all 3 are equal. We can also further understand his saulabhyam in revealing himself in thiruvarangam for the benefit of all.
Let us move on to uththara sathakam now.
In slOkam one, he starts with periya perumAL's causeless mercy.
harththum thama: sadh asadhI vivEkthum Icha: (ஹர்த்தும் தம: ஸத் அஸதீ விவேக்தும் ஈச:)
mANam pradhIpam iva kArunNika: dhadhAthi (மாநம் ப்ரதீபம் இவ காருணிக: ததாதி)
thENa avalOkya kruthiNa: paribhunYjathE tham (தேந அவலோக்ய க்ருதிந: பரிபுஞ்ஜதே தம்)
thathra Eva kEpi chapalA: chalapIbhavaNthi (தத்ர ஏவ கேபி சபலா: சலபீபவந்தி)
Simple translation:
periya perumAL who is full of mercy, gives a light named sAsthram to remove the ignorance from our mind and to give us the ability to distinguish between right and wrong. The ones who are blessed benefits from that light and knows emperumAn and the ones who are not blessed, gets destroyed per the same sAsthram like fireflies who die of light.
bhattar explains many intricate details of our sidhAntham in many slOkams. He easily establishes our sidhAntham and identifies the various limitations in other sidhAnthams.
He explains the many favours done by emperumAn like giving body and senses to jIvAthmAs during srushti, giving sAsthram and how he himself taking avathArams to help every one. He explains the many avathArams of emperumAn and their specialities in many slOkams in great detail.
After that, in 74th slOkam he establishes the greatness of archAvathAra emperumAns. This is one of the most beautiful nirvAhams of bhattar and we can understand why he was attached to periya perumAL so much by going through this slOkam.
AsthAm thE gunNarAchivath gunNaparIvAha AthmANAm jaNmaNAm (ஆஸ்தாம் தே குணராசிவத் குணபரீவாஹ ஆத்மாநாம் ஜந்மநாம்)
sanGkyA bhauma NikEthaNEshu api kutI kunYchEshu ranGgEchvara: (ஸங்க்யா பௌம நிகேதநேஷு அபி குடீ குஞ்சேஷு ரங்கேச்வர:)
archchyas sarvasahishnNu: archaka parAdhINa: akilAthma sthithi: (அர்ச்ச்யஸ் ஸர்வஸஹிஷ்ணு: அர்சக பராதீந: அகிலாத்ம ஸ்திதி:)
prInNIshE hruthayAlupi: thava thathach chIlAth jatIbhUyathE (ப்ரீணீஷே ஹ்ருதயாலுபி: தவ ததச் சீலாத் ஜடீபூயதே)
Simple translation:
Oh sriranganAtha! your divine qualities are countless and your avathArams that reveal those divine qualities are countless as well. But let them be (they are insignificant compared to what I am going to speak about now). In this bhUmi (samsAram) - you descend to many temples, homes, mutts, Ashrams, etc as archA vigraham. Not only you descend there, you tolerate everything there, you accept whatever is submitted/rendered by the one who worships you and you are completely dependant on them and you feel happy to take up such position. It is because of this great divine quality of yours, everyone becomes attracted towards you.
This can be seen as bhattar's "paRRudai adiyavarkku eLiyavan" (பற்றுடை அடியவர்க்கு எளியவன்). NammAzhwAr became very emotional and fainted thinking about kaNNan emperumAn's act of stealing of butter and subsequently being caught and tied down by yasOdhai. Here bhattar becomes emotional thinking about emperumAn's archAvathAram.
In subsequent slOkams he further glorifies periya perumAL and also shows his humility and does naichyAnusandhAnam.
In the last slOkam he says that he is completely devoid of any other upAyams and requests sriranganAthan to help him. He says by helping him, emperumAn's greatness will increase, since emperumAn showed his mercy where it is required.
In srI guNa rathna kOsham, bhattar glorifies sriranganAchiAr. We have already seen bhattar's attachment towards periya pirAttiAr.
In the second slOkam, he reveals the greatness of pirAtti.
ullAsa pallavitha pAlitha sapthalOkI (உல்லாஸ பல்லவித பாலித ஸப்தலோகீ)
NirvAha gOrahitha NEma kAtAksha leelAm (நிர்வாஹ கோரஹித நேம காடாக்ஷ லீலாம்)
srIranGga harmyathala manGgaLa dhIparEkAm (ஸ்ரீரங்க ஹர்ம்யதல மங்கள தீபரேகாம்)
srIranGgarAja mahishIm chriyam AchrayAma: (ஸ்ரீரங்கராஜ மஹிஷீம் ச்ரியம் ஆச்ரயாம: )
Simple translation:
I worship sriranganAchiAr who is the queen of srirangam and wife of periya perumAL. pirAtti opens here eyes slowly like a flower opens up and by her vision the whole worlds gets brightened and gets life. She is also like the light in the sriranga vimAnam, meaning she is the one who reveals herself and periya perumAL.
Right upfront, bhattar shows the importance of purushakAram and establishes that without the purushakAram we cannot even know or approach emperumAn.
In the 4th slOkam, bhattar shows the relationship between periya perumAL and periya pirAtti and requests her mercy. It is in this slOkam where he says:
In many slOkams, bhattar explains how emperumAn acts to please pirAtti. pirAtti being mother of all, always tries to bring samsAris to emperumAn and convinces him to accept them. emperumAn being happy with her purushakAram accepts them. Thus both pirAtti and emperumAn are constantly trying to help every jIvAthmA.
In 42nd slOkam , bhattar explains the tender nature of pirAtti. He says just by the touch of the saffron pieces, pirAtti's lotus feet feel irritated. Even, if pirAtti's friends stare at her, her thirumEni feels inconvenience. If she playfully lifts a lotus flower, her hands start paining. If she sits on a swing which is fully covered by flowers and starts swinging, everyone starts feeling that she may become very tired. So, if I glorify such pirAtti, will that not affect her as well?
In slOkam 50, bhattar brings up the greatness of pirAtti over emperumAn.
mAthar maithili rAkshasI: thvayi thathaiva ArthrAparAdhA: thvayA (மாதர் மைதிலி ராக்ஷஸீ: த்வயி ததைவ ஆர்த்ராபராதா: த்வயா)
rakshaNthyA bhavaNAthmajAth lagutharA rAmasya gOshtI kruthA (ரக்ஷந்த்யா பவநாத்மஜாத் லகுதரா ராமஸ்ய கோஷ்டீ க்ருதா)
kAkam thanYcha vibhIshanNam charanNam ithi ukthi kshamau rakshatha: (காகம் தஞ்ச விபீஷணம் சரணம் இதி உக்தி க்ஷமௌ ரக்ஷத:)
sANa: sANthra mahAkasa: sukayathu kshANthi: thava AgasmikI (ஸாந: ஸாந்த்ர மஹாகஸ: ஸுகயது க்ஷாந்தி: தவ ஆகஸ்மிகீ)
Simple translation:
Oh my dear mother! sIthA pirAtti! your husband srI rAman gave protection to kAkAsuran and vibhIshaNan who both surrendered to him. But you protected the rAkshasis (who tortured you) from hanuman in ashOka vanam even when they did not surrender unto you. Thus your glories are far greater than emperumAn's glories. Please protect me with your mercy which protects even the ones who trouble you, because I am full of faults.
We can recollect "pApANam vA ... na kaschith na aparAdhyathi" at this moment. This is called as sIthA charama slOkam where pirAtti declares that she will protect every one.
In the same context we can also relate to azhagiya maNavALa perumAL nAyanAr's nirvAham (conclusion) from AchArya hrudhayam 204th chUrNikai.
"thAykkum maganukkum thambikkum ivarkkum ivaradipanNiNthavarkkumE ivaiyuLLathu" (தாய்க்கும் மகனுக்கும் தம்பிக்கும் இவர்க்கும் இவரடிபணிந்தவர்க்குமே இவையுள்ளது).
In this section, nAyanAr is explaining why NammAzhwAr is giving this great knowledge to everyone and says that AzhwAr does it because of two reasons - a) AzhwAr always sees that everyone is related to emperumAn b) always feels bad that everyone deserve to serve emperumAn but not doing that and c) AzhwAr is full of krupai. In this chUrNikai AzhwAr shows the ones who have these three great qualities.
Finally in the last slOkam, he prays to pirAtti to ensure that he lives in srirangam along with all the other srivaishnavas for many years doing kainkaryams to her and emperumAn and keeps him as a small piece of dirt in the lotus feet of pirAtti and emperumAn.
It is impossible to fully understand bhattar's bhAvam towards srIranganAchiAr and srIranganAthan. We can only get a small glimpse of that beautiful experience. Let us pray to bhattar that we get blessed with such anubhavams.
In the next article we will see piLLai lOkAchAryar's archAvathAra anubhavam.
adiyen sarathy ramanuja dasan
sources: 6000 padi guru paramparA prabhAvam, vyAkyAnams, kAnchi swamy's sthava vyAkyAnams
archived in http://ponnadi.blogspot.in, also visit http://guruparamparai.wordpress.com.
srimathE rAmAnujAya nama:
srimadh varavaramunayE nama:
sri vAnAchala mahAmunayE nama:
In the previous article (http://ponnadi.blogspot.in/2012/11/archavathara-anubhavam-kurathazhwan.html) we enjoyed kUrathAzhwAn's archAvathAra anubhavam.
Let us now move on to see how bhattar enjoyed archAvathAra emperumAn.
Let us start with the thanian for bhattar was submitted by none other than NanjIyar who was reformed by bhattar and who gave up everything and took up sanyAsAshramam to simply keep serving his AchAryan.
srI parAchara bhattArya srIranGgEcha purOhitha: (ஸ்ரீ பராசர பட்டார்ய ஸ்ரீரங்கேச புரோஹித:)
srIvathsAnGgasutha: srImAn chrEyasE mEsthu bhUyasE (ஸ்ரீவத்ஸாங்கஸுத: ஸ்ரீமான் ச்ரேயஸே மேஸ்து பூயஸே)
Simple translation:
Let parasAra bhattar who read purANam to NamperumAL, who is the son of kUrAthAzhwAn and who is fully filled with srivaishnavasri (kainkarya srI) bless me with all goodness.
kUrathAzhwAn and ANdaL (parents of bhattar), even though married, were fully detached from material desires. Their only objective in life was to serve emperumAn and emperumAnAr. Once, when AzhwAn and ANdAL were stuck in their thirumALigai and could not go to the temple and did not have any prasAdham to eat, ANdAL meditates on NamperumAL and asks him why he is making some one like AzhwAn (who is so attached to him) starve? Hearing this NamperumAL, immediately sends his aravaNai (last meal in the night) prasAdham to AzhwAn's thirumALigai with all honors. AzhwAn surprised at the sudden arrival of prasAdham asks ANdAL if she prayed in her heart for such thing. ANdAL accepts that she did. AzhwAn being very upset at ANdAL for asking anything from emperumAN, accepts a few morsels of prasAdham in honor of the same and just picks two handful of prasAdham and gives them to ANdAL. By the grace of those two handful of prasAdham, ANdAL eventually gives birth to two beautiful children who were eventually blessed by embAr first and emperumAnAr subsequently. emperumAnAr names them parasAra bhattar and vEdha vyAsa bhattar to acknowledge the great contribution of parAsara maharishi and vEdha vyAsa maharishi towards establishing vishNu parathvam clearly. Thus, he also fulfills one of his vows to ALavandhAr that he will glorify these 2 maharishis.
emperumAnAr with AzhwAn, embAr, mudhaliANdAn and aruLALaperumAL emperumAnAr
AzhwAn with parAsara bhattar and vEdhavyAsa bhattar
As shown in the eedu vyAkyAnam by NampiLLai, emperumAnAr ordered to AzhwAn to give parAsara bhattar as an adopted son to sri ranga nAchiAr and periya perumAL. AzhwAn obliges and bhattar becomes the son of emperumAn himself officially. He had such unparallel glories and was taken care by periya pirAtti herself in her sannidhi when bhattar was an infant. bhattar himself declares that he was raised by perumAL and thAyAr in srIranga rAja sthavam - slOkam 17 as "srI ranGgarAja kamalA padha lAli thathvam" (ஸ்ரீ ரங்கராஜ கமலா பத லாலி தத்வம்). It is explained that bhattar, as an infant/baby, used to sleep in periya perumAL's sannidhi in a craddle, and perumAL and pirAtti will sing lullAby for him. Once, he went and picked the bhOgam that was kept in front of emperumAn for offering before the offering was done. emperumAn became so pleased with that (just like the father gets pleased when the child picks his food before he eats) and happily consumed the offering.
NamperumAL - sriranga nAchiAr sErthi
While many times, he can be seen as a proud son (in a good way) of periya perumAL and periya pirAtti (this is explained as rAja kula mAhAthmyam), he was also completely surrendered to them with total humility. His naichyAnushandhAnam is unparallel and let us see some of his great qualities briefly.
In srI ranganAtha sthOthram, he identifies an incident where a dog entered the temple and a samprOkshanam was performed immediately. Hearing this, he runs to periya perumAL and asks him, if the archakas did samprOkshanam for a dog entering the temple (just in the prAkAram), every day he (considering himself lower than a dog) is entering up to the sannidhi and why he is not ordering for a samprOkshaNam every day.
Also, in a the same sthOthram, he declares that he would rather be born as a dog in the streets of srIrangam than being born as brahmA or any other dhEvathais.
mAmunigaL glorifies bhattar along with ALavandhAr and AzhwAn for their naichyAnusanthAnam in his yathirAja vimsathi 15th slOkam. He says "chudhdhAthma yAmuna gurUththama kUraNAtha bhattAkkya dhEchika varOktha samastha Naichyam" (சுத்தாத்ம யாமுன குரூத்தம கூரநாத பட்டாக்க்ய தேசிக வரோக்த ஸமஸ்த நைச்யம்) - all the naichyAnusanthAnam done by the pure souls like ALavandhAr, AzhwAn and kUrathAzhwAn actually fits him (mAmunigaL) aptly and he says emperumAnAr's mercy is the only way for him for salvation.
Needless to say, bhattar was very attached to periya perumAL and more attached to srIranga nAchiAr.
When some one visiting from thirumalai was attending the kAlakshEpam of bhattar. At that time he sneezed and called out for thiruvEnkatamudaiyAn. bhattar immediately got upset and instructed him to call out for thiruvaranganAthan. This swamy from thirumalai went back there and told ananthAzhwAn this story. ananthAzhwAn asks him to go back to bhattar and explain him that thirumangai AzhwAr himself identifies that we should constantly recite thiruvEnkamudaiyAn only as seen in periya thirumozhi 5.5.1 "veruvAdhAL vAy veruvi vEnGkatamE vEnGkatamE enginRALal" (வெருவாதாள் வாய் வெருவி வேங்கடமே வேங்கடமே என்கின்றாளல்). For that, bhattar replies that in that padhigam, AzhwAr is taken the bhAvam of parakAla nAyaki's mother and she has misunderstood that parakAla nAyaki is calling out for vEnGkatam and if it was parakAla nAyaki herself, she would have only said aranGgamE! aranGgamE! (அரங்கமே! அரங்கமே!).
Also, bhattar's attachment towards thAyar is greater than perumAL (as a child will be more attached to mother than father). In thiruppAvai Azhi mazhai kaNNA pAsuram, it is shown that once NamperumAL adorned NachiAr thirukkOlam, invited bhattar over and asked him how he looks. bhattar looking at NamperumAL tells him that everything is good but the kAruNyam in his eyes are not at the same level as thAyAr. His exact words are "NAchchiyAr vizhi vizhikka onNnNAthu" (நாச்சியார் விழி விழிக்க ஒண்ணாது) - emperumAn cannot have the same merciful vision as thAyAr.
NamperumAL - NAchiAr thirukkOlam
When the local king vIra sundhara brahma rAyan (who was actually a disciple of AzhwAn) was building a madhiL (fort) in the sixth prAkAram of srirangam, he tried destroying the thirumALigai of piLLai piLLai AzhwAn who was a dear sishya of AzhwAn. bhattar stopped him saying that his madhiL is not going to protect emperumAn but it is the mangaLAsAsanam of great devotees that will protect emperumAn, the king did not want to listen and opposed bhattar's views. bhattar being disturbed by this, decided to leave srirangam and went to thirukkOtiyUr. He was very saddened by the separation from periya perumAL and periya pirAtti during his stay and kept constantly thinking about his return. Finally when the king died, bhattar was informed of that news, and bhattar immediately felt sorry for the king who committed apachAram to him. He started his return and at that time his extreme desire and love to see the thiruvarangam dhivya dhEsam and emperumAn was poured out in his beautiful grantham named "srirangarAja sthavam". This is divided in to two parts "pUrva sathakam" and "uththara sathakam". pUrva sathakam was compiled and sung by him during the journey to thiruvarangam and uththara sathakam was sung in thiruvarangam itself after the return. They both are full of beautiful meanings and let us enjoy a little bit from them.
It is explained by our pUrvAchAryas that srirangarAja sthavam explains dhvaya mahA manthram. pUrva sathakam explains the pUrva vAkyam (first line) of dhvayam where we surrender to emperumAn through the purushakAra of pirAtti and uththara sathakam explains the uththara vAkyam (second line) of dhvayam where we request for kainkaryam to both pirAtti and perumAL for their pleasure.
Let us first see bhattar's anubhavam in pUrva sathakam.
In the first 8 slOkams, bhattar beautifully glorifies the guruparamparai in the following order:
- AzhwAn (his own father and AchAryan)
- embAr (his AchAryan)
- emperumAnAr
- ALavandhAr
- NAthamunigaL
- NammAzhwAr
- periya pirAttiAr
- periya perumAL
Immediately after glorifying the guru paramparai, bhattar establishes the svarUpa nirUpaka dharmam of emperumAn in slOkam 9. Let us enjoy that now.
asthi vasthu idham iththaNthva prasanGkkyANa parAnGmukam (அஸ்தி வஸ்து இதம் இத்தந்த்வ ப்ரஸங்க்க்யாந பராங்முகம்)
srImadhyAyathaNE lakshmIpadhalAkshaika lakshanNam (ஸ்ரீமத்யாயதநே லக்ஷ்மீபதலாக்ஷைக லக்ஷணம்)
Simple translation:
parabrahmam whose svarUpam (true nature) and svabhAvam (qualities) cannot be comprehended and who is recognised by the presence of saffron pieces from sri mahAlakshmi's lotus feet on his chest is lying on the AdhisEshan in srirangam periya kOil as periya perumAL.
bhattar identifies the most important quality that will identify emperumAn - that is sriya:pathithvam (being dear husband of pirAtti). This is similar to his own words in srI guNa rathna kOsham - "vEdhANthAs thathva chiNthAm murapithurasi yathpAdhachihNais tharaNthi" (வேதாந்தாஸ் தத்வ சிந்தாம் முரபிதுரஸி யத்பாதசிஹ்நைஸ் தரந்தி), i.e., when vEdhAntham had a doubt on "who is the supreme god?", it quickly looked at the chest of all dhEvathas and concluded that the one who has the saffron pieces from the lotus feet of pirAtti is the supreme. Here bhattar also categorically establishes right at the beginning that parabrahmam is none other than periya perumAL. It is this archAvathAra emperumAn who clearly shows us his supreme nature.
In slOkam 12, bhattar enjoys the beauty of the sriranganAthan with his panchAyuthams. For the ones who are devoted to emperumAn, these panchAyuthams are seen as ornaments and weapons that will protect them as and when required. But for the ones who consider emperumAn as their enemies, these panchAyuthams are seen as weapons that will quickly destroy them.
Similar to thoNdaradippodi AzhwAr, bhattar enjoys the beauty of thiruvarangam, the glories of cauvery and the attachment of cauvery towards periya perumAL, etc., in this prabhandham.
After entering the temple, he enjoys the srIranga vimAnam, sEnai mudhaliAr (and thiruvadi and vibhIshaNAzhwAn who are inside the same sannidhi), panchAyuthams, etc.
Then he enters the garbhagruham and glorifies NamperumAL's and periya perumAL's beauty and qualities in great detail. Similar to thiruppANAzhwAr, bhattar enjoys all the divine parts of emperumAn's thirumEni in many slOkams.
In slOkam 110, periya perumAL's parathvam and saulabhyam are beautifully enjoyed by bhattar.
krItam srIranGgEchayithu: upathANIkrutha bhuja: (க்ரீடம் ஸ்ரீரங்கேசயிது: உபதாநீக்ருத புஜ:)
vidhIchAdhIchathvAth katatha ithi samsprushya vathathi (விதீசாதீசத்வாத் கடத இதி ஸம்ஸ்ப்ருஷ்ய வததி)
NihINANAm mukkhyam charanNamithi bhAhus thadhithara: (நிஹீநாநாம் முக்க்யம் சரணமிதி பாஹுஸ் ததிதர:)
spputam bhruthE pAdhAmbhujayugaLam AjANu Nihitha: (ஸ்ப்புடம் ப்ருதே பாதாம்புஜயுகளம் ஆஜாநு நிஹித:)
Simple translation:
periya perumAL's right hand (which acts like the pillow) is showing his lengthy crown and establishes his parathvam saying "this crown fits perfectly to show that I am the lord of brahmA, shiva, etc". His left hand which is stretched upto his knee (having hands upto the knee is shown as a great quality in sAmudhrikA lakshaNam) is showing his thiruvadi that is easily approachable by everyone.
In the 111th slOkam, periya perumAL's chest is beautifully narrated as the residing place of periya pirAtti.
malayajachachiliptham mAlathIdhAmathalpam (மலயஜசசிலிப்தம் மாலதீதாமதல்பம்)
sumanNisaravidhANam kausthubhasvasthidhIpam (ஸுமணிஸரவிதாநம் கௌஸ்துபஸ்வஸ்திதீபம்)
dhaNujavrusha vishnNOllEka chithranYcha (தநுஜவ்ருஷ விஷ்ணோல்லேக சித்ரஞ்ச)
lakshmI lalitha gruham upAsE ranGgasarvamsahOra: (லக்ஷ்மீ லலித க்ருஹம் உபாஸே ரங்கஸர்வம்ஸஹோர:)
Simple translation:
I worship periya perumAL's thirumArbhu (chest) as the beautiful residing place of sri mahAlakshmi. His chest is decorated with a mixture of sandal wood paste and camphor, the base of the chest is like a soft flower bed, the top of the chest is decorated with many beautiful jewels, it is lighted by kausthuba mani (stone), it has the marks created by the horns of 7 demoniac oxes that looks like artwork.
In the 113th slOkam, bhattar again enjoys both parathvam and saulabhyam in the periya perumAL's thirumEni. periya perumAL's chest having periya pirAtti, thuLasi mAlai, vanamAlai, and sri kausthabam confirms he is the supreme. The same chest also has the necklaces given by yasOdhai which confirms his saulabhyam.
In the 116th slOkam, bhattar again shows emperumAn's parathvam through as seen visually in periya perumAL's navel itself.
thrayO dhEvAs thulyAs thridhyamidhamadhvaithamadhikam (த்ரயோ தேவாஸ் துல்யாஸ் த்ரித்யமிதமத்வைதமதிகம்)
thrikAthasmAth thaththvam paramithi vitharkkAN vigatayan (த்ரிகாதஸ்மாத் தத்த்வம் பரமிதி விதர்க்காந் விகடயன்)
vibhOr NAbhIpadhmO vidhichiva NidhANam bhagavatha: (விபோர் நாபீபத்மோ விதிசிவ நிதாநம் பகவத:)
thadhaNyath bhrUbhanGkIparvathithi sidhdhANthayathi Na: (ததந்யத் ப்ரூபங்கீபர்வதிதி ஸித்தாந்தயதி ந:)
Simple translation:
This slOkam is conveying the exact same message of NammAzhwAr's periya thiruvanthAdhi pAsuram 72 - "mudhalAm thiruvuruvam mUnRenbhar" (முதலாம் திருவுருவம் மூன்றென்பர்).
Some say that all the three dhEvathas (brahmA, vishNu, shiva) are equal (thrimUrthy sAmya vAdham). Some say these are three are non-different from each other (thrimUrthy aikya vAdham). Some say there is a higher brahmam than these 3 dhEvathas. But the navel of emperumAn clears any such doubts since this is the root cause of brahmA (and subsequently shiva, etc). So this itself is sufficient to prove that everything is controlled by emperumAn's katAksham only. Also, the fact that the lord of creation brahmA is created by emperumAn from his navel, proves that he is the cause of all causes.
It can also be understood that such great brahmam, out of his saulabhyam comes and appears in between brahmA and shiva who are bound by karma as if all 3 are equal. We can also further understand his saulabhyam in revealing himself in thiruvarangam for the benefit of all.
Let us move on to uththara sathakam now.
In slOkam one, he starts with periya perumAL's causeless mercy.
harththum thama: sadh asadhI vivEkthum Icha: (ஹர்த்தும் தம: ஸத் அஸதீ விவேக்தும் ஈச:)
mANam pradhIpam iva kArunNika: dhadhAthi (மாநம் ப்ரதீபம் இவ காருணிக: ததாதி)
thENa avalOkya kruthiNa: paribhunYjathE tham (தேந அவலோக்ய க்ருதிந: பரிபுஞ்ஜதே தம்)
thathra Eva kEpi chapalA: chalapIbhavaNthi (தத்ர ஏவ கேபி சபலா: சலபீபவந்தி)
Simple translation:
periya perumAL who is full of mercy, gives a light named sAsthram to remove the ignorance from our mind and to give us the ability to distinguish between right and wrong. The ones who are blessed benefits from that light and knows emperumAn and the ones who are not blessed, gets destroyed per the same sAsthram like fireflies who die of light.
bhattar explains many intricate details of our sidhAntham in many slOkams. He easily establishes our sidhAntham and identifies the various limitations in other sidhAnthams.
He explains the many favours done by emperumAn like giving body and senses to jIvAthmAs during srushti, giving sAsthram and how he himself taking avathArams to help every one. He explains the many avathArams of emperumAn and their specialities in many slOkams in great detail.
After that, in 74th slOkam he establishes the greatness of archAvathAra emperumAns. This is one of the most beautiful nirvAhams of bhattar and we can understand why he was attached to periya perumAL so much by going through this slOkam.
AsthAm thE gunNarAchivath gunNaparIvAha AthmANAm jaNmaNAm (ஆஸ்தாம் தே குணராசிவத் குணபரீவாஹ ஆத்மாநாம் ஜந்மநாம்)
sanGkyA bhauma NikEthaNEshu api kutI kunYchEshu ranGgEchvara: (ஸங்க்யா பௌம நிகேதநேஷு அபி குடீ குஞ்சேஷு ரங்கேச்வர:)
archchyas sarvasahishnNu: archaka parAdhINa: akilAthma sthithi: (அர்ச்ச்யஸ் ஸர்வஸஹிஷ்ணு: அர்சக பராதீந: அகிலாத்ம ஸ்திதி:)
prInNIshE hruthayAlupi: thava thathach chIlAth jatIbhUyathE (ப்ரீணீஷே ஹ்ருதயாலுபி: தவ ததச் சீலாத் ஜடீபூயதே)
Simple translation:
Oh sriranganAtha! your divine qualities are countless and your avathArams that reveal those divine qualities are countless as well. But let them be (they are insignificant compared to what I am going to speak about now). In this bhUmi (samsAram) - you descend to many temples, homes, mutts, Ashrams, etc as archA vigraham. Not only you descend there, you tolerate everything there, you accept whatever is submitted/rendered by the one who worships you and you are completely dependant on them and you feel happy to take up such position. It is because of this great divine quality of yours, everyone becomes attracted towards you.
This can be seen as bhattar's "paRRudai adiyavarkku eLiyavan" (பற்றுடை அடியவர்க்கு எளியவன்). NammAzhwAr became very emotional and fainted thinking about kaNNan emperumAn's act of stealing of butter and subsequently being caught and tied down by yasOdhai. Here bhattar becomes emotional thinking about emperumAn's archAvathAram.
In subsequent slOkams he further glorifies periya perumAL and also shows his humility and does naichyAnusandhAnam.
In the last slOkam he says that he is completely devoid of any other upAyams and requests sriranganAthan to help him. He says by helping him, emperumAn's greatness will increase, since emperumAn showed his mercy where it is required.
In srI guNa rathna kOsham, bhattar glorifies sriranganAchiAr. We have already seen bhattar's attachment towards periya pirAttiAr.
In the second slOkam, he reveals the greatness of pirAtti.
ullAsa pallavitha pAlitha sapthalOkI (உல்லாஸ பல்லவித பாலித ஸப்தலோகீ)
NirvAha gOrahitha NEma kAtAksha leelAm (நிர்வாஹ கோரஹித நேம காடாக்ஷ லீலாம்)
srIranGga harmyathala manGgaLa dhIparEkAm (ஸ்ரீரங்க ஹர்ம்யதல மங்கள தீபரேகாம்)
srIranGgarAja mahishIm chriyam AchrayAma: (ஸ்ரீரங்கராஜ மஹிஷீம் ச்ரியம் ஆச்ரயாம: )
Simple translation:
I worship sriranganAchiAr who is the queen of srirangam and wife of periya perumAL. pirAtti opens here eyes slowly like a flower opens up and by her vision the whole worlds gets brightened and gets life. She is also like the light in the sriranga vimAnam, meaning she is the one who reveals herself and periya perumAL.
Right upfront, bhattar shows the importance of purushakAram and establishes that without the purushakAram we cannot even know or approach emperumAn.
In the 4th slOkam, bhattar shows the relationship between periya perumAL and periya pirAtti and requests her mercy. It is in this slOkam where he says:
- pirAtti's instructions are pramANam for perumAL and it is the reason for the varieties (highs and lows) in creation.
- vEdhAntham declares that parabhramam is the one who has the saffron powder from periya pirAtti's lotus feet in his chest. We have already seen this in the beginning of srIrangarAja sthavam pUrva sathakam.
- Even if emperumAn takes vishwarUpam, he cannot understand the divine qualities of pirAtti.
In many slOkams, bhattar explains how emperumAn acts to please pirAtti. pirAtti being mother of all, always tries to bring samsAris to emperumAn and convinces him to accept them. emperumAn being happy with her purushakAram accepts them. Thus both pirAtti and emperumAn are constantly trying to help every jIvAthmA.
In 42nd slOkam , bhattar explains the tender nature of pirAtti. He says just by the touch of the saffron pieces, pirAtti's lotus feet feel irritated. Even, if pirAtti's friends stare at her, her thirumEni feels inconvenience. If she playfully lifts a lotus flower, her hands start paining. If she sits on a swing which is fully covered by flowers and starts swinging, everyone starts feeling that she may become very tired. So, if I glorify such pirAtti, will that not affect her as well?
In slOkam 50, bhattar brings up the greatness of pirAtti over emperumAn.
mAthar maithili rAkshasI: thvayi thathaiva ArthrAparAdhA: thvayA (மாதர் மைதிலி ராக்ஷஸீ: த்வயி ததைவ ஆர்த்ராபராதா: த்வயா)
rakshaNthyA bhavaNAthmajAth lagutharA rAmasya gOshtI kruthA (ரக்ஷந்த்யா பவநாத்மஜாத் லகுதரா ராமஸ்ய கோஷ்டீ க்ருதா)
kAkam thanYcha vibhIshanNam charanNam ithi ukthi kshamau rakshatha: (காகம் தஞ்ச விபீஷணம் சரணம் இதி உக்தி க்ஷமௌ ரக்ஷத:)
sANa: sANthra mahAkasa: sukayathu kshANthi: thava AgasmikI (ஸாந: ஸாந்த்ர மஹாகஸ: ஸுகயது க்ஷாந்தி: தவ ஆகஸ்மிகீ)
Simple translation:
Oh my dear mother! sIthA pirAtti! your husband srI rAman gave protection to kAkAsuran and vibhIshaNan who both surrendered to him. But you protected the rAkshasis (who tortured you) from hanuman in ashOka vanam even when they did not surrender unto you. Thus your glories are far greater than emperumAn's glories. Please protect me with your mercy which protects even the ones who trouble you, because I am full of faults.
We can recollect "pApANam vA ... na kaschith na aparAdhyathi" at this moment. This is called as sIthA charama slOkam where pirAtti declares that she will protect every one.
In the same context we can also relate to azhagiya maNavALa perumAL nAyanAr's nirvAham (conclusion) from AchArya hrudhayam 204th chUrNikai.
"thAykkum maganukkum thambikkum ivarkkum ivaradipanNiNthavarkkumE ivaiyuLLathu" (தாய்க்கும் மகனுக்கும் தம்பிக்கும் இவர்க்கும் இவரடிபணிந்தவர்க்குமே இவையுள்ளது).
In this section, nAyanAr is explaining why NammAzhwAr is giving this great knowledge to everyone and says that AzhwAr does it because of two reasons - a) AzhwAr always sees that everyone is related to emperumAn b) always feels bad that everyone deserve to serve emperumAn but not doing that and c) AzhwAr is full of krupai. In this chUrNikai AzhwAr shows the ones who have these three great qualities.
- sIthA pirAtti - who instructed rAvaNan to surrender to emperumAn
- prahlAdhAzhwAn - who instructed to hiraNya kasipu to surrender to emperumAn
- vibhIshaNAzhwAn - who instructed rAvaNan to stop his mis-deeds and surrender to emperumAn
- NammAzhwAr - who gave the divine knowledge to everyone
- emperumAnAr - who took the message of AzhwAr everywhere and spread this divine wisdom fully
Finally in the last slOkam, he prays to pirAtti to ensure that he lives in srirangam along with all the other srivaishnavas for many years doing kainkaryams to her and emperumAn and keeps him as a small piece of dirt in the lotus feet of pirAtti and emperumAn.
It is impossible to fully understand bhattar's bhAvam towards srIranganAchiAr and srIranganAthan. We can only get a small glimpse of that beautiful experience. Let us pray to bhattar that we get blessed with such anubhavams.
In the next article we will see piLLai lOkAchAryar's archAvathAra anubhavam.
adiyen sarathy ramanuja dasan
sources: 6000 padi guru paramparA prabhAvam, vyAkyAnams, kAnchi swamy's sthava vyAkyAnams
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Thank you swami.... Such a treasure :) battar thiruvadigale sharanam !!
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