Sri Thirukkurukai Pirān's

ஆழ்வார்கள் திருவடிகதள ெரணம்

Preface

The corpus of the four thousand verses of the Āzhwārs – Tamil Srī Vaishnava saints (Nālāyira Divya Prbhandham) is a rich treasure of spiritual legacy. The ecstatic divine outpourings of their direct experience of the Supreme Lord (Srīman Nārāyana) and their intense love and devotion, touch and awaken the body, mind and the spirits of all loving seekers of the divine. Almost all of the various works of this collection have been commented upon by the Pūrvāchāryās (Masters or Teachers of the past) of Srī Vaishnava tradition, who came after Sri Rāmānuja (1017 – 1137 CE). Sri Periyavācchān Pillai (1167-1262 CE) in particular stands out among them and had graced us with commentaries on all of the works of the Āzhwārs. He was known as Vyākhyāna Chakravarthi meaning "the Emperor among the Commentators". These originalcommentaries were written in a mixed style of "mani pravāļam" combining both Tamil and Sanskrit. Understanding and appreciating these philosophic poetry and their commentaries required skill in both Tamil and Sanskrit and familiarity of the phraseology and expressions of the past age. These have been taught and passed on by one on one basis for many generations in Tamil Nādu, mainly among the followers of Srī Vaishnava tradition. Limited printed versions of the original commentaries became available in the middle of the last century. With the pace of the modern world, we have seen basic sciences and technology usurping the time spent on learning languages in schools. It is not surprising to find a whole generation of youngsters growing up with lack of language skills in two of the most ancient and renowned languages of our ancient land Bhārath. The idea that a free translation of the āzhwār's philosophic poetry based on the traditional commentaries was suggested to me to be appropriate by my son many years ago. I took up that suggestion and managed to translate the two works of Srī Thirumazhisai Pirān, namely Nānmukan Thiruvandhādhi (published in 1999) and Thirucchanda Viruttam (published in 2003) due to the grace of the āzhwār. The time spent in accomplishing these however was most beneficial to my own self since the learning experience was very fulfilling.

Due to the grace of the āzhwārs, the āchāryās and the Lord, I have been able to record some of their verses in music, which had helped me in the daily anusandhānam (contemplation). Most of these are made accessible to all through our web site "azhwar.org". After I had learnt, Nānmukan Thiruvandhādi of Srī Thirumazhisai Pirān and the three Thiruvaadhādhies of the First Three āzhwārs (Mudhal āzhwārs), I felt that I

should record and learn to recite the Periya Thiruvandhādhi of Srī Nammāzhwār, After recording the same, I also felt that I should perhaps read the commentary of the Āchārya Sri Periyavācchān Pillai on this prabhandham so that I could understand it better. Luckily, I did have a copy of the commentary published by Srī Krishna Swami Iyengar, (also known as Srī Putthūr Swāmi) the venerable Srī Vaishnava scholar from Putthūr near Trichy, TamilNādu, (Editor of Sri Vaisshnava Sudarsanam Publications) (10-4-1998). My previous translations were also based on this great scholar's beautiful and detailed explanatory notes without which it would have been impossible for me to carry it out. After I started reading the āchāryā's work with the notes of Srī Putthūr Swami, I got attracted to it more and decided to attempt a translation of the same. I am glad I did it for it has been a most wonderful and very gratifying learning experience.

I humbly submit the current translation along with the previous ones to all those who may be interested in these works of the Āzhwārs. All the texts of the āzhwār's pāsurams and words from the texts are presented in Tamil scripts with meaning in English both for the entire verse at the end of each verse as well as the meaning of the individual words and/or phrases from the Pāsuram (the verse). These are based on the commentary and the explanatory notes. The passages which are given as pramānās (valid means of knowledge) by the Āchārya are all included. Readers who prefer the Texts in Roman Script as well as in other South Indian Languages can easily find them from other popular Sri Vaishnava web sites such as Prapatti.com.

Many beautiful aspects of this great work of Periya Thiruvandhādhi of Srī Nammāzhwār can be written about. I like to comment on a few things that struck me in particular. Āzhwār addresses his mind close to about 36 times in these 87 verses, directly (in 23verses) and indirectly (in 13 verses). Some of these (verses # 22,25,34,35,68,74,76 and

87) clearly reflect the true state of his heart and mind of the Āzhwār, which had intense love for the Lord.

" (verse # 34).

"Merely hearing about Your beauty, as you lie reclined on the ocean of milk, we become weak in our legs, begin to lose our hearts with eyes bedimmed (with tears)"

(The usage of the plural "we" – " " is of interest here and is probably given by the Āzhwār to indicate that this is shared by all the other āzhwārs also since all of them speak with one voice as well).

The Lord Himself according to the āzhwār abandoned His abodes and entered āzhwār's

heart and would not leave the same. " உ " (verse # 68).

"The soft mind and the body of this lowly self of mine, thinking that all of them are in fact my Lord's divine form, become very elated" - "

" (verse # 73).

Many of the other verses where āzhwār addresses his mind and refers to it as being not

devoted enough "

" (verse # 84) are

obviously not truly applicable in the case of the āzhwār. We must therefore take them as reflecting perhaps our status. Similarly verses in which āzhwār advises his mind, should also be taken as his direct instruction to all of us who wish to follow his path.

" (verse # 65)

"Always deck that ancient and loving Lord, who is known as Kйshava, Nārāyana and Mādhava with garlands of words "

" " (verse # 67).

"Learn to sing benediction to the divine holy feet of the Lord Sri Krishna".

In fact this short prabhandham itself has in it all of the essential things that any one seeking "the divine" would want to know. Āzhwār clearly points out the truly

transcendental Lord whose nature is very hard to comprehend, is in fact actually easily accessible -

– verse # 29). He also categorically states that in fact that there is no other that could rescue us from this terrible endless and eternal cycles of this mundane life,"samsāra", -

- verse # 60). Āzhwār seeks from the Lord, not liberation,"Mōksham" but merely not to ever forget His divine feet -

- verse # 58). This prayer

is similar to Sri Thirumazhisai Pirān's, where the āzhwār asks the Lord to will so that his

wandering mind without any distraction will always think of His divine lotus feet

( ரந்தெிந்றத கயொன்றிநின்று நின்ன ொத ங் யம் நிரந்தரம் நிறனப் தொ நீ

நிறனக் தவண்ுதம - verse # 101 in Thirucchanda Viruttam).

In the current scientific world, we hear physicists and other experts in astronomy talking about the so called "Dark Energy" which have intrigued them, about which they admit they do not know much. Most of us of who are of Indian origin, know that the Lord when He took the avathāram as Sri Krishna, His color was clearly described as dark. Many of the pāsurams of the āzhwārs are replete with the dark hue of the Lord being the natural

color of the Lord. ுழுதும் நிறல நின்ற ின்றன வண்ணம் க ொண்டல் வண்ணம் (Periya Thirumozhi- 4-9-8). This is given as a pramāna by Sri Periyavācchān Pillai in his commentary of verse # 44 " ொலினீர்றமகெம்த ொனீர்றம ொெியின் ும்ுறம்" of Thirucchanda viruttam in which Sri Thirumazhisai Pirān describes the various colors with which the Lord incarnates in various yugās (ages) to suit the guna (predominant quality) of the people of the respective age. In kali age, the Lord does not

take on other colors since it would not matter for people of this age are not turned towards the Lord. He is said to be in His natural color which is dark like the dark rain bearing clouds.

What struck me is how frequently in these 87 verses, Sri Nammāzhwār refers to this aspect of the Lord. To be precise it is about 13 times (verses # 4,14,21,26,34,46,49,63,68,72,73,85,86). Some verses are of interest in chosen similes or

the context of usage. In Verse # 49, he chooses the word " (the dense

darkness of the night) for comparison. In verse # 72 in which āzhwār establishes Sriman Nārāyana as the transcendental reality, the Supreme Lord, he uses the following expression.

" த

"O' Lord! The ancient cause, with the hue of the dark clouds! Didn't the resplendent lotus (the splendor arising from being the origin of the creator and the creation), sprout from your divine body? "

In verse # 85, āzhwār expresses his wonderment as to what kind of austerities the rain bearing clouds observed to obtain the color of the Lord. Finally in the last but one verse (# 86), he again refers to the Lord's form with the hue of the dark clouds, "

Āzhwārs enjoy and glorify all of the many auspicious attributes of the Lord. But thefrequncy with which the color of His Divine auspicious Non-Material Form (Divya Mangaļa Vigraham) is referred to, is interesting and indeed remarkable. It is not alwayscompared to the dark rain bearing clouds. In fact anything of a dark hue such as the Pūvai or Kāyām flowers, and the dark blue - ocean and simply "darkness" itself is used for such comparison, as mentioned above (verse # 49). Description from these most exalted souls and devotees of the Lord who had actually experienced the divine, match not only those from the Vйdic hymns but also those of the other sages and saints of the past from our land. In addition, I believe it helps in sharpening the focus of our minds during our daily contemplation of the divine. Let the scientists continue their quest which I am sure they will collectively. In the spiritual journey however, I believe the path of our beloved āzhwārs, with āchāryās as our guide posts, will always shine.

I offer my most humble and deep salutations to the great Āchārya Sri Periyavācchān Pillai for bestowing his grace to be able to complete this study, as well as to Srī Putthūr Krishna Swami Iyengar for his elegant and most useful explanatory notes of the Āchārya's commentary without which this would have not been possible. I would refer the ardent readers also to some of the parts of the commentary which I found quite interesting under the following verses # 9, 25,53,58,61,63,68,72,74 and 82.

Languages differ in expressions. Sometimes it can be quite difficult to get the exact equivalent terms in English for the original Tamil. I request the forgiveness of the readers for any inadequacies which may be present. I am however certain that people who read and contemplate on the Lord through these verses of the great āzhwār, Thirukkurukai

Pirān (fondly called as "Periyan - க ியன்" in his birth place, Thirukkukūr - reference

verse # 75) whom Sri Madhurakavi āzhwār, his most ardent devotee describes him as

"அன் ன் தன்றன அறடந்தவர் ட்க ல்லொம் அன் ன்" (meaning "Sri Nammāzhwār

is devoted to all of the devotees of the loving Lord") will become the recipients of the boundless grace of not only the āzhwārs but also of the Supreme sweet Lord.

Before I close this section, I would like to express my eternal gratitude to my mother Smt N. Jayalakshmi and my father Sri. T.R.Narasimha Chari for raising us in Tanjore district in Tamil Nādu after returning from Burma (Myanmar) during the war times, in the village of Kodavasal not far from the famous divya dйsams (holy places) of Thirukkudanthai, Thirunaraiyūr and Thirucchйrai, all within 3 to 12 miles in distance.

I also would like to dedicate this book in loving memory of my sister Smt. Shakuntala, my third sister-in-law Smt. Seetha, my oldest brother Sri.N.Gopalakrishnan and my second oldest brother Sri. N. SampathRaman.

I seek refuge at the holy feet of the Āzhwārs and the Āchāryās.

ஆழ்வொர் ள் ஆெொர்யர் ள் திருவி தள ெரணம்.

Respectfully submitted by,

Adiyēn Ranganathan. June 12.2014

Contact Information:

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Email: n.ranganathan@ sympatico.ca

Our web site information: http://azhwar.org/

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