"en thIrththanE!", says nammaazhvaar

[Guest guest]

Dear bhakti group,

 

I chanced upon the following paasuram on nammaazhvaar

yesterday night:

 

ovaath thuyarp piRavi utpada maRRev evaiyum,

moovaath thani muthalaay moovulakum kaavalOn,

maavaagi aamaiyaay mIn aagi maanidam aam,

thEvaathi thEva perumaa Nnen_thIrththanE. 2.8.5

 

I was hoping someone could shed light on why aazhvaar

addresses perumaaL as his "thIrththan" in the last line.

What exactly is he saying? I don't know of any temple

where the deity is known as thIrththan, nor does it

seem particularly appropriate for the word to simply mean

the "sanctifier" or "sanctified".

 

If anyone has any ideas, pleas respond.

 

Yours,

Mani

[Guest guest]

Oops. Needless to say, the first line of my previous

mail should read:

 

"I chanced upon the following paasuram by nammaazhvaar"

 

Mani