thiruppavai26-maalemaNivaNNaa

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Pasuram26- mAlE maNivaNNA

 

mAlE maNivaNNA mArgazineerAduvAaam

mElaiyAr seyvanagaLvEnduvanaj kEttiyEl

jnAlatthai ellAm nadunga muralvana

pAlnnavaNNatthun pAnchajanniyamE

pOlvanasangangaL pOyppASdudaiyanavE

SAlapperumparaiyE pallANdisaippArE

kOlaviLakkE kodiyE vithAnmE

Alin ilaiyay aruLElO rempAvai

 

O Lord, you are the beloved of your devotees, you are of the colour of sapphire, listen to what we want from you after our sacred bath in the month of margazi following the tradition set out by our elders.We want conches like your milk-hued panchajanya which causes tremor for the whole world with its sound, great drums, people who sing pallaAndu,beautiful lamps,l;ag and canopies.You who recline on the banyan leaf, please grant us all this.

 

This pasuram is the 26th. It signifies te Lord, who is paramathma.There are 24 thathvas or evolutes of prkrthi, the primordial nature and 25th is the jeevathma denoted as purusha who is implied by the last pasuram 'orutthimaganaippirandhu'This pasuram refers to the paramathma ,the 26th. It also denotes the ashtakshara manthra which is 8=2+6.The number 2 stands for the dhvaya manthra and the number 6 denotes the six padhas of the dhvaya and also the six angas, limbs of prapatthi.

 

mAlE- He is having vathsalya for His creations and hence comes now and then as incarnations to see to their welfare.

 

maNivaNNA-He is having the colour of a blue sapphire, indhraneelamaNi, as described by almost all devotee-saints like Desika, Narayanabhattadri and Thyagaraja.

 

mElaiyar seivanagaL- the austerities and charities as shown by the elders.

 

They ask for six things:

1.sangam-conch like panchajanyam of the Lord.

2.parai-drum

3.pallAndisaipAr-the group who sing pallandu, when the Lord is taken on a procession, the composition of Preriazvar, which marks the beginning of the Nalayiradivyaprabandham.It is a benediction for the Lord Himself.

 

Periazvar won the argument in the court of the Pandyan king solely due to the grace of the Lord at whose command he went tnough he didnut know anything except to offer garlands and sing to the Lord. Then the king mounted him on the elephant and set him on a procession. The Lord Koodalazagar of Madurai manifested Himself in front of Azvar seemingly to watch His devotee honuoured thus. Not realising that the Lord appears only to him, the azvar sang pallandu, as a protection for the Lord from evil eyes. such was the vathsalya he felt tpowards the Lord.

 

4.Kola viLakku- The ornamental lamps that are carried in a temple procession.

5.kodi- the flag that is carried when the Lord comes on procession

6. vithanam- the canopy on the top.

Of these, three lines are allotted for the conch alone may be because,

1. it is equivalent to the pranava which has three mathras, a,u, and m.

2.L Panchajanya was born in the sea, grew into the body of the asurapanchajana and finally reached the hand of the Lord.

3.Krishna also was born in Madura, grew in Gokula and migrated to Dvaraka.

 

pOyppAdu udaiyana- Panchajanya has a wide interior.

 

4.We are born from the womb of the mother and grow into a devotee through the wide jnana given by praNava, signified by Panchajanya and finally reach Vaikunta.

 

5.The white coloured conch is supposed to give loud sound. The white colour also denotes satthva which is the great sound that enters the heart (hari enra pEraravam uLLam pugundhu-pasuram6) and drives out the rajas and thamas.

 

SAlapperumparai -The drum which is large and sounds loud so that no other talk will be heard and the mind will be completely absorbed in the divyamangakla svarupa of the Lord.

 

Krishna might have said that his panchajanya is only one and how can he give it to them and also they wanted many, (sangangal) and Andal replies by calling him 'Alin ilaiyay' one who slept on a banyan leaf, meaning that nothing is imposible for him. He can create, sustain and annihilate the world, all can be done through the sound of his conch alone, as it is synonymous with prnava.When Krsihna blew his conch before the battle all the kouravas were already destroyed and the actual battle was only a drama through his leela.

 

The banyan tree is calpable of giving shade to whole army.( aNnal yAnai aNi thEr puravi Atperumpadaiyodu mannanrkkirum kka niZalAgummE) Similarly the Lord gives shadow for the good,'vivAsavrkshah sAdhoonAm;vasudhevatharucchAya.' Vasudeva is the tree in whose shadow the good are residing.

 

The word 'Alin ilaiyay' implies that He is capable of doing anything. He converted an ordinarykuSa grass into brahmasthra in Ramavathara and reduced the sea to a ditch by crossing over it easily, used monkeys as His army and vanquished the mighty Ravana as easily as he would swat a fly,and endless miracles He did in Krishnavathara. The word denotes His swamithvam,overlordship and the word maNivaNNa denotes His soulabhya, easy accessibility.

 

The same idea we can see in the charamasloka, 'sarvadharman parithyajya mAm Ekam SaraNam vraja, aham thvAm sarvapApEbhyah mOkshayishyAmi mA uchah.'

"Give up all dharma and surrender to Me alone and I will release you from all so ins, do not despair."

 

By saying mAm SaraNam vraja the Lord denotes His soulabhya, meaning "I am here for anyone easily available to surrender," and the word aham denotes His swamithva, hence the power of removing our sins.

 

This pasuram is important not only because it is the 26th thus signifying the paramathman but also because it outlines all the constituents of SaraNAgathi.

 

Prapatthi or SaraNAgathi in vaishnava tradition three levels and six limbs.

The three levels are:

 

1.svarupasamarpaNam

2.phalasamarpaNam

3.bharasamarpaNam

 

1. svarupasamarpanam means placing our svarupa , natural self at His feet as His Sesha, property.This was indicated by 'oLindhuvaLara' in the previous pasuram which means giving up our ego and living as His dasa.

2.Phalasamarpanam is offering the fruit of our actions at his feet and this was implied by 'selavamum sevakamum' in the previous pasuram meaning that the fruit of their endeavour is only His kainkarya.

3.Bharasamarpanam is laying down the responsin bility of our protection at His feet. This is denoted by the words 'arundhitthu vandhom' which means they hold Him only as the means and end.

 

The six angas of Prapatthi are:

1.Anukoolya sankalpam- The resolve to do only the acts which are approved by Him.

2.prAthikoolya varjanam-Not to gdo anything that is forbidden by Him.

3.mahAviSvAsam- Absolute faith.

4.gOpthrthvavaraNam-Entreaty to Him to grant protection.

5.karpaNyam-(Akinchanyam)- Awareness of one's utter helplessness and praying for His grace..

6.Phalathyagam-surrendering the result of action also to Him.

 

1.SAlapperumparai- denotes Anukoolya sankalapam.Parai is the enjoined karma which are approved by God. Perumparai is the resolve to do the enjoined karma.

 

2.jnAlatthai ---pOyppAdudaiyanaveL- prthikoolya varjanam-pAnchajanyam means the indhriyavyaApAra,born of indhriyas,that is anything done with the five indhriyas. pAlannavaNNam- denotes the satthva- oriented action and pOippAdu implies wide application of indhriyas in avoiding the actions that are prohibited.

 

3.kOlavilakku- denotes mahAviSvasam.the faith should be like the kutthuviLakku, steady and one-pointed.

 

4.vithAnam-gopthrthvavaraNam.as the vithAna , canopy protects the Lord from sun and rain He will protect us from sin

..

5.kodi-karpanyam.The word kodi also means creeper and the prpanna needs the support of the Lord as the creeper needs the tree.

 

6.pallAndisaippar- those who have no other wish except singing the gloru yof the Lord, indicate phalathyagam.This way of life continues till the end for a prapanna.