Thiruchcherai and bhaagavathaas

Sri Kalian’s Divine anubhavam

Written in English by Smt. Sumithra Varadarajan

As part of

Sri Vanamamalai Padmanabhan’s

“A PEEP INTO PERIYA THIRUMOZHI” series
1. Dear SrEvaishNavites,

Smt.SumithrA VaradaRajan introuduces us to the ThiruchERai

thirumozhi, 4th of the seventh ten -kaN sOra veN-kurudhi-
by correlating the thoughts of Sri Nam-AzhwAr and that of
Kaliyan's. The importance of dhadhEays shEshathvam being
highlighted by both and picking up the thread from the
final thriumozhi of ThiruNaraiyUr.

dAsan
vanamamalai padamanabhan

Sri Parthasarathi thunai

SrimathE ramanujaya Namaha
Sri Vara Vara munayE Namaha
Sri vAnachala maha munayE namaha

SERVITUDE TO BHAGAVATHAS

bhAgavatha prabhAvam
Our beloved azhvars are adorned as “pEssiRRE pEsum Eka
kandargal” by our poorvacharyas. Swamy manavala mAmunikal
specially embellishes thirumangai azhvar as “mAran
paniththa thamizh maraikku Arangam koora avadhariththa”var.

“mARan & kalian – Thiruchcherai”

(This nammAzhvAr vigraham is bigger than that of
Azhvar thirunagari)
Will thirumangai mannan forget to emphasise and restate the
prime aspect of Srivaishnavism as told by nammazhvar in his
“payilum sudaroli” and “nedumArkkadimai” cantos? So does
kaliyan in his “naNNAdhavAlavunan” and “kansOravenkurudhi”
cantos talking elaborately about the importance of
tadheeyasEshatvam (servitude to bhagavatas)

After enjoying the divine beauty of thirunaraiyur nambi,

kaliyan in the state of ecstasy unable to control his
enthusiasm thinks about the greatness of the bhagavatas who
are blessed to enjoy the divine qualities of the lord
forever. Kaliyan’s enthusiasm took the form of poetry
(paasuram), “kaN sOravenkurudhi”. In this canto, kaliyan
talks about 3 major things, para/vyuha/vibhava leelas of
emperuman, the divine beauty of the thiruchcherai divya
desam and primarily the prime aspect- the bhAgavata
prabhAvam.

2. Does the devotion of Sri Kaliyan towards the bhAgavathAs a flash in the
pan? Is it just a passing cloud or is it a fancy/infatuation? Is it a temporary
phenomenon or a permanent affair?

Please go further…..

“emperumAn thAl thozhuvAr eppozhudum en manaththE

erukkindrArE” 7-4-2;

The BruhadAranya Upanishad says, “athmAvA arE drushtavya:

srOtravyO mandavyO nidhithyAsitavya:I” [First listen to the
sastras and learn about the paramAtma; Then explore about
the same; Then meditate on the lord till you reach the
stage of sAkshAtkAram (viewing with your eyes)] Thirumangai
azhvar’s prime motto is to have the darshan of the lord
that which he is going to attain at the end of his last
prabhandam, thiruneduntAndakam. Azhvar has learnt about
the paramatma already which is clear from his words,
“kandukondEn nArAyana ennum nAmam; nAnum sonnEn namarum
vuraimin namO nArAyanamE; etc” So it is clear that azhvar’s
mind always meditates on only the divine qualities of
emperuman. So even if kaliyan places the bhagavatas on top
of his head his mind will still meditate only on the lord.
Is it so?
 “Does Kalian meditate only on this Lord?”
“No!” answers kaliyan in the second paasuram. Those
blessed bhagavatas who are ever in the service of that
lord, who has that divine piratti who was born in a
beautiful lotus in his divine heart and that very lord who
as a leela killed the asura in the form of a tree
(vilAmaram) with the help of another asura vatsAsuran, in
the form of a calf, at all times fill by heart. Emperuman
has a capturing walking style and the divya desam
thiruchchErai itself is very attracting with sweet smelling
gardens and the abode of the lord, the temple is huge but
all these didn’t fill the heart of Kaliyan as the greatness
of the bhagavatas who are in the service of that
thiruchchErai Emperuman is milestones away.

“eppozhudum en manaththE erukkindrArE”

3. Sri Kaliyan's devotion towards bhAgavAthAs emanates as the kaN sOra
venkurudhi-thirumozhi. That he places them above his head is understood.
That he keeps them always to his heart is observed. However, when it
comes to nithya sUri-s they should be matchless, is it not? “No”, says
Kaliyan. Being there in the sAthvic world without any kArmic effects and
distractions is not greater than those who worship the Almighty amidst all
the turbulences. In fact it is the other way round.

This aspect is dealth with hereunder.

“vinnavaril poligindrArE”

Bhagavatas though close to emperuman and hence adorned by

Kaliyan on his head and heart still are part of this world. Won’t
they also face a lot of hurdles while in this samsAram? So
surely the nithyasooris who are always in the service of the lord,
without any obstacles are more eminent. Is it not?
Kaliyan answers,”pOdhodu punal toovum puNNiyarE viNNavaril
poligindrArE” [Those who are blessed to submit freshly blossomed
flowers and water to the divine feet of the lord are greater than those of the
nithya mandalam] But don’t the nithya sooris also submit flowers to the
lord’s divine feet. The vyakhyana kartha answers,

“angEyirundhu AshrayikkiravaRgal, engE erundhu Ashrayikkiravargalodu

ovvArirE” [Those who surrender from there cannot be equated to those
who surrender from here]

In the same paasuram, kaliyan talks about the greatness of chakravarthi

thirumagan, “kAdhodhu kodimookandrudan aRuththa kaithalaththA” Did
Rama piran chop of surpanaka’s ear and nose? Wasn’t that the act of
lakshmana? Kaliyan knows very well that only lakshmana did it but here
he says so having in mind that lakshmana is none other than rama’s right
hand “rAmasya dakshinO bhAhu:” Though my hand types this posting still
it is told that only adiyen typed it. Similarly the act of one of the part of our
body is considered to be the act of our self. The same is followed by
kaliyan while saying that ramapiran punished surpanaka.

4. “pErAlan pErOdhum periyOrai oru kAlum pirigilEnE”

In the first two paasurams, kaliyan was fascinated with the Krishna
bhakthas who were ever involved in the enchanting leelas of kutti kannan
(“kEtpAr kEsavan keerthi allAl kEtparO”) In the next two paasurams,
kaliyan is getting involved with the rama bhakthas. (“karpAr rAma pirAnai
allAl karparO”)

In the third paasuram, kaliyan expressed the greatness of the bhagavatas-

‘vinnulArilum seeriyarE’ that increased thirumangai mannan’s parabhakthi
towards them, which he expresses in this paasuram.

Who are elders (periyOr)? An elder here doesn’t refer to just aged people.
Anyone may live for 100 years without even thinking about emperuman and
his kalyana gunas, immersed in the ocean of samsArA. Kaliyan is not
interested in those people. Here elders refer to those who spent their time
always in chanting the divine names of emperuman and who cannot live
without doing the same. Even if we get away from that satsangam for a
second then we are sure to fall into the ditch of samsAram. So kaliyan
says that he doesn’t even want to stay a second away from them.

Sri Periyavachan pillai says, “kshaNaganam piriya, kAlamellAmidai

vidAmal anubhavikkalAm ennilum piriya kshamanallEn”
[If one says that if you leave the satsangam for a second, then you can
enjoy the same without any break from then on forever, even then kaliyan
is not ready to get away from bhagavatas. Every second of satsangam
counts.

Having the same in mind Sri Alavandaar in his stotra ratnam says as
follows:

“sakruth tvadhAkAra vilOkanAsayA

trineekrutha anuththama bukthi mukthibhi: I
mahAtmabhir mAmavalOkyathAm naya
kshanEpi tE yatvirahO athidussaha: II” (St.rat.56)

Meaning

Yat viraha: - the separation of those elders;

tE - for you;
kshanEpi api – even a second;
athi dussaha: - is intolerable;
sakruth – one time;
tvat AkAra vilOka nAsayA – to look at your beautiful divine thirumEni once;
trineekrutha anuththama bukthi mukthibhi: - All the wealth and even
moksha is considered to be worthless (just like a blade of grass)
(tai) mahAtmapi: - (those) elders (periyOr)
avalOkyathAm – prepare myself to be eligible to get their katAksham;
mAm naya – get me their satsangam;

Thiruvallikkeni Alavandar
[Oh! Lord grant me the eligibility to get the katAksham of the elders/bhagavatas
who consider all the wealth and even moksha to be like a blade of grass when
compared to the darshan of your divine beauty. Oh! Lord the separation for even
a second from such elders is intolerable even by you.]

5. They say that proof of the eating is in the pudding. Similarly, one need
not look externally to confirm that one has become a srEvaishNavite. The
fact that one is ecstasic on seeing a fellow srEvaishNavie is the ultimate
proof of being a srEvaishNavaite.

“taN chERai emperumAn thAlai nAlum sindhippArkennullam tEnoori

eppozhudhum thiththikkumE”

In the earlier paasuram, kaliyan expressed his wish to be amidst the

bhagavatas without sparing a second. Immediately a questioned aroused.

It is quite usual for people to wish to be amidst others who are like-minded.
For instance, samsAris want to be amidst other samsAris, they can never
tolerate loneliness. The bhAhya kudrishtis (Buddhist and Jains) prefer
company of those in the same category. So in which crew do you want to
join?

Azhvar answers, “I am not part of the Buddhist or Jains (bhAhya

kudrishtis)” After listening to the great episode of the NarasimhAvatara
where emperuman came running to save his bhaktha from the clutches of
Hiranyan and went to the extent of tearing off Hiranyan to pieces how can I
join in any other group?

“Ok azhveer! But even we have heard about narasimhAvataram. But still
we haven’t got that ultimate faith (ananyArhasEshatvam). How did you
come to know that you have affinity only towards the
jagathkAranabhoothan sarvEsvaran Sriman Narayanan?

“The joy I obtain while thinking about Srivaishnavas is the proof for my ultimate
surrender to emperuman”

Thiruppavai Ithihyam (Thiruppavai 7 Arayirapadi)

“Atkondavilli Jeeyer ezhundharulA niRka seidhE, nanjeeyer daNdanittu

nirka, “bhagavat vishayaththil ruchi namakku meyyAga pirandhadhillai
kANum” endrarulichcheiya, “vummai pOlE AchAryavAngal vundO?
EnnganE arulichcheivAnen?” enna, “bhagavat vishayaththil meiyyE ruchi
vuNdendru erukkaiyAvadhu bhAgavadhargalai kaNdAl vugakkumandru
kAnum!” endru arulich seidhAr.”

[Once Nanjeeyer happened to prostrate Atkondavilli Jeeyer, a satsishyA of

emperumAnAr. Atkondavilli Jeeyer said, “I have not got perfect affinity
towards bhagavat vishayam yet” Shocked by this statement nanjeeyer
replied,”Being a great acharya how is it that you say like this” Atkondavilli
Jeeyer said, “One is considered to have a true affinity towards bhagavat
vishayam only when he experiences great ecstasy on meeting a
bhAgavata!”]

Essence of kaliyan’s words has been shown by our acharyas in their life.

6. “van chErai emperumAnadiyAr thammai kandEnukkidu kAneer

ennenjum kaNNiNaiyum kalikkumARE”

“van chErai emperumAnadiyAr”

“The thought of bhagavatas is not sweet to all our hearts but how does that
feeling arise in you?” enquired the samsAris. Kaliyan answers, “That is
because I have surrendered to that almighty who rushes to the rescue to
those in danger (Abat rakshakan)” In the previous paasuram kaliyan talked
about emperuman rushes to save prahladam. Now he is reminded of the
earlier avatara as varaha moorthi where emperuman took the form of the
maha varaha to save piratti from the clutches of hiranyAkshan (elder
brother of hiranyakasipu).
Varaha moorthi did upadesa to bhoomi piratti and also gave the varaha
charama sloka where he talks about the bhagavatas. He says, “stitE
manasi …..aham smarAmi mat bhaktham nayAmi paramAm gathim” The
bhakthas/bhagavatas are ever in the thoughts of emperuman. So whenever
I look at them my eyes and heart experience a special joy, says kaliyan.
Bhoomi piratti wanted to preach this upadesa to one and all and hence she
took the avatara as soodikkoduththa nAchiyar and showed the importance
of singing the praise of the lord and bhagavata seshatvam through her
thiruppavai.

So in our sampradayam, just surrendering to the lord’s divine feet is not

the last step. One reaches the final step only when he physically and
mentally surrenders to the divine feet of bhagavatas who are ever in the
meditation of the kalyana gunas of the supreme emperuman.

For a person who has surrendered to the divine feet of emperuman the next
motto will be to please the lord in all ways. How to please emperuman?
Emperuman gets elated only when we please his bhagavatas
(emperuman’s body). So in the next paasuram kaliyan says I have
surrendered to the lord but my love will surrender to the feet of the
bhagavatas.

“seiviriyum taNchErai emperumAn thiruvadiyai sindhiththErken Iyarivum

kondAnukku AlAnArkku Alam en anbu thAnE”

7. That Kaliyan emphaises on bhAgavathA worship is well understood. The

efficacy of bhAgavatha shEshathvam is beind discussid by SumithrAjE.

“vuunAdhu ven kooRam mOvadha pAvangal sEra”

One thing we all have in common is a big bag of sins accumulated over the
various births we have taken in this world. “mAri mAri pala pirappum
pirandhu” A tamil proverb says, “madiyillE ganam erundhAl vazhiyilE
bayam” If we are traveling from one place to another with something
precious with us surely we have the fear of carrying the object safely
without any thief stealing it or we ourself loosing it. Similarly we are all
now carrying a bag of sins it is nothing precious but it is sure to show its
true colours. We are sure to face a lot of hurdles in our life due to the
effect of our poorva karmas and at the end of this life, we are sure to face
the punishment specified in the sastras for the various bad deeds. So
when such a great tragedy is awaiting us will our minds be free and calm.
It will always be wandering and hence we cannot concentrate our minds at
any one point peacefully.
But these bhagavatas forget all these worries and they are deeply
immersed in the divine qualities of the lord. They enjoy the eye-filled
darshan of emperuman and fill their hearts with deep love and devotion
towards him. They are not worried about the sins they have committed, the
effects or the final result. They are ready to have a ride over the heads of
yama (the god of death) and his Servants. Even if we are unable to be so
confident like those bhagavatas, even if we lack the ultimate faith still a
single thought about these bhagavatas is capable of getting us rid of all
our sins and the after effects. Both the nithya sooris and those in this
world worship Emperuman. He is ubhaya vibhooti nAthan. What is not
possible for Him? These bhagavatas are capable of locking emperuman in
their hearts. So aren’t they having a step higher than emperuman? So
surely their thought will uplift us. That is what kaliyan conveys in his
Eighth paasuram of his kanSora venkuruthi padhigam.

“bhagavatas are capable of locking emperuman in their hearts

(but the keys hanging at His lap are not useful to unlock
Himself)”

“kaNNAra kandurugi kaiyAra thozhuvArai karudhum kale”

8. The Lord knows any feigning of worship as He is inside the jEvAthmA.
'vuLLuvAr vuLLiRRellAm vudan irundhu.." says thoNdar adip poDi. Here
Thirumangai AzhwAr says that he is a cheat in the sense that he has
misconstrued as the jEvAthmA as his.

Usually, we observe poets talking about swans while narrating style and
beauty of walk. Here in ThriuchERai it is the other way round. The swans
simulate the walking style of the beutiful women and did they succeed in
that?

Finally, Thirumangai AzhwAr prescribes dedicating this pAsuram to

Almighty with folded hands.

All these are aptly summarised by Smt Sumithra VaradarAjan.

“kallaththEn poiyagaththEn AdhalAl pOdharukAl kavalai ennum

vellaththErkku enkolO”

“I am a perfect cheat. I stole my athma “chOrEna AthmA apahArinam” and

till today haven’t accepted the same. Due to this I have been suffering in
the world of miseries without any break. In spite of all these, how is it that I
have received a outcome that is attained by those who surrender their
athma to the lord and at all times are in his memory” Wonders kaliyan in
the 9th paasuram of the kan sOra venkurudhi padhigam.

My heart is a barren land filled with hard stones. How did love and respect,
that too towards bhagavatas, who I consider to be just like me
(sajadeeyargal) creep inside my heart? Deeply wonder’s azhvar in the last
but one paasuram in this canto.

Usually the last paasuram in any padhigam except for a few exceptions is a
pala shruthi paasuram. Pala shruthi paasuram declares who wrote the
above paasuram and what result those who chant these paasurams will
obtain. This canto is one of the rare ones that does that say the palam
(result) directly. Kaliyan says,

The Failed Simulation

“poomAn sEr karunkuzhalAr pOl nadanthu vayal nindRa pedaiyodannam

tEmAvinin nizhalil kanduyilum taN sErai yammAn tannai
vAmAn sEr parakAlan kalikandri olimAlai kondu thondeer
toomAn sEr ponnadimEl sootumin num tuNai kaiyAl thozhudhu nindrE”
[The birds in the fields of thiruchchErai divya desam try to imitate the
beautiful walking style of the long dark haired maidens of the place and not
being able to do the same even in the company of the female birds due to
shy, sleep under the shadow of the trees. Kalikandri, who is capable of
winning over his enemies like Parthasarathi who rode the chariot of arjuna
in such a way to win over the war wrote this beautiful tamil poetry. Oh!
Those who are interested in bhagavat vishayam, oh! Bhagavatas submit
this beautiful paasurams to the sparkling divine feet of emperuman. While
doing so let your hands be folded while standing in front of him.]

Dedicating the thirumozhi to the Lord - The End in itself.

What is the pala shruthi here? Folding hands in front of the lord and
chanting the paasurams of kaliyan itself is the palan. How? Sri Parasara
bhattar in his guna ratna kosam says, “Ishvaryam akshara gathim paramam
padham vaa…. Oh! Ranganayaki your head is bowed down I have found the
reason. This person came in front of you and prostrated you with folded
hands. You gave him all the wealth, kaivalyam and even paramapadam but
still you are not satisfied with granting the required for what he did. So
your head is bowed due to shyness.” That is the generosity/magnanimity
of piratti. The same is with perumal. It is even enough if we stand in front
of him with folded hands. What to say, if we chant azhvar’s paasuram, that
too the paasurams that elaborate the greatness of bhagavatas very near to
emperuman’s heart (“jnAni tu Athmaiva mE matham” “mama prAnAhi
pAndava:”)?

9. Thanks! From SrI Padmanabhan

I thank Smt. SumithrA VaradaRajan for having contributed

her valuable time and contents to this series.She talks of
the anil role. Then what shall I say;'tharanga nEr
adaikkaluRRa salam ilA anilum pOlEan'

Sri Thriumangai AzhwAr uses certain terms which are indeed

peculiar to our language and also sweet and wonderful.

one is mA-madhalAi--> A Great child who had felled

'bhUthanA'.

aiyaRivum koNDAnukku--The People who had lost the five

senses to the Lord are my Lords.

kaLLathEan poi-agathEan---I am a cheat with lot of lies

inside me.
annam thEamAvin innizhalil kaN thuyilum--These words make
us visualise precisely - a pair of swan closetted under the
shade of the sweet mango tree.

These are the beautiful usages and to be cherished during

study and during recitation--- reiterating the greatness of
our Kaliyan.

“Perhaps, the Lord tries to taste His ThiruvaDi as

The aDiyAr likes it.”

What the satsangam of bhagavatas can do to us! Is adiyen not the best
example? Due to the satsangam of Sri Padmanabhan swamy and many
others in these groups adiyen has now got the greatest bhagyam to go
through the excellent vyakhyanam of Sri periavachan pillai to the
extraordinary canto “kan sOra Venkurudhi” of Kaliyan’s periya thirumozhi
and write a few words about the same (“elaiya pun kavidhaiyElum
empirArkku eniyavArE”). Even if any scholar did not do these postings,
still though done by an illiterate, it will surely please parthasarathi
emperuman. How do you say with such confidence? May be your query.
The reasons are,
1. The paasurams were done by none other than Kaliyan (emperuman
came running to give him the thirumanthram).
2. The commentary was given by parmakArunikar Periyavachan pillai
considered to be the punaravatara of thirukannamangai kannan.
3. This attempt to write was not adiyen’s individual decision but a
wish of a bhAgavatha (Sri Padmanabhan swamy)
So adiyen is sure that all errors on adiyen’s side will be pardoned and liked
by both emperuman and all his bhakthas.

Adiyen is highly grateful to padmanabhan swamy for giving me this

opportunity to take an anil role in his great kainkaryam “A Peep into Periya
thirumozhi.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BRIEF 10-FACTS ON THIRUCHCHERAI

(Although a lot can be told on this wonderful kshEtram)

1. This is termed as sAra kshEthram -sAra pushKaraNi, Sara

vimanam, Sara nAdhan, SaraNayakith Thayar.

2. This is one of the two Great ThriuMozhis- talking of

servitude to bhagavathas and is categorised into elite
class alongiwth ThiruvAimozhi 'payilum sudaroLi and
nedumArkadimia in The great AchArya Hrdhayam. The other
Thriumzohi is 'nannAdh vAL avunar' 2- 6 of Periya
thriumzohi.

3. Here kAvErith thAyar is along the pushkaraNai and her

grief was assuaged by Lord krishNA himself.

4. There are two deities here one is sAranathan and the

other is bAla-sAra nAdhan. When Sri SAranAdhan is busy the
other perumAL is adorned.This is regular in utsavam-s. In
SamprokshNam also when Sri SaraNadhan was in the forefront
of the yAga salai that is the yAga salai being kept in
front of perumAL. bAla sAranAthan was decorated as
Vennaikku ADum kaNNan and the wonderful Lord in the sitting
posture.

5. The sayanth ThriukkOlam has been done on Al-ilai

itself.Sir RamuDu bhattar mentioned that this is the usal
procedure followed in the earlier days.That is no special
bed or pillow are used. The sleeping beauty is a Adum
kaNNan vigraham from inside another sannidhi.
6.,The Gopalan legend. When the king who was constructing
temple for MannAr kuDi was despatching materials to MannAr
kUdi, one of the devotees of this divya-dhEsam, downloaded
some materials from each despactch.When the king came to
know of this, he visited ThiruchERai and EmperumAn in
supoort of his devotee, took the form of GopAlan and this
is the vigraham perhaps from that legend.,

7.The rAmar vigrham is very old and the beauty of the work
is 'seen to be believed'

8.The archakas should be commeneded for Sathupadi with

great zest and also their devotion towards aruLich cheyal.

9.The key on the laps is not unique in this part of

TamilnAdu. However, it is pertinent to note that the keys
are in the hips of thAyar in the nearby nAchiyAr Koil.

10. Sri NElAdhEvi is a prominent thAyar here. The pancha

lakshmi-s here are ubaya nAchiyAr-s, sAra-lakshmi,
nElAdhEvi- ThirumArbu lakshmi.

Perhaps - since nElAdhEvi being here - no ANDAL sannidhi

was here for a long time. Some years back, ANDAL sannidhi
has been consecreated on the west side of the sannidhi.

“THE DIVINE ENTRANCE”