PB Annangarachariar swamys anubhavams on Thiruppavai (Thiruppavai Jeeyer in Thiruppavai)

Translated in English by Smt. Sumithra Varadarajan

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Our srivaishnava sampradayam is called as EmperumAnAr darshanam not because EmperumAnAr invented this sampradayam but our vaishnava matham is a parama vaidhika matham that was brought to light by EmperumAnAr. Andals vAzhi thirunAmam says, perumbhoodur mAmunikku pinnAnAl vAzhiyE. How did andal being an azhvar become the younger sister of EmperumAnAr who took birth so many years later? Our acharyas immediately reply that since swamy udaiyavar made andals words come true by submitting 100 vessels of butter and akaravadisal as per andals paasuram maliruncholai nambikku nAn noor thadA niraintha vennai vAi nErdhu parAvi vaiththEn nooru thadA niraintha akkAravadisal sonnEn andal herself accepted him to be her brother and called swamy with pleasure as nam kOil annano! So even more than the other Azhvars, EmperumAnAr had a special attraction towards andal and her prabhandams. When we start reciting the thaniyan for Periya thirumozhi we say, engal gadhiyE rAmAnusa muniyE sangai keduththu Anda thava rAsa pongu pugazh mangaiyar kOn Endra marai Ayiram anaiththum thangu manam nee enakku thA and while reciting thaniyans for thiruvAimozhi we say, A-indha perunkeerthi rAmanusamunithan vAintha malarpAdham vanangugindren AindhaperunseerAr sadagopan senthamizh vEdham tharikkum pErAdha ullam pera. This shows the involvement and deep knowledge of emperumAnar in the above two prabhandhams. But we dont find anything about emperumAnar in the thaniyan for thiruppavai. Even while writing sribhasyam emperumAnar is supposed to have taken guidance from azhvars erachchorkal (nectarine words). Here we have to know the difference between learning and anubhavam. ThiruvAimozhi is the essence of sAma vedam and Periya thirumozhi is a veda angam. No doubt that EmperumAnAr was well versed in all the vedas and veda angas but is just learning enough? What about putting it into practice? And that anubhavam swamy got only from thiruppAvai and hence swamy is praised by our acharyas as THIRUPPAVAI JEEYER. Among the many thirunamams of swamy this is one of the special thirunamams. Each day when swamy started to unja vruththi, it was his practice to recite the thiruppavai and go from one door to the other. Once he stood in front of Periya nambigal thirumAligai (some say it as thirukkoshtiyur nambi thirumaligai) and nambis daughter andal (or devaki piratti) opened the door with akshadhai and at that very instant udaiyavar fell to the feet of andal. Perplexed by swamys

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sudden action andal ran inside and told nambi about swamys action. Nambigal immediately came outside and asked udaiyavar, vundu madhagalitran anubhavamO? (Where you enjoying andals vundu madhagalitran paasuram?). In this paasuram andal says, seerAr valaiolippa vandhu thiravAi Andal begs nappinai piratti to come and open the door amidst the sound of the divine bangles in her hands.

Thanugandha thirumeni-Sriperumbudur

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While swamy was reciting this line, andal opened the door and hence swamy considered nambis daughter to be nappinai piratti and hence prostrated her. What a deep anubhavam? And that is why swamy is praised as thiruppAvai Jeeyer. For further anubhavam, our acharyas show places in thiruppavai which points to EmperumAnAr. In the very first paasuram in thiruppAvai mArgazhi thingal soodikkoduththa nAchiyar sri andal praises emperumAnar as, kadir madhiyam pOl mugaththAn. Swamys face glowed like the sun when he did sribhasya kalashepam and established the significance of our srivaishnava sampradhayam whereas while swamy did bhagavat vishaya kalashepam on thiruvAimozhi swamys thirumugam was like a cool full moon. In the second paasuram kOdhai nAchaiyar shows how perumbhoodhur mAmuni is none other than the divine serpent, adishesha on which the lord reclines. The lord Sriman nArayanan lays as an impeccable divinity, as the start and end for everthing, the Adimoolam on top of ananthan, the divine serpent. Ananthan who is the divine bed to emperuman, is blessed with a rekha called svasthikam and has 12000 heads, in this kaliyuga has taken birth as Sri rAmAnuja in sriperumbhoodhur on chittrai thiruvAdhirai. Swamy went all over the place and spread the fame of emperuman and paved way for bhakthas to reach the holy feet of emperuman. So nAchiyar says, pArkadalul payyath thuyindra paraman adi pAdi having EmperumAnAr in her minds. In the third paasuram, Ongi vulagalandha Sri andal talks about the charitable nature of EmperumAnAr. She regards swamy rAmAnujar as a cow full of charitable love, which sheds the milk without anyone milking it. Swamy doesnt allow his shisyas to just glance through any divine meanings instead he fills their mind with deep knowledge and makes them great jnanis. That is what anju kudi koru sandhadhi Andal says, kudam niraikkum vallal perum pasu. The big cow EmperumAnAr fills the minds and hearts of his disciples with deep knowledge and anubhavams.

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Thamarvugandha thirumEni-Melkote In the fourth paasuram, Azhi mazhai kanna! andal refers to swamy as her elder brother. In tretha yugam adisesha became the younger brother of Sri rama, as lakshmana. In the dvapara yugam he became the elder brother of Sri Krishna, balarama. The same adisesha in kaliyugam is going to become the elder brother of nAchiyar, Sri Andal in order to establish the srivaishnava sampradayam and give the great Sribhashyam. So Andal proudly calls her brother as Azhi mazhaikku annA! In the fifth paasuram, mAyanai mannu vadamadurai maiyindhanai Andal proudly declares the efficiency of swamy ethirajar to win over the mayAvAdhis. Like Krishna who won over all his enemies through his mayai, emperumAnar won over all the mayAvAdhis and established our sampradayam. So andal refers to swamy as mAyanai. In yethiraja vimsathi, mAmunikal praises EmperumAnAr as mAyavAdhi bhujanga bhanga garuda: trividhya choodAmani:

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Vellai sAttupadi-Thiruvallikeni In the sixth paasuram, pullum silambhinakAn Pullaraiyan koil refers to srirangam in bharatha kandam where the biggest garudan gives darshan. The great acharya who is going to adorn the acharya peedam in srirangam, Sri rAmAnujar who has a beautiful neck similar to the beauty of the white conch (vellai vili sanghu) and a striking voice is going to spread the srivaishnava matham all over

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the world. This is what andal means while she says, pullaraiyan kOil vellai vilisanghin pEraravam (The sound of the white calling conch belonging to srirangam).

tAnAna thirumEni-Srirangam In the seventh paasuram, keesu keesendru Andal says kalandhu pEsina pEcharavam referring to the debating talent of EmperumAnAr both in Sanskrit and tamil. EmperumAnAr showed his vedantic knowledge to all the kudarka vAdhis and

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astonished them and more over explained to them how all these meanings were flooded inside the Azhvars arulicheyalgal. This is what andal says as kalandhu pEsina pEchu. This shows emperumAnArs ubhaya vedantha knowledge. Even today that is why srivaishnavas well versed in Sanskrit and tamil vedas are called as ubhaya vedanthins. In the eighth paasuram, keezhvAnam vellendru Sri kOdhai nAchiyar refers to the saddest incident in the history of kanchi devAdhirajan. Some araiyar from srirangam will go in front of devadhirAjan and will sing and enact beautifully some azhvar paasurams. Deva perumal who has a craze for azhvar paasuram will get immersed in the divine anubhavam and will accept to give anything other than him and his consorts. Immediately the araiyar will ask for EmperumAnAr and the big tragedy will occur in the history of devaperumal. That is what andal says, devAdhidevanai sendru nAm sEviththAl AvAendru Araindhu aruluvAn. In the nineth paasuram, thoomani mAdaththu Andal calls EmperumAnAr to come and save all the baddha jeevatmas from this samsAric world by bringing to light the divine arthas which has been passed on from one acharya to other in a very safe manner and not being allowed for everyone. EmperumAnAr will learn the same from thirukkoshtiyur nambi after many hardships and make it known to all so that everyone can reach the divine abode of emperuman, though he will be punished for disobeying the orders of his acharya. That is what andal says, manikkadhavam thAl thiravAi (open the doors to the divine abode).

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Udaiyavar-Thiruvallikeni In the tenth paasuram, nOttru cuvargam Sri andal adorns the divine qualities of EmperumAnAr. EmperumanAr will spread to the world the great divine qualities of sriman narayanan and establish the vishistAdvaita philosophy through his sribhashyam and win over all other philosophies and show the right path to the world. So andal praises Sri ethirajar to be arunkalamE (a vessel of grace).

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KoorathAzhvan-EmperumAnAr-MudaliyAndan In the eleventh paasuram, kattru karavai Sri andal talks about the master genius who is going to spread bhakthi in the hearts of the people. ElaiyAzhvar will be regarded as panchAcharya padhAsritha. He will learn the vedas, vedantha, ethihasa, puranas, divya prabhandam and other strotra padams from 5 great acharyas and will spread bhakthi throughout the world. In the meantime, ethirAjar will win over anyone who comes in his way and make them loose their charm and fame (chettrAr thiralazhiya). Sri kOdhai nAchiyar praises that

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elaiyAzhvar as kattru karavai kanagal pala karandhu chettrAr thiralazhiya sendru seruch cheiyum kuttramondrillAdha kOvalar. In the twelfth paasuram, kanaiththilam kattrerumai nAchiyar talks about ethirajar the narchelvan (good fortune) to his disciples. There never exists any idol worship for any religious heads in any other religion. But in all our temples we have the idol of Sri rAmAnuja. Sri rAmAnuja is seen in the archa roopam as thamarugandha thirumeni (thirunArAyana puram), thAnugandha thirumEni (sriperumbudoor), thAnAna thirumEni (Srirangam). Even after the completion of the vibhava avatharam, swamy still remains in his archa roopam to shower his grace on one and all. Predicting the kind nature of swamy andal praises him as narchelvan. In the thirteenth paasuram, pullinvAi keendAnai Andal talks proudly about the genius who is going to pick pearls from deep inside the ocean. Ethirajar will immerse himself in the deep ocean of vedantha, ithihasa puranas and divya prabhandam and bring to light all the indepth rahasya arthas and give to the world the essence of the same. Predicting the same, pattarbiran kOdhai in great ecstasy says, kulla kulira kudaindhu neerAdi In the fourteenth paasuram, vungal puzhakkadai Andal talks about what sort of an acharya ethirajar is going to be. As the days pass, due to the effect of kali people will start going towards materialistic pleasures and live an unworthy life. At that time the birth of sri rAmAnujar will bring a dramatic change in the world. The nastika vAdhis will loose their charm, the petals of the flower which flourished under the name of nAstikam will wither (Ambal koobinakAn). Like making Azhvars words kaliyum kedum kandu konmin true the faces of the Asthika vAdhis will enlighten (senkazhuneer vAi negizhindhu) due to the avatharam of ethirajar.

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Sribhasyakarar-Thiruvallikeni In the fifteenth paasuram, ellE elankiliyE Andal calls EmperumAnAr as elankili (young parrot) as he repeats the words of his poorvAcharyas and follows their divine path. EmperumAnArs way of sticking to poorvAcharya vyakhyanams and at the same time giving detailed and easy interpretations of the same is extraordinary. That is why andal admires and says ellE (what a wonder!)

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In the sixteenth paasuram, nAyaganAi nindra Sri kOdhai nAchiyar regards EmperumAnAr as the king of leaders. Sri rAmAnujar will show the path to moksha and he himself will act as the guide for the route. About 12,000 Srivaishnavas, thousands of ammaiyars (female disciples), 700 jeeyers will follow EmperumAnAr and will always remain in his shadow and hence Andal clearly says, nAyaganAi nindra He is going to be the head of all acharyas.

Sri Ramanujar-Sriperumbudur In the seventeenth paasuram, ambaramE thanneerE andal shows how EmperumAnAr is going to be everything for his disciples. Swamy will be like food

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and life for all his disciples. Andal calls EmperumAnAr as ambaramE! thanneerE! Sore! indicating that he is going to be all three purusharthas for adiyars (dharma, artha, kama) since Srivaishnavas never worry about their food, water or shelter swamy will be thirumanthram, dvayam and charama slokam for Srivaishnavas. Further indicating that adisesha who took avatharam as balarama is again going to take another avatharam as ramanuja andal does mangalAsAsanam as semporkazhaladi selvA baladEvA!. In the eighteenth paasuram, vundhu madhakalittran andal talks about the strength of EmperumAnAr. Sri rAmAnuja will gain all his strength from the knowledge attained from his panchAcharya and will win over all the pAshandhis and mAyAvadhis and remain with fame. That is why andal praises as vundhu madhakalittran OdAdha thOlvaliyan In the nineteenth paasuram, kuththu vilakkeriya andal tells about the bright lamp of knowledge and bhakthi that is going to glow to enlighten the lives of all the disciples. EmperumAnAr will have the four vedas as his cots 4 legs and the vedantha will be his cozy bed. In the room the light which will glow will be his works namely, vedantha saram, vedantha deepam, Sribhashyam, geetha bhashyam, gadhyatrayam. That is what andal says, kuththu vilakkeriya kOttukAl kattil mEl meththendra panja sayanaththil lies Sri ramanuja. In the twentieth paasuram, muppaththu moovar Sri andal praises how Sri rAmAnujar will remain like a fire to all his enemies. EmperumAnAr will appear like a fire of knowledge in front of all those who have come to argue with him and will burn all their ignorance and will make them realize the heat of fear. Those who come opposing ramanuja will be burnt in the fire of defeat. That is what Sri andal says, settrArkku veppam kodukkum vimalA!

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Ethirajar-Thiruvallikeni In the twenty-first paasuram, Ettra kalangal Sri Andal, talks about the greatness of the acharya who is going to be a refuge to all jeevatmas. Ethirajar will even change the wrong attitude of his acharya, yadhava prakasa who wrongly misinterpreted the verses in vedas. Yadhava will later become the shisya of ethirajar. Yagna moorthi, who once opposed rAmAnuja will later surrender to his divine feet and will be named as arulAlapperumAl emperumAnAr. In this way, rAmAnujar will win over all those who opposed him and later they will surrender to his divine feet and become his sath sishyas. This Sri andal celebrates as, mAttrAr vunakku vali tholaindhun vAsarkan AttrAdhu vun adipaniyumApOlE.

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In the twenty-second paasuram, angan mA nyAlaththu Sri kOdha piratti enjoys the calm nature of ethirajar. Ethirajar will be a master in both Sribhashya tattvams and in bhagavat vishaya kalashepams. But while teaching the same to his disciples he will not just show off his talents but with great mercy on the ignorant disciples, the acharya will make the meanings clear and make it stay in the minds of the disciple for ever. After explaining the points in a slow pace swamy will glance at the disciples inorder to make sure that the point is clear in the minds of the disciple which Sri andal celebrates as senkan chiruchirithE enmEl vizhiyAvO!

Maranadi panindha deva!-Thiruvallikeni

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In the twenty-third paasuram, mAri malai muzhanjil Andal regards emperumANAr as the great lion ruling over the crown of Srivaishnavism. Ramanujar will remain as the sleeping lion when he stayed in thirunArayanapuram, regarded as the jnana mandapam by srivaishnavas. He will remain as the awakened energetic lion when he stayed in bhoga (Srirangam) and pushpa (thiruppathi) mandapams and then he will remain with great charm along with the 74 simhAsanAdhipathis which andal praises as seeriya singam. In the twenty-fourth paasuram, andru evvulagallanthAn Sri andal talks about the bhashyakArar who is going to measure whole of India with his foot. Inspite of no means of transport and lot of hindrances on the way ethirajar will go to all the divya desams from Kashmir to kanyakumari (including vadari, salagramam etc.,) on his foot and spread the great philosophy of vishistAdvaitam to one and all. Andal does mangalasasanam to those divine feet well in advance as vulagamalthAi adi pOttri In the twenty-fifth paasuram, oruththi maganAi pirandhu andal tells about the ethirajar who is going to get lost for a night and will be saved by the divine couples, like attaining a new janma. Yadhava getting angry towards rAmAnujar, talking against his interpretations will try to kill him during the ganga yathra. Coming to know about the plan from his cousin, govindan ethirajar will escape through the forest where he will loose his way. A hunter and his wife (devaperumal and perundEvi thAyar in disguise) will show him the way. While rAmAnujar goes to fetch water for the couple who are in thirst the couple will disappear. Coming to senses, ethirajar will realize that the place where he was standing, was kanchi and also that the couples where none other than the divine couples and from that day will start to do theertha kainkaryam to devAdhirAjan and perundevi thayar. Andal predicts this incident and says, Oriravil .. oliththu valara In the twenty-sixth paasuram, mAlE! ManivannA! puduvaiyarkOn kOdhai talks about the great muni who holds the tridandam in his hand. Andal praises the bright face of the great teacher, Sri rAmAnuja filled with knowledge as the kOla vilakku. She calls the tridandam as the winning torch (jaya kodi). Thereby andal does mangalasasanam to ethirajar as, kOla vilakkE! KodiyE

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Thiruppavai Jeeyer-Thiruvallikeni In the twenty-seventh paasuram, koodArai vellum seer andal predicts the greatness of EmperumAnAr who will win over all those who were on the other side opposing him. Not only will the lord Krishna win over anyone who opposed him and make them his bhakthas, his greatest devotee rAmAnujar will also have the same capacity to make everyone his adiyars. In the twenty-eighth paasuram, karavaigal pin sendru andal admires the relationship, which is going to be built between emperuman and EmperumAnAr. Periazhvar her father, thiruvaragan, her manavalan (husband), and all the divya desa emperumans who dissolved her in love mesmerizing her with their beauty (thirumAliruncholai azhagar, thiruvenkatamudayAn) are going to consider udayavar

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as their close relative and she herself is going to enjoy calling udayavar as her brother. This thoughts in andals mind is reflected behind her words, vunthannOdu vuravEl namakku engu vozhikka vozhiyAdhu

Vishnuloka mani mantapa mArga dhAyee-Thiruvallikeni In the twenty-nineth paasuram, chittranchiru kale andal shows the desire of empermAnAr (adisesha avatara) in doing divine service to the lord. In rAmAvatharam adisesha did service to ramapiran as lakshmana. In the Krishna avathara, adisesha became the elder brother balarama and now in this kali yuga he will take avathara as rAmAnuja to serve all the archa emperumans and hence andal says, vunakkE nAmAt seivOn reflecting the mind of adisesha.

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In the thirtieth paasuram, vanga kadal kadaindha andal says, engum thiruvarul petru enburuvar. This thiruvarul is going to be granted by EmperumAnAr as he will be the Vishnu lOka mani mandapa mArgadhAyee (the one who will show the route to srivaikundam). People who are interested in attaining paramapadam as per azhvars words vaikundam puguvadu mannavar vidhiyE may ask, Who is the emperuman who will grant moksha emperuman+yAr? The answer is simple, EmperumAnAr. Thereby sri andal all through her 30 paasurams in thiruppavai has kept in mind the future avatharam of EmperumAnAr and reflects the prediction in her words.

EmperumAn-Ar? Andal thiruvadigalE sharanam EmperumAnAr thiruvadigalE sharanam

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