24/12/2014 was day-9 of Ubha Ve Adoor Asuri Madhavachariar swami’s upanyasam at Tirukudanthai Andavan Manimandapam(Sathajith Bhavanam) . Swami handles the day’s Tiruppavai pasuram in brief and moves on to Tirunedunthandakam pasura vykhyanam. Each word of the pasuram is discussed and explained in a clear manner. Tiruppavai pasuram” Thoomani madathu ” was explained thus:The gopika addressed in this pasuram owns a big mansion and lives a luxurious life. She is sleeping on a cot with ivory legs on a superfine bed with sleep inducing features. The cot is surrounded by beautifully lit lamps on all four sides.A pleasing fragrance emanates from the dhoopam.Andal asks the girl to open the door fitted with bells.Even as Andal is calling out to the girl she spots her mother and seeks her help in waking her up. Is your daughter dumb or deaf or is she just too lazy to get up and open the door ?The mother says chant the names of Sriman Narayana and she is sure to come out and join you. So they call Him Ma Mayan(He is sarveshvaran yet reaches to our level because of saulabhyam). He is Madhavan (the husband of Lakshmi) and Vaikuntan ( one without agnanam). These Bhaghavadh namas make the gopika rush out to open the door and join the gopis for pavai nonbu.
Thoomani refers to acharya’s Tirumeni which is made up of panchopanishads( five upanishads).In other words acharya Tirumeni is like Perumal’s. The deepams or lamps surrounding an acharya are lamps of gnanam(knowledge) bestowed by his adeptness in Shruthi(Vedams), smrithis(sastrams), Ithihasam(Ramayana/ Mahabharatha) and Puranas(Padma purana, Vishnu puranam and other satwik puranams).Dhoopam refers to thorough knowledge of Azhwars divya sukthis.Swami Desikan declares that he can smell divyaprabhandhams in the Tirumeni of Periya Perumal.Acharyas do not sleep, they lie down on the bed of Saranagathi. After saranagathi is done one enjoys the state of “nirbharo  nirbhayosmi’ ( the state of fearlessness because the soul has been surrendered at His feet.) Acharyas recommend us for moksham.The emerald studded door represent  ashtakshara mahamantram. Acharya kalakshepams remove tamogunam and satva gunam starts growing. A person in the mode of tamogunam sleeps a lot and is  inclined to laziness ans postphoning things.A person in Bhaghavadh dhyanam stops talking (na anyath shrunothi). Acharyas are capable of bringing about miraculous changes. Their charisma attracts disciples. Bhaghavadh Ramanuja had 700 tridandi sanyasis following besides hordes of Srivaishnavas.The name Madhavan is applicable to acharya as Sri means gnanam.Ramanuja’s Brahma sutra bashyam alone goes by the name SriBashyam. Swami Desikan gave SriBashya kalakshepam 30 times that too by the age of 20.Such then was the Vidhya Sri of acharyapurushas.
Swami then procceeded to explain the second pasuram of Tirunedunthandakam.Azhwar explains why Sriman Narayana alone is worthy of being worshipped. Sriman Narayana is the first creator but later on this proccess was designated to Brahma, likewise samharam or death was the domain of Shiva. All three have beautiful roopams(forms) but are different tatvams. Their sharirams are different, they have different atmas and different swabhavams(nature). Parabrahmam becomes sthoolam (big) during shristi (creation) and shukshmam( latent) during pralayam(deluge).Parabrahmam is Bhuth kaalam varthaman kaalam and Bhavishyadh kaalam (past,present and future) .Because of His sambandham with jeevatmas He is known as Narayanan.He is “sarva shabdha vachyathvam( every created substance tells His name). Shariram, roopam and namam(body, form and name of an object ) is given by SriRangantha declares Swami Desikan in Adhikarana Saravalli.Incidentally the title Vedantachariar was awarded to Swami Desikan by Periya Perumal.He is also vyavastha roopam. Swami Nammazhwar did not not move out of Azhwar Tirunagari yet all divyadesam perumal manifested before him inorder to get pasurams sung by him.Nammazhwar did Vaachika kainkaryam( verbal service by singing His glory).All shabdhams(words) denote Him. Shruthis  and Smrithis are His vakhyams(sentences). Advaitham, Dwaitham and Vishistadvaitham are His creations.The 108 samhithas of Pancharatram are His words. They tell us how to worship Sriman Narayanan. They reveal who is Aradhyan( the one to be worshipped) .He  is Sriman Narayanan.The aradhakar is the one who does aradhanan to  Sriman Narayanan .So Narayana is the Aradhyan and it also talks of aradhana upakarnam(the tools to be used for performinf aradhanam loke sandal paste, chamarams. Dhoopams etc)). He is sarvavyapi (all pervasive). He spreads everywhere and exists in every tatvam.He exists in every material like water is present in vaapi,koopa and thataakam.When Vishnu takes avatharam, Brahma and Shiva form part of Prakrithi. He is antaryami to Brahma and makes creation to happen. As antaryami to Siva samharam  destruction) happens) Shristi itself are of several kinds: There is samasthi shristi and vyashti shristi: there is nitya shrishti and naimitthika shrishti.
Likewise Shiva is referred to as Sarvagnan(knows that Vishnu is paradevan)) by Swami Desikan. Shiva teaches us the way to reach Perumal and is an acharyan. Shrishti rakshanam and samharam ( creation, protection and destruction) are the three jobs to be performed. The three are separate entities. Tirumangaiazhwar refers to 3 roopams( forms) and not to Trimurthis. They are three different atmas and it is not the same athma  that takes three forms. Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are three different tatvams. Brahma is endowed with a shariram(body) suitable for creating. Vishnu for rakshanam(protection) and Shiva for destruction. Brahma’s spouse is Saraswathi and Shiva’s spouse is Parvathi. Vishnu’s counterpart alone is Sri.
Now to understand the nature of the sharirams(bodies) of the three. Brahma is golden in colour. He is known as Hiranyagarbhan. Like gold attracts everyone Brahma is attractive. Like the variety and beauty of golden ornaments he does beautiful shristhi ( creation) which are of various kinds. .Every creation of Brahma is beautiful to behold.
Shiva has the hue of fire. Fire looks beautiful so also Shiva. Fire reduces everything that comes into contact to ashes. This is true of Shiva and he has the third eye which when opened reduces the object that comes in the way to ashes.
Vishnu’s colour is that of the deep ocean and The blue hued One is the Rakshakan  (protector) . Since we are already born we need not have to worry about our birth, similarly death is a certainity though we have no knowledge of the date of our departure so there is no use worrying about it but protecting of our atma is our concern so we have to seek and pray to Atmarakshakan Sriman Narayanan who as Vishnu becomes a ship that takes us across  the ocean of samsara..
Writeup & Video :Â Vyjayanthi & Sundararajan
