When Kaliyan was talking to God ! (Translation of Kaliyan Arulpadu) 02

(continued) 

Then Tirumangai Azhwar began to pour out his great compositions starting from Periya Tirumozhi, which starts with 'vAdinEn vAdi' (I did suffer and suffer and having suffered); he was of the firm conviction that the temples are the ultimate refuge of aspiring souls; the temples are called Divya Desams (Divine Topos) or Ugandarulina Nilangal (lands on Earth most cherished by the Divine), of those temples it is Srirangam 'which is primemost and which houses the self-manifested Vimanam named Rangam'; that Srirangam is the foremost of all the places of archavatarams of Bhagavan which is the fondest place to live in for all groups and groups of devotees as sung in Tiruchandaviruttam 52, 'devotees who have no worldly attachments so lovingly surround that place Srirangam. surrounded by cool waters of Kaveri'. Azhwar chose that Srirangam as his permanent residing place. 

Everyday he use to get involved in the beauty of Sri Ranganatha, feeling 'Oh, the limitless beauty of the Blue Form, adorned by the garlands of pearls, such comely necklaces of great jewels, it has completely filled my heart and brimming' (Amalanadipiran 9) In such manner the Azhwar was deeply engrossed in the Divine Form of Periya Perumal and wishing for all good things to happen for ever, he engaged himself totally in the upkeep of the temple like building the tower, the rampart walls, mantaps and the cooking places for offerings. Also he was a great scholar in Dramida Sastras, leader of the Tamil poets and he was called Nalukavipperumal (great one excelling in four genres of poetry) as expressed in the verse Periya Tirumozhi 1.7.10 which says that Azhwar was 'the sage of the vast books of Tamil and leader of Tirumangai'. 

And Tirumangai Azhwar always engaged himself in the great works of Nammalwar and it was so dear to his heart. Nammalwar out of his intense experience and wonderful involvement in God sang Tiruviruttam, Tiruvasiriyam, Periya Tiruvandati and Tiruvaimozhi. The beauty of the very words and the profundity of meanings and the great charm of the sentiments, all these aspects of Nammalwar's works captivated the heart of Tirumangai Azhwar. Especially Tiruvaimozhi, after completing which Nammalwar attained the Infinite Bliss, it was this Tiruvaimozhi in which Kaliyan was losing himself so happily. 

Srirangam Mohanarangan 

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When Kaliyan was talking to God ! (Translation of Kaliyan Arulpadu) 01

One of the fine pieces of Manipravala works by Purvacharyas of Sri Vaishnavism is this Kaliyanarulpadu. It is written by Sri Periyavachanpillai. The 1889 edition by Sri Arasanipalai Kandadai Krishnamachariyar Swami titles this as a book of Rahasya genre written by Sri Periyavachanpillai. It is a small book containing some 16 odd pages. But the contents are very illuminative reagarding the history and development of the Sampradaya, centering around the Koyil, Srirangam. More so we are provided with some of the rarest informations regarding the structure and development of the 21 days long festival of the Recital of the Tamil Canons during the prior ten days of daytime before the great festival of Sri Vaikunta Ekadasi and also during the following ten days of early night after the festival. Kaliyan is the name of Sri Tirumangai Alwar. 

Translation: 

It was a time of sustaining grace of the Supreme Lord of Sri Vaikunta, who is the Divine Consort of Sri. Sarveswara, who resides eternally in Sri Vaikunta and who is the repository of all blemishless qualities of Excellence and who has no unfulfilled desires being all His desires and wants already fulfilled totally, His grace was tangible in those times. 

At that time Bhagavan thought in Himself about the state of worldly Jivas. These worldly Jivas are also equal heirs to His Divine abode and Bliss, since these are also in the same relationship of Seshatva just like the Nityasuris over there. All Jivas stand in equal relationship to Himself. How then some are enjoying the beatitude and the bliss of attainment and some are as if lost forever. He was thinking of how to make these hapless souls to reach over to Him. 

When He was born on the Earth as incarnations, it was useful only to the contemporary Jivas who realised who was He. To bestow grace even upon all the Jivas who came later after that and who are coming down the time and to make the approach to Him easier for the souls, Bhagavan as Archavatara made the temples His desired abodes, so that He can be approached by one and all, irrespective of time. And also in the devotees' homes He made His presence available. And through great Bhaktas and Muktas like Parankusa and Bhattanatha He was making His grace effective, so that many souls were saved and won over to the Divine Bliss. Such were those times. 

Tirumangai Azhwar, (who was so bent in mind about worldly victory, evanescent wealth and enjoyment of women of great beauty having spear-sharp eyes, Periya Tirumozhi 1.1.4) whose wealth was matching as if of the Almighty Lord and as if excelling it, such was at least the Azhwar's unique egotism. That egotism was born of the Azhwar's strong body-mindedness and as a result Azhwar was so deep into worldliness that there was scarcely any chance or qualification in him so that the Jnanam regarding the Atman or Iswara may rise up in him. 

Such was his state and seeing this Bhagavan wanted to rescue him from that state and win him over to Himself. How He did that was: Azhwar was such an ardent connoisseur of beauty and it was this capacity of appreciating beauty in its best form that Bhagavan decided to make use of in Azhwar by showing His transcendent beauty to him. And also He made Azhwar understand His excellent qualities like Sauseelyam (simplicity) And further Bhagavan made Azhwar understand the real significance of Tirumantiram (Ashtaksharaa Mantra), the ultimate significance of which mantra is Bhagavan's presence as Archavatara in temples. Because of that Azhwar became supremely happy and felt himself saved by God. 

Srirangam Mohanarangan 

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