Mystic Margazhi and Thiruppavai

 I always look forward to the month of December / Margazhi every year. There are several good things about this time of the year. There is less activity on the work side because of the holiday season, Chennai music season is in full swing and one gets to hear several good concerts and taste great traditional food and the weather is at its best in Chennai. While all this adds some serenity, Margazhi by itself is a divine month because Lord Krishna himself has said that in months he is Margazhi! And what is Margazhi without Andal and Thiruppavai.

I have been Chanting Thiruppavai daily for years now but it is always a special feeling chanting Thiruppavai in Margazhi and ending with the day's pasuram. Listening to discourses makes the expereinced surreal and this year I came across some interesting explanations linking Thiruppavai verses to Ramayanam.

Thiruppavai is supposed to be the essence of all Vedas and is a clear guide on Saranagathi, how to surrender to God and attain salvation. It stresses that Lord Krishna (Maha Vishnu) is the supreme god and one has to completely surrender to him because the paths like Karma yogam, Bakthi yogam and Gnana yoga are very difficult and not possible for the common man. Thiruppavai advocates the need to share Krishna anubhavam with like minded people (bhagavathas) and lays out the rules to approach Lord Krishna - Go as a group of bakthas, Approach through an acharya and then Nithyasuris and then surrender to Mahalakshmi and through her approach the Lord. It stresses the importance of singing the Lord's praise and chanting his different names (Nama Sankeerthanam) and service to Lord (Kainkaryam)! Finally the key thing is when you go to Lord Krishna finally, only thing you request is to be with him and serve him eternally.

The intent of this post was definitely not to give a commentary on Thiruppavai. There has been lots that has been written and said about Thiruppavai and one can go on writing for volumes about this great work by Andal. Maybe I will write one post on every Thiruppavai some day but let me now move to what I wanted to cover in this post.

There is a Thirukkural which says 

சொல்லுக சொல்லைப் பிறிதோர்சொல் அச்சொல்லை
வெல்லுஞ்சொல் இன்மை அறிந்து

It means one should always carefully chose his words and use the best word when he speaks.

I strongly feel that this Kural was written after reading Thiruppavai and every word that Andal has used in Thiruppavai is undoubtedly the best fit.

While each Pasuram is a gem and is packed with so many meanings, I thought I will highlight a few interesting usages of a word or set of words which really stand out and convey the messages that Andal wanted to in simple understandable form!

நாராயணனே நமக்கே பறை தருவான் - Lord Narayana is the supreme God and is the only who can give Salvation

செய்யாதன செய்யோம் - We should never do what our elders have said clearly that it should not be done

நானே தான்ஆயிடுக (Let it be me) - When it comes to Bagavathas, we should let go of our ego and be willing to accept a mistake 

even if it is not done by us!

பறைதருதியாகில் (If you are willing to give me Kainkaryam) - Lord Krishna is supreme and independent (Swathanthiran) and can choose to accept our saranagathi or not

திருத்தக்க செல்வம் - Lord gets all his status only because of Thiru (Mahalakshmi) and we need him with her

கூடியிருந்து குளிர்ந்தேலோ ரெம்பாவாய் - Anything good needs to be shared especially something as sweet as bakthi towards 

Lord Krishna or Krishna Anubhavam 

சீறியருளாதே - Even if Lord Krishna gets angry with us that is still a blessing!

Ofcourse this is only a sample and there might be many more. Maybe I will discover them in the coming 

years!