God
Sees Devotion but not caste or colour: A Study on history of Tiruppani Alwar
Dr.G. Mohana Charyulu,
Associate Professor
&
Chairman,
RPAC,
Dept. of English K L University,
VADDESWARAM- A.P.
Abstract: devotion
needs strong belief and hope for liberation. It never takes into account colour or caste. There is no distinction of
upper or lower caste in the view of Lord’s creation. It is created by only
dogmatic petty human beings. It is proved many a times by Lord himself through
so many incidents. In spite, there are so many instances that continue to
practice the difference of lower and higher caste. The present study titled: God sees devotion but not caste or colour:
A Study on Tiruppaani Alwar” focuses
on how the lower caste people are treated before God by upper caste Brahmins
and how those who ill treated the lower caste people are punished by Lord. The
Lord Ranganadha punished them in such a way that they have to bring the so
neglected, ill treated people on their shoulders by praising their selflessness
in their devotion to the Sanctum Sanctorium.
Keywords:
Devotion, Liberation, discrimination, caste, punishment and selflessness.
In
order to get liberation from the physical world and to attain the supreme bliss
(Moksha), there are many ways proposed by our ancestors. They proposed nine
ways of devotion in the liberation of Physical soul (Jivatma) and to meet with Supreme
Soul (Paramatma). The proposed theories and practices lead to the Sampradaya (Practice)
in the regular life style of individual. One among them is Sri Vaishnava
Sampradayam, the followers who worship Lord Sri Maha Vishnu. They believe in
Him as the omniscient, omnipotent and all powerful who is the creator and
destroyer of this Universe. In this connection, the devotees who immersed
themselves in deep devotion are called Alwars in the Sampradaya terminology. There 12 Alwars who boasted the practice with
atmost devotion and reached an abode of supreme soul (Paramapadam). Those 12 are great
seers of enlightenment. They preached and practiced the life style of
Srivashnava Sampradayam. They showed the people how to reach God through their
unconditional devotion. It is believed that each Alwar is an incarnation of a
certain part or weapon of Lord Vishnu. So Alwars represent God’s own form in
human body. They are bestowed with the duty to preach and practice Truth (
Dharma) and restore spirituality among people. The main concept of their deep
devotion is Surrender (Sharanagati). The Alwars who immersed in God with full
of Bhakthi and knowledge followed the path of surrender before the Almighty
with pure devotion as the only way of attaining Moksha.
The
prayer in the lineage of the Alwars is also beautifully described in a poetic
stanza designed to pray regularly in all the temples and houses of Sri
Vaishnava Devottees.
"Bhutam Sarascha Mahadahvaya
Bhattanatha
Sri Bhaktisara
Kulasekhara Yogivahan
Bhaktanghrirenu
Parakala Yatindra Mishran
srimat Paramkusha
munim pranatosmi nityam"
The twelve names according to above verse are as follows:
Sanskrit
Name
Dravida
Name
1) Bhuta Yogi
Poothatta Alwar
2) Saro Yogi
Poigai Alwar
3) Mahadahvaya Yogi
Peyalwar
4) Bhattanatha (Vishnu Chitta)
Periyalwar
5) Sri or Andal (Goda Devi)
Andal
6) Bhakti Sara
Tirumozhi sayyalwar or Thirumalisai Alvar
7) Kulasekhara
Kulasekhara Alwar
8)Yogi Vahana
Thiruppani
Alwar
9) Bhaktan Ghrirenu (Vipranarayana)
Thondaradippodi
Alwar
10)Parakala (Kalivairi)
Thirumangai Alwar
11)Mishra Kavi (Madhura Kavi)
Madhura Kavi
12)Parankusa (Satakopa)
Nammalwar
The Present study deals with Thirupaan Alwar
whose devotion moved Lord Ranganadha Himself and cursed those Upper Caste
Brahmins to be blind. Surprising thing is that all that Branhmins bring him on
their shoulders to sanctum Sanctorium and made the Darshan of Supreme Lord Sri
Ranganadha to Tiruppani Alwar. It reveals that the devotion needs no caste or
colour but strong belief on Supreme soul. It is not out of context to describe
briefly the biographical sketch of Tiruppaani alwar. Thirupaan
Alwar was born in Urayoor, a town near Sri Rangam. He was well versed in
playing Veena and every day he sang songs in praise of Lord Sri Ranganatha. But
since he was from a lower caste, instead of going to Sri Rangam, he used to go
to banks of the Cauvery river and used to sing looking in the direction of the
Sri Rangam temple. Sri Ranganatha wanted
to show Alwar’s devotion to the world and so played a small drama.
One
morning as usual Alwar was singing by sitting on the banks of Cauvery River. He was too
immersed in his Devotion that he did not feel the presence of a priest (Archaka)
named Saranga Muni. He was asking Tiruppani Alwar to move way, since he was
from a lower caste. The Archaka had come to take water from Kaveri river for
regular rituals to Lord Sri Ranganatha. The archaka then takes a small stone and throws at Alwar, which brings back alwar
to consciousness. Alwar immediately moved away from the place to give a way for archaka. Alwar was afraid that he had committed
mistake and had delayed the service to Lord Sri Ranaganatha.
The
archaka goes back to temple with the water and He was shocked seeing at Lord
Ranganatha. Lord Ranganatha bleeds at the exact place where Archaka hit Thirupaan Alwar with stone. The archaka is
terrified and requests the Lord to tell the reason for his bleeding. Sri
Ranganatha says that the one whom he hit with the stone is his devout devotee (baktha).
Sri Ranganatha says that He Himself was with Alwar in his songs and goes on
saying that he forgets everything by listening to the songs of Alwar. When
archaka hit him with stone He too was injured. Sri Ranganatha instructs the
archaka to bring alwar on his shoulders. The archaka then goes back to alwar
and narrates the entire incident. Alwar objects to be taken on archaka’s
shoulder, since he held archakas in a very high regard as they serve the Lord
Ranganatha himself daily. But when the archaka says that it is the instruction
of Lord Ranganatha to bring him on his shoulders, Finally Alwar accepts.
Saranga
Muni along with all other high priest Brahmins starts walking towards Alwar and
took him on to their shoulders. Everyone was surprised to see this scene and
stood in silence. After reaching the temple, Thiruppan Alwar could not believe
his eyes because he was seeing Sri Ranganadha whom he thought that could never
see him in his life. He raised his hands above his head and started to sing Psalms
(slokas) on Sri Ranganadha. He then started to see the whole body ( thirumeni )
of Sri Ranganadha and he sang a total of ten poems (paasuram) which explain the beauty of Sri Ranganatha
from his foot (thiruvadi) to head (thirumudi).
He explains in his ten paasuram called “Amalanadhipiran”
about the clean saffron cloth which is
worn on the body of Ranganatha, his jewels the stomach (thiruvayiru) from where
Lord Brahma originated, the broad chest, the red lips and finally the beauty of
the two broad eyes. After singing the 10 paasurams Thiruppaani Alwar merges
with the Lord Sri Ranganatha.
In
the Poems of Amalanaadhipiran, Thiruppaani Alwar explains the exquisite charm
of the Lord’s Supernal Form, His boundless wealth etc., in Heaven, the Lord’s
transcendental abode (‘Paramapada‘), just sprout, (with just two leaves like
beginnings of the infant’s teething) during His Avatars as Rama and Krishna and
flourish as a fully-grown fruit bearing tree with numerous branches
(corresponding to all the other pilgrim centers) in Srirangam, affording
immense satisfaction to the beholders there, of His easily worshippable Form. The
Lord is so easily worhippable in the
case of devotees of the caliber of the Alvar Saints unto whom the Lord relaxes
the self-imposed constraints of silence, passivity etc., incidental to His
iconic manifestation. He displays His innate charm, in super-abundance. It is
noteworthy that the Lord did not even wait till He entered the Sanctum to
behold and drink in the beatific vision in front. He displayed to him the
wealth of His resplendence, step by step, from His lovely pair of feet upwards,
lest the devotee be swept off his feet, rather dazed by the dazzling splendour
of His Form, when exhibited in full, all at once. The Lord’s feet constitute
not merely the rallying point in this mental exercise but also the focal point,
the final goal of attainment of the devotee, his sole Refuge. That is why another
Alwar Sri Nammalvar also referred to the Lord’s “distress – dispelling –
dazzling feet”, right in the opening song of Magnum Opus “Tiruvaymoji”. This is
like the new-born baby intuitively sucking the mother’s breast, the source of
its sustenance, with no physical aid whatsoever to locate it. The new-born baby
is totally devoid of vision which it gains only gradually from the second month
onwards.
The
aloofness observed by his kinsmen, in terms of their low birth, deterred supreme
Lord from treading and defiling the holy precincts of Srirangam. Even so, he stood daily on the southern bank
of river Kaveri, harp in hand, facing the direction of the holy Shrine at
Srirangam. He got lost in rapturous laudation of Lord Ranganatha, with a mind,
wholly riveted in Him – sight for gods ! The lord, as the unfailing Cognisor,
took note of the Alvar’s unique stance, in dire contrast to the ways of the
worldlings around, hankering after worldly pleasures, putting Him far away.
Therefore, He felt greatly attracted to him. The Lord enabled him to come down
to Srirangam and that too, right inside the Sanctum, mounted on the shoulders
of a high caste Brahmin, an extraordinary gesture. He was also granted, en
route, the vision of His charming person, feet upwards, on a par with direct
perception
“Seperation
from you, O, Lord ! even for a split second, of those who
devoutly
aspire to have, at least once, a glimpse of Your Supernal Form
(Divya Mangala Vigrah), is unbearable to you”.
(09)
From
the Alvar’s songs, as above, Lord Ranganatha also noted, with immense pleasure,
that he saw in Him the aggregate of His other hypostatic forms, ‘Para’, ‘Vyuha’
and ‘Vibhava’ as well as his Iconic manifestations elsewhere which the Alvar
has given expression to, in this concluding song, as well –
“en Aranganaik kanta kankal marronrinaikkanave”
“Nothing
is enough to my eyses except the great vision of Lord”
The
saint is no more a part of this mundane world is explicit from his songs. He
has asserted that his eyes shall not behold anyone else, anymore, having seen
Him who alone matters. That he has no name or roots anywhere in the mundane
soil and has lost all sense of belonging here, is also patent from the fact
that he has not mentioned, in this concluding song, his name and nativity. Such
great personalities are being praised by the devotees of Sri vaishnava sampradayam
still now in the southern part of India. Out of 12 alwars many of them are
outcaste and gets regular prayers by Brahmins in their regular daily rituals.
The poems written by these alwars are daily recited by the followers
irrespective of caste or colour in the many houses and temples in south
India.
Works
cited:
1. B. S., Chandrababu; S., Ganeshram;
C., Bhavani (2011). History of People and Their Environments. Bharathi
Puthakalayam India
2. Chari, S. M. Srinivasa (1997).
Philosophy and Theistic Mysticism of the Āl̲vārs. Motilal
Banarsidass Publishers. India
3. Dalal, Roshen
(2011). Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide. Penguin Books India.
4. Das, Sisir
Kumar; Sāhitya Akādemī (2005). A history of Indian literature, 500-1399: from
courtly to the popular. chennai: Sāhitya Akādemi
5. Ramanujan, Attipat Krishnaswami
(2005). Hymns for the Drowning: Poems for Vishnu. Penguin Books.
6. Govindāchārya, Aḷkoṇḍavilli (1902).
The Holy Lives of the Azhvârs: Or, the Drâvida Saints. Mysore: G. T. A. Press.
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