SrI ranganatha unjal final

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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4) 

anubhAvyatvam  

or the enhanced state of spiritual experience that stabilizes one’s 

dhyAnam 

and 

dhAraNam 

preparing one to attain a 

sadAcAryan 

to perform Prapatti and 

qualify for 

mokshAnugraham

. 

In this context, the deep anubhavam of the MangaLASAsanam of the arcA mUrti at the 

bhUloka VaikuNTham of SrIrangam by TiruppANAzhvAr, amalanAdhipirAn, can be enjoyed as 

the 16th e-book (ebook# AV016) in the Ahobilavalli series: 

http://www.sadagopan.org

 

The audios of the excerpts from the SrI sUktis of SrI PiLLai PerumAL IyengAr (azhagiya 

maNavALa dAsar) known as ashTa Prabandham are chosen by aDiyEn’s sister, VaikuNTha vAsi, 

VidvAmsini Padma Veeraraghavan to pay her tribute to the bhakti of PiLLai PerumAL IyengAr 

for the arcA mUrti-s in general and SrI RanganAtha in particular. These pAsurams by the 

direct disciple of Swamy PrASara BhaTTar are literary master pieces filled with immense 

bhagavat anubhavam. The ecstasy and devotion for the Lord of SrIrangam found in these 

pAsurams of ashTa Prabandham earned IyengAr the honorific title of “

divya Kavi

”. 

The first piece is sung in the morning rAgam of 

BhUpALam 

in the 

viruttam 

tradition (without 

tALam) to the accompaniment of flute. Here the divya kavi salutes the arcA mUrti-s and 

states that he is going to offer his salutations in the andAti form selected by the Mudal 

AzhvArs and SwAmy NammAzhvAr: 

ERRa MaNavALan pAyiram

. The reference is to the SrI 

RanganAtha Pativratai’s (ToNDaraDippoDi’s) 

TiruppaLLiyezhucci

. 

The second pAsuram is set in rAgam 

SaurAshTram 

and is from the section of ashTa 

prabandham known as 

Tiruvaranga Kalambakam

. The tALam will be Adi in most of the 

renderings except for KaNDa cApu for two pieces dealing with Unjal of SrI RangarAjan and 

SrI RanganAyaki. Mrdhangam joins in now.  In this pAsuram, Iyengar performs SaraNAgati at 

the sacred feet of the 12 AzhvArs in general and SwAmy NammAzhvAr in particular (

vEdam 

tokuttu tamizhp pADal seyta vimalan ….

). Here the reference is to Madhura Kavi and His 

AcArya Bhakti. 

The third pAsuram is set in rAgam 

Mohanam 

to describe the divya saundaryam of SrI 

RanganAthan, His beautiful face, His eyes full of Mercy, His sacred tuLasI mAlA and His divya 

Ayudhams. IyengAr says that there is nothing for him to fear in this world as long as SrI 

RanganAtha and His Ayudhams are with him (

periya perumAL arangan ……)

. 

The fourth pAsuram is coming from TiruvarangattandAti and is set in 

sAveri 

rAgam. Here 

Iyengar pays tribute to his Guru parampara starting from BhaTTar, EmbAr upward to SrI 

RanganAyaki and SrI RanganAtha. 

The fifth verse from TiruvarangattantAdi is set in rAgam 

BhegaDA 

and salutes the five 

AcAryAs of RaamAnujar and then ends up stating that EmperumAnAr sitting in the middle of 

the 74 AcAryAs appointed by him is his succor and sustenance. 

The sixth verse is from TiruvEnkaDa mAlai and is a salute to TiruvEnkaDamuDaiyAn as 

Gajendra Varadan. This pAsuram is set in the evening rAgam of 

HindoLam

.  IyengAr says that 

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his tongue will not praise any deity other than SrIman nArAyaNa standing in the form of 

Sesha Sekhara Vibhu ontop of Tirumalai. 

The seventh verse is set in the morning rAgam of 

danyAsi 

and is from TiruvEnkaDa mAlai. 

Here IyengAr salutes SrI Venkatesan as the mAyavan, KaNNan, MaNivaNNan and Kesavan. 

IyengAr also states that the Lord’s 

nayana dIkshai 

will remove every fear and SrI 

VaikuNTham will not be far away for them, who receive such blessings. We must recall that 

Lord RanganAtha spent few years at TiruvEnkaDam hills. 

The eighth pAsuram comes from azhagar andAti eulogizes  SrI SundararAja PerumAL of cOlai 

malai or TirumAlirumcOlai. In the beautiful rAgam of 

Valaji

, the artist and the group sing 

about the power of Azhagar to melt the hearts and the minds of BhaktAs, who recite His 1000 

names (

sahasra nAmams

).The song starts with the words, “

nencam urukkum, uyir urukkum …

”. 

The ninth pAsuram is also from azhagar andAti and is sung in rAgam 

shaNmukha PriyA 

(

parantAmarai, tirumAlirumcOlai paramarai …

).  Here  IyengAr  begs  his  mind  to  focus  on  the 

sacred feet of Azhagar for his redemption. SrI RanganAthan spent few more years as a guest 

of Azhagar at TirumAlirumcOlai. 

The tenth pAsuram is about TirukkuDantai ArAvamudhan and is set in rAgam 

Suddha sAveri

. 

He asks the Lord: “Are You really tired from the enormous efforts to create the Universe and 

protect it? Are You the Lord, who extended His feet and measured the Universe during Your 

avatAram as Trivikraman? Please speak to me (

kuDantai kiDantAi pEsu

). The question is in the 

spirit of Tirumazhisai AzhvAr’s pAsuram. 

The eleventh pAsuram is about SrI Oppiliappan of AkAsa Nagaram. Here IyengAr states to 

the Lord that He had made him think of Him and as a result, he has rejected all the worldly 

pleasures. The mood portrayed is similar to that of Tirumangai, who declared “

vENDEn manai 

vAzhkkai viNNagar mEyavanE

”. This verse is set in rAgam 

Hamsadhvani

. The pAsuram starts 

with “

kaiyum uraiyum karuttum unakkE aDimai ….

”. The spirit of the pAsuram is similar to the 

famous pAsuram passage of ANDAL (

unakkE nAm AtcceyvOm

). 

The twelfth verse is about 

KaancI PeraruLALan

. Here IyengAr laments that his mind should be 

constantly thinking about Varadar only and not about anything else. This piece is set in rAgam 

Kaapi 

and starts with the words: “

poruLAsai maNNAsai ….

”. 

The thirteenth verse is a marvelous description of Lord RanganAtha giving His sevai in 

Dolotsavam to IyengAr. The Lord surrounded by nitya sUris, Ayudhams, AcAryALs is visualized 

by IyengAr and that result in a PallANDu in the spirit of PeriyAzhvAr from him. This 

apUrva 

pAsuram 

providing  a visual image of the Lord swinging in His Dolai and coming towards us and 

going away from us is a delight to experience. This pAsuram is set in rAgam 

KuRinji

, a janya 

rAgam of SankarAbharaNam (

tiruvAzha tiruvAzhi sankam vAzha, tiruvanantan garuDan 

senaiyArkOn vAzha,…. AzhvArkaL vAzha …. etirAcan aDiyAr vAzha ….

). The tALam of 

KaNDa 

cApu

 fits marvelously with the rhythmic movement of the Dolai. 

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