panguni uthram and emperumAnAr

• ANdAL thirukkalyANam in srIvilliputhUr

• It is the thirunakshathram (appearance) day of nanjIyar who is the dear sishya of bhattar and dear AchArya of nampiLLai.

But beyond all of these, this is the most auspicious day for srIvaishNavas since emperumAnAr recited gadhya thrayam (sharaNAgathi gadhyam, srI ranga gadhyam, srI vaikunta gadhyam) in front of the dhiyva dhampathi (divine couple) on this day. Once, during a panguni uthram day, when namperumAL and nAchiyAr were together in the panguni uthra mahA mandapam, emperumAnAr arrives there. Being anguished at the cruel nature of samsAram and wanting to reveal the upAyam which is most dear to his heart, he started reciting the 3 gadhyams and performed sharaNAgathi in front of the divine couple. sharaNAgathi literally means accepting emperumAn as upAyam to accomplish the ultimate goal (kainkarya prApthi in our case).


gadhya thrayam is generally explained as the commentary of dhvaya mahA manthram. It is made of three gadhyams:

• sharaNAgathi gadhyam
  • emperumAnAr accepts srI ranganAyaki as purushakAram and first glorifies her
  • he then glorifies emperumAn’s divine and most auspicious qualities, forms, eternal servitors, etc
  • he performs sharaNAgathi to emperumAn

• srI ranga gadhyam
  • In this, emperumAnAr fully enjoys emperumAn‘s presence in srI rangam as srI ranganAthan.
  • Since, in this world, the meaning of dhvaya mahA manthram is fully manifested in dhivya dhEsams as archAvathAra emperumAns, our pUrvAchAryas usually were fully focussed on dhivya dhEsa emperumAns. saulabhyam (easy accessibilty) is the most adorable quality of emperumAn and is fully revealed in archAvathAram. emperumAnAr enjoys this auspicious quality of saulabhyam in this gadhyam.

• srI vaikunta gadhyam
  • In this, emperumAnAr beautifully describes the variegated nature of paramapadham and glorifies the same.
  • Here bhagavAn’s parathvam (supremacy) is fully enjoyed.
  • The ultimate result of serving in parampadham is established in this gadhyam. 

Let us delve into the beautiful meanings that are revealed in periyavAchAn piLLai‘s vyAkyAna avathArikai (introduction to commentary) for gadhya thrayam.

periyavAchAn piLLai explains the purpose for emperumAnAr’s gIthA bhAshyam and gadhya thrayam. 

• the purpose
  of gIthA bhAshyam is to establish (karma/gyAnam based) bhakthi yOgam as
  upAyam and to defeat kudhrushtis (one who interpret vEdha/vEdhAntham
  wrongly). the purpose of gadhya thrayam is to establish prapathi
  (emperumAn) as upAyam.
• Since
  vEdhAntham focusses on (gyAnam based) bhakthi, in gIthA bhAshyam,
  emperumanAr focussed on the same to establish vEdhAntham. Since
  AzhwArs/AchAryas focussed on prapathi (emperumAn) as the only upAyam,
  emperumAnAr revealed that principle which is very dear to his heart in
  gadhyams.
• Just like
  vEdham cannot be taught to avaidhihas, emperumAnAr did not reveal the
  most confidential prapathi to the ones who are mis-interpreting vEdham.
  He defeated them and established the validity of vEdham using
  gyAnam/bhakthi which are acceptable to them. But he reveals his own
  sidhAntham of prapathi through gadhya thrayam .

emperumAnAr
performed sharaNAgathi in front of the dhivya dhampathi, established the
glories of prapathi and also showed to us that emperumAn is the upAyam
for us. Both bhakthi and prapathi are established upAyams (means) to
reach emperumAn. But our pUrvAchAryas have always
accepted emperumAn as the upAyam and did not consider anything else
other than emperumAn as upAyam. 

Let us quickly see the differences
between bhakthi and prapathi as shown by periyavAchAn piLLai in sharaNAgathi gadhya pravEsam (introduction).

vEdhAntham also categorically declares prapathi as the top most upAyam. prapathi is considered as the best upAyam by our pUrvAchAryas as well. And, since sAsthram itself says “dharmagya samayam pramANam, vEdhAs cha“ (ApasthambasUthram) meaning
“True scholar’s conclusion is the main authority, vEdham is also an
authority” – here the conclusion of our pUrvAchAryas take precedence
even over sAsthram. Thus, since our pUrvAchAryas have accepted emperumAn
as the upAyam we can also easily accept the same. 


emperumAnAr
reveals this most confidential upAyam to ensure that his followers (who
are fully situated in sathva guNam) should understand this most
valuable information in detail. Out of his unlimited grace, he reveals
this glorious gadhya thrayam for the benefit of his own followers.

periyavAchAn piLLai himself brings up an important question. emperumAnAr already performed sharaNAgathi while under-going samAsrayaNam from periya nambi long ago – so why is he doing this sharaNAgathi again? perumAL (srI rAman) himself said “sakruthEva” (only once) revealing his thiruvuLLam (divine heart) while speaking rAma charama slOkam. 


sakruthEva prapannAya thavAsmIthi cha yAchathE
abhayam sarva bhUthEbhyO dhadhAm yE thadh vratham mama


For the ones who surrender unto me only once, I will bestow them fearlessness from all beings. This is my vow.


periyavAchAn piLLai further says, a sharaNAgathan should be fully satisfied with the first prapathi and be like 

• sIthA pirAtti who said “thath thasya sadhrusam bhavEth” – Let srI rAman come and rescue me from lankA when he desires since he is my master
• nammAzhwAr who said to emperumAn “kaLaivAi thunbam kaLaiyAthozhivAi kaLaikaN maRRilEn” – if you remove my sorrows thats fine, otherwise its fine as well – I wont do anything.