SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama: SrI vAnAchala mahAmunayE nama:
avathArikai (Introduction)
Since there are so many branches in sAma vEdham, when asked “which type of sAmam matches thiruvAimozhi?” nAyanAr explains here.
chUrNikai 52
chandhOgan enRu sAmAnyam AgAmal mudhalilE piriththu yAzh payil gAnasvarUpiyaip pAlaiyAgiyenRu viSEshikkaiyAlE vEdhagIthachchami nAn enRa sAmam thOnRa udhgItha praNavaththai prathamaththilE mARAdi charamagathi mudivAgath thoNdarkku amudhenna dhEvAnnamAkki mahAghOsha nalvEdha olipOlE mahAdhyayanamennap pAdugaiyAlE iththaich chAndhOgya samam enbargaL.
Simple Explanation
Instead of generally saying this is equivalent to sAma vEdham, as specific characteristics are present in thiruvAimozhi which match chAndhOgya upanishath which glorifies bhagavAn with the name “uth”, and it is also recited with great fervour in huge assemblies, it is said to be equivalent to chAndhOgya upanishath which is part of sAma vEdham.
vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
chandhOgan enRu sAmAnyam AgAmal mudhalilE piriththu
That is, it is generally said by abhiyukthar (the trustworthy AzhwAr) and krishNa himself, that it is equivalent to sAma vEdham as said in thiruchchandha viruththam 14 “sAma vEdha gIdhanAya” (mercifully spoken of in sAma vEdham), periya thirumozhi 2.2.7 “sAmiyappan” (one who is revealed in sAma vEdham as the cause) and in SrI bhagavath gIthA 10.22 “sAmavEdhO’smi” (I am sAma vEdham); instead of that, there is specific mention of it being equal to chAndhOgya upanishath which is a special portion of sAma vEdham, as in periya thirumozhi 5.5.9 “sandhOgan pauzhiyan aindhazhal Ombu thaiththiriyan sAma vEdhi” (emperumAn knows the meaning of the special portion of sAma vEdham; he knows the meaning of kaushIdhakI brAhmaNam; he remains amidst five fires; he performs fire sacrifice; he knows the meaning of thaiththirIya upanishath; he knows the meaning of sAma vEdham), by specifically identifying him as chandhOgan which indicates chAndhOgya upanishath which is part of sAma vEdham first, although he is identified subsequently as sAma vEdhi. If that is not the intent, since sAma vEdhi will include this chAndhOgya upanishath also, AzhwAr would not have separately identified him as chandhOgan.
yAzh payil gAnasvarUpiyaip pAlaiyAgiyenRu viSEshikkaiyAlE
That is, as said in thiruvAimozhi 2.3.7 “yAzh payil nUl narambin mudhir suvaiyE!” (Oh one who is like the most enjoyable/matured music which is sourced from the nerve (String) and which is practiced in the musical instrument named yAzh and follows the rules laid in the music literature!), emperumAn is sweet like a song which is the enjoyable, matured tune which is born from the string of yAzh, which matches the identity explained in the musical SAsthram. Instead of identifying him in generalised manner as an ordinary song, he is said to be the specific tune named pAlaiyAzh which is having the nature of chandhOga sAmam, as said in periya thirumozhi 7.3.7 “yAzh narambil peRRa pAlaiyAgi” (being sweet like the pAlai tune born from the string of yAzh), he is said to be a specific tune. This is now explained to indicate that in “sAma vEdha gIthanAya“, since bhagavAn is read along with both sAma vEdham and gItham (song), both have connection with chandhOga sAmam.
vEdhagIthachchami nAn enRa sAmam thOnRa
That is, since there is specific identity of thiruvAimozhi being equivalent to chAndhOgya upanishath, as per paSvadhikaraNa nyAyam (The rule which days that sacrifice of an animal is mentioned in SAsthram which is then narrowed down to the specific animal based on the reference elsewhere in the same SAsthram), the generic usage of the words “sAma” and “gItha” in “sAmavEdha gIthanAya“, “sAmiyappan“, “sAmavEdhO’smi“, will ultimately lead to the specific chandhOga sAmam which was explained previously. Hence, since chandhOga sAmam is indicated by these references, in this manner, abhiyukthar and himself spoke about the chandhOga sAmam which is desirable for him and can be read along with him.
udhgItha praNavaththai prathamaththilE mARAdi
That is, since for each sAmam, there are five sections namely prasthAvam, udhgItham, prathihAram, upadhravam and nidhanam, udhgItham, though one amongst them, is said to be the taste of sAmam as said in chAndhOgya upanishath “sAmna udhgIthO rasa:” (udhgItham remains the taste of sAmam), and is sung in the form of a song, after reciting praNavam; thus, praNavam which is part of such udhgItham, as said in the beginning of chAndhOgya upanishath “OmithiyEthath aksharam udhgItham upAsItha” (One should meditate on praNavam which is part of udhgItham), here too, AzhwAr recited praNavam in the beginning; while doing so, if praNavam is spoken as it is, then it will become adhikruthAdhikAram (only qualified persons can study it); hence, he splits the praNavam in to three parts (a, u, ma) and while using those in the first three lines, instead of starting with “a”, he starts with “u”, and hence it is said that AzhwAr has jumbled the letters in praNavam.
The reason for starting with “u” is to indicate that “uth” is bhagavAn’s name which is the essence of that taste of chAndhOgyam, and thus he started with “uyarvaRa” having “u” in the beginning and finished with “uyarndhE” having “tha” sound in the end. This is further explained in next chUrNikai. Thus, while the three syllabled praNavam is glorified in the beginning, it is jumbled due to this reason.
charamagathi mudivAga
That is, the archirAdhi gathi (the path of light which leads to mOksham) which is the final journey and is explained in the middle of chAndhOgya upanishath, is explained in thiruvAimozhi 10.9 “sUzh visumbaNi mugil“, in the end; this archirAdhi gathi is known as charama gathi (final journey), since it is leading to the ultimate abode of parampadham, unlike garbha, yAmya, dhUmadhi gathis.
thoNdarkku amudhenna dhEvAnnamAkki
That is, just as that sAmam will be greatly enjoyable for the divine personalities such as nithyasUris and mukthAthmAs where as said in thaiththirIya upanishath “Ethath sAma gAyan nAsthE” (They are singing that sAmam), as an outlet for bhagavath anubhava janitha harsha (the joy attained due to experiencing bhagavAn), they perform sAma gAnam as in “hAvu hAvu hAvu” and remain joyful as said in “aham annAdha:” (I am the enjoyer [of bhagavAn]), for those who are eager to enjoy bhagavAn, this thiruvAimozhi is also enjoyable as said in thiruvAimozhi 9.4.9 “thoNdarkkamudhuNNa” (for the joyful experience of his servitors).
mahAghOsha nalvEdha olipOlE mahAdhyayanamennap pAdugaiyAlE
Singing thiruvAimozhi as part of periya thiruvadhyayanam (grand festival) similar to sAma vEdham which has loud chants as said in “sarvEbhyObhi hi vEdhEbhya: sAma ghOshO mahAnabhUth | anvaghOshaya dhadhyartham thEna brahmANda maNdapa: ||” (More than the other vEdhams, sAma vEdham’s chants became louder; due to the loud chants of sAma vEdham, the great assembly hall is echoing) and thiruvAimozhi 5.9.3 “pAdu nal vEdha oli” (tumultous sound of the noble sAma vEdham is heard).
iththaich chAndhOgya samam enbargaL
Thus, due to the previously explained aspects, trustworthy persons say that this thiruvAimozhi is equivalent to chAndhOgya upanishath in chandhOga sAmam.
adiyen sarathy ramanuja dasan
archived in https://granthams.koyil.org/
pramEyam (goal) – https://koyil.org
pramANam (scriptures) – https://granthams.koyil.org
pramAthA (preceptors) – https://acharyas.koyil.org
SrIvaishNava education/kids portal – https://pillai.koyil.org