According to tradition, Thiruppan Alwar was found as a baby in a paddy field at Uraiyur near Srirangam, and raised by a family of panars, singers who played the yazh. Because of the birth he was raised in, he did not cross the Kaveri into Srirangam; he stood on the far bank and sang to Sri Ranganatha every day.
One morning the sage Loka Saranga Muni came to the river to fetch water for the Lord, and asked him to step aside. The Alwar, lost in his song, did not hear, and the sage threw a stone that cut his forehead. When the sage reached the sanctum, he saw blood on the Lord's own forehead. Perumal told him to go and carry the Alwar into the temple on his shoulders. The sage begged forgiveness and did so, and the Alwar is called Munivahana, the one carried by the sage.
Before Sri Ranganatha, Thiruppan Alwar sang Amalanadipiran (10 verses), describing the Lord as he saw Him, verse by verse, from the holy feet up to the face. When he finished, he merged into the Lord there.
His ten verses are treasured as small in size and vast in meaning. His life teaches that the Lord does not look at birth. He looks at love, and He comes to fetch His devotee Himself.
A pasuram to begin with
Amalanadipiran 1 · verse 927 of the four thousand
According to tradition, Thiruppan Alwar was carried into the temple at Srirangam on the shoulders of a sage, and sang ten verses as he gazed on the Lord from His feet to His face. This is the first, on His feet.
Meaning
The pure one, the first Lord, who made me the servant of His devotees; the spotless one, the Lord of the heavenly ones, the Lord of Venkatam with its fragrant groves; the faultless one, the stainless one, the just one of high heaven, the Lord of Arangam with its tall walls: His holy lotus feet have come and seem to stand within my eyes.
Word by word
- amalaṉ
- the pure one, who makes us pure
- ātipirāṉ
- the first Lord, the first benefactor
- aṭiyārkku eṉṉai āṭpaṭutta
- who made me the servant of His devotees
- nimalaṉ niṉmalaṉ
- the spotless, the faultless, the stainless
- viṇṇavarkōṉ
- the Lord of the heavenly ones
- vēṅkaṭavaṉ
- the Lord of Venkatam, Tirumala
- nīḷ matil araṅkattu ammāṉ
- the Lord of Srirangam with its tall walls
- kamala pātam
- holy lotus feet
- eṉ kaṇṇiṉ uḷḷaṉa okkiṉṟatē
- seem to stand within my eyes
The verse is from the e-text of the Nalayira Divya Prabandham by Project Madurai. The meaning is a simple rendering in the light of the acharyas' commentaries, and is awaiting a scholar's review.
Ask Sri Paduka about this pasuram →All the pasurams
Thiruppan Alwar sang 10 pasurams. Each one is here in English letters, with a simple meaning and the meanings of its key words.