NAMMALVAR : COSMOLOGY (By P.N. Ramachandran pnramchandran@yahoo.co.

in) Alvars are the inspired saints who had composed devotional hymns in Tamil on Vishnu. These hymns are being recited in the temples and temple processions in South India even now. The term alvars means those who are immersed, here, in love of God. The root verb azh means to immerse, to dive; to sink, to be lowered, to be deep. (zha is a unique letter, found only in Tamil alphabet. Hence, instead of azhwar, we may, for our present purpose, follow the more usual spelling of alvars). Nammalvar (literally Our Alvar) holds the first place among the Alvars. His Tiruvoimolhi consists of ten series of ten verses each, with an additional benedictory verse. It is hailed as the essence of the Vedas & Upanishads. The late Mr. S. Rangarajan had written many works in Tamil with the pseudonym Sujatha. The ideas of the universe in Nammalvars hymns, particularly in Tiruvoimolhi, fit in with those of traditional astronomy and modern astrophysics/cosmology. As a life-long student of these subjects, Sujatha had appreciated this fact and recorded it in his writings. DHIDA VISUMBU ELIVALHI NEERNILAMIVAI MISAI PADAR PORULH MUZHUDHUMAAI AVAI AVAIDHORUM VUDALMISAI VUYIRENA KARANDHENGUM PARANDHULHAN SUDARMIGU SURUDHIYULH IVAYUNDA SURANE (TIRUVOIMOLHI 1.1.7)

In the enduring void of space And fire and air, Earth and water And in the innumerable things That spread from them, As life in a body, He is everywhere, unseen, hidden, And yet, He, the glory of the Vedas, Is their eternal abode. Verily, all the worlds are within Him. (Translation: A. Srinivasa Raghavan)

ARIGILEN THANNULLH ANAITTHULAGUM NIRKKA, NERIMAYAAL THAANUM AVATRULH NIRKUM PIRAAN VERI KAMALHI THENKAATKARAI EN APPAN SIRIYA EN AARUYIR UNDA TIRUVARULEH (TIRUVOIMOLHI-9. 6.4) I dont understand why, while all the worlds live within him and he lives within them by birthright, our lord of Kaatkarai of gardens blowing with fragrance, should assault and deavour this poor little soul of mine with his grace. (Translation: A.K. Ramanujan) The deep, inner meaning of these verses eludes and astonishes us. The Alvar says that it is indeed very difficult to describe God. However, he attempts to do so courageously.

ONDRUM DHEVUM ULAGUM VUYIRUM MATTRUM YAADUM ILLAA ANDRU NAANMUGAN THANNODU DHEVAR ULAGODU VUYIR PADAITTHAAN KUNDRAM POAL MANIMAADAM NEEDU TIRUKKURUHUR ADHANULH NINDRA AAADHI PIRAAN NIRKHA MATRAI DHEYAM NAADUDHIRE. (TIRUVOIMOLHI-4.10.1)

Divine beings, the world, souls etc. were non-existent at that particular point in time. God created the four-headed Brahma (the Creator), divine beings, the world and all living entities. Standing at Tirukkuruhur, He showers his grace on all. The Alvar wonders why the blind world turns to other gods while Narayana, the Origin, waits to save it. One cannot but wonder at the skill with which the Alvar describes the first moment in creation, at the same time not forgetting the deity in his native place. Nammalvar pronounces here his divine faith that God is spread out in all the entities of the universe as their essence. Even modern science finds itself unable to deny this theory. In his essay The Origin of the Universe, Stephen Hawking has said: Although Science may solve the problem of how the universe began; it cannot answer the question why does the universe bother to exist. God creates the universe and He remains part of the universe. If we can form a mental picture of God, it will accord with the description of that point of time at which the universe began. According to the Quantum Theory of Modern Physics, universe arose at that poignant point when even the first moment of time or anything else did not exist at all. That stage is termed Singularity in Modern Physics. Nammalvar too refers to that unique position. In the beginning, both matter and antimatter equaled and opposed each other and thus gave rise to a unique vacuum. (According to the latest theory, there is a small flaw in the symmetry between mater and antimatter). This too was the first moment in time of the universe. It is indeed the surprise of surprises that the Alvar describes such a moment.
REFERENCES

REFERENCES

Ramanujan, A.K. Hymns For The Drowning, Poems for Vishnu by Nammalvar . New Delhi: Penguin Books, 1992. Srinivasa Raghavan, A. Nammalvar . Makers of Indian Literature Series. New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi, 1975. Sujatha (Tamil) Alvargal Oor Eliya Arimugam . Chennai: Visa Publications, 2007