kaNNinuN chiRuth thAmbu 6 – inRu thottum

srI:
srImathE satakOpAya nama:
srImathE rAmAnujAya nama:
srImadh varavaramunayE nama:

Full Series

Previous pAsuram

Introduction for this pAsuram:

nanjIyar highlights that when madhurakavi AzhwAr was asked “How do you claim to be contented/accomplished?”, he replies nammAzhwAr has blessed me to be so along the lines of nammAzhwAr himself saying in thiruvAimozhi 4.5.3 “vIvil kAlam isai mAlaigaL Eththi mEvap peRREn” (I am blessed to sing the glories of bhagavAn forever from now).

nampiLLai  highlights that when madhurakavi AzhwAr was asked “You were attached to worldly desires since time immemorial. Would you return to your old ways?” and he replies “Is nammAzhwAr‘s grace so insignificant that it would let me return to my old ways?”.

periyavAchchAn piLLai highlights the same principle as nampiLLai. Moreover he says, nammAzhwAr‘s grace is different from bhagavAn‘s grace. bhagavAn‘s grace is such that there is a possibility of falling down from bhakthi nishtai as bhagavAn himself mentions in gIthA 6.41 “suchInAm srImathAm gEhE yOgabrashtO(a)bijAyathE” (One who falls from his yOgam/faith becomes born in the families of pure and virtuous families (to continue his faith from where he left)). In vishNu purANam 2.13.29 “samAdhi bangas thasyAsIth“, it is highlighted that the saintly bharatha mahArAja (king) lost his focus on bhagavAn due to attachment towards a deer even though he was completely detached from his kingdom, wealth, family, etc.

azhagiya maNavALa perumaL nAyanAr highlights that madhurakavi AzhwAr explains his lowly nature, nammAzhwAr accepting him due to that aspect alone, his defects being removed due to nammAzhwAr‘s grace and finally him developing attachment towards nammAzhwAr‘s lotus feet in the previous pAsuram. Some asked madhurakavi AzhwAr – even though your worldly attachments are removed, due to being present in this material world, would you not return to your old ways? madhurakavi AzhwAr replies “I did not get rid of my attachments by performing austerities. They were removed by nammAzhwAr‘s acceptance of me. Since nammAzhwAr‘s acceptance of me would never change, my material attachments would not return to me”. In the previous pAsuram, madhurakavi AzhwAr revealed his gyAnam and bhakthi towards nammAzhwAr‘s lotus feet. In this pAsuram, he reveals his strong conviction towards nammAzhwAr‘s lotus feet.

இன்று தொட்டு மெழுமையு மெம்பிரான்
நின்று தன் புகழேத்த வருளினான்
குன்ற மாடத் திருக்குருகூர் நம்பி என்று
மென்னையிகழ்விலன் காண்மினே.

inRu thottum ezhumaiyum empirAn
ninRu than pugazh Eththa aruLinAn
kunRamAdath thirukkurukUr nambi
enRum ennai igazhvilan kANminE

word-by-word meanings
inRu thottum – from today
ezhumaiyum – all of the future
ninRu – being faithful with full conviction
thanpugazh – nammAzhwAr‘s greatness
Eththa – to glorify
em pirAn aruLinAn – my swamy (master) nammAzhwAr blessed
kunRam mAdam – balconies which look tall like mountains
thirukkurukUr nambi – leader of AzhwArthirunagari
enRum – forever
ennai – in my case
igazhvu ilan – would not ignore or give up on me
kANmin – you see for yourself

Simple translation:
My lord and master (nammAzhwAr) who is the leader of AzhwArthirunagari blessed me to be faithful with full conviction and glorify his greatness from today, eternally forever. He would not give up on me ever and you can see this for yourself.

Highlights from nanjIyar‘s vyAkyAnam:

• inRu – from today – from the day when I developed taste towards bhagavAn‘s devotee (nammAzhwAr) instead of bhagavAn.
• ninRu – with full conviction. nammAzhwAr says “mAnidam pAda vantha kaviyEnallEn” (I am not a simple poet who would sing the glories of mortal humans) in thiruvAimozhi 3.9.9. But madhurakavi AzhwAr says He would not sing the glories of bhagavAn but only nammAzhwAr‘s glories.
• kunRa mAdath thirukkurukUr nambi – just like we cannot fully understand nammAzhwAr‘s completeness, we cannot see the full height of the balconies/palaces in AzhwArthirunagari.

Highlights from nampiLLai‘s eedu vyAkyAnam:

• inRu thottum – from today itself. It is not something which will happen in the future. It starts from the day when nammAzhwAr accepts madhurakavi AzhwAr as his disciple/devotee.
• ezhumaiyum – seven births – upalakshaNam (sample) – implies forever in the future
• empirAn – pirAn – upakAraka (one who gives favours). nammAzhwAr identifies bhagavAn as “pirAn perunilam kINdavan” (the one who gave great favour by rescuing mother earth) in thiruvAimozhi 1.7.6. madhurakavi AzhwAr identifies nammAzhwAr as the one who did great favours to him by rescuing him from samsAram.
• “kunRa mAdath thirukkurukUr” – madhurakavi AzhwAr‘s heart is firmly placed in nammAzhwAr‘s words – in thiruvAimozhi 4.10.1 nammAzhwAr says “kunRam pOl maNi mAda nIdu thirukkurukUr” (same meaning) – so madhurakavi AzhwAr repeats the same here.
• “enRuminnai igazhivilan kANminE” – If nammAzhwAr can accept me with all my defects, why would he let me return to my old ways?

Highlights from periyavAchchAn piLLai‘s vyAkyAnam:

• This vyAkyAnam is mostly based on nampiLLai‘s vyAkyAnam.
• aruLinAn – Like nammAzhwAr says in thiruvAimozhi 1.1.1 “mayarvaRa madhinalam aruLinan” (bhagavAn blessed me with blemishless knowledge/devotion), madhurakavi AzhwAr says nammAzhwAr blessed him with blemishless knowledge/devotion.
• kANiminE – you see for yourself. This is prathyaksham (perceivable by our own senses) – can be easily perceived. Do I have to even explicitly say this?

Highlights from azhagiya maNavALa perumaL nAyanAr‘s vyAkyanam:

• ezhumaiyum – forever. Even when madhurakavi AzhwAr goes to parampadham, nammAzhwAr is his master. Like srI sathrugnAzhwAn who followed srI bharathAzhwAn (when he went to his uncle’s place), madhurakavi AzhwAr is also nithya sathrugna: (one who is always victorious against even the biggest enemies). Please read http://ponnadi.blogspot.in/2013/12/virodhi-pariharangal-1.html (point 9) to see how bhagavath kainkaryam is a hurdle for bhAgavatha kainkaryam.
• empirAn – madhurakavi AzhwAr is repeating the words heard from nammAzhwAr in thiruvAimozhi 1.10.3 “empirAnai enthai thanthai thanthaikkum thampirAnai“. pirAn means proprietor/owner. Emphasising that he will be the property of nammAzhwAr only – not partially/sometimes for bhagavAn and partially/sometimes for bhagavAn.
• empirAn – one who has done great favours. He has done the favour of keeping me as his own servant instead of sending me away to serve bhagavAn.
• Eththa – to glorify. nammAzhwAr started periya thirvuanthAdhi saying that he starts trying to praise bhagavAn but in the last pAsuram he still says “moykazhalE Ettha muyal” (try to glorify bhagavAn‘s lotus feet). But he blessed me so I can praise him in every pAsuram of this prabandham.
• than pugazhEththa aruLinAn – nammAzhwAr‘s aruL (mercy) is his upAyam (means) and singing the glories of nammAzhwAr is his purushArththam (ultimate goal).
• ninRu than pugazhEththa – steadily glorifying. In srI rAmAyaNam, bAla kANdam 1.7, nAradha rishi says “munE! vakshyAmyaham budhdhvA” (oh saint (vAlmIki rishi)! Let me explain clear/steady mind about srI rAma’s auspicious qualities). nAradha rishi went into a trance meditating on srI rAma’s qualities, but before speaking about the same, he first steadied himself. Similarly, here madhurakavi AzhwAr says nammAzhwAr blessed him so that he can speak about nammAzhwAr‘s glories steadily without going into a trance.
• kANminE – Not just prathyaksham, even by going sAsthram, you can understand that nammAzhwAr will never give up on me as mentioned in nIdhi sathakam 72 “prAptham uththama guNA na parithyajanthi” (one who is full in qualities will never give up the task they have taken up even when faced with many hurdles) and in periya thirumozhi 8.2.2 “pANanAr thiNNam” (the messenger (of bhagavAn) will certainly ensure the delivery of the ones who desires for bhagavAn).

adiyen sarathy ramanuja dasan

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