Daily Archives: October 13, 2016

thiruvAimozhi thiruvAimozhi 3rd centum

thiruvAimozhi – 3.8.5 – kaNgaLAl kANa

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SrI:  SrImathE SatakOpAya nama:  SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama:  SrImath varavaramunayE nama:

Full series >> Third Centum >> Eighth decad

Previous pAsuram

trivikrama

Introduction for this pAsuram

Highlights from thirukkurukaippirAn piLLAn‘s introduction

No specific introduction.

Highlights from nanjIyar‘s introduction

In fifth pAsuram – AzhwAr says “The ear, sensory organ for hearing says ‘I want to see and hear'”.

Highlights from vAdhi kEsari azhagiya maNavALa jIyar‘s introduction

Subsequently, AzhwAr says “My ears desire to see him and when he arrives to bless me with his audience, they also desire to hear the flapping sound of the wings of periya thiruvadi (garudAzhwAr)”.

Highlights from periyavAchchAn piLLai‘s introduction

See nanjIyar‘s introduction.

Highlights from nampiLLai‘s introduction as documented by vadakkuth thiruvIdhip piLLai

pAsuram

kaNgaLAl kANa varum kolen(Ru) AsaiyAl
maN koNda vAmanan ERa magizhndhu sel
paN koNda puLLin siRagoli bAviththuth
thiN koLLa Orkkum kidandhu en sevigaLE

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Word-by-Word meanings (based on vAdhi kEsari azhagiya maNavALa jIyar‘s 12000 padi)

kaNgaLAl – with eyes (which are the faculty for seeing)
kANa – to see in front
varum kol – would he come?
enRu – that
AsaiyAl – with desire
maN koNda – accepting earth (going as a needy person to accept his own property)
vAmanan – SrI vamAnan
ERa – climbing (to show himself to those who desire to see him)
magizhndhu – (as a result of that) being pleased
sel – one who can move around
puLLin – periya thiruvadi’s (garuda’s)
paN koL – that which has the tune of sAma vEdham
siRagoli – sound of the flapping of the wings
bAviththu – meditating upon
en sevigaL – my ears
kidandhu – remaining (attracted)
thiN koLLa – firmly
Orkkum – think about that

Simple translation (based on vAdhi kEsari azhagiya maNavALa jIyar‘s 12000 padi)

SrI vAmanan who accepted the earth, climbs on garudAzhwAr who is pleased [due to that climbing] and moves around with his wings flapping with the tune of sAma vEdham; meditating upon that sound, my ears firmly remain thinking about that desire “would he come in front of me to be seen by my eyes?”. “paN koNda” is also explained as “adorned with ornaments” [paN also means ornaments].

vyAkyAnams (commentaries)

Highlights from thirukkurukaippirAn piLLAn‘s vyAkyAnam

See vAdhi kEsari azhagiya maNavALa jIyar‘s translation.

Highlights from nanjIyar‘s vyAkyAnam

See nampiLLai‘s vyAkyAnam.

Highlights from periyavAchchAn piLLai‘s vyAkyAnam

See nampiLLai‘s vyAkyAnam.

Highlights from nampiLLai‘s vyAkyAnam as documented by vadakkuth thiruvIdhip piLLai

  • kaNgaLAl … – Due to the desire of his eyes which longed to see emperumAn, would he come to be seen by those eyes? emperumAn’s distinguished greatness such that everyone will patiently wait to see him. “Will the apt object for the sight arrive to be seen?” as said in subAlOpanishath “chakshuScha dhrashtavyancha nArAyaNa:” (the eyes which are seeing and that which is seen are nArAyaNa).

Will he come as said in SrI rAmAyaNam sundhara kANdam 40.3 “gAthraiSSOkAbhikarSithai:” (sIthA pirAtti said “you bless me so that I who is greatly attached to SrI rAma, can touch the tiger among men SrI rAma, with my body parts which are very weak) [Will the insentient sensory organs crave for his arrival?]. No.

  • AsaiyAl – It is due to my desire. Alternatively, it is explained as AzhwAr being confident that emperumAn will arrive seeing AzhwAr’s desire. [Is the desire sufficient to make him come?] In bhagavath vishayam, whatever is done, that is sufficient; this is explained in SrI bhagavath gIthA 2.40 “nEhAbhikramanASOsthi” (no loss for the efforts that are begun).
  • maN koNda vAmanan – AzhwAr is saying “vAmana” even after accepting the earth [while he became thrivikrama at that time]; like confidential associates would call a crowned king with his pet names which were there before being crowned, AzhwAr says vAmana even after his transformation into thrivikrama, due to his great attachment in that form.
  • ERa magizhndhu sel – garudAzhwAr moving around blissfully to express his joy after emperumAn climbing on him.
  • paN koNda puL – paN indicates “decoration for the vAhanam (vehicle)”; also, since he is vEdhAthmA (embodiment of vEdham), paN also indicates the musical portions of sAma vEdham such as bruhadhranthara etc.
  • siRagoli bAviththu – meditating upon the flapping sound of the wings
  • thiN koLLa Orkkum – Even if some one staying in front of him and say something, his ears do not hear them; they only hear the flapping sound of the wings. pakhsapAtham towards that is the reason [double meaning – pakshapAtham means partiality; paksha also indicates wings, so attachment towards wings].

In the next article we will enjoy the next pAsuram.

adiyen sarathy ramanuja dasan

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mudhalAyiram thirumAlai

thirumAlali – 24 – veLLa nIr parandhu pAyum

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SrI:  SrImathE SatakOpAya nama:  SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama:  SrImath varavaramunayE nama:

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periyaperumal-art-2

avathArikai (Introduction)

In the 21st pAsuram, AzhwAr said “manaththinAl ninaikkalAmE” (is it possible to measure emperumAn’s beauty through the mind?). In the 22nd, he said “pEsaththAn AvadhuNdO” (is it possible to talk about emperumAn?). In the 23rd, he said “enganam maRandhu vAzhgEn?” (how will I live forgetting him?). Once periya perumAL started showing his overflowing love for him after seeing that he was trying to find ways of forgetting him, AzhwAr thinks that his love towards emperumAn was nothing compared to that which emperumAn showed towards him. He feels that his love is not congruent with the greatness of emperumAn and that the love born out of this insentient body is like the clarity that a mad person gets on occasions [in other words his love is not permanent, but only occasional] and cannot be believed. Taking pity on himself he disparagingly tells his heart “Oh heart! are you trying to play truant with your love in this matter too, like you do with worldly matters?”

Let us go through the pAsuram and its meanings, first.

வெள்ள நீர் பரந்து பாயும் விரிபொழில் அரங்கம் தன்னுள்
கள்ளனார் கிடந்தவாறும் கமல நன் முகமும் கண்டு
உள்ளமே வலியைப் போலும் ஒருவன் என்று உணர மாட்டாய்
கள்ளமே காதல் செய்து உன் கள்ளத்தே கழிக்கின்றாயே.

veLLa nIr parandhu pAyum viripozhil arangam thannuL
kaLvanAr kidandhavARum kamala nanmugamum kaNdum
uLLamE valiyai pOlum oruvan enRu uNara mAttAy
kaLLamE kAdhal seydhu un kaLLaththE kazhikkinRAyE

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Word-by-Word Meaning

veLLam nIr – kAvEri with huge floods
parandhu pAyum – flowing on all sides
viri pozhil – having expansive gardens
arangam thannuL – inside the temple
kaLvanAr – azhagiya maNavALan [SrI ranganAthan] who steals (the hearts of his followers)
kidandha ARum – the way that he is sleeping
kamalam nal mugamum – divine, beautiful face like a lotus
kaNdum – even after worshipping
uLLamE – Oh, heart!
valiyai pOlum – you are too hardened, it appears
oruvan enRu – that he is incomparable
uNara mAttAy – you do not realise
kaLLamE kAdhal seydhu – faking your love (in emperumAn related matter)
un kaLLaththE – in your falsified actions
kAlaththaik kazhikkinRAyE – you are wasting your time!

vyAkhyAnam (Explanatory Notes)

veLLanIr parandhu pAyum – From the source point of sahyAdhri hill where kAvEri begins her journey, her intention is only to come to SrIrangam. Displaying her intention and her desire, she comes with such a forceful flood flowing in all directions that no one can stop her by building a dam across her. Since there is no end to her desire [to come to SrIrangam and worship the Lord there] there can be no end to her flow also. Hence no one can say that she flowed [using the past tense]. Thus AzhwAr uses the word pAyum which is in the present tense. In other words, she keeps flowing continuously.

viri pozhil arangam – wherever the water [kAvEri] flows, the gardens also spread out expansively.

arangam thannuL kaLvanAr – when he enjoys with the innocent nithyasUris, he does so honestly. But when he wants to attract the crafty samsAris, he decides that he needs to be crafty himself and hence lies down as if he is sleeping inside the temple. An alternative explanation is: while it may appear superficially that he is lying down after seeing the richness of the flowing water and the gardens, in reality he is lying there only to entice the samsAris. Hence AzhwAr is using the term kaLvanAr. When confidants such as thiruppANAzhwAr go near him and worship him they will say “seyya vAy aiyyO! ennaich chindhai kavarndhadhuvE”- implying that there is a crafty look on his face. In other words it would appear that if someone approaches him, he would steal their AthmA and pocket it smoothly. In other words, emperumAn would make that person as his confidant. The person had all along been thinking that the AthmA, which actually belongs to emperumAn, is his own since time immemorial. emperumAn decides that he will make it his own without that person being aware of it. He displays his physical beauty and as said in jithanthE SlOkam “jithanthE puNdarIkAksha!  namasthE viSva bhAvana! I namasthEsthu hrushIkESa! mahApurusha! pUrvaja!” (Oh kaNNa with red coloured lotus eyes! This (Athma) vasthu (entity) has been won over by you. (this) is not mine; only yours; Oh the one who created all the worlds! Oh the one who controls the sensory organs! Oh, the magnanimous and great person! Oh the one who came ahead of everyone else! (this entity AthmA) instead of being mine, should only be yours). This AthmApahAram (coveting of AthmA) has been going on for a very long time. But when emperumAn takes this AthmA, which is always his, it appears that he is stealing it. Even submitting this AthmA to him is equivalent to stealing the AthmA. In thiruvAyppAdi (in gOkulam) along with butter, he also steals the jIvAthmAs. Our submitting this AthmA to him is equivalent to king mahAbali returning his lands to him as a gift.

kidandhavARum – what enticed me is neither his auspicious AthmaguNa (qualities of his AthmA) such as simplicity nor the lAvaNya rUpa guNa (qualities of various parts of his physical form) such as his divine eyes, but the beauty of his lying posture – kidandhadhOr kidakkai as AzhwAr mentioned in the previous pAsuram which is samudhAya SObhA (spendour of his entire physical form).

kamala nanmugamum – for the qualities of well blossomed nature, freshness, coolness and fragrance, lotus can be taken as a similie for emperumAn’s divine face to an extent. But since it cannot equal emperumAn’s divine face, AzhwAr qualifies the divine face as nanmugam. Can the prAkrutha (belonging to materialistic realm) lotus come anywhere near the sudhdha sathva (purely good) and radiantly divine face of emperumAn? Would the lotus which blossoms on seeing sun equal the divine face which blossoms on seeing ASrithars (followers)? By qualifying as nanmugam AzhwAr says that only periya perumAL’s face is a cool [comforting] face in samsAram and all the other faces are hot [repelling] ones.

kaNdum uLLamE valiyai pOlum – even after having dharSan of the beautiful lying posture of emperumAn, AzhwAr’s heart did not show any change in its appearance. AzhwAr wonders “Oh heart! are you this hardened that you are not showing any change even after looking at emperumAn?” Compared to the greatness of emperumAn, whatever changes he had shown earlier are nothing, as far as AzhwAr is concerned.

AzhwAr’s heart asked him, “what is the hardness that I have now shown?”

oruvan enRu uNaramAttAy – you are not realising that he is beyond any comparison. If you realise, you should realise his greatness and auspicious qualities such as ASritha vAthsalyam (motherly affection towards his followers) as they are. If you realise these qualities as they are, you should have matching involvement towards him.  Only because you don’t have this involvement, your heart is hardened, says the AzhwAr.

If such an involvement had not taken place, in the earlier pAsurams. what is the meaning of saying “kaNNinai kaLikkumARE” (pAsuram 17), “paniyarumbu thIrumAlO” (pAsuram 18), “udal enakku urugumAlO” (pAsuram 19)?

kaLLamE kAdhal seydhu – AzhwAr tells his heart “just as you had exhibited falsified love towards worldly matters, you had shown similar false love towards emperumAn also as a matter of habit. You did not have true love towards emperumAn”.

un kaLLaththE kazhikkinRAyE – This deceitful nature has been with you since time immemorial. Just as you had shown false love for a long time in other matters, you had shown similar false love in emperumAn’s matter also. You thought that this matter is similar to the other worldly matters. Your love does not match the greatness of emperumAn’s matter, says the AzhwAr.

We shall now take up the 25th pAsuram.

adiyEn krishNa ramanuja dasan

archived in http://divyaprabandham.koyil.org

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