Daily Archives: December 3, 2016

rAmAnusa nURRanthAdhi – 59

December 3, 2016 Published by: raghuram

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

<< previous (pEdhaiyar vEdhap poruL idhu)

Introduction (given by maNavALa mAmunigaL)

Those who saw amudhanAr becoming happy in this way, said that with the help of authoritative texts others would have identified that eeSvaran is the lord, even if emperumAnAr had not done all these (debates, etc); amudhanAr replies that if emperumAnAr had not removed the darkness instigated by kali yugam, then there would not be anyone who would determine and understand that it is only eeSvaran who is the lord of AthmA.

Introduction (given by piLLailOkam jIyar)

“You said in many ways in earlier pAsurams that emperumAnAr saved the vEdhas, and saved its meanings; even if he had not done those helps, since the learning sentient beings are eternal (and that knowledge eternal), and the vEdhas are also eternal, would they not learn completely learn the vEdhas and become clear that SrIman nArAyaNan who is said in them is the lord for the AthmAs, and get saved?”; amudhanAr replies that since the darkness of kali (yugam) which spans the whole world and is a hurdle for knowing the true meanings, if emperumAnAr had not incarnated, gained expertise in all the vEdhas, and due to the brilliance had from it driven away that darkness by kali yugam, it is not possible for anyone in this world to know that nArAyaNan is the all encompassing lord for everyone.

kadal aLavAya thisai ettin uLLum kali iruLE
midai tharu kAlaththu irAmAnusan mikka nAn maRaiyin
sudar oLiyAl avviruLAith thuRandhilanEl uyirai
udaiyavan nAraNan enRu aRivArillai uRRu uNarndhE 59

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Word by word meaning (given by maNavALa mAmunigaL)

kadal aLavAya – seas that surround all four sides
thisai ettinuLLum – in all the directions
kali iruLE – thamas in the form of ignorance instigated by kali yugam
midai tharu kAlaththu – and putting pressure on us; during such time,
iRAmAnusan – emperumAnAr,
thurandhilanEl – had not driven away
avviruLai – that thamas
sudar oLiyAl – using the unlimited brilliance of
mikka – the most distinguished authoritative reference
nAn maRaiyin – that is, the four vEdhas,
aRivAr illai – there is no one who could know
uRRuNarndhu – by inquiring well and
nAraNan enRu – understand that He is the one denoted by the word nArAyaNan,
uyirai udaiyavan – He who is the lord of AthmA, since He is the whole (prakAri), and everything other than Him being parts (prakAram).
sudar, and oLi to imply ample level of brightness/brilliance.

vyAkyAnam

kadal aLavAya thisai ettin uLLum – having it identified based on the seas around on all four sides, all the surface of earth in all eight directions.

kali iruLE midai tharu kAlaththu – As said in ‘kalErdhdhOshanidhE:’ (kali is the holder of wealth of blemishes), the kali due to his nature creates decline of knowledge in people, pushing aside the path of good, and due to this the darkness that is ignorance it created stays closer and puts pressure on everyone and spawns everywhere; during such time; that is, during the time kali is ruling; midai – pushing closer.

irAmAnusan – emperumAnAr who from the head of sky (the other world), incarnated in the place of this world;

mikka nAn maRaiyin – As said in ‘mikka vEdhiyar vEdhaththin ut poruL’ , and ‘sudar migu suruthiyuL’, vEdham which is the most distinguished authority of reference, and which in detail shows the nature, form, and qualities of sarvESvaran, and which is authorless, eternal, and without any blemishes, and in the four forms of rig, yajur, sAma, and atharvaNa; such vEdham’s –

sudar oLiyAl – amudhanAr is using the phrase ‘sudar OLi’ since vEdham is ‘sudar migu suruthi ‘, its brightness grew and destroyed the philosophies not accepting vEdhas, and its brilliance grows further and further more, and reaches everyone; by such unending (sudar) brightness (oLi) of vEdham;

avviruLai – As said in ‘agyAna thimirAndhasya’,(with disease in eye or due to darkness cannot see things clearly (ignorance)) ‘agyAna dhvAntha rOdhAdh’ (darkness create ignorance), the darkness that is ignorance created due to the sins instigated by the kali;

thurandhilanEl – even though the authoritative reference is eternal and everlasting, the learners are also eternal and everlasting (Athmas), the concept of time also being eternal and everlasting, it is not mentioned in any SAsthram that there is even one who by himself learned and understood its meanings and it became clear and got saved.

Since it is said in Sruthi, smruthi, etc., as ‘yasya dhEvE parA bhakthi: yathA dhEvE thathA gurau, thasyaidhE kadhithAhyarthA: prakASanthE mahAthmana:” (one how got the devotion towards emperumAn, should also be devoted to the guru who showed that emperumAn; mahAthmas show this to us),

“gyAna anjana SalAkayA”, (knowledge is the black paste applied to eyes for bright vision, and key is use to open up and get the light (knowledge) – done by guru),

“chakshur unmileetham yEna thasmai thadh kuravE nama: (doors that are eyes were closed, and guru opened it with key that is knowledge; respects to such guru),

“ nArAyaNObhi vikruthum yAdhi gurO: prachyuthasya dhurbhbhudhdhE: – kamalam jalAdha bhEdham Soshayathir avir na dhOshayathi” (while nArAyaNan would wish to do only good for us, if we separated from guru then like a flower separted from water that becomes dry and spoiled, our knowledge would become dry and dull, and would not make it bright),

and since aruLALap perumAL emperumAnAr divines “enRum anaiththu uyirkkum eeram sey nAraNanum, anRum than Ariyan pAl anbu ozhiyil, ninRa, punal pirindha pankayaththaip pongu sudar veyyOn, anal umizhndhu thAn ularththi aRRu [gyAna sAram pramEya sAram]” ,

and since it is said “svAbhimAnaththAlE eeSvara abhimAnaththaik kulaiththuk koNda ivanuku AchArya abhimAnam ozhiya gadhi illai enRu piLLai pala kAlum aruLich cheyyak kEttirukkaiyAy irukkum [SrI vachana bhUshaNam]” (due to own feeling of independence, we lost the love of emperumAn, and so the only way for us to reach goal is to have the love of AchAryan),

if emperumAnAr had stayed put and had not been kind, thinking ‘avar avar vidhi vazhi adaiya ninRanarE ‘, instead of making such darkness that is ignorance run away as said in ‘summenAdhE kai vittu Odi thURugaL pAyndhana’.,

uyirai udaiyavan nAraNan enRu – ‘pathim viSvasyAthmESvaram’, (He is the lord for all the worlds, He the eesvaran to Himself), ‘yachchakinchij jagath yasmin thriSyathE SrUyathEpivA, anthar bahiScha thath sarvam vyApya nArAyaNasthitha:’ (whatever is seen, heard, etc., in everything emperumAn is present as antharyAmi, and is spread everywhere), and

‘nigaril pugazhAy ulagamUnRudaiyAy’, and

as said in ‘yadhaNdam aNdAnthara gOcharam cha yath dhaSoththarNyAvaraNAniyAnicha, guNA:pradhAnam purusha:param padham parAthparam brahmachathE vibhUthaya:’, (everyone and everything in all the worlds belong the places of yours), since He is being the whole/holds (prakAri) and everything other than Him being parts/held (prakAram), SarvESvaran who is referred to by the word nArAyaNan, He is one having these three types of sentient as His servants;

such knowledge –

uRRu – having dedication to, and understanding clearly (such about emperumAn),

aRivAr illai – there is no such people to know that (about emperumAn);

Since it is said as ‘bibEdhyalpa SruthAth vEdhOmAmayam pratharishyathi’, (vEdham is afraid about those who give incorrect meanings to it), it is concluded that even that would result in danger to ones true nature (svarUpa nASam), and not achievement according to true nature (svarUpa sidhdhi).

abhiyukthar also divined this meaning in ‘nirAlOkE lOkE niravadhi parasnEha bharithO yathikshmAbrudhdheepOyadhi nakila jAjvalyatha iha – ahamkAradhvAntham vijayathu kathamkAramanakA: kudharkka vyALauLakam kumathi mathi matha bAthALa guharam’. (~ in the pit that is having bad animals that is those who give incorrect meanings to vEdhas, where we who were innocent (not knowing vEdhas, so not giving wrong meaning) are stuck, and in such dark world, the mountain that is emperumAnAr is the bright light, with the ghee being devotion to emperumAn, ghee not having any residue being the devotion without expecting anything in return – without that light we would not have been able to come out of that darkness).

From AzhwAr thirunagari SrI u.vE. vidhwAn thirumalai nallAn chakravarththi rAmakrishNa iyengAr’s ‘amudha virundhu’ :

kadal aLavAya .. midai tharu kAlaththu – If emperumAnAr had not shown us the main aspect that is our relation with emperumAn as the form of SarIra Athma bhAvam (we AthmAs are part of his body), who would be able to know in this world in this kali yugam? The main aspect, termed, ‘pradhAna prathi thanthram’, are aspects very important in our philosophy which others do not hagree but we consider as very important – the nature of our relationship with emperumAn, here.

mikka nAn maRaiyin … thurandhilanEl – In the jail in the darkness of night, the light of knowledge, that kaNNan who is ‘Ayar kulaththinil thOnRum aNi viLakku’ (the light that appeared in the class of cowherds), appeared. In this world that is having no light (knowledge), when the darkess of kali was ruling, the light on top of the mountain that is emperumAnAr appeared.

Even though the four vEdhas are always there, it is possible for emperumAnAr only to use that light and remove the darkness in this world.

avviruL – That darkness – since it is driven away by emperumAnAr, and is not to be seen, amudhanAr is saying that darkness.

uyirai udaiyavan .. nAraNan … uRRunarndhE – uyir -> AthmA (the class of them). udaiyavan – He who possesses those Athmas (as His property). nAraNan -> is from samskrutha word nArAyaNan. It means He supports us, and also that He is present within the jeevAthmA (antharyAmi). Since body is supported by AthmA, here Athmas are body of Him which are supported by Him. Such is the relationship between Athmas and emperumAn. Due to such nature, similar to how AthmA is the one that controls the body, He being the AthmA for the jeevAthmas, He controls these Athmas.

If emperumAnAr had not shown these meanings who would be able to know and understand them?

Now, like how in this world the AthmA makes use of one’s body for its own purposes, paramAthmA also for His enjoyment (bhOgam) and play (leelai), he peruses all the AthmAs and things, He is the owner/lord for these worlds. Lord is the one who make use of , and servants are ones who let Him make use of them. Because AthmAs are servants of Him, doing activities to make Him happy is the goal for AthmAs.

emperumAnAr drove away the darkness and in that light we see what he showed, and we understand these importants aspects.

– – – – –

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thiruvAimozhi thiruvAimozhi 4th centum

thiruvAimozhi – 4.2.4 – kOdhila vaN pugazh

December 3, 2016 Published by: Sarathy Thothathri

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

Full series >> Fourth Centum >> Second decad

Previous pAsuram

Introduction for this pAsuram

Highlights from thirukkurukaippirAn piLLAn‘s introduction

No specific introduction.

Highlights from nanjIyar‘s introduction

In fourth pAsuram – Mother says “Her daughter is desiring for the thiruththuzhAy from the divine feet of sarvESvaran who is greater than all and residing in thirunAdu (paramapadham)”.

Highlights from vAdhi kEsari azhagiya maNavALa jIyar‘s introduction

See nanjIyar‘s introduction.

Highlights from periyavAchchAn piLLai‘s introduction

See nanjIyar‘s introduction.

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

Fourth pAsuram. When asked “Where will I search for the thuLasi from avathArams which helped everyone long ago and disappeared like a river in floods which dried up?”, parAnkuSa nAyaki replies “Leave that aside. What is the hurdle in getting the thuLasi from the divine feet of paramapadhanAthan (emperumAn in SrIvaikuNtam) who remains unchanged forever?”.

pAsuram

kOdhila vaN pugazh koNdu samayigaL
bEdhangaL sollip pidhaRRum pirAn paran
pAdhangaL mElaNi paim pon thuzhAy enRE
OdhumAl Uzh vinaiyEn thadam thOLiyE

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

kOdhu – defect (of looking for self praise)
ila – without that (purely existing for others’ enjoyment)
vaN – distinguished
pugazh – qualities
koNdu – having
samayigaL – [philosophers, thinkers] focussed on groups of qualities such as Seelam (simplicity) etc , Sauryam (valour) etc, Anandham (bliss) etc
bEdhangaL – differences (in greatness of such qualities)
solli – saying them
pidhaRRum – one who gives experience to make them speak in a (very relishable) disorderly manner
pirAn – great benefactor
paran – greater than all
pAdhangaL mEl – at the divine feet
aNi – decorated (by nithyasUris)_
pai – greenish [fresh]
pon – attractive
thuzhAy enRE – “thiruththuzhAy (thuLasi)” only
Odhum – (always) recites [desiring it];
Uzh vinaiyEn – I who have great sins which are existing with me since time immemorial
thadam – rounded
thOLi – having shoulders.

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

emperumAn (in paramapadham) is without any defect having distinguished qualities; he gives experience to make the nithyasUris speak in a (very relishable) disorderly manner, [each one is] focussed on the differences of groups of qualities such as Seelam (simplicity) etc , Sauryam (valour) etc, Anandham (bliss) etc; such great benefactor who is greater than all, has his divine feet decorated with greenish [fresh] attractive thiruththuzhAy (thuLasi); I who have great sins which are existing with me since time immemorial; my daughter who has well rounded shoulders, always recites such thuLasi [desiring it].

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

kOdhu ila – faultless; opposite to all faults. Qualities of emperumAn being faultless implies, when one meditates upon a particular quality, it will bind the person who meditates into that quality and would not let him/her move on to the next quality. If that is not the case, there is no difference between this (emperumAn’s qualities) and other worldly pleasures [where one will be constantly seeking new things].
vaN pugazh – auspicious qualities. Meditating upon them.
samayigaL – Those [nithyasUris (eternally free souls) and mukthas (liberated souls)] who engage in one quality and will not move on to the next one. Those who are focussed on different qualities saying “emperumAn’s sauSeelyam [simplicity] is very attractive; his valour is more attractive than that; the qualities of his form such as beauty etc are even more attractive”. Further, it can also indicate different types of upAsakas who are engaged in different types of practices such as sadhvidhyA (focussing on bhagavAn’s nature along with his qualities such as omniscience etc), dhahara vidhyA (focussing on both his qualities and his nature), upakOSala vidhyA (focussing on bhagavAn who resides in everyone’s eyes), SANdilya vidhyA (focussing on bhagavAn in his viSwarUpam) etc.
bEdhangaL solli – Glorifying the qualities they enjoy. For example – one who enjoys his sauSeelyam will say “There is no comparison of this quality. Can his valour match his simplicity?” and so on.
pidhaRRum – Being immersed in such qualities, they would call him out speaking incoherently like a person affected with high fever would do.
pirAn paran – SrIvaikuNtanAthan who blessed them this situation. Being a benefactor for them means – as said in thiruviruththam 98 “imaiyOr thamakkum sevvE nenjAl ninaipparidhAl veNNey UNennum Inach chol” (this amazing incident of krishNa accepting butter as his food, is difficult to comprehend even for nithyasUris), he presented such qualities within their reach for them to enjoy – so AzhwAr calls him “pirAn“.
paran pAdhangaL mEl aNi paim pon thuzhAy enRE OdhumAl – She always speaks about the fresh and attractive thiruththuzhAy (thuLasi) which was offered at his divine feet by nithyasUris who are great servitors as said in thiruviruththam 21 “sUttu nan mAlaigaL thUyana Endhi” (carrying beautiful pure garlands which are ready to be worn).
Uzh vinaiyEn – I who have sins which have properly reached me. Uzh – in proper sequence.
thadam thOLiyE – My daughter who is extremely beautiful is desiring for the thiruththuzhAy from the divine feet of emperumAn, which is the abode of auspicious qualities. Who will babble in such incoherent manner – the one who is the target of these beautiful shoulders (emperumAn) or she herself? [He should be longing for her instead].

In the next article we will enjoy the next pAsuram.

adiyen sarathy ramanuja dasan

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mudhalAyiram thirumAlai

thirumAlai – 38 – mEmporuL pOgavittu – Part 3

December 3, 2016 Published by: T N Krishnan

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

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In this 3rd and final part of this pAsuram, we shall see the meanings of the last two lines of the pAsuram and how this pAsuram conveys the meanings of first line of dhvaya manthram as well as parts of thirumanthram and charama SlOkam.

mEmporuL pOgavittu meymmaiyai miga uNarndhu
AmparisaRindhukoNdu aimpulanagaththadakki
kAmbaRath thalai siraiththun kadaiththalai irundhu vAzhum
sOmbarai ugaththi pOlum sUzhpunal arangaththAnE

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kAmbaRaththalai siraiththu – removing the hair with the root. kAmbaRa – making sure that the connection with other upAyams (other means such as karma, gyAna, bhakthi yOgams, thirunAma sankIrthanam etc) is severed; thalai siraiththu – severing connection with other instruments being carried inside the head, which are like sins because they are preventing from attaining the goal – in other words, removing the esteem that “I am my protector”. Why is there a reference to hair? Since hair is supposed to add beauty to a person and to add esteem, AzhwAr is using this as a simile for the thought that the person has, that he is his own protector. In olden days, when kings resorted to tonsuring a person, the reason was to lower his esteem. This was also the reason for sanyAsis (those who have renounced everything in this world) and EkAngis (ascetics) to tonsure their heads [they want to rid of their self-esteem themselves]. Thus, since we see people tonsuring themselves to remove their self-esteem, AzhwAr is using this metaphor to denote removal of esteem that one gets from following other upAyams (means). charama SlOkam, in its first half, states that after renouncing other means only can one hold on to emperumAn. AzhwAr denotes this meaning in the term “kAmbaRath thalai siraiththu” considering the greatness of its meanings, in an indirect manner. SAsthram referred in an indirect manner only when it spoke of “dhvA suparNA sayujA sakAyA..” (muNdakOpanishath 3.1.1) (there were two birds with beautiful wings and similar qualities, sitting on a tree (referring to jIvAthmA and paramAthmA)). Thus AzhwAr also, like SAsthram, uses simile to convey his intended meanings.

un kadaiththalai irundhu – kadaiththalai can be transposed as thalaikkadai which means at the door step. In dhvayam the term charaNa refers to the divine feet of emperumAn. AzhwAr refers to that word here. Why is AzhwAr not mentioning the divine feet directly? Looking at this lowliness, he is ashamed to go near emperumAn’s divine feet; he is unable to leave emperumAn and indulge in worldly matters. Hence he is staying at the door-step of emperumAn. vyAkhyAthA mentions about an incident in the life of thirukkaNNamangai ANdAn, a disciple of SrIman nAthamunigaL (the preceptor who received all the 4000 dhivya prabandham from nammAzhwAr). One day ANdAn saw a person killing another person with a knife because the other person troubled his pet dog. Knowing that he will be punished by the King for his act of murder, he killed himself with the same knife. thirukkaNNamangai ANdAn, on seeing this, thought “if a samsAri, who thinks that dhEham (body) is AthmA (soul), can have so much affection for his dog which stays at his door step and eats whatever he feeds it, paramachEthana (emperumAn) will never let down those who stay at his door-step and hand them over to yama (dhEvathA for justice)”. Having affirmed this, thirukkaNNamangai ANdAn left his relatives, his possessions and his wife, refrained from working for himself, and engaged fully in emperumAn’s kainkaryam and till his end, stayed at the entrance of the temple at thirukkaNNamangai. irundhu – chEthana, who, due to attraction to worldly pursuits was running around, stays like a ship which has been anchored. thaththirIya upanishath Anandhavalli 7.2 says “yathA hyEvaisha EthasminnadhruSyE anAthmE anirukthE anilayanE abhayam prathishtAm vindhathE I atha sO’bhayangathO bhavathi II” (when a person, in order to rid himself of his fear for samsAram, attains affection called as bhakthi with emperumAn who cannot be seen by others, who is without (prAkrutha) SarIram (physical form that chEthanas have), who cannot be described by words (such as dhEva, manushya etc), who is without any support (for himself), he becomes fearless of samsAram). In the same way, the samsAri attains emperuman and becomes fearless.

vAzhum – once ISvaran becomes the means (path to attain him), enjoying him becomes living in prosperity. Another interpretation is – since it is irundhu vAzhum, having him as the means (path) itself is prosperity.

sOmbarai ugaththi pOlum – Looking at the joy in emperumAn’s divine face, AzhwAr is wondering “when you look at those who have given up the responsibility of protecting them to you and who are lazy about protecting themselves, is this how your divine mind would feel joyous!?”. The term vAzhum sOmbar refers to those who are sloth about living for themselves but who are living only for emperumAn. Those who live for themselves are termed as kedum sOmbar (ruinously lazy people). To differentiate from such people who ruin themselves, AzhwAr is using the term vAzhum sOmbar. These people will not give up their daily ritual [such as sandhyAvandhanam etc] or special ritual [such as amAvAsya tharpaNam etc] because they do not believe in SAsthras or they are lazy. They will follow such rituals as emperumAn’s order and as a kainkaryam. They will be foremost among the Asthikas (believers of God) and will hold on to emperumAn, who does not expect anything from them for being their means, enjoy him as a way of passing their time in this world, and will be lazy when it comes to protecting themselves here. ugaththi pOlum – it appears that you [emperumAn] seem to enjoy these people as you enjoy nithyasUris (permanent dwellers of SrIvaikuNtam).

emperumAn asks him, “How did you know this matter [that I enjoy those who are lazy about protecting themselves]?” . . . .

sUzhpunal arangaththAnE – the fact that you have come to thiruvarangam (SrIrangam) and are lying here, seems to denote this. For those who look superficially, it would appear that emperumAn is lying because of the nice streams and greenery around thiruvarangam. Only those who dvelve deeper would understand that he is lying here in anticipation of a vAzhum sOmbar, without feeling lazy (himself).

kAmbaRath thalaisiraiththu denotes sarvadharmAn parithyajya in the first part of charama SlOkam, as it refers to giving up all the other upAyams (means to attain emperumAn) as a prerequisite for holding on to emperumAn as the means.

sUzhpunal arangaththAnE un kadaiththalai denotes the meaning of nArAyaNa padham (word) in the first part of dhvaya mahAmanthram, facilitating taking shelter under emperumAn through his four auspicious qualities of sauSeelyam (being easily approachable), saulabhyam (being simple), vAthsalyam (considering faults as qualities) and swAmithvam (being the swAmy or master). pirAtti, being the identity for proving emperumAn’s existence and being indicated by nArAyaNa sabdham itself, is denoted by the word un [un kadaiththalai] in this pAsuram. In the next (40^th) pAsuram he is going to show this clearly. It has been shown already that kadaiththalai indicates charaNau. Irundhu vAzhum refers to the deep belief in the means through the word prabadhyE (deep belief that emperumAn is the means) and that this deep belief will be very sweet to the person who surrenders. sOmbarai refers to the quality of the person who surrenders, as in the word prapadhyE. Thus, this pAsuram describes in detail the meaning of dhvayam, and also shows the meanings of several terms in thirumanthram and charama SlOkam.

We shall now go on to the 39^th pAsuram.

adiyEn krishNa ramanuja dhAsan

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Arththi prabandham Other

Arththi Prabandham – 32

December 3, 2016 Published by: santhanam rajagopalan

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

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Introduction

In the earlier pAsuram, there was a line that said “aRamigu naRperumbUdhUr avadhariththAn vAzhiyE”. This meant that SrI rAmAnuja appeared / incarnated in the place called “SrIperumbUthUr”. Taking cue from that line, maNavALa mAmunigaL celebrates that glorious day when SrI rAmAnuja appeared in this world for us.

pAsuram 32

sankarabhARkara yAdhavabhAtta prabhAkarar thangaL madham
sAyvuRavAdhiyar mAykuvarenRu sadhumaRai vAzhndhidunAL
venkali ingini vIRu namakkilai enRu migaththaLar nAL
mEdhininanjumaiyArumenathuyar vittu viLangiya nAL
mangaiyarALi parAnkusa munnavar vAzhvu muLaiththidu nAL
manniya thennarangApuri mAmalai maRRumuvandhidu nAL
senkayalvAvigaL sUzhvayalnALum siRandha perumbUdhUr
sImAn iLaiyAzhvAr vandharuLiyanAL thiruvAdhirai nALE!!!

Word-by-Word Meanings

sankara – the philosophy propounded by Sankara
bhArkkara – the philosophy propounded by bhAskara
yAdhava – the philosophy propounded by yAdhavaprakAsa
bhAtta – the philosophies of bhAttas
prabhAkarar thangaL madham – the philosophy propounded by prabhAkara. All such philosophies
sAyvuRa – were destroyed (after SrI rAmAnuja appeared on the day)
vAzhndhidunAL sadhumaRai – The day when the four vEdhas would live healthily (i.e., the day when the meaning of the vEdhas would be understood and interpreted clearly) was when
vAdhiyar – people like Sankara who would argue
mAykuvarenRu – but would eventually fail without any doubt.
nAL – The day (when SrI rAmAnuja appeared) is when
vVenkali – cruel kali
ingu ini vIRu namakilai enRu – will think that this place (earth) is no more its dwelling / ruling anymore (because of lack of conducive force to survive)
migaththaLar – and would shake terribly and wane off eventually.
nAL – The day (when sri rAmAnuja appeared) is when
mEdhini – even the earth
viLangiya – shone brightly
nanjumai Arum yena thuyar vittu – (when it realized) that its burden will be removed.
nAL – The day (when SrI rAmAnuja appeared) is when
vAzhvu – the glories of
munnavar – our entire gamut of ancestors that includes but not limited to the likes of
mangaiyarALi – thirumangai AzhvAr and
parAnkusa – nammAzhvAr
muLaiththidu – will resurface, blossom and prosper.
nAL – The day (when sri rAmAnuja appeared) is when
manniya – the place where periya perumAL (SrI ranganAthan) permanently resides
thennarangApuri – and is also known as the beautiful SrIrangam,
mAmalai – and the place that is known as “periya thirumalai” (thiruvEnkatam)
maRRum – and the various other divine places
uvandhidu – would be happy.
nALE – That day is when
vandharuLiyanAL – SrI rAmAnujar appeared
sImAnilayAzhvAr – as SrImAn and with the name of “iLaiyAzhvAr” in
perumbUdhUr – SrIperumbUthUr
sUzh – that is surrounded by
vAvigaL – (a) ponds and lakes that are full of
senkayal – red fish
vayal – and (b) paddy fields.
nALum – This place called SrIperumbUthUr, forever sports
siRandha – the look of a beautiful, great city.
thiruvAdhirai – (The star in which Sri rAmAnuja appeared in SrIperumbUthUr) was during the star of thiruvAdhirai. This is the day. This has to be the day. What a glorious day. It behooves us to take cognizance of the phrase, “SrImAn AvirabhUth bhUmau rAmAnuja dhivAkara:”

Simple Translation

maNavALa mAmunigaL celebrates the glorious star of thiruvAdhirai when SrI rAmAnuja appeared in this world. When he was born in the earth, a lot of different things happened for good. The philosophies that were earlier misinterpreting vEdhas were destroyed. kali started to shake and feared that it would not get a place to live when SrI rAmAnuja will be there. Earth, the dhivya dhESams in it, the citizens of those dhivya dhESams everyone and everything was happy as they will be relieved on their burden when SrI rAmAnuja appears. Such a divine SrI rAmAnuja was born in SrIperumbUthUr, a place surrounded by beautiful ponds that has lots of red fish. It is a place that has the charm of a beautifully constructed city. What a glorious day indeed.

Explanation

There are some people that are referred to as “kudhrushtis”. They are those people that lack the normal vision to see things properly, as evinced by their very name of “kudhrushtis”. They are unable to see clearly the purport of vEdhas and hence explain things mentioned in them in a very shallow and misleading manner. They typically negate two things (a) the supreme lord SrIman nArAyaNan (viSEshaNam) and (b) HIS qualities (viSEshyam). The kudhrushtis include the likes of Sankara , bhAskara so on and so forth. As a result of this, the vaidhika dharmam was in hapless state. However, on the day when SrI rAmAnuja appeared in this world, the vEdhas rejoiced and knew that they are going to regain their lost glory, for their arguments and philosophies would be destroyed, paving way for the vEdhas to remain hale and healthy afterwards.

The day when SrI rAmAnuja appeared, the cruel and dangerous kali thought that it would never live comfortably in this earth. It was the day when kali started to tremble. Since the kali and kudhrushtis that were heavily influenced by kali ran helter sketler, the earth heaved a sigh of relief and shone brightly, as mentioned in the phrase “thavam thAraNi peRRadhu (irAmAnusa nURRandhAdhi 65)”. Earth shining brightly would mean that the divine places in it shone. The divine places are those that were sung by AzhvArs, thirumangai AzhvAr being the one who sang the most number of places. Hence, it goes without saying that the day when SrI rAmAnuja appeared, all AzhvArs’ glory started to prosper again. The day when SrI rAmAnuja appeared was the day all the dhivya dhESams started to be happy again. This includes SrIrangam where periya perumAL resides and thiruvEnkata mAmalai (as seen in the phrase “aruviseyyA niRkkum mAmalai (thiruviruththam 50)” and the various other dhivya dhESams. SrI rAmAnuja appeared in this earth in the star of thiruvAdhirai in a placed called SrIperumbUthUr. This place was surrounded with lakes that had lot of red fish. It always maintained the beauty of a city and its associated charm. SrI rAmAnuja was given the name of iLaiyAzhvAr, the very name that would speak volumes of his birth and its significance.

maNavALa mAmunigaL is awestruck and exclaims “this is the day!. What a day! Can any other day match opportune day when SrI rAmAnuja came to this earth? At this point, we should remember the phrase “SrImAn rAmAnuja dhivAkara:” The phrase “thennarangApuri mAmalai maRRumuvandhidu nAL” could also mean that the citizens of dhivya dhESams that includes the likes of SrIrangam and thiruvEnkatam, would be happy on the day when SrI rAmAnuja appeared. These two dhivya dhESams serve as representatives to all others. As revealed in the irAmAnusa nURRandhAdhi thaniyan, “un nAmAmellAm enRan nAvinuLLE allumpagalum amarumpadi nalgu”, maNavALa mAmunigaL uses different names like emperumAnAr, irAmAnusa, ethirAsa and in this pAsuram he uses the name of “iLaiyAzhvAr”.

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