SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:
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Introduction (given by maNavALa mAmunigaL)
As said in the previous pAsuram as ‘uNmai nal gyAnam’¸ amudhanAr talks about how emperumAnAr defeated the other philosophies that reject or misinterpret vEdhas which were hurdles to the truth; (in this pAsuram) he is happy thinking about how emperumAnAr achieved this effortlessly compared to eeSvaran.
Introduction (given by piLLailOkam jIyar)
In the previous pAsuram – amudhanAr explained about how emperumAnAr, by the act of utmost kindness, which is by his generosity, had divined the true knowledge to all the sentient entities; in this pAsuram – those wrong people not having ability to differentiate between truth and falsehood, and not following His commands, sarvESvaran (lord of all) took many incarnations and many efforts, and using the disc in his hand, destroyed them, with sadness in Him; unlike that, (emperumAnAr) had won each time based on apt thoughts/ideas, the ill-knowledgeable misinforming mobbing enemies of the knowledge he advised, – saying so, amudhanAr is celebrating such greatness of emperumAnAr.
thErAr maRaiyin thiRam enRu mAyavan theeyavaraik
kUr Azhi koNdu kuRaippadhu koNdal anaiya vaNmai
ErAr guNaththu em irAmAnusan avvezhil maRaiyil
sErAdhavaraich chidhaippadhu appOdhu oru sindhai seydhE – 74
Word by word meaning (given by maNavALa mAmunigaL)
mAyavan – He having wonderfully great intellect and power,
thErAr enRu – (seeing) that they are are not being according to
thiRam – the nature
maRaiyin – of vEdham which is eternal, authorless, distinguished in comparison to the other pramANams such as perception and inference, and is most trustworthy, and reminds sentient entities about good and bad, and is in the form of instructions/commands,
kuRaippadhu – divined His cutting of
theeyavarai – such very bad ones having the conduct of crossing the limit of His commands/instructions,
kUr Azhi koNdu – using the sharp divine disc;
em – our lord, that is
irAmAnusan – (such) emperumAnAr,
kONdal anaiya – who is helpful to every one, and so can be compared to clouds,
vaNmai – he having such generosity,
guNaththu – having auspicious qualities
ErAr – which are unsurpassed,
sidhaippadhu – he divines his destroying
sErAdhavarai – of those, who, due to their thought of ignoring vEdhas as authoritative, and having faith in their incorrect interpretations, having the state of not in harmony with the truth
av enzhil maRaiyil – with such distinguished vEdham,
appodhu oru sindhai seydhE – by using unique reasoning proofs each and every time.
Oh what a power this is! – is the thought.
kuRaippadhu – cutting off; sidhaippadhu – destroying;
appOdhu oru sindhai – is about thinking through (the arguments/solution) uniquely at each point in time, every time.
vyAkyAnam
maRaiyin thiRam – Being eternal as said in ‘vAchA virUba nithyayA’ (the words that is this vEdham is eternal), and as said in ‘aSEsha SEmushee dhOsha dhUshitha mAlinya vinir muktha vEdhAkya akShara rASErEva’ (~ not having lowly knowledge, vEdham having such distinguished words), not having blemishes like misunderstanding, negligence, etc., or being written by a person, but instead [it] is being authorless, and because of that it is eternal and excellent/unobjectionable, and as said in ‘dharmagya samaya: pramANam vEdhaScha” (~ the thoughts of learned persons is authoritative reference, vEdham too is authoritative reference), it is being the most authoritative reference, and most distinguished from other references like perception, inference, etc., and as said in ‘SAsthrayOnithvAth [SrI bAshyam – 3rd adhikaraNAm]’ (brahmam is shown by SAsthram (and cannot be explained by perception or by inference)), and in ‘harthum thama: sath asath eecha vivEkthumeeSO mAnam pradheepamiva kAruNikO dhadhAthi’ (to remove the darkness, and to show what is true and what is false, emperumAn with kindness comes with eagerness, like the light from the lamp, and gives SAsthram),
that vEdham is in the form of commands/instructions, and helps clear about truth and falsehood, and as said in ‘mAthA pithru sahasrEbhya: vathsala tharam SAsthram’ (SAsthram gives us more care compared to what is given by thousand mothers and fathers), it is being most trustworthy, and as said in ‘Sruthi smruthir mamaiva AgyA’ (vEdha vEdhAnthams are my commands), being His commands/instructions – vEdham of such form; instructions in the form of distinguishing what are to be abandoned and what are to be accepted/followed;
that is, ways as taught by vEdha purushan, ‘sathyam vadha dharmam chara, svAdhyAyAnmA pramadha:, AchAryAya priyamdhanamAhruthya prajAthanthum mAvyavachchEthsee:’, (speak truth; behave as per dharmas specified by SAsthram; practice/recite vEdham as per your varNam; do what is joyful for your AchAryan, etc.)
thErAr – is – they don’t learn and conduct themselves accordingly;
As said in ‘idham asthee idham abimE bhavishyathi punardhanam – asau maya hatha: Sathru: hanishyE cha aparAnapi [SrI bhagavath gIthA – 16.13]’ (I got this wealth using my effort; I can again earn it later; this enemy was killed by me; in the same way other enemies can be killed by me), in that way, that those like rAvaNan, hiraNyan, et al, went in wrong ways even while well versed in vEdham –
mAyavan – (emperumAn) Being the source of all the worlds, was born as human, the kind of species that can be eaten by rAkshasas, He gave liberation to a bird (periya udaiyAr (jatAyu)), fell on the feet of an animal (sugreevan), having the army of monkeys and as a group bridged the sea, appeared in the form of narasimha (human and lion) which no one has ever seen or heard of – sarvESvaran (lord of all) having many such wonderful acts. (alankruthya sirachchEdham (decorating an animal and cutting its head in sacrifice) – here praising emperumAn only to put Him down comparing to emperumAnAr)
theeyavarai – As said in ‘AgyAchchEdhee mama dhrOhee’, (those who do not follow my commands are my enemies), the bad ones who are complete offenders of His commands/instructions.
kUr Azhi koNdu – Described as ‘vadivAr sOdhi’, and, ‘spurath sahasrAra Sikadhi theevram sudharSanam bhAskara kOti thulyam’ (divine disc that is sudharSanam, with a brightness of crore suns) – using such sharp divine disc –
kuRaippadhu – As said in ‘surathvishAm prANa vinASi vishNOSchakram’ (~vishNu’s disc that destroys the enemies of devotees), wearing the divine disc that can completely destroy enemies of his devotees, and using that disc His killing Sainthavan by making day as night, and as said in ‘sAmARu avanai nee eNNich chakkaraththAl thalai koNday [periyAzhvAr thirumozhi – 2.7.8]’ (as you thought about how to kill him (seemAlika), you used the divine disc and cut his head such that he dies), killing seemAlika with it; kuRaippadhu – cutting.
As said in ‘ajAyamAnO bahudhA vijAyathE’ (He who is unborn, would be born in many ways (in incarnations)), and in ‘parithrANAya sAdhUnAm vinASAya cha dhushkruthAm – dharma samsththApanArththAya sambhavAmi yugE yugE’ (~ I incarnate in every yugam to save the devotees and to destroy their enemies), and in ‘mARi mARip pala piRappum piRandhu [thiruvAimozhi – 2.6.8]’ (while (jeevAthmAs) being born again and again in many (types of) births), Him also taking countless births similar to worldly people (as arjunan also doubted whether this is all same with Him and got clarified that it is not due to karma that He is born, but it is due to his kindness/wish),
and holding thiruvAzhi AzhvAn (divine disc) in his divine hands, having him (thiruvAzhi AzhvAn) as His identity, is to establish dharmA as per the words of vEdhas, to protect the sentient who follow His commands (through vEdhas), and to destroy the malignant ones who are enemies of it who cross His commands; It is said too, ‘bahiranthasthamachchEdhi jyOthir vandhE sudharSanam – EnAvyAhatha sankalpam vasthu lakShmeedhram vidhu:’ (I bow to sudharSanam (divine disc) due to which emperumAn who is the husband of lakshmI, is present with will).
Now, amudhanAr says, even though emperumAn had to take so much effort to remove the enemies, it is not needed for emperumAnAr to take such level of efforts.
koNdal anaiya vaNmai – being happy to help every one by accepting them in to the fold without seeing their ineligibility – in many pAsurams amudhanAr keeps praising (only) this generosity of emperumAnAr (compared to other qualities), you see!
(emperumAnAr) having generosity of going to the place of people and helping them, like the rainy cloud that would pour without distinction of land or water.
ErAr guNaththu – (emperumAnAr) having the qualities of vAthsalyam (motherly affection), sauSeelyam (good morals), etc., which are most enjoyable,
em irAmAnusan – emperumAnAr who is the lord of ours, and we who are his servants, which is due to him advising us and letting us learn about these greatness;
av ezhil maRaiyil – its (vEdhas) distinguished attributes are as mentioned earlier, and is also having unbounded glory, and what is said as in ‘vEdha SAsthrAth param nAsthi’ (there is no better SAsthram (instructions/treatise) other than vEdham), and, ‘navEdhAnthAchchAsthram [rahasya thraya sAram]’ (there is no SAsthram than vEdham, (and there is nothing which gives security/happiness than dhvayam)), that is, in vEdham which is nissamAbhdhyadhikam (there is nothing equal or better; none of the kind); that is to say, in the path shown by such vEdhas;
sErAdhavarai – not taking refuge (in such path); due to rejecting authoritative reference, and having faith in wrong meanings, such people who are not fully set on the correct path;
sidhaippadhu – destroying them (i.e., their wrong thoughts etc.,) and make them lose.
appOdhu oru sindhai seydhE – at each time of such happening itself (for example, at that same instance when some adhvaithi comes for a debate);
those who detracted by saying wrong meanings, without knowing the inner/intented meanings of ones like ‘sa EnAn brahma gamayathi’, ‘bramha vEdha bramhaiva bhavathi’ (learns about brahmam; becomes brahmam itself (empeurmAnAr showed that it is – brahma iva bhavathi – jeevAthmA becomes ‘like’ brahmam with many of His auspicious qualities).
For the phrases of Sruthi that is ‘praNava: dhanu: SarO hi AthmA bramha thallakShyamuchyathE – apramaththEna vEththavyam Saravath thanmayO bhavEth [muNdakOpanishath]’ (praNavam is the big bow, arrow is AthmA, target is the brahmam, this shows how AchAryan teaches how to target brahmam; that arrow would reach and become brahmam (adhvaithis said ‘thanmayO’ implies that AthmA becomes brahmam) (emperumAnAr thought about it immediately and showed that an arrow cannot become the target itself)),
thus using words of thought about answers, at that same instance, and every time, emperumAnAr condemned the wrong meanings that they said, and got them rooted out;
The divine words about emperumAnAr too is ‘sva sidhdhAntha dhvAntha sththira kruthaka dhur vAdhi parishath dhivAbheetha prEkShA dhinakara samudhdhAna parusha:’ (~ emperumAnAr the sun rose to remove the darkness that is the bad arguments of others who are hurdles to the philosophy of vEdhas he shows).
Thus, amudhanAr celebrated the greatness of emperumAnAr who effortlessly won the enemies compared to sarvESvaran (lord of all) who holds all the powers.
From AzhwAr thirunagari SrI u.vE. vidhwAn thirumalai nallAn chakravarththi rAmakrishNa iyengAr’s ‘amudha virundhu’ :
mAyavan – emperumAn possesses wonderful power and intellect. But those qualities could not win those who did not follow the path of vEdhas. He had to use the sharp disc in His hand for that. amudhanAr is lowering the ability of emperumAn: cutting those people using the disc is not due to emperumAn’s ability – it is due to the sharpness of disc – this is implied by saying ‘kUr Azhi koNdu’ .(using sharp disc). Refer to ‘karudhum idam porudhu kainninRa chakkaraththan [thiruvAimozhi – 10.6.8]’ (One having divine disc which goes to fight based on understanding emperumAn’s intent), so it destroys due to its sharpness, and makes it appear that it was just an instrument and it was mAyavan who cut, and so gets good name for sarvESvaran (lord of all).
av ezhil maRai – ezhil -> beauty; beauty of vEdham is its nature of ever growing authoritative reference.
appOdhu – During each time of destroying them; so, consider this word as ‘avvappOdhu’ (every time), and also ‘oru sindhai seydhu’ as ‘ovvoru sindhai seydhu’ (comes up with a unique solution every time);
So in this pAsuram, the difference between sarvESvaran (lord of all) and emperumAnAr are well established –
- mAyavan could not win them by His wit/intelligence, but won using the weapon He holds; whereas our emperumAnAr wins them by his intelligence;
- mAyavan ‘kuRaippadhu’ – this word (cuts) implies there is a possibility of them growing back – rAvaNan got his heads back as they were getting cut; whereas our emperumAnAr ‘sidhaippadhu’ – the word (destroys) implies not giving any chance [for the evil thoughts] of growing back;
- mAyavan uses a tool which is separate from him, that is, the divine disc; our emperumAnAr destroys using the power of his thoughts itself;
- mAyavan uses the sharp disc which is the same, existing forever; whereas, emperumAnAr uses ever new thoughts (based on arguments and circumstances), to win them.
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