mudhal thiruvandhAdhi – 17 – adiyum padi kadappa

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

Full Series

<< Previous

avathArikai

AzhwAr says “did I lose emperumAn because he is at a long distance at thiruppARkadal (milky ocean) and attaining him there would be difficult? Did I not lose him when he came very close?”

Let us go through the pAsuram and its meanings.

adiyum padi kadappath thOL thisai mEl sella
mudiyum visumbu aLandhadhenbar vadi ugirAl
IrndhAn iraNiyanadhu Agam irum siRaippuL
UrndhAn ulagu aLandhanAnRu

Word by Word Meanings

vadi ugirAl – with sharp nails
iraNiyanadhu Agam – iraNiyan (hiraNyakashyap)’s heart
Irndhan – tore apart
irum siRai puL – huge bird garuda with massive wings
Urndhan – emperumAn straddled
ulagu aLandha nAnRu – on the day when he measured the worlds
adiyum – (his) divine feet
padi kadappa – measured the worlds
thOL – the divine shoulders
thisai mEl sella – went beyond the directions
mudiyum – divine crown
visumbu – skies (ether)
aLandhadhu – pervaded
enbar – so will say (gyAnis, the knowledgeable)

vyAkyAnam

adiyum padi kadappaAzhwAr was asked, “is it possible to enjoy emperumAn staying in this world, as we wish? Should we not enjoy him only after going to SrIvaikuNtam?” AzhwAr responds “when his mercy flowed like flood on this earth, did I get it? Did I not lose it even then?”

adiyum padi kadappanammAzhwAr says in thiruvAimozhi 4-3-6kOlamAm en sennikku un kamalamanna  kazhalE” (your lotus like divine foot is like a decoration on my head). In the same manner, AzhwAr says that the earth also donned his divine foot, which he likes immensely, on its head, as a decoration. Alternatively, we can say that the soft divine foot, which the nithyasUris[permanent dwellers of SrIvaikuNtam] wear on their heads, had to measure earth which contains hardened forests and streams.

padi kadappa – the divine feet which we had to go and worship, came on their own and measured the earth.

thOL thisai mEl sella – the divine shoulders, which would normally be embracing pirAtti (bhUmidhEvi, here), went past the directions.

mudiyum visumbu aLandhadhu – the divine crown went till the wall of the universe. The divine crown measured the immeasurable skies [ethereal layers]. Just as great warriors will win over enemies from the same place where they are standing, emperumAn also measured the worlds standing in the same place and won them over.

enbar – I have heard gyAnis (knowledgeable people) say that emperumAn did this. But I did not get to see this! AzhwAr laments, “when the divine feet came on their own and stood over my head also, where had I gone?”

vadi ugirAl IrndhAn iraNiyadhu AgamemperumAn tore apart the rough body of iraNiyan (hiraNyakashyap).

irum siRaip puL UrndhAn – emperumAn is soft and straddles periya thiruvadi (alternative name for garuda)[in our sampradhAyam, hanumAn is called as thiruvadi (divine feet) and garuda is called as periya thiruvadi (huge divine feet)].

ulagu aLandha nAnRu – it is not surprising that I did not get to see emperumAn when he went to annihilate the enemy of his devotee at one place [reference to emperumAn killing hiraNakashyap to protect prahlAdha]. It is not surprising that I could not see him when he went to another place to protect  gajEndhra, a devotee [reference here is to the elephant gajEndhar which was troubled by the crocodile]. AzhwAr laments that he lost when emperumAn came, not for one or two individuals, but for all, when he took the incarnation of thrivikrama and kept his divine feet atop everyone’s head.

Let us consider the 18th pAsuram next.

adiyEn krishNa ramanuja dhAsan

archived in http://divyaprabandham.koyil.org

pramEyam (goal) – http://koyil.org
pramANam (scriptures) – http://granthams.koyil.org
pramAthA (preceptors) – http://acharyas.koyil.org
SrIvaishNava education/kids portal – http://pillai.koyil.org

Leave a Comment