SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:
avathArikai
AzhwAr prays to emperumAn “you are the one who carries out beneficial activities even for those who are proud that they are ISvaras. You should help me, who cannot do anything without you and who am considering you as everything, to enjoy reciting your divine names.”
Let us go through the pAsuram and its meanings:
kadhaiyin perum poruLum kaNNA nin pErE
idhayam iruandhavaiyE Eththil kadhaiyin
thirumozhiyAy ninRa thirumAlE unnaip
parumozhiyAl kANap paNi
Word by Word Meaning
kaNNA – Oh krishNa!
kadhaiyin – in ithihAsams (epics) and purANams (ancient biographies)
perum poruLum – eminent meanings
idhayam – their inner connotations
irundhavaiyE – as they are
Eththil – if known and praised
nin pErE – (they are all) your divine names only
kadhaiyin thirumozhiyAy ninRa thirumAlE – Oh thirumAL (SrIman nArAyaNa)! You are the epitome of all that is mentioned in the great vEdhas
unnai – you
paru mozhiyAlE – to enjoy after identifying you with the great words of vEdhas
paNi – please show mercy
vyAkyAnam
kadhaiyin perum poruLum kaNNA nin peyarE – if one were to delve deep into ithihAsa (epics) and purANas (ancient literature dealing with biographies), what they reveal are your divine names which deal with your auspicious qualities and your divine activities.
idhayam irundhu avaiyE Eththil – even if the meaning is not taken in its entirety and only the inner meaning is considered and emperumAn is praised (it will be the same). If one were to consider the heart of ithihAsas and purANas [in other words, the central theme of these sacred texts], it is your divine names which have been mentioned in them with finality. AzhwAr has used the verses kadhaiyin perum poruL in the same context as he had used earlier in the verses Oththin poruL mudivum iththanaiyE uththaman pEr Eththum in the 39th pAsuram.
kadhaiyin thirumozhiyAy ninRa thirumAlE – the knowledge mentioned in upanishaths also mentions words which identify you. Any word with meaning would reveal emperumAn and pirAtti. pirAtti is word and emperumAn is the meaning. Hasn’t vishNu purANam 1-8-18 said “arthO vishNu: iyam vANI (vishNu is the meaning and she (pirAtti) is the word)!
unnai – you, thirumAL, who have been established in ithihAsas and purANas
unnaip parumozhiyAl kANap paNi – instead of seeing you with the help of these words, you should shower mercy on me so that I could say as mentioned in thaiththirIya upanishath “ahamannam ahamannam ahamannam” (“I am food” repeated several times) in a loud voice and see you. You should grace me such that I would feel elated seeing you, praising you with words which do not have any fault, and enjoying you. Only when I am able to see you, could I praise you with words which are without faults. AzhwAr says that emperumAn should grace him such that he is given divine eyes with which he would be able to see emperumAn clearly. In the words kadhaiyin thirumozhiyAy ninRa, the term kadhai could be construed to mean incidents taken from ithihAsas and purANas instead of incidents taken from upanishath.
We shall take up the 65th pAsuram next.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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