SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:
avathArikai
When AzhwAr was asked as to what is the greatness of the benefit that he attained, he says “don’t think that I attained this benefit only today. Right from the time that I was in the womb, I have known my nature of servitude to emperumAn and have been enjoying him“.
Let us go through the pAsuram and its meanings:
inRAvaRiginREn allEn iru nilaththaich
chenRAngu adippaduththa sEvadiyai anRu
karukkOttiyuL kidandhu kai thozhudhEn kaNdEn
thirukkOtti endhai thiRam
Word by Word Meaning
anRu karukkOttiyuL kidandhu – lying inside the womb, earlier
thirukkOtti endhai thiRam – the nature of thirukkOttiyUr perumAn
kaNdEn – I had the fortune to enjoy
kai thozhudhEn – (as a consequence of that experience) I worshipped with folded hands
Hence,
irunilaththai – this expansive mass of land [earth]
Angu senRu aLandha thiru adiyai – (during the time of thrivikrama avathAram) the divine foot which spread out, on its own, to various places and measured them
inRA aRiginREn allEn – it is not that I knew about it only today (I have not forgotten it right from my days of being in the womb)
vyAkyAnam
inRA aRiginREn allEn – am I knowing something new? I am not starting to know this just now. I had received his [emperumAn’s] grace earlier itself.
iru nilaththaich chenRu AngaLandha thiruvadiyai – not that someone prayed him to do it, but emperumAn went on his own and measured this expansive earth. Did the earth go to the place where he wanted to measure? No; did he not go to where the earth was and measure it!
anRu – much earlier, when no one had the qualification to observe any means, he went on his own and measured it.
karukkOttiyuL kidandhu kai thozhudhEn kaNdEn – I saw [emperumAn] even when I was inside the womb.
kaNdEn kai thozhudhEn – in order to manifest the experience that I enjoyed I involved in servitude such as joining the palms together (anjali). nammAzhwAr has also mercifully mentioned in thiruvAimozhi 2-3-3 “aRiyAk kAlaththuLLE adimaikkaN anbu seyviththu” (even when I was ignorant, you created the craving desire in me for carrying out service to you). The rushis of dhaNdakAraNya said of themselves in SrI rAmAyaNam AraNya kANdam 1-21 “garbhabhUdhAsthapOdhanA:” (even while residing inside the womb, we adopted penance as wealth). Just as it is mentioned in mahAbhAratham SAnthi parvam 358-73 “jAyamAnam hi purusham yam paSyEth madhusUdhana: sAthvikas sathu vigyEya: sa vai mOkshArtha chinthaka:” (it is to be known that that AthmA who is blessed by madhusUdhana even as he is born, is the one with sathvaguNa (noble qualities); it is he who thinks about attaining SrIvaikuNtam), emperumAn graced me even while I was in the womb.
thirukkOtti endhai – the one who has taken residence in thirukkOttiyUr (one of the divine abodes of emperumAn) saw my pitiable state and blessed me.
thirukkOtti endhai – while I saw emperumAn’s greatness in SrIvaikuNtam, I saw his simplicity (easily approachable quality) in thirukkOttiyUr. At the very first sight itself, I saw his completeness in archAvathAram (emperumAn’s incarnation in deity form).
endhai thiRam – I saw the qualities of emperumAn who is my Lord.
We shall go on to the 88th pAsuram next.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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