periya thiruvandhAdhi – 46 – nAn kURum

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avathArikai

In the previous pAsuram, AzhwAr said that he considered worshipping emperumAn as a way of spending his time. In this pAsuram, he tells his heart to consider emperumAn as the means and the goal.

Let us go through the pAsuram and its meanings:

nAn kURum kURRAvadhu iththanaiyE nANALum
thEngOdha nIruruvan sengaNmAl nIngAdha
mAgadhiyAm vennaragil sErAmal kAppadhaRku
nIgadhiyA nenjE ninai

Word by Word Meanings

thEngu Odha nIr uruvan – one who has the colour of the stagnant ocean
sem kaN mAl – sarvESvaran (lord of all) who has reddish eyes
nIngAdha mAgadhiyAm – is the final goal who does not (make us) return
vem naragil – in the cruel samsAram (materialistic realm)
sErAmal – so as not to fall
kAppadhaRku – to protect
gadhiyAm – he is also the means
nenjE – Oh heart!
nI – you
ninai – think (about this)
nAn – I (who knew this)
nAl nALum – every day
kURum kURRAvadhu – the words which are said
iththanaiyE – are only this much

vyAkyAnam

nAn kURum kURRAvadhu iththanaiyE – All the words that I say are only these.

Are these said on one day, on one occasion?

nANALum – on every day; all the time, on all occasions, these are all that I say.

AzhwAr describes further as to what he says every day.

thEngu Odham nIr uruvan sem kaN mAl nIngAdha mAgadhiyAm – he, who has the complexion of a stagnant ocean and who has the eyes which reveal that he is the lord of all, is the goal who does not send us back. The term nIngAdha refers to the quality by which, unlike the benefits in samsAram, emperumAn does not let us to return [once we attain him].

vennaragil sErAmal kAppadhaRku gadhiyAm – He is also the means for protecting us from falling into the cruel hell called as samsAram.

nenjE nI ninai – Oh heart! You think about this. We can rearrange the words to form the verse nIngAdha mAgadhiyA vennaragil sErAmal kAppadhaRku gadhiyA nI ninai to get the meaning – Oh heart! Think of emperumAn as the end goal, who does not allow us to return [to samsAram] and who is the means for preventing us from falling into the cruel hell called as samsAram. In both interpretations, the considered meaning is that emperumAn is both the means and the benefit.

ninai – For the jIvAthmA (soul) who has to attain emperumAn, the only activity to be performed is to think of emperumAn as both the means and the goal. The implied meaning is that just as it is mentioned in SrI rAma charama SlOkam (the ultimate SlOkam given by SrI rAma) sakrudhEva prapannAya (for the sake of one who surrenders to me only once), beyond thinking once [that he is the means and goal], there is nothing further to be done.

We will take up the 47th pAsuram next.

adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan

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