periya thiruvandhAdhi – 58 mAlE padichchOdhi

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avathArikai

AzhwAr says that he is not asking for attaining paramapadham. He requests emperumAn, in this pAsuram, that he should always be immersed in engaging with emperumAn’s auspicious qualities.

Let us go through the pAsuram and its meanings:

mAlE padhichchOdhi mARREl iniyunadhu
pAlE pOl sIril pazhuththozhindhEn mElAl
piRappinmai peRRu adikkIzh kuRREvalanRu
maRappinmai yAn vENdum mAdu

Word by Word Meanings

mAlE – Oh, the lord of all!

padi sOdhi – one who has radiance of divine, auspicious, physical form

unadhu – your

pAl pOl sIril – your auspicious qualities which are like sweet milk

pazhuththu ozhindhEn – I have soaked myself in them fully

ini mARREl – do not deny that experience of enjoying your auspicious qualities

mElAl – in the times to come

yAn vENdum mAdu – the wealth which I desire

piRappu inmai peRRu – attaining the status of not being born

un adikkIzh kuRREval anRu – not carrying out kainkaryam at your divine feet

maRappu inmai – not forgetting (your divine feet)(is the wealth that I desire)

vyAkyAnam

mAlE padichchOdhi – Oh Lord of all! Oh one who has auspicious divine form which is not made of primordial matter! [primordial matter is what is present in the physical forms of all those who are present in leelA vibhUthi (samsAram or materialistic world); this includes entities from brahmA down to an ant]. The term padichchOdhi refers to the radiance (sOdhi) emanating from his divine form which is called as padi. Alternatively, the term mAlE would refer to one who is totally infatuated with followers who show just a little bit of affection towards him. padichchOdhi could be considered as referring to the lustre coming from his divine, auspicious physical form. Another interpretation – mAlE could be considered as referring to the qualities connected to his being a superior entity since he is the lord of all and it could also be considered as referring to the qualities connected to his simplicity since he is affectionate towards his followers, thus referring to all qualities of the AthmA [paramAthmA, the supreme being] and padichchOdhi could be considered as referring to qualities connected to his divine form.

mARREl ini – do not change the experience that you gave me without any cause, just like one gives land without any taxes being levied on it.

AzhwAr describes further about what that experience is. . .

unadhu pAlE pOl sIril pazhuththozhindhEn – I have soaked myself fully in your auspicious qualities which are like sweet milk. The opinion is that AzhwAr is requesting emperumAn not to change that experience which was granted to him causelessly.

emperumAn then asks him whether AzhwAr desires anything else further . . .

mElAl piRappinmai peRRu adikkIzh kuRREval anRu – the wealth which I desire is not attaining parapapadham and carrying out service to your divine feet, after getting rid of being born repeatedly in this materialistic realm and tottering here.

maRappinmai yAn vENdum mAdu – The only wealth that I desire is not to forget the way you are sitting in paramapadham in the times to come. Just as sAvithri (a lady referred to in purANas) took a boon from yamadharmarAja to beget a son and recover her auspicious glories, AzhwAr too requests something from emperumAn which establishes his attaining paramapadham instead of asking for it directly from him since emperumAn is a totally independent entity (sarvasvathanthran) who could reject such a request from AzhwAr.

The story of sAvithri as narrated in epics and purANas is as follows: Since the longevity of sAvithri’s husband [sathyavAn] was over, yamadharmarAja (deity for righteousness) started taking him. Since sAvithri was paramapathivrathA (totally devoted to her husband), due to the power of her chastity, she followed yama and asked him to return her husband. yama tells her “It is my duty to take the lives of people once their time is over. Ask me of any other boon, I will grant it to you”. She immediately requested yama “Grant me a child through my husband” and thus got her husband back.

In the same way, AzhwAr is asking for non-forgetfulness and establishes his attaining paramapadham. AzhwAr had sung in thiruvAimozhi 6-7-1uNNum sORu parugum nIr thinnum veRRilai ellAm kaNNan” (the food eaten, the water drunk and the betel leaves consumed are all krishNa). Will such an AzhwAr have forgetfulness? He is afraid that forgetfulness which those who have connection to a physical form [in this materialistic world] suffer from, will affect him too and hence he is asking for this boon. When the entire village is burning in fire, could one remain unaffected saying “nothing will happen to my house”!

We will take up the 59th pAsuram next.

adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan

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