thirunedunthANdakam – 11 – Part 3 and Conclusion

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                                                     krupAmAthra prasannAcharyAr

mattuvikki, etc – She having such hair of head that would attract and trouble Him, Oh now it is she who is suffering instead of Him. Only in righteous war (Her beauty getting felt in His heart) would He suffer; she got caught in deceitful war (His beauty reaching her heart), says the mother; (Since it was natural union (gAndharva type wedding) He made His beauty reach her heart without letting her beauty get into His heart).

mattu vikki – mattu – honey. It talks about how with great eagerness the beautiful bees got into drinking honey (from the flowers in her hair), and they got hiccup due to great desire for it; it talks about how even after drinking up to the neck its desire for it did not reduce and since there was not enough time for honey to be digested they got hiccup; it talks about how they are having hiccup due to the great taste of that honey; it talks about how the bees are neither able to drink what is in mouth nor spit it out because of its great taste, and so they are keeping it under its tongue; for humans both food and water help sustain life so if they get hiccup due to food they could relieve from it by drinking water; but since bees are named “madhuvratham” as their only food is honey, if they get hiccup due to honey, it can be rectified only with honey or by avoiding honey;

Since it says ‘pathim viSvasya’ (He is the lord for all the worlds), a danger that fell upon a devoted wife can only be rectified by the lord and not by other worldly interests.

maNi vaNdu – (Beautiful bee) Like those who have consumed medicine that protects the body, the bee is being without gray hair, wrinkles, or ageing. It reminds us about Him who is described as ‘arumbinai alarai [periya thirumozhi – 7.10.1]’ (bud, blossoming flower (how emperumAn is described as always being young)). As said in ‘thUviyam puLLudaith theiva vaNdu [thiruvAimozhi – 9.9.4]’ (the divine bee that is having the beautiful garuda bird) the bee that is emperumAn suffers upon seeing her hair in the head – this bee is suffering due to drinking excessive honey from her hair reminds about that;

muralum – As it was excessively happy to drink the honey up to its neck, it is not able to stay in one place and since it cannot call with its mouth, it is buzzing;

mada mAnai – She who was submissive to me is now not submissive. Or it means, by mada (madappam) representing quality of a female, she having such natural quality of women. Even if there is excessive sadness due to separation, she would control that unbeknownst to anyone, and not show any change but make Him change – such a girl is now asking openly, ‘Where is emperumAn’s thiruvarangam?’.

idhu seydhAr thammai – Since it is not possible to describe with words the trouble she is undergoing, she is showing by her arm pointing to her situation as ‘this’, like showing an ocean.

idhu seydhAr – Earlier if I set her hair plait, she would come back without any change to it; now who has made her hairdo to look without any shape or form?, she asks. Or, who is it that made the bees go empty stomach by drying the flowers in her hair?

thammai – She is establishing His greatness based on seeing the state of her misery; Oh can there be someone having such greatness of putting her into this misery?

thammai – Oh what a greatness this is! What kind of great honey from the hair of noble women (SrI, bhUmi, neeLA) He has drunk and grown so!

thammai – Oh one who is the big lover who has made her a great role model in being a lover?

thammai – If it is undesirable for her to see her daughter in this position, she would have used normal words like ‘he’ when asking who has done this to her. Since the mother likes this result even though it is hard on her daughter, she uses a more respectful word ‘thammai’.

meyyE kattuvichchi sol – Tell the truth (oh diviner!). While the diviner (kattuvichchi) is well known to be truthful, why say – tell the truth? She says to the diviner – you do not think that it is better to avoid mentioning the person directly since it was a natural union (gAndharva type marriage); it is liked by me; so say it as is. When giving treatment one should know about the disease as is, isn’t it?

sol ennach chonnAL – (I asked her to say and she said) – The words which have to be asked after serving (an AchAryan) for a long time, I prompted her to say and she said. Like the greatness of emperumAnAr and of gIthOpanishadhAchAryan, is the greatness of this diviner! udaiyavar (out of his kindness) would say the meanings to whoever gave their ears with wish to learn (sevi thAzhththArkkellAm vArththai sollip pOndhAr udaiyavar); gIthOpanishadhAchAryan created interest in him (arjuna) (through the 18 chapters) and told him the meaning (charma SlOkam).

sonnAL – Like (the pleasantness of) breeze and dew drops, is there a need for any meaning to what she said? Just her saying words were great that they suffice.

sonnAL – Like how it was needed for me to hear, she told like it was needed for her to say. For an AchAryan there is a need for someone (disciple) to hear his words that come out due to overflowing experience after enjoying about emperumAn; disciple shall sustain his life by listening; AchAryan shall sustain his life by saying; the disciple hearing is the reason for his revival; for AchAryan, saying is the reason for his experience.

nangAy – (mother addressing a woman who came to inquire) – You are having the completeness of not considering other gods and wordly matters, so I am able to tell you the words that she (diviner) told me. Like how I was needed for her (diviner), you are needed for me, says mother. What is it that she (diviner) said?

kadal vaNNar idhu seydhAr – She (daughter) askedemperumAn thiruvarangam engE’ (where is SrIrangam of emperumAn?). She (diviner) is giving reply referring to periya perumAL (kadal vaNNar (one like the ocean)). Here it (the word vANNam) is not about the nature of the sea; it is about the colour. She did not get involved in His nature (svarUpam), not His qualities; just upon seeing His beauty in front of her eyes, she fell for it. It seems He saw her once and embraced her; she got caught in that beauty; if one is involved in His nature, they would have to be involved in His qualities also which are inseparable from His nature; for those involved in His divine form that highlights both His true nature and His qualities, there is no need to go somewhere else. It is His divine form that creates interest; it is His divine form that is suitable for seeking shelter; what is enjoyable is also His divine form.

idhu seydhAr – ‘theerA nOi seydhAn [siriya thirumadal – 52](He created incurable disease (of love)).

idhu – (this) – Like how one can identify easily that it was due to drowning in water when seeing a fainted person, her love disease is clear from looking at her. This is ‘dheiva nannOy [thiruviruththam – 53]’ (disease (of love) due to emperumAn). Since this disease occurred due to love towards emperumAn, this is a distinguished great disease. What the learned people yearn as the ultimate benefit (purushArtham), she got this disease of love by the grace of emperumAn without any effort from her side. As said in ‘janmAnthara sahasrEshu [laghu – vishNu smruthi]’, etc., (For those who have gotten rid of their sins by doing gyAna and bhakthi yOga in thousand earlier births, love towards krishNan is born), the devotion reached by those after trying other means for thousands of years, she has got that love by the grace of emperumAn without expecting any effort from her. (Doesn’t a prapannan also need bhakthi?) Whereas bhakthi is the ultimate reach for those who use other means like karma and gyAna yOgams, for a prapannan bhakthi is the first step of the attainments.

kadal vaNNan idhu seydhAr – He showed His form and stole her form. (If it is one for the other, why be sad?) He showed His form that is like ‘Urdhvam mAsAnna jeevishyE [Sri rAmAyaNam – sundhara kANdam – 38-65]’ (I would not live after one month (if He does not come and save me before that)), and stole her form which is like ‘na jeevEyam kshaNamapi [Sri rAmAyaNam – sundhara kANdam – 66-10]’ (I will not live even for a moment when separated from her (said rAmA)). (Her form is greater than His).

kAppAr ArE – Is it even possible to remove this love disease given by Him using your medicinal roots and magic words? (asks mother). (It is He who is the medicine and manthram (words)). The disease due to involving in worldly matters could be rectified by showing emperumAn related matters; the love disease due to emperumAn is congruent to the true nature of AthmA, so it would be incurable till there is AthmA (for ever).

kadal vaNNar idhu seydhAr kAppAr ArE – (Considering this whole phrase as that of the diviner instead) (kadal – ocean) Do we have another option than to leave it for the ocean, what the ocean has taken in?

kAppAr ArE (another meaning for kAppu – prevent; ArE – who can) Is it possible for her (parakAla nAyaki) to prevent from taken in? Is it possible for you (mother)? Is it possible for anybody else? (No). If the fence itself destroys the paddy field, it is the fence that would have to save the field; is it possible for the field to save itself?

(In siriya thirumadal too periyavAchchAn piLLai shows this meaning for ‘kArAr kadal vaNNan pin pOna nenjamum vArAdhE ennai marandhadhu thAn’ (my mind that went behind the One having the colour of ocean has forgotten me and not returned (from the sea)).

By this, the inner meaning shown are the following – (1) emperumAn got AzhvAr without expecting anything on AzhvAr’s side; (2) Due to that, great devotion (parama bhakthi) was born in AzhvAr; (3) because of that, AzhvAr lost interest in other matters; (4) One would get true knowledge based on AchAryan’s teachings (‘through diviner’).

Translation by raghuram SrInivAsa dAsan

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