periya thirumadal – 28 – anna aRaththin

SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:

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anna aRaththin payanAvadhu oNporuLum
anna thiRaththadhE AdhalAl kAmaththin                                           37
mannum vazhi muRaiyE niRRu nAm mAnOkkin
anna nadaiyAr alarEsa Adavar mEl                                                       38   

Word by word meaning

anna aRaththin payan Avadhu idhu anRE – this is the benefit that one gets for that purushArtham dharmam (which I had spoken of, earlier)
oN poruLum – the benefit for the distinguished artha (wealth) purushArtham
anna thiRaththadhE – it is as lowly and as temporary (as this)
AdhalAl – for both the purushArthams aRam (dharmam or righteousness) and poruL (wealth), since kAmam (love) is the benefit,
kAmaththin – for that purushArtham kAmam
mannum vazhi muRaiyE – in the path of love towards bhagavAn which is the well established path
nAm niRRum – we will be firmly involved with.
mAn nOkkin annam nadaiyAr – women who have eyes like a doe and gait like a swan
alar Esa – to be abused (by worldly people)
Adavar mEl – on the male (towards men)

vyAkyAnam

idhu anRE anna aRaththin payan Avadhu – Isn’t this (insignificantly) small benefit, the end result of the activities of dharmam which one observes so arduously? Isn’t this similar to getting a handful of grains after putting in so much of efforts? In other words, the benefit is not commensurate with the efforts.

oN poruLum anna thiRaththadhE – Even the benefit of the lustrous poruL (wealth) is as lowly and as weak as this (what we have just seen). Since jIvAthmA (who toils hard towards such lowly benefits) has forsaken AchAryas who are capable of making him attain paramporuL (supreme being, emperumAn) and thinks that wealth is the benefit which is most apt for him, AzhwAr calls such poruL as oN poruL (shining wealth) more as per the jIvAthmA’s view rather than his own view.

kAmaththin mannum vazhi muRaiyE niRRum nAm – Let us remain steadfast on the path of love towards bhagavAn which is well established and not on the path of lust which is the lowly benefit one accrues out of following bodily lust, just like the paths of righteousness and wealth.

nAm – we, who have given up on everything other than the path of love (towards bhagavAn).

maN nOkkin anna nadaiyAr – while the males can engage in madal based on the beauty of their (the damsels’) eyes and gait, how strange is it that the women wish to engage in madal on the men! This is the view of thamizhars (people living in thamizh speaking land)

alar Esa – the view of thamizhars is also that people can talk ill of men for engaging with madal on women but such reproach should not be pointed towards women who wish to engage with madal on men.

Adavar mEl – on the male. The opinion of thamizhars is that nAyaki (the leading lady), who is subservient to the nAyakan (the leading man), should not cause any reproach for him.

In the next article, we will discuss the next part of this prabandham.

adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan

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