SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:
Full series >> Tenth Centum >> Seventh decad
Introduction for this pAsuram
Highlights from thirukkurukaippirAn piLLAn‘s introduction
No specific introduction.
Highlights from nanjIyar‘s introduction
In the first pAsuram, AzhwAr says “emperumAn entered my heart saying ‘I will make you sing thiruvAimozhi’, but look at his love for me. Oh those who serve him! Don’t get drowned in the ocean of his qualities”.
Highlights from vAdhi kEsari azhagiya maNavALa jIyar‘s introduction
See nanjIyar‘s introduction.
Highlights from periyavAchchAn piLLai‘s introduction
See nanjIyar‘s introduction.
Highlights from nampiLLai‘s introduction as documented by vadakkuth thiruvIdhip piLLai
See nanjIyar‘s introduction.
pAsuram
senjoRkavigAL! uyirkAtthAtcheymmin thirumAlirunjOlai
vanjak kaLvan mAmAyan mAyak kaviyAy vandhu en
nenjum uyirum uL kalandhu ninRAr aRiyA vaNNam en
nenjum uyirum avai uNdu thAnEyAgi niRaindhAnE
Listen
Word-by-Word meanings (based on vAdhi kEsari azhagiya maNavALa jIyar‘s 12000 padi)
thirumAlirunjOlai – (to bless his devotees) being in thirumalai
(in stealing all the belongings of those who are caught by him)
vanjak kaLvan – one who steals without the knowledge of those from whom he steals
mA mAyan – one who has very amazing form, qualities etc (to attract others)
mAyak kaviyAy – one who remains with mischievous acts to make me sing poems
vandhu – arriving at (where we are, with determination)
(like those who show what is inside)
en nenjuLLum – in my heart
uyir uLLum – in self
kalandhu – mixing seamlessly
ninRAr – even lakshmi et al who remain with him
aRiyA vaNNam – without the knowledge
avai – those
(my)
nenjum – my heart
uyirum – self [AthmA]
(to be unable to see separately)
uNdu – consumed
(to make the enjoyment of self insignificant, just as the heart which is achEthana (insentient))
thAnE Agi – becoming the exclusive enjoyer
(accomplishing the impossible task)
niRaindhAn – became avAptha samastha kAma (one who has no unfulfilled desire);
sem – having honesty (without any expectation)
(where the words themselves are the result)
sol – with words
kavigAL – Oh all of you who can sing poems!
uyir kAththu – protecting (from his hand, your) selves and belongings from being stolen
Atcheymmin – try to serve with your [faculty of] speech.
Simple translation (based on vAdhi kEsari azhagiya maNavALa jIyar‘s 12000 padi)
emperumAn, being in thirumalai, who steals without the knowledge of those from whom he steals, who has very amazing form, qualities etc, who remains with mischievous acts to make me sing poems, is arriving in my heart and mixing in my heart and self even without the knowledge of lakshmi et al who remain with him; he consumed my heart and self, became the exclusive enjoyer and became avAptha samastha kAma. Oh all of you who can sing poems with honest words! Protect yourselves and your belongings from being stolen and try to serve him with your speech. Implies that for those who immerse in bhagavAn as ananyaprayOjana (without any expectation other than kainkaryam), it is unavoidable to have the self and belongings to be stolen by him.
vyAkyAnams (commentaries)
Highlights from thirukkurukaippirAn piLLAn‘s vyAkyAnam
See vAdhi kEsari azhagiya maNavALa jIyar‘s translation.
Highlights from nanjIyar‘s vyAkyAnam
See nampiLLai‘s vyAkyAnam.
Highlights from periyavAchchAn piLLai‘s vyAkyAnam
See nampiLLai‘s vyAkyAnam.
Highlights from nampiLLai‘s vyAkyAnam as documented by vadakkuth thiruvIdhip piLLai
- senjol … – Oh poets who have honest words! Honesty for poet/poet is to remain ananya prayOjanam (without any expectation); having expecation is dishonesty for poems/poets; as said in thiruvAimozhi 7.9.6 “in kavi pAdum parama kavigaL” (Instead of making great poets such as parASara, pArASara (vyAsa), vAlmeeki, mudhalAzhwArgaL et al who sing great, infinitely sweet poems to sing poems) and periya thirumozhi 2.8.2 “sendhamizh pAduvAr” (those who sing beautiful thamizh pAsurams), AzhwAr is thinking about mudhalAzhwArgaL. ananya prayaOjanar are those who said in iraNdAm thiruvandhAdhi 74 “perundhamizhan nallEn” (I am an expert in great thamizh arts and am great) and in mudhal thiruvandhAdhi 11 “vAy avanai alladhu vAzhththAdhu” (My mouth will not praise anyone other than emperumAn).
- uyir kAththu Atcheymmin – You first protect yourselves and then sing the poems. Only if you are present, you can sing the poems. Only if AthmAs are present, they can sing mangaLASAsanam for emperumAn.
- Atcheymmin – He is saying this because, singing poems is a vAchika kainkaryam (service by speech). Protect yourselves since he will enter us to accept our service but will end up differently as said in thiruvAimozhi 9.6.7 “AtkoLvAn oththu ennuyir uNda mAyan” (emperumAn, the amazing personality, entered me as if accepting my service and consumed my AthmA). siRRAL koNdAn says “just as those who immerse in deep water will place poles to mark the depth, AzhwAr is also placing poles to highlight emperumAn’s depth”. udaiyavar would say “since it is not mentioned whose life [is to be protected], [AzhwAr is saying that] you protect emperumAn’s life and serve him”. That is – when he himself voluntarily pursues us, if we move away from him, we will lose him; hence you should save his life [by not leaving him]. Just as expert swimmers will mark regions in a river saying “this spot is deep, this spot is shallow”, AzhwAr who first humbly invited worldly poets who are not interested in bhagavath vishayam, saying in thiruvAimozhi 3.9.6 “vammin pulavIr” (Oh poets! Come), is now stopping those who are immersed in bhagavAn’s qualities such as simplicity. AzhwAr himself is wounded by emperumAn’s qualities such as Seela (simplicity) etc as said in thiruvAimozhi 9.6.2 “ninai thoRum sollundhoRum nenjidindhugum” (My heart which is the tool for thinking about you, becomes broken and is melting and becoming fluid, every moment I think and speak about your qualities such as Seela, saulabhya etc which are revealed in your activities relating to the great union) and thiruvAimozhi 8.1.8 “valvinaiyEnai IrginRa guNangaLai udaiyAy” (he is having the qualities which are always tormenting me who is having powerful sins). Instead of doing acts which will destroy you, please enjoy his opulence and sing poems on it, instead of thinking to enjoy his quality of Seela.
- kavigAL uyir kAththu Atcheymmin – While saying “kavigAL”, naturally one would have to say “save yourself and sing poems”; instead he is saying “save yourself and serve him”; due to his impressions from thiruvAimozhi 3.4 “pugazhu nal oruvan” [In this decad, AzhwAr praised emperumAn as everything, that is emperumAn having every entity as SarIram].
The reason for AzhwAr forcefully saying “don’t immense in his Seela guNam (quality of simplicity)” is – that is explained in the rest of the pAsuram. [Main reason is] I am not seeing my existence as said in “thAnEyAgi nirRaindhAnE” (He exclusively enjoyed me).
- thirumAlirunjOlai – His presence in thirumalai is also an aspect of his simplicity.
- vanjak kaLvan – He will steal to make us believe that he is truthful. As said in thiruvAimozhi 9.6.6 “engaNNan kaLvam enakkuch chemmAy niRkum” (The deceptive acts of krishNa who has great love towards me look truthful to me), even while the act of stealing is happening, it will appear truthful. He will steal the stealing itself. He will enter as if establishing SEshathvam (servitude) in the AthmA, but he will himself accept it [SEshathvam] and place SEshithvam (lordship) in the AthmA, and hold the AthmA on his head.
When asked “If you know his mischief, why don’t you escape from him?” AzhwAr says,
- mA mAyan – He is having amazing qualities and acts which stop us from escaping even after knowing his mischief; as said in nAchchiyAr thirumozhi 2.4 “To bewilder us by increasing our infatuation”.
When asked “With his qualities and acts, how did he capture you?” AzhwAr says,
- mAyak kaviyAy vandhu – emperumAn entered me saying “Oh AzhwIr! I am looking at making you sing beautiful poems which are not seen in this world. We will do it”. He entered with the pretext of making me sing, just as one will enter the place of his beloved looking for water.
- vandhu – He is the one who came. While I did not go to his place and request him saying “Please make me sing some poems”, he himself came. One who is to be attained, has himself come. This is what is called simplicity!
When asked “What torment did he do, after coming?” AzhwAr says,
- en nenjum uyirum – nenju (Heart) indicates the whole body; uyir is AthmA (self).
- uL kalandhu – He seamlessly mixed; he immersed in my body and self without any difference.
- ninRAr aRiyA vaNNam – He united with me even beyond the knowledge of pirAtti, thiruvananthAzhwAn (AdhiSEsha), thiruvadi (garudAzhwAr) et al who are experts in such interaction with emperumAn. They are the ones who remain with emperumAn in such union; even without their knowledge; as said in thiruvAimozhi 9.6.9 “Aruyir pattadhu enadhuyir pattadhu?” (Did nithyasUris, who enjoy such emperumAn, eternally immerse in him the same way that my AthmA immersed in him as the enjoyable object?)
- en nenjum uyirum avai uNdu – He is not able to differentiate between body and soul; as said in thiruvAimozhi 9.6.5 “uruvamum Aruyirum udanE uNdAn” (enjoying my body and my soul without discriminating between them) – he consumed my body and self equally.
- thAnEyAgi – AzhwAr is not seeing himself anymore. emperumAn entered as if sharing the enjoyment but ended up being the exclusive enjoyer. As said in thiruvAimozhi 9.6.10 “ennai muRRap paruginAn” (he fully consumed me), the AthmA became the enjoyed. He interacted without considering the AthmA as a sentient; he made me become like achith (insentient) which purely exists for others’ enjoyment. He accepted as I prayed in thiruvAimozhi 2.9.4 “thanakkEyAga” (exclusively for him). Just as there is intrinsic variety in enjoyable objects, the chEthana also has become one such enjoyable object.
- thAnE Agi – He eliminated dual lordship. He made the AthmA bite the dust and remained prideful.
- niRaindhAnE – Though he was known as avAptha samastha kAman (one who has no unfulfilled desires), he became fully complete only after acquiring AzhwAr. This is the quality of simplicity. That is – when a great personality unites with a lowly person, mixing seamlessly so that the greatness and lowliness of the individuals are invisible; as said in SrI rAmAyaNam bAla kANdam 1.85 “kruthakruthyasthadhA rAma:” (After crowning vibhIshaNa in lankA, SrI rAma felt as one who accomplished his own task, and became happy, being relieved from grief).
In the next article we will enjoy the next pAsuram.
adiyen sarathy ramanuja dasan
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