siRiya thirumadal – 44 – pOrAnai poygaivAy

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

Full Series

<< Previous

pOrAnai poygaivAyk kOtpattu ninRalaRi
nIrAr malarkkamalam koNdOr nedum kaiyAl                                    49
nArAyaNA O! maNivaNNA! nAgaNaiyAy!
vArAy en Aridarai nIkkAy ena veguNdu                                 50

Word by Word Meanings

poygai vAy kOL pattu ninRu alaRi – feeling distressed after being caught in water, in the mouth of a  crocodile
Or nedu kaiyAl nIr Ar kamalam malar koNdu – with a long trunk, taking lotus flowers which had just then blossomed
O nArAyaNA! maNivaNNA! nAgaNaiyAy! – “Oh nArAyaNa! Oh one with blue gemstone like complex! Oh one who is lying on the serpent-bed!
vArAy en Ar idarai nIkkAy ena – you should come; you should mercifully remove my great sorrow” crying out loudly, like this
(hearing that cry of despair)
veguNdu – getting furious (on the crocodile)

vyAkyAnam

pOrAnai – elephant which engages in war. This elephant, gajEndhran, is a sAthvic (purely good) entity; hence we cannot construe that he engages wantonly in battle with others. As a behaviour consistent with his creed, due to exultation, roaming around, hitting against mountains, is termed as engaging in war.

poygai vAy – it is capable of destroying its enemies if the fight is on land which is its natural ground. However, since it is in water, which is the favourite land for crocodile, it is suffering.

kOtpattu – being caught by its enemy, the crocodile.

ninRu – while the crocodile was trying to pull it into water, the elephant was trying to drag the crocodile to the bank (of the water body). Since it was going on for a very long time, the elephant stood, gradually losing its strength.

nIrAr malarkkamalam koNdOr nedum kaiyAl – except for its trunk in which it was holding the just blossomed lotus which he wanted to submit at the divine feet of emperumAn, the elephant was fully immersed in water.

nIrAr malarkkamalam – Since it was meant for emperumAn, despite a long time having passed since it was plucked from water, the lotus appeared fresh, as if it were still in water.

nArAyaNA O! – “Oh the one who is the means and the end benefit for the entire society of sentient entities! Am I not one among that society? If you do not protect me, is there any way for your nArAyaNathvam (the nature of being the refuge for all) to be sustained?” When asked whether he wanted his life to be saved after destroying the crocodile, gajEndhra says

maNivaNNA – Am I not desirous of seeing your divine form which is like a bluish gemstone? Are you not the one who gives his divine form to quench the thirst of your devotees who are suffering from thApathrayam? [thApathrayam is sufferance at the hands of nature, one’s own deeds and emperumAn’s divine mind) Are you not the one manifesting your form to your devotees as mentioned in jithanthE SlOkam “bhakthAnAm” (for the sake of devotees)? When such is the case, would you hide your form from me?

nAgaNaiyAy – are you not the one lying on thiruvananthAzhwAn (AdhiSEshan) who desires to experience and enjoy your divine form?

vArAy – you should come, donning your beautiful form to remove all my sorrows.

en Ar idarai nIkkAyAr idar – huge obstacle. Here, the obstacle is not the one caused by crocodile. gajEndran wants only to submit the [lotus] flower, before it withers away, at the divine feet of emperumAn. The hurdle to the kainkaryam at the divine feet of the ordained lord is the obstacle meant here. gajEndhra’s words were “nAham kaLEbarasyAsya thrANArtham madhusUdhana I karastha kamalAnyEva pAdhayOrarpithum thava II” (Oh madhusUdhana! I am not praying for the sustenance of this body. I am praying only for submitting the flower in my hand at your divine feet)

ena – as gajEndhran said in this way

ena veguNdu – As soon as he heard these words, the supreme being became very furious at the crocodile. parASara bhattar says in his SrI rangarAja sthavam “bhagvathas thvarAyai nama:” (Oh emperumAn! I salute your anger).

veguNdu – Just as it is said in SrI rAmAyaNam AraNya kANdam 24-34 “kOpamAhArayath thIvram” (if someone commits an offence on him, he puts on an act of anger) if the offence is committed on him, the anger will be something invited; if the offence is committed on his devotee, just as it is mentioned in SrI rAmAyaNam yudhdha kANdam 59-136 “kOpasya vaSamEyivAn” (he comes under the influence of anger), anger will become his basic nature. In this case, since the offence was on his distinguished devotee, his anger was furious.

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

adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan

archived in http://divyaprabandham.koyil.org

pramEyam (goal) – http://koyil.org
pramANam (scriptures) – http://granthams.koyil.org
pramAthA (preceptors) – http://acharyas.koyil.org
SrIvaishNava education/kids portal – http://pillai.koyil.org

0 thoughts on “siRiya thirumadal – 44 – pOrAnai poygaivAy”

  1. Most respected Sir: Regarding the Vyakhyanam for Siriya Tirumadal (44) PorAnai… May I request the name of the original Sanskrit Grantham where elephant king Gajendara’s words (in Samskritam) are quoted (…gajEndhra’s words were “nAham kaLEbarasyAsya thrANArtham madhusUdhana I karastha kamalAnyEva pAdhayOrarpithum thava II” ). I request in order to obtain the full Grantham for further study. With humble thanks. Adiyen Ramanuja Dasan

    Reply

Leave a Comment