November 22, 2020 – dhivya prabandham

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

periya thirumozhi >> First centum >> First decad

Introduction to the vyAkyAnam

When asked “You are greatly celebrating this divine name. What is the meaning for it?” AzhwAr explains in this pAsuram. Instead of chanting the divine name [as part of thirumanthram] and getting a result out of it, and making it ancillary for karma yOgam (gyAna yOgam and bhakthi yOgam), since AzhwAr is of the opinion that the result is attained by meditating upon the meanings of it, he is explaining the meanings. nammAzhwAr too, while speaking about thirumanthram [especially the divine name, nArAyaNa], will explain about the meaning either before or after, to emphasise on the meaning, since it is said in SAsthram “gyAnAn mOksham” (True knowledge leads to liberation).

pAsuram

empirAn endhai ennudaich chuRRam
enakkarasu ennudai vANAL
ambinAl arakkar verukkoLa nerukki
avaruyir seguththa em aNNal
vambulAnjOlai mAmadhiL thanjai
mAmaNik kOyilE vaNangi
nambigAL! uyya nAn kaNdu koNdEn
nArAyaNA ennum nAmam

Word-by-Word meanings

nambigAL! – Oh those who are complete (with enjoying bhagavAn’s qualities)!
em pirAn – being my benefactor
endhai – being my father
ennudaich chuRRam – being all my relationships
enakku arasu – being my ruler
ennudai vAzh nAL – being my life-span
arakkar – rAkshasas (demoniac people)
verukkoLa – to be scared
ambinAl – with arrows
nerukki – suffocating them
avar uyir – their lives
seguththa – destroyed
em aNNal – the eternal abode of sarvESvaran, who is my lord
vambu – fragrance
ulAm – blowing
sOlai – garden
mA – lengthy
madhiL – having fort
thanjai mA maNik kOyilE – thanjai mA maNik kOyil only
vaNangi – worshipped
nAn uyya – to be uplifted (like all of you)
nArAyaNA ennum nAmam – the divine name, nArAyaNa
kaNdu koNdEn – I got to realise.

Simple translation

Oh those who are complete (with enjoying bhagavAn’s qualities)! sarvESvaran, being my benefactor, father, all my relationships, ruler and life-span, created fear in the rAkshasas by suffocating them with arrows and destroyed their lives. I only worshipped such sarvESvaran, who is my lord who is residing in thanjai mA maNik kOyil which is having garden with blowing fragrance and lengthy fort. To be uplifted, I got to realise the divine name, nArAyaNa.

Highlights from vyAkyAnam (Commentary)

empirAn – My benefactor.
endhai – My father.
ennudaich chuRRam – One who remains all types of relationships starting with the mother who gives birth.
enakku arasu – One who eliminated my vices and ruled over me.
ennudai vAzh nAL – My life-span.
ambinAl arakkar verukkoLa nerukki avaruyir seguththa em aNNal – My lord who destroyed the rAkshasas by causing fear in them by suffocating them with his arrows instead of destroying them with his sankalpa (will). Thus he concludes with saying “emperumAn is my swAmi (lord)”. With this, what is explained in subAla upanishath “mAthA pithA bhrAthA nivAsaS SaraNam suhrudhgathirnArAyaNa:” (SrIman nArAyaNan is mother, father, brother, abode, refuge, friend, goal), is elaborated here.

When asked “How did you get all of these?” AzhwAr says,

vambulAnjOlai mAmadhiL thanjai mAmaNik kOyilE vaNangi – I kept worshipping thanjai mAmaNik kOyil only, which is having eternally blooming garden and lengthy fort. As I meditated upon emperumAn’s saulabhyam (easy approachability) where he is present announcing “I am all types of relationships for you”, I received all these.
nambigAL – AzhwAr could be addressing either those who are caring only for the body holding on to matters other than bhagavAn or those who are complete due to enjoying bhagavAn’s qualities.
uyya nAn kaNdu koNdEn – AzhwAr is saying either “I got to see emperumAn to be uplifted, while you are suffering due to worldly attachments” or “I too reached the shore as you did knowing the ways to be uplifted”.
nArAyaNA ennum nAmam – I got to realise the divine name which explains that emperumAn is all types of relationships.

In the next article we will enjoy the next pAsuram.

adiyen sarathy ramanuja dasan

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

Full Series

avathArikai (Introduction)

In the previous pAsuram, unable to bear the pain of separation from emperumAn, the leading lady had assumed the pathos of her friend; she assumed the shyness typical of a girl and mentioned about her sorrows. Since she is sure that she can sustain herself only if she speaks to her friend, she asks her “My heart has gone behind him. Will it return or will it stay there itself?”

Let us go through the pAsuram and its meanings:

kuzhaRkOvalar madappAvaiyum maNmagaLum thiruvum
nizhaRpOlvanar kaNdu niRkungol meeLungol thaNNandhuzhAy
azhaRpOladum chakkaraththaNNal viNNOr thozhak kadavum
thazhaRpOl sinaththa appuLLin pOna thani nenjamE

Word-by-Word Meanings

thaN – being cool
am – being beautiful
thuzhAy – divine thuLasi
azhal pOl – like hot
adum – roasting
chakkaram – having sudharSana disc in his hand
aNNal – sarvESvaran, who is the lord
viNNOr – nithyasUris (permanent dwellers of SrIvaikuNtam)
thozha – to be worshipped
kadavum – conducting
thazhal pOl – like fire
sinaththa – having anger
appuLLin – behind that garuthmAn (garuda)
pin – following
pOna – one who followed
thani – without any support
nenjam – mind
kuzhal – having locks
kOvalar – born in cow-herd clan
madam – being obedient
pAvaiyum – nappinnai pirAtti (neeLA dhEvi)
maNmagaLum – SrI bhUmi pirAtti
thiruvum – and periya pirAtti (SrI mahAlakshmi)
nizhal pOlvanar – being like shadow (to followers) (and invigorating)
these three pirAttimArs,
kaNdu – after seeing them
niRkungol – will it stay there itself?
meeLungol – will it return?

Simple Translation

One who dons the cool and beautiful divine thuLasi garland, one who has the chakrAyudham (weapon in the form of disc) which roasts enemies like fire, is worshipped by nithyasUris. garuda is conducted by such emperumAn and his anger is like fire. My mind went behind such garuda. After seeing nappinnaip pirAtti who has beautiful locks and who incarnated in the clan of cowherds, bhUmippirAtti and periya pirAtti, will my mind stay there itself or will it return to me?

vyAkhyAnam

kuzhaR kOvalar madappAvai – cowherds with flutes. Just like brAhmaNas will carryout sandhyAvandanam (worshipping the conjunction of day and night) as their norm, this (playing of flutes) is typical of cowherds. Alternatively, this term would refer to nappinnaip pirAtti, who has beautiful locks and was obedient towards them.

maNmagal – SrI bhUmip pirAtti

thiru – periya pirAtti.

periya pirAtti will condone the faults of those who attain her. SrI bhUmippirAtti will say “Why should one look at the faults and then condone them? It is better not to look at the faults”; nappinnaip pirAtti will be the epitome of forbearance and forgiveness. She will make emperumAn not to look at our faults. periya pirAtti is the repository of all of emperumAn’s wealth. bhUmippirAtti is the land where this wealth is nurtured. nappinnaip pirAtti is the one who makes emperumAn to enjoy the wealth.

nizhaR pOlvanar – these three pirAttis are like shadow for emperumAn, never separating from him. Alternatively, they will be shadow for one another; another interpretation – they will be shadow (a source of invigoration) for their followers.

kaNdu niRkungol meeLungol – After looking at emperumAn and his consorts in this condition, will my mind stay there permanently, taking them as its refuge? After looking at their greatness etc, will be mind be tossed about, just like a piece of crumb is tossed about by the waters of an ocean?

thaN am thuzhAy azhaRpOl adum chakkaraththu aNNal – one who has the divine thuLasi which emits coolness and sweet fragrance and who also has the divine disc which emits hot winds like fire. Due to her separation from emperumAn, even the cool thuLasi appears like fire, burning her. As an example for the emission of heat from thuLasi, she cites the divine disc which is fiery. In other words, even while citing an example, she could only think of entities which are closely connected to emperumAn. She cannot think of anything other than matters related to him. The divine disc does not distinguish between followers and enemies. While it will be a decoration for followers, it would be a weapon for enemies, hurting both, one through its beauty and the other, through its state of weaponry. In the case of divine thuLasi, it will be apt for followers. The lady says that even thuLasi is hurting her, like the divine disc.

aNNal – by holding the divine disc such that it does not slip out of his hands, he made me submit to him totally.

thazhaRpOl sinaththa – having an anger which appears like a raging fire

viNNOr thozhak kadavum – emperumAn conducts periya thiruvadi (garuda) such that they [nithyasUris] worship him (emperumAn). They are the ones who worship and he is the one who is worshipped. Their sustenance is through worshipping emperumAn.

appuLLin pOna – she is not worried about her difficulties. She is celebrating the fact that there are those who are concerned about emperumAn. She says that her mind went behind that garudan rather than behind emperumAn himself, since he is loving towards emperumAn. The commentator cites reference to periya thirumozhi pAsuram 11-1-9 “keNdai oN” whose meaning is as follows: My eyes which are like carp (a kind of fish) will sleep and my complexion will be healthy only when beetles blow on me, the fragrance of thuLasi from the garland submitted by SrIvaishNavas who are ananyaprayOjanars. The term ananyaprayOjanar refers to those who carry out activities without expecting any benefit or those who do not know what benefit they will attain. Why should this term be brought in here? This is to emphasise that while there are many who are loving towards her beloved [emperumAn], there are those, like the beetle, who are caring towards her without expecting any benefit.

thani nenjam – independent mind. Even when she tells it “Do not go behind emperumAn” it goes behind him and does not return.

svApadhEsam (distinguished/internal meaning of the pAsuram): By referring to pirAttimArs and nithyasUris, she [AzhwAr in feminine pathos] affirms the superiority of emperumAn and says that affection towards SrIvaikuNtanAthan (the lord of SrIvaikuNtam) was created in her.

In the next article, we will see the 4th pAsuram.

adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan

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Daily Archives: November 22, 2020

periya thirumozhi – 1.1.6 – empirAn endhai

Introduction to the vyAkyAnam

pAsuram

Word-by-Word meanings

Simple translation

Highlights from vyAkyAnam (Commentary)

thiruviruththam – 3 – kuzhaRkOvalar