thirunedunthANdakam – 16

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Introduction

In the previous pAsuram, she was holding veeNA in hand, and thinking about the veeNA itself as emperumAn and being in union with Him, said words of victory that highlighted her victory and His losing, but she did not hear His reply of words of His victory and her loss – because she thought veeNA itself as Him. Only due to this she lost the state she was in, in the previous pAsuram, and losing her pride also, she started calling Him thinking about her and the veeNA in its original form itself. As was seen in the previous pAsuram, the SlOkam “BharThAramiva samprApthA jAnakee mudhithASBhavath”, becoming very happy thinking of His ring (kaNaiyAzhi) itself as rAmA, and after realizing that perumAL was not present there, (laments) seethA pirAtti (who is threatened by the demons in ashOkavanam) – “hA rAma hA lakShmaNa hA sumithrE hA rAmamAtha: saha mE jananya: | EshA vipaDhyAmyaham alpaBhAgyA mahArNavE nauriva mUDavAthA || [SrI rAmAyaNAm – sundhara kANdam – 28-8] (Oh rAma! lakShmaNa! SumithrA! Mother of rAma! My mothers! I who do not have good deeds in me, has been affected by sorrows, like a boat caught in the sea storm); like how She lamented, parakAla nAyaki also laments in this pAsuram. seethAp pirAtti thought about her dear perumAL and said ‘Oh rAmA!’, and thinking about iLaiya perumAL who is enjoying the presence of perumAL with him and said “Oh lakShmaNa!”, and thinking about the mother of that iLaiya perumAL and called out “Oh sumithrE!”. Likewise, she is also calling perumAL, who does not look at either the greatness or lowliness of anyone for protecting them, and is saddened in this pAsuram (due to separation).

kanRu mEyththu inidhugandha kALAy! enRum
kadipozhil sUzh kaNapuraththu en kaniyE enRum
manRamarak kUththAdi magizhndhAy! enRum
vadathiruvEngadam mEya maindhA! enRum
venRasurar kulam kaLaindha vEndhE! enRum
viripozhil sUzh thirunaRaiyUr ninRAy enRum
thunRu kuzhal karuniRaththen thuNaiyE! enRum
thuNai mulai mEl thuLi sOrach chOrginRALE 16

Word by word meaning

kanRu mEyththu – Oh one who protected the cows

inidhu ugandha – and became very happy,

kALAy enRum – and having the individualism, and

en kaniyE – Oh my fruit

kaNapuraththu – (that became ripe in) thirukkaNNapuram that is

kadi pozhil sUzh – surrounded by fragrant gardens! And,

magizhndhAy enRum – Oh who became happy

manRu amarak kUththAdi – by dancing with pots in the middle of the junction of roads! And,

vada thiruvEngadam mEya maindhA enRum – Oh the proud one who resides firmly in vada thiruvEngadam! And,

vEndhE – Oh the king who

venRu – won and

kaLaindha – destroyed

asurar kulam – the clan of asuras! And

ninRAy enRum – having your divine presence

thirunaRaiyUr – in thirunaRaiyUr

viri pozhil sUzh – that is surrounded by the gardens spread out expanding, and

thunRu kuzhal kaRu niRaththu en thuNaiyE enRum – Oh one having dense hair plaits, dark divine body, and being my companion, saying all these,

sOrginRAL – she becomes sad/faint that the

thuLi sOra – drops of tears flow down

thuNai mulai mEl – the bosoms that match each other.

vyAkyAnam

kanRu mEyththu – First she says how emperumAn protects the little cows without considering any status.

kanRu mEyththu inidhu ugandha kALAy enRum – She is asking – Have you abandoned the nature of saving all entities including the calves? Here the word mEyththu (herding the calves) is present in the sense of protecting them. It would be apt to stay relaxed if He protects only the nithyasUris. It would be apt to stay relaxed if He protects the munis like sanakar sometimes. Having been incarnated as balarAma and kaNNan and protecting only the cowherds who are so innocent that they can’t distinguish between their left and right hands, even then one can stay relaxed. But when you are herding the calves who are the epitome of lack of wisdom, how can I stay relaxed while separated from you (because you are not including me in protecting)?

kanRu mEyththu inidhugandha kALAy – By kALai (bull) it says His dignity – can mean to imply a king or a youth. When it means king – being in the state of protecting the nithyasUris is like (the king) being in a jail, and only after herding the calves did He become a chakravarthy of all the worlds – is the thought. Only after protecting everyone did He completely gain the nobility of being known as one who protects everyone.

inidhugandha – Like said in “thivaththilum pasu niRai mEyppu uvaththi, sengani vAy engaL Ayar dhEvE [thiruvAimozhi 10.3.10]”, he is joyful due to herding the group of cows. Due to herding the calves He becomes extremely (inidhu), happy. Cows would have the knowledge that He is protecting. These calves don’t even have that knowledge. So, when He protects the calves He becomes very very happy – is the idea. Oh You who protected the calves that are at the upper limit of ignorance, are not protecting me who understood You and cannot survive life without You! – says she. Oh! leaving the state of being the beloved lover, and being knowledgeable, and helpless, could I not be one among the calves of no intelligence!

kALAy enRum – Here ‘kALai’ can be considered to say the age of youth. Even though she is overcome by sadness, she is saying this due to losing to His youth.

As said in “tharuNau rUpasampannau sukumarau mahAbalau | puNdareeka viSAlAkShau cheerakRushNAjinAmbarau || [SrI rAmAyaNam – AraNya kANdam – 19-14]” ((rAma and lakShmaNa are) being young, full of beauty, soft in nature, having great ability, having wide eyes like lotus, having tree barks and deer skin for dress (so describes sUrpaNakA about them to rAvaNa)), when their youth would attract even a vulture like sUrpaNakA, will it spare parakAla nAyaki? It could be that she wishes to further polish her youth by union with Him. Or, after herding the calves, kaNNan’s youth became even better than earlier, like those who ate the kAyakalpa medicine. Humans have the body that grows by food, so it is the food that is the reason for their growth – likewise, for Him the protector, when the act of protecting increases, His youth also gets better.

kadkpozhil sUzh kaNapuraththen kaniyE enRum – It is only to protect those who are present later than the respective vibhava avathAras, that He has come to thirukkaNNapuram, and stood there sweetly – this is the type of explanation of AchAryas who were present before Bhattar. Bhattar considered the phrase “kadipozhil sUzh kaNApuram” to give another explanation. That is, “kaNNapirAn who went herding the calves, went in a different path to surround the calves that moved away from his hands – at that time He saw there a very beautiful garden that would remove all tiredness. That was thirukkaNNapuram. Since it is a garden that mesmerizes, like nammAzhvAr also said “mayal migu pozhil sUzh [thiruvAimozhi – 2.10.3]”, kaNNan did not have the heart to leave that place and so stayed there itself” – divined Bhattar. It is to be noted that Bhattar divined so because he thinks of viBhava avathAr and archA avathAr as one and the same.

kadipozhil sUzh kaNApuramthe garden is such that one would say it is made of fragrance itself – such a thirukkaNNapuram that is surrounded by fragrant gardens. As said in, “sarvaganDha: sarvarasa: [chAndhogyOpanishath – 3-14-2]” ((paramapurusha, in His divine body) has got all the fragrances, all the good tastes), this garden’s fragrance is such that He who possesses all the fragrances is engaged in it.

en kaniyE enRumemperumAn is like a ripe fruit of that garden. It means He is sweet for me like a ripe fruit. “en kaniyE” – she is showing that she is only a prapanna who has surrendered to Him, consider only Him as the means to attain Him, and that she is not an upAsaka who would go for other means such as Bhakthi. For those who are using Bhakthi etc., as the means, only after completion of such means would it give them the experience of BhagavAn. So, before such completion, He would be tasteless to them like an unripe fruit. For prapannas, from the very time they surrendered to Him as their means He would be sweet to them, so He would be of good taste (enjoyable) to them like a ripe fruit.

en kaniyE enRumSince she thinks as “kaNNapuram onRu udaiyAnukku adiyEn oruvarkku uriyEnO [periya thirumozhi – 8.9.3]”, she saying en kaniyE.

kaniyE enRumA ripe fruit would rot and go waste if it is not eaten and enjoyed by someone. One who eats also would not bear if he does not enjoy that fruit. Since You did not give yourself for me to enjoy, are You trying to destroy us both? – says parakAla nAyaki.

manRamarak kUththAdi maghizhndhAy enRumIn the previous line, she referred to Him as the fruit that is sweet (only) for the one who enjoys it. Further she says You showed Yourself fully to everyone (by dancing with pots in the middle of the road), like one opening a bag full of aval (rice flakes) in a junction of roads.

manRamarak kUththAdiOh You who danced such that the theatre stage that is the junction square was completely well set for the dance! That is, even after finishing the dance, that arena would be having the smell of dance. That is, in that dancing arena, there would be an image of dance being performed still. Bhattar gives an example for this – “In thiruvarangam, even after namperumAL has crossed a street during procession, there would be the fragrance of kasthUri which is the fragrance of divine body of thiruvaranganAthan. Likewise, in the arena of thiruvAyppAdi, the fragrance of dance would be filled even after He finished dancing”. The word manRu denotes both a junction and a court/arena. It is the courtyard of assembly of the cowherds. Or, taking manRu to mean those present in the arena/the court, it could mean – all the cowherds of the arena, amara – he danced such that they all would become His belonging. That is, without the mind going after any other matter but fully engaged in the dance, making them think “that, that dance!”.

maghizndhAy enRumIt is not important that those who saw the dance were happy. It is He who was happy – such was the dance. That is, it is He who was happy by winning them over with His dance.

kUththAdi maghizhndhAy enRumHe who has to be happy seeing thumburu, nAradha, et al dancing after experiencing His sweetness, is being the dancer and the one who is happy too, says parakAla nAyaki. Is it apt for a eeSvaran to do pot dance? It is not so when in the state of parathvam, but for kANNan who is born as a cowherd, this dance gives excellence. Like how when there is more wealth, brahmins would perform vaidhika karmas like yAgam, like how when there is more wealth the samsAris that are engaged in wordly pleasures would marry again and again, the outlet of pride of increased wealth for cowherds is the dance with pots. He the sarvESvaran considered Himself as one of the cowherds only, He danced so – is the idea. The matter that was available for everyone to enjoy in the middle of the junction is the one who is being hard for me to get – says she. The item that is available in the market is being hard for me to get – says she.

vada thiruvEngadam mEya myndhA enRum It is not only about standing in a junction in the place that is thiruvAyppAdi and giving Himself fully to them, it also talks about Him giving Himself fully by standing in thirumalai that is in the middle of both the worlds. “kaNNAvAn enRum, maNNOr viNNOrkku [thiruvAimozhi 1.8.3]”, divined nammAzhvAr too, that the place where people of this world and that world would assemble is thirumalai.

maindhA enRum – It is His youth that He gave everyone, standing in thirumalai. myndhan – young person. As said in “vAnavar vAnavar kOnodum namanRezhum thiruvEngadam [thiruvAzimozhi 3.3.7]”, “kAnamum vAnaramum vEdumudai vEngadam [nAnumugan thiruvandhAdhi – 47]”, those who proudly think of themselves as eeSvarans, the vAnaras that were born as animals, and hunters of lower births, all together stole His divine body, but which is being hard for me to get, says she. It could also be considered to mean – In eighth pAsuram, in the vyAkhAyanam of the word “kaLvA”, as per jithanthE 1-5 taken there as a pramANam, the divine body that is common to all the devotees, is belonging to everyone except me!

venRasurar kulam kaLaindha vEndhE enRum – The thought here is, “If He is a dear one only, but if it is in someone else’s hands to remove hurdles to reach Him, then I might lose Him. It is not so in His case who destroys very big hurdles such as the clans of asuras”. By this phrase, she is calling – O chakravarthy thirumagan, who killed Kharan, thUshanan in the forest of janasthAnam, who went to lankA, who killed everyone associated to rAvaNa and made him be alone, who uprooted everyone who were having characteristics of asura, and who destroyed their leader rAvaNAn also! She is saying ‘asurar kulam kaLaindha’, referring to rAkshasas as asuras because they are different from the dhEvas who are warriors.

vEndhE enRum – As said in, “rAmO rAmO rAma ithi prajAnAnAm aBhavan kaThA: | rAmaBhUtham jagath aBhUth rAmE rAjyam praSAsathi || [SrI rAmAyaNam – yudhDha kANdam – 128-102]” (rAmA, rAmA, rAmA is what the people were talking. When rAma ruled the country, the whole world became rAmA), One who is there for the dear ones to rumble about Him, and for enemies to fall, is not showing Himself to me. This AzhvAr is divining the two attributes of perumAL as divined by periyAzhvAr in “thAyar magizha onnAr thaLara [periyAzhvar thirumozhi 1.7.11]”, and in “thiN koL asuraraith thEya vaLarkinRan [periyAzhvAr thirumozhi 1.2.16]”.

viripozhil sUzh thirunaRaiyUr ninRAy enRum – (thirunaRaiyUr being) the place where chakravarthy thirumagan comes and stands for those who are present after His incarnation of rAma. Unlike other dhivya dhESams where emperumAn is present with the two divine consorts, in thirunaRaiyUr He is present with only vanjuLavallith thAyAR, and thus appears as rAma who cannot think of anyone other than seethA, is being present there. Meaning of this phrase is “Oh who stood in thirunaRaiyUr that is surrounded by vast garden”. Since the garden is using the loving glance of nambi and vanjuLavallith thAyar as the required water for growth, it is growing by leaps everyday. Since the loving glance of them would not change, the expansion of garden would not change either.

ninRAy enRum – He roamed around in search of pirAtti. After seeing Her in that place (thirunaRaiyUr), He could sustain Himself and then stood there. If that state has to last long for You, then don’t You have to show Yourself to me who is a servant of Her? When You don’t show Your grace on me, will You get Her company? – thinks she.

thunRu kuzhal karu niRaththu en thuNaiyE enRum – In this line too parakAla nAyaki is talking about nambi’s divine hair plait, and beauty of His divine body. It means ‘my companion having very dense black hair plait, and black divine body like a dark rainy cloud!’. Like how nammAzhvAr is also considering that dark cloud as his help, divined “thOLum nAngudaich churikuzhal kamalakkaN kari vAyk kALa mEghaththai anRi maRRonRilam gathiyE [thiruvAimozhi 10.1.1]”. The word “thuNai” has got the meaning of “protector”. Or, dear husband could also be a meaning. She is indicating that His divine hair plait and beauty of His divine body by themselves got her interested in Him. During the time of searching for pirAtti during His stay in the forest, due to not maintaining it His hair was down with locks. Since after seeing Her here (thirunaRaiyUr), it is then the hair that was properly combed and reformed by Her, it is saying ‘thunRu kuzhal’ (dense hair plait).

en thuNaiyE – “praSastha snighDha neela kutila kunthala: [SrI vishNu sahasranAma BhAshyam – kESava [23] nAma Bhattar BhAshya SrIsUkthi] (One having slippery, black, curly divine hair plait) – having such hair plait that is praised, and with divine body having nature of removing tiredness – showing these You made me Yours – is the meaning. During the days when I was not inclined to be involved in You, You cared for my being and not getting destroyed, and so showed your beauty of form and made me Yours and joined me – all of these You did so that You could leave me now? – says she. The word “thuNai” implies both the person who made her interested in Him, and also the one who protected her. In the pAsuram “ilai thuNai maRRu en nenjE [nAnumugan thiruvandhAdhi – 8], thirumazhisai AzhvAr showed both these meanings for the word “thuNai”. Oh who is my dear destiny, and who is the means of protection as well – is the thought.

enRum thuNai mulai mEl thuLisOrach chOrginRALE – Mother is saying that as my daughter was calling Him out like this, she fainted in the floor.

thuNai mulai – When He and she enjoy in union, her bosoms would be a companion instrument for both of their enjoyment. In the state of separation from Him too, the bosom of His touch would be a companion for her. So she is saying ‘thuNai mulai’.

thuLi sORach chOrginRALEDue to her tears pouring out like fire and falling on her bosoms and changing its colour, she also fainted, says the mother.

Considering the “en thuNaiyE” in previous line together with “sOrginRALE” of this line, the meaning of this word is as follows – Like how those who are falling down would say “ammA” while falling down, even when suffering due to Him not showing up, she is telling His name only while fainting and falling down. As a help to her as a mother, while I was standing looking at her thinking “would she look at my face (for help?)”, she, even without considering that He whom she considered as help had left her, is thinking about His showing up only, and fainted; may be this is how the state would be of those who are having connection with emperumAn. It is the nature of such people to ignore the other matters/things that shout out “take me, take me”, and not being able to sustain oneself without Him even when He has ignored. Even though the mother had considered herself as a protector, the daughter had ignored her (and considered only emperumAn as her protector).

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Translation by raghurAm SrInivAsa dhAsan.

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