Monthly Archives: November 2021

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

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<< previous pAsuram – 29 – minnumA mazhai thavazhum

In this last pAsuram, it is saying about him getting emperumAn, and that he says that those who learn this dhivya prabandham are able to remove fully, on their own, all the sorrows that are created in this material world.

parakAlan kaliyan

minnumA mazhai thavazhum mEga vaNNA

viNNavar tham perumAnE aruLAy enRu

annamAy munivarOdamarar Eththa

arumaRaiyai veLippaduththa ammAn thannai

mannumA maNimAda mangai vEndhan

mAnavEl parakAlan kaliyan sonna

panniyanUl thamizh mAlai vallAr – thollaip

pazhavinaiyai mudhalariya vallAr thAmE 30

Word by word meaning

ammAn thannai – About sarvESvaran

veLippaduththa – who brought out,

aru maRaiyai – the vEdhas that are difficult to obtain,

annam Ay – incarnating in the form of bird hamsam (swan),

munivarOdu amarar Eththa – as saints and dhEvas praised,

kaliyan – thirumangai AzhvAr,

mannu mA maNi mAda mangai vEndhan – who is the head of thirumangai that has got strong and best buildings,

mAnam vEl – and who is having the army that is spear,

parakAlan – and who is like yaman for other philosophies,

(kaliyan prayed)

minnumA mazhai thavazhum mEga vaNNA – Oh One having form like a cloud that is cool and crawling and is with lightning!

viNNavar tham perumAnE – Oh! the head of nithyasUris!

aruLAy – You should show your mercy (on me)!

enRu sonna – praying so and divined

panniya – very detailed

thamizh nUl – thamizh SAsthram

mAlai – in the form of garland of words;

vallAr thAm – those who can recite it,

ariya vallAr – they would be able to remove

pazha vinaiyai – earlier karmas

thollai – of eternal past

mudhal – completely along with any scent of it.

vyAkyAnam

minnu mA mazhai etc. – Oh One having the form like a rainy cloud that pours beautifully with lightning, thunder, and throwing rainbow! It talks about how like a cloud pouring rain on a dry paddy field, upon hearing the pleading call of AzhvAr as “adi nAyEn ninaindhittEnE”, emperumAn, looking with comforting eyes, came to him and showed Himself, to remove AzhvAr’s sorrows.

In previous pAsuram, the words like “mAlai adi nAyEn ninaindhittEnE” implied that emperumAn was not present then, and now as he addresses Him, “mEgavaNNA!”, it could imply that emperumAn has come and showed Himself. It is how the anger of love did not help (pAsuram 28), but his appealing with mentioning his blemishes (pAsuram 29), has helped.

nammAzhvAr started his dhivya prabandham with mentioning emperumAn’s supremacy, jagathkAraNathvam (having nature of being creator of the worlds), and finished with jagathkAraNathvam in “avAvarach chUzh ariyai ayanai aranai [thiruvAimozhi – 10.10.11].

This AzhvAr started this dhivya prabandham with emperumAn’s form in “maNi uruvil bhUdham aindhAy [thirunedunthANdakam – 1]”, and is ending the dhivya prabandham by mentioning His form, as “minnu mA mazhai thavazhum mEga vaNNA”.

viNNavar tham perumAnE – It is talking about nithyasUris who live based on the food that is His divine form, fed by emperumAn. Oh! You who are giving Yourself for ayarvarum amarar (nithyasUris) to enjoy! Is it a greatness for You to give Yourself to them, since it is like a rain pouring on the ocean; please show mercy for me also to get rid of association with the body and see you at all times (in paramapadham), like how nithyasUris always see your presence.

aruLAy – Even though AzhvAr is at the stage of paramabhakthi thus creating highest form of longing for Him, he is not considering that devotion as the means to attain Him like how upAsakas do; he thinks that it is emperumAn’s mercy that is the means for attaining him. So he is saying aruLAy. He is saying, that for getting rid of interest in worldly matters also, His mercy is the means – as he said “AzhiyAn aruLE [periya thirumozhi – 1.1.4]“, and for getting the experience of emperumAn also, His mercy is the means.

annamAy etc. – AzhvAr is giving an example for explaining how emperumAn came and gave Himself to AzhvAr. Like how He brought out pramANam (vEdhas) to brahmA, He brought out Himself, the pramEya-BhUtha:, that is, One who is known from that pramANam.

munivarOdu amarar Eththa – Along with rishis, brahmA and others came to emperumAn and praised, while saying, “Oh! We have lost the eyes that are the vEdhas”. rishis need pramANam for their AthmA to attain wellness. For brahmA et al too there is need for pramANam, for the activities of creation etc.

annamAy – incarnating in the form of swan so that there is no doubt that vEdham is apaurushEyam (not authored by anyone). (If He had directly said the vEdhas to them, then a doubt might arise against apaurushEyathvam. Hence He came in this form and told them the vEdhas).

arumaRai – vEdham that is difficult to obtain. It is not the pramEyam (emperumAn) which was difficult to be attained, but was pramANam (vEdhas). (For me it was pramEyam that was difficult to obtain; for them it was the pramANam).

veLippaduththa – Creation and destruction of vEdham is about it being brought out and not brought out.

ammAn thannai – about sarvESvaran; He brought out vEdham to them because He is their owner – is the meaning here.

mannu mA maNimAda mangai vEndhan – As he sustained himself, the place also became strong, is the thought. thirumangai became a place having buildings with best gems, and which would not be destroyed till end of time of kalpam (a day of brahmA).

mangai vEndhan – He who fell at birds’ feet, became the ruler of thirumangai.

mAnavEl parakAlan – He became able to hold the spear. Also was able to do kainkaryam (of destroying the enemies of emperumAn and devotees). He holds spear due to compassion towards Him.

mAna-vEl – Even if a commoner holds that spear, it would make him similar to thirumangai AzhwAr. So this is about the greatness of the spear. Or, it could talk about the greatness of AzhvAr as ‘mAna vEl-para-kAlan’ (using spear He is great like yama for enemies).

parakAlan – Using sword in hand, and by explaining the meanings of vEdhas using dhivya prabandhams, he won the opposers, and established the limits instructed by vEdham.

kaliyan – Having strength to do these both (sword/dhivya prabandham). kali – midukku – ~strength. Another meaning is – He who destroyed the problems of kali yugam. He calls himself too as ‘kali-kanRi’.

panniya nUl thamizh mAlai vallAr – panniya – spanned. That is, emperumAn’s true nature, form, qualities/attributes, wealth – this dhivya prabandham spanning all of these, and having all these in it – such dhivya prabandham. nUl – dhivya prabandham satisfying all the definitions required of a literature. In the future when someone tries to show the definitions, then they could use this dhivya prabandham as the reference for that. thamizh – being eligible to be learned by everyone.

mAlai – For empermAn to wear it in His head. This dhivya prabandham being so.

thollai etc. – avidhyai that is ignorance, karmas that are good and bad ones, and vAsanai that arises out of habit of these karmas, ruchi that is interest in these matters, and association with body which is the cause of the above, – all of these are there in us from eternal past, following us in the form of cause and effect for each other; He says that those who learn this dhivya prabandham would be able to remove association with them on their own.

vinai – effects on self for two deeds in the form of good and bad. These two also show the happiness and anger of emperumAn for the respective deeds. These are in the form of those deeds done in previous births, and the ones done in current birth. The ones done in previous births is called pUrvAGam. Ones that are going to be done are called “uththarAGam”. Out of pUrvAGam whatever part has started yielding its effects is called “prArabDha karmam”.

The karma here also includes “avidhyai” – lack of / blemish in true knowledge; it is of three types. They are: “gyAna-anudhayam” – not having knowledge, “anyathA-gyAnam” – understanding the nature/attribute of something differently, and “vipareetha-gyAnam” – understanding something as totally something else.

karma also includes relationship with insentient (body, etc.) that are in the forms of sthUla Sareeram (gross body), and sUkshma Sareeram (subtle body).

karma also includes, vAsanai which is the smell left out of habits that involved these relationships with insentient, and includes the interest/taste of involvement in these insentient matters.

All these are hurdles for a jeevAthma to reach paramAthmA.

thollaip pazhavinai – These karmas are being very old, and not being possible to determine the starting point of its accumulation. These are really very old, is the meaning.

thAmE – They would be able to remove completely these hurdles all on their own; they will not even require emperumAn’s help (eeSvaranudaiya muzhangaith thaNNeerum vENdA). (This is considering the importance of Him showing grace to us out of happiness for learning this dhivyaprabandham). That is, for those who learned this dhivyaprabandham, emperumAn’s grace would automatically reach them.

aruLAy enRu – munivarOdu amarar Eththa – Originally the phrase “minnu mA mazhai thavazhum mEga vaNNA viNNavar tham perumALE aruLAy” is taken as said by thirumangai AzhvAr to perumAL. Instead, if it is taken as part of the phrase munivar and amarar praising emperumAn, then it is shown that the original meaning is more apt and better.

thirumangai AzhvAr does not have the strength to say openly about his greatness, as “en avAvarach chUzhndhAyE [thiruvAimozhi – 10.10.10]” like nammAzhvAr, That is why, he divines such that the phrases have to be aligned differently. Also, unlike previous pAsurams, AzhvAr is not expressing his longing. He is saying that emperumAn’s divine body is like rainy clouds. He is saying that emperumAn gave Himself to the enjoyment of nithyasUris. He says that emperumAn would give him strength to hold the spear. He says he can destroy the enemies. All these talks would be suitable for this AzhvAr’s talks only and will not match even the words of nithyasUris and munis. So, in this pAsuram, it is clear that AzhvAr got emperumAn as he wished and got satisfaction in his mind.

So the apt ordering of phrases is – munivarOdu amarar Eththa – annamAy arumaRaiyai veLippaduththa ammAn thannai, mannu mA maNimAda mangai vEndhan mAnavEL parakAlan kaliyan – “minnu mA mazhai thavazhum mEga vaNNa viNNAvar tham perumAnE aruLAy” – enRu sonna – panniya nUl thamizh mAlai vallAr thollaip pazhavinaiyai mudhalairiya vallAr thAmE (This is as listed in the word-by-word meaning here).

——

Translator’s note – This completes the translation of this dhivya SAsthram. It had been an immersive experience to learn the divine words of AzhvArs and Acharyas, puththUr swami’s vivaraNam, and upanyAsams of learned swamis, in trying to translate this with proper meanings as much as possible. If there are any corrections needed, kindly feel free to send them.

adiyEn realized that this vyAkyAnam grew sweeter and more beautiful as it progressed from pAsuram to pAsuram. This is an experience that everyone could get by the grace of thAyar and emperumAn, and AchAryas.

—–

Translation by raghurAm SrInivAsa 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

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

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<< previous pAsuram – 28 – thennilangai araN sidhari

In the first ten pAsurams, after determining the true nature of the self, the true nature of the supreme, determining the benefit that is according to the nature of the self, determining the hurdles to achieving those benefits, determining the means that helps removes hurdles and enables achievement of benefit, making thirumanthram the subject of speech, which informs about these five aspects, he got clarity and spent his time accordingly.

In the middle ten – Not stopping with thinking about it in his mind as for spending time, he fainted out of overwhelming love, and he nurtured the longing for seeing Him with his eyes, and fainted as he could not see Him in person as he expected, and as others talked about her being fainted like this, the mother saying those words about her daughter – this is how these pAsurams were set.

In the third ten – Seeing her state, her friend wished to get her to calm down, and hence asked her about what had happened, and since this was about the story of what happened with Him, she sustained herself and talked to her friend about it; then as there were no questions or answers, her suffering due to separation reared its head; she got involved in sending messengers. Since He did not show up after that, anger due to love-quarrel reared its head. If this had extended over time like it did for nammAzhvAr, then He might have come and showed Himself. Due to this AzhvAr’s delicateness, anger left in the middle itself, and the state of desperation came back as before. Even in this state she could sustain herself only if He came and showed Himself. Since that was not there, parama-Bhakthi that was born for nammAzhvAr in “muniyE nAnmuganE [thiruvAimozhi – 10.10]”, was born for thirumangai AzhvAr at this point; so expressing His ananyagathithvam (not having any other refuge than Him), and expressing his having blemishes and so having no good deed in Him, in this pAsuram, AzhwAr wails, “Oh! You who are having love, are not showing up even in this stage!”.

nammAzhvAr started by talking about emperumAn in supreme state in “muniyE nAnmuganE [thiruvAimozhi – 10.10.1], and about emperumAn in avathAram (incarnation) state in “kOla varAham onRAy [thiruvAimozhi – 10.10.7]”, and called emperumAn mentioning these states.

Since for thirumangai AzhvAr in the place of supremacy it is avathAram (incarnation), he is calling emperumAn based on incarnations of rAma and krishNa, and the archAvathAram (deity form).

nappinnai thinking about only krishNan

anRAyar kulamagaLukkaraiyan thannai

alaikadalaik kadaindhadaiththa ammAn thannai

kunRAdha valiyarakkar kOnai mALak

kodunjilaivAych charam thurandhu kulangaLaindhu

venRAnaik kunReduththa thOLinAnai

virithiraineer viNNagaram maruvinALum

ninRAnaith thaNkudanthaik kidantha mAlai

nediyAnai adinAyEn ninaindhittEnE 29

Word by word meaning

araiyan thannai – Him who is a leader

Ayar kulam magaLukku – for nappinnai pirAtti who incarnated as the best woman for the clan of cowherds,

anRu – once upon a time,

alai kadalai kadaindhu – Him who churned the milky ocean having waves splashing,

adaiththa ammAn thannai – Him, the lord who constructed bridge (in salty ocean),

kunRadha vali – having blemishless strength

arakkar kOnai mALa – that is, rAvaNan to die,

kodum silai vAy – Him who in the grave bow

saram thurandhu – set the arrows and shot them

kulam kaLaindhu venRAnai – and destroyed the clan of asuras and won,

thOLinAnai – Him who is having shoulders

kunRu eduththa – that lifted the gOvardhana mountain as an umbrella,

nALum ninRAnai – Him who is living forever

viri thirai neer viNNagaram maruvi – well set in thiruviNNagar that is full of water bodies having waves,

kidandha mAlai – Him who is in the dear one being in reclined position

thaN kudandhai – in the cool place of thirukkudandhai,

nediyAnai – Him, the perumAL who is the most eminent that others,

nAy adiyEn – I who am a lowly one like a dog,

ninaindhittEn – thought about – Him.

vyAkyAnam

anRu etc. – He is talked about as showing up for His lovers. First, AzhvAr divines about His helping nappinnaip pirAtti.

anRu – At that time also a danger happened like today. Considering the beauty of nappinnaip pirAtti, deciding that her groom should be the one who is having the ability to protect her, and hence it was established that winning the bulls as the condition for giving her daughter in marriage; so before krishNan came for that, the shivering of nappinnai is the shivering with the thought that she might become related to someone else.

Ayar kula magaLukku – For nappinnai who was born in noble clan; thinking that it would not be possible to get nappinnai unless born in an equally noble clan, is the reason why krishNa had come and took birth as nandhagOpar’s son.

araiyan thannai – Equivalent to destroying enemies and getting back a kingdom and ruling it, is His winning the bulls that were in His way to get nappinnai, and getting the delightful nappinnai. Like how He removed the hurdles and helped Her get Him, should He not remove the hurdles for me and come to me – parakAla nAyaki asks.

alai kadal etc. – He is divining about the way perumAL helped SrIdhEvi and seethAp pirAttis. To get periya pirAtti He churned the ocean. To solve the loneliness of seethAp pirAtti, He bridged across the ocean. Giving nectar to dhEvas, giving their places back in rAmAvathAram are all side effects only. ALavandhAr knowing well this inner thought of emperumAn, had divined “yadharThamamBhoDhiramanThyabhanDhi [sthOthra rathnam – 37]” (Only to get Her did emperumAn churn the ocean; only to get Her did He construct bridge across the ocean).

ammAn thannai – If You do not come here and show yourself to me who is longing for You, not only would You lose your name as a big lover of ones who love you, you would also lose the supremacy attributed to you for giving, as a side-effect, the nectar to and removing the poverty of dhEvas who became poor due to the curse of sage dhurvAsa and came to you asking for help, and giving back their places when brahmA et al lost their places of living due to rAvaNan – she says.

kunRAdha vali – If it is just the strength of shoulders, then that could diminish over time; since this is strength based on boons for penances, it does not diminish over time (the for rAkShasas).

arakkar kOnai mALa – For the death of rAvaNan the head of rAkShasas whose living, using the boons they obtained, was troubling for others.

kodunjilaivAych charam thurandhu – Shooting arrows from His SrI-SArngam bow such that the enemies lose upon just seeing it.

kodunjilai – using the arrows from bow that is having greatness as said in “dheeptha pAvaka sankASai: [SrI rAmAyaNam – yudhDha KANdam – 16-23]” (bows are like burning fire), and “svarga mArga praBhAvanam [SrI rAmAyaNam – kishkindhA KANdam – 17-8]” (bow that would send one to paramapadham).

kulam kaLaindhu – Making the clan of rAkshasas to be destroyed. What about viBheeshaNAzhvAn? Is he not a rAkShasa?

Based on viBheeshaNa’s own thoughts, and based on rAvaNan calling him as a destroyer of own family (and so does not belong), and based on the thoughts of SrI rAma, SrI viBheeshaNAzhvAn belongs to the clan of IkShvAhu, that is SrI rAma’s clan.

That is, since rAvaNan did not listen to his good words, viBheeshaNa said “niSAchara! [SrI rAmAyaNama – yudhDha KANdam – 6-26]” (Oh, rAkshasa! (thus separating himself from that clan)). rAvaNan said “thvAm thu dhik kulapAmsanam [SrI rAmAyaNam – yudhDha KANdam – 16-16]” (You who has come to destroy the clan of rAkshasas is to be hated). perumAL asked SrI viBheeshaNAzhvAn, “rAkShasAnAm balAbalam [SrI rAmAyaNAm – yudhDha KANdam – 19-7]” (tell me the strength and weakness of rAkShasas); vibheeshaNAzhvAn said that he would help in destroying the rAkShasas – “rAkShasAnAm vaDhEsAhyam [SrI rAmAyaNam – yudhDha KANdam – 19-23]” (I will help destroy the rAkShasa army of rAvaNan); so he does not belong to the clan of rAkShasas.

While only rAvaNan did the mistake, it was such a heavy one that his whole clan got destroyed. Like how if one is loving towards emperumAn, then its benefit reaches all series of people in his chain of relationship, if one performs bad deeds towards Him, then that also would affect all the people in the line of relationship with such person. Anger towards rAvaNan ended up in destruction of his clan of rAkShasas. Due to the friendship towards mahArAjar (sugreevan), the clan of monkeys flourished.

venRAnai – Like how He destroyed the clan of rAkShasas without missing anyone, He won the war while making sure not even one from the clan of divine monkeys had any trouble.

kunReduththa thOLinAnai – Making the girls of five lakhs families get the experience by creating desperation in them that they cannot survive without seeing krishNan, by holding the gOvardhana mountain as umbrella using the strength of His arm. By this, she asks – Should You who created the longing that does not look for anything other than You, not make me enjoy You?

viri thirai neer viNNagaram maruvi – For helping – those who are living after that incarnation, those who send messengers, and those who get involved in quarrel out of love, is why He lives in thiruviNNagar.

viri thirai neer viNNagaram – place that is suitably cool having plenty of water to match the delicateness of ermperumAn.

maruvi – Leaving paramapadham and living in archA (statue) form in this material world that causes sorrows, is due to excessive love towards His devotees. For a farmer, it would be apt for him to sleep in the place where water flows to the fields, instead of sleeping inside his house. emperumAn is “paththi uzhavan [nAnmukan thiruvanthAdhi – 23]”.

nALum ninRAnai – Him who is standing till the end of period of kalpa.

thaN kudandhaik kidandha mAlai – If He is in standing position, one might think that there is some place else He might be going to. Preventing that thought, Him who is lying down in a resting position in thirukkudandhai that removes difficulties, like saying that He would not leave until all the people of the material world is fully taken with Him to paramapadham.

What is the reason for His being in this world in the positions of standing, sitting, and lying down?

mAlai – It is because He is having excessive love towards His devotees.

nediyAnai – Him who is long; Is it possible for me to talk fully about how much He gives Himself to His devotees? I can only say that He is limitless.

Or,

nediyAnai – Him who is easily attainable for others, is being a hard-to-reach-flower for me, she says.

adi nAyEn ninaindhittEnE – Like how there is no limit to His greatness, there is no limit to my lowliness.

nAyEn – Born in this birth (like a dog) which roams into any house having doors open, and being hit and thrown away from each such house entered, owner having to take bath even if he touches out of happy friendliness;

adinAyEn – Me not having any other place to go than You, such that it is only You who would see me or go away from me, based on your considering of our relationship. Whether it is the time of surrendering or of union, for this AzhvAr there is only Akinchanyam (not having any other source of strength), and sva-dhOsha-kyApanam (presenting own mistakes). That is his greatness.

At the time of surrendering to Him he said, “nAyEn vandhadaindhEn [periya thirumozhi – 1.9.1]. Here when enjoying/experiencing Him, he is saying, “adi-nAyEn”. When this AzhvAr is at the stage of getting his blemishes removed and is going to reach Him, why say like this about himself? It is because this AzhvAr is such, that he thinks that all the good that happened to him are done by emperumAn as instruments for enjoying emperumAn.

nammAzhvAr finished his dhivyaprabandham by saying, “adhanil periya en avA [thiruvAimozhi – 10.10.11]” , thus saying that his devotion is bigger that the thathvams of chith, achith, and eeSvaran. This AzhvAr is finishing his last dhivya prabandham saying “adi nAyEn”.

What is the reason? –

nammAzhvAr was free from worldly attachment from the time of birth itself, so getting him to gain more and more devotion towards Him is what emperumAn had to do for that AzhvAr. So He made that AzhvAr to be able to say “adhanil periya en avA [thiruvAimozhi – 10.10.11]”.

thirumangai AzhvAr was in the state as he himself said in “venRiyE vENdi veezh porutkirangi vERkaNAr kalaviyE karudhi, ninRavA nillA nenjinai udaiyEn [periya thirumozhi – 1.1.4], that is, having many blemishes in earlier state. So emperumAn grew naichyAnusandhAnam in this AzhvAr (thinking about own blemishes and considering self as lowly), and in the end of made him say “adi–nAyEn ninaindhittEn”.

ninaindhittEnE – Earlier in thirumaNangollai, there is one acceptance He did as He accepted without expecting any qualification from AzhvAr. I thought that that grace should be there till the time AthmA lived. In the state of being parakAla nAyaki the lover, that voluntary grace of emperumAn is said as gAndharva type of wedding, that is, natural union. I thought that such natural union with You should exist till the time AthmA exists, is the thought here.

—–

Translation by raghurAm SrInivAsa 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

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

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<< previous pAsuram – 27 – sengAla mada nArAy

nammAzhvAr in the thiruvAimozhi of “vaigal pUngazhivAy [thiruvAimozhi – 6.1]” had sent birds to emperumAn as messengers, and since that did not get emperumAn to show up, he became angry due to overwhelming love (praNaya rOsham) towards Him, and hence in the next thiruvAimozhi of “minnidai madavAr [thiruvAimozhi – 6.2]”, she closed the door on Him saying “pOgu nambi” (leave me alone), thus showing his love-quarrel towards Him. Thirumangai AzhvAr also sent messengers earlier, and is now showing love-quarrel.

The next state after sending messenger due to sadness of separation, is the state of having anger out of love. Like how one would get their mind cleared upon hearing a loud thunder when immersed in anger, she also got a clarity in her mind. So she determined that since she is suffering from separation, and hence sent messengers, and now good signs are also visible, His coming here would not fail. And she thought for sure that if He came, then she would not show her face to him / not welcome Him.

Reason for that is – His next union would end in separation only; so instead of that, it is better to not welcome Him, but die in front of Him and thus escape from the suffering due to separations – is her thought. Like how someone who has decided to die would eat betel leaves, wear flowers, and laugh, etc., acting normal on the outside, she too was looking well while suffering inside. Her friend who saw this, thought what could be the reason for her to look well when seen, while suffering inside due to anger based on love. She asks “What is it you are thinking in your mind?”. She replies, “If He comes I won’t interact with Him like before. I have strongly decided to die in front of Him itself”.

To that her friend thought, “Oh fool! Are there wrestlers who fight against a mountain? Would you, who do not have any strength, be able fight against Him who is the lord of both the worlds, fully able, and is like an elephant that is equal to a mountain?”. So she strongly decided that she should somehow prevent her from dying. But the friend had anger more towards emperumAn than she had towards him.

So she said, “There is use in having union with lover having affection. There is no point in having union with lords”. She replies, “You are going to see for yourself about the trouble His lordship and His leadership of both the worlds are going to go through in my hands”.

Her friend thought, “Oh she is being very staunch, and looks like she might die. So I should save her such that she would be one who is stopped at the state of anger due to love, and not one who reached the stage of dying”. So she said, “Not being punctual to His devotees is His habit”.

She replies in this pAsuram, “Like you say, His love is all for a show on the outside only; I cannot stay alive”.

It fits for her to be angry towards her lover; is it apt for her friend also to be angry at emperumAn? SrI vAlmIki BhagavAn, who is not interested in any worldly affairs, who eats dry leaves, had said “This SrI rAman learned only to rule the country and to tie horses and elephants, but not reached even the beginning stage of having love”, which he says as the words of hanuman when he sees seethAp pirAtti in aSOka vanam. That is, “dhushkaram kRuthavAn rAma: heenO yadhanayA praBhu: | DhArayathyAthmanO dhEham na SokEnAvaseedhathi [SrI rAmAyaNAm – sundhara KhANdam – 15-53] (Oh this rAma has not died after separation from seethA! He is still having his body! He is doing something impossible!).

To make her sustain her life, her friend first said about emperumAn showing up for His devotees during the incarnations of rAma and krishNa. The lover girl repeats her friend’s words in the first half of ths pAsuram, and in the second part she says that those are just a show by Him on the outside, and that she is definitely going to die.

thennilangai araN sidhari avuNan mALach

chenRulagamUnRinaiyum thirindhOr thErAl

mannilangu bArathaththai mALavUrndha

varaiyuruvin mAkaLiRRaith thOzhee! enRan

ponnilangu mulaikkuvattil pUttik koNdu

pOgAmai vallEnAyp pulaviyeydhi

ennilangamellAm vandhinbameydha

eppozhudhum ninaindhurugi iruppan nAnE 28

Word by word meaning

thOzhee! – Oh friend!

senRu – (He who) went (there and won, as the),

araN – forts

sidhari – got destroyed

thennilakai – in the beautiful lankA,

avuNan mALA – and also rAvaNan got destroyed;

ulagam mUnRinaiyum thirundhu – and who spanned all the three worlds by His steps (during thrivikrama avathAr),

Or thErAl Urndha – He who conducted using a chariot,

bArathaththai mALa – for everyone to be destroyed in the mahAbhAratha war

man ilangu – that was having bright presence of kings;

varai uruvin mA kaLiRRai – that is, emperumAn who is big like an elephant in form like a mountain,

pUttik koNdu – (I will) tie (Him in)

en than – my

pon ilangu mulaik kuvattil – pillars that are the bosom that are beautiful like gold,

pOgAmai vallEnAy – and become able to stop and prevent from going away,

pulavi eydhi – and go through all the sorrows in front of Him which I went through in His absence,

ennil angam ellAm vandhu inbam eydha – for all the parts of my body to come to me and become happy,

nAn – I (would)

ninaindhu – think about Him only

eppozhudhum – at all times,

urugi iruppan – and die, so I can survive by escaping from sorrows of separation.

vyAkyAnam

then ilangai araN sidhari – In the next line of this pAsuram she refers to emperumAn as elephant, “varai uruvin mA kaLiRRai”; so when talking before that about the deeds of emperumAn, she talks about Him using elephant as metaphor. Destroying that beautiful fort; it is the strength of fort that looks beautiful for the brave. When thiruvadi went to lankA in search of seethAp pirAtti, seeing the strength of forts, and that of rAvaNan, he thought “With the way this fort is, only my entering it, or my father vAyu entering it would be possible. Other than that, nobody else can enter it. Even that entry would have to be in the night only and not during the day time. To such a strong fort, I am trying to bring in the princes who are delicate”, and thus felt terrible in his mind. If we look at the strength of the head of this place, he is able to win many in other places all by himself.

sidhari – Like an elephant destroying a sand castle without any effort. If it is a stone or tree then the word idari (tripped) could be used. viBheeshaNAzhvan, just only with the knowledge of hearing about valour of perumAL, had told “yadhA saikathamamBhasi [SrI rAmAyaNam – yudhDha KANdam – 16-24], that is, like how a river destroys a sand castle, you and your army are going to be destroyed in the hands of SrI rAma.

avuNan mALach cheRRu – Going there such that rAvaNan dies. rAvaNan was dead just on the walk of SrI rAma. Then it was just cutting his dead body, and breaking his sword. That is, Like how when a mad elephant walks, it would destroy everything in its path with its foot and trunk, seeing how He destroyed karan, dhUshaNan, etc., destroying vAli who had tied rAvaNan in his tail, going and staying in the sea shore and building a bridge across the ocean that was protecting lankA, reaching lankA and surrounding it, rAvaNan was dead much earlier.

Aren’t these His acts for his lover? He did not do this based on love. He did these to get the women who are powerless, so these are just a show only, she says.

ulagam mUnRinaiyum thirindhu – Spanning the seven worlds above and seven worlds below; It used the word thirindhu to imply that like how a mad elephant would roam as per its wish, He had kept His divine foot on anyone and everyone.

Not only He showed up for His lover seethAp pirAtti, He kept His divine feet on everyone including those who ignore Him due to subservience to others, or feeling independent; isn’t He of such nature? (asks her friend).

“He is an expert, you see; He would rather keep His divine feet on those who ignore Him, but not show up for those who wish to be near His divine feet as I said about me in “emperumAn thiruvadik keezh aNaiya [thirunedunthANdakam – 22]”, she replies.

Or thErAl mannilangu bArathaththai mALa Urndha – oru thErAl – Enemies had said that krishNan shall not use weapon, but they did not say that He should not do such acts as going as messenger, or driving the chariot; So, as a charioteer He destroyed using a chariot. There is no restriction for Him that using certain things He accomplish only certain things. It is said too as “kollA mAkkOl kolai seydhu [thiruvAimozhi – 3.2.3]” (~using the stick of chariot driving, He destroyed all the armies).

mannilangu bArathaththai – The bhAratha war that was led by the roaming soldiers like Bheeshma, dhrONa who were experts in chariots, and with expertise as athi-ratha, mahA-ratha.

mALavUrndha – emperumAn directing the chariot such that it is not possible to even see the dead bodies. As said in “Adiya mA-nedun thEr padai neerezhach cheRRa pirAn [thiruvAimozhi – 6.8.3]”, He drove the chariot that the enemies got ground under the wheel and got powdered.

He did all these for dhraupadhi who did not consider anyone else as Her protector, isn’t it? – asks her friend.

He did all these for the world to fall for Him by making them think, “Oh He did all these acts that are not a match for His greatness, so that a woman could tie her hair!”. He is the one who would make the hair be spread out for those like me who cannot survive without Him – she replies.

varai uruvin mA-kaLiRRAi – Him who is like an elephant having strength and pride like a mountain. Her friend’s thought is – He who is staunch in destroying the enemies of His devotees, and having pride due to happiness of accomplishing the deeds for His devotees.

thOzhee – He who is described by you as having all these greatness, is going to suffer in my hands, which you are going to see for sure, she says.

Or,

as said in “Ekam dhu:Kham suKham cha nau [SrI rAmAyaNam – kishkinthA KANdam – 5-17]” (Our happiness and sorrows are together (said SrI rAma to sugreeva)), Like rAma and sugreeva, you are together with me in happiness and sorrow, if you don’t stop me dear friend, then you will see what He undergoes in my hand – could be the meaning.

thOzhee – addressing her so, thereby requesting her not to stop what she is going to do.

enRan pon ilangu mulaik kuvattil pUttik koNdu – When there is brahmAsthram (ultimate weapon) with me, is there anyone who cannot be won by it? She says.

enRan ponnilangu mulai – Is my bosom grown only as much as it is grown for the women of this country? Is my bosom grown only as much as his bosom [Here bosom represents the counter-part for males – moustache and beard]?

ponnilangu mulai – Is my womanliness only as much His manliness? My womanliness is such that the colour of my body would pale if He separates. His manliness is that, as said in “minnilangu thiru uruvum [thirunedenthANdakam – 25]”, even when separated, His body stays bright like before. Would He become equal to me, when the coloiur of His body stays the same whether together or separated?

mulaikkuvattil pUttik koNdu – enjoining Him in the pillar that is the bosom; enjoining Him like that, is – expressing to Him her sorrow of separation.

pOgAmal-pUttik koNdu – As He tries to leave because of not getting attention from me, I shall fully express my sorrow of separation.

mulaik kuvattil pUttik koNdu – Enjoining Him in the mountain that is the bosom. He is “varai-uruvin mA-kaLiRu”(A big elephant like a mountain), so it has to be tied together with a mountain.

vallEnAy – This is the only If, she says. If I have the ability to stop Him from going away. If i get this ability, then I would do all these, she says. That is – If my mind would help me do this difficult task, is the meaning. If He comes and shows Himself to me, then my heart will fall for Him. If he does not do that; if you, my friend, would not stop me what I do, and be on my side; she is seeking her friend’s help because her friend is closer to her than her heart is.

pulavi eydhi – All the sorrows I went through, I am going to go through in front of Him; Or, all the sorrows I went through, I will make Him go through the same in front of my eyes.

ennil angam ellAm vandhu inbam eydha – At first glance, this might give the meaning of getting happiness. But the topic here is showing anger due to love; so, it means – since there is no happiness for me than dying, “I shall die in front of Him” is the meaning for this phrase. That is, “Without giving room for another separation, I shall die in front of Him”, is the thought.

ennil angam ellAm – All parts of my body which He liked and also praised when together, as, “Oh! How beautiful these eyes are! How beautiful this smile is! How beautiful this bosom is!”.

inbam eydha – die and thus get ultimate joy (because there would not be repeated separations from Him). Like how a man having a big family would drown together with His family when not able to tolerate His family’s and His hunger duringfamine, I will die along with all parts of my body, and be joyful, she says.

vandhu –(all parts of my body would come to me).Seeing the sweetness of emperumAn, various parts of her body would behave like sentient and would wish to enjoy Him, and so compete independently. Like how BharathAzhvAn and kaikEyi had had different opinions, She the mother cow, and the parts of her body which are the calves, would be eager to enjoy Him independently. I will retrieve all of these from Him, and join them in me which is their place, and we (self and the parts of the body) will die together – she says.

inbam eydha – She is saying ‘for me to attain happiness’, to imply, ‘I am going to die’. Because her suffering from separation is such, that she thinks that only dying would be paramapadham.

eppozhudum – In all states. That is – As her friend said, “You are saying these because He has not come in person. If He does, then as said in “mye-vaNNam [thirunedunthANdakam – 21]”, you would become involved with Him”, she is replying, “I would die even in that state”.

eppozhudhum – He is the owner, I am His property – even if He shows me this relationship of ours, I am still going to die, she says. This is due to her staunchness based on – “I shall not join Him and give room for another separation”.

ninaindhurugi iruppan – I would be destroyed the moment I think of Him. I will not give room for Him to come to me and say “I would not leave you; I would not survive if I leave”, and such false words like He did before; instead I would die just as I think of Him, she says, and this is due to her delicateness.

Anger of love came to nammAzhvAr in “minnidai madavAr [thiruvAimozhi – 6.2]; then when emperumAn came to her, she together with her friend, stopped Him by putting up the protection wall that is her anger of love (like how thAyAr closes the door in thiruvarangam periya kOyil during praNaya kalaha uthsavam). Then emperumAn had to show to her step by step His inability to go anywhere else, remove her anger of love, and then only get her. Instead, without giving room for that, I would die the moment I think of Him, says parakAla nAyaki.

nAnE – But this kind of delicateness is not seen anywhere else (is it possible)? – Being this delicate is my quality only, she says. “Those like parAnkuSa nAyaki would be having strength to fully execute their anger of love if they decided -‘Let me not get emperumAn to come near me if He showed up’. Unlike that, my delicateness is such that I would die the moment I think of Him”, she says.

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Translation by raghurAm SrInivAsa dhAsan.

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