SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:
periya thirumozhi >> Third centum >> Sixth decad
Highlights from avathArikai (Introduction)
No specific introduction.
pAsuram
piNi avizhum naRu neela malar kizhiyap pedaiyOdum
aNimalar mEl madhu nugarum aRu kAla siRu vaNdE!
maNikazhunIr marungalarum vayalAli maNavALan
paNi aRiyEn nI senRu en payalai nOy uraiyAyE
Word-by-Word meanings
piNi avizhum – blossoming
naRu neela malar – fresh neela flowers [blue Indian water-lily]
kizhiya – to tear
pedaiyOdum – with female counterpart
aNi malar mEl – from dense flowers
madhu nugarum – drinking honey
aRu kAla – having six feet
siRu vaNdE – little beetle!
maNi – Beautiful
kazhunIr – sengazhunIr [purple/red Indian water-lily]
marungu – in all four sides
alarum – blossoming
vayal – surrounded by fertile fields
Ali – mercifully residing in thiruvAli
maNavALan – lord’s
paNi – acts
aRiyEn – I don’t know
nI senRu – you go
en payalai nOy – paleness spreading in my whole body
uraiyAy – You should inform, without ignoring.
Simple translation
Oh little beetle who is having six feet and is drinking honey along with your female counterpart, to tear the blossoming, fresh neela flowers! I don’t know the acts of the lord who is mercifully residing in thiruvAli which is surrounded by fertile fields having beautiful sengazhunIr flowers on all four sides; without ignoring me, you go and inform him about paleness spreading in my whole body.
Highlights from vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
piNi avizhum naRu neela malar kizhiya – The flower blossoms partly due to the entry of the beetle and partly due to the change in time. The beetle knows the difference between well blossomed flowers and fresh flowers. With this – it is said that when he starts speaking, the beetle can understand his heart and solve the issue.
piNi avizhum … – The beetles are drinking the honey to tear the blossoming, fresh, neela flower; this implies – wherever they are sent, they will finish the task based on the situation.
malar kizhiya – The beetle is not enjoying the togetherness carefully; due to its pride, without seeing that it is its own mattress, it is destroying it [flower]. They have not entered the flower to perform japa [prayer]! The beetles, which enjoy togetherness without any other duty, will not know anything else. Just as a person who has eaten unmaththangAy (intoxicant material), will have his heart blinded and not know anything else.
When asked “What is the intoxicant here?” parakAla nAyaki says
pedaiyOdum – Don’t they need a separate mattress? They can unite on sky; each one’s body is the other’s mattress as said in SrI rAmAyaNam sundhara kANdam 38.14 “thavAngE samupAviSam” (then rest on your lap).
aNi malar mEl madhu nugarum – Will drink from dense flowers. When one is drinking from one flower, if it desires to drink from the next one, it need not fly. Since the whole pond is filled with flowers densely, when a beetle needs to go from one flower to another, it can just walk over. You like the dense nature of the flowers and are having this act of drinking honey as the only activity!
aRu kAla – Unlike those with two feet, those with six feet can quickly go and accomplish the task. They (AzhwArs) think that the feet of those who unite them with emperumAn are their life as said in sthOthra rathnam 2 “athra parathra chApi nithyam yadhIya charaNau SaraNam madhIyam” (in this world and in the other world as well, always the divine feet of that SrIman nAthamunigaL are my refuge). She is saying “My livelihood is present in abundance”. One need not worry thinking about “charaNau” (two feet).
siRu vaNdE – While the skill is great, like embAr’s divine form, the beetle is also little in size.
maNi kazhu nIr marungu alarum – In all of the surroundings, pearls and sengazhunIr flowers only are to be seen. Alternatively, maNi means beautiful. Beautiful sengazhunIr flower blossoming.
maNi kazhu nIr … – Also explained as – one who has arrived and is residing in thiruvAli which is surrounded by fertile fields which have on their sides, beautiful sengazhunIr flowers blossoming. Another explanation – the water which is throwing up pearls and sengazhunIr flowers in the surroundings.
vayalAli maNavALan paNi aRiyEn – [paNi – act] Is he focussed on arriving here, to embrace me only? Or is he engaged in plucking flowers and giving them to those who are like jAmbavathi [one of the wives of krishNa, and the daughter of jAmbavAn, the bear]? I don’t know. Alternatively, is he being uncaring towards me like how dhushyantha was towards SakunthalA? I don’t know that as well. [paNi – speak] Without any wetness in his tongue and teeth, is he asking “What did she do?” “What happened to her?” paNi can be considered as speech and action, in this manner.
Though we are unable to know his nature, we cannot live without him.
nI senRu – To start with, we cannot be like him. He can live without us, but we cannot live without him.
nI senRu – Even if it is wrong, you first go to him. It is proper for us to wait for him to come.
When asked “What should we say, when we go there?” parakAla nAyaki says,
en payalai nOy uraiyAyE – As said in SrI rAmAyaNam sundhara kANdam 35.35 “thadhAsIth nishprabha: athyartham rAhugrastha iva amSumAn” (sugrIva lost his shine, hearing the words of iLaiya perumAL like the sun caught by rAhu), as iLaiya perumAL informs the sorrow of perumAL to mahArAjar, and as the words reached sugrIva mahArAjar’s ears, the body started becoming pale), similarly you explain my situation to him in such a manner that his body acquires the same paleness as my body.
payalai nOy urai – Her paleness is beyond words. These beetles are so capable to speak about what is beyond words.
en payalai nOy uraiyAyE – Inform him about how my body is fully spread with paleness. She is saying that the beetle should inform in such a manner that wherever its word reaches, that place should become pale.
en payalai nOy uraiyAyE – What is the use of svathanthrar’s [bhagavAn’s] nature? You go and inform all this to him.
In the next article we will enjoy the next pAsuram.
adiyen sarathy ramanuja dasan
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