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

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Introduction

The respected mother thought, “She (the daughter, parakAla nAyaki, that is, thirumangai AzhvAr), is able to say with her mouth the divine names (of Him); she is in a state of being able to tolerate singing His names”; furthermore, “If we brought and placed the parrot which is sad due to not hearing her words, and make it say the divine names, then that would bring solace to her” – thinking so she brought the parrot and placed it in front of her.

(Translator’s note: In the kAlakshEpams of both SrI u.vE. koil vidhvAn narasimhAchAriar swami and of SrI u.vE. vElukkudi krishNan swami that are available to adiyen, this is the meaning provided. In the ‘vivaraNam’ (detailed meanings) by SrI u.vE. S. krishNaswAmy iyengAr (sudarsanar) swamy, it is given as – [(If we brought and placed the parrot which is sad due to not hearing her words), then she (parakAla nAyaki) would teach the parrot the divine names, (and that would bring solace to her)]. End of Translator’s note).

But when the parrot stayed put without saying anything, the mother said ‘kindly say the divine name’ (addressing it in a respectable way as required to do for any one who recite divine names); since the parrot was sad due to seeing her state, and thinking “as her servant due to being her disciple, we shall not say it in front of her even though it is she who taught me”, it avoided saying any words. This shows the meaning of SAsthram “Even it is the words taught by AchAryan, one should not say those words in his presence [i.e.one should let the AchArya speak always and not boast one’s own oratory skills in front of the AchArya]”.

Seeing this, she said ‘It is okay for you to follow me and recite as I recite the divine name”. Since that is how it was taught by her in the beginning, the parrot agreed to this. As she said the divine name, it repeated; after it said the name, as the lady started thinking about the meaning of the divine name, rued – this emperumAn, who would help anyone in danger, is not helping me, and so became weak – says the divine mother in this pAsuram.

Is it possible for his divine name to help sustain life at one time, and the same name would weaken us at another state? At every different state, the divine name would influence a different effect. In one state the divine name would purify; in one state it would bring happiness; in one state it would remove the fear of living in this material world; in one state it would be the means for getting something; in one state it would help sustain the life in oneself; in one state it would be like a poison and make one lose one’s life (due to desperation of separation from Him),

We see this in the case of samsAris as related to food they eat. As said in ‘AhAra-SudhDhau saththva SudhDhi: saththva SudhDhau DhruvAsmRthi: | smRthi lamBhE sarvagranTheenAm vipramOksha: || [chAndhokyOpanishad 7-26-2] (mind is purified by pure food; if mind is purified then thoughtfulness will be established well; if that happens then all the knots like bad karmas would go away), food would make one pure, bring happiness, would be a means for some benefit as in the form of donating it etc., and if taken in excess that food would be poisonous as well. In the same manner, for one who is having the thought ‘This AthmA is a servant of emprumAn’, the divine name would be a purifier at first, then would give mOksham and save us, and since it is auspicious it would be a sweet one to be attainable;

This is as said in ‘pavithrANAm hi gOvindha: pavithram paramuchyathE | puNyAnAmapi puNyA(S)sau mangaLAnAncha mangaLam [mahAbhAratham – AraNya parvam – 86-23] ((Dhaumyar said to yuthishtra) – Among those that purify, gOvindha is said as the most purifier; He is the most virtuous among the virtues that elevate a human being; He is the most auspicious among all the auspiciousness);

As said in ‘yannAma sankeerthanathO mahABhayAth vimOkshamApnOthi na samSayam nara: | sa sarvalOkArththiharO nRukEsaree mamAsthu mAngaLya vivrudhDhayE hari: || [vishNu Dharmam 431-24] (Reciting the divine name of whom would let a person relieve from the fear of material world, that narasinga who removes sorrows of all the world shall grow auspiciousness for me), the divine name would help remove the sorrows of the material world. These are states talked about when it comes to the rishis.

Among the AzhvArs, the divine name is famously known as enjoyable, life sustaining, purifying, and, poisonous. They said about the divine name being sweet and enjoyable, in ‘achyuthA amararErE Ayar tham kozhundhE [thirumAlai – 2]’. They said about it being purifier in ‘nin nAmam kaRRa Avalippu [thirumAlai – 1]; they said about it as being life sustaining in ‘gOvindhan guNam pAdi Avi kAththiruppEnE [nAchchiyAr thirumozhi – 8.3]’; they also said about it being poisonous in ‘kaNNan nAmamE kuzhaRik konReer [thiruvAimozhi 9.5.8] and in ‘pizhaippil perum peyarE pEsi [iraNdAm thiruvanthAdhi – 50] (talking about the divine name which makes those who think about it be involved and then destroy them (due to separation))’.

kalleduththuk kalmAri kAththAy! enRum
kAmarupUngachchi UrakaththAy! enRum
villiRuththu melliyal thOL thOyndhAy! enRum
vehkAvil thuyilamarndha vEndhE! enRum
malladarththu mallarai anRattAy! enRum
mAkeeNda kaiththalaththu en myndhA enRum
solleduththuth than kiLiyaich chollE enRu
thuNai mulai mEl thuLi sOrach chOrkinRALE. 13

Word by word meaning

kAththAy – (This little girl is saying these -) Oh You who protected

kalmAri – from the rain that is hail (which was set to be poured by indhra)

kal eduththu – as you lifted and held a mountain

enRum – and,

kAmaru pU kachchi UrakaththAy enRum – Oh You who is having divine presence in thiru Uragam of kAncheepuram which is loveable and beautiful!, and,

vil iRuththu melliyal thOL thOyndhAy enRum – Oh You who broke the bow and got the hand of seethA pirAtti!, and,

vehkAvil thuyil amarndha vEndhE enRum – Oh You the King who is reclining in thiru vehkA!, and

anRu – that day (when you incarnated as kaNNan),

mal adarththu – restraining their strength

attAy – you destroyed

mallarai – the wrestlers,

enRum – and

en myndhA – Oh! my lord

kaiththalaththu – having beautiful divine hands that

mA keeNda – destroyed by tearing kEsi who came as a horse!

enRum – and

than kiLiyai – looking at her parrot

sol eduththu – and prompting it so with the first word of divine name,

sol enRu – ‘you say (the rest of the name) yourself’, saying so, (and after it started saying the divine name),

thuLi sOra – with tears rolling down

thuNai mulai mEl – upon both the divine breasts,

sOrginRAL – she is suffering.

vyAkyAnam

kal eduththu, etc.- Since the girl is in the state of suffering due to separation from emperumAn, she prompts the divine names of emperumAn that would remove sufferings, and asks the parrot to recite those names.

kal etc. – This talks about how indhra, he who was placed to protect the worlds, himself became the harasser, and so those people of AyarpAdi the cows etc., who were to be protected by him had suffered in his hands, and were saved by Him who is a natural protector. As those in thiruvAyppAdi were set to worship indhra for rain, krishNan stopped that and said “Protection for us is the forest and the mountain; it would be appropriate to worship them”, and they followed suit and worshipped them, and He ate those food as the god in the form of the mountain.

He thought that those who were loved by Him doing this worship of someone else is like – giving own wife to someone else. That is how emperumAn (krishNAn) felt. At this point, indhra should have thought “He, instead of as antharyAmi, directly ate the food Himself which was offered to only me as part of worship; (He, with kindness, ate it) without thinking that the food was meant for me (lesser god)”, and so indhra should have given himself as a servant in writing; instead he was angry, and thought “These cowherds with the dependency towards krishNa nullified the festival meant for me!”, and called the group of clouds that can destroy the world and said “Destroy away this thiruvAyppAdi by pouring hail!”; and the people of thiruvAippAdi suffered due to the hail stones, as said in “thathasthath gOkulam sarvam gO gOpee jana sankulam | atheevArththam harir dhrushtvA maithrEyOchinthayath thadhA || [vishNu purANam 5-11-13] (Hey maithrEya! Then, krishNan saw the whole gOkulam filled with cows and gOpikAs was sad, and started thinking about it), at that time (after deciding to save them), emperumAn thought that they should not think ‘We worshipped the mountain (but) krishNan saved us’, and so he lifted the mountain itself that they worshipped, and saved them.

kalleduththu – As said in ‘sOlai sUzh kunRu eduththAy [mudhal thiruvanthAdhi – 69]’ (You lifted the mountain that is surrounded by gardens), it is such a mountain surrounded by gardens that he lifted, but she is using the simple word kal (rock) here, as if He lifted some insignificant piece – because she saw how playfully He lifted the SrI gOvardhana mountain, the strength of lifting such a mountain is what is deep seated in her heart. This girl is of the state ‘Getting Him to be near, enjoying Him, and getting Him is all due to the power of ESvaran’.

“This (prapaththi/surrendering to Him) is for those not having strength; those having strength should reach Him through other means” – such words cannot be heard in the camp of our AchAryas; this group is of the conclusion that ‘there is no difference between those having and lacking strength; for achieving Him it is His strength that we depend on”.

As said in ‘yadhi kinchidhanukrOSa: thasya mayyasthi Dheematha: | yadhi vA BhAKhyaSEshA mE SathO Bhava hanUmatha: || [SrI rAmAyaNam – sundhara kANdam – 53-27] (If there is even a little bit of kindness towards me for the learned charkravarththi thirumagan, if there is some fruit of good deeds left in me, then you be cold and comforting to hanUman (said seethA pirAtti to fire when it was lit on the tail of hanUman); whereas such power was present in Her, and

whereas as a support hanUman was present there who said ‘na rAvaNam sahasram mE yudhDhE prathibalam BhavEth | SilAbiScha praharatha: pAdhapaiScha sahasraSa: || [SrI rAmAyaNam – sundhara kANdam – 42-35] (To me, who destroy enemies by using thousands of rocks and trees, even a thousand rAvANas are not equal (said hanUman)),

she still said ‘Saraisthu sangulAm kruthvA lankAm parabalArthdhana: | mAm nayEdh yadhi kAkuthsTha: thath thasya sadhruSam BhavEth || [SrI rAmAyaNam – sundhara kANdam 30-30]’ (If chakravarththi thirumagan who can destroy the strength of enemies would agitate lankA with arrows and rescue and take me, then that only would be appropriate for Him), such was how She, the first in the series of AchAryas, depended on the power of emperumAn only.

SrI parASara bhattar would divine regarding this as “Since it was a rain of hail stones, He lifted the stone (mountain) and saved; if it was a rain of water, then, you see, He would have lifted the ocean to protect”. By this, it is clear that there is no limitation for the omnipotent that He can do only such things with such items.

(why does She talk about His lifting the mountain?) – Is there a rule that it is required to protect from the dangers caused only by others? Could you not protect (me) from the danger caused by You? Is it required to save only those who got caught in the hail stone rain? Is it not required to save those who get caught in the rain of sorrow as said in ‘avivEka GhanAnDha dhingmuKhE bhahuDhA santhatha duHKha-varshiNi | Bhagavan! BhavadhurthdhinE padha:skhalitham mAm avalOkayAchyutha || [SrI AlavandhAr’s sthOthra rathnam – 49] (Oh Who is having full of higher knowledge and power! Oh Who does not abandon the devotees! Please notice me who missed the good path amidst the darkness of rainy days that is this material world which is having the directions darkened by clouds that is lack of wisdom, and which pours sorrows that are of multiple types and is continuous)?

Is it required to protect only if the whole town is sorrowful? Is it not required to protect me who is suffering at the same level as the whole town? Is it required to lift a mountain to save me? Is it not enough to just show the shoulder that lifted the mountain?

kamarupUm kachchi UrakaththAn

kAmaru pUm, etc. – Is it not for those who are present (now) after the time of Your lifting the mountain, that You have come to thiru Uragam so that you can fully show Yourself to them? Why is She talking that krishNan has come to thiru Uragam, when it is thrivikraman who is standing there with the pose of spanning the worlds? Touching everyone without thinking about any differences among them, doing actions for devotees as if it is He who is honoured by it – are unique qualities of both the incarnations. So this is how she considers both as one.

kAmaru pUm kachchi – place that is liked and beautiful. The meaning is that it is the kancheepuram that is prosperous in (1) having enjoyable things and (2) having those (people) of enjoyable disposition. Since it is prosperous in having several dhivya dhESams, it is said as place where there are many things that let you enjoy emperumAn; since it is a big city it is rich with things that are used for enjoying emperumAn; greatness of paramapadham is these two aspects as well. Those divine feet that were easily available (when spanning the worlds as thrivikraman) even to those who did not care for it, are not available to me who is longing for it, says she.

When spanning the worlds if the divine feet had not touched everyone but only a few, then I may be able to stay calm; it wasn’t so. When You have come as thrivikraman (in thiru Uragam) for those of later times to see You, am I staying calm that I am present in the later times?

(This AzhvAr) does not experience in a series of lines in a pAsuram the feel of emperumAn of either vibhavAvathAram (incarnations) or archAvathAram (emperumAn of temples) – he experiences these two in alternating lines within a pAsuram (like in this pAsuram, sixteenth and some others), such is his ways;

Reason for this is – kings/princes, who are very tender and pampered, would add ghee to each handful of food they eat. This AzhvAr too, when enjoying vibhavAvathAram would include in alternate lines the archAvathArams because he cannot be without enjoying archAvathArams.

(But then why not sing only about archAvathArams?) – it is because archAvathArams are like a little pool of water that stays after the floods that are vibhavAthrams have gone, he includes vibhavAvathArams also which are the sources for archAvathAram, when singing about archAvathArams.

This is the difference between other AzhvArs and this thirumangai AzhvAr – they would talk about paramapadhanAthan when talking about His greatness; and they would talk about vibhavAvathAram when talking about his simplicity (affability); and for directly seeing that simplicity they would enjoy archAvathAram; (But), thirumangai AzhvAr experiences greatness in archAvathAram itself; experiences simplicity in archAvathAram itself; sees that directly in archAvathAram itself.

Continued in part 2

– – – – – – – – – –

Translation by raghurAm SrInivAsa dhAsan.

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bharathan getting pAdhukA of SrI rAma

vambAr pUm etc. – This is talking about the place (vayal Ali) where the marriage ceremony took place, so that she could join Him in the bed that is AdhiSEsha.

vambAr pUm vayal – Field having flowers full of fragrance; like how His youth is ever-present, the field is also having flowers always like in spring season. Like the young age as said in ‘arumbinai alarai [periya thirumozhi – 7.10.1] (emperumAn who is of the age which is like a bud getting ready to blossom into a flower), this field is also ever like in spring season.

Or, Oh while the place I am in is not having water, flowers, or fragrance and is an empty dry floor, the place He is in, is having buds and sprouts! Since He is staying refreshed, that place is also prospering! Since my place would prosper if I am happy, it is dry now because I am suffering.

maindhA ennum – If He is trying to reject me now why did He show His young beauty and made me His? Earlier when I was interested in worldly matters, you showed your enjoyability and removed my interest in other matters and made me unable to survive without You, which made me say as in ‘vAdinEn [periya thirumozhi – 1.1.1]’ – was that done only to abandon me now?

anjiRaiya putkodiyE Adum pAdum – He is saying that garudAzhvAn (periya thiruvadi) brought emperumAn to her for accepting her, like sage viSvAmithra who brought SrI rAmA for marriage to seethA. She is imitating the move of the flag that is periya thiruvadi who is having beautiful wings. (Why imitate periya thiruvadi instead of emperumAn) – help of periya thiruvadi is such that instead of her gaining happiness only after Him coming closer to her, periya thiruvadi with emperumAn is visible from afar, so she can gain happiness sooner. She was thinking that periya thiruvadi would appear afar and give solace; since she did not see him coming, she started moving like him. Like how a thirsty person would ask for water by signalling with his hand, she started showing by the moves about her wish for seeing him coming.

putkodiyE Adum – (The presence of E (only) in this phrase) shows she is imitating the flag itself instead of periya thiruvadi with emperumAn on his back.

pAdum – Due to the strength born out of imitating him, she became able to open her mouth and speak, and she started calling Him showing her sadness; a song is such that – it is the sound of sorrow that is listened to with tearful eyes; in the same way she too sang loudly with sorrow, that others would hear it with overflowing tears as said in ‘marangaLum irangum vagai [thiruvAimozhi – 6.5.9]’ (such that even the trees would feel for it) – so this phrase uses the word pAdum. Like the taste of pleasantness, the taste of sorrow also would make others be involved in it, isn’t it?

aNi arangam, etc. – As her friend heard her sorrow-filled voice, she considered it and thought – ‘since her mother would advice her good while keeping some distance, she would not be a comforter; since I would speak to her at a closer level I may be able to talk to her and comfort her’, and so as said in ‘Ekam dhu:kam suKhancha nau’ [SrI rAmAyaNam – kishkindhA kaNdam – 5.17]’ (Since you are a very close friend of mine, and so since you have taken a place in my heart, we share our joy and sorrow (said sugreevan when establishing friendship with SrI rAma with fire as witness), since this friend shares the joy and sorrow with her, she with dry hair, lean body, and suffering face such that her sorrow is clearly visible from her form, came and stood in front of her. She sees her face says ‘Oh friend! Would we able to go and experience periya perumAL by going to thiruvarangam periya kOyil?’.

AdudhumO – As said in ‘Esha brahma pravishtoOsmi greeshmE SIthamiva hradham [mahAbhAratham – SAnthi parvam – 171.50] ((told by a saint named ‘mangi’) Like bathing in a cool pond during summer, I immerse in brahmam. I become serene due to that; and I enjoy bliss), since sarvESvaran is referred as a pond/tank, since it [pond and brahmam] calms down one who is having sorrow, and since it helps those who are suffering due to separation, she is asking ‘AdudhumO’ (shall we bathe?)

aNi arangam AdudhumO – Since AzhvArs are capable of saying ‘thollai vEnkatam Attavum sUzhkinRilar [thiruviruththam – 81] to imply the mountain as pond, it is no surprise that they would refer to (kAvEri) river as a pond/tank. It is only for those who are not after anyone other than emperumAn, and who do not enjoy anything other than emperumAn, would this place be of relief from sorrows when they enter it.

thOzhee ennum – Seeing the sorrowful face of her friend, she would say ‘Oh when would we see our face grow rich by going to kOyil (SrIrangam) and bathe in the pond that is emperumAn?’.

If asked ‘She being your daughter born from you, can’t you command and correct her when she performs acts against her proper nature?’ –

en siRagin keezh adangAp peNNaip peRREn – She is out of my control. During the stage of surrendering He Himself rushed to get to you surrendering to Him; so in the stage of enjoying Him too, isn’t it appropriate for you as a female to wait from Him to come to you so that you can enjoy Him?’ – even after I told her this as what I know, she has ignored my advice.

en siRagu – on my side; that is, inclined to my views; since she is now under His side, she has abandoned my views; she has not considered her true nature of being subservient; also she is neither following my advice not is she obedient towards me;

peRREn – (Her mother is) saying these as her own mistake as a mother, instead of making it her daughter’s mistake.

iru nilaththu Or pazhi padaiththEn – This is the use of giving birth to her! I got the huge blame that blankets the whole earth that is fifty crore [miles] wide; would think that instead of waiting for emperumAn to come to them, doing any act from their side to get Him would bring bad name to their clan – such is the greatness of this clan.

Or pazhi – blame with no parallel.

E pAvam – (The mother says) – it is not due to the daughter; nor due to Him; the reason for this blame is my sins only. As bharathAzhvAn said ‘na manTharAyA na cha mAthurasyA: dhOshO na rAjya: na cha rAGhavasya | vana pravESE raGhu-nandhanasya mathpApamEvAthra nimiththamAsIth [these words are not included in available publications of SrI rAmAyaNam] (Reason for SrI rAma going to the forest is not that of manthara, not of my mother kaikEyi, not of my father king, and not of SrI rAma; it is only due to my sins);

(Now the meaning of above SlOka is provided in detail):

na manTharAyA: (bharatha) thought that the reason for sad state of SrI rAma going to forest etc., is due to manTharA that is kUni; upon reflection, he decided that it was not her mistake, but it is of his mother kaikEyi who listened to her words;

na cha mAthurasyA: not his mother’s mistake also; it is that of chakravarthy’s (daSaratha’s) mistake who listened to her words.

dhOshO na rAjyA: – the king does not have any fault; it is only that of the Him who listened to the king and left for the forest even though having rights for the crown;

na cha rAGhavasya: what mistake can be of His? Whereas if He crowned then my honour was to be to serve Him, and my loss of that honour is due to my sins only; and so bharatha concluded that it is all due to his own sins.

vana pravESE raGhu-nandhanasya – The reason for the dear son of dhaSaratha, SrI rAma, who came for this clan to grow with glory, to have gone to the forest is due to my sins only, and there is no other reason – is how bharatha established it.

Likewise, this mother also says ‘it is my sins only that is the reason for this blame’.

(The above SlOkam is explained further more):

It is not required for kaikEyi to listen to kUni’s words; it is not required for chakravarthy to listen to kaikEyi; it is not required for perumAL to listen to chakravarthy;

reason for kaikEyi not needing to listen to kUni’s words is that she is a servant; reason for chakravarthy not needing to listen to her words is – is it required for husband to listen to the words that came due to her affection toward her son? Is it not required for perumAL (born to be an obedient son) to listen to the words of chakravarthy? – Since his words are due to his holding on to the apparently important righteousness of his promise to her earlier should not be violated, and is based on subservience to his love towards her, is it required for Him to listen to his words?

SrI rAma knows how much I (bharatha) would be happy when being with Him, and how much I would suffer if I am separated from Him, and also He knows that it is His right to become the king, so what stopped Him from tying up His father into a corner and ruling the kingdom? If He had ignored the words of the king and ruled the kingdom He could have protected me from dying due to separation; so the reason for all this is my sins only – is what bharathAzhvAn concluded.

– – – – – – – – – –

Translation by raghurAm SrInivAsa dhAsan.

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                                                     krupAmAthra prasannAcharyAr

mattuvikki, etc – She having such hair of head that would attract and trouble Him, Oh now it is she who is suffering instead of Him. Only in righteous war (Her beauty getting felt in His heart) would He suffer; she got caught in deceitful war (His beauty reaching her heart), says the mother; (Since it was natural union (gAndharva type wedding) He made His beauty reach her heart without letting her beauty get into His heart).

mattu vikki – mattu – honey. It talks about how with great eagerness the beautiful bees got into drinking honey (from the flowers in her hair), and they got hiccup due to great desire for it; it talks about how even after drinking up to the neck its desire for it did not reduce and since there was not enough time for honey to be digested they got hiccup; it talks about how they are having hiccup due to the great taste of that honey; it talks about how the bees are neither able to drink what is in mouth nor spit it out because of its great taste, and so they are keeping it under its tongue; for humans both food and water help sustain life so if they get hiccup due to food they could relieve from it by drinking water; but since bees are named “madhuvratham” as their only food is honey, if they get hiccup due to honey, it can be rectified only with honey or by avoiding honey;

Since it says ‘pathim viSvasya’ (He is the lord for all the worlds), a danger that fell upon a devoted wife can only be rectified by the lord and not by other worldly interests.

maNi vaNdu – (Beautiful bee) Like those who have consumed medicine that protects the body, the bee is being without gray hair, wrinkles, or ageing. It reminds us about Him who is described as ‘arumbinai alarai [periya thirumozhi – 7.10.1]’ (bud, blossoming flower (how emperumAn is described as always being young)). As said in ‘thUviyam puLLudaith theiva vaNdu [thiruvAimozhi – 9.9.4]’ (the divine bee that is having the beautiful garuda bird) the bee that is emperumAn suffers upon seeing her hair in the head – this bee is suffering due to drinking excessive honey from her hair reminds about that;

muralum – As it was excessively happy to drink the honey up to its neck, it is not able to stay in one place and since it cannot call with its mouth, it is buzzing;

mada mAnai – She who was submissive to me is now not submissive. Or it means, by mada (madappam) representing quality of a female, she having such natural quality of women. Even if there is excessive sadness due to separation, she would control that unbeknownst to anyone, and not show any change but make Him change – such a girl is now asking openly, ‘Where is emperumAn’s thiruvarangam?’.

idhu seydhAr thammai – Since it is not possible to describe with words the trouble she is undergoing, she is showing by her arm pointing to her situation as ‘this’, like showing an ocean.

idhu seydhAr – Earlier if I set her hair plait, she would come back without any change to it; now who has made her hairdo to look without any shape or form?, she asks. Or, who is it that made the bees go empty stomach by drying the flowers in her hair?

thammai – She is establishing His greatness based on seeing the state of her misery; Oh can there be someone having such greatness of putting her into this misery?

thammai – Oh what a greatness this is! What kind of great honey from the hair of noble women (SrI, bhUmi, neeLA) He has drunk and grown so!

thammai – Oh one who is the big lover who has made her a great role model in being a lover?

thammai – If it is undesirable for her to see her daughter in this position, she would have used normal words like ‘he’ when asking who has done this to her. Since the mother likes this result even though it is hard on her daughter, she uses a more respectful word ‘thammai’.

meyyE kattuvichchi sol – Tell the truth (oh diviner!). While the diviner (kattuvichchi) is well known to be truthful, why say – tell the truth? She says to the diviner – you do not think that it is better to avoid mentioning the person directly since it was a natural union (gAndharva type marriage); it is liked by me; so say it as is. When giving treatment one should know about the disease as is, isn’t it?

sol ennach chonnAL – (I asked her to say and she said) – The words which have to be asked after serving (an AchAryan) for a long time, I prompted her to say and she said. Like the greatness of emperumAnAr and of gIthOpanishadhAchAryan, is the greatness of this diviner! udaiyavar (out of his kindness) would say the meanings to whoever gave their ears with wish to learn (sevi thAzhththArkkellAm vArththai sollip pOndhAr udaiyavar); gIthOpanishadhAchAryan created interest in him (arjuna) (through the 18 chapters) and told him the meaning (charma SlOkam).

sonnAL – Like (the pleasantness of) breeze and dew drops, is there a need for any meaning to what she said? Just her saying words were great that they suffice.

sonnAL – Like how it was needed for me to hear, she told like it was needed for her to say. For an AchAryan there is a need for someone (disciple) to hear his words that come out due to overflowing experience after enjoying about emperumAn; disciple shall sustain his life by listening; AchAryan shall sustain his life by saying; the disciple hearing is the reason for his revival; for AchAryan, saying is the reason for his experience.

nangAy – (mother addressing a woman who came to inquire) – You are having the completeness of not considering other gods and wordly matters, so I am able to tell you the words that she (diviner) told me. Like how I was needed for her (diviner), you are needed for me, says mother. What is it that she (diviner) said?

kadal vaNNar idhu seydhAr – She (daughter) asked ‘emperumAn thiruvarangam engE’ (where is SrIrangam of emperumAn?). She (diviner) is giving reply referring to periya perumAL (kadal vaNNar (one like the ocean)). Here it (the word vANNam) is not about the nature of the sea; it is about the colour. She did not get involved in His nature (svarUpam), not His qualities; just upon seeing His beauty in front of her eyes, she fell for it. It seems He saw her once and embraced her; she got caught in that beauty; if one is involved in His nature, they would have to be involved in His qualities also which are inseparable from His nature; for those involved in His divine form that highlights both His true nature and His qualities, there is no need to go somewhere else. It is His divine form that creates interest; it is His divine form that is suitable for seeking shelter; what is enjoyable is also His divine form.

idhu seydhAr – ‘theerA nOi seydhAn [siriya thirumadal – 52]’ (He created incurable disease (of love)).

idhu – (this) – Like how one can identify easily that it was due to drowning in water when seeing a fainted person, her love disease is clear from looking at her. This is ‘dheiva nannOy [thiruviruththam – 53]’ (disease (of love) due to emperumAn). Since this disease occurred due to love towards emperumAn, this is a distinguished great disease. What the learned people yearn as the ultimate benefit (purushArtham), she got this disease of love by the grace of emperumAn without any effort from her side. As said in ‘janmAnthara sahasrEshu [laghu – vishNu smruthi]’, etc., (For those who have gotten rid of their sins by doing gyAna and bhakthi yOga in thousand earlier births, love towards krishNan is born), the devotion reached by those after trying other means for thousands of years, she has got that love by the grace of emperumAn without expecting any effort from her. (Doesn’t a prapannan also need bhakthi?) Whereas bhakthi is the ultimate reach for those who use other means like karma and gyAna yOgams, for a prapannan bhakthi is the first step of the attainments.

kadal vaNNan idhu seydhAr – He showed His form and stole her form. (If it is one for the other, why be sad?) He showed His form that is like ‘Urdhvam mAsAnna jeevishyE [Sri rAmAyaNam – sundhara kANdam – 38-65]’ (I would not live after one month (if He does not come and save me before that)), and stole her form which is like ‘na jeevEyam kshaNamapi [Sri rAmAyaNam – sundhara kANdam – 66-10]’ (I will not live even for a moment when separated from her (said rAmA)). (Her form is greater than His).

kAppAr ArE – Is it even possible to remove this love disease given by Him using your medicinal roots and magic words? (asks mother). (It is He who is the medicine and manthram (words)). The disease due to involving in worldly matters could be rectified by showing emperumAn related matters; the love disease due to emperumAn is congruent to the true nature of AthmA, so it would be incurable till there is AthmA (for ever).

kadal vaNNar idhu seydhAr kAppAr ArE – (Considering this whole phrase as that of the diviner instead) (kadal – ocean) Do we have another option than to leave it for the ocean, what the ocean has taken in?

kAppAr ArE – (another meaning for kAppu – prevent; ArE – who can) Is it possible for her (parakAla nAyaki) to prevent from taken in? Is it possible for you (mother)? Is it possible for anybody else? (No). If the fence itself destroys the paddy field, it is the fence that would have to save the field; is it possible for the field to save itself?

(In siriya thirumadal too periyavAchchAn piLLai shows this meaning for ‘kArAr kadal vaNNan pin pOna nenjamum vArAdhE ennai marandhadhu thAn’ (my mind that went behind the One having the colour of ocean has forgotten me and not returned (from the sea)).

By this, the inner meaning shown are the following – (1) emperumAn got AzhvAr without expecting anything on AzhvAr’s side; (2) Due to that, great devotion (parama bhakthi) was born in AzhvAr; (3) because of that, AzhvAr lost interest in other matters; (4) One would get true knowledge based on AchAryan’s teachings (‘through diviner’).

Translation by raghuram SrInivAsa dAsan

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Introduction

In the previous pAsuram he said with sadness ‘mudhal AnAyE’. With that fear, he reached the state of a female; that too she (as parakAla nAyaki) is unconscious and so not in a position to call on here own (mood); she is talking through someone else, as the prabandham proceeds further from here.

That is – as she (as pirAtti) united using the natural method (gAndharva type of wedding) [a type of wedding in which the man and his lady love get married without the consent of elders] and then got separated; due to that sadness – it kept happening that she would go into alternating states of consciousness and unconsciousness, and that too in incorrect ways (instead of feeling sad and fainting, she would faint and feel sad (ayarththu irangum)); her groups of relatives were not able to figure out that such and such could be done for this, or not done for this; not knowing the reason behind this disease, those with expertise in medicine and magic entered the scene and started their attempts to cure this disease; at that point, a diviner (kattuvichchi) who is devoted to emperumAn said ‘You are not understanding the reason for her disease; she got this disease due to emperumAn; it can be removed only by Him’.

AzhvAr divines about his state through this pAsuram as the words of the mother saying about the actions of her daughter and about the words of the diviner that she heard, to those who came to inquire.

If one objects – ‘But AzhvAr reaching the state of pirAtti is not fit’ – actually – it would fit very well; since for the pirAttis (divine consorts of emperumAn) and for AzhvAr there is a proper match of ananyArha SEshathvam (not belonging to anyone else but only to emperumAn), and since as said in ‘namakkum pUvin misai nangaikkum [thiruvAimozhi – 4.5.8]’, the enjoyment of Him are same for them, and since as said in ‘muhUrthamapi jeevAvO jalAn mathsyAvivOdhDhRuthou [SrI rAmAyaNam – ayOdhyA kANdam – 53-31]’ (like how a fish separated from water would live only for a short time (till the time there is some supporting water in its body), seethA and I too would live only for a short time (till the time it takes to realize that Your mind is thinking of separation)), like what iLaiya perumAL (lakshmaNan) said about seethAp pirAtti while including himself (being a male) about their inability to survive His separation, it is matching for this AzhvAr also; so there is no problem in AzhvAr reaching the state of a female;

If asking – even then, is it possible for the perception of being a female to be born for AzhvAr (who is a male)? As said ‘svAmithva Athmathva SEshithva pumsvAdhyA: svAminO guNA:| svEbHyO dhAsathva dhEhathva SEshathva sthreethva dhAyina:’ (Lordship, being AthmA, getting benefits, being a male are emperumAn’s characteristics; these give to jIvAthmas, respectively, the characteristics of subservience, being the body (with emperumAn as AthmA), and being of help/giving to others, and being a female), since the maleness of emperumAn is of the nature of giving femaleness to others, it is acceptable to get the mindset that ‘I am a female’. Getting to the mindset of femaleness is not based on him having characteristics of a female body; it is based on love that female would get toward male.

If asking – where have we seen those of same gender getting the mindset of opposite gender? As said in ‘pAnchAlyA: padhmapathrAkShyA: snAyanthyA: jagHanam gHanam| yA: sthriyO dRushtavathyasthA: pumbhAvam manasA yayu:’ (When dhraupadhi, one with eyes like petals of lotus, was taking bath, the other women on seeing the big and beautiful backside of hers thought in their minds that they should become men), due to the greatness of her beauty, the passion that arises for men when seeing such women arose for these of same gender. Likewise, it is acceptable for passion to arise for AzhvAr also in the matter of purushOththaman (emperumAn) that which arises for women. It is the special quality in someone that brings the mindset of opposite gender in others. So he is getting into the state of a pirAtti (female consort).

Furthermore, what is the thought behind saying that AzhvAr fornicated with emperumAn based on natural ways (gAndharva type of marriage)? What it implies is – only based on the relationship that sarvESvaran is having towards the sentient, He takes them under His wings without any attempts from their side (nirhEthuka vishayeekAram). If asking How? – (thamizh texts explain fornication based on wedding in natural way (gAndharva wedding) in this way) – when a girl goes outside to a grove and is plucking flowers, her lover, in the name of going hunting, comes there, and her friends are also separated from her due to other activities, and now, only due to the reason of Him being a male and Her being a female, even though there is no one to remind them or join them, they fornicate; this is the natural way of fornication. Femininity is – the state being there fully for a male. Masculinity of the other party is – being the lord that befits the true nature of others (as servitors), and being the protector in all ways; so, this natural way is talking about His taking us without expecting any action from us.

But, when emperumAn is taking us up, (if saying nirhEthukam), why is there a need for some AchAryas who remind Him, and why is there is a need for ones like pirAtti who help in joining/recommending us? AchAryan reminding at that time is to highlight the relationship of ‘owner – property’ between emperumAn and jIvAthmAs. In jIvAthmAs, AchAryan removes the thought of considering body as AthmA, and the thought ‘I am independent’ which arises due to the connection of AthmA with body. pirAtti unites them to Him by making Him forgive their mistakes by reminding Him about His relationship with them and about the qualities like vAthsalayam in Him that arise based on such relationship.

Furthermore, what is the thought behind the words of this pAsuram that says there are people with medicine and magic that are trying to cure her disease without realizing her state, and there is a diviner (kattuvichchi) who tries to stop their activities? Disease that comes due to interest in worldly matters may be curable by other means (like medicine, magic); in case of disease due to interest in Him, it is He, who is the reason behind the disease, who has to come and cure it. (Since) the togetherness with Him will be there till the time there is AthmA (forever), and since this love is as per the true nature of them, it cannot be cured (if separated, or, by other means).

AzhvAr is speaking as Himself first (in first 10 pAsurams), and then is speaking as a mother in the next 10 pAsurams). How does this fit? When a river is flowing, when its water level increases, in addition to staying within its shores it would fill branching canals as well, all the while being full by itself and merge into the sea. Likewise, due to his overflowing love, when the words of mother also happens without any deficit, it would be fitting that his own words also happen in parallel without any deficit.Furthermore, when parakAla nAyaki (female name of thirumangai AzhvAr when he is in that state), is in fainted state, as said in ‘bHruSam bHavathi dhu:kHitha: [SrI rAmAyaNam – ayOdhyA kAndam – 2-40]’ (if seeing His people’s suffering, SrI rAman becomes sad (more than them)), when her mother is supposed to be even more sad, does it fit that she is saying the words with clarity in these pAsurams? When chakravarththy thirumagan was having sadness upon separation of (seethAp) pirAtti, iLaiyaperumAL’s sadness would have been double due to sadness of perumAL and due to the tiredness of performing services in the forest, iLaiya perumAL tolerated that based on understanding that it is time to do so, and spoke clearly to perumAL and consoled Him; likewise, it is appropriate for the mother here to speak clearly considering the survival of her daughter; while the one to be protected is sad, the protector though having equal sadness would need to do the hard task of tolerating it and speaking clearly.

How is the mother’s speech the reason for the daughter’s survival? Since kattuvichchi’s words are about emperumAn (which the mother tells others), and since her activities are based on detachment, and since the mother also talks about Him as ‘Oh this girl is suffering the suffering that He is supposed to undergo by seeing this girl’s beauty’, it is proper that these words will help the girl survive. Also, since this kattuvichchi is unlike the kattuvichchi in ‘theerppArai yAm ini [thiruvAimozhi – 4.6]’, but is like the kattuvichchi of siriya thirumadal who is devoted only to emperumAn, parakAla nAyaki thinks ‘even if my disease is not cured, it would be enough to get the touch of such kattuvichchi’, and so since the talk is about such kattuvichi, it would help in parakAla nAyaki’s survival.

Furthermore, the first ten pAsurams are his own words as AzhvAr; second ten pAsurams are mother’s words; third ten pAsurams are the words of pirAtti (AzhvAr as parakAla nAyaki). As said in ‘machchiththA: madhgathaprANA: bOdHayantha: parasparam [SrI bhagavath gIthA – 10.9]’ ((1) (they are having life) with their mind directed towards me, (2) having the life that is about me, and (3) and discuss among each other (about whatever characteristics they each enjoyed in me), these three phrases are the meanings for three Tens respectively (this is established by preceptors (pUrvAchAryas)).

machchiththA: is madhEkachiththA: (they have directed their mind Only toward me); without mixing of interest in other things, being there only for Him (ananyArha:), not having anything else as enjoyable (ananyabhOgya🙂 AzhvAr speaks as himself about emperumAn only, so the first ten is based on gyAnam (clear knowledge about facts). Second ten – due to the gyAnam came vairAgyam (no interest in other matters, staunchness in Him), through which it talks about the greatness of love of parakAla nAyaki towards emperumAn; Third ten – since the love is ebbing this way, it talks about spending time with other devotees while living here until the time of reaching Him.

madhgathaprANA: (them having their survival based on me)– is the meaning shown by second ten pAsurams, since it is not being her words but she has fainted, and it is based on the words from the mouth of the mother.

bOdhayantha: parasparam – Third ten pAsurams are set as the discussion between parakala nAyaki and her female friend (thOzhi) about their experience towards emperumAn.

In this second ten pAsurams, first pAsuram, the mother is explaining to those who came inquiring, about the daughter’s lack of interest in other matters, and about the words of kattuvichchi (diviner). This pAsuram is having one phrase here telling the inquirers, and another phrase there expressing her wonder. ‘Oh what a deep lover she is towards emperumAn that she becomes so sad when separated from Him!’ is the internally running happiness in the mother.

If (the mother is) so happy in her heart, why does she not convey that to those who came inquiring? Since it is the natural union (gAndharva type wedding), she is unable to talk about that to them. She can say it only if the wedding happened through the recommendation of others; we can celebrate one’s relationship with emperumAn only if it happened through AchAryan’s advice.

(Isn’t the perturbation/fainting (parakAla nAyaki’s state) to be avoided?) – The perturbation, when he was one among the samsAris (people interested in worldly matters), was due to ignorance; after getting the true knowledge (through emperumAn’s thiruvashtAksharam), that got cleared; the perturbation that is present now is due to true knowledge, and it cannot be cleared till the time there is AthmA – is the meaning highlighted in this pAsuram.

pattudukkum ayarththirangum pAvai pENAL
pani nedunkaN neer thathumbap paLLi koLLAL
ettuNaipOdhu en kudankAL irukkakillAL
  emperumAn thiruvarangam engE? ennum
mattuvikki maNi vaNdu muralum kUndhal
  mada mAnai idhu seydhAr thammai, meyyE
kattuvichchi sol ennach chonnAL nangAy
  kadal vaNNar idhu seydhAr kAppAr ArE?                       11

Word by word meaning

pattu udukkum – She wears herself the silk saree;
ayarththu irangum – faints and feels sad;
pAvai pENAL – does not like (to play with) her wooden human toy (marappAchhi);
pani nedu kaN neer thathumba – with tears brimming in her long cool eyes,
paLLi koLLAL – she does not sleep;
en kudankAL irukka killAL – she is not able to stay put in my lap
eL thuNaip pOdhu – even for a second;
ennum – she asks –
enge – where is
thiru arangam – the divine place SrIrangam
emperumAn – of emperumAn;
kUndhal – she having hair
maNi vaNdu – with beautiful bees
muralum – buzzing
mattu vikki – with drunk honey choking them,
mada mAnai – this girl child who is like a beautiful deer,
kattuvhichchi ! – “Oh the (female) diviner!
idhu seydhAr thammai – who brought her to this state?
meyyE sol enna – Tell me the truth.”, as I asked her this,
kadal vaNNar idhu seydhAr (enRu) sonnAL – ‘The one having the color like that of the sea, perumAL, has created this state” – she said.
nangAy – Oh dear women (friends)! (If He, the protector has done this),
kAppAr ArE – who else is there who could remove this danger?

vyAkyAnam

Started in part 2.

==========

Translation by raghuram SrInivAsa dAsan

archived in http://divyaprabandham.koyil.org

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<< pAsuram 9 – part 1

pavaLavaNNan with SrI dhEvi, bhUdhEvi and ANdAL

pARkadalAy – Did He stop with just giving a part of His body to rudhran just by accident like how a worm moving around might create letter forms? When there is a danger to brahmA and others, He thinks He should not stay away, His being the protector (of all), and so giving lower priority to paramapadham, He comes to ksheerAbdhi (milky ocean) and lies down there. Oh such emperumAn! Oh the One who shows Himself whether one wished for it or not, is the One who is not showing His fact to me who is longing for it.

pArin mElAy – As all the dhEvAthAs came and surrendered after losing their places due to asuras and rAkshasas, by taking the forms of rAma, krishNa etc., He lowered Himself, and came on this world (pAr), and protected. This talks about that. In ‘sa hi dhEvair udheerNasya rAvaNasya vadhArthibhi: | arthithO mAnushE lOkE jagnyE vishNussanAthana: || [SrI rAmAyaNam – ayOdhyA kANdam – 1.7]’ (One who was prayed to by the dhEvas saying that He should kill rAvaNan having pride, that SrIman nArAyaNan who does not have end, it that One who has incarnated in this word as rAman),

(following is commentary of aforementioned SlOka).

the ‘sa:’ (that) word refers to the same One who was mentioned in the previous SlOka.

It had said earlier as ‘babhUva guNavaththara:’ [SrI rAmAyaNam – ayOdhyA kANdam – 1.6]’ (rAman was of top grade in having auspicious qualities). AzhvAr is saying that since He is having such qualities, He incarnated. There is no quality to show in incarnating for the devotees who do not wish for other things; (it was for the dhEvas who wished for other benefits); (so it implies that He proved that he is the best in having auspicious qualities); the ‘he’ samskrutha word above (in 1.7) shows the reason for His being full of qualities;

‘dhEvai:´ – did He come here for the prayers of nithyasUris like thiruvadi (garudAzhwAn) and thiru ananthAzhVan’ (AdhiSEshan)? Did He not come and incarnate for the dhEvas who wish for other benefits, and who are of the opinion that they are the lords? Are they not ones who would go against Him after getting the benefits they wished for?

udheerNasya rAvaNasya vadhArthibhi: – for winning rAvANan who is roaming around destroying all the world due to his pride; when His relationship with everyone as emperumAn is common for everyone, while the dhEvas who pray Him are doing so for other benefits, He came and incarnated for destroying those like rAvaNan, isn’t it?

arThitha:  – this you see, is the penance that they performed. (just praying).

mAnushE lOkE – He is incarnating in the place which even for dhEvas is a lowly place and not looked at.

jagnyE – while the common people of the world would live in the womb for ten months, He was present in the womb for twelve months!

vishNu – One who permeates everything is one who incarnated in this place (ayOdhyA) which is permeated by Him, to be under the control of those living in this place!

sanAthana: – One who is present forever is the One who came and was born as a son for someone!

In these ways the One who lowers Himself so much for those who pray to Him for other benefits, is the One who is not showing Himself to me! says AzhvAr.

pani varaiyin uchchiyAy – (Oh one who is standing on top of the mountain (thirumalai)) –  Did you stop with just showing yourself for those wishing for other benefits? (you didn’t); as said in ‘kAnamum vAnaramum vEdum udai vEnkatam [nAnmugan thiruvanthAdhi – 47]’ (thiruvEnkatam having forests, monkeys, and the clans of hunters), One who shows Himself even for the lowly animals and hunters by coming and standing in thiruvEnkatam is the One who is not showing Himself to me, says AzhvAr.

pavaLa vaNNA – (Oh One who is having beautiful divine body like that of gems); He is not having the mediocre form that one could tolerate the wait to see in due course of time. If it was of such form we could relax thinking let Him show up whenever He prefers; His beauty is not such, that we could stay without any interest , when we think about his divine nature.

pavaLa vaNNA enguRRAy – (where are you) – since AzhvAr got blurred vision due to immersing in the enjoyability of His form, he is saying ‘where are You’.  As said in “rAmam mE’nugathA dhRushtiradhyApi na nivarthathE | na thvA paSyAmi kausalyE sAdhu mA pANinA spruSa [SrI rAmAyaNam – ayOdhyA kANdam – 42.34]” (After rAma went to the forest, dhaSaratha said to kausalya) – Oh kausalyE! my vision has gone away following rAma. It has not returned till now. I don’t see you. Touch me well with your hands),  like how dhaSaratha lost his vision, it happened to AzhvAr too.

(following is commentary of aforementioned SlOka).

mE dhRushti: – rAmam – anugathA –  my eyes have gone behind perumAL. attracted by His beauty.  It left the body which holds it and has gone behind the target of the eyes. It appears that the relationship with mother’s home (my body, for the eyes) is only till it gets the attraction of the in-laws’ home (rAman’s beauty)!

me dhRushti: – saying so he (dhaSarathan) is celebrating the ways of his eyes. Distraught due to the separation I lay on the floor; my eyes got the opportunity to go with Him! Wish I had not been the holder of those eyes, but the eyes themselves, says dhaSarathan.

adhyApi na nivarthathE – eyes have not returned; even in this state of getting solace while seeing you, the eyes have not returned;

na thvA paSyAmi – if asking – while you who are the holder of those eyes, why have the eyes gone behind Him? – dhaSarathan says that he deduced the cause from the action! While you (Kausalya) have come stood here, I don’t see you; hence I knew that they went behind Raman. The senses of the body (indhriyas) are such that they are learned about based on anumAnam (conclusion based on previous prathyaksham (understood by the senses)). When seeing things we come to know that there are senses in the body; when nothing is seen, then we learn that the senses are not present.

kausalyE – not seeing you not because it is kaikEyi standing in front of me.

sAdhu mA pANinA spRuSa – please do not think about the cruelty I executed, but think about my pitiful state, and feel ‘alas! (aiyyO)’  and touch (comfort) me. Please do not think that I decorated Him for crowning Him and then sent Him to the forest, but think ‘Oh he might die due to separation from Him!’, and touch (comfort) me, says dhaSarathan to Kausalya.

bhattar would divine, ‘eyes have gone behind Him; to find out whether the seeing sense has gone behind Him or not, you please touch and search me, says dasarathan’.

pavaLa vaNNA engu uRRAy – where have you gone while having the form that is for the devotees as said in ‘bhakthAnAm [jithanthE sthOthram – 1-5]’?  Is your showing us the greatness of your divine body, to hide it from us? Or, engu uRRAy – Thinking that He would never not show up after seeing this longing, and that keeping this longing itself as the reason He would show up, AzhvAr is groping his hand in the air saying engu uRRAy (where are You); as I extended my arm He would be felt, and then I could catch Him – thinks AzhvAr. Since he is like the creeper plant lying on the ground looking for a stick to climb on to (flagstaff), He would wish to look for Him (who is that stick). jIvAthmA can be called as such creeper.

emperumAn – engu uRRAy – While your property is suffering, where are You the owner hiding? It is only the owner who would come to the property; is it possible for the property to go to the place of its owner? It only the hungry person who would go to the place where there is food, and not the food that would come to that person, will it?

unnai nAdi – Searching for You who is unequalled in enjoyableness, and Who is One to be attained. You being the attainable is the reason for my urge to reach You.

unnai nAdi – It has become such, that I have to look out for You who has been trying for me (edhir sUzhal pukku [thiruvAimozhi – 2.7.6]’) from time eternal! As said in ‘OdinEn Odi [periya thirumozhi 1.1.1]’, I was running behind worldly pleasures, and you got hold of me and informed about the truth and made me not wish for anything else than You, and made me as said in ‘thaLir puraiyum thiruvadi en thalai mElavE [thirunedunthANdakam – 1]’ thus keeping Your divine feet on my head as if it is an honour for You; are all these for not showing up when now I am suffering due to separation?

If You are saying – “Oh that’s interesting; If you have understood that I got hold of you and did everything for you , then you should see what I will be doing further, and so stay put in your place like seethAp pirAtti as said in ‘thath thasya sadhRSam bhavEth [SrI rAmAyaNam – sundhara kANdam – 30-30]’ (if chakravarthy thirumagan would destroy the enemies and take me back, that is what would be suitable for Him); is it right for you to hurry?”, then,

EzhaiyEn – my many wishes does not let me stay put, replies AzhvAr.  I am one with such a huge wish, says AzhvAr.  That does not allow me to be patient thinking  ‘let Him do further whatever’.

inganamE Uzhi tharukEnE – it cannot be said that He is subservient to His devotees; it cannot be said that He would show Himself up by considering our qualifications; given so, losing Him is due to my sins only, isn’t it? Would I spend the rest of my life suffering?

inganamE – Like how in the forest the rishis showed Him their bodies eaten by the rAkshasAs as said in ‘Ehi paSya SarIrANi [SrI rAmAyaNam – AraNya kANdam – 6-16]’, AzhvAr is showing his body eaten by love.

uzhi tharugEnE – Like the body that is taken up in hell, my life has become the ever experienced suffering that does not end and also not tolerable, says AzhvAr.  I have not been able to get the enjoyment of the experience of Him, nor am I able to stay put like seethA pirAtti by considering the true nature of AthmA as subservient, nor  am I done with like chinthayanthi and chakravarthi;  It has become second nature for me to be always experiencing the suffering of separation! says AzhvAr.

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Translation by raghuram SrInivAsa dAsan

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Introduction

Since the place he is in is not got to be thirukkOvalUr, and since emperumAn did not come to the place where he was and showed Himself, he called Him using the true characteristics of emperumAn that would be the reasons for Him to come and show Himself – in previous pAsuram.

In this pAsuram – ‘For those who wish the see the beauty of my striding the worlds, I am showing that beauty in the same pose by coming to thirukkOvalUr; so AzhvAr who wishes to see that should come here and enjoy it, is all there is’ – is this what He is thinking (and so is not showing Himself in the different place where I am now)?, wonders Azhvar, and also fears,  ‘Is He not showing Himself here to me, thinking that I am a rogue?’;

Then, he thinks ‘If we consider His ways, He would go by Himself and show His form to those even having a lit bit of interest; He is One who shows up without considering the merit or absence of it in a person; so such blemish would not occur in Him; so my losing His divine vision is due to my sins only; so due to my wish in vain and not able to let go of Him, and so toiling in this body, my state has become like that of being yAthanA Sareeram (body which one gets into while going to hell) which would not be destroyed nor be tolerable, and so am being put up in this place and be sorrowful’  – AzhvAr is sad thinking about his state.

vangaththAl mAmaNi vandhundhu munneer
  mallaiyAy madhiL kachchi UrAi pErAi
kongaththAr vaLangonRai alangal mArvan
  kulavaraiyan madappAvai idappAl koNdAn
pangaththAy pARkadalAy pArin mElAy
  pani varaiyin uchchiyAy pavaLa vaNNA!
enguRRAy emperumAn unnai nAdi
  EzhaiyEn inganamE uzhi tharugEnE                         9

Word by word meaning

munneer mallaiyAy – Oh One who lives in thiruk kadal mallai (dhivya dhEsam, modern day mahAbalipuram) by the shore
mAmaNi vandhu undhu – which brings and pushes the best gems
vangaththAL – by ships!
madhiL kachchi UrAy – Oh One who lives in the city of kAnchee having divine ramparts / walls!
pErAy – Oh One having divine presence in the city of thiruppEr!
kula varaiyan madappAvai idappAl koNdAn pangaththAy – Oh One having on one side (of His body) the rudhran who is having in the left side (of his body) acquiescent/beautiful pArvathi, who is the daughter of himavAn who is the best of kings,
kongu Ar vaLam konRai alangal mArvan – and such (rudhran is ) having in His chest the garland of koNRai flower that is having honey and much beauty.
pArkadalAy – Oh One who is resting in the divine milky ocean!
pArin mElAy – Oh One who incarnated in the earth (for doing good to those living here)!
pani varaiyin uchchiyAy – Oh One who stood at the top of cool divine thirumalai (thiruvEnkatam)!
pavaLa vaNNA – Oh One having pleasant divine body like a coral!
engu uRRAy – where have You gone in to?
emperumAn – On my lord!
unnai nAdi – searching for You,
EzhaiyEn – adiyen having the wish in vain, am
uzhithargEnE – roaming
inganamE – in these ways only.

vyAkyAnam

vangaththAl mAmaNi vandhu undhu munneer mallaiyAy –  A devotee (named puNdareekan) had in this shore put together a garland, and thought ‘we should decorate Him with this before it loses its sheen’ (and since emperumAn lives on the shore of the other end of the sea), he started draining the sea water thinking he can not go near Him across the sea unless the sea dries up; seeing his love towards Him, He came to the place where he had made a place for Him and rested there on the ground (without Adhi SEshan), the place which then became to be known as thirukkadal mallai.

But, while it would have been apt to just say ‘munneer mallai’ why add adjectives (vangaththAl mAmaNi vandhu undhu …) – ship is one that would push things from one island to the other; likewise, He who is set in paramapadham got pushed into this world and got Him lying down on the floor – due to the love for His devotee. Here the ship is His love towards His devotees.

mAmaNi – gem of very high value; This love pushed that gem which is as said in ‘kaiyAr chakkaraththu en karu mANikkam [thiruvAimozhi – 5.1.1]’ (with the divine hand well fixed with  the divine disc, One who made me enjoy your attractive blue gem like divine form!), and ‘vAnavar uchchi vaiththa peru mANi [periya thirumozhi – 9.5.4]’ (nithyasUris keep Him in their head as a valuable gem).

vandhu undhu – He is lying down in the sea shore with no one to come and have Him! Just as how one who knows the value of ruby gem would keep it safely tied in a valuable cloth, One who is ever enjoyed by nithyasUris is the One who is here lying down the shore – there is no one who understood this greatness and nurture Him here, that the state in which you see, He is staying here on the floor; even if some people come to Him they would ask for other things and go away, alas, there are none who wish to get Him.

munneer mallaiyAy – One of great valuables of another abode (place; paramapadham), has come to this island (place) that is thirukkadal mallai, but is not sold (wished for), but is still lying down on the ground of this shore without getting tired (of waiting).  It is the ananthasAyI  (One who rests on ananthAzhvAn (Adhi SEshan)) who for a devotee has come here and is lying down on the ground, you see.  By these adjectives, there is no one who has understood His greatness and nurture Him, and thus talks about the lowness of this place (world);

One who could come to the place of a devotee and show Himself, is the One who is not showing Himself to me who is longing.

madhiL kachchi UrAy – Even though (in previous pAsuram) he talked about these dhivya dhESams, there is no blemish of ‘saying same thing again in pAsurams’ (punar ukthi dhOsham) due to difference in application here; (there, it was to say that He is similar in the good characteristics of emperumAn of thirukkOvalUr;  here he is mentioning the dhivya dhEsams for different reasons);

Unlike in thirukkadal mallai where He is present without the care of anyone, here some people of high quality have constructed these walls which we got the opportunity to see – says AzhvAr. He talked about his sadness of seeing no one to care about emperumAn there; here he is caring that emperumAn has been saved with the walls raised; even while he is sad due to not seeing emperumAn, his true nature is such that he is caring seeing whether there would be any danger to emperumAn. Or, the walls are such that the enemies cannot get into the place, says AzhvAr.

mallaiyAy madhiL kachchi UrAy – stuff that comes in at a shore would get sold in a city only; likewise, emperumAn came ashore at thirukkadal mallai and got sold (cared for) at kancheepuram.

Caring for Him considering His tenderness, and, grieving/being angry considering ones’ own state (of not getting the vision of Him) , are both apt for a jeevAthmA.

pErAy – in the aforementioned, he talked about how emperumAn is anxious whether He would get the devotes;  here – as said in ‘thirumAlirunchOlai malai enREn enna thirumAl vandhu en nenju niRaiyap pukunthAn [thiruvAimozhi – 10.8.1]’ (~(even though I was not  interested in You), just based on the reason of my saying ‘thirumAlirunchOlai’ You came and took me as yours), He is present (in the dhivya dhESam thiruppEr) to get the devotees for Himself, and that is He who is not taking me who cannot survive if separated from Him, says AzhvAr.  By this, it says that emperumAn comes to the place of His devotees and shows Himself.

Now it talks about His coming and showing Himself without looking at one’s disqualifications.

emperumAn having Sivan in His divine body
(image coutesy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Harihara_V%26A.jpg)

kongu etc – Like a saying in thamizh, ‘nAyE koL, pEyE koL’, that refers to sivan who is being with ghosts, got a place in the divine body of emperumAn, but that divine body is being hard for me to reach, laments AzhvAr. Oh the One who in a part of His divine body is having sivan who is decorated with ‘konRai’ garland that is having honey, fragrance and beauty. kongu – honey. Ar – excess of it. vaLam – beauty. (aRRu – a meaningless affix allowed by thamizh grammar). Beauty of a flower – being fresh, and full of fragrance.

kulavarai etc. – One who is having pArvathy as is wife;  while it would have been enough to just say,  ‘giving part of his divine body to rudhran’, this pAsuram is giving so many attributes to him describing so much, which is to make his wrongful pride explicit: trying to be equal to sarvESvaran who is decorated with divine basil/thiruththuzhAy and who is the husband of SrIdhEvi, he wears konRai flower garland and thinks ‘I am eeSvaran’ – it is to such sivan of bad disposition that He gave his body.

kongaththAr vaLankonRai alangal mArvan – Being opposite of ‘thaNduzhAy mAlai mArban [thirumAlai – 5]’ (One having chest decorated by thiruththuzhAy garland). Seeing eeSvaran  protecting/sustaining the worlds wearing unique garland of thiruththuzhAy, he is wearing konRai garland thinking ‘I too should need a garland if I should be called eeSvaran and so look for one’.

kulavaraiyan madappAvai –   Being a counterpart of ‘malar magaL virumbum nam arumpeRal adigaL [thiruvAimozhi 1.3.1]’ (being joyed about the two aspects of being eLiyavan (simple to attain) and ariyavan (difficult to attain)) being desired by One who is having the lotus flower as her residence, our master who is difficult to attain). Oh He is being Sriya:pathi (husband of lakshmi),  when we get such opportunity we should also be with a wife – thinking so he is being umApathy (husband of umA (pArvathi)).

idap pAl koNdAn – As counterpart to ‘vala mArbinil vAzhginRa mangai [thiruppallANdu – 2]’ (thAyAr who lives in the right chest of Him); (rudhran is having umA on his left side).

pangaththAy – (pangu – a share); As said in ‘kUr ALum thani udamban [thiruvAimozhi – 4.8.1]’ ((kUr – share) having divine body which the consorts individually (part by part) enjoy and consider to be their own abode, which is unique, and spiritually distinguished), emperumAn gave a part of His body to rudhran as if in competition with periya pirAttiyAr . It is the divine body which He gave to Her who never separates from Him, which He also shared with rudhran who thinks ‘ISvarOham’ (I am the lord). He does not see rudhran’s state, or Her state, or His own state – He sees only His relationship with them (AthmAs). The form that He gave to the one having perversity of mind that thinks ‘I am the lord’, is not available to me who does not survive without seeing that form, says AzhvAr.

Continued in part – 2

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Translation by raghuram SrInivAsa dAsan

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