Arththi Prabandham – 21

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

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Introduction:

In this pAsuram maNavALa mAmunigaL is talking to his heart. We need to imagine figuratively that maNavALa mAmunigaL’s heart is asking him a question. The question is that “Oh maNavALa mAmunigaL! in the earlier pAsuram, you visually described the path to the spiritual abode known as paramapadham. Not stopping with that, you even described the unison between a soul and Sriman nArAyaNan. This opportunity is extremely rare even to those who are well read and knowledgeable. But you talked about this opportunity as if you experienced it literally. What made you so confident and so fearless all of a sudden? Are you not afraid anymore?” maNavALa mAmunigaL replied to this question that his heart posed him. maNavALa mAmunigaL tells his heart “Oh my dear heart! Do not fear anymore! The knowledge that I have is all given by the causeless mercy of my guru thiruvAimozhip piLLai. With that knowledge, I have come to the conclusion that only his (thiruvAimozhip piLLai’s) grace is the big ticket to liberation. Seeing this state of me, emperumAnAr would be so pleased and happy that he will do the required tasks automatically. Hence, I do not have any fear. So you too, do not have any fear anymore”.

pAsuram:

thirumalai AzhvAr thiruvAimozhip piLLai sIraruLAl
tharum madhi koNdavar thammai uththArakarAga eNNi
iru manamE! avarkkAi ethirAsar emaik kadugap
paramapadham thanil yERRuvAr enna bayam namakkE!!!

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Word-by-Word Meanings:

thirumalai AzhvAr – The one who has the name “SriSailESar”
thiruvAimozhip piLLai – is none other than thiruvAimozhip piLLai.
sIraruLAl – Out of his causeless mercy, he
tharum – blessed me with
madhi – his divine knowledge.
manamE! – Hey my dear heart!
koNdu – Using that knowledge as the means,
iru – Please be
eNNi – in the steadfast belief that
avar thammai – thiruvAimozhippiLLai, the great one who helped to such an extent,
uththArakarAga – is the one who will liberate from the shackles of this worldly bondage.
ethirAsar – emperumAnAr,
avarkkAi – for the sake of my AchAryan thiruvAimozhippiLLai,
yERRuvAr – will send
emai – me, who stands by the rule “svAchArya abhimAnamE uththArakam” (the goodwill that a guru has on his sishyAs is the only saving grace for a sishyAs)
kaduga – very soon
paramapadham thanil – to paramapadham
enna bayam namakkE!!! – Hey my heart! Hence why should we fear!!! There is no need to fear (One can sleep with hands on their chest and happily sleep thereupon)

Simple Translation:
maNavALa mAmunigaL tells his heart to have no fear for emperumAnAr will protect him. The reason emperumAnAr will surely protect and escalate him to paramapadham is because of the love and compassion that maNavALa mAmunigaL‘s direct AchArya thiruvAimozhip piLLai has on him (maNavALa mAmunigaL). maNavALa mAmunigaL learnt that the blessings that a guru showers on a persons and the subsequent compassion that he shows on him (Sishyas) alone would make emperumAnAr to expedite things for him.

Explanation:
thirumalai AzhvAr was the original name. Later, because of his deep interest and knowledge in thiruvAimozhi, he came to be famously known as “thiruvAimozhip piLLai”. He was being known with his association towards thiruvAimozhi. That name stuck on to him and served as the most easy identification trait for him. maNavALa mAmunigaL says that such a great AchArya “thiruvAimozhip piLLai, out of his causeless mercy, showered upon him the choicest blessings and the knowledge about the highest. maNavALa mAmunigaL was the recipient of all his knowledge. With that knowledge as the means, maNavALa mAmunigaL tells to his heart “Oh my dear heart! Please remember that the great thiruvAimozhip piLLai has granted us the knowledge. The use of such knowledge is for us to realize that it is he who is going to liberate us from the shackles of this earthly bondage. So my dear heart, I want you to be steadfast in that belief. If we can be steadfast in this belief, SrI rAmAnuja will look at us and appreciate the state in which we are. Then, he will think about our AchAryan, and for his sake, will make sure that we go to paramapadham as soon as possible, as per the phrase “ERRarum vaikuntham (thiruvAimozhi 7.6.10)”. maNavALa mAmunigaL continues towards his heart “So, you do not have to fear for anything, as they say “manamE naiyal mEvudharkkE (irAmAnusa nURRandhAdhi 98). One can sleep with their hands placed over their chest and sleep happily, for SrI rAmAnuja will guarantee the ticket to paramapadham”.

Translation by santhAna rAmAnuja dhAsan

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