23nd pAsuram
thamizh:
“ஊழி வினைக் குறும்பர் ஓட்டருவர் என்றஞ்சி
ஏழை மனமே! இனித் தளரேள் – ஆழி வண்ணன்
தன்னடிக் கீழ் வீழ்ந்து சரண் என்று இறந்தொருகால்
சொன்னதர் பின் உண்டோ? துயர்”
English:
“Uzhi vinaik kuRumbar Ottaruvar enRanjchi
Ezhai manamE! inith thaLarEl – Azhi vaNNan
thannadik kIzh vIzhndhu saraN enRu iranthorukAl
sonnadhaR pin uNdO? thuyar”
Synopsis:
This pAsuram consoles all those who are afraid with the thought that their karmic actions would continue to follow them and haunt them forever. This pAsuram stresses the fact that after total surrender (saraNAgathi), there is no sufferings due to our karma in the past. This is the crux of this pAsuram.
Verbatim Meanings:
Uzhi vinaik kuRumbar Ottaruvar enRanjchi – Past karmA will haunt and scare you
Ezhai manamE! inith thaLarEl -– but, the heart without knowledge, do not fret
Azhi vaNNan thannadik kIzh vIzhndhu saraN enRu iranthorukAl – because you can fall at the feet of the one with the color of the ocean and tell HIM that HE alone is your savior.
sonnadhaR pin uNdO? Thuyar – After saying that HE is your savior, can you really worry about karmA or any associated suffering? No!
Explanation:
Uzhi vinaik kuRumbar: Past karma is being given a form and shape here. It is being personified as a wicked person and called “kuRumbar”.
“Uzh” refers to old and so “Uzh vina” is old (past) karma. The reason past karmas is personified here is because of the level of bad influence it exerts on a person, like how they say “azhukARu ena oru pAvi”. They say “kayamai ennum paNbuchol” where the atrocities of material things is being personified into a living person. The atrocities are so high that it can be compared to a group of person. Likewise, there are a group of people (kayavar) who are very strong. Using their strength, they would make a whole country slave of themselves and rule them as per their whims and fancies. Similarly, this person called “kurubmbar” who are big group of past karmas take a person according to however they want. There is also one more evidence to this personification application in “kangul kuRumbar”. Here kangul (night) plays the role of kuRumbar. Yet another phrase would be “aivar” where the five sense is being personified.
Ottaruvar enRanjchi: kuRumbar would keep running behind one’s back to haunt them. The use of the word “Ottaruvar” is to signify that these past karmas come back faster than one would think.
Ezhai manamE!: Oh my foolish heart!!! svAmi aruLALa perumAL emberumAnAr says the heart is foolish because it does not know that a) perumAL is the ONE who never relinquishes those who had done total surrender to HIS lotus feet (HE shows through HIS hand that “let you don’t fear”) b) the greatness of the wonderful path of saraNAgathi that leads to the impeccable srivaikuntam c) the benefits to the person who had done saraNAgathi. Looking at this foolish and pitiable heart, some consolation is being offered in the subsequent lines of this pAsuram.
inith thaLarEl: Even one has a lot of jitters before doing saraNAgathi, there is absolutely no need of any such jitters or fear after saraNAgathi. Since the greatness of sharanaAgathi is such that, svAmi aruLALa perumAL emberumAnAr consols his heart. This is similar to how krishna consoled arjuna by saying “do not fear. I am there for you”. The word “ini” that means here afterwards refers to the time after saraNAgathi was performed.
Azhi vaNNan: The ONE who is like an ocean. HE is like an ocean with greater depths of character. HE is the ONE who is like an blue hued ocean that removes any sorrows of those who look at it.
thannadik kIzh vIzhndhu: This phrase would mean “to fall at the lotus feet of the ocean hued perumAL”, akin to how thirumangai AzhvAr exclaimed “Azhi vaNNan nin adiyiNai adaindhEn”.
saraN enRu iranthu orukAl sonnadhaR pin: After saraNAgathi is performed by saying, “YOU should be the sole refuge”, there is no fear. This statement should be said only once. There is absolutely no need to do saraNAgathi more than once. It defeats its very purpose and theme. Hence it behooves oneself to be cognizant of the fact that saraNAgathi needs to be performed once and exactly once wherein the person request perumAL that let HIS lotus feet be the sole refuge for him.
uNdO? thuyar: Hence, after saraNAgathi is done, will there be any way for the past karmas to follow and haunt us? Never. Right when the person falls at the lotus feet ot perumAL, all his past karmas and his future karmas would be destroyed as described in the shAsthrams (Andal says “pOya pizhayum pugudharuvAn nindRanavum). Thus the essence of the pasuram is that for all those who had performed saraNAgathi, all the past karmas get destroyed like how cotton is destroyed in fire. Hence, the past karmas would not cease to exist in order to haunt that person. So there is no need to fear of one’s past karmas anymore after saraNAgathi.
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