SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:
sIrAr suLagil sila nel pidiththeRiyA
vErA vidhirvidhirA mey silirAk kaimOvA 21
Word by Word Meanings
sIr Ar suLagil sila nel pidiththu eRiyA – picking a few grains of paddy from a beautiful winnow and throwing them in the front
vErA – perspiring
vidhir vidhirA – breaking down
mey silirA – having goose bumps
kai mOvA – smelling the hand
vyAkyAnam
sIrAr suLagil – on a beautiful winnow. Beauty for winnow is that even as paddy and chaff are mixed together, it is capable of removing the chaff from the grain. Isn’t this winnow also going to remove the other deities, which are the chaff and dust, and to give only [emperumAn] the grain as mentioned in periya thirumozhi 11-8-8 “maNiyE maNimANikkamE” (Oh one who has the form of a bluish gem stone! Oh one who has the greatness of a distinguished gem such as carbuncle!) Thus, it is referred to as a beautiful winnow.
sila nel pidiththu eRiyA – the fortune teller is celebrating the paddy grains too saying “Aren’t they too some [distinguished] grains!”
vErA vidhir vidhirA mey silirA – as soon as she started talking about bhagavath vishayam (matter relating to emperumAn) the [fortune-teller’s] body crumbled; vErA – started perspiring; vidhir vidhirA – the body trembled; mey silirA – goose bumps formed all over the body. Has it not been said in perumAL thirumozhi 2-9 “moyththuk kaNpani sOra meygaL silirppa” (with tears of joy flowing and the body having goose bumps), in periya thiruvandhAdhi 34 “kAlAzhum nenjazhiyum kaN suzhalum”(legs became weak, heart became decrepit and eyes were rolling) and in vEdham “AhlAdha SItha nEthrAmbu: puLakIkrutha gAthravAn I sadhA paraguNAvishtO dhrashtavya: sarvadhEhibi: II” (having tears of joy, goose-bumps all over the body, being constantly engaged with the qualities of paramAthmA (supreme being), the devotee is apt to be seen by all sentient entities)! When SrI vAlmIki bhagavAn started asking nAradha bhagavAn “kOnyasmin sAmpratham lOkE guNavAn . . .” (who is the one with great qualities among the people in this world, now) and further asked “maharishi! thvam samarthOsi gyAthum Evam vidham naram” (Oh great sage! You are the one capable of knowing such a person), SrI nAradha bhagavAn responded saying “munE! vakshyAmi aham bhudhdhvA thair yuktha: SruyathAm nara:” (Oh sage! I will analyse and tell you; please listen as to who is such a person with such great qualities . . .). And he starts saying immediately, about SrI rAma. While nAradha maharishi knew about SrI rAma all along and started talking about him immediately, what is the meaning of his saying that he will analyse and tell? As he started revealing the qualities of SrI rAma one after another, after vAlmIki bhagavAn asked him, nAradha became totally involved with the qualities of SrI rAma and was in a state of stupor for a short time. To convey the meaning that he would respond after coming out of that stupefied state, nAradha bhagavAn said that he will analyse and tell him. The state of nAradha is much similar to that of nammAzhwAr when he said in thiruvAimozhi 9-6-2 “ninaidhoRum sollundhoRum nenjidindhugum” (whenever I think and speak (about the qualities of emperumAn), the heart melts and crumbles). In nAnmugan thiruvandhAdhi 78 “kaNdu vaNanginArkku ennAngol kAmanudal koNda thavaththARku umai uNarththa vaNdalambum thAralangal nINmudiyAn than peyarE kEttirundhu angAralangal AnamaiyAl Ayndhu”, the state of a person steeped in devotion is described. kAman udal koNda thavaththARku – Siva, who burnt kAman (cupid) since kAman united Siva and pArvathi and Siva considered that as a shortcoming in kAman. To him, umai uNarththa – when umA (pArvathi) nudged her husband Siva and told him as to who is the one with such great divine names, due to the stupefaction of hearing the divine names [of emperumAn], Siva forgot the order of teacher – disciple and considered himself as disciple and umA as the teacher, to listen to the divine names. After hearing the divine names, was he able to sustain himself without becoming crumbled? angAralangal AnamaiyAl Ayndhu – Siva became like a withered garland [due to becoming very weak, on hearing the divine names of emperumAn]. kaNdu vaNanginArkku ennAngol – If this is the state of Siva who only heard the divine names of emperumAn and went into a state of stupor, what will be the state of one who sees emperumAn?
kai mOvA – Due to the deep thoughts about emperumAn, wouldn’t the hands of the fortune teller also be fragrant, just as it has been said in thiruvAimozhi 10-6-7 “virai kuzhuvu naRundhuavam meyninRu kamazhum” (the divine thuLasi, which is very fragrant, stayed firmly on my body and emitted fragrance)? Thus, she smells her hand.
In the next article, we will discuss the next part of this prabandham.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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