SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavara munayE nama:
avathArikai (Introduction)
emperumAn asks AzhwAr in his divine mind “You said ‘varam sey puNdarIganE’ in the previous pAsuram, asking me to shower mercy on you, without any reason. In order to shower my distinguished mercy on you so that you could get uplifted, should you not have a means with you?” AzhwAr responds in this pAsuram, saying “periya pirAttiyAr (SrI mahAlakshmi) has mercifully taken residence in your divine abode. You are mercifully holding the five divine weapons in your divine hands. Should I have any means within me, in order to get rid of my enemies and to attain you? If you are going to make it compulsory [that I should have a means within me to attain you], you should mercifully grant me a means such that I could get rid of my hurdles, attain your divine feet and carry out service to you”. AzhwAr says that when he has nothing in him and is looking up to emperumAn for everything, just as emperumAn grants him the ultimate benefit of carrying out kainkaryam, he himself should also grant him the means since AzhwAr has nothing in him.
veyya vAzhi sangu thaNdu villum vALum Endhu sIrk
kaiya! seyya pOdhil mAdhu sEru mArba! nAdhanE!
aiyilAya Akkai nOy aRuththu vandhu ninnadaindhu
uyvadhOr ubAyam nI enakku nalga vENdumE
Word-by-Word Meanings
veyya – being cruel (towards enemies)
Azi – the divine disc
Sangu – SrI pAnchajanyam, the divine conch
thaNdu – SrI kaumOdhakI, the divine mace
villum – SrI SArngam, the divine bow
vALum – SrI nandhakam, the divine sword, all these
Endhu – holding
sIr kaiya – oh one who has divine hands!
seyya – being reddish
pOdhil – being in the lotus flower
mAdhu – periya pirAttiyAr
sErum – residing permanently
mArba – oh one who has divine chest!
nAdhanE – oh one who is the lord for all!
aiyil Aya – having phlegm as its nature
Akkai – called as the body
nOy – disease
aRuththu – destroying it
vandhu – coming (to parama padham)
nin adaindhu – reaching you (who are to be attained)
uyvadhOr ubAyam – a means in order to carry out service and get uplifted
nI – you (the owner)
enakku– to me (who is looking up to you)
nalga vENdum – should grant, mercifully
Simple Translation
Oh, one who has the divine hands in which you are holding the divine weapons of disc, conch, bow, mace and sword, which are cruel (towards enemies)! Oh, one who has the divine chest in which periya pirAttiyAr, who lives in a reddish lotus flower, resides permanently! Oh, one who is the lord to everyone! You, my owner, should grant me a means mercifully such that I am able to destroy this body which carries diseases like phlegm as its nature and reach you so that I could carry out service to you and get uplifted.
vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
veyya vAzhi sangu thaNdu villum vALum Endhu sIrk kaiya – Oh one who permanently holds the divine weapons of disc, conch, bow, mace and sword, which are such cruel that enemies will fall down trembling on looking at them, and which you hold in your divine hands due to your affection towards your followers! The term sIr denotes motherly forbearance towards followers. Alternatively, it could be taken as an adjective for the divine hand, conveying the meaning “Even if they are mere hands without holding anything, they are such beautiful that one has to ward off evil spirits; in such hands, you are holding these divine weapons!” Do you have enemies who are to be destroyed, for which you are holding these weapons permanently? AzhwAr says “Aren’t you holding them only in order to destroy my enemies?” It is only to destroy sins which are the enemies of his followers that he is holding the divine weapons always, just as nammAzhwAr too had mentioned in his periya thiruvandhAdhi 87 “eppOdhum kai kazhalA nEmiyAn nammEl vinai kadivAn” (emperumAn holds the divine disc permanently in his divine hand in order to destroy our sins).
seyya pOdhil mAdhu sEru mArba – since periya pirAttiyAr was born in the reddish lotus, she has a tender nature; since she is reddish and adds beautiful contrast to the dark bluish divine complexion of emperumAn, she is like an ornament to his divine chest. Just as nammAzhwAr has said in thiruvAimozhi 6-10-10 “agalagillEn iRaiyum enRu” (Saying “I will not separate from the divine chest even for a moment”), oh one who holds periya pirAttiyAr always on your divine chest! Through this series of verses, it is indicated that when periya pirAttiyAr, who implores you to show patience towards sinners, when the divine weapons which destroy the sins which are hurdles in attaining emperumAn, are present with emperumAn, just like children will not suffer in the presence of their parents, will I (AzhwAr) suffer due to connection with my physical form?
nAdhanE – Oh, one who is the swAmy for all! Through this term it is implied that “Even if periya pirAttiyAr does not carry out purushakAram (recommendatory role), even if you do not hold these weapons which destroy my enemies, in your hands, you should protect me merely by seeing me as your possession; when the possession is in distress, could the possessor remain quiet?”
AzhwAr says further that beyond these, if you (emperumAn) consider compulsively that I should have a means with me in order to attain you, you should grant me that means, mercifully.
aiyilAya Akkai nOy aRuththu – destroying the disease of [my] physical form which has phlegm as its nature. Doesn’t the physical form, which those who think that “physical form alone is AthmA [and that there is no entity which exists, called as AthmA]”, become a disease for those who attain knowledge [about emperumAn]. Hasn’t thirumazhisaippirAn [this AzhwAr] mercifully mentioned in nAnmugan thiruvandhAdhi 79 “Eyndha tham mey kundhamAgavE virumbuvar” ((those who are desirous of attaining SrI vaikuNtam) will consider their physical forms, which are united with their souls, as diseases only)?
vandhu ninnadaindhu – reaching paramapadham and attaining you, who are with unmatched sweetness.
uyvadhOr ubAyam – a means for me to carry out service and get uplifted
nI enakku nalga vENdumE – you, who are the consort of SrI mahAlakshmi, who are holding the divine weapons, who are having the capability to grant me whatever I do not have, should mercifully grant me who is looking up to you for everything. The term nalgudhal refers to granting something without any reason, without expecting anything [in the hands of the receiver].
Next, we will take up the 98th pAsuram of this prabandham.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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