SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavara munayE nama:
avathArikai (Introduction) – she tells the cuckoo to call emperumAn, who removes our enemies and offers his divine form to us for enjoying him, to come here.
mAdhali thEr munbu kOl koLLa mAyan irAvaNan mEl sara mAri
thAy thalai aRRaRRu vIzhath thoduththa thalaivan vara engum kANEn
pOdhalar kAvil pudhu maNam nARap poRi vaNdin kAmaram kEttu un
kAdhaliyOdu udan vAzh kuyilE! en karumANikkam varak kUvAy
Word-by-Word Meanings
pOdhu alar kAvil – in the orchard where distinguished flowers are blossoming
pudhu maNam – fresh fragrance
nARa – to waft
poRi vaNdin – beautiful beetle’s
kAmaram – tune called as kAmaram
kEttu – hearing
un kAdhaliyOdu udan vAzh kuyilE – Oh cuckoo, who is living with your beloved!
mAdhali – mAthali [charioteer of indhran, the head of celestial entities]
thEr munbu – in front of (rAvaNa’s) chariot
kOl koLLa – as he wielded his stick
mAyan irAvaNan mEl – on top of rAvaNan, who indulges in black magic
saram mAri – rain of arrows
thAy thalai aRRaRRu vIzha – one who shot to sever the main head repeatedly and made it to fall
thalaivan – emperumAn’s
varavu – arrival
engum – in any direction
kANEn – not seeing
(Hence)
en – being apt for my enjoyment
karumANikkam – emperumAn, who has a blue gemstone like divine form
vara – to come here
kUvAy – call out
Simple Translation
The orchard has eminent flowers which have blossomed and fresh fragrance is wafting. Oh cuckoo, who is living in that orchard with your beloved, listening to the kAmaram tune sung by beautiful beetles! mAthali [indhra’s charioteer) was conducting the chariot, in front of rAvaNa’s chariot, with a stick. emperumAn was raining arrows on that rAvaNa, who is a black magician, such that his main head [rAvaNa had ten heads] was getting severed and falling down, repeatedly. I am not able to see the arrival of that emperumAn, in any of the directions. Oh, cuckoo, you should call out to him, who has a blueish gemstone like divine form, such that he comes here, to enable me to enjoy that form.
vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
mAdhali thEr munbu kOl koLLa – mAthali, the charioteer of indhran, the head of celestial entities, was asked to conduct the chariot for SrI rAma, during his battle with the demon rAvaNa. Whenever indhran was fighting with rAvaNa, his chariot used to go back, all the time, since indhran would run away from the battle, every time. However, mAthali saw for the first time that the chariot was moving forward, due to SrI rAma’s eminence. mAthali became fortunate to conduct the chariot, that way.
mAyan irAvaNan – rAvaNan who doesn’t know what dharmayudhdham [waging a battle in the righteous way] is and always indulges in deceitful activities, such as black magic, during battle. sIthAp pirAtti had told rAvaNa, as in SrI rAmAyaNam sundhara kANdam 22-16 “yathA dhrupthaSca mAthanga: SaSaScha sahithO vanE l thathA dhviradhavath rAmas thvam nIcha SaSavath smrutha: ll” (just like the prideful elephant and rabbit cohabit in the forest, SrI rAmapirAn is like an elephant, you, rAvaNa, a lowly entity, are like a rabbit) that rAvaNa was like the cowardly rabbit. She had also told him “Frightened of perumAL (SrI rAma) and iLaiya perumAL (lakshmaNa), you had brought me here by stealing, when I was alone, separated from them. Could you speak disparagingly about them?” She had earlier said, as in SrI rAmAyaNam AraNya kANdam 47-45 “yadhantharam simhasrugAlayOr vanE yadhantharam syandhanikA-samudhrayO: l surAgra-sauvIrakayOr yadhantharam thadhantharam vai thava rAghavasya cha ll” (whatever difference is there between a lion and a jackal in the forest, whatever difference is there between saliva and ocean, whatever difference is there between an eminent alcoholic liquor and the juice of lowly fruit, the same difference exists between you and SrI rAma). Considering the difference between the two, lest rAvaNa thought that she was referring to him as lion, she explicitly told rAvaNa that he was like a frightened rabbit and SrI rAma was like a lion. In the SlOkam cited above, beginning with yadhantharam, she had specifically said that the difference between them was similar to the difference between a lion and a jackal, since she is the valorous consort of SrI rAma, and since she did not have any respect for rAvaNa, who had separated her from her husband, SrI rAma, and had imprisoned her in a solitary place.
mAyan irAvaNan mEl – on the deceitful rAvaNa. The word mAyan refers to a deceitful person who indulges in deceitful activities, astonishingly.
saramAri – just as it has been mentioned in SrI rAmAyaNam yudhdha kANdam 94-18 “thathO rAmO mahAthEjA dhanurAdhAya vIryavAn l praviSya rAkshasam sainyam Saravarsham vavarsha ha ll” (subsequently, rAma, who was highly effulgent and valorous, holding his bow, entered the army of demons and let down a rain of arrows) did not SrI rAma shower arrows on the enemies, just like the repeated showers of rain?
thAy thalai aRRaRRu vIzhath thoduththa – head is referred to as the main limb of a body, as in the verse “sarvasya gAthrasya Sira: pradhAnam”. To make that head get severed repeatedly and fall on the ground, due to the benevolence of SrI rAma’s arrows. As the head, which got severed, sprouted again in its place, the next arrow shot by SrI rAma, severed that. This kept happening continuously, as a playful pastime for SrI rAma, before he finally killed rAvaNa. If rAvaNa’s head had not sprouted repeatedly, SrI rAma would have been unable to satisfy his arrows which came repeatedly, following the previous one.
thalaivan – bravest and most noble-minded among the leaders of epics.
varavu engum kANEn – it appears that she was looking for him in each direction repeatedly, thinking “There is no hurdle for him to come here; why is he not coming?” until her eyes became tired.
pOdhalar kAvil pudhu maNam nARap poRI vaNdin kAmaram kEttu – listening to the sweet tune of kAmaram sung by beetles which were attracted to the orchard where flowers had blossomed and the fresh fragrance was just wafting.
un kAdhaliyOdu udan vAzh kuyilE – aren’t you the one who, knowing how your beloved would suffer if you separate from her, is living with her! Oh cuckoo, who is living with your beloved, unlike my beloved who left me when I was suffering like this when separated from him!
en karumANikkam varak kUvAy – she tells the bird to call out for kaNNan, who has a bluish divine form and who enslaved her by manifesting that form to her.
en karumANikkam varak kUvAy – he is one with beautiful limbs; he is a valorous person. Call out to him such that he comes here.
Next, we will consider the 4th pAsuram of this decad.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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