SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavara munayE nama:
avathArikai (Introduction) – She tells the cuckoo bird “If you can call him out, taking pity on my suffering, that will be a noble deed”
pongiya pARkadal pALLikoLvAnaip puNarvadhOr AsaiyinAL en
kongai kiLarndhu kumaiththuk kudhugaliththu Aviyai Agulam seyyum
anguyilE! unakkenna maRaindhuRaivu Azhiyum sangum oNthaNdum
thangiya kaiyavanaik kUvil nI sAlath tharumam peRudhi
Word-by-Word Meanings
am kuyilE – Oh beautiful cuckoo!
pongiya pAl kadal – in thiruppARkadal (milky ocean) with waves agitating
paLLi koLvAnai – with emperumAn, who is mercifully reclining
puNarvadhu Or AsaiyinAl – due to the desire to unite with him
en kongai – my bosoms
kiLarndhu – swelling
kudhugaliththu – becoming very joyous
Aviyai – my life
kumaiththu Agulam seyyum – will melt and make me distressed
(Oh, beautiful cuckoo!)
maRaindhun uRaivu – (in the shade, away from sunlight) by your hiding
unakku enna – what is your benefit?
oN Azhiyum sangum thaNdum thangiya kaiyavanai vara – to make emperumAn, who is donning the divine disc, the divine conch and the divine mace in his divine hands, to come here
nI kUvil – if you could call out
sAla – to a great extent
dharumam peRudhi – you would have done a noble deed
Simple Translation
Oh, beautiful cuckoo! emperumAn is mercifully reclining in thiruppARkadal (milky ocean) where the waves are agitating. Due to their desire to unite with him, my bosoms are swelling, becoming joyous and are troubling me by melting me. What is the benefit if you were to hide yourself? If you could call out to that emperumAn, who is holding the divine disc, the divine conch and the divine mace in his divine hands, to make him to come here, you would indeed have done a noble deed.
vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
pongiya pARkadal paLLi koLvAnai – while his residence is paramapadham, in order to subjugate these people [in samsAram], he has left that paramapadham and has reclined in thiruppARkadal, where the waves are agitating. kUraththAzhwAn says in varadharAja sthavam 60 “SambhOrambhOruhamukhasakhA san sahAngaS SaSAnka: kurvan sEvAm varadha! vikalO vruththahInas suvakra: l thvath pAdhAbjE priyamakha: nakhachchadmanASrIthya nithyam sadhvruththO’bhUth sa thu dhaSaguNa: pushkalO nishkaLanka: ll” (Oh bhagavAn, with a lotus-like divine face and who is fond of yagyams (rituals)! chandhran (moon), who (already) has sins (and has that blemish), despite being friendly with rudhra (Sivan) carrying out servitude to him (by decorating his head), became devoid of his rays, became deformed, without a good conduct and lost his round shape. Through the excuse of being your [toe] nails, he attained your divine feet forever, became unblemished (without sins), became full (with all his rays) and became round (regaining his good conduct), becoming bigger ten times). Ocean will start agitating when it sees moon, even if the moon has a fault, as said in the above mentioned SlOkam. When the moon takes the form of emperumAn’s toe-nails, becoming ten moons at the same time, is there a need to say how the waves would agitate! purusha sUktham says “chandhramA manasO jAtha: chakshO:sUryO ajAyatha” (chandhran was born from emperumAn’s mind and sUryan (sun) from emperumAn’s eyes). Since chandhran was born from emperumAn’s divine mind, he gave chandhran a little bit of that coolness. When ocean agitates on seeing that chandhran, is it necessary to say how much it will agitate when emperumAn himself is reclining on it?
puNarvadhOr AsaiyinAl – with the desire to unite with him
en kongai …… Akulam seyyum – unlike me who thinks that despite deep love, a lady should have the typical feminine modesty, my bosoms refuse to be restrained.
kiLarndhu – just as a few limbs swell when they long for gold, my bosoms too swell, desiring him who is like gold. She says “Did I have bosoms which are modest like me?” Aren’t they those which trouble her heart and a burden on her heart?
kumaiththu – just like children trouble their mother when she is not giving them food, by punching her on her back, her bosoms troubled her since they did not get to embrace his chest, which is their food.
kudhugaliththu – even when he had not come, in a state of stupor, they showed joy as if they were going out to receive him.
Aviyai Agulam seyyum – if I were to explain the way they troubled me, it will be as lengthy as mahAbhAratham.
anguyilE! unakkenna maRaindhuRaivu – when I am suffering like this, is it apt for you to be in the shade, hiding yourself from the sun?
Azhiyum sangum oN thaNdum thangiya kaiyavanai varakkUvil – just as nammAzhwAr had said in periya thiruvandhAdhi 87 “eppOdhum kaikazhalA nEmiyAn” (he holds his divine disc on his divine hand, always), he has his divine weapons always on his hands so that he would not have to search for them when there is a need to protect his followers. If you could call out to such an emperumAn to come here….
nI sAlath tharumam peRudhi – sIthAp pirAtti says in SrI rAmAyaNam sundhara kANdam 39-10 “jIvanthIm mAm yathA rAmas sambhAvayathi kIrthimAn l thath thathA hanuman vAchyO vAchA dharmamavApnuhi ll” (You should tell a word to the eminent SrI rAmapirAn to honour me who is alive), addressing hanuman. (Here ANdAL tells the cuckoo) By your one word, I will be able to sustain myself. You would get the benefit of having organised a thanneerppandhal (a shed in which water is given to the thirsty people, especially during peak summer times, acknowledged as a noble deed). Without delay, you should do this [calling out to emperumAn to come here].
nI sAlath tharumam peRudhi – if you protect me, it will be equivalent to protecting him who cannot sustain himself in separation from me. If you protect him, it will be equivalent to protecting the entire world, whose existence will be nullified without him. Thus, you will get the virtuous deed of giving a fresh lease of life to the world which is always together with the supreme entity, who has been existing sine time immemorial, ready to protect the worlds. kapOthOpAkhyAnam [an ancient treatise from purANas] talks about how a dove, with its beloved, was suffering during heavy rains, and how it offered itself as food to a hunter who stood under the tree where the birds were sitting, in hunger, considering him as one who has come to surrender to it. ANdAL tells the cuckoo, you need not destroy itself; it is enough if you just tell a word. There, the dove protected only that hunter; here, by protecting me, you would be deemed to have protected all the worlds. Did not perumAL [SrI rAma] too say in a similar fashion to hanuman, just as it has been mentioned in SrI rAmAyaNam yudhdha kANdam 1-12 “aham cha raghuvamSaScha lakshmaNaScha mahAbala: l vaidhEhyA dharSanEnAdhya dharmatha: parirakshithA: ll” (I [rAma], bharatha, who was born in the clan of raghu and lakshmaNa, who has supreme strength, have been protected by you, through your noble deed of having seen sIthai (without expecting anything in return))?
Next, we will consider the 8th pAsuram of this decad.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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