SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavara munayE nama:
avathArikai (Introduction) – she says that she also enjoyed madhusUdhanan (emperumAn) holding her hand.
maththaLam kotta varisangam ninRu Udha
muththudaith thAmam nirai thAzhndha pandhaRkIzh
maiththunan nambi madhusUdhan vandhennai
kaiththalam paRRa kanAk kaNdEn thOzhI! nAn
Word-by-Word Meanings
thOzhI! – Oh, dear friend!
maththaLam kotta – even as the percussion instruments were being played
vari sangam ninRu Udha – even as the conches, with lines, were being blown for a long time
maiththunan nambi madhusUdhan – kaNNa pirAn, who is complete with all the auspicious qualities and who has the relationship with ANdAL to marry her
muththu udai thAmam nirai thAzhndha pandhal kIzh vandhu – coming under the wedding
dais, decorated with garlands having pearls
ennai kaiththalam paRRa – to mercifully carry out pANigrahaNam (holding my hand)
nAn kanAk kaNdEN – I dreamt
Simple Translation
Oh, dear friend! I dreamt that even as various drums were being played and the conches with lines on them were being blown for a long time, kaNNa pirAn, who is complete with all the auspicious qualities and who has the relationship to marry me, came under the wedding dais, which was decorated with garlands having pearls, to mercifully hold my hand.
vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
maththaLam kotta varisangam ninRu Udha – sounding auspicious musical instruments such as drums and conch, which are usually played during weddings of people belonging to regal clans. Instead of saying “He held my hand with the recital of vEdha manthrams (incantations from sacred texts)” is it proper to say “He held my hand with the sounding of auspicious musical instruments”? periyavAchchAn piLLai, the vyAkyAthA (commentator) for this prabandham, says that it is possible that kaNNan had married her before he went to sage sAndhIpini’s hermitage for learning. According to historical facts, kaNNan had grown up in thiruvAyppAdi (SrI gOkulam) for a long time and then only went to sAndhIpani to learn vEdham. Thus, it is only apt that he had married ANdAL, who is imagining herself as a cowherd girl, before he learnt vEdham.
muththudaith thAmam nirai thAzhndha pandhaRkIzh – under the wedding dais where rows of garlands with pearls have been hung such that they were touching the heads [of people coming under the dais].
maiththunan nambi – kaNNan, who is the emperumAn, has the required relationship, in order to marry her. Hasn’t ANdAL transformed herself into a cowherd girl so that she could be termed as a relative of kaNNa pirAn, eligible to marry him, just like nappinnaip pirAtti!
madhusUdhan – one who annihilated enemies such as madhu et al. The meaning hinted here is that if someone else were to come to marry ANdAL saying that he is also related to ANdAL, he [kaNNan] has the capability to destroy him and to hold her hand. Isn’t he one who will destroy those who come to take control of any of his possessions, falsely claiming ownership, just as he had destroyed madhu?
vandhennai kaiththalam paRRa – isn’t she the divine daughter of periyAzhwAr, who had upAya adhyavasAyam [the firm belief in the means] that only he [emperumAn], who is the owner [of the soul], is apt to come and take charge of the owned? Thus, she says that emperumAn himself came and held her hand.
kaiththalam paRRa – did not sithAp pirAtti reminisce in SrI rAmAyaNam yudhdha kANdam 119-16 “na pramANIkrutha: pANi: bAlyE bAlEna pIditha: l” (that hand of mine, when I was young, which was held very tightly by you, when you too were young, is not being thought of [today]) reminding an incident to hanuman “Even if he forgets me, could he forget himself? Did he forget that he had held my hand [in marriage] when he was twelve years of age?” Some disciples asked embAr, their AchAryan “Instead of using the term pANigrahaNam why was the term pIditha used by pirAtti in the SlOKam stated above?” embAr replied, saying “Just as it has been said in thiruvAimozhi 9-6-6 ‘angaNNanuNda ennAruyikkOdhidhu‘ (with desire, he [emperumAn) consumed my soul which is faulty), with his firm grip on her hand, he indicated that the firm grip is only for his sake. To emphasise this, the term pIditha has been used”. Here, the vyAkyAthA, periyavAchchAn piLLai, explains in detail the term pANigrahaNam taken from SrI rAmAyaNam bAlakANdam SlOkam 73-26 “iyam sIthA mama suthA saha dharmacharI thava l prathIchcha chainAm bhadhram thE pANim gruhNIshva pANinA ll“ (This sIthai is my daughter; she will accompany you in all the righteous deeds; accept her. May you have all auspicious bodings. Hold her hand with your hand). iyam sIthA – you were in your mother’s womb for 12 months. Unlike that, she did not come out of a mother’s womb. Just as it has been mentioned in amaram 2-9-14 and in vaijayanthI bhUmi-vaiSya 30, “sIthA lAngala padhdhadhi:” (the path of the plough is known as sIthai), [when king janaka] ploughed the field, since she appeared as ayOnija [one not born from a womb], she was called as sIthai. Isn’t it eminent for you to attain her? mama suthA saha dharmacharI thava – Since she is my daughter, when I had been treating protection of citizens as the path of righteousness, if you take a vow to protect those who have been tortured, she is capable of going to lankA ahead of you and being imprisoned to free celestial ladies [who had been imprisoned there]. prathIchcha chainAm – just as people are given wages in order to eat sugarcane, am I not falling at your feet, asking you to accept her hand! bhadhram thE – just as it has been mentioned in thiruppallANdu 2 “vadivAy nin valamArbinil vAzhginRa mangaiyum pallANdu” (mangaLASAsanam (praises) to the divine beautiful pirAttis who are dwelling on the right side of your divine chest), janaka sings pallANdu to the togetherness of SrI rAma and sIthA. When the bow was broken and king janaka offered his daughter to SrI rAma, perumAL said “When my father and the people of the town have not come, how could I hold her hand?” manifesting the eminence of his auspicious qualities, declining to hold her hand. janaka said “It was appropriate to decline her hand then. Now that your father and others have come, hold her hand with your hand”. After saying “prathIchcha” (accept her) he said “pANim gruhNIshva” (hold her hand). The meaning for this could only be that unlike the earlier occasion when you had declined to hold her hand, please hold her hand.
Next, we will consider the 7th pAsuram of this decad.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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