SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavara munayE nama:
avathArikai (Introduction) – she tells the clouds to ask thiruvEngadamudaiyAn “Would destroying my (ANdAL’s) femineity, be an act of eminence for you?”
viNNeela mElAppu viriththARpOl mEgangAL
theNNIrpAy vEngadaththen thirumAlum pOndhAnE
kaNNIrgaL mulaikkuvattil thuLisOrach chOrvEnaip
peNNIrmai Idazhikkum idhu thamkkOr perumaiyE
Word-by-Word Meanings
viN – throughout the sky
neelam mElAppu viriththAl pOl – remaining like a spread-out, blue coloured canopy
mEgangAL! – Oh, clouds!
theL nIr pAy – the place where clear streams are flowing
vEngadaththu – mercifully dwelling on the hills of thiruvEngadam
en thirumAlum – emperumAn, who is the divine consort of SrI mahAlakshmi
pOndhAnE – has he mercifully come (along with you)?
mulai kuvattil – on the edge of bosom
kaN nIrgaL thuLisOra – with tears dripping
sOrvEnai – one who is in distress, my
peN nIrmai Idu azhikkum idhu – this (act of) destroying femineity
thamakku – for him
Or perumaiyE – did it stand as a sign of eminence?
Simple Translation
Oh clouds, who are remaining like a spread-out blue canopy throughout the sky! Has emperumAn, who mercifully dwells on the hills of thiruvEngadam, and who is the divine consort of SrI mahAlakshmi, come with you all? Please ask him whether this act of his, by which he is making me feel distressed, with tears dripping on the edge of my bosom, stood as a sign of eminence.
vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
viNNeela mElAppu viriththARpOl – clouds have spread out throughout the sky, as if a blue coloured canopy has been spread. ANdAL considers that this appears like a canopy which has been put out so that she and her consort could sit as if in a royal court. For both perumAL and pirAtti, don’t nithya vibhUthi (parama padham) and leelA vibhUthi (this world) exist as servitors? She thinks that the reason for creating the world and spreading out the clouds is for emperumAn and her to hold court.
mEgangAL – when sIthAp pirAtti had to send a message, hanuman alone was the messenger. The distinction for ANdAL [over sIthAp pirAtti] is that she has many clouds to be sent as messengers. SrI rAmAyaNam sundhara kANdam 30-3 says “yAm kapInAm sahasrANi subhahUnyayuthAni cha l dhikshu sarvAsu mArganthE sEyamAsAdhithA mayA ll” (She, who was searched in all directions by thousands of monkeys in many groups, was found out by me). hanuman felt sad that though thousands of monkeys had set out to search for sIthAp pirAtti, the others did not have the fortune to see her and that only he could see her. Clouds did not have that sadness, since all of them would be seeing emperumAn. These two references have been cited to confirm that she called out to a group of clouds. When kings come out to participate in water games, a few people called as mEgar would come with him and take part in the water games. In the same manner, she thinks that these clouds too have participated in the water games and have come with wet physical forms.
theNNIr pAy vEngadaththu – in thiruvEngadam hills, where clear streams keep flowing continuously. In all the divine abodes where he is standing, all the entities would have clarity, due to his proximity. SrI rAmAyaNam ayOdhyA kANdam 59-5 says “upathapthOdhakA nadhya: palvalAni sarAmsi cha l pariSushkapalASAni vanAnyupavanAni cha ll” ((Due to separation from SrI rAma) rivers, pools and lakes dried up; forests and gardens had parched leaves). Just as these dried up, my place too became dried up, says ANdAL.
en thirumAlum pOndhAnE – when SrI rAma set out to go to the forest, sIthAp pirAtti said, as in SrI rAmAyaNam ayOdhyA kANdam 27-6 “yadhi thvam prasthithO dhurgam vanamadhyaiva rAghava l agrathasthE gamishyAmi mrudhnathI kuSakaNtakAn ll” (Oh rAghava! If you set out to go to the forest which is difficult to be crossed over, I will go today itself, ahead of you, to remove the reed grass and thorns (such that your feet do not get hurt) by stepping on them with my feet). My thirumAl walked behind his consort, sIthAp pirAtti. Since there is no reason for him to make me tremble [in fear whether he has come or not], he too should have come with you. She is asking the clouds “Has he come with you all?” Since she is a servitor of pirAtti and since she [pirAtti] is her purushakAram (one who recommends to emperumAn for acceptance), to make these evident, she calls him as en thirumAl (my Sriman nArAyaNa). If they [clouds] had the ability to speak, they would have responded to her question whether he has come with them by saying “Yes, he is with us”. However, since they could not speak, they remained quiet. Due to her bewilderment, not realising that they cannot speak, she thinks that they are keeping quiet since he had not come. Tears started flooding her eyes, on knowing that he had not come. There was no one to tell her, just as hanuman told sIthAp pirAtti, as said in SrI rAmAyaNam sundhara kANdam 33-4 “kimartham thava nEthrAbhyAm vAri sravathi SOkajam l puNdarIka palASAbhyAm viprakIrNamivOdhakam” (Oh pirAtti! Just like water coming out of lotus leaf, why are tears flowing out of your divine eyes?) Hence, she is talking on her own, starting with kaNNIrgaL. In the SlOkam cited above, hanuman’s query of “Why are tears of sorrow flowing from your two divine eyes?” is with the opinion “For uprooting which clan are tears of sorrow flowing from your divine eyes?” Alternatively, another opinion could be considered for hanuman’s question to sIthAp pirAtti as to why tears are flowing from her divine eyes, like water flowing from lotus leaf – before seeing pirAtti, hanuman was totally engaged with perumAL (SrI rAma). After seeing pirAtti, separated from perumAL, with teary eyes, his devotion towards her became deeper. In that situation, it could be construed that he has told her “Should not perumAL see you, shedding tears of sorrow, after being separated from him? The others who see you with tears are equivalent to achEthana entities (without knowledge); when perumAL, who should see your tears, is not present here, what is the benefit of your shedding the tears?”
kaNNIrgaL mulaikkuvattil thuLisOra – emperumAn is dwelling in thirumalai continuously, only because the clouds are constantly staying there and sprinkling rain water there. ANdAL says that to make him come to her, she will create thirumalai in her divine form. Just as streams gain in quantum of water and start flowing on to the peaks in the thirumalai hills after the clouds have poured out their water, her tears, which flow out of her eyes, start flowing towards her bosoms.
thuLisOrach chOrvEnai – the meaning for this is not this – as tears fall, I too become tired (sOra would mean ‘to fall’ and chOra would mean ‘to get tired’). The proper meaning for this verse is – since the tears of sorrow which fall are like sparks from fire, she is also getting tired. I, who am getting tired, because tears of sorrow are falling…
peNNIrmai Idazhikkumidhu – Just as it has been said in SrI rAmAyaNam sundhara kANdam 39-30 “Saraisthu sankulAm kruthvA lankAm parabalArthdhana: l mAm nayEdh yadhi kAkuthsthas thath thasya sadhruSam bhavEth ll” (If SrI rAmapirAn, who annihilates the strength of his enemies, bewilders lankA with his arrows and takes me with him, it will be apt for him), the nature of a lady is to attain emperumAn through him and not through her efforts. ANdAL says that her act of sending clouds as messengers to him is similar to destroying her femineity. SrI vishNu purANam 1-8-35 says “dhEvathiryang manushyEshu punnAmA bhagavAn hari: l sthrInAmnI lakshmIr maithrEya nAnyayOr vidhyathE param” (Oh maithrEya! Among the species of dhEva (celestial), thiryak (animal), manushya (human) entities, all males are representatives of bhagavAn hari; all females are representatives of lakshmi; there is nothing superior to these two). As said in this, since he is the noblest male and she is the noblest female entity, is it not proper that due to his total independence, he could destroy her femineity and due to her strong urge in attaining him, she could have her femineity destroyed? Alternatively, taking the above-mentioned reference, since it could be said that masculinity ends with him and femineity ends with periya pirAttiyAr [SrI mahAlakshmi], he is destroying my [ANdAL’s] femineity. If we have to analyse her femineity, just as she had mentioned in nAchchiyAr thirumozhi 1-5 “mAnidavarkkenRu pEchchuppadil vAzhagillEn” (I will not sustain myself if I were to be married to anyone other than emperumAn), her femineity would get destroyed if she were to relate herself to anyone other than emperumAn. If we have to analyse his masculinity, it would be similar to that which has been mentioned in varadharAja sthavam 63 “parijana paribUrhA bhUshaNAnyAyuthAni pravaraguNagaNAScha gyAnaSakthyAdhayasthE l paramapadhamathANdAnyAthma dhEhas thadhAthmA varadha! sakalam Ethath samSrithArtham chakartha ll” (Oh, varadha! You have made all your servitors (such as vishvaksEnar, AdhiSEshan et al), divine decorations, divine ornaments, divine weapons, esteemed and auspicious qualities such as knowledge, strength etc, SrI vaikuNtam, all the universes, your divine auspicious form, divine basic nature etc for the sake of your followers) – his total independence by which he creates all his wealth for the sake of his followers. These are the boundaries for femineity and masculinity. He is not manifesting his svAthanthryam (total independence), but is making her say “thirumAlum pOndhAnE” (did thirumAl also come); she is sending clouds as her messengers, manifesting his svAthanthryam in destroying the pArathanthryam (dependence on emperumAn) which is her femineity.
idhu thamakkOr perumaiyE – he has the eminence as being the consort of SrI mahAlakshmi; if he does not manifest his face to ANdAL, who is a limb of SrI mahAlakshmi, the result is only an offence on his part [which he has committed]. Could it be considered as a greatness? {not at all]. SrI parASara bhattar says in his SrI guNarathnakOSam 26 “bhOgyAvAmapi nAntharIyakathayA pushpAngarAgais samam nirvruththapraNayAthivAhanavidhau nIthA: parIvAhathAm l dhEvi! thvAmanu neeLayA saha mahI dhEvya: sahasram thathA yAbhi sthvam sthanabAhudhrushtibhir iva svAbhi: priyam SlAgasE ll” (Oh mahAlakshmi! Consorts such as bhUmi dhEvi, neeLA dhEvi et al, through whom you make emperumAn happy just as you make through your bosom, shoulders, glance etc, are like implements for your enjoyment such as flower, sandalwood paste etc. When your togetherness exceeds boundaries, they will be the channel for letting it out). As seen in this, when I [ANdAL], who am like the divine hands or divine eyes of periya pirAttiyAr, suffer, if emperumAn were to merely look at that [without taking steps to remove my suffering], is it not a shortcoming for his compassion, which is his svarUpam (basic nature)? When someone has a deficiency will he wait for someone else to remove that? Should he not remove that deficiency himself? Alternatively, just as it has been said in SrI rAmAyaNam AraNya kANdam 37-38 [when mArIcha tells rAvaNa when he seeks mArIcha’s help in abducting sIthAp pirAtti] “apramEyam hi thaththEjO yasya sA janakAthmajA l na thvam samarthas thAm harthum rAmachApASrayAmvanE ll” (The effulgence of that SrI rAma, with whom sIthAp pirAtti, the daughter of janaka, is together, is beyond one’s imagination. You are not capable of abducting her, who has taken refuge under SrI rAma’s bow, in the forest), while ANdAL remains as one who is creating eminence for him, when she is the divine daughter of periyAzhwAr, who is his confidante, is it apt for him if she feels distressed at not attaining him, despite desiring him? Should he not take remedial action for removing her sorrow?
Next, we will consider the 2nd pAsuram of this decad.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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