SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavara munayE nama:
avathArikai (Introduction) – Looking at a few flowers she says “You, who remind me of the divine complexion of thirumAl [consort of SrI mahAlakshmi], have to tell me whether what he is doing is proper”
karuviLai oNmalargAL! kAyAmalargAL! thirumAl
uruvoLi kAttuginRIr enakku uyvazhakku onRu uraiyIr
thiruviLaiyAdu thiNdOL thirumAlirunjOlai nambi
varivaLaiyil pugundhu vandhi paRRum vazhakkuLadhE
Word-by-Word Meanings
oN – beautiful
karuviLai malargAL – oh, the dark blue flowers from wild creeper!
kAyAmalargAL – oh, the purple-coloured flowers!
(You)
thirumAl – emperumAn, who is together with pirAtti (SrI mahAlakshmi), his
uru oLi – complexion of his divine form
kAttuginRir – remind
enakku – to me (who is felling sad, thinking about it)
uyvazhakku onRu – the way to sustain
uraiyIr – tell me
thiru viLaiyAdu – the arena where periya pirAttiyAr plays
thiN thOL – having strong, divine shoulders
thirumAlirunjOlai nambi – azhagar
il pugundhu – entering (my) house
vari vaLai – (my) beautiful bangles
vandhi paRRum vazhakku uLadhE – is it proper to forcefully steal?
Simple Translation
Oh, the dark blue flowers from wild creeper! Oh, the purple-coloured flowers! You remind me of the complexion of the divine form of emperumAn who is together with pirAtti. You should tell me the way for me to sustain myself. Is it proper on the part of azhagar, who has strong, beautiful shoulders which are the playing arena for periya pirAtti, to enter my house and forcefully steal my beautiful bangles?
vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
karuviLai oNmalargAL – oh radiant dark blue flowers which have blossomed from creepers!
kAyA malargAL – oh dark purple flowers!
thirumAl oLi kAttuginRIr – you remind me of the divine complexion of emperumAn’s divine form when periya pirAttiyAr (SrI mahAlakshmi) and perumAL are together.
enakku uyvazhakku onRu uraiyIr – even though you have been created by him to torment me, instead of carrying out only his interest always, tell me also a proper way. Between him and me, while I am really distraught, should you not take pity on me? What is the reason for their tormenting her? They thought “We should follow the divine mind of emperumAn who is swAmy [lord] for all of us. Hence, let us torment her, in line with his divine mind”. periyavAchchAn piLLai, the vyAkyAthA [commentator] for this prabandham, has narrated here, the following, while establishing that emperumAn gets his divine complexion due to connection with pirAtti and that everyone should follow emperumAn’s divine mind.
During the time of our preceptor nanjIyar, sundharapANdiya dhEvar was the king of that place. The king used to get several doubts on SrI rAmAyaNam, whenever he met nanjIyar. One day, there was a discussion on SrI rAmAyaNam ayOdhyA kANdam 1-9 SlOkam “sa hi vIryOpapannaScha rUpavAn anasUyaka: l bhUmAvanupamas sUnur guNair dhaSathOpama: ll” (That SrI rAma was valorous; he had great beauty of his form; he was without jealousy; he was the most peerless son. Through his qualities, he was on a par with his father, dhaSaratha). nanjIyar explained this, saying “While emperumAn incarnated as SrI rAmapirAn with his divine qualities and had qualities such as parathvam [supremacy] etc which were natural to him, it was enough if he had half the qualities of emperor dhaSaratha, as chakravarthi thirumagan [son of the emperor]”. He said this based on the divine mind of SrI rAma as expressed in SrI rAmAyaNa yudhdha kANdam SlOkam 120-11 when SrI rAma said “AthmAnam mAnusham manyE rAmam dhaSarathAjmajam” (I think of myself as a human being and as rAma, the son of dhaSaratha) as well as based on the comparative word dhaSathOpama in the SlOkam quoted earlier, following the accepted logic that the subject of comparison will be inferior to the article with which it is compared. Hearing this, sundharapANdiyan, the king, said “Should the paramapurushan (supreme entity) get a distinction because he was born to someone? Is it not the clan in which he was born, that gets a distinction?” nanjIyar thought that the meanings which he had understood from the SlOkams were not known to the king and even if he explains them, he may not comprehend those. Instead of replying to the king’s query, he said “Let it be; what a beautiful word have you used when you said paramapurushan!” bringing the conversation to an end. The meaning hinted here is that the logic that emperumAn got his divine complexion due to his connection with pirAtti is similar to saying that SrI rAma got his divine qualities because he was born as the son of dhaSaratha. On another occasion, while discussing about SrI rAmAyaNam with sundharapANdiyan, the subject of vibhIshaNa came up. sundharapANdiyan said “What sort of activity did vibhIshaNAzhwAn indulge in! Is he not the one who gave up his brother during a perilous time?” blaming vibhIshaNa. Since it was possible to explain this to the king such that he would understand, nanjIyar said “When there is a conflict between father and elder brother, the younger brother should take the side of father, rather than that of the elder brother. Here, SrI rAma is the father of all the worlds; hence, there is nothing faulty in leaving rAvaNa, the elder brother and joining with perumAL [SrI rAma] who is the father”. Haven’t authentic texts too said resoundingly, as in mahAbhAratham AraNya parvam 192-56 “sarvEshAmEva lOkAnAm pithA mAthA cha mAdhava: l gachchathvamEnam SaraNam SaraNyam purusharshaba: ll” (Oh the best among people! It is the consort of SrI mahAlakshmi who is the father and mother for all the worlds. Take refuge under him, who is apt to be taken refuge under). Isn’t rAvaNa too included in the term sarvEshAm lOkAnAm? The implied meaning here is that dark blue flowers as well as the purple flowers were thinking “Is it not our duty to follow the divine mind of emperumAn who is the father of all the worlds”.
uyvazhakku onRu uraiyIr – ANdAL tells them “Is it only the convention of destruction that you have learnt? Could you not say the convention of uplifting someone?” Couldn’t you say “We will hide ourselves, without tormenting you, such that you do not feel distressed”? She hints that they are appearing like flowers but behaving like tigers.
onRu uraiyIr – She is beseeching them to tell her one word. Isn’t her condition such that if they become knowledgeable and tell a word, she could sustain her life?
thiruviLaiyAdu thiNdOL thirumAlirunjOlai nambi – he is not one who does not have affection towards his consort; he is not one who has not been born in a [divine] place. Would those who were born in a place where eminent people were born, fight in a way which will harm others?
thiruviLaiyAdu thiNdOL – divine shoulders which were like tall hills so that periya pirAtti could play there.
thirumAlirunjOlai nambi – in ancient times, when the southern parts of the country [bhArath] were like a forest, the eminent people in the northern parts of the country used to term it in a despicable way, as a mlEchcha bhUmi (inferior place) inhabited by demons and monsters. In such a southern part of the country, emperumAn had manifested himself to the lowly people with simplicity and with the quality of an eminent entity moving with the lower ones, just as it has been mercifully said in periyAzhwAr thirumozhi 5-3-3 “inakkuRavar pudhiyadhuNNum ezhil mAlirunjOlai endhAy” (Oh emperumAn who is mercifully residing in the beautiful thirumAlirunjOlai malai where hilly tribal people offer you fresh food with millets and eat).
nambi – complete with all the auspicious qualities
varivaLai il pugundhu vandhi paRRum vazhakkuLadhE – if we go to his place, tormenting us could be appropriate. However, when we are in our residences, how is it apt to take away our bangles [which are like our lives]?
vandhi paRRum vazhakkuLadhE – is it appropriate to steal our bangles without our consent? While we wear the bangles, thinking “These are bangles which he desired”, how is it correct to steal them? It is only in a place of dispute that one would take a bribe [bangles]. If he were to take away our lives [bangles] you tell us as to how we could sustain ourselves.
Next, we will consider the 4th pAsuram of this decad.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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