SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavara munayE nama:
avathArikai (Introduction) – looking at the mothers and friends, she tells them to ask emperumAn ”Is your action proper?” She tells them to ask him “When you ask him ‘She is suffering so much; what is the reason for your not coming to help her?’ Is he thinking that there is a reason for his inaction? Ask him”. Analysing “Is there any shortcoming in my desiring him?” she says “It is not correct since I am happy with him. If he were to analyse whether there was any deficiency in his desiring me, then that is also not correct. Is there any deficiency in his ability to protect? The answer to that is also that there is no deficiency. Is there any deficiency in my quality of whether I am appropriate to be protected, then this is also not the reason. Thus, what reason is he going to give, for not helping me?”
thAmugakkum tham kaiyil sangamE pOlAvO?
yAmugakkum em kaiyil sangamum EndhizhaiyIr!
thImugaththu nAgaNaimEl sErum thiruvarangar
A! mugaththai nOkkArAl ammanE! ammanE!
Word-by-Word Meanings
Endhu izhaiyIr! – oh, ladies who have worn ornaments!
yAm ugakkum em kaiyil sangam – the bangles which I have worn on my hand, desirously
thAm ugakkum tham kaiyil sangam pOlAvO – will [my bangles] not match with the divine conch which he is wearing on his divine hand?
thI mugaththu – having cruel faces
nAga aNai mEl – on top of the mattress, thiruvananthAzhwAn [AdhiSEshan]
sErum – one who is mercifully reclining
thiru arangar – SrIranganAthar
mugaththai – (my) face
nOkkAr Al – he is not looking at
A! – alas!
ammanE! ammanE! – My misfortune!
Simple Translation
Oh, ladies who have worn ornaments! Will not the bangles which I have worn desirously on my hand match the divine conch which he [emperumAn] is wearing on his divine hand? SrIranganAthar, who is mercifully reclining on top of the mattress, thiruvananthAzhwAn, who has cruel faces, is not looking at me. Alas! It is my misfortune.
vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
thAmugakkum tham kaiyil sangamE pOlAvO yAmugakkum em kaiyil sangamum – isn’t my desiring the bangles which I wear on my hand similar to his desiring his divine conch which he is wearing on his divine hand? If he desires to take my bangle, should he not give me the divine conch that he is wearing? If he responds saying “I am svathanthran (totally independent); I will do whatever I wish” then it would not fit well with his quality of a paramapraNayi (one who is deeply in love with his beloved). If he desires to respond, saying “You, who are a parathanthrai (totally dependent on emperumAn) should only see what I am doing, and not compel me”, that will not be apt since it would have been said without knowing my distress. If he says “We will not give anything from our hands; we will seize things from others’ hands” that will not be apt since it would not be in line with righteous behaviour. If he says “Women, who are tender, should just see what men, who are strong, do and not speak anything”, I too have means such as madal Urdhal [a custom by which a woman would tell the people of her town as to how she had loved her beloved and how she had been deceived by her beloved, seeking their help in uniting her with him] etc in my hand. When I ask him “Why do you refuse to give me the conch in your hand”, if he says “I desire it” then I would say “In the same way, I too desire my bangles. Return the bangles to me”. Has she not always desired to see the beauty of SrI pAnchajanyam (divine conch) and the hand [holding it]? If he says “We too desire our pAnchajanyam. How can we give that to you?”, then I would say “Is it not ours?” just as it has been mentioned in jithanthE SlOkam 1.5 “na thE rUpam na cha AkArO na AyudhAni na chAspatham l thathA’pi purushAkArO bhakthAnAm thvam prakASasE ll” ((your) divine basic nature is not for you; the divine auspicious form is also not for you; the divine weapons also are not for you; the abode of SrI vaikuNtam is also not for you. All these are for the sake of your followers only. You belong to your followers. Though you have svarUpam, rUpam, guNam and vibhUthi (basic nature, divine form, auspicious qualities and wealth) which are for your followers, you shine as the supreme entity).
thAmugakkum tham kaiyil sangamE pOlAvO yAmugakkum em kaiyil sangamum – is it apt for you to say “The bangle which we desire should be on our hands; the conch which others desire should also be only on our hands; we will not give the bangles which we desire; we will not give the conch which others desire”? If those who desire were to get what they desire, then just as my bangles are on your hands, your conch should come to my hand. If the owned were to get what they own, then my bangles should be only with me. These two events could happen only when there is a union.
When the mothers and friends ask her “He seized your bangles only because you desired his conch. Why do you now hate that conch?” she responds saying “Just because I had desired one conch which was on his hand, as in nAchchiyAr thirumozhi 5-2 ‘veLLai viLisangu idangaiyil koNda vimalan’ he has made me lose all my bangles, as mentioned in nAchchiyAr thirumozhi 8.5 “thAn koNda sarivaLaigaL”. Since I desired to wear one conch which he desired, he did not leave behind even one bangle on my hand”. When asked “You too could have desired all the conches on his hand”, she says “Just as he is the only ISvaran, there is only one conch in his hand, which is unique. I cannot desire many conches”.
tham kaiyil sangamE pOlAvO yAm ugakkum em kaiyil sangamum – when asked “Isn’t the divine conch on his divine hand, a weapon? Why did you desire it?” she says “Just as bangles on my hand, the conch on his hand looks like an ornament only to me. Hence there is nothing wrong in my desiring it”. She thinks that just as she is nArINAm uththama vadhu (the best among women), wearing the bangles as an ornament, as a sign of that, he is also purushOththaman (the best among men), wearing the conch as an ornament.
EndhizhaiyIr – oh, those who have donned ornaments! When I am suffering like this, how did you escape from this danger, similar to escaping from the danger of deluge? She is surprised that while she has lost her bangles, they are still wearing their bangles and other ornaments. SrI rAma was surprised that while he had lost sIthAp pirAtti, the peacock has not lost his female, as brought out in the SlOkam in SrI rAmAyaNam kishkindhA kANdam 1-49 “mAyUrasya vanE nUnam rakshasa na hruthA priyA l thasmAn nruthyathi ramyEshu vanEshu saha kAnthayA ll” (the female of the peacock has not been abducted in the forest; he is dancing with her in the beautiful forest). Thus, she is thinking that all the women have lost their bangles and is asking them “How did you escape from this situation?” It appeared to her that since everyone unites with the lord of all the worlds, none could have escaped from losing her bangles. Those who have lost their jewels can express their deficiency only to those who have donned jewels; those who have shortcomings could express their deficiency only to those who do not have any shortcoming. Would youth express their complaints to renunciates? They will only express to those who are youthful, like themselves. What is the benefit in telling someone “He has stolen my bangles” when they respond saying “You keep his conch for some days”? Since they do not understand her suffering, these people are only like men.
thImugaththu nAgaNaimEl sErum thiruvarangar – while these people are like this, what should I say about AdhiSEshan who is giving his physical form to emperumAn, despite knowing my situation? Even if he does not know the pangs of separation, he knows the flavour of togetherness. Though he is together, he has a misplaced doubt whether “separation would occur” and is experiencing the distress felt by those in separation. Thus, since he is the mattress with cruel face, he knows the pangs of separation. Could such AdhiSEshan give his physical form to emperumAn to enjoy when emperumAn has separated from me? Could ananthAzhwAn be termed as thImugaththu (cruel face), despicably? Since she is thinking of him, like she is thinking of periyAzhwAr, who would unite her with emperumAn and since he is not uniting her with emperumAn but feeling happy with emperumAn’s reclining on him, she is saying thImugaththu. When a lady is separated from her husband, if her relatives from her side enjoy their time with her relatives from her husband’s side, just as she would speak despicably about her relatives from her side, she is despising AdhiSEshan. Did she not mercifully say in the last pAsuram of the previous decad, “thangaL dhEvarai” while referring to periyAzhwAr? Didn’t sIthAp pirAtti too talk despicably as in SrI rAmAyaNam sundhara kANdam 28-14, when separated from SrI rAma? “pithurnidhESam niyamEna kruthvA vanAn nivruththaScharitha vrathaScha l sthrIbhisthu manyE vipulEshaNAbis thvam ramsyasE vIthabhaya kruthArtha:” (Having fulfilled your father’s command as per the order of his words and observed your vow, you return from the forest fearlessly and having accomplished your purpose, I think you will enjoy with large-eyed women).
thImugaththu – instead of showing compassion towards people who are in distress like me, saying “Alas”, this AdhiSEshan, is spitting fire such that no one could come near him.
sErum thiruvarangar – in the matter of cruelty, it appears that emperumAn could go together with this thiruvananthAzhwAn to a gurukulam (school under a sage) and learn about it. Alternatively, we could construe this verse to mean that when this thiruvarangar goes to recline on AdhiSEshan, he need not carry weapons to annihilate enemies. This thiruvananthAzhwAn with his face spitting fire, is enough to destroy the enemies. The meaning hinted is that if anyone like her, who is not favourable to emperumAn, attempts to approach emperumAn, he is there to destroy the person, just as it has been said in mUnRAm thiruvandhAdhi 66 “Eyndha paNakkadhirmEl vevvuyirppa – vAyndha madhu kaidabarum vayiRurugi mANdAr” (the radiance emitted by the rays coming from the gems in the spread hoods of thiruvananthAzhwAn, even as he sighed ….the demons madhu and kaidabar who came there at that time, got killed even as their bowels started rotting).
sErum – the conduct of emperumAn is just the opposite of the norm of the world. On the bed which is common for both me and him, he is capable of reclining alone!
thiruvarangar – one who came to thiruvarangam in order to protect those who are in sorrow, forgetting that, he is reclining on the mattress of thiruvananthAzhwAn, desiring the softness, coolness and fragrance of that mattress! Even if he had not taken me under his refuge while he was in paramapadham, I could have consoled myself. But, even after coming here, he is indifferent to me.
A! – Alas!
mugaththu nOkArAl – one could tolerate if the beloved, in separation, is not displaying affection. But should he give up kaNNOkkam too (looking with eyes; compassion)?
ammanE! ammanE! – this is an expression which is used to indicate fear. During the time of separation, one who was sweet such that one would salivate upon thinking about him, is now causing fear as if hearing the words such as “Tiger! Cobra!” How was he before and how is he, now! He has lost his sweetness and is causing fear! mahAbhAratham SAnthi parvam 46-139 says “yam yOgina: prANaviyOga kAlE yathnEna chiththE vinivESayanthi l sa tham purasthAth harimIkshamANa: prANAn jahau prApthapalO hi bhIshma: ll” (that bhIshma, seeing hari, who saints attempt to establish in their hearts at the time of giving up the life, right in front of his eyes, gave up his life. Isn’t he the one who attained benefit!) Just as it has been mentioned in this, it appears that it is only for men that emperumAn will manifest himself, at the last moment. It is not for girls, like me.
Next, we will consider the 2nd pAsuram of this decad.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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