SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavara munayE nama:
Full series >> Thirteenth decad
avathArikai (Introduction) – she tells them in this pAsuram “Even if he doesn’t come head over heels, on his own, to embrace me just as it has been said in SrI rAmAyaNam sundhara kANdam 66-10 “chiram jIvathi vaidhEhi yadhi mAsam dharishyathi l na jIvEyam kshaNamapi vinA thAmasithEkshaNAm ll” (If sIthai could sustain herself for one month, she would be considered as having sustained herself for a very long time; without her, who has dark eyes, I will not sustain myself for more than a moment), it would be enough if you carry my bosoms and tie them firmly with his shoulders. Hence, do that”.
veRRik karuLakkodiyAn than mImIdhAdA ulagaththu
veRRa veRidhE peRRa thAy vEmbEyAga vaLarththALE
kuRRamaRRa mulai thannaik kumaran kOlap paNaiththOLOdu
aRRa kuRRam avai thIra aNaiya amukkik kattIrE
Word-by-Word Meanings
karuLan veRRik kodiyAn than mImIdhu AdA ulagaththu – in this world where the order of emperumAn, who has periya thiruvadi (garuda) as his victorious flag, is not transgressed.
peRRa thAy – yaSOdhA, who gave birth to him
(her son)
veRRa veRidhE – without being of any benefit to anyone
(is it only that he is without benefit?)
vEmbu AgavE – being bitter, like the neem seed
vaLarththAL – nurtured him
kuRRam aRRa – without the fault (of desiring anyone other than that kaNNan)
mulai thannai – (my) bosoms
kumaran – that perumAn who is youthful, his
kOlam paNai thOLOdu – divine shoulders which are beautiful and which are like the branches of kaRpaga tree (celestial tree)
aRRa kuRRam avai thIra – (giving up on me) to get rid of the fault of existing only for them (those shoulders)
aNaiya amukkik kattIr – tie firmly to hug them.
Simple Translation
In this world, where the order of emperumAn, who has garuda as his victorious flag, is not transgressed, yaSOdhAp pirAtti nurtured her son kaNNan such that he was of no benefit to anyone and was also bitter like the neem seed. Take my bosoms, which do not have any fault, and tie them firmly to the beautiful shoulders of that kaNNan, which are like the branches of kaRpagam tree, in such a manner that they [the bosoms] get rid of the fault of existing only for his shoulders.
vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
veRRik kuruLak kodiyAn than mImIdhu AdA ulagaththu – isn’t emperumAn such that he has garuda as his victorious flag, manifesting in the world that his order is always abided by? He is ensuring that his svAthanthryam (total independence) and my pArathanthryam (total dependence on him) do not get destroyed. However, he does not engage in any activity by which his ASritha pArathanthryam (being dependent on his followers) or his praNiyithvam (quality of affection towards his beloved) gets manifested. She says that since he is the sarvESvaran (lord of all) his order is binding on her too, though she is dear to him. Did not parAnkuSa nAyaki [nammAzhwAr in the pathos of a lady] mercifully say, in thiruviruththam 33? “agal visumbum nilanum iruLAr vinai kedach chengOl nadAvudhir IngOr peNpAl poruLO enum igazhvO ivaRRin puRaththAL enRennO” (You are ruling both the expansive sky and this earth such that sins which are caused by ignorance run away. Is it because you feel contemptuously that a girl is also an entity in these realms or is it because you think that she is outside the area of your kingdom?) Did not vEdham and SAsthrams which came to explain the vEdhams, say uproariously, as in thaiththirIya upanishath Anandhavalli 8-1 “bIshAsmAdh vAtha bhavathE bhIshOdhEthi sUrya: l bIshAsmAdh agniSchEndhraScha mruthyur dhAvathi panchama: ll” (Wind blows due to its fear of the supreme entity; sUyran (sun) rises due to fear towards him; due to fear towards him only do agni [the lord of fire], indhra [the lord of celestial entities] and yama, the fifth entity [the lord of righteousness] perform their activities, hurriedly), and as mentioned in the authentic proof “mEghOdhayas sAgarasannivruththir vidhyudh vibhanga: spurithAni vAyO: l indhOr vibhAgO gathamushNaraSmEr vishNOr vichithrA: prabhavanthi mAyA: ll” (all the activities such as appearance of cloud, waves from ocean coming ashore and returning, appearance of lightning, wafting of breeze, divisions of moon’s rays as they grow and disappear, journey of sun etc are all strange and amazing illusions of emperumAn vishNu )?
mImIdhAdA ulagaththu – the word mIdhu has got shortened as mI, the meaning of which is ‘above’ (it could be superior, eminent, above, beyond etc). The first mI refers to [emperumAn’s] eminence while the second mI refers to beyond. Thus, the opinion here is that beyond the eminence of the one who has garuda as his flag, nothing can perform in this world.
veRRa veRidhE peRRa thAy – how is it that a mother gives birth to a son who will not be of any benefit to her, but would only harm others! The usage of the term veRRa veRidhE, where the word gets repeated, indicates that apart from harming others, there is no benefit in this.
peRRa thAy – in the previous pAsuram, by saying “nandhagOpan magan ennum” she had despised nandhagOpan, who had sired kaNNan. In this pAsuram, she despises the mother. The meaning for using the term peRRa thAy is – despising nandhagOpan is not proper since he has the responsibility of protecting plenty of cows, bullocks, herd-people et al. Since he would be fully engaged in those activities, it could not be said that it was his fault in not controlling kaNNan. When we [ANdAL referring to herself] were engaged with him in enjoying him, just as we had not corrected kaNNan, nandhagOpan too had not corrected him, engaging in the activities of protecting his cattle and herd-people. Hence, only the mother, who has no work other than bringing him up properly, has to be faulted. We were thinking that she was the one who gave birth to him considering her activities of tying him up to a mortar, beating him, his crying and his suckling her etc. However, considering the way that she has nurtured him, it is clear that she was only a foster-mother. The term peRRa thAy denotes foster-mother, ironically meaning the exact opposite!
vEmbEyAga vaLarththALE – instead of doing a mix of good and bad to others, just like offering sugar cane sometimes and neem, at other times, she nurtured him such that he did only bad deed to others, just like offering only bitter neem. ANdAL thinks that he grew up as only neem, only because of yaSOdhA. She considers that there is no point in blaming him for it; the entire blame is yaSOdhA’s.
When people in her proximity tell her “If he doesn’t come, let him be. Isn’t the loss yours? What is the point in reviling his mother, in-between?” she says
kuRRamaRRa mulai – what is my fault in this? Even though he is like neem, just as it has been said in periya thirumozhi 11-8-7 “vEmbin puzhu vEmbanRi uNNAdhu” (the worm which lives on neem tree will not eat anything other than neem seed or fruit), aren’t my bosoms those which know none other than kaNNan? Hasn’t she herself mercifully said in nAchchiyAr thirumozhi 1-4 “avaraip pirAyam thodangi enRum Adhariththu ezhundha en thada mulaigaL thuvaraip pirAnukkE sangaRpiththuth thozhudhu vaiththEn” and in nAchchiyAr thirumozhi 12-4 “kongaith thalamivai nOkkik kANIr gOvindhanukkallAl vAyil pOga”? Isn’t she one who knows well that the svarUpakrutha bhakthi [devotion arising out of one’s basic nature] based on his quality of svAmithvasvarUpam (nature of being the lord of all) is more eminent than the guNakruthabhakthi [devotion arising out of his qualities] based on his auspicious qualities? When sIthAp pirAtti, along with SrI rAma, visited the hermitage of sage athri and his wife anasUyA, anasUya had told her “For a lady, the supreme god is her consort alone”. sIthAp pirAtti, responding to her said “Since my consort is full of auspicious qualities and since these qualities will never separate from him, it would appear to those who see me that ‘’Since SrI rAma is full of auspicious qualities, she considers him as a supreme entity. The natural devotion which I have towards him appears to be a made-up one on account of his qualities. Since he is full of auspicious qualities, my natural affection for him has not been revealed. This is my loss, due to his qualities”, revealing her svarUpakrutha bhakthi.
kuRRamaRRa mulai – fault for the bosoms is to remain indifferent, waiting for him to come when he chooses to. Are her bosoms of that type? The meaning for this could be considered as her bosoms suffering in separation from him. When they asked her “What should we do to remove this suffering?” she says further…..
kumaran – he is one who has youthful state, apt for these bosoms.
kOlappaNaith thOLOdu – Since his mother had nurtured him like neem, though his heart was full of falsities, there was no deficiency to the beauty of his shoulder. His shoulder would be such that it would be impossible to sustain unless it is embraced. kaNNan has decorated his shoulder so well that even when separated now from him, she is referring to his shoulder as kOlap paNaith thOL.
aRRa kuRRam avai thIra – these bosoms exist exclusively for that shoulder. Even though they are together with me, their engagement is only with that divine shoulder. Not fitting with me, existing exclusively for that shoulder, the deficiency [in her bosoms] of being separated from that shoulder has to be set right.
aNaiya amukkik kattIrE – since the word amukki (firmly) has been used apart from aNaiya (bind) the opinion here is that even if he refuses to get bound to them, compel him and bind them firmly to his shoulder. Similar to bANAsuran chaining his daughter ushai with kaNNan’s grandson, anirudhdhan, together and putting them in the same prison, she is asking whether there is none to bind her bosoms with his shoulder. Will her mothers, who are trying to separate them, bind her bosoms firmly with his shoulder? Though they had tried to separate them, to the extent possible, since she has reached a stage where if separated further, she will die, uniting them will become the responsibility of mother and father. Hence, there is no deficiency in binding firmly.
Next, we will consider the 8th pAsuram of this decad.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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