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periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> Second Centum >> Fifth decad
avathArikai (Introduction)
There is no specific avathArikai for this pAsuram.
mannan than dhEvimAr kaNdu magizhvu eydha
mun ivvulaginai muRRum aLandhavan
ponnin mudiyinaip pUvaNaimEl vaiththu
pinnEyirundhu kuzhal vAyAy akkAkkAy! pErAyiraththAn kuzhal vArAy akkAkkAy!
Word-by-Word Meanings
mannan than – the king of monsters, mahAbali, his
dhEvimAr – consorts
kaNdu – looking at his garb and his language
magizhvu eydha – to rejoice
mun – earlier
ivvulaginai muRRum – this entire word
aLandhavan – one who measured
pon mudiyinai – beautiful divine locks [the term in (as in ponnin) is an augment. It doesn’t have any meaning]
pU aNai mEl vaiththu – keeping on a soft mattress which is like a flower
pinnE irundhu – oh, crow! Stand behind that mattress and comb his locks
Ayiram pErAn – oh, crow! Comb the divine locks of one who has a thousand divine names
Simple Translation
emperumAn, as thrivikrama [and as vAmana, before that] had measured all the worlds such that the consorts of king mahAbali rejoiced, looking at emperumAn’s outward appearance and the language which he used [as vAmana]. Oh, crow! Keep the divine, beautiful locks of that emperumAn on a soft mattress and comb it, standing from behind. Oh, crow! Comb the divine locks of one who has a thousand divine names.
vyAkhyAnam (Commentary)
mannan …– `the divine form of vAmana was such that it usurped all the senses of beholders, just as it has been mentioned in thiruvAimozhi 1-8-6 “pulan koL mANAy” (great form which usurped all the senses). It was further decorated, just as it has been mentioned in periya thirumozhi 4.4.7 “pongu ilangu puri nUlum” (radiantly shining sacred thread), with the radiantly splendorous yagyOpavItham (sacred thread), deer skin [on his divine chest], girdle made of sacred reed [worn by bachelor brAhmaNa children). Thus, vAmana walked to the arena where mahAbali was conducting rituals, with a hurried walk, resembling the gait of an expert dancer. Looking at his handsome get-up and the gibberish manner of an ignorant child in which he said, as in thiruvAimozhi 3.8.9 “koLvan nAn” (I shall accept the three steps of land which you offer), the consorts of king mahAbali rejoiced. He first prayed to mahAbali for three steps of land; as soon as water fell on his palm, symbolic of mahAbali granting his wish, he measured all the worlds, which were always his, but which appeared as if he was getting now in an extraordinary way.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai adds, in his svApadhESam, that the consorts of mahAbali saw the way vAmana’s lips quivered when he said, as in thiruvAimozhi 3.8.9 “koLvan nAn mAvali” (Oh, mahAbali! I shall accept your offering), the strangeness in his words [emperumAn is only used to giving to others; he doesn’t accept anything], the way he came hurriedly to the arena and the way in which he took an oath “You could test my knowledge in vEdhas. I shall answer your questions”. It could also be considered as having been seen both by mahAbali and his consorts.
Further, for the term mun kaNdu, thiruvAimozhip piLLai says that it was the garb of vAmana that was the reason for their unlimited happiness. When the feet of thrivikrama, which they saw later, started expanding and went about measuring everything, they [mahAbali’s consorts] had only fear and indifference.
For the term ivvulaginai, thiruvAimozhip piLLai says that AzhwAr, as soon as emperumAn received his land as a donation, even before he had measured the worlds, says in anxiety, “ivvulagu”
ponnin mudiyinai – beautiful, divine locks. pon – beauty. The term in is an augment, added for poetic metrics and does not have any meaning.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here “ipponmudi” due to the desire which is manifested on pure gold. Since AzhwAr says “muRRum aLandhavan ponnin mudiyan” he refers to the divine crown which is an indicator for emperumAn being the supreme entity. It makes one to move away from being servitor to others and to remove one’s independence, and to be dependent on him, carrying out servitude to emperumAn. Then, the crown will be splendorous.
pUvaNai mEl vaiththu – Keeping the divine locks, appropriate to its softness, on a soft mattress which was like a flower.
pinnE irundhu kuzhal vArAy akkAkkAy – Oh, crow! Comb his divine locks, by standing behind, which will facilitate the action of combing.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that just as it has been mentioned in thaiththirIya upanishadh nArAyaNavalli “sathyam thapa: dhama: Sama: dhAnam dharma: prajnanam agnaya: agnihOthram yagya: mAnasam nyAsa:” (there are twelve types of penance) and “thasmAnnyAsam EshAm thapasAm athiriktham Ahu:” (It is hence said that nyAsa [prapaththi or surrendering to emperumAn] is unequalled). Since prapaththi, through the word nyAsa, has been mentioned right at the end, over all the rest of the types of penance, with each subsequent type being better than the earlier one, it stands at the head, after removing the rest. The same [prapaththi] applies to emperumAn’s divine locks, too. The various types of means to attain emperumAn are “karma gyAna bhakthi prapaththi” [attaining emperumAn through the paths of deeds, knowledge, devotion and surrendering] [Mentioning prapaththi here, along with karma gyAna bhakthi yOgams is because when one surrenders to emperumAn through the path of prapaththi, it becomes one among the other upAyams [means]. We should attain emperumAn through emperumAn himself. The first prapaththi is called as upAya prapaththi, where the one, who surrenders, thinks that he is surrendering to emperumAn by attaining his divine feet. Here, the doer is prominent. The other prapaththi is called as adhikAri viSEshaNa prapaththi when we consider emperumAn as the upAyam and not our action of surrendering to him as the upAyam. Here emperumAn is prominent. adhikAri refers to the person who wishes to attain emperumAn. viSEshaNam refers to the quality which he should have to attain emperumAn, viz. the thought that emperumAn is the upAyam and not the action of surrendering to him]. Just as it has been mentioned in thirunedunthANdakam 10 “pinnAnAr vaNangum sOdhi” (the splendorous entity who is worshipped by those who came after his period of incarnations), he is the radiant entity who is attained by his followers. He has the splendour as his quality right from the beginning while his followers derive that radiance after attaining him. Thus, for both, prapaththi is at the head [for emperumAn, prapaththi refers to his attempts to get the AthmA under him forever; in physical sense, this refers to his divine locks. For us, attaining emperumAn, considering him as the upAyam [and not our act of surrendering to him] should be at the top of our mind. Thus, for both, this is at the top].
The term pinnE [from behind] has been explained by thiruvAimozhip piLLai, as follows: yaSOdhAp pirAtti feels “If the crow comes in the front and combs krishNa’s divine locks, he may get scared”. Hence, she says pinnE. AzhwAr feels that even though persons who are like crows [in terms of thamO rajO guNams] come after correcting themselves, they could not be trusted fully. Hence, he tells them to go back [behind]. Since these persons would have carried out prapaththi before attaining noble qualities [as seen earlier in the thaiththirIya upanishadh nArAyaNavalli verse sathyam thapa: dhama: etc] [through an AchAryan], they would be fearful, not having such noble qualities “Have we carried out the right activity? Is this sufficient for us”. They will hesitate to take shelter under their Acharyan’s affection too. It is for this reason that prapaththi has been ordained for both the Artha prapannan [one who is unable to tolerate remaining in samsAram and desires to attain emperumAn at once] and dhruptha prapannan [one who is willing to wait to attain emperumAn, enjoying his stay in samsAram] as a means to get rid of the hurdles in attaining emperumAn.
pEr AyiraththAn – for those who praise him, looking at his distinction, he appears like a bathing ghat for each of the divine names which they recite, just as it has been mentioned in mahAbhAratham sabhA parvam 38.11 “dhEvO nAma sahasravAn” (he is the lord with a thousand divine names). Oh, crow! Comb the divine locks of such a distinguished emperumAn.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here the following: even if his [emperumAn’s] simplicity has been mentioned, his identification has to be established. AzhwAr remembers the verse in 1.3.8 “nArAyaNA azhEl”. Even before identifying the entity, she [yaSOdhAp pirAtti] comforted him, offering him milk from her bosom and telling him not to cry. emperumAn thinks “She considers me as her son and offers me her milk and tells me not to cry”. The other one [pUthanA] considered him as her enemy and offered him poisoned bosom. He drank from both. Only if AzhwAr mentions nArAyaNa, would the entity get established. It was this manthram [nArayaNa manthram] which was referred to by prahlAdhan, as mentioned in periya thirumozhi 2.3.8 “vAyil Or Ayira nAmam oLLIyavAgip pOdha” (from his divine lips, a thousand names came out beautifully). Here, the term oLLiya [beautiful] confirms that for both removal of undesired hurdles and for attainment of desired benefit, this thirunAmam [divine name] is the means. It is this divine name, which is referred to as thousand names, that yaSOdhAp pirAtti mentioned as pEr AyiraththAn. Mentioning this thousand is in alignment with AzhwAr’s thiruppallANdu pAsuram “vandhu adi thozhudhu Ayira nAmam” [AzhwAr tells emperumAn’s followers to come, worship emperumAn’s divine feet and recite his thousand divine names].
We shall next consider the last pAsuram of this thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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