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periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> Second Centum >> Ninth decad
avathArikai (Introduction)
In this final pAsuram of the decad, AzhwAr says that those who learn these pAsurams are his purushArtha bhUthars; in other words, they are his ultimate benefit.
vaNdu kaLiththiraikkum varu punal kAvirith thennarangan
paNdu avan seydha kirIdai ellAm battar pirAn vittuchiththan pAdal
koNdu ivai pAdik kunikka vallAr gOvindhan than adiyArgaL Agi
eNdisaikkum viLakkAgi niRpAr iNaiyadi en thalai mElanavE
Word-by-Word Meanings
vaNdu – beetles
kaLiththu – being joyous, having imbibed honey
iraikkum – humming loudly
pozhil – with gardens
varu – coming in abundance of flow, for the sake of those gardens
punal – having water
kAviri – through the divine kAviri river
sUzh – being surrounded
then – beautiful
arangan – residing in SrI rangam
avan – one, who has such greatness
paNdu – during the time of incarnation
seydha – mercifully carried out
kirIdai ellAm – all the playful activities
vittu chiththan – one who has vishNu in his heart
battar pirAn – sung by periyAzhwAr, the most supreme among brAhmaNas
pAdal – songs
ivai koNdu – with these pAsurams
pAdi – singing, in full, with their mouths
kunikka vallAr – those who are capable of dancing, with their physical forms moving constantly
gOvindhan than – for kaNNan, the protector of cattle
adiyArgaL Agi – being servitors
ettu dhikkum [eN dhisaiyum] – such that darkness from all eight directions gets removed
viLakkAgi niRpAr – those who remain as lamps
iNai – having the beauty of being together
adi – divine feet
en thalai mElana – will remain on my head
(saying that I will don their divine feet on my head)
Simple Translation
Beautiful SrI rangam is surrounded by gardens in which beetles, having imbibed honey, are humming loudly, as well as by the divine kAviri river, which flows with abundance of water for the sake of those gardens. emperumAn, who is dwelling in such SrIrangam, had indulged in playful activities during the time of his incarnation [as krishNa]. periyAzhwAr, who has emperumAn in his heart and who is the most supreme among brAhmaNas, has composed those activities through songs. Those who sing these pAsurams in full, through their mouths and dance with their physical forms, will become servitors of krishNa and will be the illuminating light in all eight directions such that darkness gets removed fully. periyAzhwAr says that their feet, which have the beauty of being together, will remain on his head.
vyAkhyAnam (Commentary)
vaNdu … – SrIrangam is surrounded by gardens where beetles, after imbibing honey, hum in a loud manner; it is also surrounded by the divine kAviri, which brings in abundance of water to sustain those gardens. SrIrangam has divine compound walls, divine turrets, divine streets and divine mansions. It has a distinguished beauty due to all these. emperumAn has the greatness of dwelling permanently in this divine abode. The divine, playful activities in which he had indulged in, in his incarnations …
thiruvAimozhip piLLai adds, in his svApadhESam, that the beetles were humming at the top of their voices. The term then would refer both to the [southern] direction and to being beautiful. paNdu avan seydha kirIdai ellAm – the divine activities indulged in by emperumAn in his incarnation [as krishNa] were the pretext for the world, through the means of fear, devotion and relationship with emperumAn, to be united with the relationship and activities in line with that relationship [being servitors to emperumAn and carrying out kainkaryam [mangaLASAsanam] to him)
battar pirAn … – periyAzhwAr, who is the most supreme among the brAhmaNas, has vishNu, who has pervaded everywhere, in his mind. He has sung songs on these activities of emperumAn.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that periyAzhwAr combined the distinguished, playful activities of emperumAn with mangaLASAsanam which is the ultimate kainkaryam on attaining emperumAn. periyAzhwAr is the benefactor for brAhmaNas who desire knowledge of emperumAn and jIvAthmA. He is capable of carrying out mangaLASAsanam for emperumAn, keeping emperumAn in his heart.
pAdik kunikka vallAr – Those who are capable of reciting these pAsurams, impelled by their love towards emperumAn, and also who are also capable of dancing along with singing, such that their physical forms do not remain in one place, with changing emotions…
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that those who sing these pAsurams and dance as well, should exhibit their pathos of obedience [being servitors to emperumAn].
gOvindhan … – they will become servitors of gOvindhan (one who protects cattle), who had indulged in these divine activities. Not only that, they will also, with their presence [knowledge], remove the darkness of ignorance in all the eight directions. Those who have such radiance, their ….
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that the term eN dhisai refers to the eight directions [those people will remove darkness from the eight directions], to the distinguished situations which are thought of [they will be able to say good bodings to people who may be in different situations, good and bad] and to the eight meanings which are reflected through the distinguished vyApaka manthram [thirumanthram], the first of the three esoteric manthrams. These eight meanings come from the three terms seen in thirumanthram. These meanings are: (1). emperumAn is the causative factor for all the worlds (2) He is the lord (3) He is the protector (these three come from the first syllable ‘a’ in the first term, praNavam and to the hidden fourth case which is on top of “a”). (4) jIvAthmA is the servitor existing exclusively for emperumAn (this comes from the third syllable, ‘ma’ and second syllable ‘u’ in the first term). (6) jIvAthmA is totally dependent on emperumAn and should not engage with protecting himself (this comes from the second term nama🙂 (7) jIvAthmA is related to emperumAn (this is from the last term nArAyaNa). (8) jIvAthmA should carry out kainkaryam to emperumAn (through the suffix Aya which is suffixed to nArAyaNa). Thus, these people will be the splendorous radiance in all situations.
iNaiyadi en thalai mElanavE– AzhwAr says that the divine feet of such people, which have the beauty of being together, will dwell forever on his head. Through this, just as nammAzhwAr had said in thiruvAimozhi 9.1.11 “Odhavalla pirAkkaL nammai ALudaiyAr paNdE” (benefactors, who are capable of reciting these pAsurams, will be our lords, from the time that they accept a physical body), periyAzhwAr describes the greatness of such entities [through their becoming servitors of emperumAn] and the respectful reverence which he has towards them [through their ability to remove darkness of ignorance in all the directions).
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that periyAzhwAr says this verse [iNaiyadi en thalai mElanavE] similar to thirumangai AzhwAr in periya thirumozhi 7.4.1 “en thalai mElArE” (those who worship the divine feet of emperumAn will step on my head and roam around). This decad is periyAzhwAr’s payilum sudaroLi and nedumARkadimai [these two decads, thiruvAimozhi 3.7 and thiruvAimozhi 8.10 respectively, were sung by nammAzhwAr, glorifying the servitors of emperumAn]. periyAzhwAr says here that the dwelling place for such divine feet [of emperumAn’s servitors] is his head.
We shall next consider the pravESam of the next thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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