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periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> Third Centum >> Fifth decad
avathArikai
thiruvAimozhip piLLai, in his svApadhESam, says that this pAsuram too is an example of gOvardhana mountain’s eminence.
vAnaththil uLLeer! valiyIr uLLeerEl aRaiyO! vandhu vAngumin enbavan pOl
Enaththu uruvAgiya Isan endhai idavan ezha vAngi eduththa malai
kAnak kaLiyAnai than kombu izhandhu kadhuvAy madham sOrath than kai eduththu
kUnal piRai vENdi aNNAndhu niRkum gOvarththanam ennum koRRak kudaiyE
Word-by-Word Meanings
vAnaththil uLLeer – “Oh, those who are inhabiting the upper worlds!
valiyIr uLLeerEl – If you have strength
aRai – shouting, as an indication of being victorious
vandhu – coming to this place
vAngumin – lift this mountain and see”
enbavan pOl – as if saying, like one
Enam uru Agiya – as one who had incarnated as the great boar, dug out earth from the walls of universe and lifted
Isan – being the controller of all
endhai – one, who is my lord
idavan – like a block of mud
ezha – to lift from the base
vAngi – taking
eduththa – and stood, lifting
malai – the mountain
kAnam – in forest
kaLi – roaming with pride
yAnai – elephant
than kombu – its tusk
izhandhu – losing it (since it roamed around unbounded, it struck with its tusk at one place and
the tusk snapped)
kadhuvAy – in the mouth from where the tusk snapped and it had got hurt
madham – liquid of rut
sOra – as it leaked
than kai eduththu – lifting its trunk
kUnal – curved
piRai – third day after new moon [crescent of moon]
vENdi – desirously
aNNAndhu niRkum – standing and looking up, the victorious mountain of gOvarththanam, which is like an umbrella
Simple Translation
krishNa, who had taken the form of a great boar, dug up earth from the walls of universe and kept it on his tusks. Such an entity, who controls everyone and who is my swAmy [lord], lifted the mountain [gOvardhana] as if it were a clod. “Oh, those who are inhabiting the upper worlds! If you think that you have the strength, come here, shouting cries of becoming victorious, lift this mountain and show your strength”. An elephant, roaming around in the forest, with pride, had lost one tusk, having hit it against some hard surface in the forest. At the place in its mouth, where the tusk snapped, the liquid of rut was coming out. The elephant lifted its trunk, and with desire, was looking at the crescent of moon [thinking that the crescent is its broken tusk and it wanted to grab it and put it back]. Such is the eminence of gOvardhana mountain.
vyAkhyAnam (Commentary)
vAnaththu … – Oh, those who think that because you are living in the upper worlds, you have more strength than human beings! If you have the strength to carry out the tasks which you think of …
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here: “Oh, those who are living in the upper worlds, and have your strength through your boons and shoulders! If you have strength like I have, take this mountain from me and protect the herd and the herd-folk in this place”. It is obvious that there is no protector there, apart from krishNa.
aRaiyO vandhu vAngumin enbavan pOl – Like a person who says “Victory is ours! Come, take this mountain and lift it”
Enaththu uruvAgiya Isan endhai – Earth, consisting of seven parts and seven oceans had gone to the floor of the great deluge, sticking to the walls of the universe. Assuming the form of a great boar, which does not step back on seeing water or quagmire, just as it has been mentioned in thiruvAimozhi 7.4.3 “UnRiyidandhu eyiRRil koNda” (the time when emperumAn, as he great boar, pushed the earth, which had got submerged in deluge, dug it out and kept it on the tusk), he dug it out from the walls of universe, rising into the ethereal layer. He is the controller of every entity, making them to carry out tasks as he desires. He is the reason for their existence, being the causative factor for all.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that emperumAn has the knowledge, strength and the connection [relationship] to dig out earth from the walls of the universe. For one who lifted that entity [entire earth], lifting this [mountain] will agree well.
idavan ezha vAngi eduththa malai – along with the base of the mountain, he [krishNa] lifted it, as if it were a block of mud and stood. Instead of saying idavan enap paRiththa malai [plucked the mountain] or idavan enap pErththa malai [cleaved the mountain], since the verse says idavan ena vAngi, it confirms that he lifted it effortlessly. For the supreme entity who lifted the earth, which had sunk to the bottom of the universe with all its mountains, and kept it on his tusk, is lifting the mountain, which appeared like a clod, a difficult task?
kAnak kaLiyAnai than kombu izhandhu – an elephant, roaming around in the forest with pride, was engaging in war-like activities. At a place where it had tried to hit against a hard surface, its tusk broke. Losing its tusk …
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that the elephant, which was roaming around in its own land, lost its tusk to a lion. Since blood was pouring down from that place in its mouth, all the waters would get dried up.
kadhuvAy madham sOra – kadhuvudhal – secreting. In the mouth where the tusk broke, its rutting fluid was secreting and pouring down.
than kai … – due to its inability, without the lost tusk, it looked at the crescent of the moon, mistook it for its broken tusk, desired it and looked up at it.
gOvarththanam ennum koRRak kudaiyE – since the mountain had grass and water with it all the time, it was nurturing cattle, leading to plentiful of cattle. Hence, it was called “gOvardhanam” [that which nurtures and multiplies cattle]. Since it inverted fully and prevented any drop of water to fall on anyone, when it rained heavily [due to indhra’s anger], it is referred to as gOvardhanam ennum koRRak kudai [victorious umbrella called as gOvardhanam].
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that it had lost a single tusk and that is the reason that it was looking at the crescent [if it had lost both tusks, it would not have looked at the moon’s crescent]. He further explains in his svApadhESam, at the end, that just like the elephant roaming in the forest, we pray to live in the forest of samsAram, through our desire; our mamathA [considering everything related to us as ours, for example spouse, children, land etc] is the tusk of the elephant. When our preceptors [who are like the lion], who are capable of defeating enemies [of our sampradhAyam], such as bAhyas [those who do not accept enunciations of vEdhams] and kudhrushtis [those who misinterpret the enunciations of vEdhams], establishing their philosophy [viSishtAdhvaitham] remove these mamathA through rightful and logical arguments based on vEdhams and through thirumanthram [primary among the three esoteric tenets of our sampradhAyam], the pride which we had earlier gets removed. They also take assistance of the meanings of praNavam [that emperumAn is the protector, that he is the root cause of all entities, that he is the lord etc], through the syllables a, u and ma along with the hidden fourth case, Aya which is atop a [through all these, we come to know that we are the protected, that we are the servitors, that we exist only for emperumAn etc. When these concepts sink in, the concept of mamathA will disappear]. Just like the elephant extending its trunk to get the crescent of moon, jIvAthmA, after knowing the concepts mentioned above, may still try to reach up [SrI vaikuNtam] through his efforts [means other than emperumAn]. AchAryas, by removing the elephant’s tusk [mamathA] will explain the full meaning of prakruthyAthma vivEkha gyAnam [AthmA is different from dhEham, the form] through padhathrayam [praNavam, nama: and nArAyaNAya, which represent respectively ananyArha SEshathvam, being servitor only to emperumAn, ananya SaraNathvam, taking refuge only under emperumAn and ananya bhOgyathvam, enjoying only emperumAn by carrying out servitude to him and making him pleased].
We shall next consider the 6th pAsuram of this thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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