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periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> Third Centum >> Fifth decad
avathArikai
There is no specific avathArikai for this pAsuram.
seppAdu udaiya thirumAlavan than sendhAmaraik kai viral aindhinaiyum
kappAga maduththu maNi nedum thOL kAmbAkagak koduththuk kaviththa malai
eppAdum parandhu izhi theLLaruvi ilangu maNi muththu vadam piRazhak
kuppAyam ena ninRu kAtchi tharum gOvarththanam ennum koRRak kudaiyE
Word-by-Word Meanings
seppAdu udaiya – having the quality of honesty
thirumAl – being the consort of SrI mahAlakshmi
avan – one, who has that quality
than – his
sem thAmarai – looking like a reddish lotus flower
kai – in the divine hand
viral aindhinaiyum – the five fingers
kappAga – as a handle, at the base of the mountain, which looks look an umbrella
maduththu – keeping closely
maNi – having the complexion of a bluish gemstone
nedu – being long
thOL – divine shoulder
kAmbAga – as the support for that umbrella
koduththu – offering
kaviththa – inverted
malai – the mountain
eppAdum – on all the sides
parandhu izhi – remaining widespread
theL aruvi – clear streams
ilangu – shining well
maNi – like a beautiful pearl chain
piRazha – to shine individually
kuppAyam ena ninRu – appearing as if that were a pearl dress for him
kAtchi tharum – it is the victorious mountain, gOvardhana, which looks in that manner
Simple Translation
The divine consort of SrI mahAlakshmi, thirumAl, who has the quality of being honest, made his five divine fingers, which looked like reddish lotus flowers on his divine hand, as the handle at the base of the mountain [gOvardhanam], which looked like an umbrella; he gave his long divine shoulder, which has the complexion of a bluish gemstone, as the support for the umbrella and held the mountain, upside down. It is the mountain on which clear streams, which are seen shining on all the sides of the mountain, appear like a shining pearl dress for him.
vyAkhyAnam (Commentary)
seppAdu udaiya thirumAl – seppAdu refers to the quality of honesty. Since the verse says thirumAl too, here the honesty refers to emperumAn’s response to pirAtti, as mentioned in periyAzhwAr thirumozhi 4.9.2 “sidhaiguraiththAL Agilum…..nanRu seydhAr” [Even if SrI mahAlakshmi complains about his devotees, he will argue with her saying ‘my devotees will not do anything wrong and even if they did anything, it is only for the good’]. Alternatively, this could be construed as arising out of indhra’s anger at having been denied food when he ordained clouds to pour down heavily in thiruvAyppAdi. krishNa had told the herd-people that the mountain gOvardhana would protect them. When the herd and herd-people were suffering, instead of “Let them suffer”, krishNa had protected them through the same gOvardhana mountain, which he had told them earlier that it would protect, by lifting it as an umbrella over all of them. Since the reason for protecting is on account of his association with SrI mahAlakshmi, the verse says here thirumAl.
avan – one who has a divine quality like that [honesty]
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says for the term avan that krishNa is one who has infatuation towards his followers.
than sendhAmaraik kai viral aindhinaiyum kappAga maduththu – keeping the five fingers on his divine hand, which is like a reddish lotus flower, as the spokes of an umbrella , in a dense manner.
maNi nedum thOL kAmbAgak koduththuk kaviththa malai – giving his divine shoulder, which has the complexion of a bluish gemstone, and which is long, as the support for that umbrella, he held the mountain in an inverted fashion in order to prevent any harm coming in the way of the people who live in the five lakh houses in thiruvAyppAdi, as well as to the herds of cattle such that they could get to feed on grass which had not been stamped upon by anyone’s feet and could get to drink water without any problem.
eppAdum parandhu izhi theLLaruvi – just as it has been mentioned in thiruvAimozhi 7.4.10 “sunaivAy niRai nIr piLiRIch choriya” (ponds on the mountain gOvardhana, having water filled to the brim, pour down with a tumultuous sound), clear streams of water were surrounding krishNa on all sides, coming down.
ilangu maNi muththu vadam piRazha – each of those streams was shining like a beautiful pearl chain
kuppAyam ena ninRu kAtchi tharum – they will give an appearance as if they were like a dress of pearl for krishNa
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].
We shall next consider the 7th pAsuram of this thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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