SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: Sri varavaramunayE nama:
periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> Third Centum >> Eighth decad
avathArikai
thiruvAimozhip piLLai, in his svApadhESam, says that the mother is wondering whether SrI nandhagOpar will feel in his heart about her [the mother’s] loss.
thammAman nandhagOpAlan thazheeikkoNdu en magaL thannai
semmAndhirE enRu sollich chezhum kayal kaNNum sevvAyum
kommai mulaiyum idaiyum kozhum paNaith thOLgaLum kaNdittu
immagaLaip peRRa thAyar inith thariyAr ennum kolO
Word-by-Word Meanings
than – for the girl
mAman – one, who is the father-in-law
nandha gOpAlan – nandhagOpar
en magaL thannai – my daughter
thazheeik koNdu – hugging her and keeping her on his lap
semmAndhu iru enRu – saying “Sit straight”
sezhu – cheerful
kayal – like fish
kaNNum – eyes
sem – being reddish
vAyum – lips
kommai – well grown
mulaiyum – bosoms
idaiyum – waist
kozhu – flourishing
paNai – like bamboo
thOLgaLum – shoulders
kaNdittu – looking [at the limbs] individually
i magaLai – “this girl
peRRa thAyar – the mother, who gave birth to
ini – after separating from her
thariyAr – will not sustain herself”
ennum kol O – would he say so or would he be without registering any change? The mother wonders.
Simple Translation
nandhagOpar, who is the father-in-law of this girl, would hug and keep my daughter on his lap. He would tell her “Sit straight”. He would look at her cheerful eyes, which are like fish, at her reddish lips, at her well grown bosoms, at her shoulders which are like flourishing bamboo. Looking at these limbs, separately, would he say “The mother, who gave birth to this girl, will not sustain herself, in separation from her” or would he remain without showing any change in his countenance?
vyAkhyAnam (Commentary)
tham mAman nandhagOpAlan – SrI nandhagOpar, who is the father-in-law of the girl
thazheeik koNdu en magaL thannai – manifesting that she is his “daughter-in-law”, hugging her and keeping her on his lap.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that the mother says “en magaL thannai” [my daughter] only after saying “tham mAman” [her father-in-law]. Going by the relationships seen in the world, only the relationship “tham mAman” will sustain over a period of time. Since the mother has said “en magaL”, after that, it appears that only this will sustain, here. This is similar to thirumAlai 38 “meymmaiyai uNarndhu” and “meymmaiyai miga uNarndhu” (meymmaiyai uNarndhu refers to the AthmA knowing that it is subservient to emperumAn; meymmaiyai miga uNarndhu refers to the AthmA knowing that it is subservient to the followers of emperumAn).
semmAndhirE enRu solli – while the girl put her head down, out of shyness, he told her to look up. semmAppu – to be with pride. Since he wanted to see her limbs such as her face etc and to see her overall looks, he tells her to sit erect.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that when it is looked for the sake of others, for every limb or person, similes will also be thought of [reference here is to SrI nandhagOpar looking at each limb of his daughter-in-law and confirming that she is apt for emperumAn].
sezhum kayal kaNNum – beautiful eyes, which appear like fish.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that the two eyes seem to be those of a fish which fight with each other, in a clear pond
sevvAyum – lips, which are naturally reddish
kommai mulaiyum – round bosoms which are larger than those which would befit her age. kommai – round
idaiyum – waist, which has grown thin and tight, due to the growth of the bosoms
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that the waist does not have a metaphor.
kozhum paNaith thOLgaLum – her shoulders appear like a well-grown bamboo, due to their roundness, freshness and length; kozhumai – beauty and prideful.
kaNdittu – looking at the beauty of the individual limbs and at the overall form, thinking of her [the mother’s loss]
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that SrI nandhagOpar saw all these limbs. ittu – her loss appeared in his mind, then.
immagaLai … – Will he say that the mother, who had given birth to this girl, would not be able to live, after separating from her? Or, would he remain without showing any change in his countenance?
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that SrI nandhagOpar is thinking whether the mother, who gave birth to this, would be alive or whether she would feel joyous, knowing the benefits, which the daughter has got in his place.
In the end, thiruvAimozhip piLLai says the following: [here, the features of the daughter’s limbs are matched with corresponding features of the disciple of an AchAryan] Looking at the knowledge of the disciple regarding emperumAn [corresponding to the eyes of the girl], the ability to speak sweetly [lips], devotion towards emperumAn [bosoms], detachment towards matters other than emperumAn [waist] and feeling happy when others are flourishing [shoulders], emperumAn, who is mentioned in chAndhOgya upanishadh as avAkyanAdhara: (one does not speak to anyone and who does not support anyone, in SrI vaikuNtam) recalls the benefits and losses of the AchAryan, who had sent the disciple to him [similar to SrI nandhagOpar wondering about the ability of the mother to sustain herself in separation from her daughter] and how this [praising of emperumAn about the disciple] was celebrated by vishvaksEnar et al. This is similar to our AchAryars praising thiruvadi [hanuman] based on the praising of hanuman by SrI rAma.
We shall next consider the 6th pAsuram of this thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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