SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: Sri varavaramunayE nama:
periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> Third Centum >> Ninth decad
avathArikai
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says, in his svApadhESam, that AzhwAr reminisces SrI rAma entering the forest, utilising fulfilment of his mother’s words as an excuse, to spend some time in private, in line with [sIthAp] pirAtti’s thinking and to carry out the task for celestial entities.
mARRuth thAy senRu vanam pOgE enRida
IRRuth thAy vandhu empirAn enRu azha
kURRRuth thAy sollak kodiya vanam pOna
sIRRam ilAdhAnaip pAdippaRa sIthai maNALanaip pAdippaRa
Word-by-Word Meanings
mARu thAy – sumithrAp pirAtti, who is like his mother
senRu – went [to SrI rAma]
vanamE – to the forest only
pOgu – go ahead
enRida – as she ordained him
InRu thAy – SrI kausalyAp pirAtti, who gave birth to him
pin thodarndhu – following him
empirAn – oh, my lord! (how will I sustain myself, in separation from you?)
enRu azha – even as she cried loudly
kURRuth thAy solla – taking the words of kaikEyi, who was like yama, the lord of death
kodiya vanam – to the cruel forest
pOna – one, who went mercifully
sIRRam ilAdhAnai – sing about him who did not show any fury of “She allowed me to go to the forest”
sIthai maNALanai – sing about the one, who is the beloved of sIthAp pirAtti
Simple Translation
sumithrAp pirAtti went to SrI rAma and told him to go only to the forest. SrI kausalyAp pirAtti, who gave birth to him, followed him and cried loudly, saying “Oh, my lord! How will I sustain myself, without you?” SrI rAma mercifully proceeded to the cruel forest, taking the words of kaikEyi, who looked like yama, the lord of death. Sing about the one, who did not have any anger, thinking ”She allowed me to go to the forest”. Sing about the one who is the beloved of sIthAp pirAtti.
vyAkhyAnam (Commentary)
[Translator’s note: There are two interpretations for the first three lines of this pAsuram, given by maNavALa mAmunigaL, one based on nAlUrp piLLai’s explanation, and the other, based on thiruvAimozhip piLLai’s explanation. We shall consider both the explanations of maNavALa munigaL in this article, and then consider thiruvAimozhip piLLai’s explanation, in the next article].
mARRuth thAy senRu vanam pOgE enRida – the term mARRuth thAy refers to “other” mother. Alternatively, the term mARu refers to “equivalent”; thus, mARRuth thAy refers to one who is like one’s mother. sumithrAp pirAtti had great affection towards perumAL [SrI rAma], just as SrI kausalyAp pirAtti had. Such a mother went to SrI rAma and told him “You go to the forest”
The entire capital of ayOdhyA was decorated well, as a prelude to the auspicious and divine coronation ceremony of making SrI rAma as the king of ayOdhyA. Emperor dhaSaratha, along with his council of purOhiths [those who conduct the vaidhika (based on vEdham) ceremonies] starting with vasishta et al, had tied the divine protective cord on SrI rAma’s wrist and conducted all the preparatory activities for the coronation ceremony. They were waiting for the arrival of the auspicious time, thinking “Now, only the main coronation ceremony remains to be carried out”. Due to the words of kubjA, her maid, kaikEyi became bewildered in her heart and told the emperor “You had granted me two boons, earlier. You should carry out my wishes now. In other words, SrI rAma has to go to the forest, instead of getting coronated; bharatha should be coronated”. Emperor dhaSaratha, being one who always abides by the path of truth and justice, was bewildered, as if struck by thunder, and did not know as to what he should do. Feeling highly distressed, he asked his minister, sumanthra, to get SrI rAma to his place.
sumanthra went to SrI rAma’s quarters and told him “Your father desires to see you now”. perumAL, being ready with all the decorations for the divine coronation, on his divine form, left for dhaSaratha’s quarters. [sIthAp] pirAtti followed him, carrying out mangaLASAsanam for him, till the entrance of his private quarters. SrI rAma went mercifully, to the quarters of emperor dhaSaratha, with great celebration [from the people of ayOdhyA]. Seeing the condition of dhaSaratha, he became frightened and asked kaikEyi “What is the reason for this?” kaikEyi responded, telling him “He had earlier granted me two boons. To get those two boons, I desired that you should go to the forest and that bharatha should get coronated. Since he is one who does not cross the path of truth, he has granted those. He sent for you to tell you that you should proceed to the forest. Having seen you now, he is unable to say those words to you and is lying down”. SrI rAma told her “Alas! Is this the way that I had shown my dependence on him fully? Should he feel distressed to ordain me to carry out anything? Had he asked me to jump into fire, would I not have carried out that order?” kaikEyi told him “In that case, let me tell you on his behalf. You proceed to the forest”. SrI rAma told her that he would do accordingly and went to meet his mother. As he was telling her about these incidents, iLaiya perumAL [lakshmaNa] went to his mother sumithrAp pirAtti and told her “Since father has ordained him, SrI rAma is preparing to go to the forest. I would like to follow him, worshipping him all the way”. sumithrAp pirAtti told him, as mentioned in SrI rAmAyaNam ayOdhyA kANdam 40.5 “srushtathvam vanavAsAya svanuragrathas suhruj janE l rAmE pramAdham mAkArshI: puthra brAtharigachchathi” (Oh, my son! You have been sired by me to dwell in the forest; you are much fond of your brother. Do not be careless when you go along with him to the forest), and as mentioned in SrI rAmAyaNam ayOdhyA kANdam 40.9 “rAmam dhaSaratham vidhdhi mAm vidhdhi janakAthmajam l ayOdhyAm atavIm vidhdhi gachcha thAtham yathA sukham” (Consider SrI rAma as your father dhaSaratha. Consider sIthAp pirAtti, the daughter of king janaka, as myself. Consider the forest as ayOdhyA. Depart happily). After preparing lakshmaNa this way, sumithrAp pirAtti went to see SrI rAma. Looking at the way in which he was readying himself to proceed to the forest, thinking in her heart, with sadness, about the cruelty done to him by dhaSaratha and kaikEyi, she told him “You do not need the kingdom, which was usurped by a wife who demanded it for her son. Only the forest, which is not desired by anyone, will stand in good stead for you. Hence, proceed only to the forest”. The term vanam pOgE has been modified to vanamE pOgu. This affirmation [vanamE, only to the forest] indicates the meaning given here.
iRRuth thAy pin thodarndhu empirAn enRu azha – SrI kausalyAp pirAtti, who gave birth to SrI rAma, followed him, telling him about her anguish due to the separation. She hugged him and cried out aloud, saying “Oh, my lord! I, who am having only one son, cannot suffer in separation from you”.
kURRuth thAy solla – mother kaikEyi, who was like yama, the lord of death, told him… She is referred to as kURRuth thAy since she said, in a cruel manner, not considering his tenderness and the cruelty all along the way inside the forest, to SrI rAma, to stay in the forest for fourteen years. While it is said that “SrI rAma went to fulfil the words of his father”, the purpose of saying here that he went to the forest, heeding her words, is to indicate that while dhaSaratha did not himself say the words, he remained silent, acknowledging, when kaikEyi told SrI rAma to go the forest.
Now, maNavALa mAmunigaL gives the second interpretation, based on thiruvAimozhip piLLai’s explanation.
mARRuth thAy refers to kaikEyi and kURRuth thAy refers to sumithrAp pirAtti. In this case, kaikEyi becomes mARRuth thAy since she is one of the consorts of dhaSaratha. For SrI kausalyAp pirAtti, she becomes mARRAndhAy – equivalent of step mother. For bharathAzhwAn, since kaikEyi has gone beyond the level of being addressed as thAy – mother, she has become mARRAndhAy. After calling her as mARu [another], the reason for addressing her still as thAy [mother] is due to SrI rAma’s thinking. He will always refer to her as “naduvil Aychchi” [middle mother].
senRu vanam pOgE enRida – to ordain him to go only to the forest. In other words, she tells him “Do not think of the enjoyments in the regal arrangements; go to the forest itself”. She is not telling him to “come” or “come again and then return” [these are verses from kulaSEkhara AzhwAr’s perumAL thirumozhi 4th pAsuram from the ninth decad]. She is only telling him to “Go”.
IRRuth thAy … – SrI kausalyAp pirAtti, who gave birth to him, tells him “Oh, my lord! I, having only one child, would not bear the sorrow of separation from you. How could I sustain myself, without you” and goes behind him, crying out.
kURRuth thAy solla – these words are mentioned by sumithrAp pirAtti. kURRu refers also to distribution. Since sumithrAp pirAtti had consumed the pAyasam, given twice by dhaSaratha when he conducted the ritual to beget children and distributed it among his three consorts, she becomes kURRuth thAy [while kausalyAp pirAtti and kaikEyi took the pAyasam only once and gave birth to one son each, sumithrAp pirAtti had the pAyasam distributed to her twice, by emperor dhaSaratha and gave birth to two sons; hence, she is kURRuth thAy]. Unlike SrI kausalyAp pirAtti, who had initially forbidden SrI rAma from going to the forest and later allowed him to go, sumithrAp pirAtti told him “A lady, on account of her ego and possessiveness, had said of something [ayOdhyA] as ‘It is for me’. What do you have to do with it?” Since her words appealed greatly to his divine mind, SrI rAma was very pleased; however, those who were scared of being separated from him considered her as kURRuth thAy [one who is like yama]. SrI rAma went to the forest, listening to her words.
maNavALa mAmunigaL, in his vyAkhyAnam, here, says the following:
The first interpretation is based on nAlUrp piLLai’s vyAkhyAna prakriyai [mode of explanation]. The latter interpretation is based on thiruvAimozhip piLLai’s vyAkhyAna prakriyai. In the first interpretation, for the term “senRu vanam pOgE”, the explanation given [by nAlUrp piLLai] is full of flavour; the term kURRuth thAy solla kodiya vanam pOna synchronises well with pAsurams such as periyAzhwAr thirumozhi 3.9.8 “dhaNdaka nURRavaL sol koNdu pOgi” (mercifully going to dhaNakAraNyam, listening to the words of kaikEyi), periyAzhwAr thirumozhi 3.10.3 “kulakkumarA kAduRaiyappO enRu vidai koduppa ilakkumaNan thannodum angu Egiyadhu” (as kaikEyi ordained him and bade him “Oh, one who came into this clan to make it splendorous! Go to live in the forest”, he mercifully went to dhaNdakAraNyam, along with lakshmaNa) and periyAzhwAr thirumozhi 4.8.4 “kodiyavaL vAy kadiya sol kEttu – kAn thoduththa neRi pOgi ” (hearing the sharp words of the cruel kaikEyi, he proceeded to dhaNakAraNyam through dense forests) [which are mentioned in the pAsurams which we shall consider later]. Even if sampradhAyam is looked at [traditional observances], nAlUrppiLLai had taken instructions from the son of siRiyAzhwAn appiLLai, who in turn had listened directly to the instructions from nampiLLai himself [these are eminent preceptors in our sampradhAyam]. Thus, this predominance also adds to the greatness of this vyAkhyAnam. Moreover, naLurppiLLai was the divine father of AchchAn piLLai, who was thiruvAimozhip piLLai’s AchAryan; thus, nAlUrppiLLai becomes the paramAchArya for thiruvAimozhip piLLai. Hence, his vyAkhyAnam was taken up first and then, thiruvAimozhip piLLai’s vyAkhyAnam.
While in both the interpretations, it has been mentioned that sumithrAp pirAtti had looked at SrI rAma and told those worlds, this has not been mentioned in SrI rAmAyaNam. It is possible that it is mentioned in some other epic or some other purANam or in some other kalpam [a day in the life of brahmA], since this has been mentioned by AzhwAr who has been showered with knowledge with devotion, without any fault by emperumAn.
kodiya vanam pOna – just as it has been mentioned in periya thirumadal “kanniraindhu thIyndhu kazhai udaindhu kAl suzhanRu, pinnum thirai vayiRRUp pEyE thirindhu ulavAk konnavilum vengAnam” (cruel forest which is full of stones, grass having been burnt, with bamboo cracking up, with ghosts roaming around with empty stomachs, looking for food, and with the sound of killing being heard continuously), the cruelty of forest is like this. It was in this forest that SrI rAma went, with sIthAp pirAtti and lakshmaNa following him, as mentioned in perumAL thirumozhi 9.2 “neyvAya vEl nedum kaN nErizhaiyum iLangOvum” (with sIthAp pirAtti, having wide eyes which are sharp like a well-oiled spear and appropriately decorated with ornaments, and lakshmaNa following).
sIRRam ilAdhAnaip pAdippaRa – he was one who did not have even a little bit of fury in him since “He had been pushed into the forest, with the protective cord tied to his wrist”. SrI rAma tells lakshmaNa, as mentioned in SrI rAmAyaNam ayOdhyA kANdam 22.29 “mAcha lakshmaNa santhApam kArshIr lakshmyA viparyayE – rAjyam vA vanavAsOvA vanavAsO mahOdhaya:” (Oh, lakshmaNa! Do not worry that wealth has gone away. Whether it is kingdom or inhabiting forest, to me, living in the forest is supreme joy), confirming that he left for the forest, with joy.
sIthai maNALanaip pAdippaRa – living in the forest was desirous for SrI rAma since sIthAp pirAtti went with him. He looked at the forest as a place where he could enjoy privacy with pirAtti. He has mentioned in SrI rAmAyaNam ayOdhyA kANdam 95.12 “dharSanam chithrakUtasya mandhAkinyA: cha sObhathE l adhikam puravAsAch cha manyE thava dharSanAth” (Oh, the beautiful one! I consider the sight of chithrakUtam and of mandhAkini, particularly due to your sight, to be more delightful than dwelling in a city). The girl, who is singing this pAsuram, tells her competitor, to sing about such a person.
We shall next consider the second part of 4th pAsuram of this thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
archived in https://divyaprabandham.koyil.org
pramEyam (goal) – http://koyil.org
pramANam (scriptures) – http://granthams.koyil.org
pramAthA (preceptors) – http://acharyas.koyil.org
SrIvaishNava education/kids portal – http://pillai.koyil.org