SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: Sri varavaramunayE nama:
periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> Fourth Centum >> First decad
avathArikai
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says, in his svApadhESam, that AzhwAr enjoys SrI rAmAvathAram along with krishNAvathAram.
kolai yAnai kombu paRiththuk kUdalar sEnai porudhu azhiyach
chilaiyAl marAmaram eydha dhEvanaich chikkena nAdudhirEl
thalaiyAl kurakkinam thAngich chenRu thadavarai koNdu adaippa
alaiyAr kadaRkarai vIRRirundhAnai anguththaik kaNdAr uLar
Word-by-Word Meanings
kolai – killing a person when it sees
yAnai – elephant, kuvayalApeedam|kombu – tusks
paRiththu – snapping them
kUdalar – demons, who are the inhabitants of janasthAnam [a region, near panchavati]
sEnai – army
azhiya – such that it was destroyed
porudhu – one, who engaged in the battle
silaiyAl – with his divine bow
marAmaram – ebony trees
eydha – one, who shot his arrow such that it pierced through and came from the other side [of the seventh tree]
dhEvanai – one, who is resplendent
chikkena – if you wish to search, firmly
kurangu inam – army of monkeys
thalaiyAl thAngi – carrying on their heads
senRu – proceeding
thada varai koNdu – carrying huge mountains
adaippa – as they blocked, like a bridge
alai Ar – throwing up waves
kadal karai – on the shore of ocean
vIRRirundhAnai – one who was mercifully sitting
anguththai – there are people, who have seen him in that place.
Simple Translation
krishNa had snapped the tusks of elephant kuvalayApeedam which would kill any person, who it sees. SrI rAma had killed the entire army of demons in janasthAnam. He had shot off an arrow to pierce the ebony trees. If you are searching for a place to see him, he had sat on the shores of the ocean, when the army of monkeys was building a bridge across the ocean, carrying huge mountains on their heads. There are people who have seen him in that place.
vyAkhyAnam (Commentary)
kolai yAnai kombu paRiththu – the elephant kuvalayApeedam was given intoxicating materials to make it bewildered, with rutting fluid flowing from its eyes and forehead, as mentioned in thiruvAimozhi 4.6.5 “kavaLak kadAk kaLiru” (the elephant consumed intoxicating materials, with water of rut flowing). It would kill anyone that it sees. krishNa effortlessly plucked out its tusks.
kUdalar sEnai porudhu azhiya – SrI rAma destroyed he entire army of demons, living in janasthAnam, since they were harming the great sages. There was none, left in the army of demons, even to describe the event [in arumpadha viLakkam (explanation of select passages) it has been mentioned that even though one person, akampaNan, had gone to rAvaNa and explained the happenings in janasthAnam, it should be remembered that he did not take part in the fight].
silaiyAL marAmaram eydha dhEvanai – SrI rAmAyaNam bAla kANdam 1.63 says “sugrIva: SankithaSchAsin nithyam vIryENa rAghavE” (sugrIvan was doubting every day regarding the valour of SrI rAma as to whether SrI rAma was capable of killing vAli). In order to remove his needless doubt, SrI rAma shot off an arrow which pierced through the ebony trees. With the happiness of removing the needless doubt of sugrIva, SrI rAma’s divine form became resplendent.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that it was with the vow that he had taken in his divine mind to annihilate demons such as rAvaNa et al that SrI rAma had shot the arrow and removed the doubt in sugrIva’s mind.
chikkena nAdudhirEl – Instead of doubting “He is one entity”, “He is another entity” [regarding krishNa, who was mentioned first, and SrI rAma, who was mentioned later], if you firmly believe that both are the same and search for the place where he is present …
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that instead of wasting time such that SrI rAma says, as in SrI rAmAyaNam yudhdha kANdam 21.22 “chApamAnaya” (Bring my bow and arrow, I shall dry up the ocean immediately such that our monkey army could walk across the ocean), if you wish to see him immediately …
thalaiyAl …– the army of monkeys, with the reverence that the divine feet of perumAL will be stepping on the rocks, carried huge mountains on their heads and offloaded them in the ocean in order to build a bridge [for perumAL to walk through to lankA].
alai … – On the shores of the ocean, where the waves were splashing, droplets of water sprayed on SrI rAma, who was sitting, feeling pleased with their [monkeys] servitude, with the distinction of their servitude manifested on his divine form. There are people who had seen him there.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here the following: SrI rAma stayed on the shore of the ocean since he thought “If we walk on these stones and due to being released from curse, if the stones turn into women [similar to the incident when ahalyA was released from her curse when SrI rAma stepped on her when she was lying as a stone] it would make it difficult for the army of monkeys”. When the monkeys dropped the mountains in the ocean, the splurging water sprayed droplets on SrI rAma sitting on the shore. He took those droplets on his form, sitting nearby and accepting their servitude. Squirrels, which were seeing the work of monkeys, thought “Why are these monkeys working this slowly? perumAL has to reach the other side of the ocean for his meals in the noon. You are dropping such sharp-edged stones. Will they not hurt perumAL’s divine, tender feet? Move aside. We will take a bath, roll our bodies in sand, come with that sand and fill up the gaps between the stones so that perumAL as well as all of you could walk without getting hurt”. Looking at the firmness of the squirrels and their hard work without getting tired, perumAL became very happy and sat, with that change [happiness] manifested on his divine form. anguththaik kaNdAr uLar – they saw him there, with his love towards his followers; they saw him there after he had snapped the tusks of the elephant, kuvalayApeedam; they saw him there after he had shot through ebony trees.
We shall next consider the 4th pAsuram of this thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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