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periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> Fourth Centum >> Second decad
avathArikai
There is no specific avathArikai for this pAsuram.
alambA veruttAk konRu thiriyum arakkarai
kulam pAzh paduththuk kulaviLakkAy ninRa kOn malai
silambu Arkka vandhu dheyva magaLirgaL Adum sIrch
chilambARu pAyum then thirumAlirum sOlaiyE
Word-by-Word Meanings
dheyva magaLirgaL – celestial women
silambu – anklets
Arkka – as they make a sound
vandhu – coming to earth
Adum – taking a bath
sIr – having eminence
silambu ARu – the divine river called as silambu ARu
pAyum – forever overflowing
then – being beautiful
thirumAlirunjOlai – the abode known as thirumAlirum sOlai
alambA – harming animals
veruttA – frightening
konRu – killing
thiriyum – roaming around
arakkkarai – demons
kulam pAzhpaduththu – destroying the entire clan
kulam – for ikshvAku clan
viLakkAy ninRa – one, who stood as a shining entity
kOn – dwelling permanently, as the lord of all
malai – it is the divine mountain.
Simple Translation
thirumAlirum sOlai is the beautiful, divine abode, with ever-flowing eminent river, known as silambARu. Celestial women come to this place, with their anklets making sounds and have a bath. Demons roam around, harming animals, frightening them and killing them. SrI rAma destroyed the entire clan of demons and stood as the shining entity for the clan of ikshvAku. He dwells permanently, as the lord of all, in this thirumAlirum sOlai malai.
vyAkhyAnam (Commentary)
alambA – not allowing animals to stay in one place, by harming them. The animals will wonder “We cannot live under them [demons]. Where shall we go?” feeling sad in their minds.
veruttA – frightening them. In other words, through their cruel forms and cruel activities, the demons will frighten the animals and bewilder them. Alternatively, the term alambA veruttA would also refer to making tumultuous noise, angering the animals and frightening them.
konRu thiriyum – Not only these, without the fear of killing, they will kill the animals, making it appear that that is their pastime, and roaming around.
arakkarai – being born in the clan of demons, which is the reason for their activities mentioned above. Just as it is the nature of thieves and other lowly people to drive away animals, frighten them and kill them, for the demons too, this is their nature, arising out of being born in the clan of demons. Demons such as kara, dhUshaNa et al, as well as demons such as rAvaNa et al, were roaming around, indulging in these acts, torturing the three worlds.
kulam pAzhpaduththu – while destroying them, it was not only those entities, even their next generation was destroyed such that they could not return, including their children. Entities such as vibhIshaNa and his friends were not part of these people. Since thiruppAvai 13 says “pollA arakakaraik kiLLik kaLaidhAnai” (plucking out the deceitful demons), usage of the term pollA arakkarai [deceitful demons] hints that ANdAL had thought in her divine mind of nalla arakkar [noble demons]. nammAzhwAr to mercifully said in thiruvAimozhi 2.7.10 “ilangai arakkar kulam murudu thIrththa pirAn” (The benefactor destroyed the cruel rAvaNa, of the clan of demons in lankA). Even though one may belong to that clan on account of one’s birth, if the activities are not in-line with that clan, it will distinguish one from that clan. It was one of their clan members [sUrpaNakhA] who said, as in SrI rAmAyaNam AraNya kANdam 17.24 ”vibhIshaNasthu dharmAthmA nathu rAkshasa chEshtitha:” (vibhIshaNa is a noble person; he will not indulge in activities of demons). When perumAL [SrI rAma] told vibhIshaNa, as in SrI rAmAyaNam yudhdha kANdam 19.7 “AkhyAhi mama thathvEna rAkshasAnAm balAbalam” (tell me the strength and weakness of the demons, as they exist), he said “demons’” and not ‘your’, thinking of vibhIshaNa as belonging to the clan of ikshvAku, his birth as a demon, had got changed, surely. Thus, the demons mentioned here are rAvaNa and those who were like him. Hence, there is no fault in the words “kulam pAzhpaduththu” (destroying the entire clan).
kulaviLakkAy ninRa – from the time that rAvaNa carried out dhikvijayam [going in all directions, to establish his supremacy], the ikshvAku clan had lost a bit of its splendour. It was only after perumAL incarnated mercifully in that clan and uprooted the demons such as rAvaNa et al that the ikshvAku clan regained its splendour. Hence, the verse says that perumAL remained as the radiance of that clan. SrI kulaSEkhara AzhwAr said, in perumAL thirumozhi 10.1 “vengadhirOn kulaththukkOr viLakkAyth thOnRi” (incarnating as a matchless radiance for the clan of sun). These AzhwArs are EkakaNtars [entities, who speak with a single throat [each of them would speak the same words, as if emanating from a single person’s throat].
kOn malai – the permanent residence of one, who is the lord of all. Since the verse says kulaviLakkAy ninRa kOn malai, it implies that he is still remaining there, in order to remove any similar hurdle [caused by rAvaNa et al], which may come in the way of his followers. Hence, the distinction of being lord of all, got its ascendance, only here.
silambArkka vandhu dheyva magaLirgaL Adum – earlier, when celestial women came to have a bath in the divine river of silambARu, they would remove their anklets, wrap them in cotton, on account of fear from demons such as rAvaNa et al. Now, unlike that, since the clan of demons has got destroyed, they will come with their anklets making noise, and have a bath here. Why should celestial ladies desire to have a bath here? Just as refilling a pot which has run out of water, if celestial entities realise that their count of virtues is coming down, they shore it up by carrying out good deeds here.
sIr – silambARu, which has this eminence, will flow to a great extent, without any break. kUraththAzhwAn had mercifully said in his sundharabAhu sthavam 3 “kvachith thvaritha gAminI kvachana mandha mandhAlasA” (silambARu will flow rapidly at a few places; it will crawl with a low pace at some other places), about the flow of this river.
then thirumAlirum sOlaiyE – then – beauty; also, southern side. Both mAl and irumai refer to eminence. They refer to the eminence of the orchards [around the mountain] and the mountain’s eminence. Since the mountain has such orchards, the identification for the divine abode of thirumAlirum sOlai is vanagiri [mountain with forest].
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says, in his svApadhESam, that mAl refers to eminence. irumai also refers to eminence. Thus, mAl irum refers to great eminence.
We shall next consider the 2nd pAsuram of this thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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