SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: Sri varavaramunayE nama:
periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> Fourth Centum >> Second decad
avathArikai
There is no specific avathArikai for this pAsuram.
thakkAr mikkArgaLaich chanjalam seyyum salavaraith
thekkAneRiyE pOkkuvikkum selvan pon malai
ekkAlamum senRu sEviththu irukkum adiyarai
akkAneRiyai mARRum than mAlirum sOlaiyE
Word-by-Word Meanings
ekkAlamum – at all times
senRu – going
sEviththu irukkum – worshipping the divine feet
adiyarai – servitors
akkAn neRiyai – from the path of that forest [forest – forest of sins]
mARRum – making it to avoid
thaN – mAlirum sOlai, which removes the heat of samsAram [repeated births]
thakkAr – those who have mercy, matching that of emperumAn
mikkArgaLai – since they are constantly showering mercy, those who are more eminent than he
sanjalam seyyum – making the divine mind to become bewildered
salavarai – unfavourable entities [salavar – those who have salam; salam – deceit]
thekku Am – In the southern direction
neRiyE – the path towards yamalOkam [hell]
pOkkuvikkum – one, which makes them to go
selvan – dwelt upon by SrIya:pathi [divine consort of SrI mahAlakshmi]
pon – desirable
malai – the divine mountain
Simple Translation
Servitors go at all times and worship the divine feet of emperumAn. thirumAlirum sOlai malai, which removes the heat from samsAram, diverts them from the forest of sins. emperumAn, who dwells on that desirable divine mountain, sends in the southern direction, towards yamalOkam, those unfavourable entities, who bewilder the divine minds of those who are like emperumAn, in having compassion, and who are more eminent than emperumAn since they constantly shower their mercy.
vyAkhyAnam (Commentary)
thakkAr – they match emperumAn in having compassion. They are apt for emperumAn. In other words, their thoughts are congruent. They have the matching compassion of thinking “All the AthmAs should get uplifted”.
mikkArgaLai – when emperumAn, who is a svathanthran [one, who is completely independent], sees wrongdoings, he will say kshipAmi (I will push into hell) and na kshamAmi [I will not forgive]. Unlike emperumAn, these people [referred to here as mikkAr], will have the eminent quality of showing compassion all the time, as a result of which, they have more eminence than emperumAn. It is due to this quality that when attaining them, there is no need for purushakAram [when we attain emperumAn, he expects pirAtti to perform the role of purushakAra bhUthai, one who recommends the jIvAthmA to him]. These are the entities who will look at those who come to attain them without any mental agitation, as mentioned in thiruvAimozhi 3.7.6 “salippinRi ANdu emmaich chanma sanmAndharam kAppAr” (engaging us, firmly, in their service, they will protect us in this birth and in subsequent births). These are the entities who will protect us in samsAram as well as in paramapadham, as mentioned in thiruvAimozhi 3.7.5 “varumaiyum immaiyum nammai aLikkum pirAkkaL” (They are the ones who uplift us, both here, in samsAram, and in paramapadham). Hence, they are more eminent than ISvaran. It is pertinent here to recall thiruvAimozhi 5.9.10 “nallaruL Ayiravar nalan Endhum thiruvallavAzh” (There are thousands of followers, in the divine abode of thiruvallavAzh, who are caring for his devotees, more than himself, and who hold goodness in the form of knowledge about him, love towards him etc).
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says, in his svApadhESam, that their compassion is higher than perumAL and pirAtti. In other words, they will take under them even those who have been given up by pirAtti. Just as it has been mentioned in kaNNinuN siRuth thAmbu 4 “annaiyAy aththanAy ennai ANdidum thanmaiyAn” (being a mother, being a father, having the quality of accepting me as a servitor), since they carry out the activities of pirAtti and of perumAL, apart from carrying out their own activities, AzhwAr calls them as mikkAr. More than the mercy of ISvaran, the mercy of these entities is eminent.
sanjalam seyyum salavarai – the term salavar refers to those who have the quality of salam in them; salam – deceit. Those who bewilder the minds of people who are engaged with matters relating to emperumAn. The sages living in the dhaNdakAraNya forest had their meditation of emperumAn shattered by the demons to such an extent that when they saw SrI rAma coming there, they showed him their physical forms which had been harmed by the demons [instead of asking him for mOksham], as mentioned in SrI rAmAyaNam AraNya kANdam 6.16 “Ehi paSya SarIrANi” (look at our physical forms), beseeching him to save their forms. salavar – while appearing like favourable entities, they will indulge in unfavourable activities.
thekkA neRiyE – to the path of narakam [hell]. Since the land of yama [the deity of death] is in the southern side and since that is the path through which those who proceed to narakam go, the verse calls it as thekkA neRi – the path to yama.
pOkkuvikkum – there is no return from that place.
selvan – the reason for carrying out this is because he is SrIya:pathi [the divine consort of SrI mahAlakshmi). It is pertinent to recall thiruvAimozhi pAsuram 3.5.2 “asurarkkuth thIngu izhaikkum thirumAlai” (one who is dear to pirAtti and who causes hurt to the demons). He is one who carries out penance to kill demons such as rAvaNa et al [people go to forest to carry out penance; since SrI rAma went to the forest for fourteen years, the vyAkyAthA surmises this way].
pon malai – the excellent mountain, which is the dwelling place for such an entity.
ekkAlamum … – those who go all the time and worship, considering only emperumAn as the ultimate benefit and who do not look at worldly pursuits. It is only for those who seek other benefits that there are limitations with regard to time of worship [they are not expected to worship on certain days etc]. For those who are followers of emperumAn [seeking only him], there is no limitation on time. It is pertinent to recall the pAsuram in mudhal thiruvandhAdhi 26 “ezhuvAr vidai koLvAr In thuzhAyAnai vazhuvA vagai ninaindhu vaigal thozhuvAr” (those who seek wealth from emperumAn will leave his proximity as soon as wealth is granted; those who seek kaivalyam [AthmA enjoying itself, instead of carrying out servitude to emperumAn] will take leave of emperumAn and leave, once kailvalyam is granted; emperumAn’s followers, who desire only servitude to emperumAn, will not leave the presence of emperumAn, day and night, and will keep worshipping him all the time]).
akkAn neRiyai mARRum – changing the pathway to the forest of sins. periyAzhwAr thirumozhi 5.4.2 says “pAvakkAdu” (the assembly of sins)
thaN mAlirum sOlaiyE – thatpam [derived from thaN] refers to that which cools down the heat from samsAram. azhagar [the perumAL residing in thirumAlirum sOlai] will dispatch the unfavourable entities to the southern direction, while thirumalaiyAzhwAr [the divine mountain] will change the path of the favourable entities away from the forest of sins. thiruvAimozhi 3.3.9 says “piNi vIyumARu seyvAn thiruvEngadaththu Ayan” (krishNa, residing on thiruvEngadam hills, will destroy the diseases), while thiruvAimozhi 3.3.7 says “saman koL vIdu tharum thadam kunRam” (The vast hills of thiruvEngadam will grant the bliss of liberation, having equivalence with emperumAn on eight auspicious qualities). More than attaining azhagar, reaching a mountain near thirumalai is a natural activity [for the AthmA] and must be done.
We shall next consider the 4th pAsuram of this thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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