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periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> Fourth Centum >> Third decad
avathArikai
There is no specific avathArikai for this pAsuram.
pANdavar thammudaiya pAnjAli maRukkam ellAm
ANdangu nURRuvar tham peNdir mEl vaiththa appan malai
pANdagu vaNdinangaL paNgaL pAdi madhup parugath
thONdal udaiya malai thollai mAlirum sOlai adhE
Word-by-Word meanings
pAN thagu – apt to be set to a tune
vaNdu inangaL – swarms of beetles
paNgaL pAdi – singing songs
madhu – honey
paruga – such that they could imbibe
thONdal udaiya – having springs such that the gardens do not wither, and grow well
malai – as the mountain
thollai – it is the mAlirum sOlai which has been there since time immemorial
pANdavar thammudaiya – as the consort of the five pANdavas
pAnjAli – dhraupadhi, who is the daughter of the king of pAnchAlam
maRukkam ellAm – all the confusion in the mind
ANdu – keeping in his divine mind
angu – (the sorrows) when she was disgraced
nURRuvar tham – the brothers of dhuryOdhana, their
peNdir mEl vaiththa – transposing on the wives
(one who made sure that dhraupadhi’s sari kept extending such that she did not suffer humiliation)
appan – one, who is the benefactor
malai – his divine mountain
Simple Translation
dhraupadhi is the consort of the five pANdavas and is the daughter of the king of pAnchAlam. krishNa kept all her confusion in his divine mind. He transposed all her disgrace on to the wives of the hundred brothers of dhuryOdhana. thirumAlirum sOlai is that benefactor’s mountain. It is the mountain, where swarms of beetles, with apt tunes, sing songs and imbibe honey from gardens where plants do not wither at all, due to constant flow of water from springs.
vyAkhyAnam
pANdavar … – despite being the consort of the sons of king pANdu and the daughter of the king of pANchAlam, dhraupadhi had all the sorrows. Through this it is implied that looking at her clan of birth and the clan, to which she had gone as the daughter-in-law, she should not have had any sorrow. The reason for saying pANdavar thammudaiya instead of merely saying pANdavar’s, is due to the fact each (of the five pANdavas) was strong enough to protect her. Why then did they allow her to be distressed, instead of protecting her? Just as it has been mentioned in periyAzhwAr thirumozhi 2.1.1 “poychchUdhil thORRa poRai udai mannarkkAy” (the five pANdavas lost in the deceptive game of dice, and retained their patience), since they lost in the deceptive game of dice, instead of doing what they should be doing, being fearful of the path of righteousness, they were in abject shame, maintaining their patience. Since her consorts, who were in proximity, were keeping quiet, since her father was too far away, since she was weak herself, and since the strong ones were harming her, she was distressed. The pANdavas bowed their heads and were scratching the ground with the nails on their toes, in shame. dhuSSAsanan was the son of dhritharAshtran, the blind king. He was brought up, without the strict upbringing of a father who would roll his eyes to create a sense of fear [and obedience, in the child]. Moreover, he grew up roaming around as he pleased. Beyond that, having been born after dhuryOdhana, who was the king among kings, due to the arrogance of having been nurtured by dhuryOdhana’s praise, he was a rude person, matured in despicable acts. Just as it has been mentioned in periya thirumozhi 2.3.6 “andhagan siRuvan arasar tham arasaRku iLaiyavan aNi izhaiyaich chenRu endhamakku urimai seyyena” (dhuSSAsanan, the son of blind king dhritharAshtran, and the younger brother of dhuryOdhana, who is the kings, went to dharupadhi, who was decorated with ornaments, and told her ‘serve us’), dhuSSAsanan went to dhraupadhi, who had decorated herself with ornaments and told her “They lost you too in the game of dice; you come and carry out service to us”. She told him, as mentioned in mahAbhAratham sabhA parvam “rajasvalaika vasthrAham nanumAm nEthumarhasi – gurUNAncha purasthAthum sabhAyAm nAham uthsahE” (I am in my menstruating period, with a single dress. It is not appropriate for you to take me to the royal court. I do not desire to stand in front of elders in this condition). Despite this, he caught her by her hair and dragged her to the court, reviling her as she stood there, and tugged at her dress. Her distress was huge.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai, in his svApadhESam, says that AzhwAr, to denote her birth in an eminent clan, calls her as pAnchAli, just as he has called them as pANdavas. Since the term thammudaiya [as in pANdavar thammudaiya] has been used, it denotes that she has taken refuge under their affection, manifesting her total dependence on them and going along with them in the path of righteousness, as mentioned in the saying “purushANAmabhAvEna sarvAnArya:pathivrathA:” (a lady, after her marriage to a man, will go in the path of righteousness, which her husband has taken as a pledge). maRukkamellAm – when dhuSSAsanan took her amidst the court of dhuryOdhana et al and dishonoured her, she lost her sense of distinguishing between right and wrong, not knowing as to what she should do, due to that distress. She called out to every individual in that court, mentioning her relationship with each of them, trying to take refuge under them. All of them [bhIshma, dhrONa, kripa et al] would think “We have eaten the food given by him [dhuryOdhana]”, looking at their stomachs; they would look at dhuryOdhana’s anger; they would look at the superficial pledge of dharmaputhra [the eldest son of pANdu]; they will look at their ignorance as their knowledge, and look at the earth [with their heads bowed]. They did not consider her as a distinguished lady, born in an eminent clan; as one, who was observing her pAthivrathyam [existing exclusively for them]; they merely looked at the way dhuSSAsanan hurt her. She, realising her being without any refuge, called out SankhA chakra gadhA pANE (are you like me, without any weapons?] dhwArakAnilaya [Is this the manner in which you had protected the sixteen thousand women who were without a refuge (under narakAsuran)?] achyutha – even when your followers slip away from you, one, who does not let go of them, as mentioned by the yakshan [a celestial entity] on the banyan tree, gOvindha – did you protect those who were having distinguished knowledge and who were powerful [reference here is to the cows and cow-herds in thiruvAyppAdi]? puNdarIkAksha – doesn’t the blossomed nature of the divine eyes indicate the mercy in the divine mind? When she beseeched him, asking for protection, asking him whether he too has any contraction [in knowledge] such as dreaming etc, he did not come in person, just as he did when SrI gajEndhran called out to him [reference here is to the elephant, SrI gajEndhrAzhwAn, who was caught by a crocodile], as mentioned in mahAbhAratham udhyOga parvam 58.22 “ruNam pravruththa” (krishNa says ‘my debt keeps growing incessantly’ (since he did not go in person to help her when she surrendered to him)). She did not know the distress that krishNa had felt then. Lest she think that he too had given up on her, just like her consorts, he had to act quickly, without disregarding her. Initially, out of her sense of shame, she held on to one end of her dress with her hand. When she let go of her shyness and raised both her hands [as an anjali, cupping her hands above her head], realising her powerlessness born out of her initial sense of having power [when she held on to end of her dress], when she let go of her power and her shame, though thyAgaviSishtam [act of giving up] is acceptable to him [just as he had mentioned in bhagavath gIthA 18.66, to give up all acts which we are holding on to and to attain him alone], instead of giving up and then surrendering to emperumAn, she surrendered to him and then gave up [one end of her dress]. Due to the eminence of his divine name [she called out to him through his divine names], he kept giving her dress, through his divine vow. Due to that, all her sorrows disappeared at that time. This explains the verse maRukkamellA mANdu [when her sorrows disappeared]. Later, during the mahAbhAratha war, when the hundred brothers were killed, she platted her locks with the blood of dhuSSAsanan. The verse mANdu is to be considered here as the brothers dying. He made those who were fit to be killed as kings [reference here is to the pANdavas, who, knowing that she had taken refuge under krishNa, should have protected her honour; instead, they looked at their low level of righteousness and kept quiet and hence, were apt to be killed]. He made a piece of charcoal as a live child [reference here is to the unborn child of uththarA, the daughter-in-law of arjuna, who became a piece of charcoal inside the womb of uththarA and who was given fresh lease of life by krishNa]. Considering all these, the verse says ellAm ANdu [krishNa kept all these in his thoughts]. Not stopping with these, until this distress was transposed on the hundred women [consorts of dhuryOdhana and his brothers], dhraupadhi’s sorrow will not die. Alternatively, taking over her sorrow on himself, since he was distressed when he said “ruNam pravruththa” [my debt is increasing], since he took over the sorrows himself, the verse says ANdu. That will change only when the hundred brothers die. Another explanation – the verse could be considered as mANdangu, which would get split as mAN and thangu. This will refer to women who have eminence. Another explanation – AN thangu – the hundred brothers who had masculinity. Since they were willing to go for war, there is no shortcoming in their manliness.
ANdu – keeping all that, without leaving out anything, in his divine mind.
angu nURRuvar tham peNdir mEl vaiththa – one who transposed all the sorrows which dhraupadhi had suffered there, on to the hundred women folk, who were the consorts of the hundred brothers. It is pertinent to recall thirumangai AzhwAr’s periya thirumozhi 2.3.6 pAsuram “sandhamal kuzhalAL alakkaN nURRuvar tham peNdirum eydhi” (the wives of the hundred brothers suffered the sorrow suffered by dhraupadhi, who had dark locks). They lost their mAngalyasUthrams [sacred threads].
appan – AzhwAr considers the benefit which krishNa did towards dhraupadhi, who had surrendered to him, as the benefit done to him, and hence, addresses him as appan, the benefactor. When the mercy showered on a follower is not considered as the mercy showered on oneself, there is no connection with emperumAn.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that krishNa made dress to keep coming for her, through his vow, and not by seeing her directly. All these were done by his divine name [since dhraupadhi called out to him through his divine names]. To reflect on his divine names, AzhwAr refers to krishNa as appan [benefactor]. It is the eminence of his divine names that will make him to be dependent on his followers. Even the subsequent activities of going as the messenger of pANdavas and being the charioteer of arjuna were due to her reciting his divine names. It was for her sake, who recited the divine names.
malai – it is the mountain where one, who is a benefactor like this, resides for protecting his followers.
pAN thagu vaNinangaL – pAN – song. Beetles, which are apt for singing. In other words, right from the time of birth, they know nothing other than singing.
paNgaL pAdi madhup paruga – Due to their happiness, they sing different songs, and drink honey.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that as the beetles keep drinking honey, the gardens will keep getting continuous supply of water. Such a mountain, with plants which are greenish forever, is the mountain with which emperumAn is identified.
thONdal udaiya malai – it is the mountain which has nonstop springs, due to which the divine gardens will make it appear as the season of flowering, all the time.
thollai mAlirum sOlai adhE – since thiruvananthAzhwAn (AdhiSEshan) himself has taken the form of a mountain, it is ancient. It has the divine name of thirumAlirum sOlai. This is the benefactor’s mountain, thONdal – spring from earth.
We shall next consider the 7th pAsuram of this thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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