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periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> Fourth Centum >> Third decad
avathArikai
thiruvAimozhip piLLai, in his svApadhESam, says that AzhwAr reminisces about emperumAn’s auspicious qualities in various incarnations, in this pAsuram.
kOttu mAn koNdu idandhu kudangaiyin maN koNdu aLandhu
mIttu adhu uNdu umizhndhu viLaiyAdu vimalan malai
Ittiya pal poruLgaL empirAnukku adi iRai enRu
Ottarum than silambu ARudai mAlirum sOlai adhE
Word-by-Word meanings
Ittiya – gathering, when flowing with force
pal – different types of
poruLgaL – materials such as gold, pearl, fragrant wood etc
em – for us
pirAnukku – one, who is the lord
adi iRai enRu – considering these to be SrI pAdha kANikkai [offering at the divine feet]
Ottarum – flowing hurriedly
thaN – being cool
silambu ARu udai – thirumAlirum sOlai, which has silambARu
maN – earth, which was pushed into the waters of deluge, by hiraNyAkshan
idandhu – releasing from the walls of universe
kOdu – on the divine tusks
koNdu – carrying [as varAha rUpi, in the form of wild boar]
maN – earth, which mahAbali considered as his
kudam kaiyil – on the palm
koNdu – taking water [symbolic of acceptance]
aLandhu – measured
mIttum – again
adhu – that earth
uNdu – protecting, by keeping it inside the divine stomach
umizhndhu – [later] spitting it out to let it see the outer areas
viLaiyAdum – one, who keeps playing
vimalan – dwelt upon by one, who is without any fault
malai – divine mountain
Simple Translation
During the time of deluge, when the earth was pushed into it, taking the form of a wild boar, emperumAn dug the earth out, from the walls of universe and held it on his divine tusks. Later, when mahAbali considered the earth as his, emperumAn, taking water on his divine palm, symbolic of accepting as alms from mahAbali, measured all the worlds. Further, during deluge, he protected that earth, by keeping it inside his stomach, and later spat it out, such that people can engage with their deeds. thirumAlirum sOlai is the divine mountain, where such emperumAn resides forever. It is the mountain, where, silambARu flows rapidly, gathering materials such as gold, pearls, fragrant wood etc, to offer at the divine feet of emperumAn, who resides there [as azhagar pirAn].
vyAkhyAnam
kOttu maN koNdu idandhu – earth was pushed into deluge by the monster, hiraNyAkshan. Taking the form of a huge, wild boar, which does not step back from water or quagmire, emperumAn entered deluge, released earth from the walls of universe, and held it on his divine tusk.
kudangaiyil maN koNdu aLandhu – Later, earth was stolen by mahAbali [from indhran] and was under his control. In order to take back the earth, for the sake of indhran, who surrendered to emperumAn seeking his help, emperumAn took the form of a dwarf, and went to mahAbali, seeking alms. Just as it has been mentioned in mUnRAm thiruvandhAdhi 62 “than kudangai nIrERRAn” (accepted water on his palm), emperumAn accepted water on his palm, symbolic of accepting alms, when he has always only given from his hands and become more and more eminent. The moment that water fell on his divine palm, he grew up immediately and walked, like one walking along the boundary of a place, extending his divine foot.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai, says additionally here that emperumAn, as thrivikrama, swirled namuchi, the son of mahAbali, and threw him in the sky [when namuchi objected to emperumAn taking a huge form, on receiving water in his divine palm]. emperumAn measured the worlds, spreading his divine feet expansively, to remove the anyaSEshathvam [being a servitor to an entity other than emperumAn] and svAthanthryam [being independent]. The reason for removing anyaSEshathvam first is because, just as those near the shore are pulled out first when there is any threat, the jIvAthmA [represented by the syllable “ma” in praNavam; incidentally, praNavam represents exclusive servitude to emperumAn] is close to the fourth case Aya over the syllable “a” [which represents paramAthmA] in praNavam.
mIttum adhu uNdu umizhndhu – when earth was about to be destroyed in deluge, as mentioned in periya thirumozhi 11.6.7 “peruveLLam uNNAmal thAn vizhungi” (swallowing earth himself, instead of allowing it to be swallowed by deluge), emperumAn kept the earth inside his divine stomach and protected it. He spat it out, when deluge abated.
viLaiyAdum – engaging in playful activities, like these. All three activities of creation, protection and destruction are events of playfulness for emperumAn. Keeping this in mind, AzhwAr mercifully mentions this activity, which is one of protecting the world, as one of playfulness.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai additionally says here that it is pertinent to recall thiruvAimozhi 3.10.7 “inbuRum ivviLaiyAttu udaiyAn” (one, who enjoys this sport of creation, protection and destruction in the materialistic realm)
vimalan – one who is the opposite of faults. In other words, as mentioned in SrI vishNu sahasranAmam “sadhaika rUpa rUpAya” (always having the same divine, auspicious form), even when he takes form in other species, contracts or expands his form, whether it is out of his freewill or when he carries out tasks for the sake of others, there will be no change in the basic nature of his divine form. It will always remain the same.
malai – this is the divine mountain, where, one, who is like these, mercifully resides in order to uplift those who have fallen in samsAram [materialistic realm], to sever the quality of anyaSEshathvam [being servitor to some other entity] and to take the jIvAthmA under his divine feet, and to protect the jIvAthmA such that it doesn’t have to get again into the deluge of samsAram.
Ittiya … – when silambARu comes with copious flow, it gathers all the materials on either side of the mountain, as mentioned in periya thirumozhi 6.9.6 “pon muththum ari ugirum puzhaik kaimmA karikkOdum” (gold, pearls, lion’s nails, tusks from a huge elephant, having trunk with holes), such as logs of sandal wood, eaglewood, precious metals etc for the sake of the lord and offer at his divine feet. The river comes with an urge to proffer this; it also removes the ennui of those who take a bath in it [to remove the heat created by samsAram]. It is thirumAlirum sOlai, which has such silambARu, where vimalan resides.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that all these materials mentioned, such as gold, pearls, fragrant wood etc are similar to the materials gathered by a lady, who visits her mother’s house, from her husband’s house, and gathers materials there for offering to her husband. The river, gathers all these materials, in order to proffer them at the divine feet of azhagar [the divine name of emperumAn in thirumAlirum sOlai], who is a great benefactor, aligning with the quality of basic nature of the river [being a servitor]. thirumAlirum sOlai is the divine mountain of the vimalan, having the divine silambARu, which comes with lot of coolness and pours water, as mentioned in “thUngaruviyAy vArA ninRadhI” [the river flows, abundantly pouring water, coming towards azhagar].
Finally, he says the following: AzhwArs are like mountains, having the auspicious qualities of gyAna [knowledge about emperumAn], bhakthi [devotion towards emperumAn], vairAgyam [detachment towards worldly entities] [similar to the river having gold, pearls and fragrant wood]. They gather these qualities in their divine hearts, saying “This is for azhagar”. They pray to emperumAn “Your highness should accept these”, appearing like the divine garland, hanging on emperumAn’s divine form. This appears congruent with the verse of ANdAL in nAchchiyAr thirumozhi 9.7 “inRu vandhu iththnaiyum amudhu seydhidap peRil nAn onRu nURAyiramAgak koduththup pinnaiyum Alum seyvan” (If emperumAn comes today and accepts this offering, I will give a hundred thousand times more and carry out all manners of servitude), when she showed her huge desire to serve emperumAn.
We shall next consider the 10th pAsuram of this thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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