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periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> Fourth Centum >> Fourth decad
avathArikai
thiruvAimozhip piLLai, in his svApadhESam, says that in the previous pAsuram, AzhwAr recalled the benefits and detriment for those who worship or do not worship emperumAn. In this pAsuram, he feels sorrowful, considering the worthlessness of those, who, despite having been provided with fingers in order to count the divine names of emperumAn, do not utilise them for that purpose.
vaNNa nanmaNiyum maragadhamum azhuththi nizhal ezhum
thiNNai sUzh thirukkOttiyUr thirumAl avan thirunAmangaL
eNNak kaNda viralgaLAl iRaippozhudhum eNNagilAdhu pOy
uNNakkaNda tham Uththai vAykkuk kavaLam undhuginRArgaLE
Word-by-Word Meanings
nal vaNNam – having good complexion
maNiyum – carbuncles
maragadhamum – and emeralds
azhuththi – having been embedded properly
nizhal ezhum – shining
thiNNai – pial [raised platform in the front-yard of the house]
sUzh – surrounded by
thirukkOttiyUr – one, who has mercifully taken residence in thirukkOttiyUr
thirumAlavan – SrIya:pathi (divine consort of SrI mahAlakshmi)
thirunAmangaL – divine names
eNNa – for the purpose of counting
kaNda – created
viralgaLAl – with the fingers
iRaip pozhudhum – even for a moment
eNNagilAdhu – without counting
pOy – moving away [from emperumAn]
uNNak kaNda – to eat that, which is required for nurturing the physical form
tham – their
Uththai – impure
vAykku – in the mouth
kavaLam – mounds of food
undhuginRArgaL – they are pushing
Simple Translation
thirukkOttiyUr is surrounded by houses, which have pials in the front yards. These are studded with gemstones such as carbuncles and emeralds of eminent colours, due to which they are splendorous. emperumAn, who is the divine consort of SrI mahAlakshmi, is residing mercifully in this divine abode. People have been provided with fingers on their hands, for the purpose of counting his divine names. Instead of doing that, such people are pushing down mounds of food with their fingers, inside their impure mouths,
vyAkhyAnam
vaNNa nan maNiyum maragadhamum azhuththi – embedding carbuncles, which have distinguished colour, and emeralds, which are also like that, in a proper manner.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says additionally here that this is like periyAzhwAr thirumozhi 1.1.1 “vaNNa mAdangaL sUzh thirukkOttiyUr” (thirukkOttiyUr, which is surrounded by mansions which are splendorous) and periya thirumozhi 7.8.9 “thiruvizhavil maNi aNindha thiNNai thORum” (during times of uthsavams, pials which are decorated with gemstones).
nizhal ezhum thiNNai sUzh – those living in thirukkOttiyUr will embed these on the pials in their houses, such that they shine well and cast a shadow due to that brightness. Why do they embed such gemstones, making them glitter? When sokkanArAyaNan [the divine name of emperumAn who has mercifully taken residence in thirukkOttiyUr] comes out mercifully during processions, these will appear like decoration. It is pertinent to recall periya thirumozhi 7.8.9 “thiruvizhavil maNi aNindha thiNNai thORum” (during times of uthsavams, pials which are decorated with gemstones). If it is not considered this way, it would appear that the people, who are completely devoted to emperumAn, are decorating their respective house, for their benefit, which does not occur. Since they are people who are as mentioned in thiruvAimozhi 2.9.9 “yAnE nI en udaimaiyum nIyE” (I and my possession are you, since we are your attributes), their AthmAs and their possessions are completely beholden to emperumAn. In thirukkOttiyUr, which is surrounded by such pials…
thirumALavan thirunAmangaL – the divine names of SrIya:pathi [the divine consort of SrI mahAlakshmi). If a person starts reciting the divine names of emperumAn, pirAtti, who is always with emperumAn, will recommend to the emperumAn about the person. Reciting the divine names of such emperumAn. It is only for those, who desire the togetherness of perumAL and pirAtti, that the divine names would remain enjoyable. thirumangai AzhwAr said in periya thirumozhi 6.10.6 “enakkenRum thEnum pAlum amudhum Aya thirumAl thirunAmam” (for me, the divine names of SrIya:pathi are like milk, honey and nectary).
eNNakkaNda viralgaLAl – sarvESvaran, the lord of all, created fingers for people, only in order to count his divine names. eNNugai refers to counting the divine names as “this is the divine name”. Just as it has been mentioned in thiruvAimozhi 9.3.1 “OrAyiramAy ulagEzh aLikkum pEr Ayiram koNdadhOr pIdu udaiyan” (emperumAn has the greatness of having a thousand distinguished names, each of which protects all the chEthanas and achEthanas (entities with and without the ability to think, respectively) in a thousand ways), every divine name stands in a thousand ways, protecting all the worlds. This is the eminence of emperumAn. It is pertinent to recall the SlOkam in mahAbhAratham “dhEvO nAma sahasravAn” (it is SrIman nArAyaNan alone who has a thousand divine names). When nammAzhwAr mentioned in thiruvAimozhi 9.3.1 “pEr Ayiram koNdadhOr pIdu udaiyan”, anticipating the question “Who is that entity who has these?” AzhwAr said in the next line “nArAyaNan”. Here too [in thirukkOttiyUr], it is chokka nArAyaNan, who has mercifully taken residence. The divine name nArAyaNan is the identification for that entity and all the other divine names are distinctions for that identified entity. This is the reason that all [the AzhwArs] mercifully said, as in nAchchiyAr thirumozhi 2.1 “nAmam Ayiram Eththa ninRa nArAyaNan” (SrIman nArAyaNan, who remained to be praised through a thousand divine names), periya thirumozhi 10.8.4 “nAmam pala udai nAraNa nambi” (the benefactor SrIman nArAyaNan, who has a thousand divine names) and in iraNdAm thiruvandhAdhi 20 “nAraNan than nAmangaL” (the divine names of SrIman nArAyaNan). These divine names are the words which explain his svarUpa (basic nature), rUpa (divine form), guNa (auspicious qualities) vibhUthi (wealth) and chEshtitham (divine activities). Knowing their distinction, in order to count “It is this” with overflowing desire, that fingers have been provided. Counting them is expected to be the natural characteristic of a chEthanan.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that emperumAn’s divine names should be considered as the words for the meanings of the divine names, as mentioned in periya thirumozhi 9.10.3 “veLLiyAn kariyAn maNiniRavaNNan viNNavar thammiRai emakku oLLiyAn uyarndhAn ulagu Ezhum uNdu umizhndhAn” (emperumAn has white complexion [during krutha yugam], dark complexion [during kaliyugam] and bluish gemstone-like complexion during dhwApara yugam; he is the controller of nithyasUris; he is th most emkinent of all; despite all such eminence, he showed me his beauty ; during the time of deluge, he swallowed all the worlds and spat them out later); they should also be considered as the meanings for the words, as mentioned in periyAzhwAr thirumozhi 1.1.10 “mannu nAraNan nambi” (krishNa, who is complete with all auspicious qualities, who is referred to as nArAyaNan, and who resides forever at thirukkOttiyUr), and as the most enjoyable, as mentioned in “thEnum pAlum” (emperumAn’s divine names are like honey, milk etc for me). They should be counted and recited repeatedly, without stopping ever. Just as it has been mentioned in thiruvAimozhi 1.3.4 “pErum Or Ayiram piRa pala udaiya emperumAn” (emperumAn has thousands of divine names, with those divine names referring to his countless guNams [divine qualities] and many forms denoted by those divine names), if his divine names are not counted with one’s fingers, until the entity time remains, the names already counted and the names to be counted will remain innumerable. The bliss of emperumAn could not be counted by vEdham, as mentioned in thaiththirIya upanishadh Anandhavalli “aprApya manasA saha” [his bliss is beyond one’s mind and words]. Even if his happiness could be estimated, how could his divine names, in which the happiness has got immersed, ever be counted! It is possible to redeem oneself after reciting his normal divine names as mentioned in “nIrAy nilanAy” [he exists as the entities, water, land etc). It is only to enjoy his distinguished divine names, which are like nectar at every moment, just like enjoying his divine form, and which refer to his svarUpa rUpa guNa etc, that fingers have been provided, just like head has been provided for bowing down to him and hands have been provided for cupping the palms together and performing anjali to him. However, people are not carrying out the natural characteristics of such limbs.
iRaippozhudhum eNNagilAdhu – Not counting these, even for a moment. AzhwAr says that the divine names, which are to be counted incessantly, are not being counted at all, ever.
pOy – leaving this aside, and going away
uNNakkaNda tham Uththai vAykku – one should eat in order to sustain one’s physical form, through one’s impure mouth.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that people are expected to eat as ordained in SAsthram. Instead of eating this way, they eat due to overflowing desire to eat. They push mounds of foodstuff into their mouths, with their fingers, making one wonder as to how they will offer food for emperumAn, AchAryan and followers of emperumAn. They should have eaten and enjoyed the food of the divine qualities of emperumAn, who is the supreme entity and who is pure. AzhwAr feels saddened that instead of eating the food offered to emperumAn and sacred water from emperumAn, they are pushing food into their mouths. Through this, AzhwAr says that thirukkOttiyUr is the divine abode where gemstones such as selva nambi [periyAzhwAr’s AchAryan], thirukkOttiyUr nambi [rAmAnujar’s AchAryan] provide shadow to SrIvaishNavas, just like pials provide splendour and shadow. Just as it is mentioned in sezhumAmANigaL sErum [gemstones are brought in by kAviri], gemstones such as selva nambi, thirukkOttiyUr nambi et al come and reside in thirukkOttiyUr.
kavaLam undhuginRArgaLE – they are pushing food stuff, into their mouths, making mounds of the foodstuff. The benefit of food and fingers is to enjoy emperumAn’s auspicious qualities and count the divine names which are the words describing those auspicious qualities, as mentioned in periya thiruvandhAdhi 78 “kaNai nANil OvAth thozhil SArngan thol sIrai nannenjE OvAdha UNAga uN” (Oh, my good heart, which is favourable to me! Enjoy, without any hurdle, as your food, the ancient, auspicious qualities of emperumAn, who has drawn his bow and arrow, ready for battle, in order to protect his followers). Along with counting the divine names, the mouth too, through the law of balancing, should recite his divine names. AzhwAr feels saddened that instead of utilising such mouth as a means to sustain the physical form, people use it as an implement for nurturing the form, making food as the sustaining feature, hand as the implement for rolling the food into mounds and pushing the mounds into the mouth.
We shall next consider the 4th pAsuram of this thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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