SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: Sri varavaramunayE nama:
periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> Fourth Centum >> Sixth decad
avathArikai
There is no avathArikai for this pAsuram.
uchchiyil eNNeyum chuttiyum vaLaiyum ugandhu
echcham polindheergAL enseyvAn piRar pEr ittIr
pichchai pukkAgilum empirAn thirunAmamE
nachchumin nArAnan tham annai naragam pugAL
Word-by-Word Meanings
echcham polindheergAL – oh, those who have become well grown after siring children! (echcham – children)
uchchiyil – to be applied on the head
eNNeyum – oil,
chuttiyum – ornament worn on forehead, and
vaLaiyum – bangles
ugandhu – desiring
en seyvAn – for what purpose
piRar – of those, other than emperumAn
pEr ittIr – did you keep the names?
pichchai pukkAgilum – even if you have to earn livelihood through alms
empirAn – emperumAn’s
thirunAmamE – divine names only
nachchumin – call, desirously
(If this is done)
nAraNan – nArAyaNan
tham annai – the mother of that child
naragam pugAL – will not enter hell
Simple Translation
Oh, those who have grown abundantly, with children! For desiring some oil, to be applied on the head, an ornament to decorate the forehead and bangles, why did you have to name your children with names, other than those of emperumAn? Even if you have to take to alms in order to earn your livelihood, keep the divine names of emperumAn and call your children desirously. If you do this, the mother of the child will not have to enter narakam.
vyAkhyAnam
uchchiyil eNNeyum chuttiyum vaLaiyum – oil, apt to be applied on the child’s head; chutti, an ornament for decorating the forehead; bangles, for decorating the hand. Through this, it is hinted that by naming the children after others [instead of emperumAn’s], one could get oil such that the child’s head will not become dry due to lack of oil and that decorative ornaments could be donned for the child.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says, in his svApadhESam, that even if others’ names are kept for the child, a few drops of oil may be given for the child’s head, and nothing at all for the person, who kept the name. chutti and bangle are your desire
ugandhu – desiring these. It is the desire of the person, who is naming his children after others. However, the situation on the other side [one, who is giving these] is such that this is unlikely to happen, as that person is a miser.
echcham polindheergAL – Oh, those, who have made your family abundant, by having more children! echcham – children.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that AzhwAr calls out to those who, from two persons in a family [husband and wife] have become many [with the birth of many children]. It is said in manthrapraSnam “AthmAvai puthranAmAsi” (father is born as the child)
en seyvAn piRar pEr ittIr – Did you think that the other person [who is giving] will protect the child forever? Did you think that he is capable of removing your poverty? Did you think that he would be able to uplift you, to reach paramapadham? For what purpose did you keep others’ names for your children?
thiruvAimozhip piLLai additionally asks the following: has the person, who is naming his children after others, seen whether the person, who is giving him some materials, has got rid of his poverty? Will it remove the slander heaped upon by the world? Will it make the person to cross over narakam? By calling the persons who gives as ‘others’, the relationship has already been broken.
pichchai pukkAgilum – the country is expansive. Even if you have to take alms in order to survive …
empirAn thirunAmamE nachchumin – with desire, keep the divine name of my lord and call your children with those names. thiruvAimozhip piLLai, quoting nAlUr AchchAn piLLai, would mercifully narrate the following: a brAhmaNa was going to name his child. He said that he wanted to keep the name of one, who is capable of giving wealth. Another person told him “Keep the name of vayichchiravaNan [kubEran]”. The brAhmaNa told him “Instead of keeping names such as ‘aiLi biLi’ etc and surviving, it is better to keep the divine name of nArAyaNan, even if I have to take to alms to survive”. Through this, it is ascertained that – even if you have to take to alms in order to survive, keep the divine name of my lord, emperumAn, for your son, desirously. Through him, you could come out of your seeking alms, in this world, through his mercy.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that the narration, mentioned above, had been mercifully mentioned by nAlUrp piLLai to nAlUr AchchAn piLLai, who in turn, had mentioned this to thiruvAimozhip piLLai. He further says that AzhwAr instructs others to name their children after the divine name of his lord, emperumAn, instead of naming after others, and call the children by those divine names. Just as varNASrama dharmam (activities to be performed as per one’s varNam [the division that one belongs to, determined by one’s qualities and profession] and ASramam [the stage in one’s life, namely a student, a married person, a renouncer or one who has taken up living in a forest]) has been ordained for a person, even naming a child after emperumAn should be considered as having been ordained. What is the reason for saying Agilum [as in pichchai pukkAgilum, even if you have to take to alms]? Just as it has been ordained that for those following varNASrama dharmam, to experience the result of karma [the virtuous and sinful deeds of their past], the same [experiencing the results of karma would come to you [this is with reference to the person who is naming after others] too. It is better to keep the divine names of emperumAn even if you have to take to alms, in order to overcome those.
nAraNan tham annai naragam pugAL – thus, the mother of the child will not come under the control of yama and will not enter narakam [hell]
We shall next consider the 4th pAsuram of this thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
archived in https://divyaprabandham.koyil.org
pramEyam (goal) – http://koyil.org
pramANam (scriptures) – http://granthams.koyil.org
pramAthA (preceptors) – http://acharyas.koyil.org
SrIvaishNava education/kids portal – http://pillai.koyil.org