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periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> Fourth Centum >> Seventh decad
avathArikai
thiruvAimozhip piLLai, in his svApadhESam, says that AzhwAr is mercifully mentioning about the eminence of emperumAn, in the two incarnations of SrI rAma and krishNa, where, being born in the clan of human beings, emperumAn manifested his supremacy. This is also mentioned as purushOththama vidhyai (Knowledge of emperumAn being the supreme entity) in SrI bhagavath gIthA, in his incarnation as krishNa.
thangaiyai mUkkum thamaiyanaith thalaiyum thadindha em dhAsarathi pOy
engum than pugazhAvirundhu arasANda em purudOththaman irukkai
gangai gangai enRa vAsagaththAlE kaduvinai kaLaindhida kiRkum
gangaiyin karai mEl kai thozha ninRa kaNdam ennum kadi nagarE
Word-by-Word Meanings
gangai gangai enRa – (If the people of the world consider the respective water body where they take bath as river gangA) due to reciting the words “gangA, gangA”
kadu vinai – their cruel sins
kaLaindhida kiRkum – capable of removing
gangaiyin karai mEl – on the banks of river gangA
kai thozha ninRa – such that the followers of emperumAn would stand and worship, by cupping their palms together
kaNdam ennum – known by the name kaNdam
kadi – having distinction
nagar – the place
thangaiyin – sUrpaNakhA, the sister of rAvaNa, her
mUkkum – nose
thamaiyanai – her brother rAvaNa, his
thalaiyum – head
thadindha – one, who severed
em – our
dhAsarathi – the son of chakravarthi [dhaSarathan]
pOy – mercifully residing in SrI ayOdhyA
engum – in all the places
than pugazhA – only his fame
irundhu – staying for eleven thousand years
arasu Anda – ruing over the kingdom
em – our
purushOththaman – for the most eminent entity
irukkai – is his divine dwelling abode
Simple Translation
(When people consider the respective water body, where they have having bath, as the divine river gangA and) recite the word “gangA, gangA”, it is capable of removing their cruel sins. On the banks of such gangA, followers of emperumAn cup their hands and worship him. kaNdam, where gangA flows, has the distinction of being the divine abode, where our emperumAn, who is the son of emperor dhaSaratha, who severed the nose of sUrpaNakhA and the head of her brother rAvaNa, who ruled for eleven thousand years after reaching SrI ayOdhyA, dwells.
vyAkhyAnam
thangaiyai mUkkum thamaiyanaith thalaiyum thadindha – one who severed the nose of the younger sister, sUrpaNakhA, and the head of the elder brother, rAvaNa. periyAzhwAr, who had enjoyed the divine qualities of SrI rAma, in periyAzhwAr thirumozhi 4.2.2 “vALarakkan mudiyum thangai pollAdha mUkkum pOkkuviththAn porundhum malai” (the divine hill, where one, who severed the head of rAvaNa, who had obtained a powerful sword and the cruel nose of his sister, sUrpaNakhA, lives forever), sees the divine qualities of SrI rAma in kaNdam kadi nagar too and enjoys the same. The proper way to desire emperumAn and pirAtti is to consider them as the mother of all the worlds and as the father, as a union, as mentioned in SrI vishNu purANam 1.9.126 “thvam mAthA sarvalOkAnAm dhEvadhEvO hari:pithA” (you are the mother for all the worlds; hari, who is the lord of all the deities, is the father). To indicate what would happen if, instead of that, one were to desire them in an improper manner, emperumAn demonstrated that this is the benefit which they will get. In other words, for sUrpaNakhA, who rejected the most distinguished identification of emperumAn, pirAtti, and who desired emperumAn, who is the substrate, the limbs got removed. For rAvaNa, who rejected the substrate, SrI rAma, for pirAtti, and desired pirAtti, due to his perverse intellect, the loss of life itself became the benefit. It is to bring out the splendour of this meaning that AzhwAr had mercifully mentioned this in many places.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that she was the sister of one, who carried out an act due to which he had to lose his shoulders and heads. She was also the one, who carried out an action, due to which she lost her nose and her brother lost his head. What will a person not do, when being under the control of emperumAn! When brahmA and other celestial entities told SrI rAma, after he had annihilated rAvaNa that he was indeed nArAyaNan himself, he mentioned mercifully that he was the son of emperor dhaSarathan, with the inaptness clearly manifested. It is to reflect these and the activities which SrI rAma undertook after these, when he made everyone happy, establishing the rule of righteousness, making his fame spread throughout the world, avoiding rule by two kings [SrI rAma was the only king; the others were under his control], ruling the kingdom for a long time, until a celestial entity came and informed him that he has to return to SrI vaikuNtam, that AzhwAr says em dhASarathi pOy irundhu arasANdu…
em dhAsarathi – through the word em [our], AzhwAr enjoins all the followers and mercifully mentions. It was for all the followers that AzhwAr brought out this meaning, clearly. The reason for saying dhASarathi [son of emperor dhaSarathan] is due to the fact that SrI rAma himself, in SrI rAmAyaNam yudhdha kANdam 120.11 says “AthmAnam mAnusham manyE rAmam dhaSarathAthmajam” (Consider me as rAma, a human being, the son of dhaSarathan) when brahmA and other celestial entities came and told him, as in SrI rAmAyaNam yudhdha kANdam 120.13 “bhavAn nArAyanO dhEva:” (Your highness is the supreme lord, nArAyaNa), being unable to tolerate their words. Thus, AzhwAr highlighted the simplicity of emperumAn, through this.
pOy engum than pugazhA irundhu arasANda – after the annihilation of rAvaNa, SrI rAma eft lankA, mercifully went to SrI ayOdhyA, and underwent the divine coronation. In line with SrI rAmAyaNam yudhdha kANdam 128.103 “rAmO rAmO rAma ithi prajAnAm abhavan kathA: rAmabhUtham jagathabhUdhrAmE rAjyam praSAsathi ” (While SrI rAma ruled the kingdom, the talks of the people centered round rAma, rAma and rAma. The world became rAma’s world), SrI rAma made the people throughout the world to keep reciting his auspicious qualities and made his fame to pervade everywhere, ruling over the kingdom for eleven thousand years.
em purudOththaman irukkai – Here too, AzhwAr gathers all the followers together, and mercifully addresses [emperumAn] as em. The word purudOththaman refers to one, who is the supreme entity to all, just as it has been mentioned in bhagavath gIthA 15.18 “yasmAthksharam athIthO’ham aksharadhapichOththama: l athOsmi lOkE vEdhEcha prathitha: purushOththama: ll” (Since I am beyond the perishable entities (achEthanam) and the imperishable entities (chEthanam), I am celebrated in the world as well as by vEdhams as purushOththama¸ the supreme entity). Since he is purushOththama [most eminent], even when he is dhASarathi [a simplistic person], he remains as manushyathvE parathvam (eminent even while remaining as a simplistic person). The word irukkai refers to dwelling place.
gangai … – when people consider whichever water body in which they are immersing themselves while taking a bath as river gangA, and recite the wors gangA, gangA, the river is capable of removing their sins, which they otherwise would have had to experience and get rid of. On such gangA river …
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that when people take bath, in whichever water body they may be having their bath, and recite the name gangA, gangA, all the cruel sins, which are a part of the remaining sins [after surrendering to emperumAn] will get removed and they will be protected. All the sacred waters, including gangA, those who had taken their bath in gangA [and other water bodies, considering them as gangA], and those who were born in other worlds, and who consider taking bath in gangA as essential, stand on the banks of gangA …
gangaiyin karimEl kai thozha ninRa– on the banks of such gangA, with people, who are knowledgeable [about emperumAn], stand and worship, with their hands …
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that they stand on the banks of river gangA and worship emperumAn, joining their hands together in anjali pose. AzhwAr says that more than purushOththaman, it is the dwelling place, kaNdam, which is the benefit, lasting forever. Alternatively, though the river gangA removes the cruel sins of people, it does not do so, on its own [it carries these to the divine feet of emperumAn, who removes the sins]; however, due to the sacredness that the river gets due to contact with the divine feet of the followers of emperumAn, just as it has been mentioned in the saying “vishNu bhakthAnAm pAdha prakshALana udhakam” (water, which has had contact with the divine feet of the devotes of vishNu), the river gets this attribute [of removing the sins]. We could see this [narration] in many places. Thus, it could be said that the divine place kaNdam will remove the sins of those, who recite the name gangA, gangA. It is pertinent to recall the narrative about vaduga nambi [rAmAnujar’s disciple] who removed the grief of people on the eastern side, with the divine water from rAmAnujar’s divine feet. Another interpretation: one need not even have any connection with gangA. On its own, the divine abode kaNdam which is distinguished, will remove the sins. Is it like mOkshayishyAmi [when emperumAn said that he will liberate (in future) after attaining and surrendering to him]? On the other hand, it is similar to kaNNinuN chiRuththAmbu “paNdai valvinai pARRi aruLinAn” (nammAzhwAr, mercifully removed the cruel sins, which had been there since time immemorial) and is similar to periya thirumozhi 7.4.8 “uNNAdhu vengURRam OvAdha pAvangaL sErA” (cruel yama, the dhEvathA, will not consume those who meditate upon such bhAgavathas; the sins which continuously torment, will not come close to them [where it is clearly mentioned that sins will get removed due to association with AchArya and where sins will not come near the followers of emperumAn]. The verse should be transposed as “gangai gangai enRa gangaiyin karai mEl kai thozha ninRa em purudOththaman irukkai kaNdam ennum kadi nagar vAchagaththAlE kadu vinai kaLaindhida kiRkum” to get the sequential meaning [here, it is mentioned that mere reciting of the name of the divine abode kaNdam will remove cruel sins; this abode is on the banks of the river gangA].
kaNdam ennum kadi nagarE– it is the place, which has the distinction of being known as kaNdam. Through this, since the place where emperumAn takes residence is more apt to be attained than purushOththaman himself, and is the ultimate benefit, AzhwAr describes that place and enjoys it.
We shall next consider the 2nd pAsuram of this thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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