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periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> Fourth Centum >> Eighth decad
avathArikai
AzhwAr says in this pAsuram that this is the abode where emperumAn, who had brought back the son of his AchArya, sage sAndhIpini, resides.
mAdhavaththOn puththiran pOy maRi kadal vAy mANdAnai
Odhuviththa thakkaNaiyA uru uruvE koduththAnUr
thOdhavaththith thUy maRaiyOr thuRai padiyath thuLumbi engum
pOdhil vaiththa thEn soriyum punal arangam enbadhuvE
Word-by-Word Meanings
thOdham – dhautham, washed cleanly and dried
vaththi – vasthram, wearing dress
thUy – pure (without any fault)
maRaiyOr – SrIvaishNavas, who have vEdham as their identification
thuRai – bathing ghats such as thirumugaththuRai [name of a bathing ghat] etc in river kAviri
padiya – as they take bath in huge assemblies (due to that)
engum – everywhere
thuLumbi – striking waves (to move the stalks of flowers)
pOdhil vaiththa – present in those flowers
thEn – honey
soriyum – dripping
punal – having water
arangam enbadhu – the divine town, which has the divine name ‘Srirangam’
maRi – hitting with waves
kadal vAy – in the ocean
pOy – entered
mANdAn – one who got caught in the mouth of crocodile and died
mAdhavaththOn – one, who has carried out plenty of penance
puththiranai – the son of sAndhIpini
Odhuviththa – for the one, who taught him
thakkaNaiyA – as a fee
uru uruvE – with the same form, which the son had at the time of death
koduththavan – one, who brought him back and gave [to sAndhIpini]
Ur – the abode where he resides, forever
Simple Translation
SrIvaishNavas, who have the sacred vEdhams as their identification, take bath in large assemblies in bathing ghats such as thirumugaththuRai, wearing cleanly washed and dried dress. As they immerse themselves in the waters of river kAviri, the water rises up, hitting the stalks of flowers everywhere. Honey, which is present in the flowers, drips down, flowing with the water. SrIrangam is the divine name of the divine abode, which is on the bank of that river kAviri. It is the dwelling place for krishNa, who had brought back to life, the dead son of his AchArya, sAndhIpini, who has carried out lot of penance. The son had got caught in the mouth of a crocodile in the ocean with agitating waves and krishNa brought him back, with the same form which the son had at the time of his death, as the fee for proffering to his AchArya.
vyAkhyAnam
mAdhavaththOn puththiran pOy maRikadal vAy mANdAnai – sAndhIpini had carried out lot of penance. His son, over a long time back, had entered ocean, with agitating waves, and had died.
Odhuviththa thakkaNaiyA – at the completion of his period of learning, krishNa had offered to pay a fee to his AchArya, sAndhIpini. Since sAndhIpini had known about the activities of krishNa which defy human possibilities, he asked krishNa to get back his son, who had died long time back in the ocean, as mentioned in periya thirumozhi 5.8.7 “kAdhal en magan pugalidam kANEn kaNdu tharuvAy enakku” (I do not know the place, where my son, the target of my love, went. You, being omniscient and omnipotent, should find out where he is and give him to me). krishNa told him that he would do accordingly, as a fee for paying back his AchArya, for having taught him.
uru uruvE koduththAn Ur – it is the divine abode, where emperumAn resides forever, after having brought back the son, without any change in the form of the son, as mentioned in “tham bAlam yAthanA samstham yathApUrvE SarIriNam – pithrE prathaththavAn krishNa:” (krishNa returned the form of that child, who was with the form which had an acute pain).
thiruvAimozhip piLLai, in his svApadhESam, says that in a place where time keeps changing continuously, it is amazing that emperumAn carried out the activity, defying it.
thOdhavaththith thUy maRaiyOr – people, who have eminent activities and who wear clean clothes, which have been washed well and dried, and who have the sacred vEdhas as their identification. Sacredness for the vEdhas comes on account of (1) not having been composed by any one entity, (2) being without any faults, (3) being distinct from prathyaksham [perception through sense organs] and anumAnam [inference]; vEdhams have superiority over the other two elements, namely perception and inference when it comes to defining authenticity], (4) reflecting the basic nature, divine form, auspicious qualities and wealth of emperumAn truly, without any alteration. The reason for stating that these people have vEdham as their identification is due to the fact that (1) they learn it properly as laid down, as mentioned in SrI vishNu purANam 6.6.3 “svAdhyAyO adhyEthavya:” (learning vEdham which is ordained for them), (2) knowing the meanings of the verses in vEdham, (3) following the activities as defined in vEdham, (4) identifying themselves as vaidhikars [those who follow vEdhams].
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that it is the dress which the people wear when they take their bath. More than saying “It is made of silk; it is made of cotton” etc, it is this dress which is the most apt for brAhmaNas. thUy maRaiyOr – these people are capable of organizing vEdhAntham, just as sage vyAsa had done for vEdhams. thiruvAimozhip piLLai says additionally here that vEdham is also sacred on account of self-illuminating [it does not require another treatise to explain its contents], it gives out one meaning [that emperumAn is the most supreme entity] and is the most esoteric. The people, who are eminent in these vEdhams, are similar to [kUrath]AzhwAn, capable of neutralising any incongruence and being firmly rooted in them.
thuRai padiya – river kAviri is more sacred than river gangA, as mentioned in thirumAlai 23 “gangaiyil punidhamAya kAviri” (kAviri is more sacred than gangA] since gangA has connection with other dhEvathas while kAviri engages only with periya perumAL. In the bathing ghats such as thirumugaththuRai which is directly in the divine glance of periya perumAL, these people, in large numbers, immerse themselves.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that people realise that they should live only in SrIrangam, after knowing that the divine symbols [identifications] and divine names spoken of by all the vEdhams are of emperumAn only and that SrIrangam is the ancient abode of krishNa, as mentioned in periya thirumozhi 8.2.7 “thonmaiyUr arangamE” [SrIrangam is the ancient abode of krishNa]. These people take permanent residence in that abode and immerse themselves in the turbid waters of kAviri river [the river is turbid since the river is leaving SrIrangam with a heavy heart]. It is in such SrIrangam that emperumAn has taken permanent residence.
In the end, thiruvAimozhip piLLai says the following: Our AchAryas, who knew these, leave their auspicious qualities in the bathing ghat where they take their bath [this is the thOdhavaththith thUymaRaiyOr mentioned in the pAsuram, taking bath in the thirumugaththuRai]. These qualities attract those who have the inclination to learn about emperumAn but who do not have the knowledge, to approach the AchAryas and to pray to the AchAryas to give them knowledge [this is similar to the waves hitting the stalks of flowers and making the flowers to shed the honey contained in them]. Thus, it is clearly stated in the pAsuram that the people in this divine abode gain knowledge from their AchAryas and are capable of neutralising incongruences seen at a few places in both the samskrutha vEdham and dhrAvida vEdham [AzhwAr’s divine verses].
thuLumbi … – when they immerse in large numbers in the waters of river kAviri, waves rise everywhere, shaking the stalks of flowers which are nearby. Due to this movement, honey, present in the flowers, drips down, mingling with the water. The divine abode of SrIrangam is on the bank of such kAviri. Just as it has been mentioned in SrIrangamAhAthmyam “kshIrAbdhEr maNdalAdhbhAnO: yOginAm hrydhayAdhapi – rathingathO hari: yathra thasmAth rangam ithi smrutham” (that abode, which is superior to kshIrAbdhi [milky ocean], superior to the abode of sun and higher than the hearts of sages, in which emperumAn hari attained love, is known by the divine name SrIrangam), since it has eminence, AzhwAr mercifully says “arangam enbadhu adhuvE” (that is known by the divine name, SrIrangam], manifesting the prominence.
We shall next consider the 2nd pAsuram of this thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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