SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: Sri varavaramunayE nama:
periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> Fourth Centum >> Eighth decad
avathArikai
thiruvAimozhip piLLai, in his svApadhESam, says that AzhwAr is mercifully narrating about bringing back the children of vaidhika [one, who follows vEdham]. This is different from the amazing narration in the earlier pAsuram.
piRappagaththE mANdu ozhindha piLLaigaLai nAlvaraiyum
iRaip pozhudhil koNarndhu koduththu oruppaduththa uRaippan Ur
maRaip perum thI vaLarththiruppAr varuvirundhai aLiththu iruppAr
siRappudaiya maRaiyavar vAzh thiruvarangam enbadhuvE
Word-by-Word Meanings
maRai – as mentioned in vEdham
peru – distinguished
thI – three agnis [rituals conducted with fire every day, namely dhAkshiNAgni, AvahanIyAgni and gArhapadhyAgni]
vaLarththu iruppAr – those, who nurture
varu – those, who mercifully come to their respective abode
virundhai – SrIvaishNavas, who are guests
aLiththu iruppAr – cherishing
siRappu udaiya – having such nobility
maRaiyavar – those, who know the true meaning of vEdham
vAzh – SrIrangam, which sustains through engagement with emperumAn
piRappu agaththE – in the room where children were born
mANdu ozhindha – children, who died
nAlvaraiyum – four children
iRaip pozhudhil – in a moment
koNarndhu – bringing back from the hands of divine consort
koNdu vandhu koduththu – handing over to parents
oruppaduththa – one, who made them accept “These are our children”
uRaippan – one, who has power
Ur – dwelling abode
Simple Translation
The abode SrIrangam is inhabited by those, who nurture the three distinguished agni, as ordained in vEdhams, who cherish SrIvaishNavas who come to their respective house as guests and who know the true meaning of vEdham, experiencing emperumAn. It is the abode, dwelt upon by emperumAn, who brought back four children, who had died in the room where they were born, from the hands of his divine consort and returned them to the parents of the children, making them to accept that “These are our children”
vyAkhyAnam
piRappu … – a brAhmaNa had lost three children at the time of their birth, with the children disappearing soon after birth. When it was time for his wife to give birth to the fourth child, he sought help from krishNa to protect the child. krishNa agreed to help him. On the day that the child was to be born, krishNa had undertaken a one-day ritual. Since he was not allowed to go out anywhere during the time of the ritual, arjuna told krishNa that he would accompany the brAhmaNa to his house and protect the child. He constructed a fort with arrrows, around the room where the child was to be born, in such a manner that it was impossible for even air to go in. As soon as the child was born, similar to the three previous occasions, this time too, the child disappeared. The brAhmaNa was upset and told arjuna “Oh, the worst among warriors! It was due to you that my fourth child too has been lost. krishNa was to have protected the child, but you spoiled that.” He took arjuna to krishNa and narrated the events. krishNa smiled at him and told him “Let go of arjuna; we will get you your child”. He got the children back for the brAhmaNa. AzhwAr mercifully has told this narrative in this pAsuram, briefly.
piRappagaththE mANdu ozhindha piLLaigaLai nAlvaraiyum – just as it has been mentioned in periya thirumozhi 5.8.8 “ennudai manaivi kAdhal makkaLaip payaththalum kANAL” (my wife did not get to see the children, who were dear to me, even at the time when they were born), the children who disappeared from the room where they were born, with no one knowing where they went, with even the mother not seeing them.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai, in his svApadhESam, says that the divine consorts of emperumAn wanted to see the transformation in emperumAn’s power of prAkrutha and aprAkrutha [power in samsAram, the materialistic realm, and in nithya vibhUthi, spiritualistic realm] as well as to see krishNa in SrI vaikuNtam. Hence, even as the children were born to the brAhmaNa and his wife, through their sankalpam [solemn vow], they brought the children to SrI vaikuNtam. thiruvAimozhip piLLai additionally says here that when krishNa told the brAhmaNa when the brAhmaNa came, pushing arjuna along with him, to let go of arjuna and that he would get the children back, the brAhmaNa refused to let go of arjuna. Hence, krishNa took both the brAhmaNa and arjuna, with him, in the chariot. He entered his thiruvOlakkam [the divine royal assembly in paramapadham], and took the children, as if a person who had left a material in a place, takes the material, later, from that place. He returned the children to the brAhmaNa and was able to get back to his ritual for the afternoon period. The time taken by krishNa to return the lost children to the brAhmaNa was less than the time interval between the morning and afternoon rituals. Why does emperumAn take a form like that [which his consorts desired to see in paramapadham]? Instead of saying that it is sathva thanu [purely noble form] SrI vishNu purANam said, in 5.1.51 “na akAraNAth – kEvalam dharmathrANAya” [it is not for suffering with a form, as one takes a form in narakam [hell] to undergo a punishment, but purely for establishing righteousness].
iRaippozhudhil koNarndhu koduththu – while krishNa was carrying out a ritual, during the insignificant interval in time between morning and afternoon ritual, as mentioned in thiruvAimozhi 3.10.5 “ellA ulagum kazhiyap padar pugazh pArththanum vaidhiganum udan ERath thiN thEr kadavi” (krishNa rode on his firm chariot, along with the greatly famous arjuna and the brAhmaNa, going past all the worlds), he took arjuna and the brAhmaNa in his chariot, asking arjuna to conduct the chariot. He went past the worlds within the universe as well as the exterior covers of the universes, giving a firmness to the chariot such that it did not lose its form even when it went past the primordial matter, from which it had been created. Upon reaching the edge of primordial matter, he stopped the chariot, made the other two wait outside, went inside his land, as mentioned in thiruvAimozhi 3.10.5 “sudar oLiyAy ninRa thannudaich chOdhi” (his abode, which was greatly radiant). In the abode paramapadham, where AchAryas inhabit, just like fish inhabiting water, and which has unlimited effulgence, he entered, took the children from his consorts who were playing with the children, as a mark of their independence, and gave the children to their parents.
oruppaduththa uRaippan Ur – joining the children with their mother, with no shortcoming in their physical forms, such that the mother exclaimed “My children!”, kissing them on their heads. SrIrangam is the divine abode, where such an omnipotent entity dwells.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that it is the divine abode where emperumAn dwells forever, instead of for a limited place or limited time or for specific people who are qualified to come and see him.
maRaip perum thI vaLarththu iruppAr – those who nurture, without any break, the three agnis, which are mentioned in vEdhams, carrying them not for the sake of getting any benefit, but with the knowledge that it is a means of worshipping emperumAn.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that rituals are carried out for kAmya yagyam [towards fulfilling a desire] and nithya yagyam [towards carrying out daily rituals, as ordained in vEdhams]. The outer limit [of benefit] for kAmya yagyam is reaching the position of brahmA. The outer limit for nithya yagyam is to avoid committing sin by not carrying out ordained karma. The ultimate benefit is to be firmly established in varNASrama dharma [carrying out activities aligned with one’s varNa [division such as brAhmaNa, kshathriya etc] and ASrama [status such as brahmachAri, gruhastha etc] and subsequently, giving up these too and holding on to periya perumAL as the means, without any expectation, and not looking at anyone else.
varuvirundhai aLiththiruppAr – they will cherish the guests who come. In other words, they will look after the SrIvaishNavas, who come to their respective house, as part of their basic nature and will offer them food etc.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that if SrIvaishNavas, who have gained knowledge through vEdham or have gained knowledge through AchArya’s instructions, come home as guests, they should be revered and nurtured, in line with one’s basic nature. If before entering one person’s house, if the SrIvaishNavas decide to go to another person’s house, the first person should not consider that as his loss, but should feel happy that someone else has been showered with mercy. The first person, in order not to feel it as a loss, could join with the SrIvaishNavas and go to the residence of the second person and partake of the food there. The first person could take the cooked food from his house, to the second person’s house and all could partake of the food, together. SrIvaishNavas have to be prayed to and invited, to come to one’s house as guests; they will not come on their own, unlike the way that it has been mentioned in thiruvAimozhi 6.1.1 “vandhu mEyum kuruginangAL” (Oh, flock of storks, who come in front of me and eat!) One should determine the materials [vegetables etc] which the SrIvaishNavas are desirous of eating, and search for those materials, even if they are difficult to obtain. Is it not servitude to a follower of emperumAn, which is the outer limit of one’s basic nature! When such is the case, is it not correct to fulfil their needs to the extent that it is possible for one? Even if it is not offered in the presence of all, should it not be given in confidence? Even if the person offers a material, unless the guest accepts it, there is no scope for the one, who offered, to cherish the guest. Just as when one prays to emperumAn and offers, and emperumAn accepts, will these people too not accept, when prayed to and offered? Even in matters related to emperumAn, the one who offers should have the mental frame of offering himself as the material [food] to be enjoyed; it is only after accepting the offer, when emperumAn smiles, recognising the offer, that the person who offered, could enjoy emperumAn. If the personal joy of the person who makes the offer takes precedence [over offering himself as food to emperumAn], the lack of smile on emperumAn’s divine face will lead to ruining of one’s svarUpam [basic nature]. People, who realise that this will lead to possessiveness from both sides, will not cherish this [the one, who gives, should not think that he has a lot of possessions and that he could part with a few; the one, who receives, should not think that the one given is something which he wishes to possess]. Only if they offer or receive without such a thought, could it be carried out. When our AchArya, nampiLLai, suffered from a physical ailment, his disciples listed several measures for getting over the ailment. nampiLLai refused everything, saying that emperumAn was capable of carrying out auspicious activities and that we should not interfere in that. Is it proper to go against good conduct? Nothing should be done to remove fear from being reviled by the people of the world. Nothing should be done, assuming that it will do good to the world. If something is given up, it should be done as an auspicious activity. Those, who come as guests [referred to, in this pAsuram] are ones who have given up on all these. They will not accept anything, easily. hasthigiri mAhAthmyam in brahmANda purANam says “kshEthrANi mithrANi – sarvE bhavanthi prathikUla rUpA:” (entities such as land, friends, wife, children et al appear as unfavourable, when compared to the divine feet of emperumAn). Neither side [one, who gives and one, who receives] has any desire in these. This is similar to the verse in gyAna sAram “nalla pudhalvar” [good children, wife, land, wealth etc are nothing, compared to emperumAn’s mercy). The one, who receives, does so only in order to sustain his physical form.
siRappudaiya maRaiyavar vAzh – these people consider the act of carrying out the deeds ordained in the vEdham [nurturing the three agnis] and worshipping emperumAn in themselves as benefit, without considering any other benefit. They know the meaning of vEdhams, towards this end, enjoying perumAL and inhabiting the divine abode of SrIrangam.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that these people have the eminence of existing exclusively for emperumAn, as mentioned in thiruvAimozhi 2.9.4 “enakkE kaNNanai yAn koL siRappE” (the only result that I desire from krishNa is that he should acknowledge me, fitting my nature, to be fully dependent, exclusively on him). They will instruct those, who come to them, carrying out servitude to them and praying to them to instruct knowledge and good conduct, just as udaiyavar kept thirukkurugaip piLLan and aruLALap perumAL emperumAnAr in his divine mind, just as periya nambi and others kept udaiyavar in their divine minds, just as nanjIyar kept nampiLLai in his divine mind, just as the great vadakkil thiruvIdhip piLLai kept his son piLLai lOkAchAryar in his divine mind, celebrating them, as mentioned in thirunedunthANdakam 14 “vaLarththadhanAl payan peRREn” (I benefitted due to nurturing you). Due to all these, the pAsuram says “siRappudaiya maRaiyavar vAzh” (they have distinction and the abode SrIrangam has such people dwelling in it). They know the fact that kaliyum kedum; in other words, the dark epoch of kali has no work in SrIrangam.
vAzh – living in the divine temple is the purpose of living, as mentioned in nAchchiyAr thirumozhi 11.5 “nallArgaL vAzh naLir arangam” {SrIrangam, where eminent people live, and which removes all the heat [obstacles] in samsAram).
thiruvarangam – this is the abode where periya pirAttiyAr, who has all the fragrances on earth, dwells forever.
enbadhuvE – it is not merely that SrIrangam has been praised in Sruthi [vEdham], smruthi [treatises which explain the meanings of vEdham], ithihAsam [epics such as SrI rAmAyasNam and mahAbhAratham] and purANam [treatises which explain the eminence of emperumAn]. The eminence which came about due to AzhwArs and the divine daughter of periyAzhwAr, desiring this as the place to attain, is more important than the others cited above, as mentioned in Apasthamba … “dharmagya samaya:pramANam vEdhAScha” (the words of those who learn vEdham and act according to vEdham are prominent; vEdham comes after that].
We shall next consider the 3rd pAsuram of this thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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