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periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> Fourth Centum >> Ninth decad
avathArikai
AzhwAr says that even if periya pirAttiyAr herself, who is the purushakArabhUthai [one who recommends jIvAthmAs to emperumAn to accept them] complains about fault in perumAL’s servitor, periya perumAL will counter her and protect his follower. When perumAL is like this, AzhwAr asks whether anyone could be a servitor to anyone else
thannadiyAr thiRaththagaththuth thAmaraiyAL Agilum sidhagu uraikkumEl
ennadiyAr adhu seyyAr seydhArElnanRu seydhAr enbar pOlum
mannudaiya vibIdaNaRkAy madhil ilangaith thisai nOkki malarkkan vaiththa
ennudaiya thiruvarangaRku anRiyum maRRoruvarkku ALAvarE
Word-by-word meanings
thAmaraiyAL Agilum – even if it is pirAttiyAr, who is purushakArabhUthai
than adiyAr thiRaththagaththu – in the matter regarding self’s servitor [self – emperumAn]
sidhagu – their faults
uraikkum El – if she starts counting
en adiyAr – those who are my servitors
adhu – those faults, which are such that one would feel shy to name them
seyyAr – will not do
seydhAr El – [owing to carelessness, with the thought that emperumAn will put up with them)
even if they do
nanRu seydhAr – those acts are good only (they are enjoyable for me)
enbar pOlum – speaking a few indifferent words like that, countering her
man udaiya – having wealth
vibIdaNaRkAy – for the sake of SrI vibhIshaNAzhwAn
madhiL – having fortified walls
ilangai dhisai nOkki – looking in the direction of lankA
malarkkaN vaiththa – one who is reclining, with cool eyes
ennudaiya – one, who is my lord
thiru arangarkku anRiyum – apart from periya perumAL
maRRu oruvarkku – for anyone else
ALAvarE – will people carry out servitude?
Simple Translation
Even if periya pirAttiyAr herself, who recommends jIvAthmAs to periya perumAL for accepting them, were to speak about the faults of emperumAn’s servitors, emperumAn would counter her, saying that his followers will not indulge in such faults. Even if they carry out such faults, carelessly, thinking that emperumAn would put up with them, that would be good, being enjoyable for him. He would say such indifferent words, countering her. periya perumAL reclines, looking in the [southern] direction of lankA, which has fortified walls, with his cool eyes, for the sake of vibhIshaNa, who has wealth. Will people carry out servitude to anyone else, other than that periya perumAL?
vyAkhyAnam
[Translator’s note: In the first part of this translation, we have seen the transltioin of vyAkhyAnam by maNavALa mAmunigaL. This, the second part, is the translation of thiruvAImozhip piLLai’s svApadhESam].
[thiruvAimozhip piLLai, in his svApadhESam, has given the same vyAkhyAnam as maNavALa mAmunigaL. In the end, he has given his svApadhESam for the term thannadiyAr, as follows]
than … – AzhwAr mercifully describes the manner in which periya perumAL and SrI ranganAyakiyAr [periya pirAtti] protect those, who have attained them, after a playful fight.
than … – in order to experience the result of past deeds, jIvAthmA takes a form and resides within it. Since the jIvAthmA is under the control of the physical form, the jIvAthmA is not a svathanthran (independent). When a physical form is taken by the jIvAthmA and the jIvAthmA does not carry out the vihitha karmam (laid down deeds), it would lead to akaraNE prathyavAyam (fault on account of not carrying out the ordained deeds). To atone for this, the jIvAthmA has to carry out parihAra dharmam (activities to atone for the non-performance). Hence, the jIvAthmA carries out ordained karma. Due to this too, the jIvAthmA does not have svAthanthryam. Thus, the term adiyAr [as in thannadiyAr], refers to these people. When svAthanthryam is lost, it will lead to pArathanthryam [dependence] only; how could it be considered as SEshathvam [servitude]? Once pArathanthryam is established in the jIvAthmA, the jIvAthmA will realise that he is dependent on paramAthmA [emperumAn]. Once this realisation dawns in the jIvAthmA, he would take steps to make emperumAn happy, as a result of which, SEshathvam will manifest. Next, through the term thannadiyAr, the pAsuram refers to anyaSEsha nivruththi [not being a servitor to anyone other than emperumAn]. Where does anyaSEshathvam have its origin? In thirumanthram, the first word [Om] has three visible syllables, a, u, ma and a hidden fourth case [luptha chathurthi[, Aya, on top of the first syllable a. The first syllable a refers to bhagavAn, the third syllable, ma refers to jIvAthmA, the hidden case Aya refers to “To bhagavAn” and the second syllable u, refers to exclusivity, also called in samskrutham as avadhAraNam. Thus, this term Om would refer to the meaning that the jIvAthmA is an exclusive servitor to bhagavAn [referred to in samskrutham as ananyArha SEshathvam]. Thus, through the term Aya [exclusive servitude], anyaSEshathvam gets removed. When a jIvAthmA carries out kAmanAdhikAram [indulging in an activity towards fulfilment of a desire – for example, desiring to reach svargam or desiring to have a child etc] one would approach a celestial entity and carry out a yagyam [ritual] to fulfil that desire. This leads to anyaSEshathvam [being a servitor to that deity]. By following the hidden fourth case Aya in Om, this anyaSEshathvam gets removed. When one follows kAmyavidhi [following other means to attain bhagavAn, such as bhakthi yOgam, the path of devotion], a svasvAthanthryam [dependent on oneself] gets created in the person. This too will get removed when one becomes a servitor to emperumAn. This is because, once a person considers emperumAn as the means to attain him, he will not consider other means. These attributes will be seen only in those who carry out activities fully aligned with their varNASrama [varNa refers to the division that one belongs to (such as brAhmaNa, kshathriya etc) and ASrama refers to one’s status in life (such as bachelor, married etc)]. These people will carry out their varNASrama activities as ordained by emperumAn [bhagavath AgyA] and as a means to carrying out servitude to bhagavAn [bhagavath kainkarya rUpam]. For them, anyaSEshathvam will not be seen. However, for sages, who are not interested in reaching higher positions [such as brahmA, indhra et al] but are desirous of attaining mOksham, through their efforts [following other means instead of emperumAn], the streak of svasvAthanthryam will be present always. Since their activities revolve around a cause, such as their physical form [with varNASrama distinctions] and their karma [I am carrying out this karma to attain mOksham], their svasvAthanthryam will not get eradicated. In the explanation for the syllables in Om, the next term nama: explains the syllable u. This refers to the person declaring that he is not dependent on himself and leading to removal of any anyaSEshathvam. It is through the exclusivity term u that emperumAn’s SEshithvam [being the master] gets established. This term [u] severs the servitude to others [than emperumAn] and to self. Even when ‘u’ is not there, the fact that jIvAthmA is servitor only to sarvAdhikan [the most supreme entity], denoted by ‘a’ will be established, through the meaning. Being servitor to emperumAn will remove anyaSEshathvam [being servitor to others].
Next, thiruvAimozhip piLLai considers the syllable ‘u’ to refer to pirAtti [lakshmi]. Even here, there is no change in nirUpaka [identification] and nirUpyam [that entity which receives the identification]. The identification for jIvAthmA is one of SEshathvam [servitor to emperumAn]. Instead of being servitor to emperumAn, now this implies that he is servitor to pirAtti too. The syllables ‘a’ and ‘u’ will combine to form ‘O’ to indicate SEshathvam to both perumAL and pirAtti. Even when the syllable ‘u’ is considered as avadhAraNam [exclusivity], jIvAthmA is servitor to both perumAL and pirAtti, since pirAtti never separates from perumAL [this is attributed to bhagavath sEnApathi miSrar, as mentioned in SrIvachana bhUshaNam, a treatise compiled by our pUrvAchAryar, piLLailOkAchAryar]. Thus, there is no change in the SEshathvam of jIvAthmA, irrespective of the connotation taken for the syllable ‘u’, that he is a servitor both to perumAL and to pirAtti. bhattar [parASara bhattar, son of kUraththAzhwAn] had mercifully said that the jIvAthmA is servitor to perumAL and to pirAtti. This is because, just like emperumAn, she too had desired to be AchArya [she has given instructions to vishvaksEnar as well as instructed lakshmi thanthram [which deals with creation, sustenance and liberation to indhra, the head of celestial entities, over five nights]. Thus, since both perumAL and pirAtti are AchAryas, it is true that jIvAthmA is SEshabhUthan to both. aruLALapperumAL emperumAnAr [a disciple of rAmAnujar], in his work, pramEya sAram, had explained this clearly by saying in the first pAsuram “avvAvanavarkku mavvAnavar ellAm uvvAnavar adimai enRu uraiththAr” [jIvAthmAs, referred to by the syllable ‘ma’ are servitors to emperumAn, who is referred to by the syllable ‘a’ and this was mentioned by AchAryas, referred to by the syllable ‘u’. Since both pirAtti and AchAryas unite the jIvAthmA with emperumAn, pirAtti is also referred to by the syllable ‘u’].
Next, thiruvAimozhip piLLai considers the syllable ‘u’ to refer to achith [entity which does not have power to think. This will include the physical form within which jIvAthmA resides]. Thus, both jIvAthmA, referred to by the syllable ‘ma’ and achith, referred to by the syllable ’u’ are servitors. Applying the principle of exclusivity, here, it would mean and only chith [jIvAthmA] and achith are servitors to emperumAn.
Among the three interpretations seen for the syllable ‘u’ [first is that it denotes exclusivity, second is that it denotes pirAtti and the third is that it denotes achith], the one where it denotes exclusivity is the main one [‘u’ denotes exclusivity, the first of the three interpretations], since that alone brings in anyaSEshathva nivruththi [being free from servitude to anyone other than perumAL, which is the meaning for the term “thannadiyAr” in the pAsuram under discussion]. Since all the words would reach up to bhagavAn [a word, for example, cow, would first refer to the animal, then to the jIvAthmA who is residing inside that animal and finally to bhagavAn, who has permeated that jIvAthmA; thus, all the words will refer to bhagavAn only] and since bhagavAn is the antharyAmi [in-dwelling soul] of all the deities, for all the jIvAthmAs, the servitude is only to emperumAn. Thus, anyaSEsha nivruththi is the most important parameter here. Those, who are engaged with aupAdhika vihitha dharmam [activities which are to be performed on account of having acquired a physical form, and these activities are ordained to be done (such as carrying out sandhyavandhanam etc); examples of such people are vyAsa, parASara, sukha et al] support those who are engaged with carrying out aupAdhika kAmya dharmam [activities which are carried out on account of having acquired a physical form and also towards meeting a desire (for example to attain the position of brahmA et al); examples of such people are athri, kuthsa, vasishta et al; these could include celestial entities and deities too] as aupachArikam [formal or honorific; not out of affection]. Even if they do not support them, there will be no fault. When such people [such as celestial entities and sages such as athri, kuthsa, vasishta et al] carry out their penances, since they pray to brahmA towards fulfilling their desire, their penances will get fulfilled only when mumukshus support them. This is similar to getting the title of brahmarishi [an eminent sage] only when sage vasishta agrees and gives the title. When carrying out activities which are akaraNE prathyavAya dharmam [activities, which, if they are not carried out, will lead to fault and sin], certain benefits are indicated [such as getting wealth, or land or cows etc] only as inducement. Only if desire in those benefits are removed and the activities are conducted since these have been ordained by bhagavAn, as bhagavath AygyA, and these are carried out towards pleasing emperumAn in the form of carrying them out as bhagavath kainkarya rUpam, would anyaSEshathvam get removed. For those, who consider emperumAn as SEshi [master], as upAyam [means to attain him] and as upEyam [benefit obtained on attaining him, which is carrying out kainkaryam to him to make him happy], the identification comes from the term thannadiyAr, in this pAsuram as mentioned in the term “man” [mannudaiya vibhIdaNarkku – SrI vibhIshaNAzhwAn, who had the wealth of carrying out kainkaryam to SrI rAma, after surrendering to him as the means and who considered SrI rAma as his SEshi].
We shall next consider the 3rd pAsuram of this thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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