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periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> Fourth Centum >> Tenth decad
avathArikai
In this last pAsuram, AzhwAr mentions the benefits which will accrue to those who recite this decad and brings it to an end.
mAyavanai madhusUdhananai mAdhavanai maRaiyOrgaL Eththum
AyargaL ERRinai achchudhanai arangaththu aravaNaip paLLiyAnai
vEyar pugazh villibuththUr man vittuchiththan sonna mAlai paththum
thUya manaththarAgi vallAr thUmaNi vaNNanukku ALar thAmE
Word-by-Word Meanings
mAyavanai – as one, having amazing qualities and activities
madhusUdhananai – as one who had annihilated the monster madhu
mAdhavanai – as Sriya:pathi, the divine consort of SrI mahAlakshmi
maRaiyOrgaL – by those who follow vEdhams
Eththum – as one who is praised
AyargaL – for all the herd-people
EREinai – as one, having the pride of being their head
achchudhanai – as one, who will never let go of his followers
arangaththu – in SrIrangam
aravu – thiruvananthAzhwAn [AdhiSEshan]
aNai – on the divine mattress
paLLiyAnai – regarding azhagiya maNavALan, who has mercifully reclined
vEyar – all the people who are in the clan where he had incarnated
pugazh – being praised
villibuththUr – for SrI villibuththUr
man – being the controller
vittuchiththan – periyAzhwAr
sonna – mercifully composed
mAlai – garland of verses
paththum – ten pAsurams
thUya – pure
manaththanar Agi – having mind
vallAr thAm – those who are capable of reciting
thU – without any fault
maNi – like a bluish gemstone
vaNNanukku – for one, who has beauty of divine form
ALar – will get to carry out kainkaryam [servitude]
Simple Translation
emperumAn has amazing qualities and activities; he annihilated the monster, madhu; he is the divine consort of SrI mahAlakshmi; he is praised by those who follow vEdhams; he is one, who is proud, being the lord of herd-people; he does not let go of his followers; he is mercifully reclining on the divine mattress of thiruvananthAzhwAn, in SrIrangam. periyAzhwAr, who is the controller SrI villibuththUr, and who is praised by all those who were born in his clan, has mercifully composed ten pAsurams, as a garland of verses, on such emperumAn. Those, who are with pure hearts, and who are capable of reciting these pAsurams, will get to carry out kainkaryam to emperumAn, who has the beauty of his divine form like a faultless bluish gemstone.
vyAkhyAnam
mAyavanai – one, who has amazing activities. This mentions that through his vigraha guNams [auspicious qualities of his divine physical form] such as saundharyam [beauty], saukumAryam [tenderness] etc, Athma guNams[divine qualities of his soul] such as vAthsaylam [considering fault as a good quality, viz. motherly forbearance], sauSeelyam [equal disposition towards all], saulabhyam[easy approachability] etc and his activities of protection of his followers, which steal the hearts of his followers, he is such distinguished that his followers, who enjoy his divine qualities with affection, have to keep carrying out mangaLASAsanam, without a break.
madhusUdhananai – he is one who removes the enemies of his followers, just as he had annihilated the monster, madhu. This hints that one need not fear coming under the control of yama, which is a hurdle for enjoyment. emperumAn is such an eminent entity that yama himself would tremble at the mention of his divine name, as mentioned in SrI vishNu purANam 3.7.14 “parihara madhusUdhana prapannAn…” (yama tells his servitors not to go near those who have surrendered to emperumAn, who has annihilated madhu).
mAdhavanai – SrI mahAlakshmi performs the role of purushakAra bhUthai [one, who recommends the followers to emperumAn for his acceptance], when the followers take refuge under emperumAn as the means to attain him and accepts their servitude when they carry out servitude to her and to perumAL. emperumAn is one, who is her beloved. Through this, it is ascertained that one should fear as to what ill will befall this union [of pirAtti and perumAL] and should carry out mangaLASAsanam all the time, as mentioned in thiruppallANdu 2 “vadivAy nin vala mArbinil vAzhginRa mangaiyum pallANdu” (Sri mahAlakshmi, who is beautiful, complete with auspicious qualities and decorated with jewels, should remain forever on the right side of his divine chest).
In the svApadhESam, it is mentioned that emperumAn removes the enemies of his followers, since he is the divine consort of SrI mahAlakshmi.
maRaiyOrgaL Eththum AyargaL ERRinai – vEdhams are without a single authorship, they are constant [they do not change their meanings ever], they are without any faults and explain emperumAn, as he truly is. Those who know such vEdhams, realise that more than his eminence, his simplicity is more endearing and praise him continuously. He incarnated in the divine mansion of SrI nandhagOpar, and felt prideful in being the lord of all the herd-folk. Just as he is mentioned as amararERu [the head of nithyasUris] to indicate his auspicious quality of eminence, he is described as AyargaL ERu [the head of herd-folk] to indicate his auspicious quality of simplicity. Our pUrvAchAryars considered periya perumAL as krishNa only. thiruppANAzhwAr, in his amalanAdhipirAn 10, mercifully said [while describing the divine beauty of periya perumAL’s divine form], “koNdal vaNNanaik kOvalanAy veNNey uNda vAyan ennuLLam kavarndhAnai” (one who has a divine form, like a dark cloud, one who has the divine mouth through which he consumed butter, having incarnated in the clan of herd-folks and who stole my heart). If one were to smell the divine mouth of periya perumAL, it would have the divine fragrance of butter, even now. parASara bhattar, one of our pUrvAchAryars [and the divine son of kUraththAzhwAn] had seen and enjoyed the divine jewel which yaSOdhAp pirAtti had decorated krishNa when he was an infant, as mentioned in SrI rangarAjasthavam pUrva Sathakam 113 “kUrma vyAgri nakha parimilath panchahEthI yaSOdhA nadhdhA maugdhyAparaNam adhikam nassamAdhim dhinOthi” (yaSOdhAp pirAtti would decorate her child, krishNa, with ornaments having the nails of tortoise and tiger to ward off evil eyes). Thus, the term maRaiyOr here refers to entities such as thiruppANAzhwAr, parASara bhattar et al.
In the svApadhESam, it is mentioned that emperumAn, as krishNa, is the subject of mangaLASAsanam for those, who are well versed in vEdhams.
achchudhanai – one, who never lets go of his followers. thoNdaradippodi AzhwAr too mercifully mentioned in his thirumAlai 2 “pachchai mAmalai pOl mEni pavaLa vAy kamalach chengaN achchudhA…” (having a divine physical form similar to a huge emerald mountain, having coral-like bright, divine lips, having divine eyes, similar to lotus, emperumAn is one who does not let go of his followers). After mentioning emperumAn as achchudhA, he immediately, mercifully described him as Ayar tham kozhundhE [the leader of herd-folks], signifying that his simplicity is more powerful than his eminence.
In the svApadhESam, it is mentioned that emperumAn does not let go of his followers, who carry out mangaLASAsanam for him.
arangaththu aravaNaip paLLiyAnai – SrIrangam is the predominant abode among all the divine abodes of emperumAn; it has the divine name of rangam since it is the abode where pirAtti engages with her divine activity of dancing. emperumAn reclines on the divine mattress of thiruvananthAzhwAn, who has as his nature, softness, coolness and fragrance; he manifests in a splendorous manner, the qualities [of eminence and simplicity] mentioned earlier.
In the svApadhESam, it is mentioned that emperumAn has mercifully reclined on thiruvananthAzhwAn, appropriate for his divine tenderness, being the subject of mangaLASAsanam for his followers.
vEyar pugazh villibuththUr man vittuchiththan – periyAzhwAr is praised by all those, who were born in the divine clan in which he had incarnated, narrating about his eminence; he is the controller of SrI villibuththUr; he has sarvESvaran, who has permeated everywhere, along with the divine mattress of thiruvananthAzhwAn, in his divine mind; he carries out mangaLASAsanam constantly to emperumAn, telling nithyasUris such as garuda, thiruvananthAzhwAn et al, to remain awake all the time.
In the svApadhESam, it is mentioned that vEyar is the name of the clan. periyAzhwAr is the controller of SrI villibuththUr, keeping periya perumAL in his divine mind and carrying out mangaLASAsanam to him. Those, who are capable of reciting these pAsurams, which have been mercifully composed praying for removing enemies of mangaLASAsanam, without looking for other means [to attain emperumAn] and other benefits [for enjoyment, than servitude to emperumAn] …
sonna mAlai paththum – these ten pAsurams, which have been mercifully strung with words, in order to remove the enemies of enjoyment and mangaLASAsanam …
thUya manaththarAgi vallAr – those who are capable of reciting these pAsurams, taking refuge under the affection of periyAzhwAr, since they do not have any engagement with other means and other benefits.
thUmaNi vaNNanukku ALar thAmE – For one, who has a complexion similar to a faultless bluish gemstone, they will get to carry out servitude, continuously at all times, as mentioned in thiruppallANdu 1 “maNivaNNa un sevadi sevvi thirukkAppu” (Oh, one who has the complexion of a dark gemstone! May your beautiful, reddish, divine feet live forever). They will get to carry out mangaLASAsanam to the divine feet of periya perumAL, until the time that they remain in samsAram; once they leave their physical forms and attain paramapadham, they will join the assembly of nithyasUris, enjoy the manner in which emperumAn has mercifully taken residence there, surround him and carry out mangaLASAsanam, as mentioned in thiruppallANdu 12 “sUzhndhirundhu Eththuvar pallANdu” (they will surround emperumAn and praise him, to live forever).
In the svApadhESam, it has been mentioned that they will get to carry out servitude in the form of mangaLASAsanam, as mentioned by lakshmaNa to SrI rAma, in SrI rAmAyaNam ayOdhyA kANdam “aham sarvam karishyAmi” (I shall carry out all the activities of servitude).
This completes the fourth centum of periyAzhwAr thirumozhi.
We shall next consider the pravESam of the next thirumozhi..
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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