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periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> Fifth Centum >> Second Decad
avathArikai
After emperumAn had given refuge to AzhwAr, by entering his heart, asking “Do you have any time difference such as appOdhu [later point of time] and ippOdhu [present time]?” AzhwAr looks at avidhyA [ignorance], karma [past deeds], vyAdhi [disease], indhriyam [sensory perceptions] and yamabatars [servitors of yama, the lord of righteousness] and tells them “Do not think that this is the old AthmA and dhEham [physical form]? emperumAn has entered my heart, with the same affection which he bestows on his divine abodes. Now, if you desire to be alive, try to leave from here”.
In the svApadhESam, it is mentioned that AzhwAr tells diseases “You leave at once”.
neykkudaththaip paRRI ERum eRumbugaL pOl nirandhu engum
kaikkoNdu niRkinRa nOygAL! kAlam peRa uyyap pOmin
meykkoNdu vandhu pugundhu vEdhap pirAnAr kidandhAr
paikkoNda pAmbaNaiyOdum paNdanRu pattinam kAppE
Word-by-Word Meanings
neykkudaththai – pot, containing eminent ghee
paRRi – holding
ERum – climbing
eRUmbugaL pOl – like ants
engum nirandhu – spreading everywhere
kaikkoNdu niRkinRa – appearing like being together always
nOygAL – oh, diseases!
uyya – for you to survive
kAlampeRap pOmin – leave immediately
vEdham pirAnAr – sarvESvaran, who mercifully instructed vEdhams to brahmA, and benefitted him
paikkoNda – well-spread
pAmbu aNaiyOdum – along with the divine mattress, thiruvananthAzhwAn [AdhiSEshan]
mey – my physical form
koNdu – entered, considering it as his enjoyment
(Hence)
paNdu anRu – my physical form and AthmA are not like the way that they were earlier
pattinam – this AthmA
kAppu – is protected by sarvESvaran; hence, there is no space for you to enter, says AzhwAr.
Simple Translation
Oh, diseases, who appear to have been there from the beginning and have spread everywhere [on my physical form], similar to ants which hold on to a pot containing eminent ghee, and climb it! If you wish to survive, leave [from my physical form] at once. sarvESvaran, who had instructed vEdhams to brahmA, carrying benefit for him, has come and laid down inside my heart, along with his divine mattress of thiruvananthAzhwAn, considering my physical form to be his enjoyment. Hence, this AthmA and this physical form are not similar to the way in which they were earlier. This AthmA is now protected by sarvESvaran. Hence, there is no space for you to enter.
vyAkhyAnam
neykkudaththaip paRRi ERum eRumbugaL pOl – ghee is apt for carrying out rituals towards emperumAn and it is also enjoyable. Just as lowly creatures which hold on to a pot, containing that ghee, and climbing …
nirandhu – spread well. If the text were niRaindhu, it would refer to being present everywhere.
engum – in all the places where AthmA’s dharmabhUtha gyAnam (awareness of existence) is felt. When a person has got hurt in his foot and a person applies sandalwood paste on his head, the AthmA will feel both, as mentioned in the saying “pAdhamE vEdhanA SirasimE sukham” (pain in the foot and comfort in the head).
kaikkoNdu – like a physical form which has been coming all along. In other words, appearing as if existing along with the physical form, from the beginning. Alternatively, it would also mean coming in waves.
niRkinRa – instead of moving about here and there, waiting for the proper time.
nOygAL – just as it has been mentioned in the metaphor, diseases are also many, like the ants. The pAsuram says “kaikkoNdu niRkiRa nOygAL”, implying that they have come together, on the physical form. The physical form [of a person] is achith [not having ability to think] and it cannot feel pain too. Due to emperumAn’s ordainment, AthmA does not have a form. The target for the diseases is AthmA [just as the target for ants is ghee; while ghee will get consumed fully by the ants, here, the AthmA cannot get destroyed by anything; ants cannot harm the pot in any way, since their target is only the ghee]. Diseases can attack the physical form, but that form cannot feel the pain. AthmA does not have a physical form for itself, based on emperumAn’s order; however, due to its dharmabhUtha gyAnam, it can feel the pain inflicted on the form. This is similar to thirumAlai 4 “moyththa val vinaiyuL ninRu” (AthmA stands amidst an ocean of sins).
kAlam peRa – go, at once. When they ask “We have been at this since time immemorial. Why should we go?” he says “If you wish to survive, you have to go”. They then say “If we have to go, we shall go slowly”.
kAlampeRa – go speedily. AzhwAr says similar to periya thiruvandhAdhi 30 “madiyadakki niRpadhinil – INdu adiyeduppadhu anRO azhagu” (Instead of standing submissively, holding the end of your dress, isn’t stepping back, a thing of beauty?) AzhwAr does not have any ruNam (debt) as mentioned in “upathishtanthumAm sarvE vyAdhaya: pUrva sanchithA anruNOganthum ichchAmi” (Oh, diseases which came about due to sins carried out by me earlier! Stand away from me. I wish to go without having any debt). For an upAsakan [one, who wishes to attain emperumAn through the path of devotion, since there are debts arising out of carrying out activities such as yagyam etc [rituals carried out with agni, fire], diseases which result as a result of any faults in carrying the yagyam have to be necessarily experienced. However, since AzhwAr is a prapannar [one, who has surrendered to emperumAn], since the sins have got burnt out [due to emperumAn’s mercy], there is no need for him to experience diseases. Hence, he asks them to leave t once. Just as it has been mentioned in thiruvAimozhi 3.3.6, “vEngadaththuRaivArrku nama” (For the lord who resides in thirumalai eternally, to be pursued by everyone, the word nama: (which highlights eradication of independence and which indicates total dependence on emperumAn) matching one’s basic nature), the moment one says nama: (I am totally dependent on you), all the sins will get burnt out. There is no need even to tell them to go; since AzhwAr has doubts, similar to doubting whether a corpse would get up and bite [in other words, misplaced doubt], he is saying out of fear, due to the scent of earlier deeds. When the diseases ask him “Why should we go now?” AzhwAr gives the reason, next.
meykkoNdu vandhu pugundhu – considering my physical form as an enjoyment; further, entering that form, he reclined inside it. Who reclined like this?
vEdhap pirAnAr – emperumAn, who is heard of from the vEdhams [vEdhams speak only about him]. He showered me with the benefit of seeing him with my eyes and experiencing him. AzhwArs recite only like this, as mentioned in periya thirumozhi 1.10.9 “vandhAy, adhukku mElE ninRAy, adhukku mElE manni ninRAy, adhukku mElE en manam pugundhAy” (You arrived (where I am residing), entered my heart, you firmly remained in my heart), and as mentioned in periya thirumozhi 8.9.5 “pOy aRiyAy” (You are not thinking about going near nithyasUris). The word pirAn signifies the quality of showering benefit; in other words, bestowing the authentic texts and the entity [emperumAn himself] who is explained in such texts.
paikkoNda pAmbaNaiyOdum – apart from spreading his hoods on account of contact with emperumAn, AdhiSEshan is spreading on account of the happiness resulting from emperumAn accepting AzhwAr.
pAmbaNaiyOdum – with the retinue from [emperumAn’s] private quarters. mudhal thiruvandhAdhi 53 says “thirumArku araviRE” (for emperumAn, who is with pirAtti, AdhiSEshan is servitor in every sense of the term).
paNdu anRu – when AzhwAr says “Do not think that it is the old physical form and the old AthmA” the diseases ask him “What has changed?” AzhwAr says …
pattinam kAppE – the word pattinam is a modification of paththanam – in other words, a place where treasure is found. Also, capital. Here, the treasure for ISvaran is AthmA.
kAppE – Instead of appointing a person to look after AzhwAr, since emperumAn has himself undertaken that task, AzhwAr says that it is not similar to the way that it used to be earlier.
paNdanRu – Just as he is protecting AzhwAr, AzhwAr too is protecting “vaiththamAnidhi” [a huge treasure, kept; this is one of the divine names of emperumAn].
We shall next consider the 2nd pAsuram of this thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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