thiruppaLLiyezhuchchi – 10 – kadimalar

srI:
srImathE satakOpAya nama:
srImathE rAmAnujAya nama:
srImadh varavaramunayE nama:

Full Series

Introduction of this pAsuram:

• nanjIyar highlights – thoNdaradippodi AzhwAr explains that “From the first pAsuram to the ninth pAsuram, dhEvas, rishis who come with ulterior motives and leave after being fulfilled with those motives are explained. In this pAsuram, kindly wake up and bless me who simply seek out to have the vision of your beauitful face while waking up”.
• periyavAchchAn piLLai highlights
  • Here the upakrama (beginning) and upasamhAra (ending) are perfectly in sync/harmony in this prabandham like few others such as nammAzhwAr‘s thiruviruththam (in the first pAsuram, AzhwAr says “adiyEn seyyum viNNappam” and in the last pAsuram he says “mARan viNNappam seytha“), ANdAL‘s thiruppAvai (in the first pAsuram she says “namakkE paRai tharuvAn” and in the last pAsuram she says “angap paRai koNda“) and ALavandhAr‘s sthOthra rathanam (in the first slOkam he says “nAthAya munayE” and in the last slOkam he says “pithAmaham nAthamunim vilOkya“). Here also, AzhwAr starts with “kathiravan guNadhisaich chikaram vanthaNainthAn” in the first pAsuram and ends with “kathiravan kanaikadal muLaiththanan” in the last pAsuram.
  • For the lotus flowers blossoming seeing the sun, a beautiful example is given. Just like when a father’s face blossoms seeing the return of a son from foreign-land, the lotus flower blossoms seeing the arrival of sun who disappeared the previous evening.

 

கடிமலர்க் கமலங்கள் மலர்ந்தன இவையோ
கதிரவன் கனைகடல் முளைத்தனன் இவனோ
துடியிடையார் சுரி குழல் பிழிந்துதறித்
துகிலுடுத் தேறினர் சூழ்புன லரங்கா
தொடையொத்த துளவமும் கூடையும் பொலிந்து
தோன்றிய தோள் தொண்டரடிப்பொடி யென்னும்
அடியனை அளியனென்றருளி யுன்னடியார்க்
காட்படுத் தாய்பள்ளி எழுந்தருளாயே

kadimalark kamalangal malarnthana ivaiyO
kathiravan kanaikadal muLaiththanan ivanO
thudi idaiyAr suri kuzhal pizhinthu udharith
thugiluduththu ERinar sUzhpunal arangA
thodai oththa thuLavamum kUdaiyum polindhu
thOnRiya thOL thoNdaradippodi ennum adiyanai
aLiyan enRu aruLi un adiyArkku AtpaduththAy
paLLi ezhuntharuLAyE

padha padhArththam (word by word meaning)

punal sUzh – surrounded by the sacred water of cauvery river
arangA – oh srIranganAtha who is lying down in srIrangam!
kadi – fragrant
kamalam malargaL – lotus flowers
malarnthana – have blossomed (fully)
kathiravan – the sun (who can trigger the blossoming of the lotus)
kanai kadal – in the ocean which is by nature making huge noise
muLaiththanan – appeared in the udhayagiri (eastern side)
thudi idaiyAr – the women who have very small waist like a udukkai (hand held small drum which has a thin middle portion with two ends)
suri kuzhal – (their) curly hairs
pizhinthu udhari – dried it fully (removing all water)
thugil uduththu – wearing (their) clothes
ERinar – climbed the bank (came out of the river)
thodai oththa – properly prepared
thuLavamum – thiruthtuzhAi (thuLasi) garland
kUdaiyum – flower basket
polindhu thOnRiya – shiningly manifesting
thOL – shoulder
thoNdaradippodi ennum – carrying the auspicious name “thoNdaradippodi”
adiyanai – dhAsan – servant
aLiyan enRu aruLi – acknowledging that I am a suitable candidate for your blessings
un adiyArkku – bhAgavathas who are the servants of your holiness
AL paduththAy – engage me in their service
(athaRkAga) paLLi ezhuntharuLAy – (for that purpose) kindly wake up and bless me

Simple Translation:

oh srIranganAtha who is lying down in srIrangam which is surrounded by the holy water of the cauvery river!  The fragrant lotus flowers have blossomed seeing the rise of the sun in the ocean which by nature makes constant noise. The women who have very small waist like a udukkai (small hand-held drum) have dried their curly hairs (after completing their bathing), worn their clothes and have reached the banks of the river. (me) This servant (of your holiness) named  thoNdaradippodi (the dust of the lotus feet of the bhAgavathas) is manifesting the shining shoulders which carry the flower-basket that contains properly prepared thiruththuzhAi (thuLasi) garlands . (Thus,) you wake kindly wake up, acknowledge that I am a suitable candidate for your blessings and engage me fully in the service the bhAgavathas (your dear servants).

Highlights from the nanjIyar‘s vyAkyAnam:

• The reason for AzhwAr quoting the incident of women with thin waists and curly hairs is to remind periya perumAL about the girls of vrindhAvan where the gOpikAs would bathe in the ghats of yamunA and thus wake him up quickly. bhattar used to say “periya perumAL is kaNNan emperumAn and namperumAL is srI rAma”.
• First periya perumAL‘s identity is revealed by saying “sUzh punal arangA!” – he is identified with srIrangam which is an island in the cauvery river and is his dearest abode. Cauvery river is so pleasant that periya perumAL forgets about virajA river (which separates srIvaikuNtam and samsAram), sarayu river (ayOdhyA) and yamunA river (mathurA/vrindhAvan).
• Then AzhwAr reveals his own identity of having the flower basket and well prepared garlands which are quite fitting for emperumAn‘s glories. Just like iLaiya perumAL (lakshmaNa) was identified in srI rAmAyaNam as the one who was holding a spade (for working in the fields) and a basket (to carry the soil) along with his bow/arrows to guide perumAL (srI rAma), here AzhwAr is identified with the flower-basket and flowers. This sEshathvam (servitude) is the real wealth for jIvAthmAs.
• thoNdaradippodi (dust of the lotus feet of bhAgavathas) – as the name suggests AzhwAr is situated in the ultimate position of being the servant of bhagavAn‘s devotees.

Highlights from the periyavAchchAn piLLai‘s vyAkyAnam:

• kadimalar – fragrant flowers – It is obvious that the flowers in this srIrangam will be most fragrant since this is the abode of srI mahAlakshmi who is identified in nammAzhwAr‘s thiruvAimozhi 10.10.2 as  “vAsam sey pUnguzhalAL thiru” (the abode of srI mahAlakshmi whose hair is most fragrant).
• thiruppANAzhwAr identifies in amalanAdhipirAn 10th pAsuram “kOvalanAy veNNey uNdA vAyan … aNi arangan” (srIranganAthan is the same krishNa who as a cowherd boy ate butter).
• The divine conch and disc are bhagavAn‘s identities as identified in thirumangai AzhwAr‘s periya thirumozhi 11.2.6 “Azhiyum sangumudaiya nangaLadigaL“. Similarly, the flower-basket is the most important identity of a bhAgavatha’s identity. Note: Garland making kainkaryam is glorified as the purest kainkaryam to perform for emperumAn in other places as well. Notably, periyAzhwAr, thoNdaradippodi AzhwAr, ananthAzhwAn, etc., have engaged in this pushpa (flower garlands) kainkaryam.
• When the extraneous aspects of AthmA are removed, ultimately the AthmA is identified by his sEshathvam (servitude) towards emperumAn and his devotees only.
• Invalid stage of sEshathvam (servitude) is towards samsAram (materialist people and aspects). First valid stage of sEshathvam (servitude) is towards emperumAn. Ultimate stage of sEshathvam (servitude) is towards bhAgavathas.
• Why are you still sleeping even after getting a devotee like me who has understood and accepted the ultimate stage of sEshathvam? Should you not get up and bless me now?

Thus ends the English translation for thiruppaLLiyezhuchchi based on the wonderful vyAkyAnams written by nanjIyar and periyavAchchAn piLLai.

adiyen sarathy ramanuja dasan

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