19th pAsuram
thamizh:
“நல்ல புதல்வர் மனையாள் நவையில் கிளை
இல்லம் நிலம் மாடு இவை அனைத்தும் – அல்லல் எனத்
தோற்றி எரி தீயிற் சுடு மேல் அவர்க்கு எளிதாம்
ஏற்றரும் வைகுந்தத்து இருப்பு”
English:
“nalla pudhalvar manaiyAL navaiyil kiLai
illam nilam mAdu ivai anaiththum – allal enath
thORRi eri thIyiR sudu mEl avarkku eLidhAm
ERRarum vaigunthaththu iruppu”
Synopsis: svAmi aruLALa perumaAL emberumAnAr says in this pasuram that for those who feel good children, wife, relatives, house, land are akin to a burning sensation, they will find it easy to attain the highest abode of paramapadham.
Verbatim Meanings:
nalla pudhalvar – One who has a great son
manaiyAL navaiyil kiLai – wife, faultless relatives,
illam – a perfect home,
nilam – land that is rich and fertile,
mAdu – cows that yield copious amounts of milk
ivai anaiththum allal enath thORRi – but has no ego or attachment with all these things and understands that they are a source of pain and sufferings, from the innermost parts of his heart
eri thIyiR sudu mEl avarkku eLidhAm – and discards all of these in the blazing fire,
ERRarum vaigunthaththu iruppu – is the one suited for attaining the timeless paramapadham, to be with other devotees of sriman nArAyaNA, very easily, as this is a task that is impossible to achieve by one’s own efforts.
Explanation:
nalla pudhalvar: There are some children who are being praised by everybody because they are full of good qualities. They are in stark contrast to children who are respite with bad habits and serve as continuous source of trouble for their parents at all times. Here, “nalla pudhalvar” refer to the former group of children with faultless qualities in them.
manaiyAL: The adjective “nalla” is to be added to this word “manaiyAL” here. This would point to a wife with good qualities. thiruvaLLuvar says “manaithakka mANbudayaLAgi thaRkondAn vaLathakkAL vAzhkaithuNai”. silapadhigAram says “aRavOrku aLithalum, andhaNar Ombalum, thuRandhOrku edhirthalum, tholvOr marabil virundhedhir kOdalum” It talks about some of the good qualities a woman should possess that includes the likes of respecting the noble souls, being a good host for all, helping and offering the needy. In addition to these, a woman should know to find what is good for leading a good life. It does not stop there but to follow what she learnt, in addition to culinary skills, offering alms to the needy people and to behave knowing the purport of her husband’s mind and speech.
navaiyil kiLai: “navai” refers to faults. “il” would be lack of. “kilai” refers to relations. Hence “navaiyil kiLai” would mean all those relations that we have who are impeccable and without any faults. These relatives are not like regular relatives who are relatives just for the sake of it but in reality they behave like enemies. svAmi aruLALa perumaAL emberumAnAr uses “navayil kiLai” to refer to those relatives with whom everyone wants to mingle and wants to be in touch and behave well forever.
illam: As mentioned above, the adjective “nalla” has to be added before all the nouns and so “nalla illam” would mean a house that is very good. A house that is not a dilapidated and an uninabitable house. Instead it would mean a beautiful home that has lot of levels , many layers and balconies etc.
nilam: There are some land that has lot of weeds. They are infertile and no vegetation could grow there. “nalla nilam” would mean the opposite of it and so would refer to land in which crops grow even without any fertilizer. Crops grow in such quantities that the yield is 10 times higher than what was fed into it. If one were to sow a seed in the morning, when that person returns in the evening, he would have to holds his hands together towards his eye and look up to see the tall plants. One batch of plants would grow and prosper in such a fashion that it would grow and occupy the entire field. Such fields can be a “nansei” or a “punsei” fields in which the paddy fields grow as tall as a sugarcane.
mAdu: “nalla mAdu” would mean really good cows. They are unlike the cows that are cruel, cannot be held nor controlled. These bad cows wreck havoc in the neighboring homes and fields by destroying anything that comes in their way. svAmi aruLALa perumaAL emberumAnAr does not mean these types of cows but refers to really good cows that even a bunch of small kids can tie them. The cow would yield itself to these kids and would be obedient and behave nicely to even the kids. They yield copious amounts of milk.
ivai anaiththum: All the aforementioned, just by themselves yield lot of happiness to everyone. Even if atleast one of them is present in someone, he gets a lot of happiness.
allal enath thORRi: svAmi aruLALa perumaAL emberumAnAr now says that all of these aforementioned luxuries should be regarded as something that would bring pain or sorrows. Though the word “allal” would typically mean pain or sorrow, in this context it is to be construed as something that is not painful by itself but would bring about pain / sorrow. They are an indirect source of them.
eri thIyiR sudu mEl: A blazing fire that burns splendidly. If these luxuries makes a person so hot as if he is experiencing the pangs of heat caused in a blazing fire, then that person is eligible for something that is described in the ensuing paragraph.
avarkku eLidhAm ERRarum vaigunthaththu iruppu: If a person is able to feel these luxuries of a world as painfully hot, then he is a well matured person. For such a person, perumAL offers something that cannot be gotten by one’s own effort. perumAL offers this person HIS paramapadham wherein he can mingle with the rest of perumAL’s devotees and continue to serve them forever.
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