34th pAsuram
Synopsis:
One’s AchAryan is very much accessible and easily approachable to his sishyAs. However, if a person were to disregard such an AchAryan with a pretext that he is still a human and would go ahead and perform the most difficult yOgam etc. in order to see perumAL, thinking that HE will be of help when he needs HIM, this act is nothing but ignorance. This point is being illustrated in this pAsuram as well with an example.
thamizh:
“பற்று குருவைப் பரன் அன்று என்று இகழ்ந்து
மற்றொர் பரனை வழிப்படுதல் – என்றே தன்
கைப்பொருள் விட்டாரேனும் காசினியில் தாம் புதைத்த
அப்பொருள் தேடித் திரிவான் அற்று.”
English:
“paRRu guruvai paran anRu enRu igazhndhu
maRROr paranai vazhippadudhal – eRRe than
kaiporuL vittu ArEnum kAsiniyil thAm pudaitha
apporuL thEdi thirivAn aRRu”
Verbatim Meanings:
| paRRu guruvai | If a person disregards his AchAryan, who is the person to surrender to |
| paran anRu enRu | as a person who is not perumAL |
| igazhndhu | and disregards his AchAryan and |
| maRROr paranai | would go ahead towards another god (who is none other than perumAL HIMSELF here) |
| vazhippadudhal | and treat perumAL as his lone refuge. This act is similar to the act of a person who dismisses the |
| than kaiporuL | money in hand |
| vittu | as small amount and |
| ArEnum thAm | goes to see if anyone |
| Pudaitha | has buried / kept some “treasure” under |
| kAsiniyil | the earth |
| apporuL | and goes behing crazily behind that treasure (without knowing if and where it exists in the first place) |
| thEdi thirivAn aRRu | Such is the act of these two persons that are similar |
| eRRe | what a foolish / ignorant act!!! |
Explanation:
paRRu guruvai: This describes the qualities of an AchAryan to whose lotus feet a person surrenders. AchAryan is someone who is very easily approachable, one who mixes and mingles with us very amicably, one who is very pleasant to interact and one who protects us.
paran anRu enRu igazhndhu: AchAryan is none other than sriman nArAyaNan HIMSELF in human form. If a person were to dismiss such an AchAryan as just another human being and disregard him as not a manifestation of god, the impact of such a foolish behavior is being elaborated in this pAsuram.
maRROr paranai vazhippadudhal: To worship another one apart from one’s own AchAryan. The one that is reference here is none other than perumAL sriman nArAyaNan HIMSELF. HE is very difficult to reach by one’s own efforts. HE is not to be seen by one’s naked eyes. HE is not so easily attainable through yOgams etc. If a person goes behind such a perumAL as the ONE who protects him forever and one who will be pleasant to interact with, disregarding his own AchAryan, it is very foolish says svAmi aruLALa perumAL emberumAnAr.
eRRe! : This is an exclamatory remark. svAmi aruLALa perumAL emberumAnAr weighs out both AchAryan that a person had ostracized and perumAL and lets out a sigh, looking at the pitiable and foolish state of this particular person who had disregarded his AchAryan. He says “eRRe” with a lot of pain and loss of hope towards this person. Then he goes ahead and gives an analogy to this situation.
than kaiporuL vittu: A person throws away his money that he has in his pockets. He has saved that money in his pocket in order to use it when the need arises.
ArEnum kAsiniyil thAm pudaitha: This person goes ahead and hunts for a treasure that he believes would be there underground. He believes that someone some time ago might have buried some treasure here and goes to dig it up in order to use that a source of funds to meet his timely needs.
apporuL thEdi thirivAn aRRu: Hence, the act of such a person that is being reference above in the “treasure” example above is being compared to the act of a person who disregards his own AchAryan and goes ahead to find perumAL sriman nArAyaNan somewhere. “thirivAn” strictly would mean the person but in this context it points to the act of such a person rather than the person himself. It is called “thozhil uvamam” in thamizh grammar.
Hence, we can see that if a person disregards his AchAryan and goes to seek perumAL sriman nArAyaNan on his own efforts, it is as foolish as digging up the ground to seek treasure when in fact, he has ready cash in his hand to meet a timely need. This point could be found in srivachanabhUshanam, “kaipatta poruLai kaivittu pudaitha poruLai kaNisikka kadavan allan” (#448)
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