srI:
srImathE satakOpAya nama:
srImathE rAmAnujAya nama:
srImath varavaramunayE nama:
Full series >> First Centum >> Fifth decad
Lotus feet of srI ranganAtha
Introduction for this pAsuram
Highlights from thirukkurukaippirAn piLLAn‘s introduction
No specific introduction.
Highlights from nanjIyar‘s introduction
In the fifth pAsuram – emperumAn thinks “if I suddenly show my face to AzhwAr (who is thus convinced), he may again try to leave; Let me wait to approach him until he prays for the same” and waits – AzhwAr then prays “You ensure that I serve your lotus feet”.
Highlights from vAdhi kEsari azhagiya maNavALa jIyar‘s introduction
Subsequently, AzhwAr prays to emperumAn who performs many actions to please his devotees “based on our (eternal) relationship, bless me the union in the form of blissful experience”.
Highlights from periyavAchchAn piLLai‘s introduction
Similar to nanjIyar‘s introduction.
Highlights from nampiLLai‘s introduction as documented by vadakkuth thiruvIdhip piLLai
Fifth pAsuram – 2 introductions:
- AzhwAr, after turning towards emperumAn, prays to him to engage him in kainkaryam as explained in srI rAmAyaNam AraNya kANdam 15.7 “kriyathAmithi mAm vadha” (lakshmaNa to srI rAma – order me in what is to be done).
- After AzhwAr turned towards him, since emperumAn delays a little to appear. unable to bear that, AzhwAr says “Please bless me”.
pAsuram
மானே நோக்கி மடவாளை மார்வில் கொண்டாய். மாதவா.
கூனே சிதைய உண்டை வில் நிறத்தில் தெறித்தாய் கோவிந்தா
வானோர் சோதி மணிவண்ணா மதுசூதா நீ அருளாய்
உன் தேனே(ய) மலரும் திருப்பாதம் சேருமாறு வினையேனே
mAnEy nOkki madavALai mArvil koNdAy mAdhavA
kUnE sidhaiya uNdai vil niRaththil theRiththAy gOvindhA
vAnOr sOdhi maNivaNNA madhusUdhA nI aruLAy
un thEnE(y) malarum thiruppAdham sErumARu vinaiyEnE
Word-by-Word meanings (based on vAdhi kEsari azhagiya maNavALa jIyar‘s 12000 padi)
mAnEy – similar to deer
nOkkin – having eyes
madavALai – the greatest lady who is an embodiment of humility
mArbil – in your chest
koNdAy – you who are keeping/having
mAdhava – and thus being called as mAdhava
kUnE – hunch-back
sidhaiya – breaking
uNdai vil niRaththil – in the form of a bow (which is used to shoot clay-balls)
theRiththAy – straightened it (effortlessly)
gOvindhA – one who protected the ignorant cows (with great joy)
vAn – the land of the wise persons
Ar – filled
sOdhi – having radiance
maNivaNNA – having form of carbuncle
madhusUdhA – the destroyer of madhu (who is an enemy of devotees)
nI – you
un – your
thEnE – honey
malarum – blossoming
thiruppAdham – divine feet
vinaiyEn – I who have sins (which make me wait even after your accepting me)
sErumARu – to approach/surrender
aruLAy – bless me
Simple transalation (based on vAdhi kEsari azhagiya maNavALa jIyar‘s 12000 padi)
Oh emperumAn! You are called as mAdhava since you have srI mahAlakshmi, who has eyes which resemble the eyes of deer and who is the embodiment of humility and the greatest femininity, in your chest. Oh gOvindha (who protected ignorant cows with great joy)! You straightened the hunch-back by hitting it with clay-balls shot from (playful) bow. Oh maNivaNNa! – one who has beautiful form like a carbuncle – the radiance of which (gem) reaches the land of the wise persons. Oh madhusUdhana! – who is the destroyer of the enemies (such as madhu) of your devotees! You bless me such that I, who have sins (which make me wait even after your accepting me), surrender unto your lotus feet.
From this, we can understand –
- the worshippable person’s (srIman nArAyaNan’s) eternal togetherness with purushakAra bhUthai (srI mahAlakshmi)
- bhagavAn‘s honesty will remove the devotee’s crookedness
- the desire of emperumAn to protect
- the beauty of the ultimate destination (paramapadham)
- removal of hurdles
Hitting of hunch-back is also explained in relation to mantharA – in this case, gOvindha means protector of earth (Explained further in nampiLLai‘s vyAkyAnam).
vyAkyAnams (commentaries)
Highlights from thirukkurukaippirAn piLLAn‘s vyAkyAnam
See vAdhi kEsari azhagiya maNavALa jIyar‘s translation.
Highlights from nanjIyar‘s vyAkyAnam
See nampiLLai‘s vyAkyAnam.
Highlights from periyavAchchAn piLLai‘s vyAkyAnam
See nampiLLai‘s vyAkyAnam.
Highlights from nampiLLai‘s vyAkyAnam as documented by vadakkuth thiruvIdhip piLLai
- mAnEy nOkki … – Why should I (separately) pray for his blessings when the one who triggers his mercy (srI mahAlakshmi) is right next to him?
- mAnEy nOkki – having eyes similar to those of deer
- madavALai – srI mahAlakshmi who is endowed with all auspicious qualities. Two explanations:
- madappam is explained as auspicious quality – she is so ideal that the moment she glances at emperumAn, without any significance, emperumAn will fully shower his mercy on us immediately.
- madappam is explained as being very weak/humble – the moment he looks at her, she becomes fully withered like a flower that had its honey sucked out by bee.
- mArbil koNdAy mAdhavA – bhagavAn is named mAdhava due to his eternal relationship with SrI mahAlakshmi and having her in his chest always. There are those, other than emperumAn, who are also called as SrImAn, without any connection to SrI mahAlakshmi, just like an insect that is named “mAmbazha uNNi” has no relationship with “mAmbazham” (mango). But unlike them, emperumAn‘s eternal relationship with thAyAr is well-established. Another explanation – Oh the one who is called mAdhava, since srI mahAlakshmi is eternally residing in your chest as explained in SrIvishNu purANam 1.9.104 “vishNu vakshassthalasthayA” (srI mahAlakshmi who resides in the chest of srI mahAvishNu who never fails his devotees).
- kUnE sidhaiya – two explanations one with respect to srI rAma and another with respect to krishNa.
- Explaining srI rAma’s childhood play, where he would hit mantharA’s hunched-back without hurting any other part. It was this act of srI rAma which infuriated mantharA and led her to cause srI rAma to go to vanavAsam (forest dwelling) and to ultimately destroy rAvaNa. In this context, gOvindha means “one who protects the earth” – he protected the earth by killing rAvaNa and other demoniac persons. It can also be said that “pOm pahzhiyellAm amaNan thalaiyOdE” (whoever commits mistake, only one person is accused) – emperumAn doing mischief in whichever avathAram (in this case, srI rAmAvathAram), only krishNa (gOvindha) is accused for that. A funny story is narrated in arumpadham to explain this statement of nampiLLai. Once a robber tries to drill a hole in a brAhmaNa’s house to steal materials and in the process the wall collapses and the robber gets killed. The robber’s relatives come to the brAhmaNa and ask for compensation. The brAmaNa refuses to pay any compensation and they complain to the king. The king says the brAhmaNa needs to compensate since it was his fault in not building the wall properly. brAhmaN thinks for a moment and says “It was the builder’s fault for having too much water in the mix that led to the wall collapsing”. The king brings the builder and charges him. The builder knowing the situation, says “It was the potter who gave bigger pot than usual which caused more water to be added in the mix and thus it was his fault”. The potter is brought to the king’s court and he says “It was because I was attracted to a prostitute who was roaming here and there and I lost focus in making the pot”. The prostitute is brought to the king’s court and she says “The washerman delayed returning my saree, which is why I was roaming here and there, waiting for it”. The washerman is brought to the king’s court and he says “The place where I usually dry the saree was taken by a monk and thus it got delayed to dry the saree”. Finally the monk was brought to the court and he was charged. Since the monk had taken a vow of silence, he never refuted the charge verbally. The foolish king ordered the killing of the monk as punishment for him. Similarly, whoever commits mischief, kaNNan emperumAn gets blamed for those mischief.
- Explaining this as krishNa’s leelA – when kubjA (hunched-back lady) gave him pure sandalwood, krishNa became mighty pleased and straightened her back effortlessly. Here his having “vil” (bow) is questioned – but other pAsurams are quoted where krishNa having bow is highlighted such as periyAzhwAr thirumozhi 2.6.1 “vElikkOl vetti viLaiyAdu villERRi“, nAchchiyAr thirumozhi 14.6 “tharumam aRiyAk kuRumbanaith than kaichchArngam adhuvE pOl“.
- vAnAr sOdhi maNivaNNA – having the forms which please your devotees! Like a precious gem in a beautiful glass box – even in paramapadham the radiance arising out of his divine form is uncontrollable.
- madhusUdhA – For those who desire to enjoy your divine form, you are the remover of their hurdles. Just like how you eliminated madhu, you eliminated my hurdles too.
- un thEnE(y) malarum thiruppAdham – Even if we don’t see your divine form, pastimes and qualities – your divine feet, which are so enjoyable, are enough to not give up on you. yajur vEdham – vishNu sUktham says “vishNO: padhE paramE madhva uthsa:” (honey is overflowing from your great lotus feet). AzhwAr desired in thiruvAimozhi 1.3.10 for “peru nilam kadandha nalladippOdhu” (the divine lotus feet which measured the great world). So, emperumAn showed him “thisaigaL ellAm thiruvadiyAl thAyOn” (thiruvAimozhi 1.5.3 – he measured all the directions with his lotus feet) and AzhwAr also requests for the same here.
- sErumARu vinaiyEnE – Please bless me to be at your lotus feet – I am so sinful like someone who is served food but disallowed to eat the same. Here, AzhwAr says “vinaiyEn” to indicate his sinful nature which stops him from enjoying emperumAn even after approaching him.
In the next article we will enjoy the next pAsuram.
adiyen sarathy ramanuja dasan
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