upadhEsa raththina mAlai – 14

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pAsuram 14

ERAr vaikAsi visAkaththin ERRaththaip
pArOr aRiyap pagarkinREn – seerArum
vEdham thamizh seydha meyyan ezhil kurugai
nAthan avadhariththa nAL                                                       14

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Word by word meaning

Ar – filled with
Er – beauty
vaikAsi – (is the) month of vaikAsi
visAkaththin – star day of visAkam;
pArOr – (For) those in the earth
aRiya – to know
ERRaththai – its glory,
pagarginREn – I shall say (about it; that is),
Arum – filled with
seer – glory
vEdham – that is vEdhas
seydha – is divined
thamizh – in thamizh language
meyyan – (by the one who is) truthful
ezhil – (who is the) beautiful
kurugai – thirukkurugUr’s
nAthan – master, that is nammAzhvAr;
avadhariththa – (it is his) divine incarnation
nAL – day.

vyAkyAnam

He who is having other AzhvArs as his parts, who divined the popularity of meanings of vEdhAnthams through thiruvAimozhi, who is the head of (AzhvAr) thirunagari, that is nammAzhvAr – for everyone in the earth to know this AzhvAr’s incarnation day of visAka star, I shall divine about it in an exclusive way, says maNavALa mAmunigaL.

ErAr etc. – In the pAsurams till now he had divined about the months in the calendar order, now since there is no incarnation of AzhvArs in the month of panguni, and even though in the month after that which is chiththirai there are incarnations of madhurakavi AzhvAr and emperumAnAr, since he is currently listing the ten AzhvArs’ incarnation details, he has skipped them and is starting here with ‘ErAr vaikAsi’.

vaikAsi having beauty is about – Since it is mAdhava month (spring) it is having the period of blossoming flowers. The place of incarnation is rich in ‘koththalar pozhil [thiruvAimozhi 6.7.1] (groves full of flowers in bunches), and in ‘kuyil ninRAr pozhil [kaNNinuN chiruththAmbu – 10] (cuckoos joyfully singing near the groves), so it is said as ‘ErAr vaikAsi visAkam’.

‘ErAr’ (full of beauty) is also an adjective for visAkam. Then it is to be decorated as ‘thiru visAgath thirunAL’ (auspicious day of visAkam). In all the dhivya dhEsams it is celebrated with consuming milk and fruits. That is, ‘pAl mAngAi’.

About such day’s greatness –

pArOr aRiyap pagarginREn – (saying for everyone in the world to know) – I shall talk about the glory of vaikAsi visAkam that is AzhvAr’s incarnation day, for everyone around. His (maNavALa mAmunigaL’s) love is making him talk to ensure that there is no one who would not love about this (day).

Now it talks about the reason for all these –

seerArum, etc – Greatness for vEdham are – not created by anyone {so no bias, etc.}, always existing {eternal – available at all times}, and faultless {so can be followed} – and so it having the wealth of being the ultimate reference/authority. AzhvAr too said ‘sudar migu suruthiyuL [thiruvAimozhi 1.1.7]’ (abundantly radiant vEdham (being self-evident/reference)). It is also about the second part of vEdham which talk about nature, form, and qualities of sarvEsvaran referred as para brahmam who is the husband of lakshmI. It is to be said, ‘yaSruthEruththaram bhAgam chakrE thrAvida bhAshAyA [parAnkusa ashtakam – 7]’ (he (nammAzhvAr) who created in thamizh the second part of vEdham that is upanishath).

vEdam thamizh seidha – Creating it in thamizh is – as said in ‘eidharkku ariya maRaigaLai Ayiram in thamizhAl seidharkku ulagil varum satakOpanai [rAmAnusa nURRanthAdhi – 18]’ (satakOpan who incarnated and created in sweet thamizh one thousand pAsurams that represent the hard vEdhas), vEdhas have limitations for learning, it is not possible for all sentient ones to learn and reach the true goal.

nammAzhvAr provided its meanings in detail in sweet thamizh for everyone to be able learn and use it and reach the true goal. It is to be said ‘vERu onRum nAn aRiyEn vEdham thamizh seidha mARan satakOpan [kaNNinuN chiruththAmbu thaniyan], and ‘arumaRaigaL anthAdhi seydhAn [thiruvAimozhi thaniyan], to say the same.

meyyan – All that was divined are based on vEdham so we have the faith in it.

ezhil kurugai nAthan – As saying ‘kurugUrch chatakOpan’, (satakOpan of kurugUr), for all these the reason is being born in that place (kurugUr that is AzhvAr thirunagari). Even though there is one emperumAn named ‘Adhip pirAn’ there, everything happens there under the mastership of this AzhvAr only. Even though he is the paran and AzhvAr is the jIvan, it is Azhvar’s leadership that He is establishing there. As said in ‘nalan idai Urdhi paNNi vIdum peRuththith than mUvulagum tharun oru nAyagam [thiruvAimozhi 3.10.11]’ ((benefit of learning this padhikam would be that He would) make one be involved in subservience to emperumAn and His devotees, will give mOksham, and make one like a head of all His three worlds) {such is emperumAn, that he makes this AzhvAr as the head}.

ezhil kurugai – (beautiful kurugai (AzhvAr thirunagari)) – Having the decorations of a city. That is, like ‘kunRam pol maNi mAdam (thiruvAimozhi 4.10.1) (having buildings tall like a collection of mountains), ‘mAdalar pozhil [thiruvAimozhi 3.4.11]’ (dotted by blossoming groves), ‘sErth thada [thiruvAimozhi 1.2.11]’ (having dense set of ponds), and ‘Er vaLam [thiruvAimozhi 5.1.11] (having fertile/abundant paddy etc., fields)’. It is also said as ‘kattezhil then kurugUr [thiruvAimozhi 6.6.11]’ (kurugUr having the beauty of protective walls).

As said in ‘jagathAbharanam vakuLAbharanar’, he is like a jewel for the world, and the beauty to this place can also be due to his incarnation there.

Or,

ezhil – (beauty) – is like a adjective to AzhvAr, and can also be about the beauty that came due to his srIvaishNava decorations – gyAna, bhakthi, vairAgyam.

ezhil kurugai nAthan avadhariththa nAL – As said in ‘Urum nAdum ulagamum thannaip pOl [thiruvAimozhi 6.7.2]’ (he (AzhvAr) can make the place, country, and the world to always babble emperumAn’s name and other things), such AzhvAr ‘s day of incarnation.

AzhvAr who can show the way for the people in the samsAram (material world) to attain true goal, incarnated; similarly this great day among all the different days has come for us.

So due to his extreme kindness, maNavALa mAmunigAL has revealed this precious secret for us.

– – – –

English Translation: raghurAm srInivAsa dhAsan

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