SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:
SrI rAmAnuja blessing a mute devotee by showing him his lotus feet
Introduction
In the previous pAsuram, maNavALa mAmunigaL concluded that he does not have any iota of love / devotion in his heart towards SrI rAmAnuja. In this pAsuram, he assumes that SrI rAmAnuja asks him a question. The imaginary question that SrI rAmAnuja asks maNavALa mAmunigaL is “Oh maNavALa mAmunigaL!!! You said that you do not have any love or devotion towards me. That is fine. Do you at least have the hatred towards other worldly stuff? Have you stayed out from those mundane activities that hinder your spiritual journey?” maNavALa mAmunigaL replies, “No. adiyEn has not refrained from worldly stuff. Nor does adiyEn have any iota of pure love and devotion towards you. Oh SrI rAmAnuja! Your lotus feet takes one’s blemishes and treats them as luxuries. adiyEn is not sure when will adiyEn reach the great lotus feet of yours. Only you know that and only you can let me know the day when adiyen will reach you”.
pAsuram 16
AgAdhadhu IdhenRu aRindhum piRarkku uraiththum
AgAdhadhE seyvan AdhalAl mOkAnthan enRU
ninaiththu ennai igazhEl ethirAsA
enRu unnadi sErvan yAn
Listen
Word-by-Word Meanings
aRindhum – I (maNavALa mAmunigaL) clearly knew
IdhenRu – that the list of things that
AgAdhadhu – the AchAryas (gurus) described as “those to be discarded”
piRarkku uraiththum – not stopping with that, I advised others about it
AgAdhadhE seyvan – (On the contrary, though I proscribed others to indulge things that are not advocated by our gurus) I continued to do those religiously.
AdhalAl – Hence
igazhEl – Please do not condemn / discard
ennai – me
enRU – by
ninaiththu – thinking and dismissing me as a
mOkAnthan – one who is succumbed to lust
ethirAsA – Oh emperumAnArE!!!
enRu – When will
yAn – I
sErvan – reach
un – your
adi – lotus feet
Simple Translation
In the earlier pAsuram, maNavALa mAmunigaL felt bad that he did not have any love towards SrI rAmAnuja. In this pAsuram, he feels bad because he does not have hate towards other worldly stuff. He is neither here nor there, that confounds him and makes him plead SrI rAmAnuja to take his innumerable shortcomings (blemishes) and regard them as blessings. He concludes by saying that only SrI rAmAnuja’s lotus feet can protect such a person like him and that only SrI rAmAnuja can tell a date when he would reach him.
Explanation:
maNavALa mAmunigaL says “Oh SrI rAmAnuja! I clearly know all that our ancestors have prescribed us to do. I knew them so well that I even advised others to not do things that are not told in our scriptures. I told others that they should completely renounce all those activities that are condemnable by our AchAryas. However, when it came to my case, what I did was strange. I continued to to all those activities daily. All those activities that our AchAryas have told us to discard, all those very same activities that I asked others to not do it, I was indulged in them religiously. Hence, what I preach and what I practice are not same. Oh emperumAnArE! Please do not dismiss me as a person who has fallen on this mystic tangle of lust. I do not know when will I reach you, as per nammAzhvAr’s words “en nAL yAn unnai ini vandhu kUduvan” (thiruvAimozhi 3.2.1). Will I lose the opportunity to reach you forever? I, who is being succumbed to the alluring yet evil lust, is full of ignorance. I do not know when will reach you. Only you, the all-knowing, have the power to know that day. Can you let me know of the day?”
adiyEn santhAna rAmAnuja dAsan
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