SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:
Full series >> Third Centum >> Sixth decad
Introduction for this pAsuram
Highlights from thirukkurukaippirAn piLLAn‘s introduction
No specific introduction.
Highlights from nanjIyar‘s introduction
In eighth pAsuram – AzhwAr explains his own philosophy [conviction] to help others [samsAris (materialistic persons)] know about it and develop taste in it saying “I will not consider any one other than [SrI rAma, ] the son of dhaSaratha chakravarthi as my Apadhdhanam (wealth during hard times)”
Highlights from vAdhi kEsari azhagiya maNavALa jIyar‘s introduction
Subsequently, AzhwAr says “there is no refuge other than the son of dhaSaratha chakravarthi who never abandons his devotees”.
Highlights from periyavAchchAn piLLai‘s introduction
See nanjIyar‘s introduction.
Highlights from nampiLLai‘s introduction as documented by vadakkuth thiruvIdhip piLLai
See nanjIyar‘s introduction.
pAsuram
thuyarmE tharu thunba inba vinaigaLAy avai allanAy
uyara ninRadhOr sOdhiyAy ulagEzhum uNdumizhndhAn thannai
ayara vAngum naman thamarkku aru nanjinai achchudhan thannaith
thayaradhaRku magan thannai anRi maRRilEn thanjam AgavE
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Word-by-Word meanings (based on vAdhi kEsari azhagiya maNavALa jIyar‘s 12000 padi)
thuyaramE tharu – that which will give (exclusive distress)
thunbam – sorrows
inbam – cause for happiness (which is also exclusive distress since it is attained by difficult process, the resulting happiness is missed with distress, is ultimately ending with distress)
vinaigaLAy – being the controller of karmas in the form of puNya (virtue) and pApa (vice)
avai – by them
allanAy – not being bound
uyara – having greatness (as said in chAndhOgya upanishath “viSwatha: prushtEshu sarvatha: prushtEshu” (paramapadham which is greater than vyashti srushti and samashti srushti))
ninRadhu Or – eternal, unparalleled
sOdhiyAy – having a divine body which is filled with radiance
ulagu Ezhum – when all the worlds (which are bound by karma) are endangered during deluge
uNdu – consuming them
umizhndhAn thannai – one who [subsequently] lets them out and protects them
ayara – for the bewilderment
vAngum – take away the life
naman thamarkku – for the servitors of yama
aru – difficult to rescue
nanjinai – being poison
achchudhan thannai – one who is having the nature of not abandoning his devotees
thayaradhaRku magan thannai – SrI rAma, the son of dhaSaratha chakravarthi
anRi – other than him
maRRu – any one, even another form of bhagavAn
thanjamAga ilEn – will not have as my refuge
Simple translation (based on vAdhi kEsari azhagiya maNavALa jIyar‘s 12000 padi)
emperumAn is the controller of karmas in the form of puNya (virtue) and pApa (vice) which will give (exclusive distress) out of happiness (which is also exclusive distress since it is attained by difficult process, the resulting happiness is missed with distress, is ultimately ending with distress) and sorrow; [yet] he is not bound by them [karmas]; he is having a divine body which is filled with radiance, is eternal, unparalleled and having greatness; when all the worlds (which are bound by karma) are endangered during deluge, he consumes them and [subsequently] lets them out and protects them; he is the poison which is difficult to rescue for the servitors of yama who take away the life for the bewilderment [of AthmAs] and hence having the nature of not abandoning his devotees; other than such SrI rAma, who appeared as the son of dhaSarathi chakravarthi, I will not have any one, even another form of bhagavAn, as my refuge. thanjam – being a companion when one is in danger.
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
- thuyaram … – Being the controller of karmas in the form of puNya/pApa which lead to exclusive suffering. AzhwAr‘s thinking is that both pApa and puNya lead to suffering only; since both are hurdles for one’s servitude towards bhagavAn, both have “leading to bondage” in common; it is said in muNdaka upanishath “… puNya pApE vidhUya …” (one sheds both puNya and pApa and then attains liberation).
- avai allanAy – akarma vaSya (one who is not bound by karma). As said in rig vEdham “dhvA suparNA sayujA sakhAyA samAnam vruksham parishasvajAthE | thayOranya: pippalam svAdhvaththi anaSnannanyO abichAkaSIthi ||” (There are two related (servant and master) birds (jIvAthmA and paramAthmA) residing in a tree (body). One bird (jIvAthmA) enjoys the fruits of its actions (karma) and the other one (paramAthmA) being detached is radiantly witnessing that), not being bound by these karma and shining due to having control over them.
- uyara … – As said in yajur vEdham 2.2.12 “… kshayanthamasya rajasa:parAkE” (residing in the supreme realm of paramapadham which is beyond this material realm which is filled with rajas (passion)) and purusha sUktham “thamsa: parasthAth” (paramAthmA is superior to material nature), the same emperumAn who cannot be reached by the residents of the material realm, is present in this material realm itself, with a divine form which has infinite radiance – this is explained here. Also explained as, emperumAn having the eternal unparalleled fully radiant spiritual abode (paramapadham) which is having greatness (as said in chAndhOgya upanishath “viSwatha: prushtEshu sarvatha: prushtEshu” (paramapadham which is greater than vyashti srushti and samashti srushti)).
- ulagu … – Though he is complete, when a small portion of his wealth, that is samsAram (material realm) is consumed by deluge, he would descend here, protect the worlds by placing them in his stomach and would subsequently let them out thinking “what would they have gone through inside my stomach, not having seen the outside?”; as those who cross through a stretch of land which is known for robbery would swallow their expensive properties [gold, precious stones etc] and would spit them out when they reach safety, emperumAn too consumes and spits out the worlds.
- ayara – For those who have taken shelter of his divine feet, when the servitors of yama try to grab them [at the time of their death] with such force which will bewilder the person, he is the poison that will ensure that they [devotees] cannot be taken away by them [servitors of yama].
- achchudhan thannai – achyutha – one who does not abandon those who are surrendered unto him, to be taken away by the servitors of yama. This is explained in nAnmugan thiruvanthAdhi 88 “uyirkoNdu udal ozhiya OdumpOdhu Odi ayavenRa thIrppAn” (when the servitors of yama grab the AthmA leaving the body and start running, emperumAn will himself chase them and eliminate all the sufferings of the AthmA).
Where did we see such act from emperumAn?
- thayaradhaRku magan thannai – When SrI rAma was ruling the kingdom, a brAhmaNa’s son dies unexpectedly at a very young age, he brought him back by the sword [SampUka, being SUdhra was performing penance which he was not supposed to do, which caused the tragedy. SrI rAma killed SampUka and thereby gave life the brAhmaNa’s son]; after killing rAvaNa, SrI rAma was checking his army and found out some leaders [monkey soldiers etc] were missing/dead, he summoned indhra, asked him for a boon to recover those soldiers and brought them along to ayOdhyA; when a rishiputhra (son of a sage) died accidentally at a young age, he (krishNa) recovered him too [Here based on dharmi aikyam – same emperumAn in the form of SrI rAma and krishNa, this incident of SAndhIpani rishi is also highlighted]. AzhwAr said “thayaradhaRku magan” (being a fully obedient son of dhaSaratha) instead of “thayaradhan magan” (son of dhaSaratha) [subtle grammatical difference], to emphasise how subservient SrI rAma was towards his father. SrI rAma manifested the same subservience both when dhaSaratha said out of pride “You will be the crown prince” from tomorrow and when he said “No, I am not crowning you, You have to go to forest” being overwhelmed with affection for his wife kaikEyi.
- anRi maRRu ilEn thanjam AgavE – When parASara bhattar was explaining this, nanjIyar said “AzhwAr‘s nature is such that, he would say the same thing [thiruviruththam 99 – gyAnappirAn allAl illai nAn kaNda nalladhuvE (there is nothing better than varAhap perumAL in what I have seen), thiruvAimozhi 3.6.6 “thORRak kEdu … maRRoruvari yAn ilEn ezhumaikkumE” (I will not consider anyone as the goal other than my supreme lord in the form of narasimha), thiruvAimozhi 9.1.10 “kaNNan allAl illai kaNdIr SaraN” (there is no refuge other than krishNa)] wherever [whichever emperumAn] he surrenders to” and bhattar mercifully explained “He surrenders to other forms of emperumAn considering them to be purifying, but he considers SrI rAma as the most enjoyable lord”; But is SrI rAma also not glorified as the one who gives purity as in SrI rAmAyaNam uththara kANdam 82.9 “pAvanas sarvalOkAnAm thvamEva” (agasthya says “SrI rAma! you are the one who removes the sins of every one”)? agasthya is also similar to AzhwAr. Just like AzhwAr considers no one other than SrI rAma as enjoyable, agasthya considers no one other than SrI rAma as purifying. siRiyAththAn wanting to hear bhattar‘s partiality towards SrI rAma, asked “Though SrI rAma is glorified in all aspects, he does not have the simplicity of krishNa who went as a messenger for pANdavas hanging their message on his neck [as a necklace, as messengers would normally do those days]” and bhattar replied “Well! SrI rAma would not have refused to go as a messenger; but since he was the emperor of the great ikshvAku dynasty, no one asked him to go as a messenger”. Only to satisfy such desire which was unfulfilled in rAmAvathAram, he appeared as krishNa and went as a messenger”; this is explained in periya thirumozhi 2.2.3 “avanE pinnOr thUdhu Adhi mannarkkAgip perunilaththAr innAr thUdhan ena ninRan” (that same SrI rAma, subsequently became [krishNa] the messenger of yudhishtra and stood to be said by the residents of the big world ‘he is the messenger of pANdavas’). [Should he appear as krishNa to specifically fulfill this desire?] Having decided to enjoy pArathanthriya rasam (the feeling of being subservient), that one aspect will be unfulfilled [thus he appeared to satisfy that desire].
emperumAnAr had veNNeykkAdum piLLai (nardhana krishNa – krishNa who would dance for butter) in his thiruvArAdhanam (personal worship); one day, a SrIvaishNava brought a deity of chakravarthith thirumagan (SrI rAma) and presented the same to emperumAnAr; seeing him, emperumAnAr said “one who did not demand ‘mAmEkam SaraNam vraja‘ (surrender unto me only), has arrived). [Generally Abhimukhyam [being friendly] in the form of allowing emperumAn to protect/rescue us, is explained as prapaththi.] When we look at Abhimukhyam as the cause [for emperumAn’s protection], for the chEthana [who is bound in this material realm], even such Abhimukhyam is as difficult as parama bhakthi to perform – so saying “there is nothing more than Abhimukhyam which is needed in him” is due to the simplicity [magnanimity] of SaraNyan (emperumAn who is giving shelter); but if we look at what is required, it is explained as “mAhaviSvAsa pUrvakam” (with complete faith). [Would we need such faith as a prerequisite on our side?] When some one goes on a sea voyage, he has faith in the ship and carries food, water etc in the hope of managing with that for six months; for those who surrender to bhagavAn, would they at least not need such faith?”.
In the next article we will enjoy the next pAsuram.
adiyen sarathy ramanuja dasan
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