SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:
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Introduction (given by maNavALa mAmunigaL)
In the previous pAsuram, amudhanAr showed his state, that as emperumAnAr gave him the true knowledge, other types of knowledge would not be set in his mind; In this pAsuram – even though having taste/interest to get saved (from the material cycle), some are losing the best true knowledge, by ignoring this required aspect (love towards emperumAnAr’s divine feet), such are the people attached to worldly affairs – so amudhanAr feels sad.
Introduction (given by piLLailOkam jIyar)
In the previous pAsuram – emperumAnAr removed the blemish in my mind, reformed it, and let true knowledge be born, and made me subservient to Sriya:pathi – would my mind go looking for someone else after this? (in previous pAsuram he actually mentioned that his mind would not be set in other false meanings; here it is mentioned that he said that his mind would not go after someone else; that is, going after someone else would itself imply that the mind set is in false meanings) – divined amudhanAr about the strength of his stability in this matter.
In this pAsuram – even though the sentient beings in this material world also have got the same opportunity to be in this way, instead of that, the words of bAhyas and kudhrushtis (those who reject and misinterpret vEdhas), who talk whatever came to their mouth/mind about AthmA’s dhEha parimANathvam (AthmA is same as body), kShanikathvam (momentariness), etc. – (emperumAnAr) driving away the meanings/goals of their philosophies without trace, and earlier when their assigning of wrong meanings to vEdhas were spread everywhere in the world, (emperumAnAr) had shown the true meaning;
So even though there is emperumAnAr, due to thinking that he is similar to them, they had left from him and were hoping against hope in their minds whether some other deity would save them, and they were in vain, and were uselessly having doubts/uncertainties in their minds and got ruined – seeing such state of them, amudhanAr feels sad.
thiruvarangaththu amudhanAr (how do we make him happy now after 1000 years?)
poyyaich churakkum poruLaith thuRandhu indhap phUthalaththE
meyyaip purakkum irAmAnusan niRka vERu nammai
uyyak koLLa valla dheyvam ingi yAdhu enRu ularndhu avamE
aiyappadA niRpar vaiyyaththuLLOr nallaRivu izhandhE – 79
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Word by word meaning (given by maNavALa mAmunigaL)
poyyai – the pure falsities of saying AthmA’s dhEha parimANathvam (AthmA is like body and does not have intellect) , kshaNikam gyAna rUpathvam (intellect/knowledge is transient (and knowing this gives him liberation, and if not knowing this then it gives samsAram)), jatathvam (AthmA is unintelligent), etc., and — brahmam’s mAyA SapaLitha-thva (brahmam is covered by mAyA; so, though brahmam is one, looking at reflection on bodies it thinks there are many Athmas (and those bodies are NOT real)), upAdhi miSrathvam (brahmam is one, and is reflected on bodies and appears to brahmam to be many AthmAs (and those bodies are real)), vikArithvam (brahmam undergoes changes), etc.
churakkum – and explaining more and more in these (wrong) ways,
poruLai – such meaning of those philosophies that reject or misinterpret vEdhas,
Otti – driving away (such wrong ones),
irAmAnusan – emperumAnAr
purakkum – nurtures
meyyai – true meaning
indha bhUthalaththE – in this earth;
niRka – (he is) waiting and looking at leading path, hoping, whether anyone would come (to learn);
(but) due to thinking of emperumAnAr as someone like us (sajAtheeya budhdhi), they disregard him,
valla – can
vERu – other
dheyvam – god / deity
uyyak koLLa – save
nammai – us
ingi yAdhu enRu – (they) search whether (such deity is) present anywhere here,
ularndhu – due to anguish in their mind (due to not finding such deity), their bodies become dry / in vain,
izhandhu – (and) not getting
nal aRivu – the true knowledge that helps in realizing that this (emperumAnAr‘s divine feet) is our destiny which gives true meaning, and thus get saved;
even though this true matter is your savior,
vaiyaththu uLLOr – those in the earth
avamE – (are) uselessly
aiyappadA niRpar – having doubts/uncertain minds.
Oh! what bad state this is of them! – is the thought.
For ‘poyyaich churakkum’ etc – its meaning is also as follows – body which due to the nature of getting created and destroyed, and thus keeps changing, is considered as false (not stable); due to series of births that would make us think more and more that the body is AthmA itself and would create the feeling of being independent (from emperumAn), – emperumAnAr drove away such aspects by his advises in this earth, and protects AthmA which is in the form of truth and would be the truth;
when such emperumAnAr (who removed the false (body) and advised the truth (AthmA)), is present/available;
By thamizh grammar, ingu yAdhenRu is written (as well as recited) as ingi yAdhEnRu; this is similar to ‘umakki yAn’.
vyAkyAnam
poyyaich churakkum poruLaith thuRandhu – poy – untrue. churakkum poruLai – production of more and more such falsities by those who reject or misinterpret vEdhas. As said in ‘asannEva bhavathi, asath brahmEthi vEdhachEth’ ( who understands brahmam as asath, he also become asath; he who understands brahmam as sath becomes that as well), that is thinking wrongly where knowledge that is absent, attaches wrong attributes, or mistakes for something else (agyAna, anyathA gyAna, viparItha gyAna).
They are – (philosophy names in parentheses below are based on text by AzhwAr thirunagari SrI u.vE. vidhwAn thirumalai nallAn chakravarththi rAmakrishNa iyengAr) svami –
– thinking of AthmA as dhEha parimANathva (AthmA and body are same by evolving) (jaina philosophy),
– kShaNika vigyAna rUpathva (knowledge is transient, becomes new every second) (baudhdha philosophy),
– jatathva (AthmA is unintelligent) (nyAya philosophy), etc.,
and,
– thinking of brahmam as mAyA SapaLithathva (brahmam is covered by mAyA and has misunderstood about truth that the reflections of self from other things are actual AthmAs (but they say that the things (reflected from) do not exist)) (by mAyi (Sankara) philosophy),
– upAdhi miSrathva (items from which brahmam is reflected do exist) (bhAskara philosophy),
– vikArathva (brahmam undergoes changes, and undergoes similar good/bad feelings/situations like chith (changes behavior based on body taken) and achith (changes its form (for example from mud to a pot)) (yAdhavaprakASa philosophy), etc.,
and,
– thinking that the world is mithyAthva (being untrue) (Sankara), avidhyA kAryathva (are due to ignorance (of brahmam imagining that all that appears are existing), etc.,
in these ways, the meanings are untrue, and against vEdhas;
Or, (alternate meaning follows; please note the meaning in this part; a continuation of this alternate meaning is provided near the end for rest of the lines of pAsuram).
poyyaich churakkum poruLai – As said in ‘nAsathO vidhyathE bhAva: [SrI bhagavath gIthA]’ (any thing that is said as sath would not undergo change. (anything which is Not said as sath would not be unchanging)) , due to the cycle of getting created and destroyed, the body is considered false, due to the series of births that create feeling that body is AthmA, and of feeling independent (from emperumAn), etc., – starting from such meanings;
poruLaith thuRandhu – drove away such untrue meanings; in thirunArAyanpuram (drove away those of other philosophies, with his form of thousand heads), and in sarasvathee baNdAram (drove away those who debated and who tried to cast illness in him), as said in ‘kOvA chakShur idhanjchayEabi purassOpadAra tharkkachchadA SasthrASasthri vihAra sampratharaNA svAdhEshu vAdhEshuka:’ (~ only emperumAnAr can do debates in such ways), like kAviri river flowing unbounded by the shores, with true overwhelming unstoppable arguments, argued in many ways with those who reject or misinterpret vEdhas and made them not rest, and not even open their eyes (to argue), and showed (the following proving ways):
if body itself were AthmA then dead body would have to have intelligence, and,
if AthmA were kshaNikam (transient), then for happiness and sorrows that happened first, there would not have to be any thoughts/memories about them in the next moment, and,
if knowledge (gyAnam) itself were AthmA, then it should stay as ‘I am knowledge’ and not as ‘I have come to know/learn’ where it (correctly) thinks about being the ‘bearer’ of knowledge;
if AthmA were jatam (unintelligent), then as said in ‘Ethadh yOvEththitham prAhu: kShEthrajya ithi thath vidha: [SrI bhagavath gIthA]’ (considering your body as a land, grow plants (using AthmA) that are good qualities like non-violence, etc.,), it should not say ‘pAdhE mE vEdhanA, Sirasi mE sukham; (I am having pain in my foot, comfort in my head)’, and ‘vigyAna ghana:’ (wherever AthmA is kept it would be having the weight of intelligence (like wherever salt is kept in mouth it would taste salty), thus AthmAs are based on intelligence/sentience; and,
even if brahmam is mAyASapalitham (brahmam is covered by mAyA (imagination) and imagines/confuses itself as being many), as said in ‘nishkaLam nishkriyam Santham niravadhyam niranjchanam’ (there is no blemishes, not affected by deeds, all wishes are fulfilled, no drawbacks, etc. ), since it is without impurity, and of joyous form, it should not get confused into thinking that I am jeevan or eeSvaran; and if it so gets confused, then, as said in ‘EkO dhEvas sarva bUthEshu kUta:’ (there is only one god, there is that only one brahmam), for the one who is unique (there is nothing else), there would not be anyone to clear that confusion to brahmam, and so brahmam would have to stay with that confusion for ever; and,
if brahmam is vikAri (undergoes changes), it would contradict with the Sruthi that says it is nirvikAri; and,
emperumAnAr told them in many such ways about contradictions (in their arguments/assertions), instructed them, and made them lose, and since they cannot stay in this world in that way, drove them away into the sea;
indha bhUthalaththE meyyaip purakkum – nurturing the true knowledge in this earth; drove away the ones who argue without any basis (dry), and as said about authoritativeness of vEdhas about everything, in ‘pramANam vEdhAScha’ (vEdhas are the authoritative reference ever), and, ‘Adhau vEdhA: pramANam’ (from old times vEdhas only are authoritative reference),
(Discussion below includes 12 of them for brahmam, 6 for AthmA, and 3 for dhEham (body))
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Since it is said ‘sathyam gyAnam anantham brahma’ (there is no change in nature (no svarUpa vikArathvam), is of intelligence (no jadathvam), not limited (by time, place, or material (not having thrividha parichchEdham) – such is brahmam), and,
for saying ‘kapyAsam puNdareekam EvamakShiNee’ (having eyes like blossomed beautiful lotus flower), since it is said ‘vishNO:padhE paramE madhva uthsa:’ (from the divine feet of vishNu flows nectar (beauty)), emperumAn is of ‘subhASraya dhivyA rUpam’ (so brahmam does have divine body),
and since it is said ‘parAsya Sakthir vividhaiva SrUyathE, svAbhAvikee gyAna bala kriyAcha’ (brahmam is great; its power is great; uncontrolled independent one, having knowledge, strength, etc.), emperumAn is ‘samastha kalyANa guNAthmakan (brahmam is having all auspicious qualities), and,
since it is said ‘pAdha: asya vishvA bhUthAni, thripAdha syAmrutham dhivi’ (one part is leelA vibhUthi (every place other than SrIvaikuNtam), and three parts is nithya vibhUthi (SrIvaikuNtam), so He is ubhaya vibhUthi nAthan (He is the lord for both the worlds), and,
since it is said ‘hreeSchathE lakshmeeScha pathnyau’ (He is having wives SrIdhEvi, bhUmA dhEvi and neeLA dhEvi), He is dhivya mahishI vallabhan (He is the beloved husband of divine wives), and,
since it is said ‘yathra pUrvE sadhyAssanthi dhEvA:’ (dhEvas, that is, the nithyasUris perform services to Him), and, ‘yathra rushaya: prathama jAyE purANA:’ (nithyasUris perform services to Him), and, ‘Ethath sAma gAyan nAsthE’ (~ they sing sAma vEdham (in SrIvaikuNtam)), so He is sUribruntha paricharyamAnan (He receives services from nithyasUris surrounding Him), and,
since it is said ‘thadhaikShatha bahusyAm prajAyEyEthi’ (~ shall become (create) many forms of lives), and ‘thath srushtvA, thadhEvAnuprAviSath, thadhanupraviSya, sach chathyachchA bhavath’ (~ emperumAn being present inside every AthmA gives existence to them), He is being sUkShma chith achith viSishtan (He being along with sentient and non-sentient that are in subtle forms (during total annihilation)), and is jagath kAraNa bhUthan (reason for creation of world), and,
since it is said ‘Esha sarva bhUthAntharAthmApahatha pApmA dhivyO dhEva EkO nArAyaNa:’ (He who is inside every AthmA, He is the lord of all dhEvas, He who does not have an equal, He is nArAyaNan), He is sarva antharyAmi (He is present in every AthmA), and,
since it is said ‘ambhasya pArE bhuvanasya madhyE nAgasya prushtE mahathO maheeyAn’ (He is on top of mountain, inside the sea, in the sky, in different forms), He is vyUha rupENa avasthithan (being present in divided forms like sankarshaNa, et al. (in milky ocean)), and,
since it is said ‘brahmaNyO dhEvakee puthrO brahmaNyO madhu sUdhanOm’ (understand that brahmam is the son of dhEvaki, understand that brahmam is madhusUdhanan), and, ‘ajAyamAnO bahudhA vijAyathE’ (He who is unborn, is born in innumerable incarnations), He is anantha avathAra gandhan (He is of innumerable incarnations), and,
since it is said ‘sayaSyAyampurushE, yASchAsAvAdhithyE’ (~In the middle of constellation of Sun is nArAyaNan), and, ’ya EshOntharAdhithyE hiraNmaya:purusha:’ (~ He is present in the middle of constellation of Sun), He is ‘samastha dhivya dhESa nilayan’ (He is present in all the divine temples), and,
since it is said ‘Om nArAyaNAya vidhmahE vAsudhEvAya dheemahi thannO vishNu: prachOdhayAth’ (~ emperumAn having names of nArAyaNa, vAsudhEva, vishNu), He is ‘vishNu nArAyaNa vAsudhEvAdhi Sabhdha vAchyan’ (emperumAn identified with names such as vishNu, nArAyaNa, and vAsudhEvan), and,
since it is said ‘parAthparam purushamupaithi dhivyam’ He is ‘sarvasmAth paran’, and,
(now, about jeevAthmas)
since it is said ‘EshO aNu: AthmA purusham upaithi dhivya:’ (AthmA is of minute form, and he reaches para brahamam), and, ‘ArAkramAthrOhya varO pithrushta:’, He is being ‘prathyakAthma aNu’ (AthmA which glows by itself (self-illuminous)), and,
since it is said ‘nithyAnAm – chEthanAnAm’, He is being ‘nithyan’ ((AthmA is) eternal), and,
since it is said ‘bhOkthA bhOgyam prErithArancha mathvA’¸ He is ‘bhOkthA’ (AthmA is one who enjoys (the things), and,
since it is said ‘pruthak AthmAnam prErithAramcha mathva:’ (understand about jeevAthmA as different from sarvESvaran who instigates) AthmA is being different from SarvESvaran, and,
since it is said ‘thayOranya:pippalam svAdhvaththi’, (AthmA is born to experience the fruits of his deeds) is ‘karma pala bhOkthA’ (experiences the effects of his deeds), and,
since it is said ‘brahmaNEthvAmahasa OmithyAthmAnam yunjeetha’ (jeevAthmA shall say Om and worship brahmam (implies He is the lord and we are His servants)), AthmA is ‘bhagavath ananyArha sEsha bhUthan’ (AthmA is a servant who worships only the emperumAn), and,
since it is said ‘thamEvam vidhvAn amrutha iha bhavathi’ ((such AthmA) would attain liberation in this birth and there is no need to search for any other path for libearation), based on the aforementioned state (of being subservient to emperumAn only), using that knowledge AthmA shall get the liberation to ultimate destiny (service to emperumAn), and,
(now about non-sentient)
since it is said ‘samAnam vrukSham parishasvajAthE’ (~ bird in a tree playing happily (non-sentient is for emperumAn to play), for eeSvaran, achith (non-sentient) also is kreedA parikaram (tool for emperumAn to enjoy), and
since it is said ‘AkASath vAyu:, vAyOragni:, agnErApa:, adhbhya:pruthivee’ (from ether came air, from air came fire, from fire came water, from water came land) it would be as ‘chathurvimSathi thathvAthmakam’ (non-sentient is twenty four thathvams (realities/forms)), and
since it is said ‘mruththikEthyEva sathyam’ (pot, and such similar items imply truth/existence of sand), it would be ‘thuchcha vyAvruththam’ (non-sentient (achith) different from insignificant), and,
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
in these ways emperumAnAr advised about the true character and innate nature of thathva thrayam (chith (sentient), achith (non-sentient), and eeSvaran (emperumAn), in this world which is of ignorance, and thus emperumAnAr so helped;
Or,
to continue with the alternate meaning mentioned earlier, the meaning for ‘poruLaith thurandhu indha bhUthalaththE meyyaip purakkum’ shall be – emperumAnAr drove away one’s feeling of independence (from emperumAn), etc., using his advice, and in this world, he saved the AthmA who is sadhaika rUpa rUpan, and sathya Sabhdha vAchyan (identified by the word Truth).
irAmAnusan niRka – even though there is emperumAnAr present as vEdha mArgga prathishtApanAchArya ubhaya vEdhAnthAchAryar, who is looking out to see if there is any one who could be reformed, and is ‘edhir sUzhal pukku’, waiting for some to show up in his sight,
vERu nammai uyyak kOLLa valla dheivam – As ‘anAdhi pApa vAsanA dhUshita aSEsha sEmusheekar’ (having ignorant knowledge based on scent of eternal bad deeds), due to having the thought that emperumAnAr is one like us (human), and not agreeing to his advice, they look somewhere else looking for ‘some other god who can save us’,
ingi yAdhu enRu ularndhu – ‘who is such god’ – and so kept searching, and flounder, and not finding such god (because such is not present elsewhere), become dry and suffer, and,
avamE aiyyappadA niRpar – even if told that you who have not considered that this matter (emperumAnAr) has to be accepted, you do not have the intellect to take that and survive, and so you do not have any other way to survive – so uselessly they stood having doubts of whether there is any one for them to save them;
vaiyaththu uLLOr nal aRivu izhandhE – the sentient in this earth, have lost the most pure knowledge, and so our advice also ended without use; they got ruined as said in ‘samSayAthmA vinaSyathi’ (one always having doubts will be ruined), Oh!, and so since amudhnAr is a well-wisher of everyone, he is feeling sad for them, you see.
From AzhwAr thirunagari SrI u.vE. vidhwAn thirumalai nallAn chakravarththi rAmakrishNa iyengAr’s ‘amudha virundhu’ :
In the alternative meaning, as additional continuation of driving away dhEhAthmAbhimAnam (thiking that body itself is AthmA (and so fully nurturing the body only), and svasvAthanthriyam (thinking of self as independent from emperumAn), etc., ‘meyyaip purakkum’ would be about ‘saving us to be according to the true nature of AthmA’;
Body is considered ‘poy’ (false), because it keeps changing from birth and becomes ash upon death; dhEhAthmAbhinam and svasvAthanthriyam keep creating such bodies over a cycle of births;
As opposed to this, AthmA is eternal and does not change, and so is ‘mey’ (true) since it appears same ever.
Oh the people of earth not knowing the path are suffering unnecessarily by not listening to the advice of emperumAnAr which can remove our dhEhAthmAbhimAnam and svAthanthriyam.
Since they search for some god, it is clear that they Do wish to get saved; but considering emperumAnAr as just one among them, they are losing, even though they have got the ruchi (interest).
emperumAnAr who can give proper knowledge is waiting; and there is no dearth of wanting (from the people); but without surrendering to emperumAnAr they are losing out such an opportunity – so amudhanAr feels sad.
nammAzhvAr said ‘Adhip pirAn niRka maRRAith theivam nAdudhirE [thiruvAimozhi – 4.10.1]’, and amudhanAr says ‘irAmAnusan niRka vERu nammai uyakkoLLa valla dheivam ingi yAdhu enRu ularndhu’ :
nammAzhvAr says He who gives this body is the god; amudhanAr says he who gives true knowledge and saves AthmA, is the god.
– – – – –
Translation: raghurAm SrInivAsa dasan
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