SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:
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Introduction (given by maNavALa mAmunigaL)
When asked – In this way, it is not just till emperumAnAr, but till those who consider him as everything, is the destiny, is your state – how did you get the taste for this? amudhanAr replies – even that is due to the mere grace of emperumAnAr.
Introduction (given by piLLailOkam jIyar)
In the previous pAsuram – as amudhanAr said ‘nam iRaivar – irAmAnusan thannai uRRavarE’, like (emperumAnAr) said ‘sarvam yadhEva niyamEna madhanvayAnAm’ (everything is nammAzhvAr for me), one who is dependent on emperumAnAr as ‘thEvu maRRu aRiyEn’, is the strongest accompaniment for me’, he is asked ‘in this way, not just till emperumAnAr, but to those who are like shadow and lines of feet (foot steps) of emperumAnAr are the destiny for you – how did this come to occur?’,
amudhanAr replies, there are those who are subservient to him seeing and hearing his glory which is ‘dhikkuRRa keerththi’ (glory spread in all directions), but there are none who are subservient to the disciples who consider him as everything, was the thought of emperumAnAr, and so in the beginning itself he made me subservient to such disciples associated with him – so I got this taste (of subservience to emperumAnAr’s disciples) due to emperumAnAr’s grace.
thannai uRRu Atcheyyum thanmaiyinOr mannu thAmaraith thAL
thannai uRRu Atcheyya ennai uRRAn inRu – than thagavAl
thannai uRRAr anRith thanmai uRRAr illai enRu aRindhu
thannai uRRArai irAmAnusan guNam sARRidumE – 97
Listen
Word by word meaning (given by maNavALa mAmunigaL)
uRRAr anRi – There are only those who are subservient to
thannai – him,
illai enRu – and none
uRRAr – who are involved in the
thanmai – nature of
guNam sARRidum – doing praises of qualities
uRRArai – of those who are subservient to
thannai – him;
aRindhu – thinking so,
irAmAnusan – emperumAnAr
than – by his
thagavAl – grace
inRu – now/today
uRRAn – divined his acceptance of
ennai – me
uRRu – by making me not know of anything else
mannu – other than the ones that match with each other
thAmarai – and which are most enjoyable
thAL thannai – that is, the divine feet of,
AL cheyya – and (making me) be subservient to,
AL cheyyum thanmaiyinOr – those whose nature is to be subservient to him
thannai uRRu – as they surrendered to him such that they do not know of any other matter than him.
Sequencing of phrases in thamizh is to be – ‘thannai uRRAr anRi , thannai uRRArai . guNam sARRidum . thanmai uRRAr illAi, enRu aRindhu – thannai uRRu Atcheyyum thanmaiyinOr mannu thAmaraith thAL thannai uRRu Atcheyya, irAmAnusan than thagavAl, inRu ennai uRRAn’.
vyAkyAnam
thannai uRRAr anRi – Because of nAradha bhagavAn saying ‘kalau kaSchith bhavishyathi’ ((AdhiSEshan) is going to be born in kali yugam (as whom? (emperumAnAr))),
and because the mute who is a son of a devotee fully revealed emperumAnAr’s glory and disappeared,
and also since it said that when yAdhavaprakAsan with vengeance towards him was taking to maNikarNikai, as gOvindap perumAL informed him about this while travelling in the big forest, he was being alone, and at that time, perumAL himself came and helped during the journey and in one night got him to reach kachchi (kAncheepuram) which is ‘oLi mAdangaL sUzhndhu azhagAya [periya thirumozhi – 2.9.4]’ (~kAncheepuram having bright buildings surrounding the town),
and since it is said that through thirukkachchi nambi, pEraruLALar announced all the meanings of thathvam,
and since he went to many places for winning, and in thousand ways/heads debated with scholars of Saivam, mAyAvAdham, jaina, baudhdha, etc., and defeated them,
and since he administered vEnkatAchalam (thirumalai/thiruppathi) and yAdhavAchalam (mElkOte/thirunArAyaNapuram),
all the people of the world saw and heard these glories, and joyfully, as said in ‘avaSA:pradhibEdhirE’ (~automatically fell on his feet), and are staunch in considering him as the means and destiny;
there are only such noble ones, and not –
thannai uRRAr guNam sARRidum thanmai uRRAr illai enRu aRindhu – (seeing that there are none who are of the nature of praising the qualities of those who are surrendered to him)
– thannai uRRAr – those who have understood clearly about his nature, ways according to that nature, form, qualities, and glories (or, being subservient to him only is their nature, ways according to that nature, form, qualities, etc);
Or,
those who have understood clearly as is about how emperumAnAr is having more grace/love towards those who are associated to those who are associated to him;
emperumAnAr wishing amudhanAr to get the grace of those associated to him, is because amudhanAr is apt to understand that nature of emperumAnAr (that he loves more those who are associated to those who are associated to him, and the love flows towards those associated to those associated to amudhanAr).
Nature of emperumAnAr is such that his grace would flow more towards those who are associated to those who are associated to him, than those who are associated to him;
That is why, jeeyar also prayed as ‘thvath dhAsa dhAsa gaNanA charamAva dhau ya: thath dhAsa dhAsaika rasathA avirathA mamAsthu [yathirAja vimSathi – 16]’ (~ wish to be always interested in serving the last of series of hierarchy of servants of your devotees);
(there is no one who would praise the qualities) of those who comprehended this nature of emperumAnAr and surrendered to him;
– guNam sArridum thanmai uRRAr – As said in ‘emmai (ninRu) ALum paramarE [thiruvAimozhi – 3.7.1]’ (~(those devotees are) the ones who rule me),
‘nammai aLikkum pirAkkaLE [thiruvAimozhi – 3.7.5]’,
‘tham adiyAr adiyAr thamakku adiyAr adiyAr tham adiyAr adiyOngaLE [thiruvAimozhi – 3.7.10]’,
‘siRu mA manisarAy ennai ANdAr ingE thiriyavE [thiruvAimozhi – 8.10.3]’ (though small in their divine body, being tall in their intellect, they engaged me in their service),
‘thoNdar sEvadich chezhum chERu en chennikku aNivanE [perumAL thirumozhi – 2.3]’ (~I would wear in my head the beautiful mud of His devotees),
‘kadal mallaith thala sayanam Ar eNNu nenju udaiyAr avar emmai AlvArE [periya thirumozhi – 2.6.2]’ (~whoever is having the heart fixed in emperumAnAr of kadal mallaith thala sayanam, would be my rulers),
‘thaN sERai emperumAn thAL thozhuvAr kANmin en thalai mElArE [periya thirumozhi – 7.4.1]’ (~I would keep on my head (the divine feet of) those who worship the divine feet of beautiful emperumAn at thiruchchErai),
so sang the AzhvArs who were prathama parva nishatar (devoted to emperumAn), about the qualities of devotees – considering this, those who are of the nature of praising such qualities of devotees (of emperumAnAr);
thanmai – nature; sARRu – saying it to publicize;
– iLLai enRu aRindhu – As said in ‘thathrApi dhurlabam manyE vaikuNtapriya dharSanam [SrI bhAgavatham 11.2.29]’ ((It is very rare to acquire a human body which in itself is temporary). Even rarer is to be blessed by the vision of one who is dear to SrIvaikuNtanAthan),
‘idhu thAn dhurlabham, vishaya pravaNanukku aththai vittu, bhagavath vishayaththilE varugaikkuLLa arumai pOl anRu, prathama parvaththai vittu charama parvaththilE varugaikkuLLa arumai [SrI vachana bhUshaNam – 417, 418]’ (~ It is hard to find (devotees of devotees); leaving the attachment towards material realm and becoming to be devoted to emperumAn is easier, compared to leaving aside devotion towards emperumAn and becoming devoted to his devotees), (so it is even harder to elevate someone from love towards AchAryan to love towards AchAryan’s disciples);
understanding that this devotion towards his disciples is ‘mEttu madai’ (water would not flow automatically to a higher plane, so there won’t be water (acceptance) there in a natural manner); that is, having the thought that there is no one (to praise the qualities of emperumAnAr’s devotees);
You see, amudhanAr is of the opinion that this deeper matter (of being devoted to his devotees) is known only to emperumAnAr.
irAmAnusan – emperumAnAr;
You see, emperumAnAr is propagating the meaning now which he could not do in his previous incarnation (as he was devoted to Him that is chakravarthi thirumagan only, and not to His devotees (unlike Sathrugnan who was devoted to His devotee, that is bharathan));
than thagavAl – As said in ‘savithree mukthAnAm, sakala jagadhEna: praSamaneekaree, yObhistheerthairupachitha rasAyAmuna mukhai: – niruSchEdhA nimna itharamabhi samaplAvayathimAm yadhruchchA vikShEpAth yathipathi dhayA dhivya thatinee [yathirAja sapthathi]’ ( (vEdhAnthAchAryar writes this in his style of one word giving two meanings) river ganges which implies kindness/words of emperumAnAr – (they both) form beautiful pearls (muththu) /mukthas (liberated), sins of all the people would be removed (by both), those like yamuna rivers (yAmuna muni) come join this and increase the flow of water (theertham / also means AchAryas), (flow/kindness) would never dry up, would splash to the higher plane (higher plane means those who do not show interest) and make it wet (make such people amicable);
by his utmost grace that is overflowing like uncontrollable river cauvEry (though the aforementioned SlOkam is about river ganges, here commentator talks about cauvEry due to emperumAnAr and disciples living in SrIrangam and mainly know that only);
this grace (of AdhiSeshan) was immersed inside him due to the beauty of SrI rAma, and so he could not publicise it then.
thannai uRRu AL cheyyum thanmaiyinOr – As said in ‘vAchA yatheendhra manasa vapushA cha yushmath pAdhAravindha yugaLam bhajathAm [yathirAja vimSathi – 3]’
(the gurus who meditate upon your divine feet with their words, mind, and body) and,
‘nithyam yatheendhra thava dhivya vapussmruthaumE saktham manO bhavathu vAk guNa keerthanEsau – kruthyancha dhAsya karaNanthu karadhvayasya vruthyantharEsthu vimukham karaNathrayancha [yathirAja vimSathi – 4]’ (~Oh emperor of saints! May my mind be blessed to meditate upon your beautiful divine body. May my speech be always engaged in talking about your auspicious qualities. May the two hands of mine be always engaged in serving you as your servant. May my three faculties, mind, speech, and body, not be involved in any other matters).
and,
‘nithyam (Sreeman) yatheendhra thava dhivya padhAbhja sEvA [yathirAja vimSathi – 19]’ (Oh my lord rAmAnuja! Kindly grace me to worship your divine feet every day),
they surrender to emperumAnAr and do not know any other worldly matters, and are having the nature of wishing to serve him with all three faculties (mind, speech, and body);
thanmaiyinOr – having (such) nature;
mannu thAmaraith thAL thannai uRRu AL cheyya ennai uRRAn inRu – As said in ‘thruNeekrutha virinchAdhi nirankuSa vibhUthaya: | rAmAnuja padhAmbhOja samASrayaNasAlina:’ (~ for those who have gotten to the divine feet of emperumAnAr, even the sathyalOkam that is the abode of brahma is like a grass/straw (insignificant)),
and,
‘rAmAnujArya charaNa dhvandhva kainkarya vruththaya: – sarvAvasthAsu sarvAsu dhArakA: bhOshakASchamE’ (if they get the divine feet of emperumAnAr, then at all times, places, etc., it would be life life supporting, life sustaining, and enjoyment for them),
in this way those (disciples) who are to be praised in all the ways,
as AzhvAr was staunch and said ‘uNNum sORu parugunIr thinnum veRRilai ellAm kaNNan [thiruvAimozhi 6.7.1]’ (kaNNan who is food (which gives nutrition), water (which sustains) and betel leaves (which give enjoyment)),
they are staunch in the view that emperumAnAr is the life saving, sustaining, and enjoyment;
being like beautiful lotus flower, as ‘gambheerAmbas samuthbhUtham’, being very delicate, and equal to each other, and always being completely enjoyable – such divine feet of (the devotees of emperumAnAr);
as said in ‘thath dhAsa dhAsaika rasathA avirathA mamAsthu [yathirAja vimSathi – 16]’ (~ wish to be always interested in serving the last of series of hierarchy of servants of your devotees), having the mind of doing ‘vazhuvilA adimai [thiruvAimozhi – 3.3.1]’ (~service without any break), and having the devotion like Him as He said in ‘mama math bhaktha bhakthEshu preethirabyadhikObhavEth – thasmAth mathbhaktha bhakthAScha pUjaneeyA viSEshatha:’ (My love is more towards devotees of my devotees. So, my devotees and their devotees are to be worshiped like I am worshiped), (here amudhanAr is having similar love towards the devotees of devotees of emperumAnAr)
they surrendered to emperumAnAr and are ‘maRRoru pERu madhiyAdhu’ (~not giving significance to any other benefit);
emperumAnAr reformed me today/now, and accepted me, such that I do services to his devotees as per the wish;
mannu – fittingly;
This acceptance was not something present earlier – inRu uRRAn – he accepted me today/now.
That is, amudhanAr is saying, as said in ‘adhyamE sapalam janma: suprabAthAchamEnichA’ (akrUrar saying that today only there is a dawn as he is going to see kaNNan), the never-breaking hard hell got removed, and today it started to the path of nal veedu (SrIvaikuNtam).
From AzhwAr thirunagari SrI u.vE. vidhwAn thirumalai nallAn chakravarththi rAmakrishNa iyengAr’s ‘amudha virundhu’ :
For a very long time emperumAnAr had an unfullfilled wish, that – all are surrendering to me only and are not surrendering to those surrendered to me and not praising their qualities for the world to know. He got that wish fullfilled today as he made me be surrendered to the divine feet of those who are surrendered to him – says amudhanAr.
and this was not by force – it is by showing me how enjoyable those divine feet are – he uses the phrase ‘mannu thAmaraith thAL’, to highlight this.
As he is ‘amudhanAr’ who can author poems, emperumAnAr got him to surrender to the divine feet of kUraththAzhvAn his disciple, to sing praises about him; but since kUraththAzhvAn did not agree to it, amudhanAr as he praised emperumAnAr in this prabandham, had to be satisfied with mentioning about kUraththAzhvAn in some pAsurams here and there; this is similar to how emperumAnAr wrote about his AchAryan’s AchAryan ALavandhAr, in ‘yath padhAmboruhadhyAna’.
Now, if we consider ‘sARRidumE’, as verb-related (finite verb / action based), that is, ‘emperumAnAr would say/celebrate’ then we can make a meaning for first two sentences fully, and for second two sentences fully, without having to move around the phrases. May be maNavALa mAmunigaL did not wish to consider the word ‘thanmai’ to give meaning of emperumAnAr’s nature; but since it is not considered unwanted to think of a different explanation, as said in ‘nirvAhasya nirvAhAntharA dhUshakathvam’ (~one explanation does not condemn a different explanation), I pray that the noble ones to consider this different explanation not as condemning other explanations. So: For the word ‘thanmai’ in the third line, if we consider the meaning as AthmA‘s true nature of being devoted to devotees;
so, while there are those who are devoted to him, there are not any who are devoted to my devotees – thinking so, emperumAnAr, to make me be subservient to his devotees, he (himself) would praise his disciples – would be the meaning of last two lines.
Is it correct to say emperumAnAr would praise his own disciples? One reason he would do that is to highlight the glroy of his disciples to the new entrants so that they understand his disciples’ glory and surrender to them;
another reason would be, as the new entrants become devoted to the devotees, he would become very happy and so would celebrate his devotees about that;
Like how when the parrot that she took care of would say apt names of emperumAn (by understanding the state of its owner) parakAla nAyaki to keep her surviving, she would celebrate her parrot saying, ‘vaLarththadhanAl payan peRREn varuga [thirunedunthANdakam – 14]’ (~Oh! I got the benefit of rearing you), emperumAnAr also seeing that his disciples are teaching other what he taught them, and for getting ‘adiyArkku adiyAr’ (disciples of disciples), emperumAnAr is celebrating those disciples.
So first two lines indicate emperumAnAr making amudhanAr surrender to kUraththAzhvAn, and in the last two lines indicate emperumAnAr celebrating kUraththAzhvAn since he accpeted to be amudhanAr’s AchAryan as per the wish of emperumAnAr.
than thagavAl – applies to both the phrases (by kAkAshi nyAyam (like how a crow with its only one eye looks both ways)); by his nature of grace he made amudhanAr subservient to kUraththAzhvAn; by his nature of grace, he highlights the glories of those associated to him (so that amudhanAr and others would become subservient to those associated to emperumAnAr).
– – – – –
Translation: raghurAm SrInivAsa dasan
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