SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:
avathArikai
AzhwAr says that one should not think of any matter other than carrying out bhakthi (devotion) towards such emperumAn. He asks whether it is possible to think of anyone else when one considers emperumAn’s nature of being totally devoted to his followers.
Let us go through the pAsuram and its meanings:
puriyoru kai paRRi Or ponnAzhiyEndhi
ariyuruvum ALuruvumAgi eriuruva
vaNNaththAn mArbidandha mAladiyai allAl maR
ReNNaththAmO imai
Word by Word Meanings
puri – the conch pAnchajanya, which is turned to the right side
oru kai paRRi – holding in one hand
Or ponnAzhi Endhi – (in the other hand) holding the unique, beautiful sudharSana chakra (disc)
ari uruvum AL uruvum Agi – being in the form of narasimham, which is a combination of human body and lion’s face
eri uruva vaNNaththAn – hiraNya kashyap’s form, which is like fire
mArbu idandha – tearing the heart
mAl – biased towards his followers
adiyai allAl – other than his divine feet
maRRu – another entity
imai – even for a moment
eNNaththAn AmO – is it possible to think?
vyAkyAnam
puri oru kai paRRi – puri is the shortened form for valampuri which refers to emperumAn’s conch pAnchajanya which is turned towards the right side. He is having the conch in his left hand and the beautiful-to-look-at disc in his right. Since AzhwAr is going to say later “eri uruva vaNNaththAn mArbidandha” (killing hiraNya kashyap) emperumAn had to hold tightly the conch which was raring to fall on hiraNya kashyap and kill him. emperumAn could not allow the conch to kill the demon in order to ensure that the boon that hiraNya kashyap had obtained that he would not be killed by any weapon, is not belied. The term paRRi refers to this state of emperumAn’s holding the conch tightly so that it does not fall atop hiraNya kashyap. In the same way, the term Endhi used in combination with the chakram (disc) refers to the fact that emperumAn could not engage the disc for killing hiraNya kashyap. Since hiraNyan could not be killed by the disc, emperumAn held it not as a weapon but as an aid to beauty. ponnAzhi refers to the disc being beautiful as well as being made of gold.
ari uruvum AL uruvum Agi – Since emperumAn could not kill hiraNyan with the disc or conch, he had to take a form, suitable for killing the demon. Since hiraNyan had been granted a boon that he will not be killed by human or animal, emperumAn had to assume a form which is a combination of both – narasimha (man-lion interface)
eri uruva vaNNaththAn mArbidandha – emperumAn tore apart the chest of hiraNyan who had a form which was like fire, and which was terrible to look at. Due to extreme anger, hiraNyan’s face was reddened and could not be looked at. Alternatively, one can consider the meaning for hiraNyan, which is gold, and say that his form was like gold which had shone like fire.
mAl adiyai allAl – if we consider the meaning for mAl as affection, this verse would mean the divine feet of narasimha perumAL who incarnated to remove the enemy of his staunch child-devotee prahlAdha and be loving towards his devotee. If we consider the meaning for mAl as being proud, this term will refer to the divine feet of emperumAn who pervaded through all places in the context of the word mahAvishNum which is found in the narasimha anushtup manthra.
maRRu eNNathAn AmO imai – Is it proper to think of anything other than the divine feet of such an entity, even for a moment? AzhwAr says that when one thinks of the divine feet of emperumAn who came to the rescue of the hapless child [devotee] when the child was considered as a foe by his own father, such divine feet will not allow one to think of anything else. Or, as in the earlier few pAsurams, we can construe that AzhwAr is telling his heart “Oh heart! could you think of anything other than such an entity even for a moment?”
We shall move on to the 32nd pAsuram.
adiyEn krishNa ramanuja dhAsan
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