SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:
avathArikai
AzhwAr asks whether samsAris (those living in materialistic realm) can get rid of their samsAram by doing beneficial activities themselves. He is asking whether there is any way other than reciting emperumAn‘s divine names to survive. He says that there is no way to protect ourselves other than reciting the divine names of emperumAn, who churned the oceans, unmindful of his strain, while giving the elixir to those who were after other benefits [dhEvas, the celestial entities].
Let us go through the pAsuram and its meanings:
ALamar venRi adu kaLaththuL agyAnRu
vALamar vENdi varai nattu nILaravaich
chuRRik kadaindhAn peyar enRE thol nagaraip
paRRIk kadaththum padai
Word by Word Meanings
AL amar venRi adu kaLaththuL – in the battlefield which contains warriors and victory
agyAnRu – during that time (when the demons troubled dhEvas, the celestial entities)
vAL amar vENdi – desiring the war which carries respect
varai nattu – keeping the mantharagiri (a divine mountain) as (as agitator, to churn the ocean)
nIL aravaich chuRRi – coiling the long snake (vAsuki) as rope (for churning)
kadaindhAn – one who churned (the milky ocean)
peyar – divine names
paRRi – scooping (the chEthanas, the sentient entities)
thol naragai – the ancient hellish regions
kadaththum – will enable to cross
padai anRE – is it not an upAyam (means)!
vyAkyAnam
AL mar venRi adu kaLaththuL – being full of warriors, close to each other, having victory
adu kaLaththu – battlefield in which lives are lost
agyAnRu – that day when the demons troubled dhEvas and ate them up
vALamar vENdi – vAL – radiance. Desiring a war which will have radiance. When demons and celestial persons were engaged in the war, when the demons became very powerful and celestial persons started losing their strength, in order to create a war which will bring esteem for celestials who are friendly towards him and who are his followers, emperumAn waited.
varai nattu nIL aravaich chuRRik kadaindhAn peyar anrE – but that needs a means. In deep waters [of the ocean] keeping a mountain which can sink, coiling the soft snake vAsuki, emperumAn churned the huge ocean.
thol naragaip paRRik kadaththum padai – is it not the divine name of emperumAn who is capable of measuring the ocean and churning it, which is capable of making us to cross the ancient hell of samsAram (materialistic realm) and to keep us in mOksham (SrIvaikuNtam)!
paRRik kadaththum padai – is it not the divine name of emperumAn which will sweep us from samsAram and keep us in paramapadham (SrIvaikuNtam)! Just as emperumAn gave elixir to those who desired other benefits [dhEvas], just as svayamprabhai (a lady character in SrI rAmAyaNam) through the power of her penance, placed the army of monkeys who went in search of sIthAppirAtti on the shores of the ocean, the divine name of emperumAn will, by itself, take us to paramapadham and uplift us by giving us dhAsyAmrutham (the nectar of servitorship). jithanthE SlOkam 4 says “thvAmEva SaraNam prApya nistharanthi manIshiNa:” (those people who surrender to you cross samsAram).
We shall take up the 82nd pAsuram next.
adiyEn krishNa ramanuja dhAsan
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