iraNdAm thiruvandhAdhi – 42 – ninaippan thirumAlai

SrI:  SrImathE SatakOpAya nama:  SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama:  SrImath varavaramunayE nama:

Full Series

<< Previous

avathArikai

AzhwAr, getting dejected with the worldly pursuits, says that only those who think of emperumAn will not enter samsAram again.

Let us go through the pAsuram and its meanings:

ninaippan thirumAlai nINda thOL kANa
ninaippAr piRapponRum nErAr manaippAl
piRandhAr pirAndhu eydhum pErinbam ellAm
thuRandhAr thozhudhArath thOL

Word by Word Meaning

thirumAlai – the consort of SrI mahAlakshmi
nINda thOL kANa ninaippan – to enjoy (his) divine shoulders, I think of him
ninaippAr – those who think (like this)
piRappu onRum – any type of birth [in any of the classes of dhEvas, humans, animals and plants]
nErAr – will not attain
ath thOL – those divine shoulders
thozhuvAr – those who worship
manaippAl pirAndhAr piRandhu eydhum inbam ellAm – the small [worldly] pleasures which those who attain since they are born in samsAram (materialistic realm)
thuRandhAr – they detest [them]

vyAkyAnam

ninaippan thirumalai – isn’t the consort of thirumagaL (SrI mahAlakshmi) apt to be meditated upon! It is similar to thinking of one’s mother and father. AzhwAr thinks of emperumAn just like how a person who has gone to another country, thinks of his parents. He says that he thinks of the way SrI rAma and sIthAppirAtti were together seen in the ASram (hermitage) of sage SrI athri bhagavAn. He says that it is similar to the way he saw perumAL and pirAtti in the corridor of mrigaNdu maharishi in thirukkOvalUr. Just as lakshmaNa said in SrI rAmAyaNam ayOdhyA kANdam 8-31 “bhrAthA bharthA cha bandhuScha pithA cha mama rAghava” (SrI rAma is my elder brother, lord, relative and father), the purpose of thinking of emperumAn is not for begging him to obtain any benefit.

If not, then for what?

nINda thOL kANa – Instead of seeing the shoulders which have wizened due to separation from pirAtti, I want to see his divine shoulders which have become larger due to his being together with pirAtti. To see the shoulders which appear sweet because of his being together with her. It is not obtaining benefits such as attaining heaven etc.

What should be done with the births which present a hurdle to think of him?

ninaippAr piRappu enRum nErAr – Those who think of emperumAn this way will not attain any birth, ever. If the text is taken to be piRappu onRum nErAr, the entity which goes by the name birth will not come anywhere near such a person.

manaippAl – in the  house

piRandhAr piRandhu eydhum – those who are born in various houses [various births]. The benefit that they attain, after being born like this . . . .

pErinbam ellAm – all the pleasures. AzhwAr terms the worldly pursuits as pErinbam (great pleasures).

The heaviness of these pleasures which prevents one from approaching emperumAn all these days ..

thuRandhAr thozhudhAr ath thOL – Aren’t they the ones who had renounced such petty pleasures! They are the ones who worship the divine shoulders of emperumAn.  Alternative interpretation – who can renounce these petty pleasures and worship emperumAn unless emperumAn himself shows his shoulders to the one who thinks of him?

We shall take up the 43^rd pAsuram next.

adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan

archived in https://divyaprabandham.koyil.org

pramEyam (goal) – https://koyil.org
pramANam (scriptures) – http://granthams.koyil.org
pramAthA (preceptors) – http://acharyas.koyil.org
SrIvaishNava education/kids portal – http://pillai.koyil.org