SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:
avathArikai
emperumAn asks AzhwAr “are there any activities which we have carried out for followers such that you are able to think of without forgetting?”. AzhwAr responds saying “Are the benefits carried out by dhEvarIr (honorific way of saying ‘you’) one or two? Aren’t they so many!” AzhwAr expands the term maRRallAl used in the previous pAsuram, in this.
Let us go through the pAsuram and its meanings:
uNarndhAy maRai nAngum OdhinAy nIdhi
maNandhAy malarmagaL thOL mAlE maNandhAy pOy
vEyirumsAral viyaliru gyAlam sUzh
mAyirum sOlai malai
Word by Word Meaning
mAlE – Oh one who has lot of affection! [towards his followers]
maRai nAngum – the four vEdhams (sacred texts)
uNarndhAy – (during every deluge) kept in your mind and let them out
nIdhi – texts such as smruthis which explain the concepts in vEdhams [similar to an auxiliary text]
OdhinAy – you mercifully gave through sages such as manu et al.
malar magaL – periya pirAtti, who was born in a flower
thOL – with her divine shoulders
maNandhAy – you are together, always
vEy irum sAral – having foothills abounding with bamboo shoots
viyal – wondrous
iru gyAlam sUzh – circum-ambulated by people in this expansive world
mAyirum sOlai malai pOy – coming to thirumAlirum sOlai [a divine abode near present day madhurai]
maNandhAy – are residing with happiness in your divine mind
vyAkyAnam
uNarndhAy maRai nAngum – you remembered the four vEdhas (sacred texts). You released the vEdhas during creation of worlds after deluge, just as a person wakes up after sleeping and just as a person remembers after forgetting something. You had remembered to keep the vEdhas safely when the sentient and insentient entities were without a form or name [during deluge] and released them at the start of creation, the next time that it occurs. Since you remembered the vEdhas again, properly, it has affirmed the permanency of the vEdhas as well as the fact that they were not written by any one person. Instead of saying vEdham seydhAn (he created the vEdhams), AzhwAr is saying vEdham uNarndhAn (he remembered the vEdhams). This is similar to the saying in kAtakam 3-9-50 “pUrvE pUrvEbhyO vacha EthadhUchu:” (the forefathers repeated the words of their forefathers). nammAzhwAr has divinely mentioned this in thiruvAimozhi 1-1-7 “uLan sudarmigu surudhiyuL” (he resides in the radiant vEdhas) and in thiruvAimozhi 1-6-2 “mudhu vEdha mudhalvan”(he is termed as the first, complete entity by the ancient vEdhas). He gave vEdhas, in a way similar to giving a copper inscription which gives the details of where a treasure is hidden.
OdhinAy nIdhi – you created the upabruhmaNams (auxiliary texts) such as smruthi (dharmaSAsthras or texts about righteousness), ithihAsa (famous epics SrI rAmAyaNam and mahAbhAratham) and purANas (ancient texts giving the details of various incarnations). Just as the face reflects what is running in the mind, these upabrahmaNams reflect what is mentioned in vEdhas.
maNandhAy malarmagaL thOL – you hugged the shoulders of periya pirAtti (SrI mahAlakshmi) who is established in the vEdhas. Not only is emperumAn established in the vEdhas, but the fact that he lives permanently with periya pirAtti in SrIvaikuNtam is also established in the vEdhas. (subsequently several examples confirming that emperumAn is always with periya pirAtti are quoted). yajus samhithai 4-4-12 says “asyESAnA jagathO vishNu pathnI” (she is the mother for the world and consort for vishNu); purusha sUktham “hRIScha thE lakshmIScha pathnyau” (bhUmidhEvi and lakshmidhEvi are your consorts); “ISAnA dhEvI bhuvanasya pathnI” (she controls the world and is consort of vishNu); yajur 3-3 “SradhdhayA dhEvO dhEvathvamaSnuthE” (because of pirAtti, emerpumAn gets the inherent quality of being the lord); SrI sUktham 9 “ISvarIm sarvabhUthAnAm” (she controls all the living beings); lakshmi sahasranAmam 1 “pumpradhAnESvara ISvarIm” (she is the consort of emperumAn who controls jIvAthmA and primordial matter); SrI rAmAyaNam AraNya kANdam 37-18 “aprayamEyamhi thaththEja: yasya sA janakAthmajA” (isn’t the radiance of that SrI ramA with whom sIthA, the daughter of janaka, is together, immeasurable!); SrI rAmAyaNam bAla kAndam 4-7 “kAvyam rAmAyaNam kruthsnam sIthAyA: charitham” (the entire Sri RamAyaNam epic is about the story of sIthA). Thus, the greatness of pirAtti is mentioned in vEdhas and upabruhmaNas. vEdham affirms that emperumAn and pirAtti are always together. Being established by vEdhas is symbolic of being the supreme entity, just as being the consort of pirAtti is.
maNandhAy pOy vEy irum sAral viyal iru gyAlam sUzh mAyirum sOlai malai – you desired to dwell in thirumAlirum sOlai so that people of the world can see you and enjoy you with their eyes instead of remaining only in paramapadham (SrIvaikuNtam) as mentioned by vEdhas, which will remain just that way – on paper [where people of this world could not have seen you]. You were happy with the huge thirumAlirum sOlai which has abundance of bamboo shoots on its foot hills, which is amazing and which is attained by people of the world. If the meaning for the term mAlE is taken as ‘one with affection’, the meaning for this term will be that this affection becomes the reason for emperumAn to dwell in thirumAlirum sOlai.
We shall take up the 49th pAsuram next.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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