SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:
avathArikai
AzhwAr says that the activity of vAmana, measuring the worlds, is equivalent to SrI rAma going to the forest despite his mother stopping him.
Let us go through the pAsuram and its meanings:
pinninRu thAyirappak kELAn perumbaNaiththOL
munninRu thAnirappAL moymmalarAl sol ninRa
thOL nalandhAn nEr illAth thOnRal avan aLandha
nIL nalandhAn aththanaikkum nEr
Word by Word Meaning
thAy – the mother, kausalyA
pin ninRu – following [SrI rAma]
irappa – praying (not to go to forest, leaving her)
kELAn – not heeding to that
perum paNai thOL – one who is having divine shoulders similar to great bamboo
moy malarAL thAn – sIthA, who is personification of mahAlakshmi, who in turn was born in a lotus flower
mun ninRu – taking the lead (to go to forest)
irappAL – on praying (to take her too to the forest)
(not acceding to that too)
sol ninRa – one who acted as per the word (of SrI rAmAyaNam)
thOL nalam thAn – in the matter of the strength of shoulder
nEr illA thOnRal – one who has none comparable, SrI rAma pirAn
aththanaikkum – for that activity (of going to the forest not looking at the ills of the forest and boldly going there)
avan aLandha nIL nilam thAn nEr – only the activity of measuring this huge world, is equivalent.
vyAkyAnam
pin ninRu thAy irappak kELAn – kausalyA, mother of SrI rAma, followed SrI rAma and told him “dear son, I have only one son; can I live if I am separated from you? Please do not go to the forest”. Not heeding to her plea, SrI rAma went to the forest.
More than that
perum paNaiththOL mun ninRu – sIthA pirAtti, who is soft and is incarnation of SrI mahAlakshmi, and who is mentioned in SrI rAmAyaNam AraNya kANdam 60-20 as “bAhU rAmasya samSrithA” (one who embraced the shoulders of SrI rAma) and who said as mentioned in SrI rAmAyaNam ayOdhyA kAndam 27-7 “agrathasthE gamishyAmi” (I will precede you [to the forest]), told SrI rAma that she cannot survive without him and prayed to him to let her precede him to the forest. In SrI rAmAyaNam ayOdhyA kANdam 30-18 didn’t sIthAp pirAtti tell SrI rAma “yasthvayA saha sasvargO nirayO yasthvayA vinA” (it will be heavenly if I am with you and hellish if separated from you)! sIthAp pirAtti’s divine shoulder has been described here as perum paNaiththOL moymmalarAL. It is opined here that sIthAp pirAtti’s gentleness and divine beauty were such that SrI rAma himself would come and beseech her.
irappAL – Just as one would throw a beautiful garland into fire thinking that it would make it more beautiful, the person with a gentle and divine beauty went to the forest [the simile stresses that both acts are absurd]. sIthAp pirAtti prayed to SrI rAma that she will not live separated from him and that she would precede him to the forest. SrI rAma, thinking whether it would be apt to take sIthAp pirAtti to the forest which will be similar to a garland being thrown in sunlight, refused to take her. While sIthAp pirAtti was constantly thinking of SrI rAma, SrI rAma was constantly thinking of sIthAp pirAtti.
sol ninRa thOL nalandhAn nErillAth thOnRal – the epic SrI rAmAyaNa was focussed on describing the valour (the strong quality of shoulders) of SrI rAma. Even at the beginning (of the epic) it mentioned as in SrI rAmAyaNam bAla kANdam 1-3 “vIryavAn” (one who is valorous) and in kishkinthA kANdam 3-15 it mentioned “AyathAScha suvruthAScha bAhava: parigOpamA:” (shoulders which were long and which were well rounded). Even sUrpaNaka, who eats corpses, saysof SrI rAma and lakshmaNa, as in SrI rAmAyaNam AraNya kANdam 19-14 “sukumArau mahAbalau” (they are very gentle and very strong). rAmapirAn, who has such shoulder power and who is incomparable …
thOnRal – SrI rAma appeared as if he is the epitome of gentleness.
avan aLandha nIL nilam thAn aththanaikkum nEr – the great expanse of earth which was measured during the incarnation of thrivikrama, would equal that. Just as it is mentioned in periya thirumadal “ponnagaram pinnE pulamba valangoNdu mannum vaLanAdu kaivittu” the act of going to the forest as ordained by his father, not listening to the pleas of his relatives, is equivalent to measuring the worlds. AzhwAr says that the act of going through the stones and thorns in the forest, in rAmAvathAram, with his gentle divine feet is equivalent to measuring the world with its forests and ups and downs with his gentle divine feet during the incarnation of thrivikrama.
We shall take up the 80th pAsuram next.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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