SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:
avathArikai
AzhwAr is asking whether those who got to see emperumAn through their own efforts, by observing other means, could equal him who got to see emperumAn through his mercy. To reach emperumAn who does not have anyone superior to him or even equalling him, shouldn’t one follow a means which is like emperumAn himself – without anything superior or equal to it? (is there any such means other than emperumAn’s mercy!) AzhwAr says that when compared to the benefit that he had obtained through emperumAn’s mercy, those who had attained emperumAn before him have not got anything.
Let us go through the pAsuram and its meanings:
navinRuraiththa nAvalargaL nANmalar koNdu AngE
payinRadhanAl peRRa payan enkol payinRAr tham
meyththavaththAl kANbariya mEgamaNivaNNanai yAn
eththvaththAl kANbankol inRu
Word by Word Meaning
navinRu uraiththa – (through other means, reciting) emperumAn’s divine names for a long time
nAvalargaL – poets
nAL malar koNdu – taking flowers which had just then blossomed
AngE payinRu – approaching that emperumAn closely
adhanAl peRRa payan enkol – what is the benefit (that they had) thus obtained?
payinRAr tham – those who carry out efforts through other means [than emperumAn’s mercy]
mey thavaththAl – the penance that they carry out with their physical bodies
kANbariya – one who is impossible to see
mEga maNivaNNanai – emperumAn who has the complexion of cloud and blue coloured gem
yAn – adiyEn (the servitor, I)
inRu – now
eththavaththAl kol kANban – with which penance will I see?
vyAkyAnam
navinRu uraiththu – reciting emperumAn’s divine names repeatedly, with lot of involvement
nAvalargaL – entities such as brahmA et al, who desire other benefits
nAL malar koNdu – taking objects such as freshly blossomed flowers; taking good flowers
AngE payinRadhanAl peRRa payan enkol – what benefits did such people get after attaining emperumAn? The benefit which a person obtains with his own efforts is not a benefit at all.
payinRAr tham – those who carry out means with their own efforts, i.e. those who attain emperumAn this way.
meyththavaththAl – through the penance that they carry out by subjecting their physical bodies to pain
kANbariya mEga maNivaNNanai – emperumAn, who is difficult to see through their own efforts, who is having the complexion of cloud and blue coloured gems, who has a divine form which removes the fatigue of those who see him
yAn eththavaththAl kANban kol inRu – what penance did I, a very lowly entity, carry out and see him? I saw him because he chose to show himself to me. It is only this much and nothing else. AzhwAr says that despite not carrying out any effort, he was able to see emperumAn because of his natural grace. Just as nammAzhwAr said of himself that there is none like him as in thiruvAimozhi 4-5-8 “yAr nigar agal vAnaththE” (who, in SrIvaikuNtam, can equal me?) and as in thiruvAimozhi 4-5-9 “vAnak kOnaik kavisolla vallERku ini mARu uNdO” (is there anyone who can substitute me in singing paeans on emperumAn?), this AzhwAr too is asking if there is anyone who is his equal.
kANban kol inRu – unless I had known yesterday that I am going to see emperumAn today, how could I find a reason for this? He says that he got to see emperumAn who is causeless, only with the sheer grace of emperumAn.
We shall move on to the 87th pAsuram next.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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