SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:
avathArikai
AzhwAr was asked “brahmA, rudhra et al as well as you take refuge under emperumAn with your faults, without any distinction. Does this mean that there is no difference between them and you?” to which AzhwAr responds in this pAsuram, saying “there is a lot of difference between us. Since I have been granted emperumAn’s mercy, I am capable of seeing him too. brahmA, rudhra et al, who try to see emperumAn through their efforts, are not capable of even praising him”.
Let us go through the pAsuram and its meanings:
AngAravAram adhu kEttu azhal umizhum
pUngAraravaNaiyAn ponmEni yAngANa
vallamE allamE? mAmalarAn vAr sadaiyAn
vallarE allarE vAzhththu
Word for Word Meanings
Angu – during that time of thrivikrama avathAram
AravAram kettu – hearing the loud sound emanating from brahmA et al as they praised emperumAn
[mistaking that sound for asuras creating commotion]
azhal umizhum – spitting fire of poison
pU kAr aravu aNaiyAn – emperumAn has the furious ananthAzhwAn (AdhiSEsha) as his mattress. That emperumAn’s
ponmEni – the divine form
nAm – we (who are ananyabhakthas [not worshipping other deities])
kANa – to worship
vallam allamE – do we not have the ability? (Yes, we have the ability)
mA malarAn – brahmA who was born in a great (lotus) flower
vAr sadaiyAn – Siva, who has long matted hair
vAzhththu – in praising (emperumAn)
vallar allarE – they are not capable
vyAkyAnam
Angu – during that time of thrivikrama avathAram, “kazhuvinAn……Angu” as mentioned in the previous pAsuram.
AravAram adhu kEttu – hearing the words of worship (1) by various entities such as brahmA who, as mentioned in the previous pAsuram “maRai koNda mandhiraththAl vAzhththi” (praising through hymns from vEdhas; (2) by people who were referred to by nammAzhwAr in his thiruvAimozhi 7.4.1 “dhisai vAzhi ezha” (words of praise emanating from all directions), (3) by various people in the worlds who said “sangais surANAm dhivi bhUthalasthais thathA manushyair gaganE cha kEsarai: I sthutha: kramAn ya: prasakAra sarvadhA mamAsthu mAngaLya vivrudhdhayE hari: II ” (let that hari, who was praised by entities such as dhEva, manushya et al (celestial, human et al) and who measured the worlds, expand my auspiciousness)
azhal umizhum – spitting fire, mistaking the sounds emanating from various directions which were actually words of praise on thrivikrama, for attempts being made by some [demons] for harming emperumAn. bhUdhaththAzhwAr, in his iraNdAm thiruvandhAdhi 71, had mercifully mentioned “vidangAlum thIvAyaravaNai mEl thOnRal dhisaiyaLappAn pUvAradi nimirththapOdhu” (when emperumAn who reclines on the mattress of AdhiSEshan who spits poison from his frightening mouths….). The same meaning can be seen in vEdha “jAgruvAmsas samindhathE…”(nithyasUris remain alert …); by periyAzhwAr in his thiruppallANdu 12 “sUzhndhirundhEththuvar pallANdE” (emperumAn will be praised by nithyasUris from all sides) and by parASara bhattar “snEhAdhasthAnakshA vyasanibhi ” (those who make an effort to protect [emperumAn] out of misplaced fear).
pUngAr aravaNaiyAn – one who has the furious AdhiSEshan as his mattress.
pUngAr aravu – since AdhiSEshan’s fury is arising out his love towards emperumAn, even that fury appears beautiful to AzhwAr who is praying that this fury should remain unchanged.
ponmEni yAngANa vallamE allamE – are we, who do not consider that there can be anything beyond emperumAn’s divine form as the means and goal, not capable of seeing his divine form? It is implied that they are very well capable of seeing. Even for bhagavAn, his rUpam (divine form) is dearer than his svarUpam (basic nature) as mercifully mentioned by SrI ALavandhAr in his chathu: SlOkI 4 “mUrtham brahma thathO’pi thathpriyatharam rUpam yadhadhbutham”.
mAmalarAn – nAnmugan who resides in the lotus, shooting from emperumAn’s navel.
vAr sadaiyAn – rudhra who has long matted locks.
vAzhththu vallarE allarE – they are not capable of even praising that emperumAn.
mAmalrAn … – brahmA, who has the vanity that he was born in the lotus like divine navel of emperumAn directly, and rudhra, who is vain that he carried out penance, by letting his matted hair fall to the ground, are incapable of praising emperumAn. AzhwAr says that people who consider emperumAn’s divine form as both means and goal are capable of seeing him.
vallamE allamE …..vallarE allarE – only those like AzhwAr who praise those who are affectionate towards emperumAn are capable of seeing him whereas those who consider that they have great power are incapable of even worshipping him.
There is another interpretation for this pAsuram. Angu is considered to be SrIvaikuNtam . AravAram adhu kEttu – hearing the sAma vEdha (one of the four vEdhas, which is sung with intonations) of nithyasUris in SrIvaikuNtam. azhal umizhum – AdhiSEshan spits fire of poison thinking mistakenly that demons have descended on SrIvaikuNtam and are shouting. The rest of the interpretation is similar to the earlier one.
We will take up the 11th pAsuram next.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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