SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:
avathArikai
Once AzhwAr mercifully said “virumbuvadhE viLLEn manam” emperumAn established himself firmly in AzhwAr’s mind saying “even if you and your mind forget me, I will not” just as nammAzhwAr said mercifully in thiruvAimozhi 1-10-10 “maRappanenRu sendhAmaraikkaNNodu maRappaRa ennuLLE manninAn” (thinking that I will forget, emperumAn, with his lotus-like eyes, came and established himself firmly in my mind so that I will not forget). Looking at this, AzhwAr is elated saying “if others think of emperumAn, the supreme being will merely remove the sorrows of their minds. However in my case, he establishes firmly in my mind, without any cause, falling head over heels, like a firmly rooted plant. No one else has this wealth”.
Let us go through the pAsuram and its meanings:
manakkEdham sArA madhusUdhan thannai
thanakEdhAn thanjamAkkoLLil enakkEdhAn
inRonRi ninRulagai EzhANai OttinAn
senRonRi ninRa thiru
Word for Word Meanings
madhusUdhan thannai – emperumAn who killed the demon madhu
thanakkE thanjam A thAn koLLil – if one takes(emperumAn) as his refuge
manak kEdham – troubles of the mind
sArA – will not reach
onRi ninRu – (without letting go) standing firmly
Ezh ulagai – in all the seven worlds
ANai OttinAn – emperumAn who rules with his sceptre
inRu – today
thAn – he himself
senRu – coming (to me)
onRi ninRa thiru – the wealth which is fitting (in me)
enakkE – is only for me and for no one else.
vyAkyAnam
manakkEdham – if we consider this as a derivative of the Sanskrit word mana: kEdha:, it will mean sorrows of the mind. Alternatively, this word can be split into manaththukku Edham which will mean faults of the mind such as ignorance etc.
manakkEdham sArA madhusUdhan thannaith thanakkE thAn thanjamAk koLLil – emperumAn had killed the demons madhu and kaitabha when they stole the vEdhas and spread ignorance in the world, and protected brahmA, rudhra et al. If one takes such emperumAn as the means, emperumAn will destroy ignorance in his mind just as he destroyed madhu / kaitabha and shower his grace on him.
thanakkE thAn thanjamAk koLLil – this implies that this is the status of svagatha svIkAra nishtA – one who holds on to emperumAn on his own efforts. Those who surrender are of two types – those who are svagatha svIkAra nishtA [just now explained] and paragatha svIkAra nishtA – one who looks up to emperumAn to enable him to hold on to emperumAn, thinking “the owner will hold on to his possession when he wants”.
Thus AzhwAr spoke of the status of svagatha svIkAra nishta in the first two lines. In the next two lines, AzhwAr speaks about the way emperumAn distinctly treats paragatha svIkAra nishtA – himself.
enakkEdhAn inRonRi ninRulagai EzhANai OttinAN senRonRi ninRa thiru – emperumAn is referred to as one who pervades all the worlds both inside and outside, as mentioned in nArAyaNa sUktham “antharbahiScha thathsarvam nArAyaNasthitha:” AzhwAr says that he got the great wealth of such emperumAn who is like a well fitting great emperor of all the worlds, who came on his own into this mind and stayed firmly.
enakkEdhAn – the affection which emperumAn has towards those who look up to him is many times more than the affection that emperumAn has towards those who seek him out on their own. Thus his affection towards herdsmen, herdswomen, herdsgirls, cows, calves is ten times deeper than with others. This is the greatest treasure which is hidden in such pramANams (authentic sources of information) such as AzhwArs’ pAsurams “thivaththilum pasunirai mEyppu uvaththi” (you are more joyous tending to cows than you are in paramapadham), “kanRu mEyththu inidhugandha” (one who is the most joyous tending to calves), “kAli mEykka vallAn” (one who is strong in grazing cattle), “kanRu mEyththu viLaiyAda vallAn” (one who is strong in grazing and playing with calves) etc.
This pAsuram explains clearly the meaning of the vEdha vAkyam (saying of vEdha) “prajApathis thvam vEdha I prajApathim thvO vEdha I yam prajApathir vEdha sa puNyO bhavathi” (supreme being attains one (on his own). One attains supreme being, seeking him out, on his own. Of these, whoever supreme being attains on his own, is the best).
We will move on to the 62nd pAsuram next.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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