periya thiruvandhAdhi – 42 – pAr uNdAn

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avathArikai

In the previous pAsuram, AzhwAr said that earth stabilised because of emperumAn. In this pAsuram, he says “Is this the only one activity [by which he showed that he is the protector]? Are there not many ways by which he protected the earth? Who else can be the refuge for this earth other than such emperumAn? ”

Let us go through the pAsuram and its meanings:

pAruNdAn pArumizhndhAn pAridandhAn pAraLandhAn
pAridam mun padaiththAn enbarAl pAridam
AvAnum thAnAnAl AridamE maRRoruvrkku
AvAn pugAvA avai

Word by Word Meanings

pAr uNdAn – (emperumAn) swallowed the earth
pAr umizhndhAn – he spat out the earth
pAr idandhAn – he dug out the earth
pAr aLandhAn – he measured the entire worlds (with his divine feet)
pAr idam mun padaiththAn – he created all these worlds during the time of great deluge
enbar – (knowledgeable people) will say

(due to all these reasons)
pAr idam AvAnum thAn – it is only he who becomes this expansive world
AnAl – if this were the case
Ar idamE – who do these places (in the worlds) belong to?
avai – those worlds
maRRu oruvarkku AvAn pugA – will not be subservient to anyone else

vyAkyAnam

pAr uNdAn – during the time of deluge, he protected by keeping in his stomach so that the worlds will not suffer in the deluge.

pAr umizhndhAn – later, he let out the worlds which he had swallowed.

pAr idandhAn – when hiraNyAkshan (a demon) hid the world under water, he took the form of a great boar and dug out the world from the walls of universe and protected it.

pAr aLandhAn – when mahAbali seized all the three worlds from indhra, he took the form of thrivikrama and measured the worlds with his divine feet, redeeming the worlds from mahAbali and giving them back to indhra, thus protecting them.

pAr idam mun padaiththAn – when the chEthana (sentient) entities were without their physical forms and senses, and thus were ineligible to experience the worldly pleasures or to seek liberation, he created them in this world during the time of creation so that they would become eligible and thus protected them.

enbarAl – authentic texts, which do not have any faults in them, and the sages who accepted these texts say that it was only the supreme being who carried out such great tasks which could not have been carried out by anyone else.

pAr idam AvAnum thAn – by protecting through all these activities, by having all the worlds as his physical form and being their indwelling soul, it is only he who is all the worlds. Since he is all the worlds, could one say that the worlds and he have become unified in their svarUpa (basic nature) by their communion? Since it is not possible to have unification due to faults in the worlds, since he is the protector starting with the activity pAr uNdAn (swallowed the world), since he is the cause, since  he is the one who pervades, since the world is protected by him, since the world is the effect of his activity, since it is pervaded by him, and since relationships such as protector – protected, cause – effect, one who pervades and one who is pervaded, SarIraSarIri (body and soul) have been shown for saying that the world is one with him, it is not possible to have unification in svarUpam. Did not vEdha (sacred text) also say that the entire world is only brahmam (supreme being) and that the reason for this is the cause-effect and SarIra – SarIri relationship, as mentioned in chAndhOgya upanishath 3-14-1 “sarvam kalvidham brahma thajjalAnidhi SAntha upAsItha” (let him worship by remaining peaceful (thinking) that since it is generated from brahmam, it ends with brahmam and it sustains due to brahmam, all these are brahmam)?

AnAl AridamE – when emperumAn is everything for the worlds, who is the refuge for the worlds?

maRRoruvarkku AvAn pugA avai – the sentient entities in the world cannot become anyone else’s possession. The word avai refers to the sentient entities who are in the world. Alternatively, we can say that the activities referred to by words such as uNdAn, umizhndhAn etc cannot be applicable to anyone else. The word Al is filler without any significant meaning.

We will move on to the 43rd pAsuram.

adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan

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