thiruvAimozhi – 9.3 – OrAyiram

emperumAn says “Should you pray like this? Do you not know our relationship?” AzhwAr thinks about that and becomes pleased. Previously he prayed “kUvudhal varudhal seyyAy“; emperumAn pacified him saying “Who is doing the prayer of whom? My blood [maternal] relationship with you is such that I should pray for attaining you. This being the case, I will fulfil all your desires; don’t be upset”. It is said in nAchchiyAr thirumozhi 2.4 “maiyal ERRi mayakka un mugam mAya mandhiram thAnkolO” (Your face is the medicine which will drive me mad); SrI kausalyA follwed perumAL (SrI rAma) saying “I who am a mother with a single-child, cannot live without you; I too will come with you”, perumAL understood her feelings, looked at her face-to-face and mercifully told her “Mother! Your act of following me is dharmahAni (violation of dharma)” and she who went to bring him back, performed mangaLASAsanam and returned; this is how his glance and words are like. When he speaks a word, one will have no other choice than following him. Thus, AzhwAr enjoyed his being nArAyaNa; as the meaning of the word “nArAyaNa” is analysed, it is understood that no entity (AthmA) can itself pray for the great loss; on thinking about such emperumAn’s special mercy upon self, and the ultimate meaning of this word nArAyaNa, that is his quality of simplicity, AzhwAr got the desire to see such emperumAn who is simple; he became so immersed in his qualities such as simplicity, that he did not have the strength to walk up to emperumAn’s abode. Now, even if went there, emperumAn was not in a state to accept AzhwAr’s kainkaryams; AzhwAr too, was unable to do anything and enjoy him since AzhwAr was fully immersed in his simplicity. In this decad, AzhwAr speaks about such emperumAn’s simplicity and completes it.

Another introduction – AzhwAr thought about the meaning of praNavam in thiruvAimozhi 8.8 “kaNgaL sivandhu“; in that, in the first two and half pAsurams, he mercifully explained the meaning of akAram, and in the subsequent one and half pAsurams, he mercifully explained the meanings of chathurthi (Aya which is hidden), the middle syllable (ukAram) and  the third syllable (makAram); AzhwAr did not explain them individually because – as the meaning of chathurthi and the middle syllable (ukAram) cannot sustain without a substratum (makArAm – AthmA), he mercifully explained all of them together;  in the next four pAsurams, AzhwAr mercifully explained the greatness of the one (AthmA) who is highlighted by the third syllable and in the next two pAsurams, he decimated those bhAhyas (who reject these meanings) and kudhrushtis (who misinterpret these meanings) who do not understand the meaning of praNavam in this manner. Thus, the meaning of praNavam is explained in thiruvAimozhi 8.8. Subsequently, AzhwAr mercifully explained the meaning of “nama:” in thiruvAimozhi 8.9 “karumANikka malai” and thiruvAimozhi 8.10 “nedumARkadimai“. nama: has two meanings, [direct, as in namaskAram (worship/surrender)] one based on the word and other based on the meaning. In that, the meaning based on the word is explained in “karumANikka malai“, the meaning based on the meaning of the word is explained in “nedumARkadimai“. The direct meaning for the word “nama:” is “I am not for me”. It is natural for a maiden to remain for one man and consider not to be owned even by herself; AzhwAr explained it in “karumANikka malai“. Subsequently, AzhwAr mercifully explained the meaning of the word “nArAyaNa” in thiruvAimozhi 9.1 “koNda peNdir“; the meaning for “nArAyaNa” word is svAmithva (lordship), vAthsalya (motherly forbearance), upAyathva (being the means), upEyathva (being the goal), vyApakathva (being all pervasive) etc; subsequently, AzhwAr explained the meaning of chathurthi in thiruvAimozhi 9.2 “paNdai nALAlE“; the meaning of chathurthi is kainkarya prArthanai (prayer for kainkaryam).

The meaning of praNavam, nama:, his vyApakathvam (all pervasive nature) and his avyApakthvam (aspects other than all-pervasive nature) are all present in other vyApaka manthrams too (vAsudhEva manthram [SrI dhvAdhaSAkshari] and vishNu manthram [SrI shadakshari]); AzhwAr highlights in “OrAyiram” (this decad), that he has greater liking for SrI ashtAkshari, even more than the other vyApaka manthrams. This is as mercifully explained by naduvil thiruvIdhip piLLai bhattar.

Each pAsuram is discussed subsequently.