SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:
First pAsuram: amudhanAr is inviting his heart “Let us recite the divine names of emperumAnAr such that we can live aptly at his divine feet”
pU mannu mAdhu porundhiya mArban pugazh malindha
pA mannu mARan adi paNindhu uyndhavan pal kalaiyOr
thAm manna vandha irAmAnusan charaNAravindham
nAm manni vAzha nenjE solluvOm avan nAmangLE
Oh heart! periya pirAttiyAr who has lotus as her dwelling place, left that after experiencing the sweetness of emperumAn’s divine chest and started dwelling on that divine chest. nammAzhwAr is fully engaged with thiruvAimozhi which is full of the auspicious qualities of that emperumAn. rAmAnujar uplifted himself after attaining the divine feet of that nammAzhwAr. Despite learning various SAsthras (religious treatises), many people who had lived before rAmAnuja had not understood their inner meanings. rAmAnuja knew such inner meanings and established them well. Let us [amudhanAr tells his heart] consider his divine feet as our target and speak about such rAmAnuja’s divine names so that we can live purposefully.
Second pAsuram: In the previous pAsuram after he told his heart to recite the divine names of emperumAnAr, his heart started enjoying emperumAnAr’s divine feet, forgetting all other pursuits. Seeing that, amudhanAr is amazed.
kaL Ar pozhil thennarangan kamalap padhangaL nenjil
koLLA manisarai nIngi kuRaiyal pirAn adikkIzh
viLLadha anban irAmAnusan mikka seelam allAl
uLLAdhu en nenju onRu aRIyEn enakkuRRa pEriyalvE
There are those who, despite being born in the human species, do not have the fortune of learning the SAsthram of keeping their minds at the divine, lotus-like feet of periya perumAL who is reclining in the temple (SrIrangam temple) which is surrounded by gardens which drip with honey. My heart moved away from such people. After that, my heart did not think of anything other than the infinitely great qualities of rAmAnuja who has lasting affection towards the divine feet of thirumangai AzhwAr who incarnated in thirukkuRaiyalUr and who rendered the great benefit of composing dhivya prabandham (divine hymns). I do not know as to how this happened to me.
Third pAsuram: amudhanAr tells his heart “I bow down to you for the great benefit that you rendered to me by removing my connection with those who are engaged in worldly matters and involving me with the divine feet of those who have a connection with emperumAnAr”.
pEr iyal nenjE adi paNindhEn unnai pEyp piRavip
pUriyarOdu uLLa suRRam pularththi poruvu arum sIr
Ariyan semmai irAmAnusa munikku anbu seyyum
sIRiya pERu udaiyAr adikkIzh ennaich chErththadhaRkE
Oh heart which has great quality! I bow down to you for rendering me the great benefit – severing my connection with people who are lowly, having faults in them such as ego etc and making me attain the divine feet of great people. These great people have the fortune of having devotion towards emperumAnAr who has the honesty of aligning himself with the quality of his devotees.
Fourth pAsuram: He says that due to the causeless mercy of emperumAnAr, there is no possibility of his reaching his earlier lowly status and that there is no more any shortcoming in him.
ennaip puviyil oru poruLAkki maruL surandha
munnaip pazhavinai vEr aRuththu Uzhi mudhalvanaiyE
pannap paNiththa irAmAnusan param pAdhamum en
sennith tharikka vaiththAn enakku Edhum sidhaivu illaiyE
emperumAnAr made everyone to realise and meditate on the supreme being who is the causative factor for all entities [both sentient and insentient]. He achieved this through SrI bhAshyam (a treatise composed by him). rAmAnuja, who is greater than everyone else, made me, who was like an insentient entity, as a sentient entity in this world. He severed completely all my sins which have been following me from time immemorial and blessed me by keeping his divine feet on my head. After this, there is no shortcoming in me.
Fifth pAsuram: amudhanAr who had started the prabandham by saying that we will recite the divine names of rAmAnuja, now starts doing that. Saying that kudhrushthis (those who wrongly interpret vEdhas) may abuse him, he hesitates; then he convinces himself and engages with the activity that he had set out to perform.
enakku uRRa selvam irAmAnusan enRu isaiyagillA
manak kuRRa mAndhar pazhikkil pugazh avan manniya sIr
thanakku uRRa anbar avan thirunAmangaL sARRum en pA
inak kuRRam kANagillAr paththi Eyndha iyalvu idhu enRE
It will be a cause for celebration for me if those who do not accept my view and who have defects in their minds, ridicule my attempt to say that emperumAnAr alone is the wealth for our svarUpam (basic nature). Those who have affection commensurate with the auspicious qualities of emperumAnAr will not see any fault in my pAsurams which convey his divine names and which are activities filled with devotion.
Sixth pAsuram: In the previous pAsuram, amudhanAr said that it was a manifestation of his devotion [towards rAmAnujar]. Now he blames himself saying that he does not have devotion commensurate with emperumAnAr’s greatness.
iyalum poruLum isaiyath thoduththu In kavigaL anbAl
mayal koNdu vAzhththum irAmAnusanai madhi inmaiyAl
payilum kavigaLil paththi illAdha en pAvi nenjAl
muyalginRanan avan than perum kIrththi mozhindhidavE
Great poets will celebrate by stringing poems with words and meanings, with lot of love and infatuation towards emperumAnAr. I do not have such devotion and I have a sinful mind too. I am attempting to convey his infinite greatness, with my ignorant mind, in the pAsurams that I have composed.
Seventh pAsuram: amudhanAr, who stepped back looking at his lowliness, reminisces about his connection with the divine feet of kUraththAzhvAn [an eminent disciple of rAmAnujar] and determines that this is not a difficult task for him and starts it.
mozhiyaik kadakkum perum pugazhAn vanja mukkuRumbAm
kuzhiyaik kadakkum nam kUraththAzhvAn charaN kUdiya pin
pazhiyaik kadaththum irAmAnusan pugazh pAdi allA
vazhiyaik kadaththal enakku ini yAdhum varuththam anRE
kUraththAzhvAn is one who has great fame which cannot be spoken of completely; he has crossed the three bottomless pits of having vanity regarding one’s birth [being born in a great clan], knowledge and great conduct. We have attained the divine feet of such kUraththAzhvAn who is our leader. Now, it is not difficult for me to sing about the divine, auspicious qualities of emperumAnAr being kindled by affection, which will help us reach the shore, away from the ocean of sins. I can also escape from ways which are not aligned with my svarUpam (basic nature).
Eighth pAsuram: amudhanAr says that emperumAnAr, who has the greatness of meditating on the divine prabandham mercifully composed by poygai AzhwAr, is his lord.
varuththum puRa iruL mARRa em poygaippirAn maRaiyin
kuruththin poruLaiyum sendhamizh thanniyum kUtti onRath
thiriththu anRu eriththa thiruviLakkaith than thiru uLLaththE
iruththm paraman irAmAnusan em iRaiyavanE
Ignorance makes sentient entities to engage with worldly pursuits, thus causing them sorrow. The great, magnanimous poygai AzhwAr, who is dear to our prapanna kulam (the clan of those who have surrendered to emperumAn), composed mudhal thiruvandhAdhi starting with vaiyam thagaLiya [with world as the lamp] when jostled by emperumAn in the divine corridor, by combining the meanings of vEdhAntham (the end portion of vEdhas, dealing with emperumAn) with beautiful thamizh words, which drove away the darkness of that ignorance. emperumAnAr, who has unlimited greatness by keeping that lamp in his divine mind, is our lord.
Ninth pAsuram: amudhanAr says that those who recite the auspicious divine qualities of emperumAnAr who reminisces the divine feet of bhUdhaththAzhwAr in his divine mind, will protect and establish vEdhas in the world.
iRaivanaik kANum idhayaththu iruL keda gyAnam ennum
niRaiviLakku ERRiya bhUdhath thiruvadi thALgaL nenjaththu
uRaiya vaiththu ALum irAmAnusan pugazh Odhum nallOr
maRaiyinaik kAththu indha maNNagaththE mannavaippavarE
bhUdhaththAzhwAr lit the lamp, complete in all aspects, by composing iraNdAm thiruvandhAdhi with the words anbE thagaLiyA (with affection as lamp). This lamp (prabandham) destroys the darkness of ignorance which is holding on to our heart. We can identify the apt leader for ourselves only through a [bright] heart. emperumAnAr permanently has the divine feet of such bhUdhaththAzhwAr in his divine heart. Those great people who always recite the divine, auspicious qualities of such emperumAnAr will protect vEdhas which cannot be destroyed by bhAhyas (those who do not believe in vEdhas) and kudhrushthis (those who interpret vEdhas wrongly) and will establish the vEdhas firmly in the world.
Tenth pAsuram: amudhanAr says that those who hold on to their heads, the divine feet of those who are affectionate towards emperumAnAr, who in turn has the quality of always celebrating the divine feet of pEyAzhwAr, will be great at all times.
manniya pEr iruL mANdapin kOvaluL mAmalarAL
thannodum Ayanaik kaNdamai kAttum thamizhth thalaivan
pon adi pORRum irAmAnusaRku anbu pUNdavar thAL
senniyil sUdum thiruvudaiyAr enRum sIriyarE
The huge, unshakeable darkness of ignorance was driven away completely, after the first two AzhwArs had lit the lamps (through their thiruvandhAdhis). After the darkness was thus destroyed, pEyAzhwAr, at thirukkOvalUr, showed to us the way he saw the supreme being, who was obedient towards his devotees in krishNAvathAram, along with thirumAmagaL (SrI mahAlakshmi). emperumAnAr praises the desirous divine feet of such pEyAzhwAr, who is the leader for thamizh. Those who keep the divine feet of devotees of emperumAnAr, who wear their affection for emperumAnAr as an ornament on their heads, are great during all times, since they have this great wealth.
In the next article, we will discuss the next part of this prabandham.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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