SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:
avathArikai (Introduction)
Clouds gathered on all sides. Looking at this, the nAyaki was bewildered and dazed. The nAyaki’s mother looks at her and thinks that he [sarvESvaran] is the one who controls everything just as it has been said in thaiththirIya upanishath “bhIshAsmAth vAtha:pavathE bhIshOdhEthi sUrya:” (out of fear for sarvESvaran wind blows, sun rises). Isn’t it his order which enables every entity to work in clockwork precision here, without having any freedom to carry out what each entity desires? When such is the case, she wonders whether protecting her daughter is a difficult task for him and calls out to him.
Let us go through the pAsuram and its meanings:
aruLAr thiruchchakaraththAl agal visumbum nilanum
iruLAr vinai kedachchengOl nadAvudhir IngOr peNpAl
poruLO ennum igazhvO ivaRRin puRaththAL enReNNO
theruLOm aravaNaiyIr ivaL mAmai sidhaikkinRadhE
Word-by-Word Meanings
aruL – mercy
Ar – to the brim
thiruchchakaraththAl – with the divine chakkaram (chakram – disc)
agal – expansive
visumbum – sky
nilanum – and the earth
iruLAr – full of darkness (made of ignorance)
vinai – sins
keda – to be annihilated
sengOl – order
nadAvudhir – you are employing
aravu – AdhiSEshan
aNaiyIr – Oh the lord who has him as your mattress!
ivaL mAmai – her complexion
sidhaikkinRadhu – is being destroyed
Ingu – in this leelAvibhUthi (materialistic realm)
Or – one
peNpAl – matter relating to a girl
(protection)
poruLO – is it the end goal?
enum – saying so
igazhvO – – is it contemptuousness?
ivaRRin – all these entities to be protected
puRaththAL – outside these
enRu – saying so
eNNO – is it your divine opinion?
theruLOm – we do not know
Simple Translation
Oh the one who has AdhiSEshan as your mattress! You are ruling both the expansive sky and this earth such that sins which are caused by ignorance run away, through your divine disc. In such a condition, the beautiful complexion of this nAyaki is continuously fading. What is the reason for this? Is it because you feel contemptuously that a girl is also an entity in these realms or is it because you think that she is outside the area of your kingdom? We do not know this.
vyAkyAnam
aruLAr thiruchchakaraththAl – chakkaraththAzhwAn (divine disc) is filled to the brim with mercy. Even if sarvESvaran himself stops showering mercy, chakkaraththAzhwAn will be full of mercy. periya pirAtti is mercy personified. Even if such pirAtti does not show mercy, chakkraththAzhwAn’s mercy will not change. The opinion here is that if someone thinks of him, he will immediately rush to help that person; he has such independence. vyAkyAthA (commentator for the prabandham) periyavAchchAn piLLai calls this as madu arugil URRUppOlE (he is like a spring near a pond, continuously supplying water to the pond so that it never dries up). He cites the narration of chakravarthi ambarIsha (in the clan of ikshvAku). ambarIsha would observe total fasting on EkAdhaSi days [eleventh day after full or new moon] and on the next day, dhvAdhaSi, he would observe pAraNam (breaking the fast before a particular time). Once sage dhurvAsa wanted to test ambarIsha. Hence, on the day of dhvAdhaSi, he came to ambarIsha’s palace and told him that he would come to have pAraNam with the chakravarthi and went for having a bath. Despite passage of time, he did not come [deliberately]. ambarIsha was getting anxious since there was very little time left for breaking the fast and if he did not have anything, he would not get the benefit of observing fast on the day of EkAdhaSi. dhurvAsa would get very angry and curse him if he did not wait for the sage before taking any food item. Hence, as a compromise, he took a sip of holy water alone and waited for the sage to join him. Once dhurvAsa returned, he realised what had happened. With raging fury [at having been slighted by ambarIsha in not waiting for him], he wanted to curse the chakravarthi. ambarIsha realised what the sage was going to do. He thought of chakkraththAzhwAn to save him. That same moment, chakkaraththAzhwAn appeared there and started chasing sage dhurvAsa. The sage started running, seeing the divine disc. He sought refuge from all the deities such as brahmA, rudhra, indhra et al. None was willing to help him. He went to sarvESvaran himself who told him that he is under the control of his devotees and told him to take refuge under ambarIsha himself. He did that and was saved from the divine disc on ambarIsha’s request. If the divine disc looks at someone as his enemy, there is no refuge for that person other than sarvESvaran himself.
aruLAr – mercy is a demonstration of the protection offered to someone who has taken refuge. Instead of saying that it is the act of preventing someone from carrying inimical acts, why is it explained this way? This is because both are acts of benefit.
thiruchchakraththAl – SrIman nArAyaNan is referred to as sarvESvaran because he holds the divine disc on his right hand. The importance of chakkaraththAzhwAn to emperumAn is as much as that of periya pirAtti to emperumAn. This is the reason that he is referred to as thiruchchakkaram (divine disc) instead of chakkaram (disc) by prefixing the word thiru which indicates aiSvaryam (wealth, of service).
agal visumbu …. – sarvESvaran removes the sins which are caused by ignorance with the help of the divine disc who removes all the sins; thus sarvESvaran rules with the radiance of the divine disc as his sceptre.
agal visumbu – purusha sUktham says thripAdhasyAmrutham dhivi – paramapadham is three times the size of leelA vibhUthi (materialistic realm). How can ignorance be felt in paramapadham? It is the fear of those who experience and enjoy the presence of sarvESvaran there as to what will happen if there is a hurdle to that continuous dharSan (seeing him). sarvESvaran protects those who are in paramapadham by displaying his divine hand and the divine disc held in that divine hand. In leelA vibhUthi he protects his followers by cutting their enemies into two with his divine disc. The former is called as prAgabhAvam – lack of prior existence (enemies do not exist) and the latter is called as pradhvamsAbhAvam – (enemies) ceasing to exist after initial existence.
ingOr penpAl … – are you thinking that you can help her without any urgency since she is helpless and has no refuge? Or do you think that she is outside the two realms (leelA and nithya vibhUthis)? Do you think that you do not have the capacity to protect her? Do you think that you do not know anything about her? Are you trying to abandon her because you do not have the strength? If you think that she is outside the two realms, you become ignorant and if you think that you cannot protect her, you become weak [both of which are against sarvESvaran’s qualities of being omniscient and omnipotent]. mahAbhAratham udhyOga parvam 70-43 says “sAham kESa graham prApthA thvayI jIvithya prabhO” (dhraupadhi appeals to lord krishNa as she is dragged by her hair to the court by dhushASan that despite krishNa being alive, she, who had taken refuge under him, is being dragged by her hair). The opinion expressed by the nAyaki’s mother here is that despite his being the lord, there is no connection between that quality and the nAyaki’s suffering though she has taken refuge under him.
theruLOm – we do not know why this has come to such a pass.
aravaNaiyIr – you do not deny your divine form to those who desire you. When the nAyaki is lying on the floor, do you need to recline on the bed of AdhiSEshan? If you are lying alone on the bed, could you enjoy anything?
ivaL mAmai – her complexion is very difficult to get. Are you thinking that since you are the creator of everything, you could create her again, should she perish? Your quality of suhrudham sarvabhUthAnAm – friendly towards all – seems to be failing in her case. If a child falls into a well, the blame will fall on the mother. The world will say that she had pushed the child into the well. In the same way, the world will blame you for destroying her. When looking at her position and his status, there is no shortcoming for her attaining him. However, considering the delay in his coming to her rescue, the mother feels sad, fearing as to what will happen.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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