SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:
avathArikai (Introduction)
In the previous pAsuram, sarvESvaran’s divine eyes tormented the nAyaki. This pAsuram narrates her sadness at seeing two nightingale birds sitting on a palm tree in the frontyard of her house. The two birds had locked their beaks when the female bird leaves. The male calls out after her. Seeing this, the nAyaki goes into a state of stupor. Her mother, hearing the bird’s high pitched calls, says “The sound of the bird is like this. Her [the daughter’s] distress due to separation is like this. Her softness is like this. Will I see her happy with her desire fulfilled?” When parASara bhattar was narrating this, his disciple nanjIyar asked him “Could you please narrate an incident similar to this from SrI rAmAyaNam?” bhattar responded saying “When lakshmaNa left sIthAppirAtti alone in the forest [when she was pregnant] she let out a cry. Sage vAlmIki who heard her cry of distress had a mental makeup similar to the nAyaki’s mother”
Let us go through the pAsuram and its meanings:
viLarikkural anRil menpEdai mEginRa munRil peNNai
muLarik kurambai idhu idhuvAga mugil vaNNan pEr
kiLarikkiLarip pidhaRRum mellAviyum naivumellAm
thaLariRkolO aRiyEn uyyalAvadhu iththaiyalukkE
Word-by-Word Meanings
mel – having a soft nature
pedai – with female bird
mEginRa – being united together
viLari – in a high pitch
kural – voice
anRil – nightingale bird’s
munRil – in the frontyard
peNNai – on top of the palm tree
muLari – made of lotus flower
kurambai – nest
idhu idhuvAga – tormenting permanently
mugil – like cloud
vaNNan – sarvESvaran who has a form like that
pEr – divine name
kiLarik kiLari – taking it repatedly
pidhaRRum – babbling
mel – soft
Aviyum – vital air
naivum – (body) crumbling
ellAm – since all these happened
iththaiyalukku – for this girl
uyyalAvadhu – to be alive
thaLaril kolO – is it possible
ariyEn – I am not sure
Simple Translation
There is a palm tree in the frontyard of nAyakí’s house where a male nightingale bird, with a high pitch, is living with its female nightingale which has a soft nature, inside a nest made with lotus flowers. Her mother says that she is not sure if the nAyaki will survive since she keeps babbling the divine names of sarvESvaran, since she has a soft nature and since her form is crumbling [due to separation from sarvESvaran].
vyAkyAnam
viLarikkural anRil – the term viLari refers to a high pitched voice. The male nightingale bird calls with such a high pitched voice.
men pEdai – the softness of the female nightingale bird is such that when being united, touching it would appear to be similar to touching a flower. If there is separation in such a soft natured entity, the distress would be impossible to tolerate.
mEginRa – being permanently united, without any separation. It would remind one of anapAyini (SrI mahAlakshmi who will not separate from emperumAn even for a moment).
munRil peNNai – the term munRil would refer both to frontyard and entrance. Some people asked vangipuraththu nambi when this pAsuram was being recited “Will anyone have a palm tree in the frontyard of the house?” nambi responded saying “You are asking about that! Isn’t that the reason as to why her matters are like this, where even the tender leaves are snapping?” Just as it has been said in periya thirumozhi pAsuram 11-2-1 “munRil thani ninRa peNNai mEl kidandhIrginRa anRilin kUttaip pirikka kiRpavar yArkolo?” (who has the cleverness to remove the nest of the nightingales, which are always together, from the palm tree seen at the entrance?) wouldn’t her relatives be busy in bringing the nAyakan back? The nAyaki is not the type who goes around separating and uniting entities.
muLarik kurambai – the male nightingale will build the nest with lotus leaves and flowers, to be apt for the soft nature of the female bird. Alternatively, muLari would refer to thorns and the nest would be built with thorns to protect the birds from outside attack.
idhu idhuvAga – after building nest like this and not tormenting.
mugil vaNNan pEr kiLarik kiLarip pidhaRRum – repeatedly babbling the divine name of sarvESvaran.
mellAviyum – even though she was reciting the divine names, did it make her feel peaceful? That did not happen because of the tiredness caused in her heart.
naivum– her physical form too was crumbling
ellAm – since all these happened
thaLariRkolO (iththaiyalukku uyyalAvadhu) – survival for this girl
thaLariRkolO – without even this blabbering, the only way to survive is to perish. I do not know whether she can survive without perishing.
svApadhESam (distinguished meaning): those who saw AzhwAr found that his form was getting tormented a lot. They said “Would we see him sustain himself until he reaches his end goal of attaining sarvESvaran? It appears that there is hope only after he leaves this physical form”
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
archived in https://divyaprabandham.koyil.org
pramEyam (goal) – https://koyil.org
pramANam (scriptures) – http://granthams.koyil.org
pramAthA (preceptors) – http://acharyas.koyil.org
SrIvaishNava education/kids portal – http://pillai.koyil.org