SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:
avathArikai (Introduction)
AzhwAr says “We have reached the stage of being distinct from samsAris; when will we mingle with the people who have attained him and are experiencing him?”
Let us go through the pAsuram and its meanings:
thIvinaikkaru nanjai nalvinakku innamudhaththinaip
pUvinai mEviya dhEvi maNALanaip punmai eLgAdhu
Avinai mEykkum vallAyanai anRu ulagu IradiyAl
thAvina ERRai emmAnai egyAnRu thalaippeyvanE
Word-by-Word Meanings
thI – cruel
vinaikku – (followers’) sins
aru – being rare
nanjai – being like poison [as an antidote]
nalvinaikku – for good deeds
in – sweet
amudhaththinai – being like nectar
pUvinai – lotus flower
mEviya – dwelling aptly
dhEvi – for periya pirAtti (SrI mahAlakshmi)
maNALanai – as her consort
pumnai – lowly act
eLgAdhu – without despising
Avinai – cows
mEykkum – one who tends to
val – being eminent
Ayanai – as krishNa, the cowherd
anRu – during the time of mahAbali
ulagu – worlds
IradiyAl – with two steps
thAvina – one who seized
ERRai – being eminent
emmAnai – sarvESvaran, who is my lord
egyAnRu – when
thalaippeyvan – will I approach?
Simple Translation
sarvESvaran is the rare poison for the cruel sins of his followers; he is the sweet nectar for their good deeds; he is the consort of SrI mahAlakshmi who dwells on a lotus flower; without considering as a despicable act, he tended to cows, having been born in the clan of cowherds and measured all the worlds with just two steps; when will I reach such sarvESvaran?
vyAkyAnam
thIvinaikky aru nanjai – he [sarvESvaran] is the intolerable poison for the bad deeds which are a hurdle in attaining him.
nalvinaikku – for bhakthi (devotion) which is carried out without expecting any benefit from him
innamudhaththinai – he gives unlimited joy and he is the ultimate goal.
Next he explains as to why he removes our sins and creates an engagement in us, with him.
pUvinai mEviya . . . – due to his union with periya pirAtti; there is nothing which is more eminent than his being the consort of periya pirAtti.
punmai . . . – despite having that eminence, since he is together with periya pirAtti, he is easily approachable for his followers.
punmai eLgAdhu Avainai mEykkum – without thinking whether it will be apt for his eminence as the consort of periya pirAtti, he tended to cows without considering it as a despicable act.
vallAyanai – if even a drop of water (rain) falls on the cowherds, he would not tolerate it and hold a mountain as an umbrella for them.
anRulagu . . . – just as he protected one village, he protected this earth.
ERRai – he stood proudly after getting the worlds under his divine feet. He considered the benefit thus obtained as his and not as that of the people of the worlds.
emmAnai – just as sarvESvaran felt proud and eminent after his victories, AzhwAr too felt eminent after losing out to him for such activities of sarvESvaran’s.
egyAnRu thalaippeyvanE – when sarvESvaran’s activites are like these, AzhwAr knows that he is bound to attain him but is not sure as to when. Just as it has been said in SrI rAmAyaNam ayOdhyA kANdam 24-37 “apIdhAnIm sa kAlassyAdh” ((kausalyA dhEvi tells SrI rAma) may that time be just now), though kausalyA knows that SrI rAma would come at the end of fourteen years, she could not wait for those fourteen years to end and wished that that day had come then itself. AzhwAr too is in the same state.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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