SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavara munayE nama:
perumAL thirumozhi >> 5th Decad
avathArikai (Introduction)
AzhwAr says in this pAsuram “I am like the bird which, from its perch on the flagstaff of a ship in the middle of an ocean, goes searching for the shore and returns to its perch since it cannot sight the shore”
vengattin kaLiRadarththAy! viththuvakkOttammAnE!
enguppOy uygEn? un iNaiyadiyE adaiyal allAl
engum pOyk karai kANAdhu eRi kadal vAy mINdEyum
vangaththin kUmbERum mAppaRavai pOnREnE
Word-by-Word Meanings
vem kaN – cruel eyes
thiN kaLiRu – elephant (kuvalayApIdam) which had a strong heart
adarththAy – Oh one who killed!
viththuvakkOttammAnE – Oh my lord, who has mercifully taken residence in thiruviththuvakkOdu
un iNai adiyE adaiyal allAl – apart from surrendering to your two divine feet alone
engu pOy uygEn – who else could I go to, for uplifting myself?
eRi kadal vAy – in the middle of the ocean with rising waves
engum pOy – going in all four directions
karai kANAdhu – not sighting the shore
mINdu – returning
Eyum vangaththin – on the ship in that ocean
kUmbu ERum – atop the flagstaff
mA paRavai pOnREn – I was like the huge bird
Simple Translation
Oh my lord, who has mercifully taken residence in thiruviththuvakkOdu! Oh one who killed [kamsan’s] elephant [kuvalayApIdam] which had a strong heart! Apart from surrendering to your two divine feet, who else could I go to, for uplifting myself? I am like the huge bird, atop the flagstaff of a ship sailing in the middle of an ocean with rising waves, which, after going in all four directions, returns to the flagstaff since it could not sight shore in any of the directions.
vyAkyAnam
vem kaN thiN kaLiRu adarththAy – Oh one who killed the elephant, kuvalayApIdam, which had angry eyes and a strong heart! The opinion here is that AzhwAr need not fear about the strong hurdles in his way when emperumAn is there as his protector.
viththuvakkOttammAnE – to make sure that people who came after krishNAvathAram did not have to feel sad saying “Removal of hurdles was done during krishNAvathAram; that avathAram got over long ago”, he has come mercifully to thiruviththuvakkOdu to take residence, as the lord. If he were to remain in paramapadham alone, he could not establish himself as swAmy (owner). Has he not mercifully come to thiruviththuvakkOdu as archAvathaAram, to put that into practice!
viththuvakkOttu ammAnE enguppOy uygEn – AzhwAr says here that he is related to emperumAn and is hungry for food. When he goes to emperumAn’s doorstep, asking for food, if emperumAn disregards him and offers food to one who is not related and who is not hungry, could he leave him and take refuge under the one who is in paramapadham, with all his desires fulfilled? [reference here is to paramapadhanAthan in paramapadham who is called as avApthasamasthakAman, [one who has no unfulfilled desire] The opinion here is that emperumAn has come to divine abodes only to offer food to people like AzhwAr [who are related and who are hungry]. The meaning for the term enguppOy uygEn is – could I leave you, in archAvathaAram, and go to paramapadhanAthan and have my sorrows addressed? Another opinion is – could I leave you and go to another deity?
enguppOy uygEn – since I cannot go to another person and become prosperous [prosperity for AzhwAr is having the wealth of kainkaryam], there is no other place where I can go to, for uplifting myself. If I go to other deities who do not have power to protect me, it will only lead to svarUpa nASam [destruction of my basic nature which is one of servitude]. I can go to such places to destroy myself. Leaving emperumAn in a divine abode and attaining another deity is equivalent to committing svarUpa nASam.
un iNai adiyE adaiyal allAl – as per the rule [in samaskrutham] of “gadhyarthA: budhyarthA:” (words which signify carrying out an activity with foot would (in a few instances) refer to carrying out that activity with mind), attaining emperumAn’s divine feet is, in effect, affirming in the mind that emperumAn’s divine feet are the refuge. When emperumAn has, on his own, arrived at a divine abode as archAvathaAram, since the subject here is about getting uplifted, attaining his divine feet does not only refer to reaching the place where he is residing, but affirming in the mind that he is the refuge. Not considering this way is equivalent to losing him; considering this way is attaining him.
eRikadal vAy mINdEyum vangaththin kUmbERum – Starting with the verse eRi kadal vAy AzhwAr is giving an example to show that there is no refuge other than emperumAn. In an ocean with rising waves, a ship is travelling. When the ship left the shore, a huge bird came and sat on its flagstaff. After the ship reached the middle of the ocean, that bird tried to find the shore by flying in all four directions. However, it could not see any shore anywhere. Ultimately, it had to return to the flagstaff. In the same way, if one were to cross the ocean of samsAram, one has to attain a divine abode such as thiruviththuvakkOdu. There is no other means. The places other than the divine abodes of emperumAn are equivalent to the ocean without any shore.
mAppaRavai pOnREnE – AzhwAr says that he is like that huge bird. Just like the bird which could not find a shore despite flying with its huge wings everywhere, however much I try on my own efforts, it is not possible for me to cross this ocean [of samsAram]. My efforts will only help me in sinking into this ocean and not to reach the shore. The opinion here is that just like the flagstaff which the bird considered as the refuge, firmly holding on to the divine feet of emperumAn alone, accepting the thought “There is nothing that I could do on my own”, is the act fit to be carried out.
We will next take up the 6th pAsuram of this decad.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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