SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavara munayE nama:
avathArikai (Introduction)
In the first pAsuram, AzhwAr said that emperumAn is the causative factor for the worlds. In the second pAsuram, he mentioned the means by which one can attain him. He says, in this pAsuram, that emperumAn manifested to him the way he was together with the leelA vibhUthi (materialistic realm) for which he was the cause, as mentioned in the first pAsuram and the way he was together with nithya vibhUthi (spiritualistic realm) which is the benefit for practicing the means, as mentioned in the second pAsuram. He says that he was able to see these because of the causeless mercy shown by emperumAn towards him and that there is none in the world who could see these on one’s own efforts.
aindhum aindhum aindhumAgi allavaRRuLAyumAy
aindhum mUnRum onRumAgi ninRa Adhi dhEvanE
aindhum aindhum aindhumAgi andharaththu aNaindhu ninRu
aindhum aindhum Aya ninnai yAr ninaikka vallarE
Word-by-Word Menaings
aindhum – the five elements, starting with ethereal layer (sky)
aindhum – the five gyAnEndhriyams (senses of knowledge)
aindhumAgi – becoming the five karmEndhriyams (senses of activity)
aindhum – the five thanmAthrAs (subtle elements)
mUnRum – prakruthi (primordial matter), mahath (causative factor, called as great) and ahankAram (causative factor of mahath, called as ego)
onRum Agi – becoming manas (mind)
allavaRRuL AyumAy – becoming the antharyAmi (in-dwelling soul) for the chEthanas (entities which are with knowledge), who are different from the earlier mentioned achEthanas (entities which are without knowledge)
ninRa – one who remained during deluge
Adhi – being the causative factor
dhEvanE – Oh one who acts casually!
aindhum – for the aprAkrutha panchaSakthis (five elements which are seen in nithya vibhUthi)
aindhum – for the five gyAnEndhriyams
aindhumAgi – being the controller for the five karmEndhriyams too
andharaththu – in paramapadham (SrI vaikuNtam)
aNaindhu – fitting well
ninRu – remaining
aindhum – the five enjoyments, starting with Sabdham (sound) etc
aindhum Aya – the five entities of bhOgasthAnam (place where something is enjoyed), bhOgOpakaraNam (the instrument utilised for enjoyment), those among nithyasUris who engage with emperumAn’s qualities and those who engage in serving him in SrI vaikuNtam, and mukthAthmAs
ninnai – you
Ar ninaikka vallarE – who is capable enough to know you?
Simple Translation
Oh the great one who remained during the time of deluge! You are the five great elements, starting with the ethereal layer. You are the five organs of knowledge and the five organs of activities. You are the five subtle elements (starting with sound), the three entities of primordial matter, mahath and ahankAram. You are the mind too [thus describing the 24 achEthana entities]. You are the in-dwelling soul of the chEthanas, who were not included in the earlier list of 24 entities. You are the controller of the five aprAkrutha Sakthis in paramapadham, the five organs of knowledge and activities, there. You fit well in paramapadham, remaining as the five enjoyments, starting with sound, the five entities of bhOgasthAnam, bhOgOpakaraNam, the two classifications of nithyasUris and finally, the mukthAthmAs. Who is capable of knowing you?
vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
aindhum aindhum aindhumAgi – being the five elements of ethereal layer, wind, fire, water and earth; the five gyAnEndhriyams (senses of knowledge) of skin, mouth, eyes, ears and nose; and, the five karmEndhriyams of speech, hands, legs and the two organs of excreta.
aindhum mUnRum – the five subtle elements namely sound, touch, form, taste and smell, which are the causes for the five elements, as well as the three entities which are responsible for these five subtle elements, namely ahankAram (ego), mahAn (great) which is the cause for ahankAram and the very fine prakruthi (primordial matter) which is the cause for mahAn.
onRumAgi – Just as it has been said in SrI vishNu purANam SlOkam 6-7-28 “mana Eva manushyANAm kAraNam bandha mOkshayO: l bandhAya vishayA sangi mukthyai nirvishayam mana: ll” (It is the mind which is the cause for people’s bonding to, as well as liberation from, samsAram; the mind which engages with Sabdham and other worldly matters becomes the reason for bondage with samsAram while the mind which is detached from worldly pursuits is the reason for liberation) mind is the entity which is capable of binding the jIvan (chEthana or one with knowledge) to samsAram or liberating the jIvan from it. This entity of mind, along with the earlier mentioned 23 entities, together form the group of 24 entities which are achEthana, and within which emperumAn remains as the antharyAmi (indwelling soul), controlling them.
allavaRRuLAyumAy – he also remains the antharyAmi of samsAri chEthanas, which are distinct from the 24 achEthana entities and which are bound with prakruthi.
allavaRRuL – the opinion is that chEthanas are very much distinct from the achEthana entities mentioned earlier.
ninRa Adhi dhEvanE – Oh one who is the causative entity of the universe, who remained together with the sthUla chEthanAchEthana entities (the chEthana and achEthana entities which are in gross manifestation, with names and physical forms) just as you had remained together with the sUkshma chEthanAchEthana entities (the chEthana and achEthana entities which are in subtle manifestation, without names and physical forms)!
Thus, until now AzhwAr has described about how emperumAn, remaining as antharyAmi of leelA vibhUthi (materialistic realm, comprising the 24 achEthana entities and one chEthana entity), manifested himself to him. In the next half of the pAsuram, AzhwAr describes how emperumAn manifested himself to him, being together with nithya vibhUthi (spiritual realm), along with divine, auspicious form.
aindhum aindhum aindhumAgi – pAncharAthram SlOkam “paramEshti pumAn viSvO nivruththis sara Eva hi: | paramEshti smrutha: SabdhE sparSE thu purusha: smrutha: ll viSvAthmA thEjasi prOkthO nivruththyAthmA rasE smrutha: | sarvAthmA kathithOgandhE vishayE purushs smrutha: ll” (the five upanishaths are: paramEshti, pumAn, viSvan, nivruththi, sarvan. Of these, paramEshti has the subtle element of sound, pumAn has touch, viSvan has form, nivruththi has taste, sarvan has smell and purushan has matter). Unlike prakruthi (primordial matter) which has a mixture of sathva (purely good or noble qualities), rajas (qualities of passion and anger) and thamas (qualities of ignorance, laziness etc), the aprAkrutha realm of nithyavibhUthi is full of sathva guNa alone. emperumAn has divine, auspicious form which is composed of the five Sakthis [five upanishaths], containing five gyAnEndhriyams, five karmEndhriyams, controlling them fully.
Next, the pAsuram says that he has nithya vibhUthi.
andharaththu aNanindhu ninRu aindhum aindhum – the five entities which are to be enjoyed, namely Sabdha, sparSa, rUpa, rasa and gandha (sound, touch, form taste and smell), (1) the place for enjoyment where these five entities are enjoyed, (2) the implements with which these are enjoyed, such as umbrella, chowry (fly-flapper), (3 , 4) nithyasUris who are completely engaged in carrying out kainkaryams to emperumAn and who are fully engaged in enjoying his auspicious qualities, just as it has been mentioned by nammAzhwAr in thiruvAimozhi 10-9-9 vaigundhaththu amararum munivaram and (5) mukthAthmAs. These five form the next set of five entities
andaraththu aNanindhu ninRu – fitting well in paramapadham which is praised as paramavyOmam and paramAkASam (supreme ethereal layer) in vEdhas. Thus, it has been mentioned that he is together with nithya vibhUthi.
Aya ninnai – you, who are together with the two vibhUthis (leelA and nithya vibhUthis)
yAvar kANa vallarE – who can see you, with their efforts? Could celestial entities see you just because they have superior knowledge to people on earth? Could entities such as brahmA et al, who have superior knowledge to such celestial entities with both karmabhAvana (engaging with regular tasks) and brahmabhAvana (engaging with emperumAn) see you? Or could sanaka, sanantha, sanAthana and sanathkumAra [sons of brahmA] who are totally engaged only with brahma bhAvana, see you?
We will next consider the 4th pAsuram of this prabandham.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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