SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavara munayE nama:
avathArikai(Introduction)
In the previous pAsuram, AzhwAr had said “What simplicity is this when you come and recline in thiruppARkadal even when none has come and prayed to you for help!”. In this pAsuram, after seeing emperumAn carrying out many incarnations in this world and protecting people, and in line with SrI vishNu purANam SlOkam 1-22-21 “na hi pAlana sAmarthyamruthE sarvESvaram harim l sthithau sthitham mahAprAgya bhavathyanyasya kaSyachith ll” (Oh one with lot of wisdom! Apart from hari (emperumAn), who is firmly rooted in protecting people, is it not a fact that there is none who has the ability to protect?) since there is none who is capable of protecting, since this world is exclusively under your control, there is no need for anyone to beseech you for protection. To bring this out clearly, AzhwAr speaks about various activities of emperumAn in protection and says “What is the surprise in seeing ananthan (AdhiSEshan) and garudan, who are natural enemies when seen from the angle of the common people in the world, serving you together, when you are reclining?”
puLLadhAgi vEdham nAngum OdhinAy adhanRiyum
puLLin vAy piLandhu putkodip pidiththa pinnarum
puLLai Urdhi AdhalAl adhu enkol min koL nEmiyAy
puLLin meyppagaik kadal kidaththal kAdhaliththadhE
Word-by-Word Meanings
min koL nEmiyAy – Oh one who is holding the resplendent divine disc!
puLLin – bird (bakAsuran)’s
vAy – mouth
piLandhu – dissecting it
adhanRiyum – apart from that
puL – periya thiruvadi (garudan)
kodi – as flag
pidiththa pin – apart from keeping it
arum – distinguished
puLLai – that periya thiruvadi
Urdhi – you are conducting as your vehicle
AdhalAl – being a natural protector, like this
puLLadhAgi – incarnating as a swan
vEdham nAngum – the four vEdhas
OdhinAy – (you had) instructed
kadal adhu – in thiruppARkadal (milky ocean)
puLLin – for periya thiruvadi
mey pagai – on top of thiruvanandhAzhwAn (AdhiSEshan) who is a natural enemy
kadaliththu – desirously
kidaththal adhu enkol– for what are you reclining?
Simple Translation
Oh one who is holding the divine, resplendent disc! You had incarnated as a swan and instructed the four vEdhams [to brahmA]. Apart from that, you had dissected a demon [bakAsuran] who had come in the form of a bird. You have garudan, as your flag; apart from that, you are also conducting that distinguished garudan as your vehicle. Being a natural protector, as shown by all these examples, how is it that you are having garudan and AdhiSEshan, who are seen by the common people of the world as natural enemies, to be your servitors, together, even as you are desirously reclining in thiruppARkadal?
vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
puLLadhAgi vEdham nAngum OdhinAy – if you [emperumAn] had instructed vEdhams to brahmA with your divine, auspicious form, people would have thought that you only had composed vEdham [vEdhams’ distinction is that they are apaurushEyam (not written by anyone)]. Hence, you transformed your divine form to that of a swan and mercifully revealed the true meanings of vEdhams and the means to achieve you, so that the darkness of ignorance would disappear from this world. Hasn’t SrI parASara bhattar (the divine son of kUraththAzhwAn, rAmAnujar’s important disciple) mercifully said in SrI rangarAja sthavam uththara Sathakam 2-1 that vEdhams remove the darkness of ignorance? “harthum thamas sadhasathI cha vivEkthumISO mAnam pradhIpamiva kAruNikO dhadhAthi l thEnAvalOkya kruthna: paribhunjathE tham thathraiva kE’pi chapalA: SalabhIbhavanthi ll ” (emperumAn, who is an ocean of mercy, gives vEdham which is like a light to remove the darkness (of ignorance) and to analyse the benefits and disadvantages. Those, who are favourable to emperumAn, attain emperumAn with the help of that lamp; those with fickle minds (who desire worldly pursuits) fall into the lamp like moths and perish)
adhanRiyum – apart from removing the darkness of ignorance which is like a constant enemy to jIvAthmAs
puLLin vAy piLandhu – dissecting the mouth of a demon bakAsuran who came in the form of a crane, after you had incarnated as krishNa. This implies that just as he had instructed vEdhams, the authentic text, and removed the inner enemy of ignorance, emperumAn annihilated bakAsuran and revealed himself, the pramEyam (that which is revealed by the vEdhams as the supreme entity) to sustain his followers.
putkodip pidiththa pinnarum puLLai uRdhi – emperumAn held aloft garudan as his flag, to reveal that he is the protector, so that those who are suffering in this world would come to him and get rid of their sorrows. Apart from that, you conduct garudan as your vehicle too in order to reach the place, where your followers are present, to help them.
min koL nEmiyAy – Oh one who has the divine disc which is resplendent with a reddish complexion, contrasting with your bluish complexion! This emphasises that protecting others is a distinguishing feature seen with him. This reaffirms nammAzhwAr’s words in periya thiruvandhAdhi 87 kai kazhalA nEmiyAn (one from whose hands the divine disc will never separate).
AdhalAl – as a result of being a natural protector like this. Here, periya vAchchAn piLLai, the vyAkyAthA (commentator) for this prabandham, says that the verse should realigned as “min koL nEmiyAy! puLLadhAgi vEdham nAngum OdhinAy; adhanRiyum puLLin vAy piLandhu putkodip pidiththa pinnarum puLLai Urdhi; puLLin meyppagaik kadal kidaththal kAdhaliththadhu adhu en kol” to get the apt meaning.
puLLin meyppagaik kadal kidaththal kAdhaliththadhu adhu en kol – when looked from the viewpoint of a worldly person, there is a natural enmity between AdhiSEshan and garudan. However, you are desirously lying atop AdhiSEshan in thiruppARkadal and both AdhiSEshan and garudan are unitedly carrying out servitude to you. For what purpose is this? The implied meaning is: Is it to reveal your ability that you could get served by inimical entities in this samsAram? Isn’t it this capability which makes a samsAri chEthanan (a jIvAthmA in samsAram) for whom ahankAram (body is prominent) and mamakAram (everything is mine) are desirous qualities, to be at the same level with nithyasUris, for whom carrying out kainkaryam to emperumAn is a natural phenomenon!
Next, we will take up the 20th pAsuram of this prabandham.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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