SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavara munayE nama:
avathArikai (Introduction)
emperumAn tells AzhwAr “Once I have become accessible to people’s power of knowledge, if they are unable to measure my abilities, is it not because of deficiency in their knowledge? When those with full depth in knowledge know well about me, how apt is your statement ‘who can see?’” AzhwAr responds saying “Even rudhra, who is eminent due to his knowledge and power, is not capable of comprehending your highness’ simplicity of being born as one among the cowherd people and protecting them. He is not capable of praising you”.
onRiraNdu mUrthiyAy uRakkamOdu uNarchchiyAy
onRiraNdu kAlamAgi vElai gyAlamAyinAy
onRiraNdu thIyumAgi AyanAya mAyanE
onRiraNdu kaNNinAnum unnai Eththa vallanE
Word-by-Word Meanings
onRu – being the most important form of vishNu
iraNdu mUrthiyAy – being the [indwelling soul for the] unimportant brahmA and rudhra forms
uRakkamOdu – being the controller for sleep which is without awareness and
uNarchchiyAy – for being awake, which is due to having knowledge
onRiraNdu kAlamAgi – being the controller for the three parts of time [past, present and future], which is full of sathva
(noble), rajas (passionate) and thamas (ignorant) qualities.
vElai – surrounded by ocean
gyAlamAyinAy – being the controller for earth
onRiraNdu thIyumAgi – being the controller for three types of fires, namely AhavanIya agni, gArhapathya agni and dhakshiNAgni
AyanAya – one who incarnated in the clan of cowherd people
mAyanE – Oh one who has amazing activities!
onRiraNdu kaNNinAnum – even mukkaNNan (one with three eyes, rudhra) who grants gyAnam (knowledge)
unnai – you
Eththa – to praise
vallanE – does he possess the ability?
Simple Translation
You are the most important form of vishNu as well as the unimportant forms of brahmA and rudhra. You are the controller for both being asleep and being awake, which have the qualities of not having and having knowledge, respectively. You are the controller of the three parts of time, which are full of purely noble, passionate and ignorant qualities. You are the controller of earth, which is surrounded by ocean. You are the controller of the three types of fires. Oh one who incarnated in the clan of cattle grazers and who has amazing activities! Even rudhran, who grants knowledge to others, does not possess the ability to praise you.
vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
onRiraNdu mUrthiyAy – being the important divine form of vishNu and the unimportant forms of brahmA and rudhra. emperumAn entered the physical forms of brahmA and rudhra as the indwelling soul and carried out the functions of creation and destruction respectively as a result of which the forms of brahmA and rudhra are said to be unimportant. Since he took a form similar to the forms of brahmA and rudhra and granted whatever was prayed for by his followers, without making any distinction between lowly benefits and mOksham, the form of vishNu is considered as important.
uRakkamOdu uNarchchiyAy – conducting the knowledge about these three forms. Just as it has been mentioned in mANdUkya kArikai “anAdhi mAyayA supthO yadhA jIva: prabudhyathE” (when jIvAthmA, who is sleeping due to the timeless illusion of samsAram, awakens), since those who do not have knowledge resemble those who sleep, the act of sleeping is considered as being ignorant, in this context. Ignorance is saying that all the three (brahmA, vishNu and rudhra) are controlled by the same paramAthmA, which is called thrimUrthi aikyavAdham (saying that all three merge into one) or that though they are in three different forms, all three are the same, which is called as thrimUrthi sAmyavAdham. Knowledge is knowing that vishNu, who is in the middle, between brahmA and rudhra, is the lord of all, protecting brahmA and rudhra and that the other two are protected by vishNu. It is emperumAn alone who controls both knowledge and ignorance.
onRiraNdu kAlamAgi – he is the controller of the time when sathva (noble) quality, which is the reason for knowledge and when rajas (passion) and thamas (ignorance) which are the reasons for ignorance are in the forefront. Just as it has been said in the saying “thrEthAyAm gyAnam uchyathE” (it is said that during the time of thrEthA yugam, true knowledge is present), it is emperumAn who creates true knowledge about himself, during thrEthA yugam. Just as it has been said in SrI vishNu purANam 6-1-50 “kalau jagathpathim vishNum sarvasrashtAramISvaram l nArchayishyanthi maithrEya! pAshaNdOpahathA janA: ll” (Oh maithrEya! During the time of kali yugam, people who have been spoiled by disbelievers, will not worship vishNu, who created, controlled and who is the swAmy (lord) of all entities), it is emperumAn who creates ignorance about him during the time of kaliyugam.
vElai gyAlamAyinAy – it is emperumAn alone who conducts the earth, which is surrounded by ocean. The opinion here is that emperumAn is the controller of bhAratha varsham (the country of bhAratham), which is also called as karma bhUmi (the place where one carries out all the ordained deeds), where those who have been showered with knowledge, as mentioned earlier, live. SrI vishNu purANam 2-3-7 says “ayam thu navamas thEshAm dhVipa: sAgarasamvrutha:” (this ninth dhvIpam (surrounded by oceans) of bhAratha varsham is also surrounded by ocean). In jambUdhvIpam which has nine divisions, bharatha varsham which is apt for carrying out one’s ordained deeds, is also surrounded by ocean.
onRiraNdu thIyumAgi – emperumAn is the controller of the primary agni (ritualistic fire) of AvahanIyam and the secondary fires of gArhapathyam and dhakshiNAgni, which are necessary for carrying out yagyam (sacrificial rituals) and other deeds which are ordained to be carried out in the karma bhUmi, as mentioned earlier. SrI vishNu purANam 2-3-25 says “karmANya sankalpitha thathphalAni sanyasya vishNau paramAthmarUpE l avApya thAm karma mahImananthE thasmin layam yE thvamalA: prayAnthi ll” (A few pious souls reach this earth and carry out yagyam and other deeds without praying for any benefit. They proffer these to vishNu, who is the paramAthma svarUpi (one who is in the form of the greatest soul) and take refuge under him, who is endless). The opinion here is that it is emperumAn who conducts yagyam and other deeds which are to be carried out by those who desire mOksham and is the controller of the three ritualistic fires which are the ancillaries for these yagyams.
AyanAya mAyanE – Oh kaNNa (krishNa) who incarnated as a cowherd with the divine and auspicious form which is beyond our five senses, and who is the epitome of amazing activities! Through this it is reiterated that it is emperumAn alone who is worshipped through the earlier mentioned yagyams and who incarnated as a cowherd. He has affirmed this in bhagavath gIthA 9-24 SlOkam “aham hi sarvayagyAnAm bhOkthA cha prabhurEvacha l na thu mAmabhijAnanthi thaththvE nAthaS chyavanthi thE ll” (I am the enjoyer of all the yagyams; I shower all the benefits of such yagyams; those who are firmly engaged with other deities, do not know me truly; hence, they slip away from me). Did not authentic texts convey this as in dhAnadharmam – vEdhyudhAharaNam “sarvE vEdhAs sarva vEdhayA: saSAsthrA: sarvE yagyAs sarva ijyAScha krushNa: l vidhu: krushNam brAhmaNAs thaththvathO yE thEshAm rAjan sarvayagyA: samApthA: ll” (Oh king! It is only krishNa who is all the vEdhas, SAsthras, all the entities (which are known through those SAsthras), all the yagyas, and all the celestial entities who are worshipped through those yagyas For those brAhmaNas who truly know krishNa, all their yagyas come to completion) and in bhagavath gIthA SlOkam 4-8 “parithrANAya sAdhUnAm vinASAya cha dhushkruthAm l dharma samsthApanArthAya sambhavAmi yugE yugE ll” (I incarnate in every yugam in order to protect the good people, to annihilate the bad ones and to establish righteous path)?
onRiraNdu kaNNinAnum – rudhra who has an important eye on his forehead, with which he has the power to burn his enemies, and two normal eyes like everyone else, which are used only for seeing others. mAthsya purANam 67-41 says
“ArOgyam bhAskarAdhichchEth dhanamichchEth huthAsanAth l ISvarAth gyAnam anvichchEth mOkshamichchEjjanArdhanAth ll” (Let him (a chEthana) desire health from sUryan (sun); wealth from agni (deity for fire); knowledge from Sivan; mOksham from Sriman nArAyaNa). Just because he has excessive knowledge and excessive power since he has the third eye on his forehead, is rudhra capable of truly knowing you, who are conducting both the vibhUthis (leelA vibhUthi, or samsAram, and nithya vibhUthi, or SrI vaikuNtam) and worshiping you?
unnai Eththa vallanE – through SaivAgamam (rules and regulations mentioned for worshipping rudhran) he is capable of worshipping himself. Is he capable of worshipping you? We could also consider this as saying, just as it has been said in nAnmugan thiruvandhAdhi 7 “Ala nizhaRkIzh” (under the shadow of a banyan tree), that he is capable of instructing others that emperumAn alone is the supreme entity, whenever he has excess of sathva (noble) qualities in him. But, is he capable of knowing you truly and worshipping you?
We will next take up the 8th pAsuram of this prabandham.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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