SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavara munayE nama:
avathArikai (Introduction)
In the previous pAsuram, AzhwAr had mentioned that emperumAn was the natural means for him by addressing him as “ananthan mEl kidhandha em puNNiyA“. He then thought of the incarnations made by emperumAn both in vyUham (milky ocean) and in vibhavam (leelA vibhUthi) as well as going on his garuda to places where his followers were residing, in order to protect them. He says that he has lost out on all these. He tells emperumAn that he must mercifully show him the way by which AzhwAr could attain him by getting rid of hurdles such as repeated births and deaths.
thOdu peRRa thaNduzhAy alangal Adu senniyAy
kOdu paRRi Azhi Endhi anjiRaippuL UrdhiyAl
nAdu peRRa nanmai naNNam illaiyEnu nAyinEn
vIdu peRRu iRappodum piRappaRukkamA solE
Word-by-Word Meanings
thOdu peRRa – petals spreading out
thaN – cool
thuzhAy – made of thuLasi
alangal – divine garland
Adu – tilting (towards his followers)
senniyAy – Oh one who has divine crown!
kOdu – SrI pAnchajanyam (divine conch)
paRRi – holding
Azhi – divine disc
Endhi – holding
am – beautiful
siRai – having divine wings
puL – garuda
Urdhi – you conducted
Al – alas!
nAdu – people (who were present in those times)
peRRa – enjoyed
nanmai – benefit (of these activities)
naNNam illaiyEnum – even if I had not got
nAyinEn – lowly person like a dog
vIdu – SrI vaikuNtam
peRRu – attaining
iRappodum – getting liberated from this physical form
piRappu aRukkum – not taking another physical form
A – means
sol – you should mercifully tell me
Simple Translation
Oh one who has the garland made of cool thuLasi with spread out petals and a divine crown which tilts towards your followers! Holding the divine conch and the divine disc, you conduct garuda. Alas! I did not enjoy the benefits which people in those times had enjoyed. You should mercifully tell me the means by which I, like a lowly dog, could get rid of this physical form and attain you, without the need of taking birth again.
vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
thOdu peRRa thaNduzhAy alangal Adu senniyAy – Oh one who has the cool garland made of thuLasi, with its spread-out petals and divine crown which tilts towards your followers! thOdu – petals of a flower. The implied meaning is that due to constant contact with emperumAn, thuLasi is cool and blossomed. Since he is welcoming his followers and tilting his crown towards them, they get relieved from their troubles in samsAram. The connection with emperumAn is the cause for chEthanas to blossom and to rid themselves of their troubles. Through these, it is affirmed that emperumAn has the beauty in his form to create an interest in those who come to him and to look at them affably.
kOdu paRRi AzhiyEndhi – kOdu – divine conch; holding pAnchajanyAzhwAn (the divine conch), who removes the sorrows of followers through his roaring. Just as nammAzhwAr had said in thiruvAimozhi 10-6-8 “karudhumidam porudhu kainninRa chakkaraththan” (one who holds the divine disc in his hand in order to defeat the enemies of his followers by going to their places and destroying them), emperumAn holds the divine disc too, in his hand. Apart from looking at his followers affably, emperumAn also holds the divine weapons to destroy their enemies.
anjiRaippuL UrdhiyAl – you come to the places where your followers reside, through garuda, your vehicle, whose wings get beauty through your contact. The word am (beauty) is used here as an adjective for siRai (wings). If it is to be used as an adjective for Urdhi (vehicle) the meaning would change to – having garuda as the vehicle is a decoration for emperumAn. This shows emperumAn’s simplicity of going to his followers in samsAram on his vehicle to remove their sorrows and protect them during times of danger.
Al – this term shows the excess of AzhwAr’s sorrows. He feels sad that he has missed out on the times when emperumAn had shown himself up, to his followers.
nAdu peRRa nanmai naNNam illaiyEnum – I did not have the fortune to enjoy the manner in which you had travelled on garuda as your vehicle in such a way that all the people who had been on this earth could see you. The implied meaning is that while he had lost out on times when emperumAn had incarnated on this earth, should he still lose out when emperumAn has incarnated in archai (idol) form now?
nAyinEn vIdu peRRu – just like a dog would be at the doors of a person who had given it food on one day, I too should attain paramapadham since I do not have any refuge other than you.
nAyinEn – there is another explanation for AzhwAr calling himself this way. Just as a dog would enter various places which are open and be driven away, AzhwAr says that he too had gone to various philosophies and been insulted. He opines that just as a dog brings impurity to a person who touches it, he too is lowly.
vIdu peRRu – I, who am like this, should get the benefit attained by nithyasUris; I, who am without any goodness in me, should get the benefit which nithyasUris, who are complete in all aspects, get.
iRappodum piRappu aRukkumA solE – I should not get another form after this physical form is destroyed; you should mercifully show me the way by which I get fully liberated from this samsAram. While vIdu peRudhal (getting liberated) will follow after birth is severed, why is AzhwAr talking of liberation first and then about severing from the cycle of birth and death? If he speaks about severing the cycle of birth, it could lead to kaivalyam (AthmA enjoying itself instead of carrying out service to emperumAn and enjoying the happiness that it brings to emperumAn). In order to prevent the occurrence of kaivalyam, AzhwAr is first talking of attaining emperumAn and then severance from birth. When a prince is imprisoned by his enemy, those who are favourable to him, after defeating the enemy, will first place the crown on his head while he is still inside the prison and only after that will they bring him out of the prison. In the same way, emperumAn should first take a sankalpam (vow) of making them attain him first and after that only, should he sever them from their births.
We will next take up the 47th pAsuram of this prabandham.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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