SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavara munayE nama:
avathArikai (Introduction)
lankA had a fortress which made it very difficult for good people who had sAthvika guNam (noble qualities) to go to lankA. chakravarthith thirumagan destroyed that protection through his arrows. In order to destroy the fortress of ego which is the hurdle for his followers to attain him as well as to remove the ennui of tiredness, which resulted from the killing of rAvaNa, by having his divine feet stroked by the divine hands of kAvEri, emperumAn mercifully reclined in SrI rangm, says AzhwAr in this pAsuram. In the previous two pAsurams, the way emperumAn destroyed the outer enemies was mentioned. In this pAsuram, it is mentioned that emperumAn, just as he had destroyed the fortress of lankA, destroys the inner enemy of svAthanthryam (being independent of emperumAn] which makes a follower to think, when he enjoys emperumAn, that the happiness resulting from that enjoyment is his [the follower’s].
ilaiththalaich charam thurandhu ilangai kattazhiththavan
malaiththalaip piRandhu izhindhu vandhu nundhu sandhanam
kulaiththalaiththu iRuththeRindha kungumak kuzhambinOdu
alaiththozhugu kAviri arangamEya aNNalE
Word-by-Word Meanings
ilai – like a leaf
nuni – having edge
saram – divine arrows
thurandhu – shot
ilangai – lankA
kattu – fortress
azhiththavan – rAmapirAn who destroyed
malai – in sahya parvatham (mountain range of sahyAdhri region)
thalai – on the peak
piRandhu – having its origin
izhindhu vandhu – flowing down
nundhu sandhanam – sandalwood trees which are pushed
kulaiththu – pushing (creepers of saffron)
alaiththu – pulling
iRuththu – snapping
eRIndha – letting them out
kungumam kuzhambinOdu – along with the waters of saffron
alaiththozhugu – pulling these
kAviri – having divine kAvEri
arangamEya – one who is permanently residing in the divine temple
aNNalE – is the lord only
Simple Translation
SrI rAma shot arrows which had sharp edges, like leaves, to destroy the fortress of lankA. River kAvEri flows down from the peak of sahyAdhri mountain range, pushing sandalwood trees as well as creepers of saffron plants, snapping them as they are pushed and pulled. The divine temple at SrI rangam where such kAvEri flows into, is the place where SrI rAma resides permanently.
vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
ilaiththalaich charam thurandhu ilangai kattazhiththavan – chakravarthith thirumagan shot divine arrows which had sharp edges like leaf and destroyed the fortress of lankA.
ilaiththalaichcharam – arrow which had their edges resembling a leaf.
kattu – fortress; the narrative of rAmAvathAram is hinted here. Just as rAmapirAn (SrI rAma) destroyed the ego of sUrppaNakA who wanted to enjoy SrI rAma for her happiness, he mercifully reclines in SrI rangam in order to destroy the svAthanthryam (independence) of followers who come there to enjoy emperumAn.
malaiththalaippiRandhu izhindhu vandhu nundhu sandhanam – having its origin on the peak of sahyAdhri mountain range, coming down the range with sandalwood trees which are uprooted by the heavy rains
kulaiththalaiththu iRuththu eRindha kungumak kuzhambinOdu alaiththu ozhugu kAviri – saffron plant is on the ground with its creepers and flowers. The flowing kAvEri, once it reaches the ground level, pushes and snaps the creepers of saffron plant. Due to this, with the powders of saffron flowers, the entire area becomes muddy. Along with this muddy water, kAvEri pushes the sandalwood trees mentioned earlier. The great materials pushed down by kAvEri as it reaches SrI rangam have been described by parASara bhattar in his SrIrangarAja sthavam pUrva Sathakam 21 “dhugdhAbdhir janakO jananyahamiha SrIrEva puthrI vara: | SrI rangESvara Ethadharhamiha kim kuryAmithIvAkulA || sanjachchAmara chandhra chandhana mahAmANikya mukthOthkarAn | kAvErI laharIkarair vidhadhathI paryEthi sA sEvyathAm ||”
(“thiruppARkadal (milky ocean) is the father; I (the wife of that ocean) am the mother; this SrI ranganAyaki is our daughter; azhagiya maNavALan (the uthsavar at SrI rangam temple) is the son-in-law; what gifts can I get which will be appropriate for this daughter and this son-in-law?” kAvEri river, which was bewildered with such thoughts, brought the splendorous chAmaram [fly flapper used as a fan for emperumAn], medicated camphor, sandalwood, eminent rubies, pearls etc, holding them with waves which are like her hands. We should get the fortune of having a holy dip in that kAvEri). Through this, it has been mentioned that kAvEri, impelled by her affection towards emperumAn, and in order to remove the tiredness that he has due to destroying lankA, cools him with sandalwood and saffron, and carries out servitude to him.
arangamEya aNNalE – the lord who permanently resides in the great temple in SrI rangam. kAvEri comes down from sahyAdhri mountain to SrI rangam in order to serve SrI ranganAthan. emperumAn came down from thiruppARkadal to SrI rangam in order to be served by kAvEri. Even though the distance covered by emperumAn to come to SrI rAngam is much longer than that covered by kAvEri, due to his partiality towards his followers, he treats the distance travelled by kAvEri to carry out servitude to him as the same as the distance travelled by him.
aNNal – lord. The opinion is that he is the swAmy (lord) who creates affection in the hearts of those who do not have affection for him, makes those who have affection for him to attain him and removes the ego which those who attain and who enjoy him thinking “I am enjoying emperumAn for my happiness”.
Next, we will take up the 55th pAsuram of this prabandham.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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