SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavara munayE nama:
avathArikai (Introduction)
AzhwAr says in this pAsuram that emperumAn, after reclining in SrI rangam for the sake of his followers, despite being the consort of SrI dhEvi, bhU dhEvi and neeLA dhEvi, accepted him [AzhwAr] too, such that he would not forget.
mannu mAmalark kizhaththi vaiya mangai maindhanAy
pinnum Ayar pinnai thOL maNam puNarndhadhanRiyum
unna pAdham enna sindhai manna vaiththu nalginAy
ponni sUzh arangameAya puNdarIgan allaiyE
Word-by-Word Meanings
mA – distinguished
malar – on a lotus flower
mannu – one who incarnated
kizhaththi – periya pirAttiyAr (SrI mahAlakshmi)
vaiyamangai – SrI bhUmip pirAtti, for these two
maindhanAy – as consort
pinnum – more than that
Ayar – one who incarnated as cow-herd girl
pinnai – nappinnaip pirAtti, who is neeLA dhEvi, her
thOL – shoulders
maNam puNarndhu – embraced
adhanRiyum – beyond that
unna pAdham – your divine feet
enna sindhai – in my heart
manna vaiththu – kept, without separating ever
nalginAy – you gave a great benefit
ponni – by the divine river kAvEri
sUzh – surrounded
aranga mEya – one who resides permanently in the huge temple
puNdarIgan allaiyE – aren’t you the one with divine limbs which are like lotus?
Simple Translation
You are consort of SrI dhEvi, who incarnated on a distinguished lotus flower, as well as SrI bhUmip pirAtti. More than that, you embraced the shoulders of nappinnaip pirAtti, who is neeLA dhEvi, and who was born as a cow-herd girl. Beyond these, you kept your divine feet in my heart, without ever separating from it, thus providing me with a great benefit. Aren’t you the one with divine limbs which are like lotus, who is permanently residing in the huge temple in SrI rangam, which is surrounded by the divine river kAvEri?
vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
mannu mA malark kizhaththi – periya pirAtti (SrI mahAlakshmi), who is the queen consort, and who incarnated on a distinguished lotus flower which has softness, coolness and fragrance. amarakOSam 2-6-5 says “kruthAbhishEkA mahishi bhOginyO’nyA nrupasthriya:” (one who is crowned along with the king is called as the queen consort; the other wives of the king are pleasure givers). Thus, since she is emperumAn’s queen consort, when he protects the worlds, she is together with him. The term kizhaththi refers to one who is fit to be crowned.
vaiya mangai maindhanAy – being the dear consort of SrI bhUmip pirAtti (bhU dhEvi). Just as the saying goes “yuvathiScha kumAriNI” (being more in the stage of an adolescent, with a little bit of youthfulness), being appropriate for her stage of being a mangai (one who is around 12 to 13 years of age), he [emperumAn] is in the stage, as said in rig vEdha ashtakam 2-2-25 “yuvA’kumAra:” (one who is more in the stage of youth, with a little bit of adolescence), a consort in the stage of a kALai (one who is around 16 to 17 years of age). The term maindhan refers to one who is young.
pinnum – beyond that. Since SrI mahAlakshmi, who is the presiding deity for wealth, is his queen consort, it is clear that he is the supreme entity, above all the other deities. Since bhUmip pirAtti is the repository for all the enjoyments, it is clear that he has all the enjoyments. Beyond this, he also has neeLA dhEvi as his consort, says the pAsuram. yajur samhithai 4-41-1 says “asyESAnA jagathO vishNu pathnI” (one who is the controller of the world and who is the consort of vishNu); purusha sUktham 2-25 says “hrIScha thE lakshmIScha pathnyau” (Oh the supreme entity! SrI and bhU dhEvis are your consorts); thiruvAimozhi 8-1-1 says “dhEvimArAvAr thirumagaL bhUmi” (SrI dhEvi and bhU dhEvi are your consorts). Thus, haven’t samskrutha and thamizh vEdhams called SrI dhEvi and bhU dhEvi as his consorts? The usage of the syllable cha in lakshmiScha (as said in the above-mentioned SlOkam hrIScha thE lakshmIscha) indicates that neeLA dhEvi has also been included in this.
Ayar pinnai thOL maNam puNarndhu – having the enjoyment of embracing the divine shoulder of nappinnaip pirAtti who was born in the eminent clan of herd-people.
adhanRiyum – while there has been no deficiency in your enjoyments, further to these
unna pAdham enna sindhai manna vaiththu nalginAy – just as it has been said in thirukkuRundhANdagam 7 “amarar sennippU” (the divine feet of emperumAn would be like a flower on the neck of nithyasUris), you had kept your divine feet, which are enjoyed by nithyasUris, in my heart, even as I had been toiling in samsAram since time immemorial, not leaving my heart even for a moment, thus showing your partiality towards me. The quality of vAthsalyam which emperumAn has, makes him to consider the faults in followers as good qualities, not allowing him to look at his eminence and the lowliness of his followers!
ponni sUzh arangamEya puNdarIgan allaiyE – Aren’t you the one, having limbs which are like lotus flower, living in SrI rangam, which is surrounded by river kAvEri? thiruvAimozhi 2-5-1 says “sendhAmaraith thadam kaN senganivAy sengamalam sendhAmarai adikkaL” (your divine wide eyes are like reddish lotus, your fruit-like divine mouth is like a red lotus, your divine feet are like lotus); thiruvAimozhi 2-5-3 says “kaN pAdham kai kamalam” (your divine eyes, divine feet and divine hands are like lotus); as seen in these pAsurams, since emperumAn’s divine eyes, hands, feet, mouth etc are like lotus, AzhwAr calls emperumAn as puNdarIgan (one who is like a lotus). thaiththirIya upanishath bhruguvalli 7 says “AnandhO brahmEthi vyajAnAth” (he knew that brahmam (supreme entity) is happiness); thaiththirIyavalli upanishath bhruguvalli 6 says “vijgyAnam brahmEthi vyajAnAth” (he knew that brahmam is knowledge). Just as upanishaths have said that the supreme entity is bliss and knowledge (since he has happiness and knowledge in abundance), through the latter part of the pAsuram, AzhwAr says that more than the freshness that emperumAn’s divine limbs attained due to residing in SrI rangam which removes ennui, they attained freshness through contact with him.
Next, we will take up the 56th pAsuram of this prabandham.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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