SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavara munayE nama:
avathArikai (Introruction)
emperumAn, instead of thinking “The abodes where I reside in archA (idol) form are for the followers to attain me and the only place where they can enjoy me is paramapadham”, just as it has been said in periya thirumozhi 6-9-8 “nilaiyAra ninRAn” ((emperumAn) stood forever), showed his standing posture in thirumalai for those who are involved with his posture of standing. He showed his reclining posture, just as it has been said in thirumAlai 23 “kidandhadhOr kidakkai” (the manner in which emperumAn reclined) in thirukkudandhai for those who are involved with his posture of reclining. AzhwAr says in this pAsuram that emperumAn has made his followers to enjoy his beauty here [thiruvEngadam] itself, only because of his great love towards them.
sezhungozhum perum pani pozhindhida uyarndha vEy
vizhundhularndhu ezhundhu viN pudaikkum vEngadaththuL ninRu
ezhundhirundhu thEn porundhu pUm pozhil thazhaik kozhum
sezhundhadak kudandhaiyuL kidandha mAlum allaiyE
Word-by-Word Meanings
sezhum kozhum – being huge
perum pani – misty rain
pozhindhida – to pour copiously
uyarndha vEy – tall bamboo
vizhundhu – (due to the weight of that misty rain) leaning towards the ground
ularndhu – (later, due to the rays of sun) getting dried
ezhundhu – rising
viN – sky
pudaikkum – will hit
vEngadaththuL – in thiruvEngadam (divine hill of thirumalai)
ninRu – standing
thEn – beetles
ezhundhu – rising far
irundhu – again coming downwards
porundhu – living
thazhai – thriving
kozhu – being fertile
pUm – blossoming
pozhil – having orchards
sezhum thadam – (within that) having fertile ponds
kudandhaiyuL – inside thirukkudandhai
kidandha – one who mercifully reclined
mAl allaiyE – aren’t you the dear one?
Simple Translation
When misty rainfall pours down the hills of thiruvEngadam, the tall bamboo trees will bend down and lean towards the ground. After the rain stops and sun’s rays fall on them, the same bamboo trees will dry up and rise to the sky. In thirukkudandhai, beetles will rise far above and then come down again, in thriving and fertile orchards which are blossoming, which has fertile ponds. Are you not the one who has love towards your followers, reclining mercifully in that thirukkudandhai?
vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
sezhum kozhum perum pani pozhindhida – thick, misty rain, as it falls down copiously. sezhumai – greatness; kozhumai – richness. Thus, through these two words it says that the thick mist is falling down continuously, without any break. sezhumai could also be taken as referring to magnanimity. AzhwAr is describing mist in this way since everything related to thirumalai attracts him deeply.
uyarndha vEy vizhundhu – this says that the tall bamboo trees slant down due to the dense mist. Instead of taking the words sezhum and kozhum to refer to mist, as said earlier, if we assume them to refer to uyarndha vEy (tall bamboo), then it would mean that the tall bamboo trees which are thick, have been nurtured very carefully. We could consider that the earnestness of thiruvEngadamudaiyAn (emperumAn’s divine name in thirumalai) resulting from his distinguished mercy is functioning as water and manure for bamboo, to make them grow thick.
ularndhu ezhundhu viN pudaikkum vEngadaththuL ninRu – since mist is driven away by the rays of sun, the bamboo trees, as mentioned earlier, will rear their heads up once the mist dries out and stand tall on the peaks of thirumalai which rise up to the sky. Here, the result of bamboo trees leaning towards ground and rising up to the sky is symbolic of all entities in thirumalai which will hold their heads high with the distinguished mercy of thiruvEngadamudaiyAn and lower their heads in its absence.
ezhundhirundhu thEn porundhu pUmbozhil thazhaikkozhum – beetles will initially rise up flying, spreading themselves and then come down towards the flowers to stay lor long, drinking honey. Since the orchards too have been nurtured through the distinguished mercy of emperumAn, they are also dense and blossom everywhere. The term thEn refers to beetles. Since it has been said that they rise up and then come down, this indicates that they are unable to live forever on the flowers due to the excessive secretion of honey in the orchard, while at the same time, they are unable to let go of the flowers forever.
sezhum thadam kudandhaiyuL – on the inner side of the orchards, ponds are located, in such thirukkudandhai. Due to the usage of these adjectives, it is indicated that in this divine abode, even entities which do not have distinguished knowledge [such as bamboo, orchards, ponds and beetles] attain what they desire and live happily and that the divine abode removes the ennui suffered by people due to the three sufferings of AdhyAthmikam (that which results from one’s own actions), Adhi dhaivikam (that which results due to emperumAn) and Adhi bhaudhikam (that which results from other entities in the world).
kidandha mAlum allaiyE – aren’t you one with great beauty who is reclining with deep affection towards your followers, with the thought “Who is going to involve with the beauty of our reclining posture and is going to enjoy this?”
Next, we will take up the 61st pAsuram of this prabandham.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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