SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavara munayE nama:
avathArikai (Introduction)
Since AzhwAr had not forgotten the benefits which emperumAn showered on him, he engages with emperumAn further. In this pAsuram he says “emperumAn mercifully stood in thiruvEngadam, sat in paramapadham and lay down in thiruppARkadal only during the time when AzhwAr had not developed affection towards emperumAn’s divine feet. Nowadays, is he not doing all these activities, staying in my heart?“
niRpadum or veRpagaththu iruppum viN kidappadhum
naRperum thiraik kadaluL nAnilAdha munnelAm
aRpudhan anandhasayanan Adhi bhUdhan mAdhavan
niRpadhum iruppadhum kidappadhum en nenjuLE
Word-by-Word Meanings
or – unique
veRpagaththu – in thirumalai (thiruvEngadam)
niRpadhum – standing mercifully
viN – in the sky, which is paramapadham
iruppum – sitting mercifully
nal – being good
peru – being dense
thirai – having waves
kadaluL – in thiruppARkadal (milky ocean)
kidappadhum – reclining mercifully
nAn ilAdha munnelAm – during earlier times, when I was like asath (that which does not exist). Not knowing the proper way (of worshipping emperumAn)
aRpudhan – being an amazing entity (due to gyAna, Sakthi (knowledge, power) etc
anandha sayanan – lying atop ananthan (AdhiSEshan)
AdhibhUdhan– being the causative factor for the worlds
mAdhavan – SrIman nArAyaNan
niRpadhum iruppadhum kidappadhum – carrying out the activities of standing, sitting and reclining (now)
en nenjuLE – these are in my heart
Simple TYranslation
During earlier times, when I was not existing, when I did not know the proper way of worshipping emperumAn, he stood mercifully on thirumalai, sat mercifully in paramapadham and reclined mercifully in thiruppARkadal which is dense, having waves. SrIman nArAyaNan, who is the causative factor for the worlds, nowadays, carries out those amazing activities of standing, sitting and reclining, in my heart.
vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
niRpadhum or veRpagaththu – manifesting his divine posture of standing, atop the unmatched thirumalai. The uniqueness of thirumalai is that just as this AzhwAr himself had said in nAnmugan thiruvandhAdhi 47 “gAnamum vAnaramum vEdum udai vEngadam“, thirumalai is the divine abode where emperumAn is manifesting his simplicity to the trees, monkeys and hill-tribe people, who are present in thiruvEngadam, without differentiating among them. Isn’t he standing mercifully in thiruvEngadam in order to create an involvement among the trees, the monkeys and the people of the hill-tribes?
iruppum viN – for those who have an involvement with his divine feet, emperumAn manifests the divine posture of sitting which he adopts at paramapadham and which he displays to nithyasUris, who have no connection with samsAram (materialistic realm), such that they could enjoy him.
kidappadhum naRperum thiraikkadaluL – thiruppARkadal is clear, cool and has waves which gently stroke emperumAn’s divine feet. Just as nammAzhwAr had said in thiruvAimozhi 8-10-8 “thALum thOLum mudigaLum samanilAdha pala parappi” (spreading his unmatched, many divine feet, divine shoulders and divine crowns), emperumAn spreads his expansive divine form in thiruppARkadal, which is expansive appropriately, in order to recline mercifully on it. The word nal (good) refers to thiruppARkadal having clear and cool water. This could be taken as an adjective either for the ocean or for its waves.
nAn ilAdha munnelAm – during the time when I did not know the relationship with emperumAn and appeared to be non-existent, he was carrying out the activities of standing, sitting and reclining, in those abodes. Through the second half of the pAsuram AzhwAr says “I became favourable towards him, his heart was not in those abodes; he carries out those activities in my heart, now. Isn’t he, who shows his affection for me, the one who is complete in all aspects!”
aRpudhan anandhasayanan AdhibhUdhan mAdhavan– emperumAn is complete with auspicious qualities of amazing knowledge, power etc. Since he is reclining atop ananthan (AdhiSEshan), he is spoken of as para brahmam (supreme entity) in sleeping posture, just as it has been said in kaushIdhaki upanishath “amithaujA: paryanka:”. He is the causative factor for the worlds. Apart from being the lord of the two vibhUthis (materialistic and spiritual), isn’t he having the greatness of being the consort of lakshmi too! We could also consider that emperumAn attained all these greatness after attaining AzhwAr.
niRpadhum iruppadhum kidappadhum en nenjuLE – just as nammAzhwAr had said in periya thiruvandhAdhi 68 “kallum kanaikadalum vaigundha vAnAdum pullenRu ozhindhanakol EpAvam” (Oh how sad! thirumalai, the roaring thiruppARkadal and paramapadham appear to have grown grass, (after emperumAn left these places to enter my mind)), after attaining my heart, emperumAn did not bother about those divine abodes; all his experience of standing, sitting and reclining in those divine abodes took place in my heart. I am the leader of all the lowly persons; after attaining me, he left thirumalai which is the boundary for simplicity and resided in my heart. After he announced to me about the sweetness of his divine feet, he shifted from paramapadham, the abode where he was mercifully sitting and considered my heart as his bhOgasthAnam (the place where he was enjoying all the enjoyments). Just as vishNu dharmam 41-30 says “andhakArE’thithIvrE cha narasimham anusmarEth l tharathyakhila dhu:kkhAni thApArthO jalaSAyinam ll” (In pitch darkness, let the chEthana think of narasimha perumAL. When suffering from sorrows, let him think of the supreme entity who is reclining in thiruppARkadal; (by thinking this way), he crosses all hurdles), by manifesting his reclining posture in thiruppARkadal and removing my sorrows in samsAram, he shifted from his abode of thiruppARkadal and reclined in my heart, getting rid of his longingness. AzhwAr says that he could not forget the immense love which emperumAn showed towards him.
Next, we will take up the 66th pAsuram of this prabandham.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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