SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavara munayE nama:
avathArikai (Introduction)
AzhwAr is wondering that while attaining emperumAn is this simple, while worldly life, which is samsAram, has many evident defects such as insignificant, unstable etc, and while knowing that by attaining emperumAn one need not return to this world but enjoy the great eminence of being in SrI vaikuNtam, for what reason are samsAris not attaining emperumAn?
inRu sAdhal ninRu sAdhal anRi yArum vaiyagath(thu)
onRi ninRu vAzhdhal inmai kaNdu nIsar enkolO
anRu pAr aLandha pAdha pOdhai onRi (unni) vAnin mEl
senRu senRu dhEvarAy irukkilAdha vaNNamE
Word-by-Word Meanings
inRu sAdhal – dying the moment one is born
ninRu sAdhal – dying after completing a hundred years
anRi – apart from these two
yArum – however great, such as brahmA et al, one may be
vaiyagaththu – in this world
onRi ninRu – staying firmly
vAzhdhal – living
inmai kaNdum – even after seeing directly that it does not occur
nIsar – ignorant people
anRu – on that day (when mahAbali had usurped the world)
pAr – all the worlds
aLandha – measured
pAdha pOdhai – divine feet which are like lotus flower
unni – meditating upon
senRu senRu – reaching paramapadham (SrI vaikuNtam) through the path of archis, i.e. light) etc
vAnin mEl – in paramapadham
dhEvarAy – matching nithyasUris
irukkilAdha vaNNam – reason for not being [like that]
en kolO – for what?
Simple Translation
Life in this world is such unstable that one may die on the day one is born or die after living for a hundred years. Even for great persons such as brahmA et al, it does not happen that they live here forever. After seeing all these, why are ignorant people not meditating upon the lotus feet of emperumAn who measured the worlds on that day (when mahAbali usurped the lands) and not reaching paramapadham, through the path of archis etc and match nithyasUris who dwell there?
vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
inRu sAdhal – dying in the womb immediately after the embryo is formed upon the union of a man and woman; alternatively, dying immediately after being born in the world, after knowing about himself / herself. In the former case, how could it life be counted during the stay in womb? Just as it has been said in Apasthamba dharma sUthram 1-1-1-19 “garbhAshtamEshu brAhmaNamupanayItha” (for a brAhamaNa boy, upanayanam (wearing of sacred thread) should be conducted in the eighth year from the time that conception takes place in the womb), since longevity is calculated from the time of conception, the time of stay in the womb is also considered as part of life.
ninRu sAdhal – dying after completing the longevity of 100 years which has been considered for human beings. Alternatively, this could be considered as the period beginning with kalpam and ending with kalpam for celestial entities such as brahmA et al (kalpam is 4.32 billion years). Has not emperumAn mercifully brought out separately the features of birth and death among people and celestial entities, as said in bhagavath gIthA 2-20? “na jAyathE mriyathE vA kadhAchith nAyam bhUthvA bhavithA vA na bhUya: l ajO nithya: SASvathO’yam purANO na hanyathE hanyamAnE SarIrE: ll” (This AthmA never takes birth nor does it ever die. This entity of soul (which is inside the physical form of brahmA et al) does not originate (at the beginning of kalpam) and does not disappear (at the end of kalpam). AthmA is without birth; it is present forever; even though it has been around for long, it is enjoyable like a new entity; even when the body [within which it is present] is killed, it does not die).
anRi – even in this state of impermanence, though there are differences between various classes of people, there is none who has remained forever. nammAzhwAr too had said in thiruvAimozhi 4-1-6 “anRu mudhal inRaRudhiyA vAzhndhArgaL vAzhndhE niRpar enbadhillai” (it has not happened that from the time of creation of brahmA, people have lived life in much the same way). Has it not been mentioned in SrI vishNu purANam 6-5-52? “garbhE vileeyathE bhUyO jAyamAnO’sthamEthicha l jAthamAthrE cha mriyathE bAlabhAvE’tha yauvanE ll madhyamam vA vaya: prApthE vArdhakE vA dhruvA mruthi ll” ((jIvAthmA) perishes while inside the womb; perishes during the time of birth too; perishes during the time of infancy, during childhood and during youthful states; (even otherwise) during middle age or during old age, death is certain),
Arum – even jIvans such as brahmA et al who have eminent knowledge and who rule the fourteen worlds
vaiyagaththu onRi ninRu vAzhdalinmai kaNdum – even after knowing that there is none who lives in the fourteen worlds, permanently, in the same manner. The term vaiyagam, though refers to world, here it refers to the fourteen worlds, comprising earth and the six upper worlds as well as the seven nether worlds. The term vAzhdhal would ironically mean “Is his life anything worth to be spoken of?” Alternatively, it could also mean that samsAris would consider this life as something great and is hence referring to it as something significant.
nIsar – those without knowledge. They are the people who look up to others for instructing them to know about the life which they are experiencing. This could also be taken to mean that these people have committed such sins that they are unable to give up the worldly pursuits even after knowing through vEdhams and through the instructions of those who follow vEdhams that entities which are derived from prakruthi (primordial matter) are lowly. The term nIsar would refer to those who have attained lowly births due to excessive sins committed by them.
anRu – on that day when this world had been seized by mahAbali, as a result of which the quality of being the swAmy (lord) for the souls as well as the quality of servitude had been lost on the jIvAthmA.
pAraLandha pAdha pOdhai – divine feet which are like lotus and which emperumAn had kept, without seeing any distinction between the eminent and lowly, on the heads of all the chEthanas (those with knowledge) in all the worlds and manifested that all are his possession. The term pAr refers to all fourteen worlds. The term pOdhu while referring to flower in general, refers to lotus here since they [divine feet] are sweet, even if they are rare to attain.
unni – thinking deeply about. It signifies that there is no difficulty in attaining emperumAn; merely meditating on him is sufficient. Isn’t meditating upon, easy for everyone, just as it has been said in thiruvAimozhi 9-1-7 ”siRRa vENdA sindhippE amaiyum” (there is no need for engaging with difficult activities; having deep faith alone through the mind is sufficient [to attain emperumAn])? The text is also written as onRi [instead of unni] – it would then mean engaging firmly. If attaining emperumAn is easy, wouldn’t the benefit accrued due to that also be that great? AzhwAr says that this is not the case.
vAnin mEl senRu senRu – going in the path of archis, reaching the land of paramapadham from where one never returns. Through the two terms senRu senRu, the path through which one goes and the final destination of paramapadham are indicated. Alternatively, both terms could be considered to refer to the path itself since going in the path is in itself, very sweet and hence the term is repeated to emphasise this.
dhEvarAy irukkilAdha vaNNam … enkolO – what is the reason for not attaining the eminence of being on a par with nithyasUris? The term dhEvar refers to nithyasUris who are without any fatigue. Matching nithyasUris would mean that they will be without any shortcoming in their knowledge and would match them through their divine form and enjoying brahmam (supreme entity).
enkolO – what is the reason for this? (1) Is it because there is an antidote for the deficiencies seen prominently in samsAram? (2) Is there any shortcoming in the great happiness derived from attaining emperumAn as mentioned in SAsthrams? (3) Is there any deficiency to the simplicity of emperumAn who has been attained? (4) Is there any difficulty in attaining him? (5) Is there any lowliness in the paths for attaining him? Since the pAsuram says inRu sAdhal…..vAzhdalinmai kaNdum the first mentioned option is not the reason. Since the pAsuram says dhEvarAy irukkilAdha the second option is also ruled out. Since the pAsuram says anRu pAraLandha pAdha pOdhai the third reason is also eliminated. The fourth option is also incorrect due to the usage of the term unni. Similarly, due to the usage of the term senRu senRu, the fifth option is also eliminated. AzhwAr says that he has not seen any reason other than the sin due to which one engages with mUlaprakruthi (primordial matter) which is an achEthana entity (without knowledge) and its effect such as dhEham (physical form) etc as well as the sin due to which one does not engage with emperumAn, for ending up with this great loss.
Next, we will take up the 67th pAsuram of this prabandham.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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