SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavara munayE nama:
avathArikai (Introduction)
In the previous pAsurams, AzhwAr had mercifully said that we can attain kshIrAbdhinAthan (emperumAn who is the lord of milky ocean), vyUha avathAram, and kaNNan et al, vibhava avathArams, and uplift ourselves. A query arose “thiruppARkadal nAthan is far from us due to distance and vibhava avathAams are far from us due to time; how could we attain them?” In this pAsuram he mercifully says “On this earth, at this time, emperumAn is mercifully standing in thirumalai [thiruvEngadam], so that everyone can take refuge under him. Attain his divine feet and uplift yourselves” and brings to an end parOpadhEsam (instructing others) which he had started in the 75th pAsuram.
kadaindha pARkadal kidandhu kAlanEmiyaik kada(di)ndhu
udaindha vAli thandhanu(na)kku udhava vandha irAmanAy
midaindha Ezh marangaLum adanga eydhuvEngdam
adaindha mAla pAdhamE adaindhu nALum uymminO
Word-by-Word Meanings
kadaindha – (for the same of ambrosia) churned
pARkadal – in kshIrAbdhi (milky Ocean)
kidandhu – reclining
kAlanEmiyai – monster named kAlanEmi
kadandhu – defeated him
udaindha vAli – vali, whose basic nature had got destroyed (due to contact with other deities), his
thandhanukku – for sugrIva, his younger brother
udhava – to help
irAmanAy vandhu – incarnated as rAma, son of emperor dhaSarathan
midaindha – standing close to each other
Ezh marangaLum – seven ebony trees
adanga – all these
eydhu – pierced with arrow
vEngadam – at thirumalai
adaindha – one who has mercifully reached
mAla – affectionate one’s
pAdhamE – only his divine feet
adaindhu – taking refuge under
nALum – permanently
uymminO – uplift yourselves
pARkadal – in kshIrAbdhi (milky Ocean)
kidandhu – reclining
kAlanEmiyai – monster named kAlanEmi
kadandhu – defeated him
udaindha vAli – vali, whose basic nature had got destroyed (due to contact with other deities), his
thandhanukku – for sugrIva, his younger brother
udhava – to help
irAmanAy vandhu – incarnated as rAma, son of emperor dhaSarathan
midaindha – standing close to each other
Ezh marangaLum – seven ebony trees
adanga – all these
eydhu – pierced with arrow
vEngadam – at thirumalai
adaindha – one who has mercifully reached
mAla – affectionate one’s
pAdhamE – only his divine feet
adaindhu – taking refuge under
nALum – permanently
uymminO – uplift yourselves
Simple Translation
emperumAn reclined in the milky ocean, after churning it. He killed the monster kAlanEmi. He incarnated as SrI rAma, the son of emperor dhaSarathan, in order to help sugrIva, the younger brother of vALi, whose basic nature had got destroyed and he pierced seven ebony trees. He is mercifully standing in thirumalai. Take refuge under the affectionate emperumAn’s divine feet and permanently uplift yourselves.
vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
kadaindha pARkadal kidandhu – due to the curse of sage dhurvAsa, the wealth of celestial entities such as indhra disappeared in thiruppARkadal. In order to redeem their wealth, emperumAn churned that ocean and reclined in that ocean so that celestial entities such as brahmA et al could approach him there and seek redressal for any danger that may come their way.
kAlanEmiyaik kadandhu – defeating the monster kAlanEmi who was harassing those celestial entities. kadaththal – to be victorious
udaindha vAli thandhanakku udhava vandha irAmanAy – this mentions the way emperumAn helped the younger brother of vAli, who had a broken heart because of vAli, by incarnating as SrI rAma. Through the first line, the pAsuram mentioned the way emperumAn helped celestial entities such as brahmA et al. Through the second line it mentions the way he helped monkeys such as sugrIva et al by incarnating as SrI rAma. The term udaindha could be taken as an adjective for vAli, instead of for sugrIva. vAli had come to earth as indhra’s amSam (representative part) in order to help SrI rAma. However, he became a devotee of Siva and befriended rAvaNa. Since his svarUpam (basic nature) had changed, AzhwAr calls him as udaindha vALi. The term thandhanakku could be taken to refer to vAli himself. Just as SrI rAmAyaNam kishkindhA kANdam 17-8 says “thadhasthram thasya vIrasya svarga mArga prabhAvanam l rAmabANA sanakshiptham Avahath paramAm gathim ll” (That arrow which was shot from SrI rAma’s bow, and which showed the path to parama padham, gave mOksham to the valorous vAli), SrI rAma came to help vAli since those who die at his hands reach mOksham. Alternative explanation – since sugrIva had taken refuge in rishyasrungamukha parvam, a mountain where vAli was barred from entering, vAli had a broken heart since he thought “What is the point in my ruling when my enemy is still alive?” To get rid of the danger to sugrIva from that broken-hearted vAli, SrI rAma came.
udaindha vAli thandhanukku – periyavAchchAn piLLai, the commentator for this prabandham, has quoted a thamizh grammar expert who was said to have written the explanation for this, in the following way: the term thambi thanakku (for younger brother) has got transformed as “thandanu(na)kku”, with the syllable ‘m’ in “thambi” replaced by the syllable ‘n’ and the last syllable ‘bi’ in ´thambi´ getting shortened fully; the resulting syllable ‘than’ refers to thambi.
midaindha Ezh marangaLum adanga eydhu – Though SrI rAma had given a word to sugrIva that he would protect sugrIva from vAli, sugrIva had a doubt whether SrI rAma would be able to protect him. Hence, he asked SrI rAma, pointing to an ebony tree “In order to test his strength, vAli would shake this tree and check if the leaves are falling; could you pierce this tree with your arrow?” SrI rAma pierced all the seven ebony trees which were close together. Not only that, he also pierced seven mountains and the seven nether worlds, with his single arrow. Thus, to eliminate sugrIvan’s doubt completely, SrI rAma, apart from the seven trees, also targeted seven mountains and seven nether worlds.
vEngadam adaindha mAla pAdhamE adaindhu nALum uymminO – the simplicity with which emperumAn had helped celestial entities such as brahmA et al is not accessible to us since we cannot approach thiruppARkadal; in the same way, the simplicity with which he helped monkeys during his incarnation as SrI rAma is not accessible to us since we had come too far behind his time. In order to ensure that even we do not miss out on his simplicity, emperumAn, who shows his simplicity to those who desire benefits other than himself as well as to monkeys and other animals, has mercifully taken residence in thiruvEngadam, manifesting his simplicity, due to his great affection for his followers. AzhwAr tells us to attain the divine feet of thiruvEngadamudaiyAn [divine name of emperumAn in thiruvEngadam], without desiring any other benefit, and to uplift ourselves. By stressing with the long syllable E as in pAdhamE, AzhwAr hints that “Even though he helps those who desire other benefits too, you take refuge under his divine feet, considering them alone as the benefit. That is the way to uplift yourselves”. Instead of considering the verse as nALum uymminO, we can transpose the term adaindhu towards the end of the verse, considering it to be nALum adaindhu uymminO. The meaning will then become: attain the divine feet of thiruvEngadamudaiyAn always and uplift yourselves.
uymmin – For a SEsha bhUthan (servitor), getting uplifted would refer to carrying out kainkaryam (service to emperumAn). Hence the meaning for this term is “carry out service”. nammAzhwAr too in thiruvAimozhi 1-1-1 mercifully said “sudaradi thozhudhezhu” (worship his resplendent divine feet and rise), confirming that “sudaradi thozhudhu” (worshipping his resplendent feet) is ezhudhal (kainkaryam).
vEngadam adaindha mAla pAdhamE adaindhu – for his followers, thruvEngadamudaiyAn’s divine feet are the abode to be attained. For thiruvEngadamudaiyAn, since thiruvEngadam enables him to get his followers, it is the place to be attained.
Next, we will take up the 82nd pAsuram of this prabandham.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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