SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavara munayE nama:
avathArikai (Introduction)
emperumAn asks AzhwAr in his divine mind “What is the reason for not engaging with the means that I had mentioned and, instead of thinking with patience ‘Let emperumAn give the benefit when he deems fit’ why do you urge me to give the complete enjoyment speedily?” AzhwAr says in this pAsuram “Since I wish to take refuge under you, who are having auspicious qualities, with your acceptance and periya pirAttiyAr’s purushakAram (recommendation), I do not desire to attempt on my own through any other means. Since the beauty of your divine form is engaging me deeply, I am unable to remain patiently and am showing urge in enjoying your divine form”
maNNai uNdu umizhndhu pin irandhukoNdu aLandhu maN
kaNNuL alladhu illai enRu venRa kAlam AyinAy
paNNai venRa insol mangai kongai thangu pangayak
kaNNa! ninna vaNNam alladhu illai eNNum vaNNamE
Word-by-Word Meanings
maN kaNNuL alladhu illai enRu – thinking “This world will not sustain unless it comes under the glance of my eyes”
maNNai – earth
uNdu – (during deluge) swallowed
umizhndhu – (during creation) let it out
pin – later
irandhu koNdu – got it back through alms (as vAmana, from mahAbali)
aLandhu – measured it (as thrivikrama)
venRa – won over everyone
kAlamAyinAy – On one who has time as your wealth!
paNNai – tune
venRa – winning over
insol – having sweet speech
mangai – youthful periya pirAttiyAr’s
kongai – on the bosom
thangu – one who resides
pangayak kaNNa – Oh puNdarIkAksha (one with lotus-like eyes)!
eNNum vaNNam – the reason for my desire to enjoy your divine form
ninna vaNNam alladhillai – nothing other than the divine beauty of your form.
Simple Translation
During the time of deluge, thinking “This world will not sustain itself unless it comes under the glance of my eyes”, you swallowed it; you let it out (during creation); later, you retrieved it (as vAmana, from mahAbali) and measured it (as thrivikrama). Oh, one who won over the entity of time since it is your wealth! Oh, one who is with lotus-like eyes, who resides on the bosom of the youthful periya pirAttiyAr who has sweet speech which is sweeter than tunes! The reason for my desire to enjoy your divine form is none other than the divine beauty of your form.
vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
maNNai uNdu umizhndhu – when the deluge was about to swallow the worlds, without anyone praying to you, taking that danger alone as the reason, without seeing any distinction between the eminent and the lowly, you protected everyone by keeping the worlds [with the people in them] in your divine stomach; since they were like achith entities [those without knowledge], inside your stomach, you let out the worlds [with the people], during creation. The indication here is that you, who protect even those who are not engaged with you, should protect me who is totally engaged with you.
pin irandhu koNdu aLandhu – after the world was created, mahAbali thought that the worlds were his and seized them; you went to him, in the most inappropriate manner, as a mendicant, and took the worlds from him in alms, to return them to indhra. Beyond the three worlds which were seized, you measured all the fourteen worlds, by keeping your divine feet on the heads of all he people. It is implied through this verse “You manifest your simplicity by engaging with people who do not show any involvement with you; should you not show those qualities to me, who is much lowlier than those people?” Didn’t emperumAn manifest his qualities of affableness and simplicity in this incarnation, by keeping his divine feet on the heads of all the people!
maN kaNNuL alladhu illai enRu – What is the reason for emperumAn’s engagement with these people even when they do not show any involvement with him? You had thought that unless you graced the worlds with your divine eyes, they could not sustain themselves.
venRa kAlamAyinAy – you are the causative factor for the entity ‘time’ too, which is the causative factor for all the changes which take place with all the entities in the world. The indication here is that for people who are the target of birth and death, being under the control of time since they are servitors to others, there is no way other than through you to overcome the entity ‘time’. Has it not been said in mahAbhAratham Santhi parvam 196-9? “kAlam sa pachathE yathra na kAlas thathra vai prabhu:” (At paramapadham from where emperumAn controls time, it cannot exercise its control). In this verse, the term venRa comes as an attribute for time. Alternatively, this word could be added to the sequence “maN kaNNuL alladhu illai enRu maNNai uNdu umizhndhu pin irandhukoNdu aLandhu venRa” in which case the meaning will be – you had won the land seized by mahAbali, praLayam etc as your benefit.
paNNai venRa insol mangai kongai thangu pangayak kaNNa – periya pirAttiyAr has a sweet speech, as confirmed by SrI rAma, during his separation from sIthAp pirAtti, to hanuman, in SrI rAmAyaNam sundhara kANdam 66-15 “madhurA madhurAlApA kimAha mama bhAmini l
madhvihInA varArOhA hanuman kathayasva mE ll” (Oh hanuman! What message did sIthai, who is sweet, who has sweet words, who is beautiful, who is distinguished for enjoyment and who is separated from me, convey for me? Please say that). Oh, kaNNa with lotus-like eyes, who resides on the bosom of such periya pirAttiyAr who is always youthful! Through this verse, AzhwAr indicates that emperumAn, who is dear to periya pirAttiyAr who is distinguished by her age, sweet speech and beauty, had showered distinguished mercy on him, egged on by his qualities such as helping in times of danger etc, forgetting his [AzhwAr’s] bad conduct, which had been with him since time immemorial.
ninna vaNNam alladhu illai eNNum vaNNamE – the reason for my urge in enjoying you, without any break, is nothing other than the beauty of your divine form. The implication is that more than your auspicious qualities of motherly forbearance, helping in times of danger, simplicity, affableness etc, it is only the beauty of your divine form which is making me not to remain patient, but to show my anxiety in being hasty.
Next, we will take up the 106th pAsuram of this prabandham.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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