SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavara munayE nama:
avathArikai (Introduction)
emperumAn thinks in his divine mind “What is the reason for your doubt about me that I will remove you away from me and that I will bring you under the control of worldly pursuits such as Sabdham (sound) etc?” AzhwAr responds in this pAsuram “You are capable of destroying enemies however strong they are; however, when I find that you are not fulfilling my desire that you should sever my connection with this physical form and take me under your feet, how could I not have that doubt?”
sAdu sAdu pAdhanE salangalandha poygai vAy
AdarAvin vanpidar nadam payinRa nAdhanE
kOdu nIdu kaiya seyya pAdhanALum uLLinAl
vIdanAga mey seyAdha vaNNam enkol kaNNanE
Word-by-Word Meanings
sAdu – the monster, Sakata
sAdu – one who destroyed
pAdhanE – Oh, one who has the divine feet!
salam kalandha – to make it appear as if water had been added to poison, it was that poisonous
poygai vAy – on the mound of river yamunA
AdarAvin – kALiyan, the snake, who was dancing in anger
van pidar – on his strong neck
nadam payinRa – one who danced
nAdhanE – Oh my swAmy!
kOdu – with SrI pAnchajanyam, the divine conch
nIdu – always together
kaiya – Oh, one who has divine hand!
kaNNanE – Oh, one who is easily approachable for those who take refuge under you!
seyya pAdham – your reddish, divine feet
nALum uLLinAl – if meditated upon every day
vIdanAga – (making me) to be in parama padham
mey seyAdha vaNNam – not having done this, truly
enkol – why?
Simple Translation
Oh, one who has divine feet [with which] you destroyed the monster, Sakata! Oh, my swAmy, who danced on the strong neck of the snake kALiyan, who was dancing in anger, on the mound of river yamunA, which was full of poison, with water having been added to it! Oh, one who has the divine hand which is always together with the divine conch, SrI pAnchajanyam! Oh, one who is easily approachable to those who take refuge under you! Why have you not taken me truly to paramapadham, even though I am constantly meditating upon your reddish, divine feet?
vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
sAdu sAdu pAdhanE– oh, one who has divine feet with which you kicked the monster, Sakata, even when you were an infant such that he died! The first term sAdu refers to Sakata, a wheel. The second term sAdu refers to the act of kicking. The divine feet, which are apt to be attained by favourable ones, destroyed the enemy. This is the nature of his divine feet. Hasn’t nammAzhwAr to mercifully said this in his thiruvAimozhi 6-3-1 pAsuram “vidamum amudhamumAy” (emperumAn is both poison and nectar)? Through this, AzhwAr hints that “I cannot say that I am losing the benefit because you are sad at removing hurdles”.
salam kalandha poygai vAy – on the mound of river yamunA, which is full of poison, with a little bit of water mingled with it. Was it not mentioned in SrI vishNu purANam 5-7-3? “thasyASchAthi mahAbhIma vishAgniSRithavAriNam l hratham kALiyanAgasya dhadharSAdhivibhIshaNam ll”
(kaNNan saw a mound of that river yamunA which had water boiling due to the cruellest fire of poison, and which was looking most dangerous)
AdarAvin van pidar nadam payinRa – the opinion is that the gait of kaNNan, while walking atop the powerful head of kALiyan who was living in that river, appeared like a dance performed by experts in dance. arA – aravu, snake; the term Adaravu refers to the snake dancing in that mound. Alternatively, it can also be construed as snake, dancing in anger. The term Adal will refer both to gait and dance.
nAdhanE – Oh my lord, who is apt for my svarUpam (basic nature)! AzhwAr is referring to his relationship with emperumAn [lord – possession] in order to highlight that killing enemies is dear to him. Through this second exclamation, AzhwAr hints that “There is no reason to doubt that I have lost out on my benefit because removing my hurdles is not apt for you and also because there is no relationship with you”. AzhwAr had mercifully mentioned the narrative about destroying SakatAsuran in order to indicate that any ego, which comes in the physical form which had been created for attaining emperumAn and to enjoy him, is apt to be given up. He had mercifully mentioned the narrative about kALiya nardhanam (dancing atop kALiyan) to indicate that connection with physical form, which is like mixing with poison for AthmA, an entity very dear to emperumAn, is apt to be removed. The monster pervading in a favourable wheel is similar to ego pervading a favourable physical form [favourable in order to carry out kainkaryam and to reach emperumAn]. Poison admixing with the sweet water of river yamunA is similar to the relationship of AthmA, which is dear to emperumAn, with the physical form.
kOdu nIdu kaiya – Oh one who holds the divine conch of SrIpAnchajanyam which is inseparable from the divine hand, as if to manifest that you have to prove your hand only through the conch! The opinion here is that AzhwAr is hinting that it cannot be said that he is not attaining removal of hurdles because emperumAn is not having the necessary implement in his hand or that he himself has the power in his hands for its removal.
seyya pAdham nALum uLLInAl – if one were to meditate constantly on the divine feet which have a reddish complexion, distinguishing them from his dark divine form and which attract all towards them. It is indicated through this that AzhwAr is not losing out because he is holding on to something, leaving aside emperumAn.
vIdanAga mey seyAdha vaNNam enkol – while you (emperumAn) are capable enough to remove my connection with samsAram, why are you not truly making me attain your divine feet? Due to the usage of the term that he has not truly attained emperumAn, it is indicated here that he has attained the benefit to an extent and that he is not satisfied since he has not attained it completely. In other words, he has got benefit to the extent that emperumAn has entered his heart just like nammAzhwAr had said in thiruvAimozhi 2-6-7 “mudiyAdhadhen enakkElini” (hereafter, everything is possible for me) and that he has been able to see emperumAn through his mind, just as nammAzhwAr had said in his thiruvAimozhi 4-5-8 “yAvar nigar agalvAnaththE” (who, even in nithyavibhUthi, can match me?) It is this which AzhwAr has mercifully said in places such as thiruchchandhaviruththam 64 “piRandhapin maRandhilEn” (I have not forgotten emperumAn after getting knowledge about him). Though he could comfort himself, he says that since emperumAn has not severed his connection with his physical form and given the experience similar to nithyasUris, he says that he has not truly got the benefit.
kaNNanE – the purpose of your incarnating as kaNNan is only to make the jIvAthmAs to have desire in his matters, to start with, and to finally grant paramabhakthi to them and to make them as mukthAthmAs (liberated souls). You did not incarnate in order to get rid of karma, like us. Thus, when emperumAn asked him the reason for his doubt about his granting AzhwAr the final benefit, AzhwAr says in this pAsuram “When you tell the reason for your not granting me mOksham, the answer to your query will come on its own”
Next, we will take up the 87th pAsuram of this prabandham.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
archived in http://divyaprabandham.koyil.org
pramEyam (goal) – http://koyil.org
pramANam (scriptures) – http://granthams.koyil.org
pramAthA (preceptors) – http://acharyas.koyil.org
SrIvaishNava education/kids portal – http://pillai.koyil.org