SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavara munayE nama:
avathArikai (Introduction)
emperumAn thinks in his divine mind “You had said in the previous pAsuram ‘seyya pAdham nALum uLLinAl’ conveying the meaning that you have taken refuge under us. Isn’t there any refuge for you other than us?” AzhwAr responds through three pAsurams, starting with this pAsuram, that he does not have any other refuge. brahmA and rudhran, whom the people of the world look up to as their refuge, are themselves looking up to you for their positions. When you are superior to everyone else, who else, other than you, could be a refuge for me, says AzhwAr, expressing his ananyagadhithvam (no other place to go to), in this pAsuram.
neRRi peRRa kaNNan viNNin nAdhanOdu pOdhin mEl
naRRavaththa nAdhanOdu maRRumuLLa vAnavar
kaRRa peRRiyAl vaNangu pAdha nAdha vEdha nin
paRRalAror paRRu maRRadhu uRRilEn uraikkilE
Word-by-Word Meanings
neRRi – on his forehead
peRRa – having
kaNNan – rudhran, who has an eye
viNNin – for the world of celestial entities
nAdhanOdu – along with indhra, who is the lord
podhin mEl – residing on the lotus flower of divine navel [of emperumAn]
nal thavaththa nAdhanOdu – along with brahmA, who carries out penance
maRRumuLLa – others who are present
vAnavar – celestial entities
kaRRa peRRiyAl – in the ways in which they have learnt
vaNangu – worshipping
pAdha – Oh, one who has divine feet!
vEdha nAdha – Oh one is proclaimed as the lord of all, in vEdhams [sacred texts]
uraikkil – if I were to state
nin paRRalAl – other than attaining you
maRRor paRRadhu – any other entity which could be considered as refuge
uRRilEn – I do not have any connection
Simple Translation
Oh, one who has divine feet which are worshipped, in ways which they have learnt, by rudhra, who has an eye in his forehead, by indhra, who is the lord of celestial entities, brahmA, who resides on the lotus-like flower of your divine navel, and who carries out good penance, and by all the other celestial entities! Oh, one who is proclaimed in the vEdhas as the lord of all! If I were to state something it will be that I do not have any connection with any entity who could be considered as refuge, other than you.
vyAkyAnam
neRRi peRRa kaNNan – rudhran who has an eye in his forehead. It appears from this verse that rudhran considers the eye on his forehead, which has the power of destruction, as a great benefit for himself.
viNNin nAdhanOdu pOdhin mEl naRRavaththa nAdhanOdu maRRumuLLa vAnavar – celestial entities such as varuNan et al who partake of the havis (offering in ritual) offered by samsAris, along with indhran, who is the lord of celestials, and along with brahmA, who was born in the lotus-like flower of divine navel of emperumAn and who has taken that itself as his residential abode and who has carried out penance in order to create the fourteen worlds and to be the head of those worlds. By clubbing rudhran and brahmA along with the other celestial entities, it is implied here that they are also badhdha jIvas (souls who are bonded to samsAram).
kaRRa peRRiyAl vaNangu pAdha – Oh one who has divine feet which are worshipped by these celestial entities in the ways that they have learnt. Through saying that they worship the divine feet of emperumAn and that they do so in different ways, it is implied that they are bound by the commands of vEdhams for both what is to be done and what is to avoided and that there is difference in the levels of knowledge and power, among these celestial entities.
nAdha vEdha – this could be taken as two different exclamations, nadhA! and vEdha! Or as a single term of vEdhanAdha! The meaning is that emperumAn is mentioned in vEdhas as the lord of all the worlds. In the previous verse the reason for saying that he is worshipped by celestial entities is because he is the lord for them, as brought out in this verse. Has he not been said as the lord of all in vEdhams such as thaiththirIya upanishath nArAyaNavalli 11? “pathim viSvasyAthmESvaram SASvatham Sivam achyutham nArAyaNam” (nArAyaNan alone is the lord of all the worlds, who is the lord for himself [i.e. he does not have a lord], who is always auspicious and who does not let go of his followers)
nin parralARor paRRu maRRadhu uRRilEn – your divine feet alone will be my refuge in any state; I do not have connection with any other refuge. Since the term uRudhal refers to touching, when AzhwAr says uRRilEn he confirms that he does not have contact with any other entity.
uraikkilE – he hints that even saying “I do not have contact with another deity” would be a blemish for him.
Next, we will take up the 88th pAsuram of this prabandham.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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