SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavara munayE nama:
avathArikai (Introduction)
emperumAn asks AzhwAr in his divine mind “Just as it has been said in pUrvamImAmsA 3-7-19 ‘SAsthraphalam prayOkthari‘ (One who carries out activities will reap the benefits mentioned in SAsthram), when you are the one who is going to benefit, should you not make attempts to clear the hurdles for attaining your benefit? Why do you say that ‘there is no means other than your divine feet’?” AzhwAr responds saying “There is an old narrative for this, viz. when sIthAp pirAtti was in aSOka vanam, she did not kill the demons in order to attain you. Only if she had made any attempt like that on her own should I make an effort. Hence, you should not say ‘You should make efforts to protect yourself’ and discard me, who does not have any other refuge and who does not have anything with me”
paNNulAvu menmozhip padaiththadangaNAL poruttu
eNNilA arakkarai neruppinAl nerukkinAy
kaNNalAror kaNNilEn kalandha suRRam maRRilEn
eNNilAdha mAya ninnai ennuL neekkal enRumE
Word-by-Word Meanings
paN – musical tunes such as kuRinji, gAndhAram, kAmaram etc
ulAvu – being in abundance
men – being soft
mozhiyAL – one who speaks
padai – shining like the weapon sword
thadam – being wide
kaNAL poruttu – for the sake of SrI janakarAjan’s divine daughter who has eyes [like the above]
eNNilA – countless
arakkarai – demons
neruppinAl – with the fire of arrows
nerukkinAy – one who killed, you
kaN – my guide
alAl – other than you
or kaNNilEn – I do not have any other guide
kalandha – appropriate for the heart
maRRu suRRamilEn – I do not have other relative relatives
eNNilAdha – countless
mAya – Oh one who has amazing power
ninnai – you (possessing omnipotence)
ennuL – from me
enRum – at any point of time
neekkal – you should not separate
Simple Translation
sIthAp pirAtti, the divine daughter of King janakan, has wide eyes which shine like a sword, speaks softly and has abundant musical tunes. For her sake, you killed countless demons with the fire of arrows. I do not have anyone other than you to guide me. Oh, one who has amazing power! You, who are omnipotent, should not separate yourself, from me, at any point of time.
vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
paNNulAvu menmozhi – one who has a soft way of speaking, with musical tunes. Does she not have the beauty of speaking, just as mentioned 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 ||” (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). In a further pAsuram of this prabandham (105), he is going to speak about periya pirAttiyAr “paNNai venRa insol mangai” (one who speaks words which will win over musical tunes).
padaith thadangaNAL poruttu – for the sake of SrI janakarAjan’s divine daughter, who has eyes which are as expansive and are sharp like a sword. Did not SrI rAmapirAn too say that he cannot live even for a moment, separated from the beauty of her eyes, just as it has been mentioned in SrI rAmAyaNam sundhara kANdam 66-10? “chiram jIvithi vaidhEhi yadhi mAsam dharishyathi l
na jIvEyam kshaNamapi vinA thAmasithEkshaNAm ll” (If sIthAp pirAtti can survive for a month [without me], she would be considered to be capable of living for a long time. I cannot survive, without her dark eyes, even for a moment). Thus, the opinion is that sIthAp pirAtti has beauty in her speech and her eyes, without which emperumAn cannot sustain himself even for a moment. AzhwAr was going to speak about the absence of any means with him, to uplift himself. But, the purpose of his speaking about the eminence of pirAtti is to emphasise that AthmA, which is without any connection with achith (physical form), is as dear to emperumAn as are periya pirAtti and SrI kausthubam [SrI kausthumam is the divine jewel worn by emperumAn, representing all the AthmAs]. After gaining knowledge [about emperumAn], isn’t AthmA, residing in the body, similar to sIthAp pirAtti staying in aSOka vanam, being unable to tolerate the imprisonment?
eNNilA arakkarai – should AthmA be protected [by emperumAn] only if it has countless enemies like sIthAp pirAtti? If there are only enemies similar to the five sensory organs which I have, should I not be protected?
neruppinAl nerukkinAy kaN – this could be construed as: you, who rained arrows on the demons and destroyed them with that fire of arrows, are my guide. Else, this could be construed as: you, who had sent hanuman as your arrow, just as it had been mentioned in SrI rAmAyaNam sundhara kANdam 1-39 “yathA rAghava nirmuktha: Sara: Svasanavikrama: l gachchEth thadhvadh gamishyAmi lankAm rAvaNa pAlithAm ll” (Just like the arrow, shot by SrI rAma, moves like one’s breath (without anyone being aware of it), I will enter lankA which is protected by rAvaNa), burnt lankA and made the demons to shiver in fear, are my guide. Through this, it is hinted that “You should burn down my hurdles and destroy them”.
alAlor kaNNilEn – just as it has been said in SrI rAmAyaNam yudhdha kANdam 120-15 “lOkAnAm thvam parO dharmO vishvaksEnaS chathurbhuja: l SArngadhanvA hrushIkESa: purusha: purushOththama: ll” (You are the most righteous, among all the worlds; you have the army which spreads everywhere; you are together with four shoulders; you are the controller of the bow, SArngam; you are the one controlling all the senses; you are praised as purusha and purushOththama), there is no one to guide me other than you, who are the most eminent and readily available means. This AzhwAr too mercifully mentions just like nammAzhwAr did in thiruvAimozhi 3-6-8 “dhayaradhaRku magan thannaiyanRi maRRilEn thanjamAgavE” (I do not have anyone as refuge other than the son of emperor dhaSarathan). While pirAtti had the power to protect herself, she did not, in line with her nature of being totally dependent on emperumAn, just as it has been mentioned in SrI rAmAyaNam sundhara kANdam 22-20 “asandhESAththu rAmasya thapasaSchAnubAlanAth l na thvA kurmi dhaSagrIva bhasma bhasmArha thEjasA ll” (Oh, one who is fit to be burnt down to ashes! Since rAmapirAn has not given me an order, since I have to protect my pAthivrathya dharmam (that I should look up to my husband to protect me), I have not burnt you down with the power of my pathivrathAgni (the fire of my vow of being totally dependent on my husband for my protection)). AzhwAr says that when he does not even have any power, how could he protect himself?
kalandha suRRam maRRilEn – he says that he does not have any relative who is appropriate for his heart. My parents, who gave birth to me, left me in the forest saying ‘Let emperumAn protect him’. I had given up my parents who nurtured me [since then], just as it has been mentioned in vihagEndhra samhithai 22 as well as in SaraNAgathi gadhyam “pitharam mAtharam dhArAn puthrAn bandhUn sakIn gurUn l rathnAni dhanadhAnyAni kshEthrANi cha gruhANi cha ll sarvadharmAmScha santhyajya sarvakAmAmScha sAksharAn ll lOkavikrAntha charaNau SaraNam thE’vrajam vibhO ll” (Oh bhagavAn! Leaving aside father, mother, wife, children, relatives, friends, teachers, gems, wealth and food grains, fields, houses, all the means [to attain you] and all the benefits including kaivalyam [where the AthmA enjoys itself], along with any impression in these, I take refuge under your divine feet which had mercifully measured the worlds). Thus, just as lakshmaNa said in SrI rAmAyaNam ayOdhyA kANdam 58-31 “aham thAvan mahArAjE pithruthvam nOpalakshayE l bhrAthA bharthA cha bandhuScha pithA cha mama rAghava: ll” (I have not considered dhaSaratha maharAja as my father; for me, rAghava (SrI rAma) himself is my elder brother, nourisher, relative and father), AzhwAr says that emperumAn himself is all relationships to him. When pirAtti was alone in aSOka vanam, hanuman came and registered his presence. AzhwAr says that he has none other than emperumAn to even look at him with affection. emperumAn asks AzhwAr “sIthAp pirAtti had the distinction of having been born in a great clan. You said that you were not born in any of the four varNas. [How do I help you, then?]” AzhwAr says
eNNilAdha mAya – aren’t you one with inestimable amazing power? The meaning for this is: your power is such that you could grant mOksham to a lowly creature such as jatAyu (a bird) which was not qualified to recite vEdhams. When rAvaNan was ruling lankA on the other side of the ocean, without any trouble, emperumAn coronated his brother vibhIshaNa on this side of the ocean. Did he see the clan of vibhIshaNa’s birth when he did that? When emperumAn persisted, saying “sIthAp pirAtti was very knowledgeable, just as it has been brought out in SrI rAmAyaNa ayOdhyA kANdam 26-4 SlOkam “dhEvakAryam svayam kruthvA kruthagyA hrushta chEthanA l abhigyA rAja dharmANAm rAjaputhram prathIkshathE ll” (sIthAp pirAtti who knows returning a favour, who was happy in her divine mind and who knows the regal duties, carried out worship of emperumAn and was awaiting the arrival of the son of emperor)” AzhwAr says just as it has been said in perumAL thirumozhi 10-10 “anRu charAcharangaLai vaigundhaththERRi” (On that day when SrI rAma ascended to parama padham, he took with him all the chEthana (souls with knowledge) and achEthana entities (souls without knowledge)) “did you examine the levels of knowledge of those in ayOdhyA when you took everyone with you to paramapadham?”
ninnai ennuL neekkal – you should not separate yourself, who is capable of everything, from me, who is not capable of anything, by showing the absence of means etc in me.
enRumE – the implied meaning is that even when I, out of bewilderment, go after any means to attain you, you should not separate yourself from me.
Next, we will take up the 92nd pAsuram of this prabandham.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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