SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavara munayE nama:
avathArikai (Introduction)
emperumAn asks AzhwAr, in his divine mind “You say that I should not separate from you. What have you done in our matter that we should not separate from you? What is it that we should do for you?” AzhwAr replies “I, not having any other refuge, surrendered to your divine feet, which are the natural means [to attain you]. Just as you had said in bhagavath gIthA 18-66 “sarvadharmAn parithyajya mAmEkam SaraNam vraja l aham thvA sarva pApEbhyO mOkshayishyAmi mA Sucha: ll” (Giving up all righteous paths (which are considered as means), along with their impressions, attain me alone, as the means; I will liberate you from all your sins; do not grieve), you should mercifully say ‘Protecting you is my responsibility. There is no need for you to fear’”.
vidaikkulangaL Ezhadarththu venRi vERkaNmAdharAr
kadikkalandha thOL puNarndha kAliyAya vElai nIr
padaiththadaiththu adhiRkidandhu mun kadaindha ninRanakku
adaikkalam pugundha ennai anjal enna vENdumE
Word-by-Word Meanings
mun – at the start
vElai – having waves
nIr – huge ocean
padaiththu – created
adhil kidandhu – reclining on thiruppARkadal (milky ocean) which was a part of that huge ocean
kadaindhu – (for the sake of celestial entities) churned it
adaiththu – blocked (salty ocean, another portion of that ocean, during rAmAvathAram)
vidai kulangaL Ezhu adarththu – being victorious over seven different types of bulls
venRi – being victorious
vEl – looking like spear
kaN – having eyes
mAdharAr – nappinnaip pirAtti’s
kadi kalandha – being fresh and fragrant
thOL – shoulders
puNarndha – one who embraced
kAli Aya – Oh cow herd, who tends to cows!
ninRanakku – to you
adaikkalam pugundha – one who surrendered
ennai – (one without any other refuge) me
anjal enna vENdumE – you should mercifully say a word “Do not fear”
Simple Translation
At the beginning of creation, you created the huge ocean and reclined on the milky ocean and churned it, which forms a part of that huge ocean. During the time of your incarnation as SrI rAma, you blocked a portion of that ocean which was salty. You won over seven bulls of different classes and embraced the fresh and fragrant shoulders of nappinnaip pirAtti who had victorious, spear-like eyes. Oh cowherd, who tends to cows, you should mercifully say a word “Do not fear” to me, who has surrendered to you.
vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
vidaikkulangaL Ezhadarththu ….. – the pAsuram has to be transposed as “mun vElai nIr padaiththu adhil kidandhu kadaindhu adaiththu vidaikkulangaL Ezhadarththu venRi vEl kaN mAdharAr kadikkalandha thOL puNarndha kAliyAya! ninRanakku adaikkalam pugundha ennai anjal ennavENdum” and get the meaning.
mun vElai nIr padaiththu – At the beginning of creation, creating the ocean which is full of water and which has spread out everywhere, just as it has been mentioned in manu smruthi 1-8 “sO’bhidhyAya SarIrAth svAth sisrukshur vividhA: prajA: l apa Eva sasarjAdhau thAsu bhIjam (vIryam) avAsrujath ll” (Desiring to create many species of prajAs (creations) from his divine form, that paramAthmA (supreme entity) through his sankalpam (thought), created water first; in that water, he planted the seed (of his power)). The term vElai will refer to boundary as well as waves; nIr refers to ocean; the term vElai nIr will thus refer either to the boundary of ocean or to ocean with agitating waves.
adhil kidandhu – reclining on it. Reclining on the milky ocean with the thought “If these jIvas (various creations) who have been created, wish to attain us, we [the plural form refers only to emperumAn], apt to be surrendered to, should not be in parama padham which cannot be approached by them but in a place which they can come to”.
kadaindhu – As a result of his reclining in the milky ocean, when the celestial entities lost their wealth which disappeared in the milky ocean, and came to him for help, just as it has been said in SrI vishNu purANam 1-9-65 “praNAma pravaNA nAtha dhaithya sainya parAjithA: l SaraNam thvAmanuprApthA: samasthA dhEvathEgaNA: ll” (Oh lord! We, the assembly of all the celestial entities, who were won over by the demonic entities, were engaged only with bowing down to you and have taken refuge under you), he churned the ocean for their sake and redeemed all their wealth.
adaiththu – when the demon rAvaNa et al crossed all the boundaries of acceptance [of good behaviour] and seized the worlds of celestial entities, emperumAn incarnated as SrI rAma to destroy those demons. At that time, he [built a dam across the ocean and] blocked a part of that ocean.
vidaikkulangaL …… kAliyAya – the pAsuram further says that apart from helping celestial entities such as brahmA et al during their times of danger by being apt to be taken refuge under, in order to manifest himself to human beings who are much lower than the celestial entities [in terms of knowledge and efforts], he incarnated as kaNNan [krishNa] and protected them too.
vidaikkulangaL Ezhadarththu – instead of saying vidaiyEzhadarthtu (overcoming seven bulls) or vidaikkulamadarththu (overcoming the group of bulls), what is the reason for using the term vidaikkulangaL Ezhadarththu (controlling seven classes of bulls)? emperumAn had said in bhagavath gIthA 4-13 “chAthurvarNyam mayA srushtam guNakarma vibhAgaSa: l thasya karthAramapi mAm vidhyakarthAramavyayam ll” (This world, starting with the four varNams (classes) had been created by me, with the divisions based on (sathva, rajas, thamas) guNas and deeds (based on Samam and dhamam). Even though I have carried out this creation, know that I, who am without any karma (deeds) am non-doer). Just as there are differences among people, there are differences among animals too. Thus, there are bulls from different types among those seven bulls which emperumAn controlled at the same time, in order to remove the hurdles which were in the way of his marrying nappinnaip pirAtti. The term kulam refers to varNam (class) or jAthi (type). This AzhwAr too had said in the earlier pAsuram “kulangaLAya IriraNdll onRilum piRandhilEn“, equating the word kulam with varNam.
venRiveL kaN mAdharar kadikkalandha thOL puNarndha kAliyAya – your [emperumAn’s] eyes are such that they will win over anything or anybody, just as it has been brought out in jithanthE SlOkam 1-1 “jithanthE puNdarIkAksha namasthE viSvabhAvana l namasthE’sthu hrushIkESa mahApurusha pUrvaja: ll” (Oh, one who has eyes which are like reddish lotus! (This Athma entity) has been won over by you; (this) is not mine; Oh, one who created the worlds! Oh, one who controls all the sensory perceptions! Oh, one who is magnanimous! Let this (Athma entity) remain only for you and not for me). chAndhOgya upanishath 3-14-2 says of emperumAn “sarva gandha: sarva rasa:” (he is the repository of all the good fragrances and all the good tastes) and in thiruvAimozhi 9-9-9 “thUdhu sey kangaL” (with eyes which are like messengers). While your eyes are capable of winning over everyone, nappinnaip pirAtti is capable of winning over you through her eyes. Oh, one who embraced her fragrant shoulders and gave protection to the cows which were looking up to you for their protection, making her happy and considering that act too to be for your benefit!
kadikkalandha thOL – emperumAn is considered as the repository of all fragrances as brought out in chAndhOgya upanishath 3-14-2 “sarva gandha: sarva rasa:” (he is the repository of all the good fragrances and all the good tastes). The implied meaning in this verse “kadikkalandha thOL” is that nappinnaip pirAtti’s fragrant shoulders will shower fragrance to emperumAn’s divine form too. The term kadi will refer to beauty as well as fragrance. Since pirAtti is at the boundary of adolescence, matching his youthful state, just as it has been mentioned in the saying – “yuvathiScha kumAriNI” (being more in the stage of an adolescent, with a little bit of youthfulness), being appropriate for her stage of being a mangai (one who is around 12 to 13 years of age), he [emperumAn] is in the stage, as said in rig vEdha ashtakam 2-2-25 “yuvA’kumAra:” (one who is more in the stage of youth, with a little bit of adolescence), we can consider the meaning for kadi here as beautiful too.
venRivEl kaN – eyes which are like a spear, causing victory.
ninRanakku adaikkalam pugundha ennai – instead of surrendering to para stage (as in SrI vaikuNtam) or vyUha stage (as in thiruppARkadal) or other vibhava (incarnations) stages, I surrendered to you in your incarnation as kaNNan (krishNa). It has been mentioned in SvEthAsvathara upanishad 6-18 “yO brahmANam vidhadhAthi pUrvam yO vai vEdhAmScha prahiNOthi thasmai l tham ha dhEvam Athmabudhdhi prasAdham mumukshurvai SaraNam aham prapadhyE ll” (I, desiring to attain mOksham (SrI vaikuNtam), surrender to that supreme entity, who initially created brahmA and who instructed him all the vEdhams) that parama purushan who is the causative factor for the worlds is apt to be surrendered to. In the pramANam seen under the term kadaindhu SrI vishNu purANam SlOkam 1-9-65, it has been mentioned that kshIrAbdhinAthan is apt to be surrendered to. In the SrI rAmAyaNam yudhdha kANdam 120-15 SlOkam “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 one controlling all the senses; you are praised as purusha and purushOththama), it has been mentioned by sages that SrI rAma is apt to be surrendered to. Instead of surrendering to these forms, just as you [emperumAn] had said in bhagavath gIthA 18-66 “sarvadharmAn parithyajya mAmEkam SaraNam vraja l aham thvA sarva pApEbhyO mOkshayishyAmi mA Sucha: ll” (Giving up all righteous paths (which are considered as means), along with their impressions, attain me alone as the means; I will liberate you from all your sins; do not grieve), I have surrendered to your divine feet.
ennai – me, who has no other refuge. adaikkalam pugudhal refers to attaining emperumAn with the thought that emperumAn is responsible for everything. ALavandhAr too, in his sthOthra rathnam 60th SlOkam, mercifully says “pithA thvam mAthA thvam dhayitha thanayasthvam priyasuhruth thvamEva thvam mithram gururasi gathiSchAsijagathAm l thvadhIyas thvadhbhruthyas thavaparijanas thvadhgathiraham prapannaSchaivam sathyahamapi thavaivAsmi hi bhara: ll” (you are the father to all the worlds; you are the mother too; you are the dear son too; you are the good-hearted friend too; you are the equal (to whom secrets too can be told); you are the teacher; you are the means (and the benefit) too. I, on the other hand, am yours; I am your servitor; I am your slave; I have you as my most cherished benefit; I have you as my means; when I am like this, am I not apt to be protected by you?)
anjalenna vEndumE – just as you had told arjunan not to grieve, in the charama SlOkam (bhagavath gIthA 18-66), you should tell me too, not to grieve, without looking at your eminence and my lowliness as well as the abundance of hurdles for me, in attaining you, such as ignorance, karma (past deeds) etc. You had mercifully said in that charama SlOkam “Attain me alone as the means” For you who told arjuna “I will liberate from you from all sins, do not fear”, is it difficult to tell me the same?
Next, we will take up the 93rd pAsuram of this prabandham.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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