SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavara munayE nama:
avathArikai (Introduction)
In the previous pAsuram, AzhwAr had mercifully confirmed his firmness [about attaining emperumAn through him as the means]. emperumAn tells AzhwAr “You had expressed your desire in several ways such as ‘anjalenna vENdumE‘ (92nd pAsuram) and ‘irangu arangavANanE’ (93rd pAsuram). Determine what is it that you desire and tell me”. AzhwAr prays for the ultimate benefit in this pAsuram saying “You should mercifully sever my connection with samsAram and take me under your divine feet”
varambilAdha mAya mAya vaiyamEzhum meymmaiyE
varambilUzhi Eththilum varambilAdha kIrththiyAy
varambilAdha palpiRappu aRuththu vandhu nin kazhal
porundhumA thirundha nI varam sey puNdarIganE
Word-by-Word Meanings
varambu ilAdha – without a boundary
mAya – Oh one who has mUlaprakruthi (primordial matter) as your possession (under your control)!
mAya – Oh one who has amazing qualities such as gyAna, Sakthi (knowledge, power) etc
puNdarIganE – Oh one who has lotus-like eyes!
vaiyam Ezhum – all the people who are in the seven worlds
meymmaiyE – truly
varambil Uzhi – countless kalpams (each kalpam is 4.32 million years)
Eththilum – even if they praise
varambilAdha – without boundary
kIrththiyAy – Oh one who has fame
varambilAdha – each being countless
pal piRappu – many births distinguished by differences among dhEva etc species
aRuththu – destroying
vandhu – coming (to parama padham through the path of archis, light)
nin kazhal – in your divine feet (which is the most enjoyable for nithyasUris)
porundhumA – to attain without separating ever
thirundha – for me to get reformed
nI – you (who would look for jIvAthmAs to grant refuge)
varam sey – should shower your mercy
puNdarIganE – Oh one who has lotus-like eyes!
vaiyam Ezhum – all the people who are in the seven worlds
meymmaiyE – truly
varambil Uzhi – countless kalpams (each kalpam is 4.32 million years)
Eththilum – even if they praise
varambilAdha – without boundary
kIrththiyAy – Oh one who has fame
varambilAdha – each being countless
pal piRappu – many births distinguished by differences among dhEva etc species
aRuththu – destroying
vandhu – coming (to parama padham through the path of archis, light)
nin kazhal – in your divine feet (which is the most enjoyable for nithyasUris)
porundhumA – to attain without separating ever
thirundha – for me to get reformed
nI – you (who would look for jIvAthmAs to grant refuge)
varam sey – should shower your mercy
Simple Translation
Oh, one who has mUlaprakruthi, without a boundary, as your possession! Oh, one who has amazing qualities such as gyAna, Sakthi etc! Oh, one who has lotus-like eyes! Oh, one who has fame which cannot be exhausted even if all the people in the seven worlds keep praising you for many kalpams! You should shower your mercy on me such that I get reformed and attain your divine feet, without ever separating from them, after severing my connection with many births among various species such as celestial etc, with birth in each species being countless, and reach through the path of archis.
vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
varambu ilAdha mAya – Oh one who has under your control, the entity of primordial matter which has basic nature without a boundary and effectual entities such as mahath (great), ahankAram (ego) etc which are countless! The term mAyai refers to primordial matter. Just as it has been mentioned in SrI vishNu purANam 2-7-25 “mahAntham cha samAvruthya pradhAnAm samupasthitham l ananthasya na thasyAntha: sankhyAnAm vApi vidhyathE ll”
(the entity of primordial matter surrounds the entity of great; there is no destruction or measurement for that, which is without a boundary), since primordial matter is unbounded, AzhwAr distinguishes it by saying “varambu ilAdha” (without a boundary). Through this verse, it is implied that mUlaprakruthi (primordial matter) which binds one to samsAram is under your [emperumAn’s] control.
mAya – Oh one who has amazing auspicious qualities such as gyAna (knowledge), Sakthi (power) etc. The term mAyA would refer to any entity which is amazing. In the first instance, when that word was used, it referred to the amazing primordial matter. Here, this word refers to emperumAn’s amazing auspicious qualities. The reason for combining the two is: for the jIvAthmAs, who are bound to that primordial matter and who surrender to you to get that bondage severed, only you have the auspicious qualities such as knowledge, power etc to sever that connection.
vaiyam Ezhum meymmaiyE varambil Uzhi Eththilum varambilAdha kIrththiyAy – Oh one who has the fame of being the protector whose outer limit cannot be estimated even if all the people in the seven worlds become your worshippers, knowing their respective servitude, and praise you, based on their respective nature, without engaging with any other entity, for countless kalpams! Through this, it is implied that it is not possible to estimate that fame of protection of yours, when you sever their connection with primordial matter and take them under your divine feet. Has it not been said in mahAbhAratham karNa parvam 83-65 “varshAyuthair yasya guNA na SakyA vakthum samEthairapi sarvalOkai: l mahAthmana: SankhachakrAsipANEr vishNOr jishNOr vasudhEvAthmajasya ll” (one who is the supreme entity, who holds in his divine hands weapons such as the divine conch, disc, sword, who pervades everywhere, who is victorious and who is the son of vasudhEvar, whose auspicious qualities cannot be spoken of, even if all the people in all the worlds get together for fourteen thousand years…) and in varAha purANam 73-94? “chathur mukhAyur yadhi kOtivakthrO bhavEnnara:kvApi viSudhdha chEthA: l sa thE guNAnAmayuthaikadhESam vadhEnna vA dhEvavara prasIdha ll” (We do not know if a person would exist with the longevity of many brahmAs, has crores of faces, has a very pure heart and whether he would be able to speak one ten-thousandth of your auspicious qualities. Oh, one who is the most distinguished among lords! You should shower your mercy).
emperumAn says in his divine mind “It is alright with praising us. Tell us your desire” AzhwAr says
varambilAdha palpiRappaRuththu – getting rid of countless births of many types. pal piRappu (Many types of births) refers to births in the species of celestial, animal, human, plant. varambilAdha (countless numbers in these births) refers to the countless births in each of these four species. Time is immemorial, without a beginning; AthmA is permanent; since the deeds of the AthmA are without any count, the result of those deeds, which is the number of births, is also without a count. AzhwAr tells emperumAn “Get rid of all those births which are countless”.
vandhu nin kazhal porundhumA – reaching paramapadham through the path of archis and uniting with the divine feet of emperumAn, which are enjoyed by nithyasUris (permanent dwellers of parama padham), without having an identity for the mukthAthmA (jIvAthmA who has got liberated from samsAram), just as it has been mentioned in paramasamhithai SlOkam “yEna yEna dhAthA gachchathi thEna thEna saha gachchathi l thadhyathA tharuNa vathsA vathsam vathsO vA mAtharam chAyA vA sathvamanugachchEth thathAprakAram ll” (Just like a cow which has a tender calf follows the calf, just as the calf follows the cow, just as a shadow follows a person, in the same way, (mukthAthmA) follows parama purushan (supreme entity) wherever he goes).
thirundha – not thinking of anything other than your divine feet and considering only the ecstasy of carrying out service to you, just as it has been mentioned in chAndhOgya upanishath 8-12-3 “nOpajanam smarannidham SarIram” (the mukthAthmA [who has been liberated from samsAram] does not even think of his [just left behind] physical form which is lying near his dear ones).
nI varam sey – just as this AzhwAr had said in nANmugan thiruvandhAdi pAsuram 60 “AL pArththu uzhi tharuvAy” ((emperumAn is) going out in search of someone who would be willing to be his servitor), you, who had been looking for me since time immemorial, should shower your mercy on me such that I could get uplifted.
puNdarIganE – just as nammAzhwAr had mentioned in thiruvAimozhi 2-5-1 “sendhAmaraith thadam kaN senganivAy sengamalam sendhAmarai adikkaL” (your wide eyes are like lotus, your reddish fruit-like mouth is lotus and your divine feet are like lotus), this AzhwAr says “Oh one who has several limbs which are like lotus!”. Alternatively, we could consider this as “puNdarIkAkshanE” in which case it would refer to emperumAn’s lotus-like eyes since the divine eyes fill out the entire divine form. thaiththirIya upanishath Anandhavalli 5 says “vigyAnam yagyam thanuthE karmANi thanuthEpi cha” (jIvan, who is referred to as gyAnam (knowledge) since he is full of gyAnam, carries out yagyams; he also carries out karmas). Since he is filled with gyAnam, jIvan is referred to as gyAnam. Since AzhwAr had said “varam sey“, praying for emperumAn’s mercy, and then calls him as puNdarIganE, the opinion is that glancing at AzhwAr with his divine eyes is in itself, equivalent to showering his mercy on AzhwAr.
Next, we will take up the 97th pAsuram of this prabandham.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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