SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavara munayE nama:
avathArikai (Introduction)
In the previous pAsuram, AzhwAr had said “emperumAn had destroyed our karmas which were responsible for our taking countless births and has accepted us as his servitor”. His divine heart told him ”Are we not in the position of being punished by yama, having committed sins which are responsible for taking us to hell?” AzhwAr responds in this pAsuram “After the divine son of emperor dhaSarathan, who is our refuge, has accepted us, could yama analyse our faults?”
mARu seydha vALarakkan nALulappa anRu ilangai
nIRu seydhu senRu konRu venRi koNda vIranAr
vERu seydhu thammuL ennai vaiththidAmaiyAl naman
kURu seydhu koNdu iRandha kuRRam eNNa vallanE
Word-by-Word Meanings
mARu seydha – one who came opposing
vAL – one who had the weapon
arakkan – rAvaNan’s
nAL – life
ulappa – to be decimated
anRu – on that day (when he separated sIthAp pirAtti)
ilangai– lankA
nIRu seydhu – burnt it to ashes
senRu – went with an army of monkeys
konRu – killed (rAvaNa, along with his relatives)
venRi koNda – one who became victorious
vIranAr – the great warrior, son of emperor dhaSarathan
thammuL – in his divine mind
ennai vERu seydhu – making me different
vaiththidAmaiyAl – since he did not keep
naman – yaman
kURu seydhu koNdu – separating me from perumAL
iRandha kuRRam – past faults
eNNa vallanE – is he capable of thinking?
Simple Translation
The great warrior, SrI rAma, son of emperor dhaSarathan, on that day, went to lankA with an army of monkeys, burning it down to ashes. He killed rAvaNa, along with his relatives, decimating the life of rAvaNa, who came opposing him, with his weapon. When that SrI rAma did not keep me differently in his mind [accepting me as his servitor], is yaman [the lord of righteousness] capable of thinking of my previous faults and separating me from perumAL?
vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
mARu seydha – [rAvaNan] opposed SrI rAma who was loving towards his enemies too, just as it has been brought out in SrI rAmAyaNam yudhdha kANdam SlOkam 50-56 “sakhE! rAghava! dharmagya! ripuNAmapi vathsala! l abhyanugyAthum ichchAmi gamishyAmi yathAgatham ll”
([garuda tells SrI rAma] Oh friend! Oh, one who appeared in the clan of raghu! Oh, one who knows righteousness! Oh, one who has motherly forbearance even towards enemies! I would like to take leave of you. Let me go back the way I came) and in SrI rAmAyaNam yudhdha kANdam SlOkam 18-34 “Anayainam hariSrEshta dhaththamasyAbhayam mayA l vibhIshaNO vA sugrIva! yadhi vA rAvaNa: svayam ll” (Oh, sugrIva, the distinguished among monkeys! Bring him, in here. Whether he is vibhIshaNa or he is rAvaNa himself, he has been granted refuge by me). Unlike his younger brother vibhIshaNa who was favourable towards SrI rAma, instead of escaping from the wrath of emperumAn, since he was wicked, he ended up opposing SrI rAma.
vAL arakkan nAL ulappa – to destroy the life of rAvaNa, who was bestowed with a sword by Sankaran. Since he felt that he had the strength with the sword given by Sivan and the boon of long life granted by brahmA, he thought “When I have this sword with me, no one can defeat me; with the life that I have obtained through the boon, no one can kill me”. Despite knowing that SrI rAma had killed vAli who was stronger than himself [rAvaNa] and that he had coronated sugrIva, trusting his sword and his longevity, rAvaNa came opposing SrI rAma.
vAL aRakkan nAL ulappa – to destroy that sword and that life of rAvaNa. emperumAn destroyed those which rAvaNa had thought were his strengths. ulappu – end; In thiruvAimozhi pAsurams 5-8-4 “ulappilAnE”and 6-10-1 “ulappil kIrththiyammAnE” the world ulappu has been used in the same meaning.
anRu – on that day when rAvaNa had nurtured enmity with SrI rAmA, just as it has been mentioned in periya thirumozhi 5-7-7 “suri kuzhaRkanivAyth thiruvinaip piriththa kodumaiyil kaduvisai arakkan” (rAvaNan who showed cruel haste in separating sIthAp pirAtti, who had distinguished hair and reddish lips). Apart from harassing sages et al, who were noble, apart from destroying the abodes of celestial entities, apart from crossing emperumAn’s order just as it has been mentioned in SrI vishNu purANam 1-13-14 “na yashtavyam na dhAthavyam na hOthavyam kathanchana l bhOkthA yagyasya kasthvanyO hyaham yagyapathi: prabhu: ll”
(yAgam (ritual) should never be carried out; charity should never be given; hOmam (another type of ritual) should not be done. More than me (vEna maharAja) who can be the enjoyer of yagyam? Am I not the lord for yagyam and the one who gives the benefit for the yagyam?) did he not carry out the most intolerable act of separating the divine couple of sIthA and SrI rAma, who were the lifeline of entire world, keeping them on either side of the ocean and nurture enmity?
ilangai nIRu seydhu – even though rAvaNa had nurtured enmity like this, emperumAn had thought in his divine mind “Let us attempt to make him as a favourable person and prevent him from getting destroyed”. He sent hanuman as a messenger and made him to burn down lankA.
senRu – since rAvaNa did not change into a favourable person, SrI rAma went from rishyamUkha parvam to the shore of ocean, built a dam across the ocean which was like a protective fortress for lankA, reached lankA and lay siege on it.
konRu – even after all these happened, just as it has been said in SrI rAmAyaNam yudhdha kANdam 36-11 “dhvidhA bhajyEyamapyEvam na namEyam thu kasyachith l Esha mE sahajO dhOsha: svabhAvO dhurathikrama: ll” (Even if split into two, I will not bow down to anyone like this. This is my fault, from birth. One’s nature cannot be crossed), the intransigent behaviour of rAvaNa did not change. Hence, emperumAn killed rAvaNa along with his relatives.
venRi koNda vIranAr – he became victorious over rAvaNa and stood with the wealth of valour.
vERu seydhu thammuL ennai vaiththidAmaiyAl – since he did not think [of me] in his divine mind “He is different from us”. thammUL vERu seydhu refers to emperumAn thinking in his divine mind “We are the karthA (doer) for this person’s deeds and we are the enjoyer of the results”. Normally, this is how emperumAn’s thoughts will be towards matters related to samsAris. The term ennai refers to me who has surrendered to his divine feet, submitting all my responsibilities [to sustain myself]. The implication is that since he has kept me, who has surrendered to him, in his divine mind in such a way that he will consider my enemies as his enemies, he will not make me to experience the results of all the sinful deed which I had carried out since time immemorial.
naman kURu seydhu koNdu – yaman, who analyses the faults carried out by everyone and metes out punishment accordingly, could estimate my faults and separate me from emperumAn. kURu seygai – separating. The indication is that while the masculine divine son of emperor dhaSarathan has thought of me as belonging to him, could it be possible for yaman to separate me from emperumAn? In the first two lines of this pAsuram, AzhwAr is mercifully speaking about the divine son of emperor dhaSarathan. Just as it has been said in perumAL thirumozhi 10-10 “anRu charAcharangaLai vaigundhaththERRi” (On that day, making all the movable and immovable jIvAthmAs to ascend to parama padham), discounting the sinful deeds of animals and plants which would make them to attain yaman, emperumAn showered mercy on them and took them with him to parama padham. AzhwAr is thinking of this distinction and says this way.
iRandha kuRRam eNNa vallanE – is he capable of estimating the sinful deeds carried out since time immemorial? Through the term iRandha kuRRam, AzhwAr is referring to the sanchitha karma which is the collection of all the sinful deeds carried out in previous births and the sinful deeds carried out already in this birth, for which one has not felt remorse and for which one has not carried out any atonement. For jIvAthmAs in samsAram, these faults have to be got rid of only by experiencing the results [punishments] for these acts. For those who have surrendered to emperumAn, he removes these by his mercy. The term eNNa vallanE refers to yaman not in a position to even think that this jIvAthmA has carried out sinful deed, sitting in his abode.
Next, we will take up the 117th pAsuram of this prabandham.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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