SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavara munayE nama:
avathArikai (Introduction)
emperumAn asks AzhwAr in his divine mind “Your mind, which is an achEthanam (without knowledge) and which is an aid for AthmA, has affection for us, just like a karthA (doer). This huge love which you have towards us is something which we have not seen in samsAram. Why did this huge love develop towards us?” AzhwAr says in this pAsuram “Isn’t this the benefit for your attempt to make a substance out of me, showing your divine beauty and quality of simplicity?”
ponnisUzh arangamEya pUvai vaNNa mAya kEL
ennadhAvi ennum valvinaiyuL kozhundhu ezhundhu
unnapAdham enna ninRa oNsudark kozhumalar
manna vandhu pUNdu vAttam inRi engum ninRadhE
Word-0by-Word Meanings
ponni – by the divine river kAviri
sUzh – being surrounded
arangam mEya – one who has mercifully come to the temple
pUvai vaNNa – one who has the complexion of a purple bilberry flower
mAya – Oh periya perumAL, who is an amazing entity!
kEL – you should mercifully listen
ennadhu Avi ennum – known as my AthmA
valvinaiyuL – inside the heap of strong sins
kozhundhu ezhundhu – (called as diligence towards you) sprout coming out
unna pAdham enna ninRa – mentioned in vEdhAnthams (the second part of vEdhams dealing with emperumAn) as your divine auspicious form
oN sudar – as a unique effulgence
kozhu malar – in the tender divine form which is like a huge flower
manna vandhu – coming firmly
pUNdu – engaging
vAttaminRi – without deficiency
engum – in your svarUpam (basic nature), rUpam (divine form), guNam (auspicious qualities) and vibhUthi (wealth), everywhere
ninRadhE – pervaded
Simple Translation
Oh, periya perumAL, who is an amazing entity, who has the complexion of purple bilberry flower, who has mercifully come to the temple surrounded by the divine river kAviri! Inside my AthmA, which is like a heap of sins, my diligence has sprouted to engage with your divine form which has a unique splendour and is like a huge flower. It is engaging without any deficiency with your svarUpam, rUpam, guNam and vibhUthi, pervading everywhere.
vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
ponnisUzh arangamEya pUvai vaNNa – Oh, one with the divine complexion of a purple-coloured bilberry flower, who resides for me constantly in SrI rangam, which is surrounded by the river kAviri. Isn’t the divine river kAviri like a garland on the shoulder, flowing on both sides of the temple, as a decorative ornament! Just as virajA river has surrounded parama padham, kAviri has surrounded SrI rangam. emperumAn resides constantly in parama padham in order to be enjoyed by nithyasUris who do not have any connection with samsAram. He resides in thiruppARkadal in order to make the dwellers of SvEthadhvIpam, which is in its proximity, to enjoy him occasionally. You reside in SrI rangam constantly in order to create an involvement in me, who is a heap of sins, towards you and to make me enjoy you. Through the term pUvai vaNNa, it has been shown that he has a divine form which attracts others towards him and which is like a purple-coloured bilberry flower in terms of tenderness and complexion.
mAya – Oh, one who is an amazing entity! The implied meaning is that he has an amazing affability and simplicity which cannot be seen in anyone else.
kEL – you should mercifully listen to how I had developed an involvement through your divine beauty and simplicity. Even if you, who had helped me in developing this, had forgotten, I, who am thankful towards you, will not forget.
ennadhAvi ennum valvinaiyuL kozhundhezhundhu – being called as AthmA, which is a heap of sins, an involvement towards you sprouted. Didn’t this involvement, which normally comes after getting rid of sins which are hurdles in carrying out karmayOgam (attaining emperumAn through the path of deeds) come in me even when I had a heap of sins, due to the eminence of your divine beauty? AzhwAr is thinking of his previous state of being the repository of sins instead of thinking that his svarUpam (basic nature) is one of gyAnam and Anandham (knowledge and happiness, respectively).
unna pAdham enna ninRa oNsudark kozhumalar – Here, the word pAdham represents emperumAn’s thirumEni (divine form). The divine form which has been mentioned in vEdhAnthams as being effulgent and as being soft, like a flower. The implied meaning is that just as it has been 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), the reason for the appearance of involvement in him is the divine form which is at the start of the youthful state, and which is very tender. Since AzhwAr is a SEshabhUthar (servitor), he calls the divine form as pAdham (divine feet).
manna vandhu pUNdu – engaging [with emperumAn’s divine feet], without any separation. pUNdu indicates that emperumAn’s divine feet were solely engaged with him, instead of going to anyone else.
vAttaminRi engum ninRadhE – without being disturbed by the lowly entities of worldly pursuits such as Sabdham (sound) etc, the involvement stood fixed on your svarUpam, rUpam, guNam, vibhUthi¸in all these. This involvement initially held on to his divine form. This divine form, since it manifests the six important qualities of gyAna, bala, aiSvarya, vIrya, Sakthi and thEjas (knowledge, strength, wealth, valour, power and splendour respectively), impelled that involvement in these six qualities. Those qualities urged that involvement to engage with dhivyAthma svarUpam (the divine basic nature of emperumAn’s AthmA) which is their abode. That dhivyAthma svarUpam impelled AzhwAr’s involvement in the ubhayavibhUthi (the spiritual realm of parama padham and the materialistic realm of samsAram) which are controlled by it. Thus, the indication is that in my (AzhwAr’s) involvement and devotion, your (emperumAn’s) svarUpam, rUpam, guNam and vibhUthi became immersed.
Next, we will take up the 120th which is the final pAsuram of this prabandham.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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