SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavara munayE nama:
avathArikai (Introduction) – This thaniyan [special hymn] has been mercifully composed by thirukkaNNamangai AndAn, a disciple of SrIman nAthamunigal. In this thaniyan, ANdAL’s purushakArathvam(quality of playing recommendatory role), aiSwaryam (opulence), saundharyam (beauty), AnurUpyam (fitting well) with emperumAn’s divine form and naRkudip piRappu (AbhijAthyam – being born in a noble clan) have been mercifully mentioned.
The vyAkyAnam for the thaniyan has been mercifully written by piLLailOkam jIyar.
Let us look at the thaniyan and its meanings, first.
alli nAL thAmarai mEl AraNangin inthuNaivi
malli nAdAnda madamayil – melliyalAL
Ayar kula vEndhan AgaththAL then pudhuvai
vEyar payandha viLakku
Word-by-Word Meanings
alli – having petals
nAL thAmarai mEl – atop a just-blossomed lotus flower
Ar – fitting well
aNangin – for periya pirAttiyAr (SrI mahAlakshmi) who is a divine lady
in thuNaivai – as a dear friend
malli nAdu – the region of malli [SrIvillipuththUr and adjoining region]
ANda – one who ruled (through her auspicious qualities)
madam mayil – like a beautiful peacock
mel iyalAL – ANdAL, who has a soft nature
Ayar kulam vEndhan – the cowherd clan’s head, kaNNan, his
AgaththAL – fitting aptly with his divine form
then pudhuvai vEyar – in the beautiful SrIvillipuththUr, by periyAzhwAr, who was born in the clan of brAhmaNas
payandha – sired
viLakku – remained as an illustrious lamp
Simple Translation
ANdAL was the dear friend of periya pirAttiyAr, who is a divine lady, fitting well atop a just-blossomed lotus. She ruled over the region of malli country [present day SrIvillipuththUr and surrounding region] through her auspicious qualities. She had a soft nature and was like a beautiful peacock. She fitted well with the divine form of krishNa, who was the leader of the clan of cowherds. She remained as an illustrious lamp, sired by periyAzhwAr, who was born in the clan of brAhmaNas in the beautiful place of SrIvillipuththUr.
vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
alli nAL thAmarai mEl AraNangin in thuNaivi – periya pirAttiyAr has lotus flower, which has pollen grains and beetles, as her dwelling place. She has qualities which are the exact opposite of those which are engaged with prakruthi (primordial matter). ANdAL is the dear friend of such periya pirAttiyAr. Isn’t bhUmi dhEvi referred to as a close friend, almost like a shadow, in texts such as thiruviruththam 8 “maNmagaLum thirumagaLum nizhal pOlvanar” (bhUmi dhEvi and SrIdhEvi are like shadow of each other), SrI rangarAja sthavam 1-63
“uthpulla pankaja thatAkamivOpayAni SrI rangarAjamiha dhakshiNasavyasImnO: l
lakshmIm vihArarasikAmiva rAjahamsIm chAyAmivAbhyudhayinImavanIncha thasyA: ||”
(Here, let me attain SrI ranganAtha, who is like a pond having blossomed lotus flowers. Let me attain SrI dhEvi who is on his right side, who is like a swan which desires to be playful and bhUmi dhEvi, on his left side, who is like her shadow, which is growing steadily) and in SaraNAgathi gadhyam 5 “Evam bhUtha bhUmi neeLA nAyaka!” (Oh the consort of bhUmi and neeLA dhEvi, who are like periya pirAtti!) Isn’t this ANdAL an incarnation of bhUmip pirAtti, who is like a dear friend of periya pirAttiyAr, having qualities which fit well with hers! Through these, it has been ascertained that this ANdAL is just like periya pirAttiyAr in terms of being a purushakAra bhUthai (one who recommends to emperumAn to forgive the jIvAthmAs who surrender to him and to accept them).
malli nAdANda madamayil – Since ANdAL is together with periya pirAttiyAr who is the presiding deity of wealth, this verse mentions about her [ANdAL’s] wealth. Just as nammAzhwAr had said in thiruvAimozhi 1-9-4 “udanamar kAdhal magaLir thirumagaL maNmagaL Ayar madamagaL – ALum ulagamum mUnRE”, since bhUmip pirAtti is together with periya pirAttiyAr in the para state (SrI vaikuNtam), she rules all the three worlds (the lower ones, the middle and the upper worlds); since she rules all the three worlds along with periya pirAttiyAr and neeLA dhEvi, is it any surprise that she rules over malli nAdu? Through this, her opulence has been ascertained.
mada mayil – she is like a beautiful peacock. Since ANdAL has been referred to thus far in this thaniyan as thuNaivi and mayil, it has been confirmed that she is periya pirAttiyAr’s sakhi (friend) and malli nAdu’s Sikin [peacock of the country of malli; Sikin is a samskrutha word which translates to peacock]. Did not periyAzhwAr too refer to her in periyAzhwAr thirumozhi 3-3-3 as pEdai mayil (peahen)! The implied meaning here is that instead of being “punamayilE” (peacock which inhabits forest land) as referred to in thiruppAvai 11, she was a peacock inhabiting arable land, ruling over the land through her auspicious qualities. Through the term mada it is implied that she was overflowing with qualities such as achcham, madam, nANam and payirppu (these are qualities associated with noble women, referring to their qualities of fear (of strangers), tenderness, shyness and modesty, respectively). Through the term mayil it is implied that her locks were like the feathers of a peacock. Thus, it implies that she was full of the beauty which a lady will possess. Just as peacock is loved and nurtured by people, she was loved and nurtured by periyAzhwAr.
melliyalAL – one who has tenderness as her nature. Just as she herself had said in nAchchiyAr thirumozhi 8-7 “kongai mEl kungumaththin kuzhambahiyap pugundhu oru nAL thangumEl ennAvi thangum” (I will be able to sustain myself only if emperumAn unites with me such that the vermillion applied on my bosoms gets spread out), this refers to her tenderness which will not tolerate separation from emperumAn.
Ayar kulavEndhan AgaththAL – Just as it has been mentioned in nAchchiyAr thirumozhi 8-4 ”ponnAgam pulgudhaRku” (to embrace his beautiful, divine chest), unable to tolerate separation from him due to her tender nature [as mentioned in the previous verse], she ended up embracing his beautiful chest. Hasn’t ANdAL herself mentioned in nAchchiyAr thirumozhi 13-9 “kommai mulaigaL idar thIrak kOvindhaRkOr kuRREval” (carry out servitude to kaNNan such that the irritation in my bosoms will disappear) and in nAchchiyAr thirumozhi 13-5 “thazhuvi muzhusip pugundhu” (hugging me tightly, after reaching here)!
The thaniyan further says that through her birth in a great clan, she is apt for emperumAn.
vEyar payandha viLakku – just as periyAzhwAr had referred to himself in periyAzhwAr thirumozhi pAsuram 5-4 11 “vEyar thangaL kulaththudhiththa ” (born in the clan of brAhmaNas), ANdAL too referred to herself as the divine daughter of such periyAzhwAr, as in nAchchiyAr thirumozhi 6-11 “vEyar pugazh villipuththUrkkOn kOdhai ” (ANdAL, the divine daughter of periyAzhwAr, who was born in the clan of brAhmaNas and who was the head of SrIvillipuththUr) and as in the nAchchiyAr thirumozhi pAsuram 14-10 “vittuchiththan kOdhai” (the divine daughter of vishNu chiththan, another name for periyAzhwAr). Just as kaNNan (krishNa) was referred to by her in thiruppAvai 5 as “Ayar kulaththinil thOnRum maNi viLakku” (resplendent lamp born in the clan of cowherd people), she too was like an effulgent lamp in the clan of brAhmaNas. Since she too coveted birth in the clan of cowherds, just like her father [through their pAsurams on kaNNan] did, the harmony between the clans of brAhmaNas and cowherds is well brought out. Through this thaniyan, ANdAL’s five auspicious qualities such as purushakArathvam (recommendatory role), aiSwaryam (opulence), saundharyam (beauty), pirivARRAmai (intolerance towards separation from emperumAn) and naRkudippiRappu (birth in a noble clan) have been clearly brought out and through these, her eminence which fits well with his, has been brought out. It is pertinent here to recall the words of our preceptors “munnavaL, then pudhuvai therivaith thirumagaL, dhAraNiyenbavaL, nAraNanRan uruvukku iniyavaL, Ur arangam ennum sIrmaiyavaL paruvappaNimozhi ennaip paNindharuLE” (let the prime entity, the divine daughter of the wise person of SrIvillipuththUr, one who is referred to as mother earth, one who is appropriate for the divine form of SrIman nArAyaNan, one who has the great quality of having SrIrangam as her dwelling place, grant me the status of carrying out divine service to her).
We shall next take up the other thaniyan for this prabandham.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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