SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavara munayE nama:
avathArikai (Introduction) – There is no shortcoming in emperumAn protecting us too, when he had protected even gajEndhrAzhwAn, an elephant, who had no control over his mind and sensory organs. She tells kUdal to agree so that he would come.
pazhagu nAnmaRaiyin poruLAy madham
ozhugu vAraNam uyya aLiththa em
azhaganAr aNi Aychchiyar sindhaiyuL
kuzhaganAr varil kUdidu kUdalE
Word-by-Word Meanings
pazhagu nAn maRayin porul Ay – being the inner meaning of the four vEdhams which have been in existence since time immemorial
madham ozhugu vAraNam uyya aLiththa – one who showered mercy on gajEndhrAzhwAn who was secreting water of exultation excessively, to live (after ridding him of his suffering)
em azhaganAr – one who has the beauty to make me engage with him
aNi Aychchiyar sindhaiyuL kuzhaganAr – kaNNapirAn, who has melted inside the hearts of the beautiful cowherd women
varil – if he were to come
kUdalE – Oh kUdal!
kUdidu – you agree
Simple Translation
kaNNapirAn is the inner meaning of the four vEdhams [sacred texts] which have been in existence since time immemorial. He showered his grace on the elephant gajEndhrAzhwAn, who was secreting water of exultation excessively, such that the elephant could get rid of his suffering and live. He has the beauty to make me engage with him. He remains inside the hearts of cowherd womenfolk, in a melted state. If he were to come here, oh kUdal, you should agree.
vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
pazhagu nAnmaARayin poruLAy – since time immemorial, the four vEdhams have been taught with the AchAryan (teacher) reciting the verse once and the disciple repeating it twice, not having been written and passed from one generation to the next, through word of mouth. Isn’t emperumAn, the meaning of all the words in the four vEdhams? Hasn’t emperumAn himself declared in bhagavath gIthA 15-15 “vEdhaiScha sarvairahamEva vEdhya” (It is only I, who is known through all the vEdhams)? One may ask – how are chEthana entities [souls with knowledge] and achEthana entities [souls without knowledge] being spoken of in vEdhams, if emperumAn alone is the meaning of vEdhams? Since both chEthana and achEthana entities cannot have existence without him, being his SarIram (physical form), it could be said that if one were to know him, these two entities will become known through him. chAndhOgya upanishath 6-1-4 says “yadhA sOmyaikEna mruth piNdEna sarvam mruNmayam vigyAtham syAth” (Oh child! If one were to know about mud, all articles made from mud such as pot, lid etc will also be known. In the same way, if brahmam (supreme entity) is known, all the worlds created from brahmam will also be considered as known). Just as upanishath has said, if brahmam were known, all the worlds, which never separate from it and which are his physical body, will also be known. Thus, there is no deficiency in saying that emperumAn is the inner meaning of all the vEdhams.
madham ozhugu vAraNam – did emperumAn protect an entity which had qualities of control over its mind and sensory organs? Did he not uplift a male elephant which had no control over its sensory organs, was in exultation and was uniting with female elephants? The underlying meaning here is – what a simplicity does emperumAn have!
uyya – to get uplifted from the sorrow of having been caught in the mouth of a crocodile. Alternatively, from the sorrow of having been unable to proffer the lotus at the divine feet of emperumAn.
aLiththa em azhaganAr – apart from ridding him of his sorrow, emperumAn also manifested his beauty and protected the elephant. parASara bhattar says in SrI rangarAja sthavam 2-59 “SrIrangESaya! SaraNam mamAsi vAdhyAvyAlOlath kamala thatAka thANdavEna l srag bhUshAmbara mayathAyatham dhadhAna: dhingmAmithi anugajagarjamAjagantha ll” (Oh, SrI ranganAtha! As soon as you heard the cry of gajEndharan, you blamed yourself saying “My bad! What did I do?” donning your divine garlands, divine ornaments and divine dress in a haphazard manner, and mercifully came, beautifully, just like a lotus pond agitates in furious wind. Such an entity like you alone would be this servitor’s [bhattar, referring to himself] refuge). As mentioned in this, despite donning his divine garland, divine ornaments and divine dresses in a haphazard manner, he showed his beauty and protected the elephant.
aNi Aychchiyar sindhaiyuL kuzhaganAr – one who melts the hearts of beautiful cowherd women.
aNi Aychchiyar – cowherd women folk who are beautiful. What is their beauty? Just as ANdAL herself has said in nAchchiyAr thirumozhi 8-7 “kongaimEl kungamaththin kuzhambazhiyap pugundhu, oru nAL thangumEl ennAvi thangumenRu uraiyIrE” (Tell that emperumAn that I can sustain myself only if he unites with me for a day in such a manner that the vermillion paste applied on my bosoms gets destroyed), they can sustain only if embraced by him and if he doesn’t help them, they will engage with extreme activities such as carrying out madal (complaining publicly about the beloved, beseeching the town-folk to unite them) etc and being firm that they will not show their faces to him even if he comes [later].
sindhaiyuL kuzhaganAr – one who is capable of being humble, uniting with those who had separated after uniting, touching their heads with his beautiful, divine feet and lotus-like hands, saying words like adiyEn, kudiyEn (words which indicate being obedient).
kuzhaganAr – we could consider this to mean one who melts their hearts.
varil kUdidu kUdalE – if he were to remove my sorrow too, just as he removed the sorrows of cowherd womenfolk, you indicate through your agreement.
Next, we will consider the last pAsuram of this decad.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
archived in https://divyaprabandham.koyil.org
pramEyam (goal) – https://koyil.org
pramANam (scriptures) – http://granthams.koyil.org
pramAthA (preceptors) – http://acharyas.koyil.org
SrIvaishNava education/kids portal – http://pillai.koyil.org