SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavara munayE nama:
avathArikai (Introduction) – ANdAL states her present condition to the cuckoo bird so that it could search for a suitable remedy for her.
veLLai viLisangu idam kaiyil koNdavan vimalan enakku urukkAttAn
uLLam pugundhu ennai naiviththu nALum uyir peydhu kUththAttuk kANum
kaLLavizh seNbagap pUmalar kOdhik kaLiththisai pAdum kuyilE
meLLa irundhu mizhaRRi mizhaRRAdhu en vEngadavan varak kUvAy
Word-by-Word Meanings
kaL avizh – with overflowing honey
seNbagam pU – in the flower of champak
malar kOdhi – (leaving aside the non-essence parts) enjoying its essence
kaLiththu – (due to that) feeling happy
isai pAdum kuyilE – (as an outlet for that happiness) oh, cuckoo, which is singing!
veLLai viLi sangu idam kaiyil koNda – having on the divine left hand, SrI pAnchajanyam (divine conch) which is having total purity as its nature, and which is calling out (to those who are interested in servitude)
vimalan – supreme entity who is pious
uru – his auspicious divine form
enakkuk kAttAn – he is not showing to me
(apart from that)
uLLam – inside my heart
pugundhu – entering
ennai naiviththu – making me suffer badly
(if due to that I were to perish, not allowing me to die so that he could harass me further)
nALum uyir peydhu – reviving my prANan [vital air]
kUththAttu kANum – enjoying my struggle
(what you have to do is)
irundhu – staying in my proximity
meLLa mizhaRRi mizhaRRAdhu – without indulging in excessive activities, speaking in your babbling words
en vEngadavan vara – to make emperumAn who is standing in thiruvEngadam, to come (here) for my sake
kUvAy – you should call out
Simple Translation
Oh cuckoo, which is enjoying the honey from champaka flowers, after removing the non-essential parts of the flower, and singing as an outlet for that happiness! The supreme entity, who is pious and who is holding the white divine conch, which is calling out to the servitors of emperumAn for carrying out servitude, on his left hand, is not manifesting himself to me. He is entering my heart, making me to suffer. He is not allowing me to perish either, but is reviving me, in order to trouble me further. He is enjoying my distress. All that you have to do is to come near me, and with your babbling voice, without indulging in any excessive activity, call that emperumAn who is standing in thiruvEngadam, to come here.
vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
veLLai viLisangu – SrI pAnchajanyam (divine conch) which has a white complexion, to add contrast to the dark complexion of emperumAn, calling out to those who are willing to carry out servitude to emperumAn by saying softly “Come to carry out servitude”
idam kaiyil koNda – donning on the left hand. This is representative of donning the divine disc on the right hand. Did not AzhwArs enjoy both the divine disc and divine conch which are always together, as in thiruvAimozhi 6-4-9 “valakkaiyAzhi idakkaich changam” (divine disc on the right hand and divine conch on the left) and in iraNdAm thiruvandhAdhi 71 “idangai valamburi ninRArppa eri kAnRu adangAr odunguviththadhAzhi” (the divine conch was firmly standing on the left hand, blowing vociferously while the divine disc, spitting fire, made enemies of emperumAn, such as namuchi et al, to be incapacitated)? Women, who are in love with princes, would lose out to the rings on their fingers. In the same way, ANdAL too has lost out to the togetherness of the divine left hand and divine conch.
vimalan – one who has the piety of considering his divine forms and divine weapons are not for himself but are for his followers, just as it has been said in jithanthE sthOthram 1-5 “na thE rUpam na cha AkArO na AyudhAni na chAspatham l thathA’pi purushAkArO bhakthAnAm thvam prakASasE ll” ((your) divine basic nature is not for you; the divine auspicious form is also not for you; the divine weapons also are not for you; the abode of SrI vaikuNtam is also not for you. All these are for the sake of your followers only. You belong to your followers. Though you have svarUpam rUpam guNam vibhUthi (basic nature, divine form, auspicious qualities and wealth) which are for your followers, you shine as the supreme entity).
enakku – for me, who is at the upper limit of desire.
urukkAttAn – instead of manifesting to me, who cannot sustain myself without seeing him, to whom is he manifesting himself? Is he thinking of showing himself to nithyasUris [permanent residents of SrI vaikuNtam] who are always enjoying him, just as someone who is giving water as alms to fish which always live in water? Is he thinking of manifesting his divine form to samsAris [residents of materialistic realm] who are not even aware of the distinction of his divine form? The vyAkyAthA (commentator for this dhivya prabandham) periyavAchchAn piLLai has explained here, periya thirumozhi pAsuram 4-9-4 starting with “kAsinoLiyil thigazhum vaNNam”:
kAsin oLiyil thigazhum vaNNam kAttIr – you are not manifesting your divine form which is shining like gold, to me, who is desirous of seeing it.
emperumAn vAsi valleer – You are capable of finely estimating the eminence of your divine form and the lowliness of our stature, when we are desirous of seeing it.
indhaLUrIr! vAzhndhE pOm nIrE – archAvathAram is such that you manifest yourself without seeing any distinction between the eminent and the lowly, without any ordainment of showing yourself appropriate to the greatness or the smallness of those who come to worship you. If in such a place [divine abode of indhaLUr here], if you are not going to manifest your divine form after seeing our lowliness, you take care of your self and live forever here, happily.
Did not thirumangai AzhwAr too say like this, when denied the opportunity to have dharSan of emperumAn!
urukkAttAn – just as one denies water to a thirsty person, emperumAn is not manifesting his divine form to us who are desirous of seeing him. She says further “It is not only that he does not manifest himself to us; he is not allowing us to remain in peace”
uLLam pugundhu – entering my mind such that I cannot even forget his divine form.
ennai naiviththu – if he enters her mind, she, who is desirous of enjoying that form, cannot remain without melting for it. He makes her suffer this way. Did not nammAzhwAr mercifully say in thiruvAimozhi 9-6-2 “ninaidhoRum sollundhoRum nenjidindhu ugum” (whenever [I] think of [emperumAn] and speak of [emperumAn, my] heart will melt and become fluid) and in thiruvAimozhi 1-5-2 “ninaindhu naindhu uLkaraindhu urugi” (thinking [about emperumAn’s auspicious qualities], body becomes weak/depleted, due to such constant meditation; heart becomes broken and melts)?
nALum uyir peydhu kUththAttuk kANum – those who torture others will not let the person being tortured to die; they will take the person to the edge of death, then revive the person by giving nurturing materials, and once the person revives, will torture the person once again. They will continue to torture the person this way. In a similar manner, emperumAn too enters my mind such that I cannot forget him; since he is so close to me, I will extend my arms to embrace him; since he is inside me, I cannot touch him, and hence I will suffer. He will not allow me to die and escape from this torture by entering my mind, reviving me again. By this repeated torture of creating desire in me and not allowing the desire to be fulfilled, by constant cycles of living and dying, suffering forever has become my mode of life. He enjoys this suffering of mine, by considering it as his pastime.
kaLLavizh seNbagap pUmalar kOdhik kaLiththu isai pAdum kuyilE – when I am at the edge of death, you are at the outer limit of happiness; is this correct? In the honey dripping flower of champaka, you are removing the non-essence portions, enjoying the essence of the flower, becoming happy due to that experience and as an outlet for that happiness, you are singing. Oh cuckoo, when I am frightened at the look of flower, you are enjoying the flower and singing. Is this right?
meLLa irundhu mizhaRRi mizhaRRAdhu – remaining near me, speaking with babbling words, not indulging with your beloved and making me helpless. She then considers that the cuckoo is asking her “Instead of blaming me, will you tell what help I should do for you?” and says ….
en vEngadavan varak kUvAy – just like SrI rAma came along with sage viSvAmithrar from ayOdhyA and stayed in the orchard outside mithilA before marrying sIthAp pirAtti, emperumAn has descended from parama padham and is staying in thiruvEngadam, in order to marry me. You have to call out loudly to him, who has come a long distance for my sake, asking him to cover remaining short distance too and come here. She thinks that “His standing in thirumalai, leaving parama padham, is to marry me, who is desiring him”.
Next, we will consider the 3rd pAsuram of this decad.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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