SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavara munayE nama:
avathArikai (Introduction) – she tells the cuckoo in this pAsuram that if it calls out to him, who is the primary cause for her sustenance, to come, then she will keep her head at the feet of the bird, throughout her life.
eththisaiyum amarar paNindhEththum irudIkEsan vali seyya
muththanna veN muRuval seyyavAyum mulaiyum azhagu azhindhEn nAn
koththalar kAvil maNiththadam kaN padai koLLum iLam kuyilE! en
thaththuvanai varak kUgiRRiyAgil thalaiyallAl kaimmARilEnE
Word-by-Word Meanings
koththu – bunches of flowers
alar – place where they blossom
kAvil – in the orchards
maNi thadam – in a beautiful place
kaN padai koLLum – one who is sleeping
iLam kuyilE! – Oh, a little cuckoo!
eththisaiyum – in all the directions
amarar paNindhu Eththum – one who has the eminence of being worshipped by celestial entities
irudIkEsan – emperumAn who steals the sensory organs of those who behold him
vali seyya – one who makes it difficult (without showing himself up to me)
(due to that)
nAn – I
muththu anna veN muRuval – white smile, like the pearls
seyya vAyum – reddish lip
mulaiyum – bosoms
(All these)
azhagu azhindhEn – changed such that I lost their beauty
en thaththuvanai – that emperumAn who is the prime cause for my sustenance
vara kUgiRRiyAgil – if you are capable of calling out to him such that he comes here
thalai allAl – apart from keeping my head on your feet, throughout my life
kaimmARu ilEnE – I do not know of any other return of favour
Simple Translation
Oh, the little cuckoo which is sleeping in a beautiful place in an orchard where bunches of flowers are blossoming! emperumAn has the eminence of being worshipped by celestial entities in all the directions. He steals the sensory organs of those who see him. He is making it difficult for me, by not showing himself to me. Due to that, I have lost the beauty of my whitish smile, which is like pearls, my reddish lips and my bosoms. If you are capable of calling out to that emperumAn, who is the prime cause for my sustenance, such that he comes here, I cannot repay you by any way other than keeping my head at your feet, throughout my life time.
vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
eththisaiyum amarar paNindhEththum – celestial entities such as brahmA, Sivan, indhran et al, who are not accustomed to offering salutations to anyone and who are egoistic, will give up their egos, in the places where they see emperumAn (in all the directions), fall at his divine feet and praise him, manifesting clearly that they have lost out to him.
irudIkEsan vali seyya – emperumAn, who is apt like this to be worshipped by everyone, stole all my sensory perceptions, and distressed me by not manifesting himself to me. irudIkEsan – hrushIkESan – one who ordains sensory perceptions [the lord]
muththanna veNmuRuval seyya vAyum mulaiyum azhagazhindhEn nAn – I reached the status of losing the beauty of my white pearl-like teeth [smile], reddish lips and bosoms which do not require any artificial cosmetics applied for improving the appearance unlike the lips. While my smile, reddish lips and bosoms are there only for his sustenance, nourishment and enjoyment, he is destroying them too, to harass me. Just as it has been mentioned in SrI rAmAyaNam yudhdha kANdam 5-13 “kadhAnu chArubimbOshtam thasyA: padhmamivAnanam l Ishadhunnamya pAsyAmi rasAyanamivOththamam ll” (Slightly lifting the divine face of that dhEvi [sIthAp pirAtti], which is like a lotus, when will I drink that beautiful divine lip, which is like a reddish fruit, like an eminent juice?), it was emperumAn who mercifully stated this and not sIthAp pirAtti.
koththalar kAvil maNiththadam kaNpadai koLLum iLam kuyilE – Oh, the little cuckoo, which is sleeping in a beautiful place inside the orchard which has flowers blossoming in bunches! While these limbs, which are his wealth, are getting destroyed, without protecting them, you are sleeping. This is how your arrogance is. While I am suffering like this, could you sleep?
en thaththuvanai varak kUgiRRiyAgil – if you are capable of calling out to the one who is the primary cause for my existence… Since the word thaththuvam refers to svarUpa saththai (basic quality of existing), the word thaththuvan refers to the one who is responsible for it. Even though he is delaying [his arrival] for the cuckoo to call out to him, she understands that he alone is the cause for her existence, though she is in a state of Udal [love-quarrel] with him. The vyAkyAthA (commentator) of this prabandham, periyavAchchAn piLLai, narrates the following incident here:
nampiLLai, one of our preceptors, asked his AchAryan, nanjIyar “When rAvaNa showed the illusory severed head of SrI rAma to sIthAp pirAtti and created an illusion that SrI rAma has been destroyed, she said a few words such as ‘Oh, the astrologers had said that the one who is going to rule the entire world is going to marry sIthA, but those words have become lies now’, crying out like the women of these days, for the sake of crying on hearing such a news; however, she did not die like one who was a pathivrathai [one who is totally devoted and faithful to her husband] on hearing that her husband has died. What is the reason for her existence?” nanjIyar mercifully responded saying “The reason for her being alive is not her knowledge that SrI rAma is alive; SrI rAma’s existence alone is the reason for sIthAp pirAtti’s existence. She would have died if SrI rAma had really died; her life would not leave her form just because of the appearance of an illusory severed head. She was alive because perumAL was alive”. Here, ANdAL saying that he is the thaththuvan for her (reason for her existence) follows this narration.
thalaiyallAl kaimmARilEnE – I do not see any way by which I could repay your favour, other than by keeping my head at your feet for the rest of my life. It is pertinent to recall the following narration which had taken place during nanjIyar’s time. One of nanjIyar’s disciples, by name peRRi, had gone in the eastern direction of SrIrangam on a personal errand. Some people asked him “What is the meaning of the verse ‘thalaiyallAl kaimmARilEnE’?” He replied saying “If you call out to emperumAn, I will sever my head and give it to you as a return of your favour”. But he had a doubt that this meaning was not appropriate. When he returned to SrI rangam, he asked nampiLLai “What response would nanjIyar have given for this?” nampiLLai mercifully told him that this is how nanjIyar would have responded: “Since I am not capable of returning your favour, I will make my head as your servitor and I shall live the rest of my life by keeping it at your feet”. On hearing this, peRRi praised nampiLLai to a great extent and told him “I have listened to the discourse on thiruvAimozhi from nanjIyar on eleven occasions; however, I was not fortunate to listen to the meanings of thirumozhis [divine meanings of prabandhams of AzhwArs such as kulaSEkharar, periyAzhwAr, ANdAL and thirumangai AzhwAr]. You should mercifully teach me the meanings of these thirumozhis as told by nanjIyar such that if someone were to ask me about their meanings when I go out anywhere, I should recall the meanings mercifully given by nanjIyar and I should be able to convey those meanings to such queries”. nampiLLai too mercifully instructed him those meanings. After receiving those meanings, peRRi said “No one could have learnt these meanings by undertaking any penance. These could be learnt only through an AchAryan”
Next, we will consider the 7th pAsuram of this decad.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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