SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavara munayE nama:
avathArikai (Introeduction) – considering that the cuckoo is asking her “If we call out, will he come?” she tells the cuckoo in this pAsuram “He excels in both valour and love. pirAttiyAr [SrI mahAlakshmi] who is capable of making him to come here, is also with him. Thus, since there is no hurdle for his coming here, please call”
sArngam vaLaiya valikkum thadakkaich chadhuran poruththam udaiyan
nAngaL emmilirundhu ottiya kachchangam nAnum avanum aRidhum
thEngani mAmbozhil sendhaLir kOdhum siRu kuyilE! thirumAlai
Angu viraindhu ollaik kUgiRRiyAgil avanai nAn seyvana kANE
Word-by-Word Meanings
thEm kani – having sweet fruits
mA pozhil – in a mangrove
sem thaLir kOdhum – pecking (tender) reddish leaves
siRu kuyilE – Oh, young cuckoo!
sArngam – his bow
vaLaiya valikkum – one who has the strength to curve and draw it
thada kai – having huge divine hands
chadhuran – emperumAn, who has lot of capability
poruththam udaiyan – is equally capable in matters of love
nAngaL – he and I
irundhu – being together
emmil ottiya – secret understanding between ourselves
kachchangam – agreement
nAnum avanum aRidhum – none else, other than the two of us, would know
Angu thirumAlai – the divine consort of SrI mahAlakshmi, who is at a far-away place
ollai viraindhu – very urgently
kUgiRRiyAgil – if you are capable of calling out
avanai – (after he reaches here) in matters concerning him
nAn seyvana – the way that I torment him
kAN – may you see
Simple Translation
Oh, a little cuckoo who is pecking tender leaves in a mangrove which has lot of sweet fruits! emperumAn, who has huge divine hands, capable of curving and drawing his bow, SArngam, is equally adept at matters concerning love. We have a secret understanding between us, which no one else is privy to. If you are capable of calling out to emperumAn who is at a far-away distance, after he comes here, you could see how I torment him.
vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
sArngam vaLaiya valikkum thadakkaich chadhuran – one who has large, divine hands, and is capable of drawing his bow and shooting arrow. mArIcha tells rAvaNa, in SrI rAmAyaNam AraNya kANdam 37-38 [when rAvaNa seeks his help in abducting sIthAp pirAtti] “apramEyam hi thaththEjO yasya sA janakAthmajA l na thvam samarthas thAm harthum rAmachApASrayam vanE ll” (The effulgence of that SrI rAma, with whom sIthAp pirAtti, the daughter of janaka, is together, is beyond one’s imagination. You are not capable of abducting her, who has taken refuge under SrI rAma’s bow, in the forest). It is clear that she [reference here is to ANdAL] is the valorous consort of that emperumAn, who has lost out to the way in which he is holding the bow and the way he is able draw it.
chadhuran – SrI rAmAyaNam yudhdha kANdam 59-139 says how rAvaNa, repeatedly hit by SrI rAma’s arrows shot from his bow, staggered in the battlefield and let go of his bow “yO vajrapAthASani sannipAthAth na sukshubhE nApi chachAla rAjA l sa rAma bANAbhihathO bhruSArtha: chachAla chApancha mumOcha vIra: ll” (That rAvaNa, who did not move even when hit by vajram [indhra’s weapon] or when hit by thunder, without any bewilderment, after being hit by the arrows of that warrior SrI rAma, felt very hurt, staggered and let go of his bow). The meaning hinted here is that he is capable of holding his bow in such a way that enemies will let slip their bows from their hands. Is he one who knows only about valour and nothing about matters relating to love?
poruththamudaiyan – his capability in matters related to love is greater than that in valour. Thus, in both valour and matters regarding love, he is without any deficiency.
nAngaL….. aRidhum – only the two of us would know the agreement that we had made between ourselves. It is not known to anyone else. kachchangam – agreement. Mutual dependence. The agreement we had made that “One will not live without the other” is known only to the two of us. When he breaches the agreement, while it is your responsibility to point out the correct path to him, is it proper on your part to be quiet? The question arises – how will the cuckoo know about their agreement between themselves, unless they had made that agreement in its presence? Did she not say that they had made the agreement when they were together, without anyone else being present? Thus, how could the cuckoo have known about it and pointed out to him about any breach? The answer to that is: this cuckoo is a messenger between them and is known to both of them. Both of them would have told it, when they had been separated and were living alone, about their agreement that each could not live without the other. Hence, there is no hurdle in the cuckoo knowing about their agreement.
In SrI rAmAyaNam sundhara kANdam 36-67 sIthAp pirAtti tells hanuman to inform SrI rAma “jIvitham dhArayishyAmi mAsam dhaSarathAthmaja! l Urdhvam mAsAn na jIvEyam sthyEnAham bravImi thE ll” (Oh, the great one! I will sustain my life for one month; I take a vow in your name that I will not be alive for more than a month). Similarly, when hanuman informs this to SrI rAma, he tells hanuman, just as it has been mentioned in SrI rAmAyaNam sundhara kANdam 66-10 “chiram jIvathi vaidhEhi yadhi mAsam dharishyathil na jIvEyam kshaNamapi vinA thAmasithEkshaNAm ll” (If sIthai could sustain herself for one month, she would be considered as having sustained herself for a very long time; without her, who has dark eyes, I will not sustain myself for more than a moment). Thus, when these two are capable of telling their messenger on how each feels about living without the other, wouldn’t they have told each other when they were together?
thEngani mAmbozhil sendhaLir kOdhum siRu kuyilE – Oh the little cuckoo which is pecking the tender, reddish leaves in a mangrove which has plenty of sweet fruits! Since eating sweet fruits continuously may create excessive sweetness in the mouth and make eating further fruits unpalatable, the cuckoo is eating the tender leaves in between, such that their bitterness could prepare it to feast further on fruits. ANdAL tells the bird “Oh, cuckoo, who knows so much! Should you not fulfil my task too?
thirumAlai Angu virandhu ollaik kUgiRRiyAgil – All that you need to do is to reach the place where he is staying and inform him. Since periya pirAttiyAr, who is always together with him, without separating from him, is also with him [when you inform him about me] she will make him to condone our faults. If you could call out to him to make him come scurrying to us immediately …
avanai nAn seyvana kANE – Aren’t you thinking that there is no benefit for my suffering like this? You would see that you are going to get a great benefit because of this. After he comes here and sees me, I will make him suffer the same way that he had made me to suffer when I was separated from him. Isn’t seeing that rare-to-see event, a huge benefit for you? What will she do to him? Since he is coming to her after a lengthy separation, he will hurriedly come to embrace her. When she turns her face away from him, showing no interest in reciprocating his gesture, would he not have to undergo all the sufferings which she had undergone? When a person had been hungry for a long time, and after making him to sit and serving different varieties of food items to him, when his hands are tied, will he not suffer? In the same way, he [emperumAn] too would suffer, she tells the cuckoo. His hunger could be overcome only through her face. thirumangai AzhwAr too mercifully said this in periya thirumozhi 8-10-1 “vaNdAr pUmAmalar mangai maNanOkkam uNdAn” (Oh one who has accepted the glance of periya pirAttiyAr, who has taken residence in a huge lotus flower which is full of beetles, as your sustaining force!)
Next, we will consider the 9th pAsuram of this decad.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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