SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavara munayE nama:
avathArikai (Introduction) – she tells the divine conch “You, who are capable of uttering confidential matters in emperumAn’s divine ears, should inform him about me”
chandhiramaNdalam pOl dhAmOdharan kaiyil
andharam onRinRi Eri avan seviyil
mandhiram koLvAyE pOlum valam puriyE!
indhiranum unnOdu selvaththukku ElAnE
Word-by-Word Manings
valam puriyE – Oh conch, which has curled on the right side!
dhAmOdharan kaiyil – on the divine hand of kaNNa pirAn
chandhira maNdalam pOl – like the lunar region
andharam onRu inRi Eri – remaining without any break
avan seviyil – in his divine ears
mandhiram koLvAy pOlum – you appeared as if you were speaking secretive words
indhiranum – even indhra (who is famous for having lot of wealth)
selvaththukku – in matters of wealth
unnOdu ElAn – will not match you
Simple Translation
Oh, the divine conch which has curled on the right side! You are remaining on the divine hand of kaNNa pirAn, like a lunar region, without any break. You appear to be speaking secretive words with him. Even indhra, who is famous for being wealthy, will not match you in matters of wealth.
vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
chandhira maNdalam pOL dhAmOdharam kaiyil Eri – your seating on the divine hand of dhAmOdharan (emperumAn who has a scar on his midriff) appears like the lunar region. The way he his holding you in his divine hand, appears like princes who hold a flask of rosewater in order to treat themselves, when they suffer from cold.
dhAmOdharan kaiyil – for those who see him, the scar on his stomach region would appear as if he had been very obedient to his mother yaSOdhAp pirAtti, when he allowed her to tie a rope around his stomach. The implied meaning here is that “if people see you [addressing pAnchajanyam) should you not appear to be obedient to emperumAn and his followers and carry out our task?”
dhAmOdharan – one who bears a scar on his stomach to indicate that he had been tied down by yaSOdhAp pirAtti with short ropes, joined together.
andharam onRu inRI ERi – she expresses her amazement that he is continuously on his divine hand, without separating from him ever, unlike his consorts who had to leave him at some point of time or the other. Alternatively, it could be construed that she is praising him that he is always on the divine hands of emperumAn, without separating from him, unlike relatives who will be around when the person is doing well but will disappear when any misfortune befalls him. Even the divine disc, who is held by emperumAn on his right hand, has to leave his divine hand, just as it has been mentioned in thiruvAimozhi 10-6-8 “karudhumidam porudhu – kainninRa chakkaraththan” (emperumAn has the divine disc which goes where his heart desires and returns, to stay on his divine hand). You do not have such misfortune. The implied meaning is that even during the times of battle, you are residing on his hand or his mouth, without separating from him, ever.
avan seviyil mandhiram koLvAyE pOlum – you appear to be whispering something secretive in his divine ears. It appears as if you are whispering in his divine ear “There are many consorts who are unable to sustain themselves, after separating from you”. The implied meaning is that “Tell him about me also”. The term mandhiram koLLugai has transformed into mandhiram kodukkai, which refers to telling him secretive information.
valam puriyE – while the other conches have curled towards the left side, in an anti-clockwise manner, and are termed as idam puri [curled on the left side], you have curled in a clockwise manner, towards the right and hence are called in a distinguished manner as valam puri. The meaning implied is that just as you have a distinguished name, having curled to the right, your action too should be distinguished, by uniting people like me, who are without any refuge, with him.
indhiranum unnOdu selvaththukku ElAnE – even indhra [lord of celestial entities] who has the most distinguished wealth, will not equal you in matters related to aiSwaryam (opulence). Since she belongs to the clan of cowherds who think that indhra, who could make rains to pour down when he wishes to and deny rains when he wishes to, is a wealthy entity, she too considers him to be an example of wealthy person. Aren’t cowherds known for celebrating a festival for indhra, just as it has been mentioned in periya thirumozhi 2-3-4 “indhiranukkenRu AyargaL eduththa ezhil vizhavu” (the distinguished celebration undertaken by cowherds for the sake of indhra)? Alternatively, just as periyAzhwAr had mentioned in periyAzhwAr thirumozhi 4-3-11 “vEdhAntha vizhupporuLin mElirundha viLakkai vittuchiththan viriththananE” (mercifully explained by vishNuchiththar who spoke about emperumAn who is the most distinguished meaning among the eminent meanings mentioned in the upanishaths and who is effulgent), since she is the divine daughter of the most learned periyAzhwAr, who knows that terms such as indhra, prANa etc refer to emperumAn who remains their antharyAmi (indwelling soul) or even directly, we could consider the term indhra to refer to emperumAn himself. His wealth of svAthanthryam (being totally independent) will not match your wealth of pArathanthryam (being totally dependent on emperumAn). How is this possible? For a chEthana entity [one with knowledge), once prAthikUlyam (unfavourable to emperumAn) which had been with him since time immemorial, gets destroyed and he becomes an AnukUlya entity (one who is favourable to emperumAn), emperumAn’s svAthanthryam gets destroyed. The pArathanthryam of a chEthana entity is always indestructible. Thus, the pArathanthryam of SrI pAnchajanyAzhwAn which lasts forever is better than emperumAn’s svAthanthryam which will get destroyed at some point of time. That chEthana’s pArathanthryam is highly distinguished has been shown in SrI rAmAyaNam bAlakANdam 18-28 “sarvapriyakarasthasya rAmasyApi SarIratha: l lakshmanO lakshmisampannO bahi: prANa ivApara: ll” (lakshmaNa, who has the wealth of servitude, was one who carried out all the affectionate deeds for SrI rAma, more than SrI rAma’s divine form, and was another prANan (soul) for SrI rAma, outside his physical form). SrI rAmAyaNam yudhdha kANdam 131-93 says “sarvAthmanA paryanunIyamAnO yadhA na saumithrir upaithi yOgam l niyujyamAnO’pi cha yauvarAjyE thathO’bhyashinjath bharatham mahAthmanA ll” (Despite being requested in all manner and despite being ordained, since lakshmaNa did not agree to being crowned as the yuvarAja (prince), SrI rAma, the most eminent entity, crowned bharatha as the yuvarAja). Such lakshmaNa, who refused to be crowned as the prince, despite a lot of compulsion, is fit to be called as lakshmi sampannan (one with lot of wealth) in the previous SlOkam [SrI rAmAyaNam bAlakANdam 18-28]. SrI rAmAyaNam sundhara kANdam 33-28 says “prAgEva thu mahAbhAga: saumithrir mithranandhana: l pUrvajasyAnuyAthrArthE dhrumachIrairalankrutha: ll” (lakshmaNa, who is the most fortunate, who makes those who are favourable, to be happy and who is the son of sumithrA, decorated himself with clothes made of tree bark, in order to accompany his elder brother SrI rAma, even before SrI rAma). Thus, even when perumAL [SrI rAma] avoided coronating himself, did not iLayaperumAL [lakshmaNa] crown himself as the prince of pArathanthryam! Hence, it is clear that pAnchajanyan’s pAathanthryam which is unavoidable, is better than emperumAn’s svAthanthryam which is avoidable.
Next, we will consider the 5th pAsuram of this decad.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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