SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavara munayE nama:
avathArikai (Introduction) – in this pAsuram, ANdAL praises the divine conch saying “The way you are remaining on the divine hand of vAsudhEvan, which looks like a lotus, is like a swan which is drinking honey from a lotus flower”
sengamala nANmalarmEl thEn nugarum annam pOl
sengaN karumEni vAsudhEvanudaiya
angaiththalam Eri anna vasam seyyum
sangaraiyA! un selvam sAla azhagiyadhE
Word-by-Word Meanings
nAL – just then blossomed
sem kamala malar mEl – on a reddish lotus flower (settling down)
thEn – honey
nugarum – drinking
annam pOl – like the bird swan
sem kaN karumEni vAsudhEvanudaiya – kaNNa pirAn, who has reddish divine eyes and dark
divine form, his
am kaiththalam ERi – climbing on to his beautiful, divine hand
anna vasam seyyum – one who is reclining
sangu araiyA! – Oh pAnchajanyam, the best among the conches!
un selvam – your wealth
sAla – to a great extent
azhagiyadhu – see, it is eminent
Simple Translation
Just like a swan which is drinking honey from a reddish lotus flower that had just then blossomed, you have climbed on to the beautiful, divine hand of vAsudhEvan, who has reddish divine eyes and dark, divine physical form. Oh pAnchajanyam, the best among the conches! Your wealth of reclining on the divine hand of emperumAn is the most eminent.
vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
sengamala nANmalar mEl thEn nugarum annam pOl – The way SrI pAnchajanyAzhwAn is sitting on the reddish lotus-like divine hand of emperumAn is similar to a swan sitting on a just then blossomed lotus flower and drinking its honey.
sengaN karumEni vAsudhEvanudaiya angaiththalam ERi – thaiththirIya upanishath bhruguvalli 10-4 says “aham annam aham annam aham annam l aham annAdhO’ham annAdhO’ham annAdha: ll” ([the soul, when it reaches parama padham, says] I am enjoyable, like food [for emperumAn]; this is repeated two more times. I eat the food [which is the happiness of emperumAn (when he eats me)]. This is also repeated two more times). As mentioned in this, due to the contact with pAnchajanyan, who is enjoyable like food for the hungry, emperumAn’s divine eyes manifest the noble quality of vAthsalyam (forbearance) and his cool, divine physical form removes the anguish of the beholder. Climbing on to the divine hand of such vAsudhEvan…
annavasam seyyum – just as those who wish to sleep, recline on mattresses and keep tossing from side to side in order to get the food digested, pAnchajanyAzhwAn also reclines. Just as nammAzhwAr had said in thiruvAimozhi 9-7-3 “chekkamalaththalar pOlum kaN kai kAl senganivAy, akkamalaththilai pOlum thirumEniyadigaLukkE” (eyes, hands, divine feet and divine lips which are like reddish blossomed lotus flower, and a contrasting divine dark form like a dense leaf) emperumAn has his divine limbs which are like lotus flowers, which hide the pond in which the lotus flowers have bloomed. His divine form is like a green leaf which shows up amongst the lotus flowers. Swans reach that place in order to drink honey from the lotus flowers. ANdAL enjoys the whitish complexion and the great beauty of SrI pAnchajanyAzhwAn who adds colour to the divine form and divine limbs of emperumAn.
sangaraiyA – Oh, the king of conches! SrI rAmAyaNam bAlakANdam 1-61 says “thathO vAnararAjEna vairAnugathanam prathi l rAmAyAvEdhitham sarvam praNayAth dhu:kkithEna cha ll” (Subsequently, sugrIva, the king of monkeys, who was in great distress, informed SrI rAma with affection, all that happened, while giving information to SrI rAma about how enmity developed with vAli). Just as sugrIva was the king of monkeys, SrI pAnchajanyAzhwAn was the king of conches. In the SlOkam cited above, it is to be relished that vAlmIki referred to sugrIva as the king of monkeys even before he was coronated, since SrI rAma had decided in his divine mind that sugrIva is the king of monkeys. Just as SrI rAma had decided in his divine mind that sugrIva is the king of monkeys, he had also decided that jatAyu is the king of vultures, as mentioned in SrI rAmAyaNam AraNya kANdam SlOkam 68-23 ”grudhrarAjyam parithyajya pithrupaithAmaham mahath l mama hEthOrayam prANAn mumOcha pathagESvara: ll” (Giving up the huge kingdom of vultures which came to him through his ancestors, this jatAyu, the king of vultures, gave up his life for my cause). Since he has qualified the kingdom of vultures as huge, through the term mahath (pithru paithAmaham mahath grudhrarAjyam parithyajya), perumAL [SrI rAma] thinks in his divine mind that the kingdom which jatAyu gave up for him was much bigger than his ikshvAku kingdom which he gave up when he left ayOdhyA.
sangaraiyA – just as vAlmIki had referred to sugrIva as the king of monkeys and jatAyu as the king of vultures, considering their closeness and affection towards perumAL, ANdAL too refers to pAnchajanyAzhwAn as the king of conches, considering his closeness and affection towards emperumAn. The implied meaning is that his wealth is such great that all the conches fall at his feet and accept him as their emperor.
un selvam sAla azhagiyadhE – she says that his wealth is very distinguished, more than the way in which she had described his wealth in the fourth pAsuram of this decad when she said “indhiranum unnOdu selvaththukku ElAnE”.
Next, we will consider the 8th pAsuram of this decad.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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