SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavara munayE nama:
avathArikai (Introduction) – She is telling the mElthOnRIppU (a kind of flower, similar to malabar glory lily flower) not to singe her like the divine disc but to unite her with those who do not have any engagement with emperumAn
mEl thOnRip pUkkAL! mEl ulagangaLin mIdhu pOy
mEl thOnRum sOdhi vEdha mudhalvar valangaiyilE
mEl thOnRum Azhiyin venjudar pOlach chudAdhu emmai
mARROlaip pattavar kUttaththu vaiththukkoL kiRRirE
Word-by-Word Meanings
mEl thOnRip pUkkAL – Oh, malabar glory flowers who have blossomed at a height!
mEl ulagangaLin mIdhu pOy mEl thOnRum sOdhi – going past all the upper worlds, shining above all these, called as thannudaich chOdhi [his abode of effulgence], one who has mercifully taken residence in parama padham
vEdha mudhalvar – the supreme entity, who is explained in vEdhas [sacred texts]
valam kaiyil mEl thOnRum – shining radiantly on his right, divine hand
Azhiyin – the divine disc’s
vem sudar pOla – like his fiery radiance
sudAdhu – not singeing
mARROlaip pattavar kUttaththu – in the assembly of kaivalya nishtars (those who engage with their AthmAs forever)
vaiththukkoL kiRRirE – are you capable of uniting me?
Simple Translation
Oh, malabar glory lily flowers, who have blossomed at a height! Are you capable of uniting me in the assembly of kaivalya nishtars, without singeing me, unlike the divine disc, who is shining radiantly on the right divine hand of emperumAn, who is explained by vEdhas and who is residing in parama padham, which is beyond the upper worlds?
vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
mEl thOnRip pUkkAL – after the kOdal flowers [seen in the previous pAsuram], which were like poisonous snakes killing by their very sight, started tormenting her, she lifted her vision up, to escape from them. There, she saw the mEl thOnRip pUkkaqL (another type of malabar glory lily). She calls out to them. “You have firmly decided to destroy those who escape from the kOdal flowers and have your names too in synchronisation with that as mEl thOnRi pU (flower which appears above); you have positioned yourselves above such that I cannot see above too”. As mentioned in chAndhOgya upanishath 6-2-3 “thadhaikshatha bahusyAm prajAyEyEthi thaththEjO’srutha” (that supreme entity took a sankalpam (vow) ‘Let me multiply manifold’; it created radiance), emperumAn has created many entities. Among them are flowers such as kArkkOdal pUkkaL, mEl thOnRip pUkkaL etc. Assuming that they are telling her not to hate them since they come under the classification of flowers among the four species created by emperumAn, she tells them that while among the four species, dhEva (celestial), manushya (human), thiryak (animals) and sthAvara (botanical), he has created you all only to torment me.
mElulagangaLin mIdhu pOy – going past the other worlds and the seven covers [sapthAvarNam] of all the universes. Just as it has been mentioned in subAlOpanishath 2 “avyaktham aksharE leeyathE l aksharam thamasi leeyathE l thama: parE dhEva EkIbhavathi ll” (avyaktham gets absorbed in aksharam; aksharam gets absorbed in thamas; thamas becomes subservient to the supreme entity), going past avyaktham, aksharam and thamas, which are all various forms of primordial matter.
mEl thOnRum sOdhi – paramapadham, which has been described variously, as in mahAbhAratham AraNya parvam 136-18 & 23 “athyarkAnaladhIptham thath sthAnam vishNOr mahAthmana: l svayaiva prabhayA rAjan! dhushprEksham dhEvadhAnavai: ll thathra gathvA punarnEmam lOkamAyAnthi bhAratha ll” (That abode, which belongs to the greatest AthmA, vishNu, has greater effulgence than sun and fire. Oh, king! Due to that effulgence itself, it cannot be seen by celestial entities and monsters. Oh, one who is born in the clan of bharatha! One cannot return to this world, after reaching there) and in SrI rAmAyaNam 114-15 “vyakthamEsha mahAyOgI paramAthmA sanAthana: l anAdhimadhyanidhanO mahatha: paramO mahAn ll thamasa: paramO dhAthA Sankha chakra gadhAdhara: ll” (this SrI rAma is paramAthmA [supreme being] who a great saint and is ancient. He is without a beginning, middle or end. He, who is eminent, is beyond mahAn and thamas [forms of primordial matter]. He is the substrate for everyone and everything. He dons divine weapons such as disc, conch and mace).
vEdha mudhalvar valangaiyin mEl thOnRum Azhiyin venjudar pOlach chudAdhu – emperumAn is mentioned as the supreme entity in vEdhams as seen in purusha sUktham 2-2 “vEdhAham Etham purusham mahAntham AdhithyavarNam thamasa: parasthAth l thamEvam vidhwAn Amrutha iha bhavathi nAnya: panthA vidhyathE’yanAya ll” (I (the vEdha purushan) know this purushan [supreme entity] who is (in svarUpa,rUpa, guNa and vibhUthi (basic nature, divine form, auspicious qualities and wealth respectively) eminent, who shines like sUriyan (sun), who is beyond primordial matter. One who knows him like this, becomes a muktha (liberated entity) here itself. There is no other means to mOksham). Instead of singeing by the fiery effulgence of sudharSana chakram (divine disc) which appears on the right hand of such emperumAn….
venjudar – The radiance of celestial entities such as indhra et al will be brighter than the radiance of sUriyan (sUrya) et al who are in this world. The radiance of brahmA et al will be brighter than that of indhra et al. The radiance of mUlaprakruthi (primordial matter) will be brighter than brahmA et al. The radiance of parama padham will be such that the radiance of mUlaprkruthi could be termed as thamas (darkness). The radiance of the auspicious, divine form of emperumAn will make paramapadham to shine. The radiance of his disc will be brighter than even that auspicious, divine form. Hence, ANdAL calls that as venjudar (cruel heat).
Azhiyin venjudar pOlach chudAdhu – instead of singeing like the cruel heat from the divine disc. Is it proper to talk about the heat from the divine disc which is in an unseen place, instead of speaking about heat from sUriyan et al, who are in this world? Only if one could see an entity in a known place could one guess about an unknown place. Only if one could associate smoke with fire in kitchen and other places, could one guess the presence of fire in a mountain upon seeing smoke emanating from there. For ANdAL, both the vibhUthis (leelA vibhUthi or samsAram and nithya vibhUthi or SrI vaikuNtam) are clearly visible. Hence, she could cite examples from nithya vibhUthi too, for objects seen in leelA vibhUthi. In reality, for ANdAL, this leelA vibhUthi, in which engagement with emperumAn is not easily attained, appears like a raised ground, not easily accessible, and nithya vibhUthi, where engagement with emperumAn is constantly available, appears like a valley, easily attainable. It is only from the well-known place such as kitchen etc that one could infer about presence of an entity. For ANdAL, the divine disc in parama padham is well-known. nammAzhwAr too spoke about nithya vibhUthi in his very first pAsuram of thiruvAImozhi “ayarvaRum amarargaL adhipathi” but brought in leelA vibhUthi only in his third pAsuram!
sudAdhu emmai – divine disc will singe only those who do not have affection towards emperumAn. For those who are favourable to emperumAn, he will only shower mercy, just as it has been mentioned in thiruviruththam 33 “aruLAr thiruchchakkaram” (the divine disc which mercifully showers mercy) and in thiruvAimozhi 1-4-6 “aruLAzhi” (merciful divine disc). When such is the case, ANdAL tells the mEl thOnRIp pUkkaL that they are singeing and destroying her.
mARROlaip pattavar kUttaththu vaiththukkoL kiRRIrE – there are three interpretations for this verse. The first by thirumalai nambi [AchAryan of rAmAnujar] is as follows: ANdAL is suffering only because she has overflowing affection towards emperumAn. Hence, feeling disgusted with experiencing emperumAn, and just as it has been said in bhagavath gIthA 7-29 “jarA maraNa mOkshAya mamASrIthya yathanthi yE l thE brahma thadhvidhu: kruthsnam adhyAthmam karma chAkhilam ll” (Those who attempt to reach me in order to see the true nature of AthmA (soul), devoid of old age and death, will fully know about brahmam, which is AthmA’s true nature, adhyAthmam which is prakruthi and prajOthpaththi which is karmam), she is asking as to why she has not been kept amidst kEvalars who do not have desire in enjoying emperumAn and who desire only enjoying AthmA. More than experiencing emperumAn which results in distress, her need is getting rid of her distress; hence her desire is to join the assembly of kEvalars who wish to get rid of the sorrow of samsAram.
embAr [disciple of rAmAnujar] would give a different interpretation to this. “kEvalars would remain in isolation and each one would enjoy oneself. They do not enjoy in an assembly. Since the word kUttam (assembly) has been used here, it does not appear appropriate here to talk about joining kEAvalars. Hence, the term mARROlaip pattavar here would refer to mukthars [those who have been liberated from samsAram] since they are distinct from samsAris. She is lamenting that she has not been kept in the assembly of mukthars.” The opinion here is that she desires to be kept amidst “adiyAr kuzhAngaL” (assembly of followers) as mentioned in thiruvAimozhi 2-3-10. Is it apt to describe bhagavadhanubhavaparars [those who are desirous of enjoying emperumAn] as mARROlaip pattavar, a term which refers to those who wish to get liberated from samsAram? Both in thirumanthram and in dhvayam [two out of the three esoteric axioms in our sampradhAyam] in the term namO nArAyaNAya, the term nama: would refer to detachment from samsAram and the term nArayaNAya would refer to servitude to emperumAn, as a result of detachment from samsAram. It is this which mukthars would enjoy as the benefit. While one could get enjoyment with emperumAn in archAvathAram too, that happens very rarely. It is only after getting rid of samsAram that one would get complete experience in carrying out servitude to emperumAn.
A third interpretation has been given by AppAn, a disciple of kUraththAzhwAn. He would have heard this from kUraththAzhwAn himself. His interpretation is as follows: sarvESvaran has sent you [addressing the flowers] to torment me. Since he would have thought that he should personally torment a few, he would have sent you all, to bring them to him. Remove me from the assembly of people who are to be tormented by you and unite me with the assembly of those who are to be tormented by sarvESvaran himself and take me in his presence. If he asks “Why did you bring her instead of the other lady, respond by saying that the chits [names] got interchanged”. Even if he torments me directly, I would have the satisfaction of having seen him.
Next, we will consider the 3rd pAsuram of this decad.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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