SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavara munayE nama:
avathArikai (Introduction) – In the previous pAsuram, she had spoken about how the kOvai fruit reminded her of [emperumAn’s] divine coral-like mouth and tormented her. She lifted her vision from that fruit and looked sideways. There, jasmine creeper had blossomed well. Just as it has been said in thiruvAimozhi 8-8-1 “uLLE veN pal sudar ilagu”, the jasmine creeper reminded her of emperumAn’s divine smile and tormented her, she says in this pAsuram.
mullaip pirAtti! nI un muRuvalgaL koNdu emmai
allal viLaiviyEl Azhi nangAy! un adaikkalam
kollai arakkiyai mUkkarindhitta kumaranAr
sollum poyyAnAl nAnum piRandhamai poyyanRE
Word-by-Word Meanings
mullaip pirAtti – Oh lady! jasmine creeper!
Azhi nangAy! – Oh, one who is unfathomable, like an ocean!
nI – you
un muRuvalgaL koNdu – with your blossoming feature (which is similar to emperumAn’s smile)
allal viLaiviyEl – do not cause distress
un adaikkalam – (for this) I take refuge under you
kollai arakkiyai – sUrpaNakA, who crossed limits
mUkku arindhitta – one who severed her nose and drove her away
kumaranAr – divine son of emperor [dhaSaratha]
sollum – word
poy AnAl – if it becomes false
nAn piRandhamaiyum poy anRE – will not my being born to periyAzhwAr become false?
Simple Translation
Oh lady! Jasmine creeper! Oh, one who is unfathomable like an ocean! Do not cause me distress through your blossoming which reminds me of the divine smile of emperumAn. I take refuge under you, for this. If the word of the divine son of emperor [dhaSaratha], who severed the nose of sUrpaNakA, who had crossed limits, and had driven her away, becomes false, my being the daughter of periyAzhwAr too would be false.
vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
mullaip pirAtti – if someone were to waylay us, in order to prevent him from tormenting us, we would praise him as a great person etc. In a similar vein, ANdAL is praising the creeper, which is tormenting her, as mullaip pirAtti [lady jasmine].
nI – after being tormented by the kOvai fruit and after having escaped from it, could you torment me? Instead of feeling sad for the tormented, after having been harassed by kOvai fruit and having escaped from it, in order to torment me, you have become a cruel creeper.
un muRuvalgaL koNdu – with the freshness in your flowers.
emmai – I have become almost dead, after having been tormented by kOdal etc. Could you attempt to kill me, further?
allal viLaiviyEl – she is describing the act of jasmine as allal (distress) since it is reminding her of the divine row of teeth inside his coral-like mouth, just as it has been described in thiruvAimozhi 8-8-1 “vAyum sivandhu kanindhu uLLE veN pal ilagu” (the divine lips have become reddish like fruit, and inside, the row of white teeth is shining).
allal viLaiviyEl – may you not make me bewildered by reminding me about his divine smile
Azhi nangAy – Since she is going to separately call out to the ocean in the ninth pAsuram, here, the term could not be termed as referring to ocean. This should be considered as an adjective for the jasmine creeper. Having the quality of ocean, which is unfathomable and having completeness, should you not carry out my task when I am beseeching you? Since the creeper has flowers which have blossomed like circles and since the flowers have honey in them, the creeper is termed as Azhi nangAy. The term Azhi refers to a circle.
un adaikkalam – Has it not been said that one should be protected if the person takes refuge, just as in SrI rAmAyaNam yudhdha kANdam 13-28? “ArthO vA yadhivA dhruptha parEshAm SaraNAgatha: l ari: prAnAn parithyajya rakshithavya: kruthAthmanA ll”(Whether a person is scared or not, if the person surrenders and if the enemy has a good heart, even if he has to give up his life, the surrendered person has to be protected). Will this creeper, which is without knowledge and which is inimical, protect her? Even though the female demons had not changed their inimical behaviour, taking their word of adaikkalam (we seek refuge) alone, sIthAp pirAtti had given them refuge. In a similar way, ANdAL thinks that every entity [under whom she has sought refuge], without any distinction between having or not having knowledge, will become compassionate.
kollai arakkiyai – the female demon who had crossed limits. While it was appropriate to take refuge under perumAL through pirAtti as purushakAram (one who unites), she tried to attain perumAn, opposing pirAtti. Thus, she had crossed limits. Thinking “Isn’t this sIthai a hurdle for us in marrying and enjoying this rAma?” she tried to kill her. Hence, SrI rAma disfigured her.
mUkkarindhitta – SrI rAma disfigured the one who came as a hurdle in his embracing sIthAp pirAtti, who knew none other than SrI rAma. Isn’t the same emperumAn now sending many entities to torment me, who knows none other than him?
kumaranAr – due to her [reference here is to sUrpaNakA] involvement with the [youthful] state of perumAn, while she went to complain about her disfigurement, she started praising perumAL as ‘youthful’ instead of vilifying him, as mentioned in SrI rAmAyaNam AraNya kANdam 19-14 “tharuNau rUpasampannau sukumArau mahAbalau l puNdarIka viSAlAkshau chIrakrushNAjinAmbarau ll” ((SrI rAma and lakshmaNa) are youthful; have tenderness; have lot of strength; have wide eyes, like lotus; wear barks of tree and deer skin). She had considered her disfigurement as signs which are left on the body by the nails of the beloved during union; otherwise, she wouldn’t have spoken about youthfulness.
sollum poyyAnAl – one who removes hurdles which are seen when he tries to embrace his followers, is not even fulfilling his words in my matter. Even if he does not remove my hurdles [in attaining him], he could, at the least, not have spoken the words, and could have controlled himself, just as he did in SrI rAmAyaNam yudhdha kANdam 18-3 when SrI rAma tells the assembly of his advisors “mithra bhAvEna samprAptham na thyajEyam kathanchana l dhOshO yadhyapi thasya syAth sathAmEthathagarhitham ll” (I will not let down this vibhIshaNa who has come as a friend. Even if he has any faults, let them be; for good people accepting him is not to be despised); in mahAbhAratham udhyOga parvam 70-48, krishNa tells dhraupadhi “dhyau: pathEth pruthivI SIryEth himavAn SakaleebhavEth l sushyEth thOyanidhi: krushNE! na mE mOgham vachO bhavEth ll” (Oh krishNA [dhraupadi is called as krishNA]! Sky may fall; earth may break into smithereens; himAchalam may break into pieces; ocean may dry up; but my word will not go waste) and in the saying “thadh brUhi vachanam dhEvi! rAjyO yadhabikAnkshitham l karishyE prathijAnE cha rAmO dhvir nAbhibhAshathE ll” (Oh lady! Please tell that word which the king desires. I will do that way; I make a vow. rAma will not speak in two different ways). He did not do even that.
poy AnAl – since ANdAL did not say that word with certainty she says AnAl (if) adding a sense of doubt. She says that since the subject for this matter is me, it could be false.
nAnum piRandhamai poyyanRE – even if his word becomes false, what we had considered as never false was the fact that we had been born to periyAzhwAr. Since here too, the subject for the matter is me, will that too fructify for us? We had been all along thinking that being the daughter of periyAzhwAr, that relationship would certainly get us emperumAn. She says that now, even that could become false. The term poyyanRE hints that it could become false. How did she come to the conclusion that the relationship with periyAzhwAr may not be favourable for her and that in future too, it may not result in her achieving her goal [of attaining emperumAn]? She now realises that emperumAn’s earlier word has not come to fruition. She also realises now that the relationship with periyAzhwAr has not helped her. What is the certainty that what has not fructified now, will fructify in future?
Next, we will consider the 5th pAsuram of this decad.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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