SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavara munayE nama:
avathArikai (Introduction) – she asks the clouds “Has emperumAn sent any message for me, who is being troubled by the soft breeze?”
mAmuththa nidhi soriyum mAmugilgAL! vEngadaththuch
chAmaththin niRam koNda thALALan vArththai ennE!
kAmaththI uLpugundhu kadhuvappattu idaikkangul
EmaththOr thenRalukku ingu ilakkAy nAn iruppEnE
Word-by-Word Meanings
mA muththam nidhi soriyum – showering distinguished pearls and gold
mA mugilgAL – Oh, the rain bearing clouds!
vEngadaththu – mercifully residing in thirumalai
sAmaththin niRam koNda – one who has bluish complexion
thALALan – emperumAn’s
vArththai ennE – is there any message?
kAmamthI – the fire of love
uL pugundhu – entering inside
kadhuvappattu – grabbing, distressed due to that
kangul – during night
idai Emaththu – in the middle portion [midnight]
Or thenRalukku – for a gently blowing breeze
nAn ilakkAy – becoming a target, I
ingu iruppEnE – would I remain here?
Simple Translation
Oh, rain bearing clouds, who are showering distinguished pearls and gold! Do you have any message from emperumAn, who has a bluish complexion and who is mercifully residing in thirumalai? The fire of love has entered me and grabbed me, causing me distress. Would I become a target for the gently blowing breeze, at the middle of night and remain here?
vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
mA muththa nidhi soriyum mAmugilgAL – Oh dark clouds, who are showering most invaluable pearls and gold! Aren’t you entities, who have helping others alone as your nature, not having to put on an act of being magnanimous towards me?
soriyum – instead of giving to someone only when the person asks for it, aren’t you the ones who cannot sustain yourselves unless you give to others?
mAmugilgAL – Oh, distinguished clouds! What is the distinction for these clouds? Instead of waiting for someone to seek alms or instead of giving, as a quid-pro-quo measure, giving it as a benefit for themselves, and becoming drained of colour if they do not give.
vEngadaththu … vArththai ennE – Since you [addressing the clouds] reside in the same place where he resides, the message which he has conveyed for me cannot be unknown to you.
sAmaththin niRam koNda – other than living in the same place, is he also not matching you, in the complexion?
thALALan – through the term thAL, which refers to the divine feet, she is talking about his entire divine form, which is subservient to him. In other words, he has his divine form as his servitor. While you [clouds] are holding something for others in your form, isn’t he having as his form what is meant for others, just as it has been mentioned in jithanthE sthOthram 1-5 “na thE rUpam na cha AkArO na AyudhAni na chAspatham l thathA’pi purushAkArO bhakthAnAm thvam prakASasE ll” ((your) divine basic nature is not for you; the divine auspicious form is also not for you; the divine weapons also are not for you; the abode of SrI vaikuNtam is also not for you. All these are for the sake of your followers only. You belong to your followers. Though you have svarUpam, rUpam, guNam and vibhUthi (basic nature, divine form, auspicious qualities and wealth, respectively) which are for your followers, you shine as the supreme entity)? Alternatively, through customary usage, the term thALALan could be referring to an eminent person. The implied meaning is “Since we have such eminence, should we go on our own and embrace someone? Let those, who desire to embrace us, come”, standing aloof, with eminence.
vArththai ennE – even though he has not come [here], if he had thought that if he does not bestow his mercy on me, the loss is his, he would not have remained without uttering a word. Tell me, what is it?
ennE – what is his word? With the embarrassment that “We have not come forward to help her”, he would have said one of the following:
- You find out as to what she is doing, or
- the word mentioned by SrI rAma, just as it has been mentioned in SrI rAmAyaNam sundhara kANdam 66-10 “chiram jIvathi vaidhEhi yadhi mAsam dharishyathi l na jIvEyam kshaNamapi vinA thAmasithEkshaNAm ll (If sIthA 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), or
- just as dhushyanthan said, with regard to SakunthalA, “I do not know of any ANdAL who is related to me”
She thinks that she could sustain herself, hearing him say any of these words. Is there anyone who had sustained himself, hearing such words? Did not arjuna sustain himself, after hearing bhagavath gIthA from emperumAn, just as he had said in bhagavath gIthA 18-73? “nashtO mOha: smruthir labdhA thvathprasAdhAn mayA’chyutha l sthithO’smi gathasandhEha: karishyE vachanam thava ll” (Oh, achyutha! My delusion (of false knowledge) has been destroyed. True knowledge has been attained by me, because of you. My doubt has been annihilated. I will carry out, as per your word (I will carry out this war)). Did not nammAzhwAr too desire to hear a word from emperumAn, even if it is an unfavourable one, as mentioned in thiruvAimozhi 4-7-3 “pAvI nI enRu onRu sollAy pAviyEn kANa vandhE” (You are not coming in front of me and telling me a word ‘you are a sinner’). Thus, despite ANdAL asking them “What is the message?” the clouds did not respond. Feeling very distressed due to that, she tells with anguish, in the second half of the pAsuram …
kAmaththI uL pugundhu kadhuvappattu – is he thinking that this fire of love is like the normal fire seen in the world? Compared to fire seen in this world, fire in narakam (hell) will be many times more cruel. Wouldn’t this fire of love be many times more cruel than the fire in narakam?
utpugundhu – it [fire of love] started burning out the physical form seen outside; after destroying it fully, it started singeing AthmA (soul) inside. Since this fire of love comes out of the affection from the AthmA, its act of singeing is also inside.
kadhuvappttu – due to the act of seizing indulged in by the fire of love, the entire form withers off. After saying utpugundhu where it was seen that the AthmA got burnt out fully, since the pAsuram again says kadhuvappattu, it appears that the burnt-out part again got burnt out, like firewood.
idaikkangul Emaththu – should be transposed as kangul idaiyil yAmaththu – in the middle of night. Alternatively, the term Emaththu could be construed as ‘in the night, at the place which is secured’. She wanted to enjoy with emperumAn in a secure place. Since he did not come, that desire did not get fulfilled. The implied meaning is that since it is a lonely place with security, she was suffering since there was none to even console her. The term Emam also has other meanings such as beauty, pain etc. Here, only time (midnight) and protection (secured place) would be appropriate.
Or thenRalukku – to the soft breeze which has unique strength to harass me. Is emperumAn waiting, since he doesn’t know the strength of this breeze? SrI rAma tells lakshmaNa, when separated from pirAtti, as in SrI rAmAyaNam kishkindhA kANdam 1-105 “padhma saugandhikavaham Sivam SOkavinASanam l dhanyA lakshmaNa! sEvanthE pAmpOpavana mArutham ll” (Oh lakshmaNa! Only the fortunate people could enjoy the breeze which comes from the gardens located on the banks of river pampA, as it carries the fragrance of lotus and red water lily flowers and which is capable of wiping away my sorrows (by destroying me)). As mentioned in this pAsuram, when he incarnated as SrI rAma, he too had known the power of this breeze. For me, who is desirous of being touched by his divine foot, is it proper to be harassed by this wind?
ingu – if he had known that this breeze would come to torture me, should he not have put me under his divine feet? Only if he and I had been together, would this breeze have got destroyed.
nAn ilakkAy – for this breeze which tortures all the beloveds, I alone became the target for being tortured.
thenRalukku ilakkAy – I, who should have got sustained with the touch of his divine hand, instead got touched by this wind, reminding me of his touch, which I had lost. This thought tortured me. Did he think that even after this, I would be alive? When I am looking up, to his divine hands, is it proper to be pressed upon, by this wind?
nAn ilakkAy iruppEnE – the opinion here is that he [emperumAn] could be the target for this breeze, just as we had seen in the SrI rAmAyaNam kishkindhA kANdam SlOkam 1-105 (quoted in the vyAkyAnam for the term Or thenRalukku). The vyAkyAthA periyavAchchAn piLLai has explained each term of that SlOkam here:
padhmasaugandhikavaham – bringing the fragrance of lotus and red lily flowers. This appears like a garland strung with a medley of flowers.
Sivam – being auspicious. The opinion here is that it is providing the most eminent help to me. What is the help that it did for me?
SOkavinASakam – the implied meaning is – by destroying me, my distress gets destroyed permanently. By destroying me fully, without torturing me, it is rendering me an eminent help.
dhanyA: – those who have wealth will not bother about scarcity. In the same way, those who enjoy this breeze will not fear for the scarcity of enjoyment.
sEvanthE – they experience. Since the term is in the present tense, the experience is a permanent one. Hence, not only are they not afraid of this experience, they would even seek out secluded places where they could experience this breeze.
pampOpavana mArutham – mere breeze singes like fire. The implied meaning is that the breeze coming from the gardens in the river pampA is singeing like the fire coming from agnikuNdam (the structure where ritualistic fire is nurtured).
ilakkAy – as the only target.
nAn – Does he think that I, like he, am capable of putting up with this torture? Am I not one who trembles at the mere sight of breeze?
iruppEnE – this says that I wouldn’t be able to sustain myself. If he expects me to be alive, facing this torture, then that is going to be disproved. The implied meaning is that he is probably thinking that he could sustain himself after I am done with.
Next, we will consider the 3rd pAsuram of this decad.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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