SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavara munayE nama:
avathArikai (Introduction) – she desires to proffer hundred pots of butter and hundred pots of akkAravadisil (a sweet dish made by boiling rice in milk, ghee and sugar) [In later years, after he had fulfilled her desire, when emperumAnAr (SrI rAmAnujar) went to SrIvillipuththUr, ANdAL gave him the title of kOyilaNNar (elder brother from SrIrangam) and praised him]
nARu naRUm pozhil sUzh mAliunjOlai nambikku nAn
nURu thadAvinil veNNey vAy nErndhu parAvi vaiththEn
nURu thadA niRaindha akkAravadisil sonnEn
ERu thiruvudaiyAn inRu vandhu ivai koLLungolO
Word-by-Word Meanings
naRu pozhil nARum – having sweet fragrance due to having fragrant gardens
mAlirunjOlai – in thirumAlirunjOlai (where he has mercifully taken residence
nambikku – for emperumAn
nAn – this servitor [I]
nURu thadAvil – filled in hundred pots
veNNey – butter
vAy nErndhu – saying it through words
parAvi vaiththEn – proffered
nURu thadA niRaindha – filled in hundred pots
akkAra adisil – sweet disjh, called as akkAravadisil
sonnEn – I proffered through my words
ivai – these [pots of] butter and akkAravadisil
ERu thiru udaiyAn – azhagar, who has wealth, which keeps increasing (as time passes)
inRu vandhu – mercifully coming today
koLLUngol – will he accept in his divine mind?
Simple Translation
thirumAlirunjOlai is fragrant due to the presence of fragrant gardens. To the emperumAn who has mercifully taken residence there, I proffered hundred pots of butter, through words, as well as hundred pots of sweet dish, akkAravadisil, again through my words. Will emperumAn, who has wealth which keeps increasing day by day, come here today and accept these, in his divine mind?
vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
nAru naRum pozhil mAlirunjOlai nambikku nAn – the natural fragrance, present in thirumAlirunjOlai, became complete after uniting with the fragrance of ANdAL, who is the incarnation of bhUmi dhEvi, who is the epitome of fragrance.
nambikku nURu thadAvinil veNNey – to attract one who is without any deficiency, it appears that butter has to be used!
nAn nURu thadAvinil veNNey – since ANdAL is in the pathos of a cow-herd girl, she is initially proffering butter, which is the material desired by cowherd girls to proffer to emperumAn. Looking at both his nature and her nature, isn’t proffering butter, the most apt!
vAy nErndhu parAvi vaiththEn – it is not sufficient if only merely thinks of proffering. I had proffered by saying through my words. Just as iLaiyaperumAL [lakshmaNa] had requested SrI rAma to say through words, as mentioned in SrI rAmAyaNam AraNya kANdam 15-7 “paravAnasmi kAkuthstha thvayi varshaSatham sthithE l svayam thu ruchirE dhESE kriyathAm ithi mAm vadha” (Oh one born in the clan of kakuthstha! I am always your servitor. You should yourself order me “Let a hermitage be brought up in a beautiful place”), she too, ap0art from thinking to proffer the material, says it too through her words.
nURu thadA niRaindha akkAra adisil sonnEn – is it not famous that emperumAnAr had proffered a hundred pots of butter and a hundred parts of akkAravadisil thinking “The little girl had prayed for; there is no evidence that she had done it. Isn’t it our duty to fulfil her wish, having been born in her clan [of servitors]?”mahAbhAratham udhdhAna parvam 87-13 says “anyath pUrNAdhapAm kumbhAth anyath pAdhAvanEjanAth l anyath kuSalasampraSnAth na chEchchathi janArdhana: ll” (krishNan does not desire anything other than a pUrNakumbham [a pot of water containing water which is offered to a guest at the time of receiving the guest], he does not desire anything other than washing his divine feet and does not desire anything other than a kind word, enquiring about his well-being). nampiLLai, one of our preceptors, asking of his AchArya, nanjIyar “When emperumAn is satiated with small things, why did she commit excessively to a hundred pots of butter and a hundred pots of akkAravadisil to emperumAn?” nanjIyar mercifully responded, saying “When compared to the wealth in thiruvAyppAdi [SrI gOkulam], these are very trivial, like a pUrNakumbham”. When one recalls the first part of dhvayam [an esoteric manthram which establishes the means to achieve emperumAn and the benefit which accrues], it would be clear that emperumAn is the means, without expecting anything. Hence, one should not take even a couple of steps with the thought that one is aiding the means. Thus, those who are firmly engaged with the first part of dhvayam will be without any self-fulfilling effort. If one were to recall the second part of dhvayam, it would say that one should carry out all kainkaryams (services) to emperumAn. SrI rAmAyaNam ayOdhyA kANdam 31-25 says “bhAvAmsthu saha vaidhEhyA girisAnushu ramsyathE l aham sarvam karishyAmi jAgrathas svapathaScha thE ll” (you would be engaging with vaidhEhi [sIthAp pirAtti] on the slopes of the mountains; when you are awake as well as asleep, I would carry out all tasks of servitude to you]. As said in this, one should be zealously carrying out services to emperumAn, without any break. Those who are firmly engaged with the second part of dhvayam will be engaged with activities of servitude, like iLaiyaperumAL. Thus, those who are meditating on the first part of dhvayam will be like sIthAp pirAtti, just as it has been said in SrI rAmAyaNam sundhara kANdam 39-30 “Saraisthu sankulAm kruthvA lankAm parabalArthdhana: l mAm nayEdh yadhi kAkuthsthas thath thasya sadhruSam bhavEth ll” (If SrI rAmapirAn, who annihilates the strength of his enemies, bewilders lankA with his arrows and takes me with him, it will be apt for him), waiting for emperumAn to accept us while those who are meditating on the second part of dhvayam will be like iLaiyaperumAL, carrying out all kainkaryams, without sleeping. Since ANdAL is now meditating on the second part of dhvayam, she desires to proffer hundreds of pots.
ERu thiruvudaiyAn – one who has wealth which keeps increasing with passing of each day. Since he is complete with wealth, and does not have the necessity to obtain something from anyone, he does not become enthusiastic if someone does a lot; neither does he despise if someone does a little.
inRu vandhu ivai koLLungolO – instead of making it something which will disappear with my mere words, will be make me capable of proffering these and will be accept them? Just as he had gone to the hermitage of the great sage athri, saying “I am rAma, she is mythili and he is lakshmaNa” accepting the hospitality of athri and anasUyA, will be accept my proffering too?
ERu thiruvudaiyAn – kUraththAzhwAn, while composing sundharabAhusthavam, translated this term as “ArUdaSrI” (one who has SrIdhEvi on his divine chest). That this meaning too has been accepted in our sampradhAyam has been brought out through a narration in the vyAkyAnam by periyavAchchAn piLLai. vangipuraththu nambi was one of SrI rAmAnuja’s disciples. He had a disciple called as siRIyAththAn or siRiyAchchAn. Once, when siRIyAchchAn had come from hoysAla rAjya (kingdom) to thamizh nAdu, he went to a place called as rAjakEsari, to speak to nambi, his AchAryan. During their conversation, nambi told AchchAn “Those who are in Saivam and other philosophies accept Sivan as their supreme entity and praise him as omniscient. The distinction for us, who are followers of the philosophy stated in vEdhas, over them is that we consider lakshmInAthan (the consort of SrI mahAlakshmi) as our refuge, thus holding on to them both”. Since our philosophy is like this, through the first part of dhvayam, when we attain emperumAn, we do so with the purushakAram (recommendatory role) of pirAtti. In the second part of dhvayam, when we attain emperumAn as the ultimate benefit, we do so in her presence. Just as atharvaSikhA upanishath says “kAraNam thu dhyEya:” (only the causative entity [emperumAn] is apt to be meditated upon), while being the cause for the worlds is an identity for supreme being, since several others such as brahmA et al are also engaged in creating some entities, there could be doubt whether they are also causative entities. If the SrIya:pathithvam (being consort of SrI mahAlakshmi) as established in purusha sUktham is taken as the identity for being the supreme entity, there will be no doubt at all since that identity is not available with any entity other than emperumAn. Hence, it will be the most apt to consider that by using the term ERu thiruvudaiyAn, ANdAL was referring only to emperumAn’s connection with SrI mahAlakshmi.
Next, we will consider the 7th pAsuram of this decad.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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