SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavara munayE nama:
avathArikai (Introduction) – falling at the feet of peacocks which are dancing, she says in this pAsuram “Have you seen the beautiful way in which emperumAn is protecting us?” [with sarcasm]
gaNa mAmayilgAL! kaNNapirAn thirukkOlam pOnRu
aNimA nadam payinRAduginRIrkku adi vIzhginREn
paNamAdu aravaNaip paRpala kAlamum paLLikoL
maNavALar nammai vaiththa parisu idhu kANminE
Word-by-Word Meanings
gaNam – being in flock
mA mayilgAL! – Oh, distinguished peacocks!
kaNNapirAn – kaNNapirAn’s
thirukkOlam pOnRu – having a form which is similar to the beautiful divine form [of that kaNNapirAn]
aNi mA nadam payinRu – practising beautiful, distinguished dance
AduginRIrkku – dancing like that, your
adi – at the divine feet
vIzhginREn – I am prostrating [stop this dance]
paNam Adu aravu aNai – on the mattress of thiruvananthAzhwAn, who has spread his hoods
paRpala kAlamum – since time immemorial
paLLikoL – one who is mercifully reclining
maNavALar – azhagiya maNavALap perumAL [emperumAn]
nammai vaiththa parisu – the eminence which he created for me
idhu kANmin – is such that I have to fall at your feet
Simple Translation
Oh, distinguished peacocks, who are dancing! You are having a form which is similar to the beautiful, divine form of kaNNapirAn, and are dancing, after practising your beautiful, distinguished dance. I am falling at your divine feet. The eminence which azhagiya maNavALap perumAL, who has been reclining since time immemorial on the mattress of thiruvananthAzhwAn, has created for me is such that I have to fall at your feet.
vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
gaNamA mayilgAL – Oh, flock of peacocks, which have unfathomable hearts, until you complete the task of tormenting me! I had desired, in the second pAsuram of this decad “mARROlaip pattavar kUttaththu vaiththuk koLgiRRIrE”, that I would like to be united with the assembly of those who are favourable to me; however, how many different unfavourable assemblies have come my way, such as kArkkOdal flowers, mEl thOnRi flowers, kOvai fruits, mullai creeper, cuckoos, peacocks! Are the peacocks enemies? Just as it has been mentioned in periyAzhwAr thirumozhi 4-8-9 “ninRAdu gaNamayil pOl niRamudaiya nedumAl” (emperumAn who has the complexion of peacocks which are dancing in a flock), since the peacocks remind ANdAL of emperumAn’s complexion and torment her, they are enemies only.
kaNNapirAn thirukkOlam pOnRu – as mentioned in perumAL thirumozhi 6-9 “mangala nal vanamAlai mArbil ilanga mayil thazhaippeeli sUdi pongiLa Adai araiyil sAththi pUngoththuk kAdhil puNarap peydhu” (beautiful and auspicious vanamAlai chain is shining on the divine chest of emperumAn; he has decked himself appropriately with lush feathers of peacock; he has worn very light dress on his divine waist and cluster of flowers on his divine ear), the peacocks’ appearance was similar to kaNNa pirAn having decorated himself.
aNima nadam payinRu – dancing distinguished dances which are beautiful to the eyes and which have not been written in any bharatha SAsthra (treatise on dance) and hence not known to anyone.
AduginRIrkku – for you who keep dancing all the time, instead of dancing only for some time and then stopping it.
adi vIzhginREn – I am prostrating at your feet, requesting you to stop this dance, after decorating yourself like him and tormenting me. Assuming that they are telling her “While we have to prostrate before you, you being the pirAtti, is it proper on your part to say that you will prostrate at our feet to make us stop dancing? Are these words apt to be used?” she recites the second part of the pAsuram.
paNam Adu aravaNaip paRpala kAlamum paLLi koL maNavALar – [ANdAL says] What could we do? We, who are all his servitors, have to follow his divine mind. emperumAn is sustaining AdhiSEshan who attained him, making AdhiSEshan happy. If he creates distress for us and makes us to fall at your feet, what could we do now? AdhiSEshan, due to emperumAn’s touch, has his hoods spread out well and is always happy since he is constantly enjoying emperumAn. Isn’t such maNavALar doing this to us? Isn’t he, who has given his divine form to AdhiSEshan who had desired to embrace him, denying me his divine form for hugging, which I had desired?
paRpala kAlamum paLLi koL maNavALar – Isn’t it the result of emperumAn’s attempts over a long period of time to attain me that I had to fall at your feet? Since she says ”paNamAdaravaNaip paRpala kAlamum paLLi koL maNavALar” it is clear that periya perumAL himself is the one who had tormented her like this.
nammai vaiththa parisu idhu kANminE – for namesake, he united with me, caught hold of my feet, initially, and then separated. Now, after he has made me to catch hold of your feet, what could we do? The action which he did – you, who are obedient towards me, have to offer your feet and I, who am your swAmini (lord) have to catch hold of your feet. If emperumAn had not ordained them to torment her, she would not have had to fall at their feet like this. The svarUpam (basic nature) of SrIvaishNavas is such that they have to believe that each is inferior to everyone else, just as it has been mentioned in SrI vaikuNtasthavam 77 “kainkarya nithya nirathair bhavadhEka bhOgair nithyair anukshaNa navInarasArdhrabhAvai: l nithyAbhivAnchitha paraspara nIchabhAvair madhdhaivathai: parijanaisthava sangasIya ll” (May I be united with nithyars, who are your servitors, who are constantly engaged in carrying out servitude to you, who consider you alone as enjoyment, who melt due to the experience with you which comes their way every moment, who desire to be servitors to one another always and who are apt to be worshipped by me). If it is not considered this way, it would appear that the only one who has the right to offer his divine feet is sarvESvaran, who is the swAmy (lord) for everyone. If a chEthana (entity with knowledge) makes himself to be at the disposal of paramachEthana (supreme entity, emperumAn)) such that parama chEthana could do whatever he wishes to with this chEthana, then the followers of emperumAn could utilise him in any appropriate way. There is a narrative to demonstrate that AchAryan too would hold on to the feet of his disciple. An AchAryan, by name ammaNiyAzhwAn, after showing the correct path to a disciple, will prostrate at the feet of that disciple. His divine thought was “Don’t we support a person only because he is a SrI vaishNava? Isn’t this person a SrI vaishNava, as far as we know?” Hearing this, nanjIyar mercifully said “Even if ammaNiyAzhwAn had done that way, it will be a problem for the disciple, who is not fully rational”. His divine thought was that “If the AchAryan did not prostrate before the disciple one day, would not the disciple start feeling sad?” thirukkurugaippirAn piLLAn, hearing this, mercifully said “This is not at all correct. It is only because the disciple is rational that he has made himself to be at AchAryan’s disposal. Disciple has submitted himself to his AchAryan, thinking ‘There is no association for us in any way by which AchAryan makes use of us’; such a disciple will not feel sad if one day the AchAryan doesn’t prostrate before him”. Did not thirumangai AzhwAr mercifully say in thirunedundhANdagam 14 “vehkAvil thirumAlaip pAdakkEttu vaLarththadhanAl payan peRREn varuga enRu madakkiLiyai kaikUppi vaNanginALE” (after hearing her parrot recite the divine names of emperumAn at thiruvehkA, the nAyaki [beloved of emperumAn] welcomed the parrot with folded hands and saluted it), saluting the parrot which he had nurtured and which he had taught? Hearing such words from [parASara] bhattar, another SrI vaishNava, piLLai thirunaRaiyUr araiyar said “We had not heard such wonderful words from an AchAryan, earlier” praising him. Hearing this bhattar said “He [piLLai thirunaraiyUr araiyar, who is elderly and great] is such a great person; he is praising me. Is this apt?” to which thirunaRaiyUr araiyar mercifully said “Oh son! Even earlier, there have been people who had spoken like this. Did not parakAla nAyaki [thirumangai AzhwAr in the pathos of a lady] tell divine names to a parrot and hearing the divine names from its mouth, did she not fall at its feet?”
Next, we will consider the 7th pAsuram of this decad.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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