SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:
periya thirumozhi >> Fifth centum >> Eighth decad
Highlights from avathArikai (Introduction)
Explaining the acceptance, the kainkaryam which is the result of acceptance, and praying for the elimination of the connection with the body, which is the hurdle for kainkaryam – these were explained in two pAsurams; in the previous pAsuram, AzhwAr requested to eliminate indhriya vaSyathA (being bound by senses) which is the result of a part of one’s sins, while the body is still present and which is a hurdle for our experience; in this pAsuram, AzhwAr is praying to eliminate yama vaSyathA (being bound by yama for our sins) which is a result of all our sins, after leaving this body and is a hurdle.
pAsuram
nanju sOrvadhOr venjina aravam
veruvi vandhu nin saraN enach charaNAy
nenjil koNdu nin anjiRaip paRavaikku
adaikkalam koduththu aruL seydhadhu aRindhu
venjolALargaL naman thamarkkadiyar
kodiya seyvanavuLa adhaRku adiyEn
anji vandhu nin adiyiNai adaindhEn
aNipozhil thiruvarangaththammAnE!
Word-by-Word meanings
vem – harsh
solALargaL – those who have speech
naman thamar – yama’s messengers
kadiyar – having fearsome forms
kodiya – being very cruel (during the time of death)
seyvana – the acts which are done
uLa – there are many;
adiyEn – I, the servitor
adhaRku – for those acts
anji – became scared
nanju – poison
sOrvadhu – spitting
Or – unique
vem – cruel
sinam – angry
aravam – sumukhan, the serpent
veruvi – becoming scared (for periya thiruvadi (garudAzhwAr) who came to kill it)
vandhu – came to you
nin saraNan ena – as it told “You should be my protector”
saraNAy – being the protector (for it)
nenjil koNdu – considering (its request) in his divine heart
nin – being your servitor
am siRai – having beautiful wings
paRavaikku – on periya thiruvadi
adaikkalam – as (serpent) to be protected
koduththu – gave
aruL seydha – the way you mercifully protected
aRindhu – realised
vandhu – came to you, highlighting my offenses
aNi – decorative
pozhil – surrounded by orchards
thiruvarangaththu – mercifully reclining in SrIrangam
ammAnE – Oh lord!
nin adiyiNai – your pair of divine feet
adaindhEn – I surrender unto
Simple translation
There are many cruel acts which are done by yama’s messengers who have very harsh speech and fearsome forms; I, the servitor became scared of such acts; sumukhan, the unique, angry, cruel serpent which is spitting poison, became scared of garudAzhwAr who came to kill it, came to you and told “you should be my protector”; being its protector, considering its request in your divine heart, you gave that serpent to periya thiruvadi (garudAzhwAr) who is your servtior having beautiful wings, as that which is to be protected by him. I realised the ways you mercifully protected sumukhan, have come to you highlighting my offenses. Oh lord, who is mercifully reclining in SrIrangam which is surrounded by decorative orchards! I, who am your servitor and have come helplessly, surrender unto your pair of divine feet.
Highlights from vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
nanju … – Just as emperumAn eliminated the danger faced by sumukhan from garudAzhwAr, AzhwAr is asking bhagavAn to eliminate the fear acquired by thinking about the subservience to yama, by making yama himself do it as said in SrIvishNu purANam 3.7.4 “parihara madhusUdhana prapannAn prabhuraham anya nruNam na vaishNavAnAm” (yama says to his servitors – do not approach those who have surrendered to madhusUdhana (emperumAn)). One who is surrendering, will usually highlight one’s lowliness and surrender. That lowliness is in the form of Akinchanyam (not having any means) and aparAdham (having done mistakes). That is – saying that there is no goodness and there is badness. ALavandhAr observed those sequentially in sthOthra rathnam 22 “na dharmanishtOsmi na chAthmavEdhI na bhakthimAmsthvachcharaNAravindhE l akinchanO’nanya gathi: SaraNya! thvath pAdhamUlam SaraNamprapadhyE” (Oh emperumAn who is appropriate for surrendering to! I am not rooted in karmayOgam (path of deeds); I do not have AthmagyAnam (knowledge about the supreme entity, the path of knowledge); I do not have bhakthi yOgam (the path of devotion) at your divine feet. I, who do not have any means and who am without any other refuge, affirm with certainty that your divine lotus-like feet are the means) and in sthOthra rathnam 23 “na nindhitham karma thadhasthi lOkE sahasraSO yanna mayA vyadhAyi | sO’ham vipAkAvasarE mukundha! krandhAmi samprathyagathis thavAgrE ||” (Oh lord who bestows liberation! Those prohibited actions which were performed by me thousands of times, are not present even in SAsthram [world indicates SAsthram which conducts the world]; right now, when [such actions] culminate into results, I am crying in front of your highness, due to having no other refuge). Also, explained in “gyAna kriyAcha bhajana:” [Not sure of the source]. In the previous pAsurams – AzhwAr highlighted his Akinchanyam; here, he is highlighting his aparAdham.
While it is sufficient to say “nanju, aravam” (poisonous snake/serpent), why has AzhwAr said “nanju sOrvadhOr venjina aravam“? As said in mudhal thiruvandhAdhi 11 “vAy avanai alladhu vAzhththAdhu” (my mouth will not praise anyone other than emperumAn) and vishNu dharmam 1.13 says “sA jihvA yA harim sthauthi” (whatever praises hari, that is tongue), with the mouth which is to be used to uplift oneself by praising him, this serpent is spitting poison which will destroy others, and is coming; with the same mouth, now it is saying “SaraNam” (I surrender). The principle understood from this is to say that there is no one unqualified to perform SaraNAgathi.
venjinam – Unique anger. When the poison is in the heart, it will not harm others. But when anger manifests, it is spat out and will be harmful. It is opposite to what was said previously in periya thirumozhi 5.8.3 “sIRRam uNdu” [emperumAn had to assume anger, here the serpent is naturally angry].
aravam – The species where the aforementioned aspects are decorations for it. It is said as “sarpa jAthiriyam krUrA:” (The serpent species is very cruel).
veruvi vandhu – It came with fear of its enemy.
ni saraN ena – It said “You should be my refuge”. It was just said by him [his heart was not fully surrendered].
saraNAy – While the serpent should have become the food for periya thiruvadi, bhagavAn eliminated that. He is being the protector, not thinking “What kind of SaraNAgathi it has done?” but thinking “Isn’t it sufficient if he has the friendly disposition!”.
nenjil koNdu – Considering in his divine heart “For such lowly serpent, there is no refuge other than me”. The completeness in the qualification of the person who surrenders and the completeness of the surrender which was performed, are not the aspects which will give the benefit; it is only the thought of the one who accepts such surrender. If this is not the case, SrI bharathAzhwAn’s surrender should have succeeded [Though bharathAzhwAn was complete in all aspects and his SaraNAgathi was perfect, because SrI rAma’s desire was different, SrI bharathAzhwAn’s surrender did not succeed].
nin anjiRaip paRavai … – You showed the serpent to periya thiruvadi and made him protect it. This is very dear to ISvara’s divine heart. Both verses from varAha purANam “na kshamAmi” (I will not forgive) and SrI rAmAyaNam yudhdha kANdam 18.3 “ na thyajEyam” (I will not let down), should be reconcilled by bhagavAn. He cannot abandon the one who surrendered; he cannot tolerate offenses committed towards his devotees; now, when periya thiruvadi came to eat sumukhan, the serpent, it neither fought him nor sought refuge from someone else, but surrendered to bhagavAn; is there any offense in it? If we analyse ISvara’s divine heart, he has made the whole world exist for the purpose of his devotees; because of that, as the serpent is the apt food for periya thiruvadi (the garuda bird), bhagavAn has anger in his divine heart that sumukhan is not letting periya thiruvadi eat him. When vAli asked SrI rAma “Why did you kill me?” SrI rAma replied “You captured your brother’s wife” and faulted him. But the same fault is in sugrIva mahArAja too. But he said “If anyone spoke about this I will hang them wherever I see them”.
How did he reconcile “na kshamAmi” and “na thyajEyam“? Instead of keeping sumukhan who surrendered unto him under his refuge, he showed him to periya thiruvadi and made him protect it. If he had protected it, periya thiruvadi will be upset [that bhagavAn took away his food]; but when periya thiruvadi accepted sumukhan as his dependent, his hunger will be eliminated thinking “When bhagavAn himself can protect sumukhan he made me protect it”. Now, between them there is rakshya (protected) and rakshaka (protector) mood only. bhAdhya (affected) and bhAdhaka (one who hurts) mood is eliminated. Though there is natural enmity between two entities, when both of those entities surrender unto bhagavAn, they will become very friendly towards each other.
nin am siRaip paRavai – Since when bhagavAn showed sumukhan to periya thiruvadi, periya thiruvadi needs to protect sumukhan as per the lord’s thoughts, if both periya thiruvadi and sumukhan are inimical towards each other, that will cause sorrow to bhagavAn. SrI rAmAyaNam yudhdha kANdam 128.101 “rAmamEva anupaSyanthO nAbhyahimsan parasparam” (Seeing SrI rAma alone, entities did not kill one another)
adaikkalam koduththu aruL seydhadhu aRindhu – He made periya thiruvadi to protect sumukhan with full intent.
aruL – As said in thiruvAimozhi 7.5.10 “avan seyyum sEmam” (the protection given by the one who eliminated the sorrow), he made it in such a way that sumukhan remains inseparable from periya thiruvadi.
When emperumAn asked “He came fearing his enemy and surrendered unto me; hence I protected; who are you fearing and surrendering unto me?” AzhwAr responds
vem solALargaL – Their acts can be tolerated; but their words cannot be tolerated.
naman thamar – They are such close servitors of yama that they can even refuse his orders a few times.
kadiyar – Their forms cannot be seen.
kodiya seyvanavuLa – They will torment according to the sins of the individual instead of the individual himself.
uLa – Only if there is a limit to the individual sins, their acts have a limit.
adhaRku – For the torments of the servitors of yama.
adiyEn anji vandhu – What is the connection between a servitor of bhagavAn and being fearful of yama et al? SrIvishNu purANam “bhayam bhayAnAm” (He is fear for fear).
nin adiyiNai adaindhEn – yama himself became scared and told as in SrIvishNu purANam 3.7.4 “parihara” (Leave them).
aNi pozhil … – Did you not come and mercifully recline here to eliminate the hurdles of devotees and let them enjoy you?
In the next article we will enjoy the next pAsuram.
adiyen sarathy ramanuja dasan
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