SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:
periya thirumozhi >> Fifth centum >> Eighth decad
Highlights from avathArikai (Introduction)
In the previous pAsurams, AzhwAr explained bhagavAn’s acceptance [of AzhwAr], kainkaryam, and requested for removal of two forms of hurdles to kainkaryam; here – AzhwAr is saying “Just as you acted knowing the thoughts of gOvindhaswAmi, you have to act knowing my thoughts”. His thoughts for his past state – you should eliminate the connection with this body which is the cause for being bound by senses and yama. When the AthmA will leave the body one day naturally as said in thiruvAimozhi 9.10.5 “maraNAm AnAl” (When death occurs), why is AzhwAr beseeching emperumAn? This is because he has great urge and cannot wait for the natural process.
pAsuram
mAga mAnilam muzhudhum vandhu iRainjum
malaradik kaNda mAmaRaiyALan
thOgai mAmayil annavar inbam
thuRRilAmaiyil aththa! ingu ozhindhu
bOgam nI eydhip pinnum nammidaikkE
pOdhuvAy enRa ponnaruL enakkum
Aga vENdum enRu adiyiNai adaindhEn
aNipozhil thiruvarangaththammAnE!
Word-by-Word meanings
mA – vast
kam – nithyasUris who are in paramAkASam (supreme sky)
mA – vast
nilam – the residents of the aNdam (oval shaped universe) which includes earth
muzhudhum – everyone
vandhu – came together
iRainjum – worshipping
malar – like a flower
adi – (your) divine feet
kaNda – saw
mA – having greatness
maRaiyALan – towards the brAhmaNa named gOvindhaswAmi
aththa – appA! (Son!) (while doing penance)
nI – you
thOgai – having plumage
mA – best
mayil annavar – by the union with women who are having hair which is similar to peacock
inbam – joy
thuRRu ilAmaiyil – due to not experiencing
ingu ozhindhu – remaining here (for some time)
bOgam – the enjoyment of union with a woman
eydhi – experience
pinnum – subsequently
nammidaikkE – close to me
pOdhuvAy – you can come
enRa – said mercifully in this manner
pon – best (matching the devotee’s heart)
aruL – mercy
enakkum – in my case also
Aga vENdum enRu – expecting to happen
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
Your flower like divine feet are worshipped by everyone including nithyasUris who are in the vast paramAkASam and the residents of the vast aNdam (oval shaped universe) which includes earth; when gOvindhaswAmi, who is having greatness of having dharSan of such divine feet approached you, you mercifully said “appA (Son)! Due to not experiencing joy from the union with women who are having hair which is similar to the best peacock with plumage, you remain here and experience the enjoyment of union with a woman, and subsequently come close to me”. 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, expecting such mercy to happen in my case also.
Highlights from vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
mAga … – A brAhmaNa named gOvindhaswAmi, having heard ithihAsas and purANas, became desirous to visualise krishNa’s childhood pastimes and rAsa krIdA etc; he thought – isn’t emperumAn such that for those who previously thought as in thiruvAimozhi 8.5.2 “kANa vArAy” (Please come to be seen by me), he will present himself as said in SrI bhagavath gIthA 4.8 “parithrANAya sAdhUnAm” (To protect the noble people)? Even if we get such desire, it will occur; let us pray for that. In this manner he tormented his body and engaged in penance; bhagavAn, as per his desire, enacted the aspects of krishNAvathAram and made him enjoy that. And then he mercifully asked “What do you need?” He responded “I should accompany your highness and enjoy you?” bhagavAn told “when you were performing penance, you were free from material desires, eliminated food and water etc and changed the body to become very lean; you should remain here, enjoy the missed experiences and then come to me; in this manner, just as he did as per gOvindhaswAm’s help; AzhwAr is saying “you should help me according to my thoughts”.
While this meaning is not explicitly seen, how is it said to be his thoughts? It is said by context and how the meaning is explained. This should be the thoughts for AzhwAr who said in periya thirumozhi 1.3.8 “nAsamAna pAsam” (attachment which will lead to destruction) and periya thirumozhi 6.3.4 “pOndhEn” (reached your divine feet).
mAga … – Seen the divine feet which are taken shelter of, by the residents of both nithya vibhUthi and leelA vibhUthi. This surrender is not based on bhagavAn being paramapadhanAthan, but is based on his presence as krishNa. How is it that nithyasUris, who are residents of paramapadham, approach krishNa? That is explained in SrIvishNu purANam “AchchAdhyAnuyayEva SEsha; paNairAnaga dhundhupim” (AdhiSEsha covered and protected krishNa and went with him when vasudhEva was carrying krishNa) and in nAchchiyAr thirumozhi 14.3 “vinadhai siRuvan siRagu ennum mElAppin kIzh varuvAnai” (krishNa was coming mercifully under the canopy of garudan’s wings). Even the divine weapons of bhagavAn stayed in the womb along with krishNa and took birth [Alternatively, we can say that even divine weapons like Sankha and chakra stayed in the womb and were born as bharatha and Sathrugna].
mA nilam – Herdsmen, cows who make herdsmen look like vasishta, calves and bhIshma et al came and surrendered to krishNa.
muzhudhum – Even from higher worlds. In the middle of the night, after krishNa mercifully drank milk and was mercifully going to rest, indhran came to the divine gates and told krishNa’s servant maids “Kindly inform krishNa that I have come” and subsequently entered and told krishNa “narakan (narakAsuran) is forcing me to give my four-tusked airAvatham to him”. Hearing that krishNa requested him to give a hand to get up, and immediately climbed on the shoulders of periya thiruvadi, along with sathyabAmAp pirAtti and killed narakAsuran. In “pAdhEna kamalAbhEna brahma rudhrArArchithEna” (his divine feet worshipped with lotus flowers by brahmA, rudhra), brahmA and rudhra worshipping krishNa is shown. He also showed them in his divine form as said in SrI bhagavath gIthA 11.15 “brahmANam ISam kamalAsanastham” (I am seeing brahmA, Siva (rudhra) who is obedient towards brahmA, who is seated in a lotus flower).
malaradi – The divine feet which are incomparably enjoyable. He became approachable by all as in following the cows, being the charioteer in going as messenger.
kaNda – He (gOvindhaswAmy) saw the divine feet which are to be attained at their place by everyone and surrendered to, coming to him.
mAmaRaiyALan – He is the best among vaidhikas who got to see bhagavAn directly instead of seeing him through SAsthram or upadhESams (instructions).
thOgai … – As soon as gOvindhaswAmy saw krishNa, he said “I should go along with you”; krishNa said “that can be done later”; gOvindhaswAmy said “What is the reason for that?”; krishNa said “You should experience the lost enjoyment”; gOvindhaswAmy said “Why is that required?”; krishNa said “When you were performing penance, though you had attachment for worldly enjoyment, you controlled that urge and did not enjoy them”. bhagavAn, who grants mOksham, would say “Alright! Come along!” and is not the one who would abandon a person who cannot survive without him and is willing to go along with him. And the one who is very attached towards such bhagavAn and who will not agree to remain in this samsAram which will make one more attached to it, will not agree to remain in samsAram. In such a case, bhagavAn asking gOvindhaswAmy to remain here and he agreeing to remain here, must have a reason. That is – to reveal that ISvaran is capable of liberating a person who is very attached to worldly pleasures and is capable of continuing bodily connection for a very great devotee and making such devotee perish. SrI prahlAdhAzhwAn who is considered as the best among his noble devotees, opposed him. A direct example for this – his acts towards SrI mAlAkArar (the garland maker at mathurA). As krishNa along with balarAma entered mAlAkArar’s residence, he saw him stringing the garlands and told him “Can you give us garlands?”; as soon as he saw krishNa’s beautiful form, he thought “Let kamsa kill me if he desires so; let us offer these garlands to them” and offered the garlands to them; krishNa, became pleased and analysed “Should we carry him to the special abode of paramapadham and accept garlands from him there as said in thiruviruththam 21 “sUttu nanmAlaigaL” (the best garlands to be offered) or should we place him here?” and decided to place him in this world itself thinking “Since he disregarded kamsa and honoured us, let us make him enjoy worldly pleasures here and then carry him to paramapadham”.
SrIvishNu purANam 5.19.26 “bhukthvAcha vipulAn bhOgAn” (I am granting great enjoyment for you to enjoy) – I am not giving the enjoyment which is similar to the food given by kamsan [these are far superior]. “thvamanthE” (no end) – since the enjoyment given by bhagavAn has no limit and the enjoyer (AthmA) will not be satisfied with some enjoyment, there is no end to enjoyment in this world. mahAbhAratham Adhi parvam 79.12 “najAthukAma: kAmAnAm upabhOgEna chAmyathi | havishA krishNavarthmEva bhUya EvAbhivardhathE ||” (Just as when we pour oil on fire, that will increase the intensity of fire, if we feed our desires, it will only increase the desires) and mahAbhAratham Adhi parvam 79.13 “yath prithivyAm vrIhi yavam hiraNyam paSavassthriya: | EkasyApi naparyAptham ithi mathvA Samam vrajEth ||” (Though this earth has paddy, gold, domesticated animals, the desirous person will not get satisfaction) – if we think about these materialistic enjoyments, we cannot separate from those. Still, for those who are deeply attached to bhagavAn, they can withdraw from these, when they choose to do so. The sage, saubhari assumed 50 forms and married 50 girls on seeing the family of fish; after a while, he became disgusted about them and returned to his spiritual path. Both karmam (actions) and gyAnam (intelligence) are going hand-in-hand. The past impressions of karmam will lead one to worldly enjoyment; gyAnam will make oneself feel disgusted about those acts and retract one. The karmam which is incidental will naturally be overpowered by the gyAnam which is natural. SrIvishNu purANam 1.9.1 “math prasAdhadha: mamAnusmaraNam prApya:” (By my grace one attains constant remembrance of me) just as upAsaka will get anthima smruthi (remembrance of me during his last moments), you will also get anthima smruthi; alternative explanation – not having to worry about the shortcoming of your not thinking about me and instead we will think about you. jIvAthmA needs firm faith in accepting bhagavAn as his means.
thOgai mA mayil annavar inbam – Women who are as beautiful as a beautiful peacock with plumage. With this, the beauty and the gait which can attract even those who are far away, are spoken of. If one enjoys in this manner, being unable to see anything, one should return with the tools for taking bath (to purify oneself).
annavar inbam – If we analysed, there is nothing to enjoy really. He is just sarcastically saying “thOgai mA mayil annavar inbam“. These are the words of AzhwAr who said in periya thirumozhi 1.9.1 “thAyE thandhai enRum thAramE kiLai makkaL enRum nOyE pattozhindhEn” (I considered unreal ones as mother, father, wife, relatives and children and experienced disaster); alternative explanation – The strength of AzhwAr’s tongue is such that whatever he says will be elegant and beautiful.
thuRRilAmaiyAl – Due to not having enjoyed union (with a woman).
aththa – To make him follow his orders, he is saying lovingly, calling him “Son!”
ingozhindhu – Remaining here in this world for some time.
bOgam nI eydhi – Experiencing all the lost enjoyment.
nI eydhi – Aren’t you, who can withdraw whenever you want, engaging in this? Will these aspects which you abandoned during your penance, become hurdles for you?
pinnum nammidaikkE pOdhuvAy – AzhwAr is explaining in a way which emphasises bhagavAn’s greatness which will make anyone withdraw from worldly aspects and enjoy him. You can directly come to me who is apt for you.
enRa ponnaruL – That desirable mercy.
enakkum Aga vENdum enRu adiyiNai adaindhEn – Just as you acted according to his desire, you should act according to my desire.
aNi pozhil … – Haven’t you mercifully arrived and reclined here to analyse and fulfil the desires of your devotees? Haven’t you mercifully reclined here to grant a) worldly wealth for those who desire that, b) pamper the body for those who desire that and c) eliminate the connection with this body for those who desire that?
In the next article we will enjoy the next pAsuram.
adiyen sarathy ramanuja dasan
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