SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:
periya thirumozhi >> Fifth centum >> Eighth decad
Highlights from avathArikai (Introduction)
Previously – first highlighting bhagavAn’s acceptance, then highlighting kainkaryam (service), then requesting him to eliminate the hurdles for such kainkaryam, that is being bound by senses, first and then requesting him to eliminate the subservience towards yama which is due to the sins caused by being bound by senses, then requesting him to eliminate the connection with prakruthi (matter, i.e., this body) which is the cause for that, and finally requesting that not only bhagavAn should do it knowing AzhwAr’s will, but that he also should do it out of compassion. Since there is nothing more to ask beyond this, there is no reason for the subsequent pAsurams. In such a case, what is AzhwAr doing further? As emperumAn said “AzhwIr! If I am the lord and you are the servitor, as said in SrI rAmAyaNam sundhara kANdam 39-30 ‘Saraisthu sankulAm kruthvA lankAm parabalArdhana: 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), servitor should remain patiently and observe my acts and cannot push me like this”; AzhwAr says “If I see me, is there opportunity for eternal kainkaryam, even at the end of this body? I am urging you due to your omnipotence”. Just like his enjoyability, his omnipotence also will make others show their urge to reach him; AzhwAr is saying “Rescuing me who is caught in this ocean of samsAra and is suffering, and granting me your divine feet is even more difficult than the agaditha gatanA sAmarthyam (ability to accomplish impossible tasks) of rescuing the son of sAndhIpini (sAndhIpani) who drowned in the ocean. You should mercifully do it with your omnipotence”.
pAsuram
Odhu vAymaiyum uvaniyap piRappum
unakku mun thandha andhaNan oruvan
kAdhal en magan pugalidam kANEn
kaNdu nI tharuvAy enakku enRu
kOdhil vAymaiyinAn unai vENdiya
kuRai mudiththu avan siRuvanaik koduththAy
AdhalAl vandhu un adiyiNai adaindhEn
aNipozhil thiruvarangaththammAnE!
Word-by-Word meanings
Odhu – being learned/recited
vAymaiyum – vEdham in the form of sentences
uvaniyam – acquired through upanayanam
piRappum – birth (of being a dhvija (twice-born))
unakku – for you
mun – first
thandha – gave
oruvan – unique (scholar)
kOdhu il – not going useless
vAymaiyinAn – having words
andhaNan – brAhmaNa known as sAndhIpini
kAdhal – target of my love
en magan – my son
pugal idam – the place he went
kANEn – I don’t know
nI – you, who are sarvagya (omniscient) and sarvaSaktha (omnipotent)
kaNdu – finding out (where he is)
enakku – to me (bringing him)
tharuvAy – should give
enRu – saying this
unai – towards you
vENdiya – requested
kuRai – (his) sorrow (the contraction of his mind)
mudiththu – eliminated (completed)
avan siRuvanai – his son
koduththAy – brought him back from yama lOkam and gave
AdhalAl – since you are omnipotent
vandhu – I come
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
The unique brAhmaNa named sAndhIpini whose words will not become useless, gave you vEdham which is learned/recited and is in the form of sentences, and the dhvija status [being twice-born as kshathriya] which is acquired through upanayanam. He requested you saying “I don’t know where my son who is the target of my love, went ; as you are sarvagya (omniscient) and sarvaSaktha (omnipotent), you should find out his whereabouts and bring him to me”; you eliminated his sorrow by bringing his son back from yama lOkam and gave him. Oh lord, who is mercifully reclining in SrIrangam which is surrounded by decorative orchards! I, who am your servitor, have come and surrendered unto your pair of divine feet.
Highlights from vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
Odhu vAymaiyum – vAymai – action of speech. That is sentences [from vEdham]. To avoid violating the rules, AzhwAr is using words which represent the meaning of vEdha vAkyams. [nammAzhwAr too] While antharyAmi brAhmaNam [portion of vEdham which speaks about bhagavAn’s omnipresence] is present in the divine heart, he said as in thiruvAimozhi 1.1.7 “udanmisai uyir enak karandhengum parandhuLan sudarmigu surudhiyuL” (He is pervading in everything similar to AthmA is pervading in the body. Not only that, he is present inside and outside of everything. He is the main object of the most radiant vEdham). They [those AzhwArs who are not twice-born] don’t recite the words of the vEdham. But they don’t miss out any of the meanings.
Odhu vAymai – vEdham, which is said in kAtakam 3-9-50 “pUrvE pUrvEbhyO vacha EthadhUchu:” (the forefathers repeated the words of their forefathers), cannot be learnt just by reading from books, by casual listening, and should be learnt only by hearing from an AchArya first and repeating the same. Why is this hearing and repeating emphasised to grasp the words? If it is not learnt that way, the meanings will not be known. As said in “artham tham thamanartha rUpam apithassandharSya mukthairhrudhA nithyam thairap dhurgraha svahrudhyaA vESyA sadhESyA thrayI: yasminnavyabhichAriNi svahrudhayam sandharSya pAthivratham dhaththE lakshmaNa lakshmaNAya munayE thasmai namaskrumahE” – just as a woman who married a man, having fire as the witness, will show herself fully to her husband, only for a person who holds on to vidhyA (knowledge from vEdham) through the instructions and knowledge of a true AchArya, such vidhyA will reveal itself.
uvaniyap piRappum – For a brAhmaNa [and kshathriya, vaiSya], there are two births. Birds also have dhvijathvam [two births – first in the shell and then outside]. Just as the first birth inside the shell, the brAhmaNa’s first birth is inside the womb[he is not qualified for any vaidhika rituals]; only after the second birth, the bird can stretch and act [only after the second birth through upanayanam, the brAhmaNa becomes qualified for any vaidhika ritual]. For krishNa, he became twice-born only after killing kamsa; he did that only to establish that he is of the same clan as yAdhavas [the descendants of king yadhu]. After crowning ugrasEna, and establishing him in his dharma [natural duty], and stabilising the kingdom, he went to sAndhipini thinking “Let us go to sAndhIpini in avanthIpuram and go through samskArams such as upanayanam etc” and told him “Previously garga performed samskArams such as jAtha karma (birth ritual), nAma karaNa (naming) etc; you should give me subsequent samskArams” and sAndhIpini obliged.
unakku – He has given to you who created brahmA and gave him vEdham as said in SvEthASvathara upanishath “yOvai vEdhAmScha prahiNOthi thasmai” (One who taught vEdham to brahmA). As said in chAndhOgya upanishath 6.3 “anEna jIvEna AthmanAnupraviSya nAma rUpE vyAkaravANi” (all names and forms are created by my entry into achith through AthmAs) – bhagavAn is the one who entered into achith through jIvAthmAs and made the division of everything by name and form; also said in manu smruthi “nAma rUpancha bhUthAnAm” (paramAthmA gave name and form to all entities). krishNa going through this was in the end of dhvApara yuga; now AzhwAr is saying this to periya perumAL; from this we can understand that both krishNa and periya perumAL are the same.
andhaNan – One who is qualified to teach.
oruvan – adhvithIyan (unique). One who is capable of all vidhyAsthAnams (knowledge bases). Even those knowledge bases which are not part of standard [vEdha] adhyayanam (vEdham learning). As said in SrI rangarAja sthavam 2.18 “SIkshAyAm varNa SikshA padhasamadhikamO vyAkriyA nirvachObhyAm chandha: chandha: chithausyAth gamayathi samayam jyOthisham ranganAtha | kalpEnushtAnamuktham hyuchitha gamithayOr nyAya mImAmsayOssyAth artha vyakthi: purANa smruthishu thadhanukAs thvAm vichinvanthi vEdhA: ||” (Oh SriranganAtha! In the angam for vEdham SIkshA, how to pronounce the syllables is explained; in vyAkaraNam and niruktham, knowledge about words is present; in chandhas, grammar relating to gAyathri chandhas etc is present; in jyOthisham, the time to perform the rituals is present; in kalpa sUthram, what is to be performed is present; in tharka (nyAya) SAsthram and mImAmsA, clear meanings are present; in purANams and smruthis, explanations with examples are given; vEdham which has such angas is searching for you). He learnt dhanurvEdham (the branch of weaponry), AyurvEdham (the branch of medicine) also from sAndhIpini only. muRpada dhvayaththaik kEttu, ithihAsa purANangaLaiyum adhikariththu, parapakshaprathikshEpaththukudalAga nyAya mImAmsaigaLum adhikariththu, pOdhupOkkum aruLichcheyalilEyAmpadi piLLaiyaip pOlE adhikarippikka vallavanaiyiRE “oruththan” enbadhu (First hearing [and understanding] dhvayam, then learning ithihAsas and purANas, subsequently learning nyAya, mImAmsA etc to condemn opposing philosophy, spending one’s time in dhivyaprabandham – someone like nampiLLai who can teach students to become like this can only be said as “a unique teacher”).
After teaching in this manner, seeing krishNa’s knowledge and ability to learn while studying, sAndhIpini thought “What should we accept as dhakshiNA?” and asked “My son drowned in the ocean; I don’t know where he went; you should search for him and bring him back the same way he was before”. As he reached the seashore with a bow in his hand, varuNa (the king of ocean) became scared and came out; krishNa asked “My AchArya’s son entered the ocean; show him to me”; when varuNa had no other choice, he said “panchajana ate him”; it is not possible to retrieve the food which was eaten the day before; varuNa drained the water and showed the ocean-bed to krishNa; krishNa eliminated panchajana; SrI pAnchajanyAzhwAn came and presented himself at that time; krishNa placed him on his divine lips and kept blowing it while going towards yamapuram (the abode of yama) and mercifuly reached there; yama, offered arghyam (water to wash hands) etc and asked “Why have mercifully come here?”; krishNa responded “My AchArya’s son came here; you should show him to me”; yama, brought him from one of the narakas (hells) and showed him; krishNa then brought him to sAndhIpini and showed him to make sAndhIpini exclaim “This is my son indeed” and vouch for his son’s identity.
kAdhal en magan – The son who is an embodiment of my love.
pugalidam kANEn – I don’t know where he has gone. Is he in hell? Or in some womb?
kaNdu nI tharuvAy – You, who are omnipotent, should find him and give him to me. He saw krishNa’s ability while he was grasping and sustaining the knowledge.
kOdhil vAymaiyinAn – Here AzhwAr is praising sAndhIpini who said “kAdhalen magan” (My son who is an embodiment of love) [still being in a materialistic platform], as “kOdhil vAymaiyinAn” (Not speaking useless words); why is that? That is based on krishNa’s opinion as said in “guruvachanam alanganIyam” (guru’s words should not be dishonoured) [i.e., krishNa’s has great respect for his guru]. AzhwAr is saying the words which are used to praise thiruvadi (hanuman) who said in SrI rAmAyaNam sundhara kANdam 65.10 “dhrushtA sIthA” (I have seen sIthA), when both SrI rAma and sIthAp pirAtti were separated!
unai vENdiya – He is considering krishNa only to be a Sishya; not as one who is able to grant mOksham (liberation). The taste towards mOksham is not acquired based on superior birth, knowledge and conduct; it is acquired by individuals through bhagavAn’s mercy based on their faultless nature. Only when such mercy is there, would one pray for liberation.
kuRai mudiththu – He said “You should bring my son and show him to me”; when krishNa said “We will do it”, the sorrows got elmiinated at once.
avan siRuvanaik koduththAy – If he smelled his son, he would feel his blood relationship – that is how truly he was brought back. periyAzhwAr thirumozhi 4.8.1 “mAdhavaththOn puththiran pOy maRi kadal vAy mANdAnai Odhuviththa thakkaNaiyA uruvuruvE koduththAn” (As the son of sAndhIpini who has great penance, drowned and died in the ocean, he was brought back as guru dhakshiNA (an offering to the teacher) in the same way he was when he died). He gave in such a way that sAndhIpini will confirm that this is the same form which was there back then.
thakkaNaiyA – He gave it to establish his nature as Sishya [not as a benefit to the guru, that is, the Sishya must serve the guru by offering whatever is asked by the guru].
uru uruvE – [This is similar to] granting SEshathva gyAnam (knowledge of servitude) to AthmA which remains in the state of achith as said in thaiththirIya upanishath “asannEva” (As good as asath/achith only) and granting a form and granting kainkaryam (service) which matches that SEshathvam.
AdhalAl vandhu un adiyiNai adaindhEn – I surrendered unto you due to the urge thinking “Anyway, the liberation will be granted at the end of this body; but since you are omnipotent, why should I remain patient till then?”
aNi pozhil … – Haven’t your highness arrived here to rescue me who has been swallowed by the ocean of samsAra and lead me up to kainkaryam, just as you brought back the AthmA with his body as it is, which was swallowed by the ocean?
In the next article we will enjoy the next pAsuram.
adiyen sarathy ramanuja dasan
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