SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:
periya thirumozhi >> Sixth centum >> Second decad
Highlights from avathArikai (Introduction)
No specific introduction.
pAsuram
mAnEy nOkkiyar tham vayiRRuk kuzhiyil uzhaikkum
UnEr Akkai thannai udhavAmai uNarndhu uNarndhu
vAnE! mAnilamE! vandhu vandhu en manaththu irundha
thEnE! ninnadaindhEn thiruviNNagar mEyavanE!
Word-by-Word meanings
vAnE – Oh one who is the controller of nithya vibhUthi!
mA – vast
nilamE – Oh one who is the controller of leelA vibhUthi which has earth in it!
vandhu – coming from paramapadham
uvandhu – joyfully
en manaththu – in my heart
irundha – one who is eternally residing
thEnE – Oh very enjoyable lord!
mAn Ey – matching a deer’s
nOkkiyar tham – women who are having beautiful eyes, their
vayiRRuk kuzhiyil – in the womb
uzhaikkum – suffering
Un – filled with flesh
Er – Having the beauty of being the means for the goal
Akkai thannai – the body
udhavAmai – (for my goal) not being means
uNarndhu uNarndhu – knowing well
nin adaindhEn – I held you as my means.
thiruviNNagar mEyavanE! – Oh one who is eternally residing in the dhivyadhESam named thiruviNNagar!
Simple translation
Oh one who is eternally residing in the dhivyadhESam named thiruviNNagar! Oh one who is the controller of nithya vibhUthi! Oh one who is the controller of leelA vibhUthi which has the vast earth in it! Oh very enjoyable lord who came from paramapadham and is eternally and joyfully residing in my heart! Suffering in the womb of women who are having beautiful eyes matching those of a deer, my body, which is filled with flesh and is having the beauty of being the means for the goal, is not being the means for me; knowing this well, I held you as my means.
Highlights from vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
mAn Ey – Women who are having eyes which are similar to those of deer; their.
vayiRRuk kuzhiyil uzhaikkum – While there is the suffering in hell, being punished by yama, there is no end to the suffering in the womb. While they [women] are young and ignorant, they will try hard thinking “We should have a child”; they are putting efforts for AthmA’s [the child’s] suffering.
UnEr Akkai – It is recited as both “UnEy Akkai” and “UnEr Akkai“. Body which is filled with flesh; the body has to be given up both inside and outside equally. The body has two states – 1) it will desire the one who desires it and 2) it will abandon those who hate it; hence, while it has the state of being the means for the real goal, it ends up being in the state of causing bondage.
udhavAmai aRindhu aRindhu [uNarndhu uNarndhu] – Having affiliation with the body which is visible and thinking it to be AthmA; if one abandons AthmA and ISvaran who is the lord of the AthmA, it only ends up in bondage. Knowing well that while there is scope for pursuing a good path, the body is leading to disaster and hence to be given up.
vAnE mAnilamE – While he [emperumAn] is having the greatness of being together with ubhaya vibhUthi (nithya vibhUthi and leelA vibhUthi), he stood there as if attaining me is a great benefit which is difficult to attain. vAnE – nithya vibhUthi – paramapadham; mA nilamE – leelA vibhUthi – samsAram. Thus it is saying that he is the one who has both spiritual and material realms. Having both vibhUthis as his prakAra (body), he came here thinking “attaining AzhwAr is desirable for me”.
vandhu vandhu – Here it is revealing how bhagavAn kept coming to attain AzhwAr since time immemorial and did not get him and went back, only to come back and try to get him again. It is said that he roamed around trying to get AthmAs as said in thiruvAimozhi 2.7.6 “edhir sUzhal pukku” (comes across from the opposite side and catches).
Alternative explanation,
vandhu uvandhu – That is – one who is having paramapadham which is said as in mudhal thiruvandhAdhi 51 ‘kalangAp perunagaram‘ (paramapadham, the great town, which has no bewilderment), as his abode, came here as if he has no place to live and became satisfied. As said in SrI rAmAyaNam AraNya kANdam 5.34 “AvAsam thvahamichchAmi prathishtam iha kAnanE” (As I am looking for a place to say, I will live in this forest as you desire). SrI rAmAyaNam kishkindhA kANdam 4-18 says “Esha dhathvA cha vitthAni prApya cha anuththamam yaSa: l lOkanAtha: purA bhUthvA sugrIvam nAtham ichchathi ll” (This rAmapirAn, who has given all the materials to all the people, who has attained eminent fame, who was the lord of the entire word earlier, desires sugrIva (today) as the lord). [This SlOkam is explained a little bit here] bhagavAn becoming the lord of the universe is to qualify himself to become the lord of sugrIva mahArAja. nAtham ichchathi – There is no constraint that whatever is desired should be attained. Whether SrI rAma gets what he desires or not, he desired. SrI rAmAyaNam kishkindhA kANdam 4.21 “yasya prasAdhE sathatham prasIdhEyu: imA: prajA: l sa rAma: vAnarEndhrasya prasAdham abhikAnkshathE ||” (That rAmapirAn, who is such that when he is happy, the people of the entire world are always happy, seeks benefaction from sugrIva, who is the leader of monkeys).
en manaththirundha – He remained firmly in my heart as an immovable entity to show that there is no going and coming anymore.
thEnE – When AzhwAr thought about how bhagavAn comes and goes to attain him, he became very sweet [like honey] for him. sthOthra rathnam 27 “thavAmruthasyandhini pAdhapankajE
nivESidhAthmA gathamanyadhichchathi? | sthith’ravindhE makarandhanirbharE madhuvrathO nEkshurakam hi vIkshathE ||” (How will my mind which is placed (by your grace) at your divine lotus foot generating abundance of nectar, desire for anything else? When reddish lotus flower filled with honey is present, will a bee even see a grass flower?). yajur vEdham 2.4.6 [and vishNu sUktham] “vishNO: padhE paramE madhva uthsa:” (from the supreme feet of vishNu, nectar originates and flows).
nin … – The lord to reach whom we have to carry food for the lengthy journey, is present in front of us here.
In the next article we will enjoy the next pAsuram.
adiyen sarathy ramanuja dasan
archived in https://divyaprabandham.koyil.org
pramEyam (goal) – https://koyil.org
pramANam (scriptures) – http://granthams.koyil.org
pramAthA (preceptors) – http://acharyas.koyil.org
SrIvaishNava education/kids portal – http://pillai.koyil.org