SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:
periya thirumozhi >> Sixth centum >> Eighth decad
Highlights from avathArikai (Introduction)
No specific introduction.
pAsuram
mAn koNda thOl mArvil mANiyAy mAvali maN
thAn koNdu thALAl aLandha perumAnaith
thEn koNda sAral thiruvEngadaththAnai
nAn senRu nAdi naRaiyUril kaNdEnE
Word-by-Word meanings
mAn koNda – deer’s
thOl – skin (krishNAjinam)
mArvil – wearing on his chest
mANiyAy – being a brahmachAri [bachelor]
mAvali – from mahAbali
maN – earth
thAn – He who is the owner
koNdu – accepted as dhAnam (charity) and making it his own
thALAl – (subsequently) with his divine feet
aLandha – occupied
perumAnai – being the lord of all
thEn koNda – having honey
sAral – having slopes
thiruvEngadaththAnai – one who is mercifully present in thiruvEngadam
nAn – I, who was facing away from him until now
nAdich chenRu – went searching
naRaiyUril – in thirunaRaiyUr
kaNdEn – got to see.
Simple translation
vAmana bhagavAn, the owner of the earth, being a brahmachAri wearing deer’s skin on his chest, accepted that earth from mahAbali as dhAnam and made it his own. Subsequently, with his divine feet he occupied it fully. Such bhagavAn is mercifully present in thiruvEngadam which is having mountain-slopes having honey. I, who was facing away from him all along, went searching for him and got to see him in thirunaRaiyUr.
Highlights from vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
mAn koNda … – Being a brahmachAri who is having deer’s skin on his chest, he showed his humble form to mahAbali and melted mahAbali’s heart, and then only accepted the earth.
mANiyAy … – Appearing so apt in his role as to make people think “He must have been seeking alms even in his previous birth”. Well focussed on the begging as said in “I won’t leave without getting earth”.
mAvali maN … – mahAbali’s earth which was forcefully taken as in the case of climbing an elephant which was resting, was accepted by bhagavAn through alms – that is how it appears to be. bhagavAn made earth as mahAbali’s possession while it was not so, and then accepted it from him, as if accepting something which does not belong to him already. He remains “We just need to get it from mahAbali through any means”.
thALAl … – As soon as the water (which was poured by mahAbali to initiate the dhAnam) touched bhagavAn’s hand, before mahAbali’s mind changed, he sent his divine feet up to the boundary and accepted it. He measured the earth, which is a tough terrain, with his tender, divine feet which are carefully held on her bosoms and eyes by pirAtti (SrI mahAlakshmi).
perumAnai … – He, who is the lord of all and greater than all, placed himself in a lowly form, still it does not appear lowly – that is how he can do it.
thEn koNda … – One who has arrived and is standing in thiruvEnagadam which has slopes with lots of honey. He stood in thirumalA to help those who missed out on his grace while measuring the world with his divine feet.
nAn senRu nAdi … – When he came searching for me, I looked away and remained separated from him; but now I am going in search of him.
naRaiyUril … – Instead of travelling a long distance and seeing him in paramapadham, I got to see him in thirunaRaiyUr, just as one would get water where he was thirsty.
In the next article we will enjoy the next pAsuram.
adiyen sarathy ramanuja dasan
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