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periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> First Centum >> Fourth Decad
avathArikai (Introduction)
There is no specific avathArikai for this pAsuram.
thAzhiyil veNNey thadam kaiyAra vizhungiya
pEzhai vayiRRu empirAn kaNdAy unnaik kUvuginRAn
Azhi koNdu unnai eRiyum aiyuRavu illai kAN
vAzha uRudhiyEl mAmadhI! magizhndhOdi vA
Word-by-Word Meanings
mA madhI! – Oh, eminent chandhran!
thAzhiyil – collected in pots
veNNey – butter
thada – expansive
kai Ara – with the hand full
vizhungiya – one, who scooped and consumed
pEzhai – stout
vayiRu – having divine stomach
empirAn – realise that he is the benefactor for our clan
unnai – you
kUvuginRAn – [he is] calling
(Despite his calling you, if you do not come, to sever your head)
unnai – upon you
Azhi koNdu – with the divine disc
eRiyum – he will fling
aiyuRavu – any doubt in this
illai kAN – there is none
vAzha uRudhi El – if you desire to live
magizhndhu – with joy
Odi vA – come running
Simple Translation
Oh, eminent chandhran! With his huge, divine hands, krishNa, who has a stout divine stomach, has scooped fully, butter which had been collected in tall jars, and consumed it. He is the benefactor for our clan. He is calling you. If you do not come, he will fling his divine disc upon you; there is no doubt in this. If you wish to exist, come at once, with joy.
vyAkhyAnam (Commentary)
thAzhi … – with overflowing affection, with hands which grow expansively upon seeing butter such that it could be said that the “Hands are apt for his age”, krishNa scoops butter in his hand fully and consumes. thiruvAimozhip piLLai says, in his svApadhESam: If you [referring to chandhran] think that the infatuation with which emperumAn is calling you is on account of his nirankuSa svAthanthryam (uncontrollable independence), then, realise that this is not his infatuation. What, then, is his infatuation? thAzhiyil veNNey thadangaiyAra vizhungiya pEzhai vayiRRu empirAn kAN unnaik kUvuginRAn. This is his actual infatuation. The term thAzhiyil veNNey refers to the greatness on account of physical [relating to one’s form] qualities. Just as it has been said in thiruvAimozhi 8-10-3 “siRumAmanisar” (being small in physical form and eminent in knowledge], the smallness which is attached to the physical form since it is dependent on food, water etc, is converted to eminence on account of the eminent qualities of AthmA [such as total dependence on emperumAn, servitude etc], which will match the eminence of nithyasUris [permanent dwellers of SrI vaikuNtam]. Since these people get such eminence even while they are living in samsAram, they are said to be superior to even nithyasUris, just as it has been said in thiruviruththam 79 “viNNULArilum sIriyarE”. The term veNNey in this verse [thAzhiyil veNNey] refers to such people [those whose supreme knowledge overshadows their physical form]. The container in which such veNNey is kept, becomes thAzhi. In other words, if the supremely knowledgeable people are termed as veNNey, their physical forms will be thAzhi. For samsAris [those who live in the materialistic realm, and go after the worldly pleasures], their AthmaguNam [qualities of AthmA] will follow their dhEham [in other words, since their dhEham desires worldly pleasures, their AthmaguNam will also go after lowly features]. For mumukshus [samsAris who desire to get liberated from samsAram and attain emperumAn], their dhEhaguNam will follow their AthmaguNam. Though AzhwArs are like mumukshus, since they have been showered with knowledge and devotion without any shortcoming, their AthmaguNam will follow dhEhaguNam [here, the term dhEhaguNam does not refer to AzhwArs’ dhEhaguNam but to emperumAn’s dhEhaguNam, viz. qualities of his divine form such as the beauty of his individual limbs, overall beauty of his divine form, his softness etc]. Thus, the term thAzhiyil veNNey refers to AzhwArs whose AthmaguNam follows their dhEhaguNam. Desiring these AzhwArs is the real infatuation which emperumAn has.
pEzhai … – he has a divine stomach which will expand, to accommodate the material which has gone in. He is also the benefactor for our clan. Realise that such an entity is calling you. Through this, it is hinted that the one, who desirously swallowed butter, in line with his age, is calling you [with the same desire which he had towards butter]. thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that this is not like digesting bosom milk [as seen in the sixth pAsuram]. Unlike periya thirumozhi 11.6.9 pAsuram “uNdoththa thiruvayiRRin..” (despite swallowing all the worlds, his divine stomach was like before) and like periya thirumozhi 10.7.3 “vayiRU piLLai param anRu” (his divine stomach is not apt for his age), his stomach will show, appropriate to the material that he has consumed [butter, here]. pEzhai – huge. empirAn – a great benefactor for our clan. His calling you loudly is not for overcoming any shortcoming with him, but to remove your shortcoming. If your shortcoming is removed, he will feel that his shortcoming has been overcome.
Azhi … – If the jar, inside which butter is stored, were kept high, outside his reach, just as he breaks the jar with a stone, if you do not come when he calls you, he will fling his divine disc and sever your head; realise this. Have no doubt in this. thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that emperumAn had changed daytime to night [during mahAbhAratha war] by using his divine disc. Do not be under the impression that he will not change night time to day time. Think of your status when the day was decided for starting of the war [krishNa had advanced amAvAsyai by one day to ensure that the kauravas will get defeated]. Do not think “That was done once, in order to achieve a specific objective. Does that reason apply to me too?” That incident happened because the kauravas did not listen to what emperumAn said [to share their kingdom with pANdavas]. That is applicable to you too [since you too are not listening to him]. Realise this.
vAzha … – If you desire to be alive, instead of perishing on account of his anger, oh, chandhran, who is eminent, come running, with joy, in line with your eminence! thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here: For you [referring to chandhran], to live is to tell emperumAn, just as arjuna had told him in SrI bhagavath gIthA 18-74 “karishyE vachanam thava”(I will do as per what you had told me]. emperumAn had said in SrI bhagavath gIthA 18-66 “sarva dharmAn parithyajya …” (letting go of all the other means …). If emperumAn, after removing all your previous hurdles, puts you back in that state, would it be same for you? [it would be worse than that previous state itself]. Once you agree to do as per his bidding, if he tells you to do some tasks, you have to carry out that order. If you are in the old state [of not carrying out emperumAn’s order], he will not say “mA Sucha:” (do not grieve), just as he had told arjuna in SrI bhagavath gIthA 18-66. The term mAmadhI refers to all those who have intelligence, to come running with happiness of being a servitor, when emperumAn beckons.
We shall next consider the last pAsuram of this thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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