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periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> First Centum >> Fifth Decad
avathArikai (Introduction)
There is no specific avathArikai for this pAsuram.
kOLariyin uruvam koNdu avuNan udalam
kurudhi kuzhambi ezhak kUr ugirAl kudaivAy!
meeLa avan maganai meymmai koLak karudhi
mElai amarar padhi mikku veguNdu vara
kALa nan mEgam avai kallodu kAl pozhiyAk
karudhi varaik kudaiyAk kAligaL kAppavanE!
ALa enakku oru kAl Adugai sengIrai
AyargaL pOr ERE! Aduga AdugavE
Word-by-Word Meanings
kOL ariyin – with the strength of a lion
uruvam koNdu – having the disguise
avuNan – hiraNyAsuran’s [monster hiraNya kashyap]
udalam – body
kurudhi – blood
kuzhambi ezha – to rise up, thick
meeLa – again
avan – that monster
maganai – his son, prahlAdhan
meymmai koLa – to consider as “sathyavAdhi” (one who always speaks truth)
karudhi – thinking, in his divine mind
kUr ugirAl – with sharp nails
kudaivAi! – oh, one who tore (that monster’s body)
mElE – distinguished
amarar padhi – dhEvEndhran (the head of celestial entities)
mikku veguNdu vara – when he came angrily
kALam – dark
nal – benefical (to coklete the task given by lord)
mEgam avai – clouds
kallodu – together with hail
kAr pozhiya – as they rained
karudhi – considering (what he had said earlier “This mountain is yur protector; provide it with food”)
varai – that gOvardhana hill
kudaiyA – holding as an umbrella
kAligaL – cows
kAppavanE! – oh, one who protected!
ALa! – oh, the one with masculinity to protect like this!
enakku – for me
oru kAl – one time
sengIrai Aduga – you should perform sengIrai
AyargaL – being obedient to the herd-folks
pOr – ready for battle
ERE! – oh, one who is like an arrogant bull!
Aduga Aduga – you should dance; you should dance.
Simple Translation
Two narratives are mentioned in this pAsuram – the first about emperumAn, incarnating as narasimha, destroying the monster hiraNyan and the second, emperumAn incarnating as krishNa, protecting cows.
Oh, one who tore the body of monster hiraNyan with sharp nails, taking the guise of a powerful lion, in such a manner that the monster’s blood rose up thick, flowing over. In the bargain, emperumAn considered in his divine mind that prahlAdhan, the son of hiraNyan, should be spoken of as sathyavAdhi [one who speaks only truth]. Oh, one who lifted the hill gOvardhana as an umbrella and protected cows when dhEvendhran, the eminent head of celestial entities, came angrily and ordered black clouds to rain excessively, with hail, on the cows and herd-folk. Oh, one who is obedient to the herd-folk and who has the arrogance of a bull which is battle-ready! You should dance; you should dance.
vyAkhyAnam (Commentary)
kOLariyin uruvam koNdu – taking over the guise of strong narasimha [human body, with the head of a lion], without compromising on the boons granted to the monster by celestial entities, to annihilate the monster. thiruvAimozhip piLLai, in his svApadhESam, says that emperumAn decided to take the disguise of narasimha, tear the body of hiraNyan, which had been nurtured like the body of a wild pig, such that the blood spilled over and he bled from his mouth. Since he could not use his weapons [on account of the boons granted to the monster by celestial entities], emperumAn used his sharp, divine nails as weapon. He also considered to make the monster’s son as one who speaks only truth.
avuNan … – the monster hiraNyan had arrogance resulting from the strength of the boons which he had been granted [by brahmA et al] and the strength of his shoulders. He was confident that emperumAn was not present inside a pillar which he had built, when his son, prahlAdhan, told him that emperumAn exists everywhere. In order to destroy that monster such that his blood rose up from his body, spilling over, and to prove the words of prahlAdhan, emperumAn incarnated as narasimha, without carrying any weapon, and with sharp nails. Just as it has been said in periyAzhwAr thirumozhi 4-9-8 “oLLiya mArbu uRaikka UnRik kudaindhavanE” (Oh, one who tore completely the well decorated chest of the monster!) oh, one who tore the chest of that monster! The term meeLa refers to emperumAn knowing the mind of the monster that emperumAn does not exist and the term meymmai koLa refers to considering prahlAdhan as speaking only truth. thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that the term kudaivAy refers to letting blood to flow out from all the regions where they were stagnant. The term meymmai refers to emperumAn’s bhAgavatha SEshathvam – emperumAn carrying out servitude to his followers [due to their overflowing affection towards him]. This meaning is manifested in the first rahasyam [thirumanthram or the divine hymn which describes the relationship between emperumAn and AthmAs]. Even if prahlAdhan had only said the name [nArAyaNaya], emperumAn considered it as having been said with the full meanings [including carrying out servitude to emperumAn’s followers].
[Now, we move to the second part, when dhEvEndhran’s arrogance was subdued].
mElai … – celestial entities are those who have much higher wealth and longevity than people who inhabit earth. dhEvEndhran is the head of such celestial entities. He became angry when he found that the food, meant for him, was consumed by someone else. With hunger driving him, he came angrily, asking “Who consumed the food meant for me?” Clouds had become very dark since they had imbibed water from ocean such that the ocean had dried up. They had the benefit [for indhran], of obeying his command and started raining heavily, along with fierce wind. This meaning holds good when the verse is kallodu kAl pozhiya [kAl refers to wind]. If, on the other hand, the verse had been kallodu kAr pozhiya [kAr– dark clouds puring rain], the meaning will change as: raining with hail. thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that the celestial entities are called as amarars [those without death] since they live for a few days more than those who live on earth. indhran, being the head of the thirty-three main entities and a crore other entities, is called as amarar padhi [chief of the celestial entities]. Further, he says that the clouds are called as nan mEgam [beneficial cloud] since they carried out the discordant task set out for them by indhran, their head. Earlier they used to carry out beneficial work [of providing rains to people on earth for their sustenance]. Now, fearing his anger, they are torturing them, by pouring hailstorm with heavy winds.
karudhi … – krishNa had earlier told the herd-folk “This mountain [gOvardhana] is your protector. Offer your food to it”. Recalling those words, oh, one who lifted that mountain as an umbrella and protected the cows! Instead of saying that he protected the herd-men and herd-women, why is AzhwAr saying “kAligaL kAppavanE” (one who protected cows)? The reason for this is that he wanted to make sure that cows are prominent as the class to be protected. Also, only these know precisely, the help rendered. thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that krishNa had already decided that he was going to eat all the food, meant to be offered to indhran. Considering that he had told the herd-folk “Offer the food to this mountain. It will protect you”, he now lifted that mountain as an umbrella and protected them.
ALa … – this speaks about the masculine power that emperumAn has, in protecting. Also, it refers to – fulfilling my [reference is to yaqSOdhAp pirAtti’s] desire and making me your servitor. thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here “If you wish to rule over me, you should perform sengIrai for me”. Alternatively, “If you want me to control you and rule over you, you should perform sengIrai for me” [since it is normal for a mother to control her child].
enakku … – for my sake, you should perform sengIrai, once.
AyargaL … – Oh, one who is obedient towards herd folk such that they could be proud saying “He is ours”, due to which you are arrogant like a bull which is ready for battle! You should mercifully engage with sengIrai; you should mercifully engage with sengIrai.
We shall next consider the 3rd pAsuram of this thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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