SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: Sri varavaramunayE nama:
periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> First Centum >> Sixth Decad
avathArikai (Introduction)
In this last pAsuram, AzhwAr mentions the benefit which will accrue to those who learn this decad and brings it to an end.
AtkoLLath thOnRiya Ayar tham kOvinai
nAtkamazh pUmbozhil villibuththUrp pattan
vEtkaiyAl sonna chappANi Iraindhum
vEtkaiyinAl solluvAr vinai pOmE
Word-by-Word Meanings
AtkoLLa – to make everyone as servitor
thOnRiya – one who incarnated in thiruvAyppAdi [SrI gOkulam]
Ayar tham – for the herd-folk
kOvinai – one who is the head
nAL – everyday
kamazh – emitting fragrance
pU – having flowers
pozhil – surrounded by gardens
villibuththUr – the controller of SrI villibuththUr
pattan – bhattar pirAn (periyAzhwAr)
vEtkaiyAl – with desire
sonna – mercifully composed
chappANi – regarding chappANi
iraNdu aindhum – these ten pAsurams
vEtkaiyinAl – with desire
solluvAr – those who recite
vinai – all their sorrows
pOmE – will leave, on their own
Simple Translation
emperumAn incarnated in thiruvAyppAdi, in order to make everyone as his servitor. bhattar pirAn, who is the controller of SrI villibuththUr, which is surrounded by gardens having flowers which emit fragrance every day, mercifully and desirously composed pAsurams regarding krishNa performing chappANi. For those who recite these ten pAsurams with desire, all their sorrows will leave on their own.
vyAkhyAnam (Commentary)
AtkoLLath thOnRiya – emperumAn who came and incarnated, in order to make everyone as his servitor. This conveys the meaning that the purpose of his incarnation is to correct the chEthanars (those with ability to think) in leelA vibhUthi (materialistic realm) and to make them as his servitors. Instead of saying piRandha (born) the reason for saying thOnRiya (incarnated) is to manifest the fact that emperumAn came and incarnated, without the fault of being inside a womb, as mentioned in SrI vishNu purANam 5-3-2 “dhEvakI pUrva sandhyAyAm AvirbhUtham” (he appeared in the eastern direction which is dhEvaki).
thiruvAimozhip piLLai, in his svApadhESam, says that emperumAn incarnated in thiruvAyppAdi in order to make everyone as his servitor, instead of in vadamadhurai (SrI mathurA, in the north), which is inhabited by those who are a burden on earth and who were not willing to be his servitors. When asked “Here (in thiruvAyppAdi), are there people who were willing to be his servitors?” he responds saying as mentioned in periyAzhwAr thirumozhi 2-5-1 “ennaiyum engaL kudimuzhudhu AtkoNda mannan” (he is our lord who made me as well as our clan to be his servitors). udaiyavar [rAmAnujar] mercifully referred to arjunan as “krishNa dhAsan” (servitor of krishNa) only after he had said, as in bhagavath gIthA 18-73 “karishyE vachanam thava” (I will do as per your bidding). Similarly, hanuman was called as “rAma dhAsan” (servitor of SrI rAma) only after he had said, as in SrI rAmAyaNam uththara kANdam SlOkam “bhAvO nAnyathra gachchathi” (At the end of his incarnation, when SrI rAma was taking all the entities in ayOdhyA to mOksham, he called hanuman too, to accompany him. At that time, hanuman told him that his bhAvam (pathos) will not go to any other entity, viz. his eyes will constantly look at only SrI rAma and will not look at paramapadha nAthan, in SrI vaikuNtam). dhAsathvam (being a servitor) was present in both the entity who said that he will do [arjuna] and the one who said that he will not do [hanuman], based on the quality of the SaraNyan [entity to whom they surrendered]. For hanuman, not being satiated with SrI rAma’s qualities was due to SrI rAma’s fortune [Had hanuman been satiated with SrI rAma’s auspicious qualities, he would have been probably willing to go to mOksham]. Instead of saying “nAnyathra” (my pathos will not gravitate towards anyone else) if hanuman had been willing to go along with SrI rAma to SrI vaikuNtam, the divine mind of SrI rAma would have been sorrowful [since hanuman would have been satisfied with seeing SrI rAma and enjoying his qualities and would have been ready to enjoy someone else’s [paramapadhanAthan’s] qualities]. It is through carrying out servitude that one makes others as servitors. This is aptly brought out in periya thiruvandhAdhi pAsuram 32 “thamakku adimai vENduvAr dhAmOdharanAr” [dhAmOdharan refers to krishNa being tied down to a mortar by yaSOdhAp pirAtti; in letting her to tie him up, he allowed himself to be enslaved by her, becoming her servitor; through that quality, he made everyone to become his servitor]. Those who seek to be servitors, would say, as mentioned in nAnmugan thiruvandhAdhi 50 “mAyan uraik kidakkum uLLaththu enakku” [the divine words of krishNa, charamaSlOkam, by which emperumAn tells his followers to surrender to him, that he would remove all their hurdles, and that they do not need to grieve, would always remain in my heart].
Ayar tham kOvinai – even though he had incarnated in SrI mathurA, it was in thiruvAyppAdi that it [his incarnation] shone and it was there that the purpose of his incarnation was fulfilled. He lowered himself [from his eminent status], carrying out the errands of herd-folk, attracted them through his simplicity, made them as his servitors and became their controller.
nAtkamazh … – periyAzhwAr, controller of SrI villibuththUr, which is surrounded by flower gardens, which emit fragrance, through all the time.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that unlike SrI rAmAyaNa SlOkam “akAlapalinO vrukshA:” (trees started flowering and yielding fruits at unseasonal time when SrI rAma returned to ayOdhyA after fourteen years’ exile), the gardens in SrI villibuththUr were constantly yielding flowers which were fragrant all the time since there was no concept of “This is not the season for flowering” in SrI villibuththUr.
vEtkai … – with a desire towards enjoying the activities in emperumAn’s incarnation, periyAzhwAr had mercifully composed these ten pAsurams, regarding emperumAn’s activity of carrying out chappANi. All the sins of those who recite these ten pAsurams, with desire, will leave on their own.
Here, thiruvAimozhip piLLai says that these ten pAsurams were mercifully composed by periyAzhwAr with overflowing desire and which were shining with the concept of Akinchanyam (not having anything in our hands to attain emperumAn; he alone is the means to attain him). vEtkaiyinAl solluvAr vinai pOmE – even if one does not have the pathos and the relationship which periyAzhwAr had [with emperumAn], if that person recites these ten pAsurams, with only the words being recited, taking refuge under periyAzhwAr’s affection, the sin that “We are not able to carry out mangaLASAsanam like periyAzhwAr” will leave on its own.
We shall next consider the pravESam of the next thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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