SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: Sri varavaramunayE nama:
periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> First Centum >> Seventh Decad
avathArikai (Introduction)
In this last pAsuram, AzhwAr mentions the benefit which will accrue to one who recites the decad, and brings the decad to its end.
Ayar kulaththinil vandhu thOnRiya anjanavaNNan thannai
thAyar magizha onnAr thaLarath thaLar nadai nadandhadhanai
vEyar pugazh vittu chiththan seerAl viriththana uraikka vallAr
mAyan maNivaNNan thAL paNiyum makkaLaip peRuvargaLE
Word-by-Word Meanings
Ayar kulaththinil – in the clan of cowherds
vandhu thOnRiya – one who came and incarnated
anjana vaNNan thannai – kaNNan, who has a divine form like black pigment
thAyar – yaSOdhA, who gave birth to him and other women, who had similar affection towards
him
magizha – to be happy
onnAr – enemies such as kamsan et al
thaLara – to shrivel in their minds
thaLar nadai nadandhadhanai – the manner in which he took tender steps
vEyar – brAhmaNas
pugazh – to be praised [by them]
vittuchiththan – periyAzhwAr
seerAl – with eminence
viriththana – mercifully and expansively composed these pAsurams
uraikka vallAr – those who are capable of reciting
mAyan – one who has amazing power
maNivaNNan – emperumAn, who has the complexion of bluish gemstone
thAL – in the divine feet
paNiyum – apt to carry out servitude
makkaLai – children
peruvargaL – will sire
Simple Translation
emperumAn, who has a dark complexion like that of a black pigment, incarnated in the clan of cowherds. He took tender steps which made his mothers happy and his enemies, such as kamsan et al, shrivel in their hearts. periyAzhwAr, who is praised by brAhmaNas, expansively and mercifully composed these pAsurams, about those tender steps. Those who are capable of reciting these pAsurams, will sire children who will carry out servitude at the divine feet of one, who has amazing power and who has the complexion of blue gemstone.
vyAkhyAnam (Commentary)
Ayar … – one who incarnated in the clan of cowherds. Didn’t krishNa incarnate in the clan of kings? Only a few people know about that, while everyone knows that he incarnated in the clan of cowherds.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai, in his svApadhESam, says that only those who had seen his birth in the royal clan and those who had read about it in SAsthrams [such as SrI bhAgavatham, mahAbhAratham etc] know about his birth in royal clan. All the others, whether with or without knowledge, know that he incarnated only in the clan of cowherds.
anjanavaNNan thannai – one who has the divine complexion like a black pigment, which makes the eyes of his beholders to be cool.
thAyar … – yaSOdhAp pirAtti, who gave birth to him and other women who were friendly towards him like her, were happy; inimical entities such as kamsan et al, who knew the annihilation of monsters such as pUthanA, Sakata et al, right in the state when krishNa was in the cradle, were in a state of fear as to what further harm krishNa will do, now that he has started taking tender steps.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that the term thAyar refers to the favourable mothers and periyAzhwAr. kamsan, who is an unfavourable entity, not only did not wish to see krishNa, but had fire burning in his stomach when he heard that krishNa had started taking tender steps. While he had sent pUthanA, Sakata, yamALArjuna et al, upon hearing that they were annihilated, just as it has been mentioned in thiruppAvai 25 “kanjan vayiRRil neruppu” (like a fireball in kamsan’s stomach), he thought “We did not get to win with any of the inimical entities who we had sent; those who spoke valorously that they will kill him, did not return; we are waiting here with drawn sword, even before he was born; there appears to be no alternative; let us send our minister akrUrar and see if we can get him [krishNa] through the bridge of relationship”. Upon calling akrUrar, the words mentioned by akrUrar [“nothing will happen other than your death”] was also not pleasant. For the unfavourable entities too, while death would be a welcome event, even that was not happening. For the favourable entities, even when they were worried, through carrying out mangaLASAsanam, as to ”What will befall him?” they were happy, more than being worried, with his tender steps.
vEyar … – since periyAzhwAr appeared in the clan of brAhmaNas, just as it has been mentioned in periyAzhwAr thirumozhi 5-4-11 “vEyar thangaL kulaththu udhiththa …” (one who was born in the clan of brAhmaNas), others in that clan praised him.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that since he was born as a brAhmaNa, he has to be mentioned as vEyar. Alternatively, just as carrying out sandhyAvandhanam [an activity carried out three times in a day, propitiating water, with hymns to various celestial entities] is an identity for brAhmaNas and tending to cows with their flutes is an identity for herd folk, since periyAzhwAr desired to be a herd-person, he had twin-births [as a brAhmaNa by birth and as a herd person by desire], just as krishNa too had twin births [royal and herd folk]. vittuchiththan – just as he had said vAsudhEvan, he says vittuchiththan too [the term vAsudhEvan refers to one who is present in all the places; one of those places is in the mind of periyAzhwAr too, which is the meaning of the term vittuchiththan]. If it is not in this way, then identifying a person through an identity [vAsudhEvan] and the ability to attain an entity [attaining emperumAn] will be negated [if emperumAn has to be identified as the supreme entity, he has to be omnipresent; one of those places where he resides is in the mind of vittuchiththan]. Even for vyApaka manthrams [the three esoteric manthrams [Om namO nArAyaNAya, Om namO vishNavE and Om namO bhagavathE vAsudhEvAya] which signify the all-pervasive characteristic of emperumAn] without the praNava [Om] and nama: [namO] terms, there will be no significance [the manthrams will only say that emperumAn is all pervasive. It is only with Om and nama: added at the beginning and end respectively, would it mean that he is all pervading and that AthmAs have to attain him and carry out kainkaryam to him.
seerAl … – those who are capable of reciting these pAsurams, in any manner, which have been expansively and mercifully composed.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that seerAl viriththal refers to envisioning the entity [krishNa] in whom the auspicious qualities are present, the reason for that quality to shine [AzhwAr -being endowed with devotion and knowledge by emperumAn, without any trace of doubt] and the benefit for those qualities to shine [attaining emperumAn]. uraikka vallAr – even if they do not recite the pAsurams with the pathos of periyAzhwAr, if they merely recite the words which AzhwAr had mercifully composed, taking refuge under his affection
mAyan … – they will sire children who carry out activities in line with their svarUpam [basic nature, which is carrying out servitude] at the divine feet of one who has amazing qualities and who has the beautiful, divine form of a bluish gemstone. Since it has been mentioned in a generic term as makkaL, this refers to children who come through their learning [as disciples of such people] and through their clan.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that the term paNiyum refers to the fact that they [children] will carry out servitude for ever. It would also refer to the prayer made in the uththara vAkhyam [second line of dhvaya mahAmanthram in which one prays for being granted servitude]. makkaL – this term refers to disciples who are considered as children; it also refers to those who carry out servitude and are considered as children. Is it enough if one were to merely recite the words of the pAsuram? If one were to take refuge under AzhwAr’s affection and recite the words, and teach others to recite the words, it would be enough. How is this so? The thoughts of the disciples who have been taught the words of the pAsuram would bring the benefits. As examples. thiruvAimozhip piLLai quotes from SrI vishNu sahasranAmam “sukhathAtham” (father of sage sukhar, while referring to sage vasishta), periyAzhwAr thirumozhi 2-2-4 “ivanaip peRRa vayiRudaiyAL” (yaSOdhAp pirAtti, who has the divine stomach from which she gave birth to krishNa) and perumAL thirumozhi 7-3 “nandhanan peRRanan” (nandhagOpar sired krishNa). [In the last two cases, yaSOdhAp pirAtti and SrI nandhagOpar brought up krishNa as their own child and were considered as his parents]. He also quotes the example of kUraththAzhwAr [father of kUraththAzhwAn, rAmAnujar’s disciple]. After kUraththAzhwAr’s bhAryAL [his wife] nangai, attained paramapadham, he wanted to remarry. Looking at kUraththAzhwAn’s SrIvaishNavathvam (the quality of being emperumAn’s servitor], he decided that kUraththAzhwAn should not be subjected to anyaSEshathvam (being a servitor to someone other than emperumAn) and decided against marrying again. This is the result of getting a child who is a servitor of emperumAn. If this is the benefit of merely reciting the words in the pAsuram, should one state the benefits when one is to recite with the pathos of AzhwAr?
We shall next consider the pravESam of the next thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
archived in https://divyaprabandham.koyil.org
pramEyam (goal) – http://koyil.org
pramANam (scriptures) – http://granthams.koyil.org
pramAthA (preceptors) – http://acharyas.koyil.org
SrIvaishNava education/kids portal – http://pillai.koyil.org