SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: Sri varavaramunayE nama:
periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> First Centum >> Eighth Decad
avathArikai (Introduction)
thiruvAimozhip piLLai, in his svApadhESam, says that AzhwAr desires that krishNa should come with the disguise which attracted him.
thunniya pEriruL sUzhndhu ulagai mUda
manniya nAnmaRai muRRum maRaindhida
pinivvulaginil pEriruL nInga anRu
annam adhu AnAnE! achchO achchO arumaRai thandhAnE! achchO ahchO
Word-by-Word Meanings
thunniya – permanent
pEr iruL – the huge darkness of ignorance
sUzhndhu – pervading
ulagai – world
mUda – to envelop
manniya – eternal
nAngu maRai – four vEdhams
muRRum – fully
maRaindhida – as they disappeared
pin – later
ivvulaginil – formed in this world
pEr iruL – huge darkness
nInga – to be removed
anRu – during that time
annam adhu AnAnE – oh, one who incarnated as a swan! You should embrace
aru maRai – rare vEdham
thandhAnE! – oh, one who mercifully gave! You should embrace
Simple Translation
The four vEdhams (sacred texts) disappeared such that permanent, huge darkness of ignorance pervaded and enveloped the world. Oh, one who incarnated subsequently during that time, as a swan, so that the huge darkness would be removed! You should embrace me. Oh, one who mercifully gave the rare vEdham! You should embrace.
vyAkhyAnam (Commentary)
thunniya … – just as in the absence of light darkness spreads everywhere, when vEdhams (sacred texts), which reveal the karma svarUpam (basic nature of deeds) and brahma svarUpam (basic nature of supreme being), disappear, the darkness of ignorance spreads throughout the world and hides everything.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that vEdhams are innumerable, as mentioned in “ananthAvai vEdhA:”. They could disappear either when monsters steal them from brahmA or during total deluge. Then, they will not have the distinction between the pUrva bhAgam (former part), which deals with carrying out karmas (deeds) and the uththara bhAgam (latter part), which deals with brahmam (supreme being). When vEdhams, which are permanent, without fault and self-illuminating, disappear, just like darkness envelops when light is absent, darkness of ignorance spreads. This darkness is composed of two parts – an inner darkness and an outer darkness. Inner darkness is the absence of light which comes from uththara bhAgam (dealing with supreme being) and outer darkness is the absence of light which comes from pUrva bhAgam (dealing with karmas).
manniya … – vEdhams, which are permanent and are composed of four parts such as rig etc disappear.
pin … – subsequently, in order to remove the huge darkness which had enveloped the world.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that after the vEdhams have disappeared and both the inner darkness and outer darkness have enveloped the world. AzhwAr says ivvulagu, specifically bhAratha varsha, the peninsular region among the three oceans, since it is here that Sruthi (vEdhams, sacred texts), smrithi (remembering and recalling the sacred texts), ithihAsa (great epics of SrI rAmAyaNa and mahAbhAratham) and purANas (narratives about emperumAn, mainly, and some of the celestial entities) happen without any shortcoming. Since this is the primary land, leaving aside the other worlds, he refers to this land as ivvulagu.
anRu …– Oh, one who incarnated as hamsa (swan) bird, which is capable of distinguishing between the essence (useful) and the non-essence (useless)! You should embrace.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that when brahmA et al cried out “We have lost our eyes; we have lost our wealth” [after the vEdhams were stolen by monsters], emperumAn incarnated in the form of a swan, which is capable of distinguishing between the essence and the non-essence. Since he instructed celestial deities such as brahmA et al, sages such as sanaka et al, without their asking for it, AzhwAr says annam adhu, to refer to emperumAn’s giving them the vEdhams, on his own. Even if they had asked for it, he would have given them the vEdhams, using their asking for it as a pretext. Instead of saying AgiRAn (he becomes) the reason for saying AnAn (became) is that he had instructed them vEdhams in the form of a swan, such that it was firmly established in their minds. Since the instructions were given by swan, there is no hurdle in saying that it was an AchArya (guru, or teacher). AzhwAr considers the beneficial acts of emperumAn, carried out to those celestial entities and sages, as his benefit, as a result of which, he says achchO, in amazement.
arumaRai … – Oh, one who gave the vEdhams, which are rarer to get, than even you! You should embrace.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that AzhwAr is qualifying the vEdhams as arumaRai (rare to get vEdhams) because he is, as said in periyAzhwAr thirumozhi “vEdhap payan koLLa valla vittuchiththan” (vishNu chiththar who is capable of taking in the benefit of vEdham) one who knows the benefit of vEdham and that the most secretive instruction of vEdhams is to carry out mangaLASAsanam (praising emperumAn and wishing well for him). By saying “thandhAn” (he gave), AzhwAr says that it was not limited to SAsthrajanyagyAnam (knowledge gained by reading SAsthrams) or to upadhESagyAnam (knowledge gained by listening to an AchArya’s instructions). He says that it was given by emperumAn directly, through his physical proximity, with knowledge and devotion, without any trace of ignorance. Who gave this, without expecting anything? AzhwAr says that it is the one who is distinct from the form of a swan, the benefactor who is donning the yellow-coloured divine dress and who is residing sweetly in SrI villibuththUr, the vataperum kOyil udaiyAn [this is the divine name of emperumAn who is dwelling in SrI villibuththUr, for whom periyAzhwAr was carrying out pushpa kainkaryam, carrying out servitude through flowers and garlands].
We shall next consider the last pAsuram of this thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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