SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: Sri varavaramunayE nama:
periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> First Centum >> Eighth Decad
avathArikai (Introduction)
There is no specific avathArikai for this pAsuram.
pOr okkap paNNi ip pUmip poRai thIrppAn
thEr okka UrndhAy! sezhum thAr visayRkAy
kAr okkum mEnik karum perum kaNNanE!
Arath thazhuvAy vandhu achchO achchO AyargaL pOrERE! achchO achchO
Word-by-Word Meanings
ip pUmi – this earth’s
poRai – burden
thIrppAn – to reduce
pOr okkap paNNi – making dhuryOdhana et al to engage in war
sezhum – excellent
thAr – having thumbai garland [a kind of flowery garland worn by valorous warriors in battle]
visayaRku – for arjuna, who is called as “vijayan” [victorious]
Ay – standing as his support
thEr – his chariot
okka – matching the enemies’ chariots
UrndhAy! – oh, one who conducted!
kAr okkum – similar to cloud
mEni – having a divine form
karu – black
peru – extending up to the ears
kaNNanE – oh, one who has eyes!
vandhu – coming in [my] proximity
Ara – completely
thazhuvAy – you should mercifully embrace me.
AyargaL – having incarnated in the clan of herd-folk
pOr – ready to fight
ERE – oh, one who is arrogant like a bull! Embrace me
Simple Translation
In order to reduce the burden of this earth, you had made dhuryOdhana et al to engage in a war. Oh, one who stood by arjuna, who wears a thumbai garland, by conducting his chariot, matching the chariots of enemies! Oh, one who has a complexion similar to cloud and dark, expansive eyes, extending up to the ears! You should come near me and embrace me. Oh, one who is like an arrogant bull ready for battle! You should embrace me.
vyAkhyAnam (Commentary)
pOr … – this refers to waging a battle with the five pANdavas and their army of about seven akshauhiNis (each akshauhiNi consists of 21,870 elephants, 21,870 chariots, 65,610 horses and 1,09,350 foot soldiers) opposing an army of eleven akshauhiNis, a hundred kings, great warriors such as bhIshma, dhrONa et al. After dhuryOdhana had curtly said that “We will not give even that much of land on which a stick could be pushed in, for the pANdavas” krishNa made dhuryOdhana et al to engage in a war.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says, in his svApadhESam, that krishNa was firm that he would oppose the eleven akshauhiNis of enemy camp, which had a hundred kings and eminent warriors such as karNa, bhIshma, dhrONa et al with the seven akshauhiNis and five kings (on the pANdavas’ side) on equal footing. This is not only due to their [kauravas’] unfavourable posture and pANdavas’ favourable posture. It was also due to removal of earth’s burden. Just as it has been mentioned in thiruvAimozhi 9-1-10 “maNNin bAram nIkkudhaRkE vadamadhuraip pirandhAn” (emperumAn incarnated in northern mathurA only to reduce the load on earth) and the saying of bhUmip pirAtti “nabhAram sapthasAgara:” (the seven oceans, the anchoring mountains etc are not a burden to me) who had said “Oceans and mountains are not a burden for me; without acknowledging the help rendered by emperumAn continuously from the time that he had provided the AthmAs with a form and senses, there are people who, due to their ego and possessiveness, behave in a thankless manner. It is these people who are a burden to me”. To remove that burden, he conducted his chariot as an equivalent of many chariots on the other side.
ippUmip poRai thIrppAn – the purpose of bringing about this war was to annihilate all those who were not following the path of righteousness and who were having the behaviour of monsters. Just as it has been mentioned in thiruvAimozhi 9-1-10 “maNNin bAram nIkkudhaRkE vada madhuraip piRandhAn”, this was also the purpose of his incarnation.
thEr … – arjuna had donned garlands made of flowers of thumbai, vAgai etc as an indication of engaging in war and emerging victorious. Just as it has been mentioned in mahAbhAratham “yasya manthrIcha gOpthAcha” (krishNa remains as the minister and protector) etc, oh, one who remained as everything [during the war] and conducted the chariot matching all the chariots of all the enemies! Since krishNa had taken a vow “I will not wield a weapon”, conducting the chariot [of arjuna’s] he had annihilated the armies of enemies with the chariot wheels. He had reduced the burden of earth merely by ably conducting the chariot, as mentioned in thiruvAimozhi 3-2-3 “kollA mAkkOl” (the eminent stick with which he guided the horses of chariot and which did not directly kill anyone).
kAr okkum … – Oh, one who has the form of rain bearing clouds and eyes which are wide, as mentioned in amalanAdhipirAn 9 “kariyAvAgip pudai parandhu” (being dark and expansive)! This states the happiness resulting from the effect of removing the burden on earth and making arjuna, his follower, as victorious.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that krishNa’s eyes widened and became huge upon seeing AzhwAr [when he came to embrace]. Hence, AzhwAr is addressing him as one who has expansive eyes.
Ara … – you should embrace me fully such that my desire is satiated.
AyargaL … – Oh, one who is obedient towards the herd-people, as result of which one who is arrogant like a bull which is battle-ready! You should embrace me.
We shall next consider the 7th pAsuram of this thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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