SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:
periya thirumozhi >> Seventh centum >> Fifth decad
Highlights from avathArikai (Introduction)
No specific introduction.
pAsuram
pAriththezhundha padai mannar thammai mALap pAradhaththuth
thEril pAganAy Urndha dhEva dhEvan Ur pOlum
neeril paNaiththa neduvALaikku anjip pOna kuruginangaL
Aral kavuLOdu arugaNaiyum aNiyAr vayal sUzh azhundhUrE
Word-by-Word meanings
neeril – in water
paNaiththa – playing joyfully due to overwhelming joy
nedu – huge
vALaikku – for the scabbard fish
anji – scared
pOna – ran away
kurugu inangaL – the flock of birds named kurugu (crane)
Aral – small fish named Aral [sand-eel]
kavuLOdu – holding in the cheek
arugu – (then) in the proximity of the big fish
aNaiyum – arrived
aNi Ar – very beautiful
vayal sUzh – surrounded by fertile fields
azhundhUr – the dhivyadhESam named thiruvazhundhUr is
pAriththu – being eager (to defeat krishNa)
ezhundha – came forward
padai – having weapons
mannar thammai – kings such as dhuryOdhana et al
mALa – to destroy
bAradhaththu – in mahAbhAratha battle
thEril – on the chariot (which belongs to arjuna)
pAganAy – remaining as the sArathy (krishNa, the charioteer)
Urndha – one who conducted the chariot
dhEva dhEvan – sarvESvaran who is the lord of nithyasUris, his
Ur pOlum – eternally desirable as in the case of paramapadham
Simple translation
The dhivyadhESam named thiruvazhundhUr is surrounded by beautiful fertile fields where the cranes became scared and ran away seeing the big scabbard fish which is playing and jumping around in the water due to overwhelming joy, and subsequently held the small fish, sand-eel inside their cheeks and came close to the big fish too. sarvESvaran, who is the lord of nithyasUris, became the charioteer for arjuna and conducted the chariot in mahAbhAratha battle to destroy kings such as dhuryOdhana et al who had come forward eagerly to defeat krishNa. Such krishNa’s abode is eternally desirable as in the case of paramapadham.
Highlights from vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
pAriththu … – They gathered together and came saying “We will capture sArathy today”. These are the same ones who tried to capture him by placing a fake throne, when he went to their place without any weapons.
padai mannar thammai mALa – The kings who have weapons, came holding their weapons in their hands and got killed and were lying at the chariot wheel.
thammai mALa – He gave them that which they were seeking [they were seeking to kill him and he killed them].
thEril pAganAy Urndha – If he conducted the chariot as the rathi (owner of the chariot), the victory will belong to him. But his intent is – enemies should be destroyed and arjuna should be victorious – hence he remained as the charioteer and conducted the chariot. There was a devotee, who would recite the text while kUraththAzhwAn gives kAlakshEpam (explanations in a line by line manner), who wanted to learn a particular text from him. But he did not want others to know that he was learning the meanings from AzhwAn. AzhwAn agreed and was teaching him. He was having the book in his hands and reading the text and AzhwAn was teaching him in the western side of SrIrangam in seclusion. At that time, a king arrived there. AzhwAn quickly took the manuscripts from that devotee and held it in his hands, pretending that he is learning from that devotee. [Here AzhwAn wanted that devotee to learn, but pretended as if he is learning from that devotee. This is similar to how krishNa helped arjuna become victorious]
dhEva dhEvan Ur pOlum – What did bhagavAn think about himself? He, who is the lord of those who are untouched by the smell of samsAram, made himself subservient to one among the samsAris (materialistic persons)!
neeril paNaiththa nedu vALaikku anjippOna kuruginangaL – The cranes gather in flocks and arrive at the water-bodies/fertile-fields to catch fish which can be held in their mouth. While having such small sand-eel fish inside the cheeks, the cranes will see the big scabbard fish which is joyfully jumping up and down, and think that “it is our food” and come closer. Seeing the large size of the fish, they will fly away with fear due to not knowing “this is in water, it cannot fly” [it flies away thinking that the jumping fish may catch it]. But subsequently, it will come back to catch the big fish again.
aNiyAr vayal sUzh azhundhUrE – The cranes went through similar emotions as seen in the mahAbhAratha war. bhIshma et al, who are great warriors who were thinking “We are famous for our bravery and are known as ‘athiratha’, ‘mahAratha’ et al. Now we cannot be cowardly for battle” and approached sArathy and then moved away thinking “We cannot be crushed by the wheels of his chariot”.
In the next article we will enjoy the next pAsuram.
adiyen sarathy ramanuja dasan
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