SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: Sri varavaramunayE nama:
periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> Second Centum >> First decad
avathArikai (Introduction)
There is no specific avathArikai for this pAsuram.
mechchUdhu sangam idaththAn nalvEyUdhi
poychchUdhil thORRa poRai udai mannarkkAy
paththUr peRAdhu anRu bAradham kai seydhu
aththUdhan appUchchi kAttuginRAn ammanE! appUchchi kAttuginRAn
Word-by-Word Meanings
mechcha – to celebrate
Udhu – blow
sangam – SrI pAnchajanyam [divine conch]
idaththAn – having in the divine left hand
nal – having a sweet musical note to hear
vEy – flute made of bamboo which is played by krishNa
poy – dishonest
sUdhil – in gambling [play of dice]
thORRa – having lost
poRai udai – having the nature of patience
mannarkku Ay – as a support for the pANdavas
paththu Ur – even ten villages
peRAdha – not attained
anRu – during that time
bAradham – in the mahAbhAratham war
kai seydha– one who helped
aththUdhan – that messenger [krishNa]
appUchchi kAttuginRAn – is showing appUchchi
(showing appUchchi – to frighten the children sitting on the opposite side, flipping the eyelids, to expose the inner, reddish, fleshy portion, covering the face with the hair and creating a scare etc)
ammanE! – oh, my! (this is the word mentioned to express fear on seeing that appUchchi). He is showing appUchchi
Simple Translation
krishNa has the divine SrI pAnchajanyam on his divine left hand, which he blows, leading to celebration. He plays on the divine flute which gives out a sweet musical note, to hear. Such krishNa supported the pANdavas when they lost out in a dishonest game of dice, having only patience with them. He, who assisted them during the mahAbhAratha war when they could not get even ten villages for themselves, is showing appUchchi. Oh, how frightening! He is showing appUchchi.
vyAkhyAnam (Commentary)
mechchUdhu sangam idaththAn – he has the divine SrI pAnchajanyam on his divine left hand such that everyone would celebrate, saying “He, who is dependent on his followers, is biased towards pANdavas”. The word mechcha [to celebrate] has got shortened as mechchu. He blows the divine conch such that everyone celebrates. The sound of SrI pAnchajanyam makes the unfavourable entities to feel defeated and the favourable ones to feel sustained, just as it has been mentioned in SrI vishNu purANam 5-21-29 “yasya nAdhEna dhaithyAnAm balahAnirajAyatha l dhEvAnAm vavruthE thEja: prasAdhASchaiva yOginAm ll” (Through the sound of which pAnchajanyam the monsters felt weakened, the celestial entities’ splendour got enhanced and the mercy on sages increased….).
thiruvAimozhip piLLai, in his svApadhESam, says that krishNa’s divine left hand was the identity for SrI pAnchajanyam and when he blew it, people on both sides (pANdavas and dhuryOdhana et al) knew that he is biased towards pANdavas. He further says that apart from SrI pAnchajanyam being the identity for his divine left hand, krishNa also made it known that his divine left hand was the identity for SrI pAnchajanyam, making it a distinct identity.
nalvEyUdhi – this is the necessary identification for his incarnation [as krishNa]. One who plays on the flute such that the favourable entities feel happy. What is beneficial for the flute? [nal – beneficial] Just as it has been mentioned in periyAzhwAr thirumozhi 3-6-5 “nannarambudaiya thumburuvOdu nAradhanum thandham vINai maRandhu” (upon hearing the sweet notes from the flute, played by krishNa) entities such as thumburu, nAradha et al, who possess instruments which have eminent strings, forgot about their vINa (a stringed instrument)) and in periyAzhwAr thirumozhi 3-6-10 “marangaL ninRu madhu thAraigaL pAyum” (upon hearing the musical notes from krishNa’s flute, streams of honey will flow out from trees), he would engage both the chEthana (those with thinking power) and achEthana entities (those which cannot think), without any distinction, to fully engage with his playing. In this incarnation, krishNa was constantly in touch with both SrI pAnchajanyam and the divine flute. During the time when he would go behind the cows for the purpose of grazing, just as it has been mentioned in periyAzhwAr thirumozhi 3-4-3 “Aniraiyinam meeLak kuRiththa sangam” (krishNa would blow the SrI pAnchajanyam in order to get the cattle to flock back to him) and in thiruvAimozhi 6-4-2 “kEyaththInguzhal UdhiRRum niraimEyththadhum” (krishNa played sweet songs with the flute to herd the cattle together), he was constantly using SrI pAnchajanyam and the divine flute.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that just as Sikha(tuft), yagyOpavIdham (sacred thread) and sandhyAvandhanam (paying obeisance to various celestial entities at three specified times in a day) are identities for a brAhmaNa, flute and playing the flute are identities for the herd-clan people. More than krishNa’s basic identities [of having the divine weapons, of having SrI mahAlakshmi on his divine chest, of having AdhiSEshan as his mattress etc], since the flute, as his distinct identity, was dominant, AzhwAr terms it as nalvEy (beneficial flute)
poychchUdhil thORRa – losing their entire wealth after being defeated in the dishonest game of dice. There was no possibility [for dhuryOdhana et al] to defeat [the pANdavas] through honest means; hence they were defeated through dishonest means.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that while playing the game of dice was meant to be a flavour of one’s playing ability, since dhuryOdhana et al used it as a pretext for carrying out evil intentions, AzhwAr calls it as poychchUdhu (dishonest game of dice).
poRai udai mannarkkAy – for the kings [the five pANdavas] who retained their quality of tolerance, without showing any anger, despite knowing that they were defeated through dishonest means. Though dhuryOdhana et al seized all the wealth of the pANdavas, they were unable to steal their quality of patience. Hence, the term poRaiyudai mannar is being used to identify them.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that while dhuryOdhana et al seized the wealth of pANdavas, if pANdavas had given them a part of their quality of patience too, dhuryOdhana et al would not have accepted that, with their forms. When yudhishtira and his brothers left the court of dhritharAshtra [dhuryOdhana’s father and pANdavas’ paternal uncle] after the game of dice was over, dhrithrAshtra, expecting that they would have left in anger, asked people nearby “When dharmaputhra [yudhishtira] and others left, did they leave in anger?” they responded saying “We saw only happiness on the faces of pANdavas; there was no trace of anger” dhritharAshtra lamented “The great sinner did not show any anger or did not cry, ensuring that not one of my hundred sons will survive in future; a great evil he is” since his inner eye too was blind, just as his external eyes. Even if dhuryOdhana et al had returned the wealth of yudhishtira et al, which he had usurped through dishonest means, along with his share of the wealth, yudhishtira et al would not have accepted them. What is the reason for this? Is it that they did not want to live with dhuryOdhana et al, sharing the total wealth? No, this is not the reason, as we could see from the narration about the way gandharvas [a class of celestial entities] insulted dhuryOdhana et al, in the forest, when there was none to help dhuryOdhana et al, and hearing their outcry, yudhishtira sent his younger brothers to help them. Thus, people will seek wealth; for yudhishtira et al, tolerance was their wealth and hence, they did not separate from it. For ISvaran (krishNa, pANdavas were the wealth and hence, he joined with them.
mannarkkAy – just as it has been mentioned in mahAbhAratham AraNya parvam SlOkam “yasya manthrIcha gOpthAcha suhruchchaiva janArdhana:” (janArdhana, who is the lord of the three worlds, is the minister, protector and friend of dharmaputhra), krishNa was their support in all ways, being their parathanthran (being dependent on them).
paththUr … – for the sake of pANdavas, krishNa went as their divine messenger and told dhuryOdhana et al “Instead of displaying enmity, pANdavas and you could pool in your respective wealth, apportion them appropriately and live together for a long time”. When they refused, he told them “Even if you wish to reduce their share, it is acceptable; I will make them to accept it”. When they did not agree to this too, he told them “Give each of them two villages, thus ten villages in all”. They said “We will not give them any of these; isn’t vasundharA vIrabhOgyai?” (earth belongs to the winner). Then krishNa said “Let it be that way”; he made yudhishtira et al too, to engage in war, and helped the pANdavas through conducting the chariot, counselling the pANdavas in the formation of the army etc; he was the messenger who was biased towards his followers.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that krishNa was the messenger who was the charioteer for the pANdavas during the war, conducting the chariot and arranging the army formations; he was the messenger who could not get ten villages for the pANdavas; while being neutral between the two sides as a messenger, he made it known to dhuryOdhana et al that he was biased towards pANdavas, who had taken refuge under him, by saying, as in mahAbhAratham udhyOga parvam “mama prANAhi pANdavA:” (pANdavas are my life).
appUchchi – one that created fear among the children who were sitting opposite him. There is a narrative here about krishNa displaying the symbols of his being the lord of all to frighten children who were considering him as “One among us”, looking at his simplicity. There was an araiyar [araiyar is a title given to certain prople who are experts in singing nAlAyira dhivya prabandham with musical tones and through fluid movements of their forms, enact the narration in the prabandham), by the name of uyndha piLLai in SrIrangam, during the time of rAmAnujar. One day, he was demonstrating the movements for this pAsuram, in the presence of rAmAnujar and other preceptors. When it came to the term aththUdhan he pointed out to namperumAL, who was seated in that assembly. When it came to appUchchi, he flipped his eyelids, and came around the dais. embAr, rAmAnujar’s younger brother as well as his successor to the head of SrIvaishNava assembly in SrIrangam, who was seated much behind rAmAnujar, indicated to the araiyar with his divine hands and divine shoulders joined together. araiyar understood the meaning conveyed by embAr, and demonstrated the same during the second time when he showed the meaning for the terms. rAmAnujar, wondering “What is the reason behind this?” understood the sequence, by turning back mercifully and said “SrI gOvindhap perumAL! Were you present!” [gOvindha perumAL was another name by which embAr was known]. The term appUchchi refers to the two AzhwArs [SrI sudharSana AzhwAr, the divine disc, and SrI pAnchajanyam AzhwAr, the divine conch]; ammanE is the world expressed with fear, upon seeing krishNa with the divine AzhwArs on his divine hands.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that krishNa showed appUchchi, manifesting his bias towards pANdavas, who had taken refuge under him. He further says that AzhwAr refers to the two AzhwArs [divine disc and divine conch] in his two divine hands as appUchchi. If the identity for an entity [krishNa] is simplicity [since he went as a messenger to the court of dhritharAshtra], then eminence could be termed as appUchchi [here, the word eminence refers to divine disc and divine conch]. This is unlike bhagavath gIthA SlOkam 18-66 when krishNa said “mAm vraja” (take refuge under me]. The reason for this is that there, he said this as a charioteer and his eminence was not seen. It is only when he said further in the same SlOkam that “I will liberate you from all your hurdles” that his eminence was clear. However, here, though he went in as a messenger, signifying his simplicity, for appUchchi he manifested his eminent symbols of divine disc and divine conch, making it very clear that he is an eminent entity.
We shall next consider the 2nd pAsuram of this 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