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periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> Second Centum >> First decad
avathArikai (Introduction)
In this last pAsuram, AzhwAr mentions the benefit which will accrue to one who recites all the ten pAsurams of this decad and brings the decad to its end.
vallAL ilangai malangach charam thurandha
villALanai vittu chiththan viriththa
sollArndha appUchchip pAdal ivai paththum
vallAr pOy vaigundham manni irupparE
Word-by-Word Meanings
val AL – having strong entities
ilangai – lankApuri
malanga – to become bewildered
saram – arrows
thurandha – one who shot
vil ALanai – one who was controlling the bow
vittu chiththan – periyAzhwAr
viriththa – mercifully explained
sol Arndha – filled with words
appUchchi – regarding the activity of appUchchi
pAdal – pAsurams [songs]
ivai paththum – these ten
vallAr – those who are capable of reciting
pOy – going beyond prakruthi maNdalam (the region of primordial matter)
vaigundham – in SrI vaikuNtam
manni iruppar – will remain fittingly
Simple Translation
emperumAn shot arrows at lankApuri, which had many strong entities, such that all the people became bewildered. vittu chiththan had mercifully composed pAsurams regarding the matter of appUchchi indulged in, by that emperumAn. Those who are capable of reciting these ten pAsurams will go beyond the region of primordial matter and fit aptly in SrI vaikuNtam.
vyAkhyAnam (Commentary)
vallAL ilangai – lankA had strong people and the means as a result of which no one could attack it. It is inhabited by demons who are respected by rAvaNa.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai summarises the fear of AzhwAr from the first to the last pAsuram of this decad. In the first pAsuram, when he said “bAradham kai seydha aththUdhan” he was fearful as to “What will happen?” In the second pAsuram, when he said “nURRuvar pattazhiyath thiN thEr mEl munninRa …” he was fearful about alaivalai (one who speaks or does a lot); in the third pAsuram “kAyunIr kadambERith thIya paNaththil pAyndhAdi ” he was fearful that krishNa had jumped on top of the hoods of the snake kALiyan. In the fourth pAsuram, “iruttil piRandhu..” he was afraid of darkness; in the fifth pAsuram, he was afraid of the favourable entities turning into unfavourable [krishNa used to sleep under a cart; a monster pervaded that card and came rolling towards krishNa with the intention to kill him]. In the sixth pAsuram, since krishNa was consuming ghee, curd, milk etc, AzhwAr was afraid as to whether his stomach would be able to digest all these. In the seventh pAsuram, “asOdhai iLam singam – gOpAlak kOLari” he was afraid of krishNa’s activities due to his arrogance of being a young lion. In the eighth pAsuram, in line with the activities of his incarnation, emperumAn had to go to forest. AzhwAr was afraid of that. In the ninth pAsuram, he was afraid that krishNa had to go on top of garudan to save an elephant from a crocodile. In this [tenth] pAsuram, he was afraid of the danger from demons when he went with his bow to destroy lankA. In order to remove AzhwAr’s fear, emperumAn showed him the divine AzhwArs [divine disc and divine conch] which he constantly held in his divine hands. Since the girls in thiruvAyppAdi and AzhwAr too were afraid of enmity of monsters such as pUthanA, Sakata, yamaLa, arjuna et al towards emperumAn, the AzhwArs showed by emperumAn in his divine hands increased the fear of young girls in thiruvAyppAdi as well as AzhwAr himself. This showing of divine disc and divine conch in his hands is referred to as appUchchi [if AzhwAr had got consoled after seeing the divine disc and divine conch in emperumAn’s divine hands, he would have said ‘divine disc, divine conch’; however, he said appUchchi, again expressing fear]. If the herd-girls had been scared on seeing divine disc and divine conch, it is understandable [since they wouldn’t have known about the divine AzhwArs on emperumAn’s divine hands] and their friendliness towards emperumAn is admixed with fear. Though they had seen the divine weapons in many places, as in periyAzhwAr thirumozhi 1-2-12 “neyththalai nEmiyum sangum nilAviya”, they might have forgotten these [or, they would have been made to forget by emperumAn] and might have realised now, after seeing them on his divine hands. However, periyAzhwAr had moved with the divine AzhwArs on emperumAn’s divine hands, as in thiruppallANdu pAsuram 1 “valaththuRaiyum sudar Azhiyum pallANdu” etc, why should he then say appUchchi [as if he too had been scared]? This is because, he being a mangaLASAsanaparar [one who praises and wishes well for emperumAn], it is his nature to be like this. While AzhwAr might have composed these pAsurams under the pretext of herd-women saying appUchchi, for periyAzhwAr, this is his nature [being fearful of what would befall emperumAn and carrying out mangaLASAsanam]. Even if this appUchchi pAsuram had not been there, he had still expressed his fear through pAsurams, as in periyAzhwAr thirumozhi 3.3.6 – “vayiRum maRUkkinAy” (why did you make my stomach feel churned, in fear?). This is his habit. In situations where he had mercifully composed such pAsurams, this sense of fear would be always present in his divine mind.
Since lankA was seized [from kubEra] through show of strength [in a battle], AzhwAr says vallAL ilangai.
malanga – lankA was bewildered such that the sandals of demons and the [idols of] deities worshipped by the demons got scattered in various directions, looking for a safe place.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai asks here whether celestial deities are present in lankA. Just as it has been mentioned in the SlOkam “agnihOthrAScha vEdhAScha rAkshasAnAm gruhE gruhE” (in every house of the demons, the sounds of rituals and reciting of vedhams are heard), they are there. Alternatively, whatever [or whosoever] they liked, is their deity.
saram thotta villALanai – one who had the divine bow, with which the divine arrows were shot. It is implied through this that instead of destroying lankA with the greatness of being ISvaran (controller of all), in line with the species [human] in which he had incarnated, SrI rAma, with arrows, as a symbol of his masculinity, destroyed that place. While this thirumozhi (divine verses of 2nd centum, 1st decad) deals with emperumAn’s incarnation as krishNa, mercifully speaking this way about SrI rAmAvathAram in the final pAsuram of this thirumozhi is to bring in the unity between the two incarnations [both have same root, SrIman nArAyaNan]. This unity was mentioned in the 8th pAsuram of this decad too, “vankAnadai am kaNNan”.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that the term rAmacharam [arrows of SrI rAma] is famous. This is evidenced in pAsurams such as thiruvAimozhi 7-4-7 “mARu niraiththu iraikkum” (the arrows released by SrI rAma would make great sounds) and in thiruvAimozhi 8-6-3 “oruvar iruvar Or mUvar” (depending on the pace with which he released the arrows, SrI rAma would appear as a single entity or two persons or three persons; if the intensity is high, he would move so fast that it would appear as if he had disappeared).
vishNu chiththan viriththa – mercifully composed by periyAzhwAr, in a detailed manner.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that based on the valour etc shown in this [SrI rAma] avathAram which AzhwAr explained in a detailed manner, the valour in other incarnations too was explained . Even when he started composing prabandhams, as in thiruppallANdu 3 “ilangai pAzhALgap padai porudhAnukku” (one who fought along with the army of monkeys such that everyone in lankA was annihilated), he had explained this in a detailed manner.
sollArndha …– those who are capable of reciting these ten pAsurams, which are composed with words which are full of meanings, on the activity of appUchchi. Due to the usage of the term sollArndha, it is opined that those who recite these pAsurams need not take efforts to know their meanings. The flavour of the words itself is enough for them to recite these.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that SAsthrams [sacred texts] such as Sruthi, smruthi, ithihAsas and purANas became complete with words only after these appUchchi pAsurams were composed. This activity of appUchchi is such that the one who shows it, is fearless and the one, who sees it [AzhwAr], is fearful.
vallAr – this would refer to those who are capable of reciting the pAsurams with the pathos of periyAzhwAr.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that the term vallAr refers to those who recite with the pathos of AzhwAr. Alternatively, it refers to those who take refuge under AzhwAr’s affection, recite these with only the words [without knowing even the meanings] and make others to recite, making this as a habit.
pOy … – mere reciting of the pAsurams will enable them to go through the path of archis [the path of light which leads a soul to SrI vaikuNtam], enjoy emperumAn there and carry out mangaLASAsanam forever.
We shall next consider the pravESam of the next thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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