SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: Sri varavaramunayE nama:
periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> Second Centum >> First decad
avathArikai (Introduction)
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says, in his svApadhESam, that the entity, who is simple, is showing appUchchi.
kongai van kUni soRkoNdu kuvalayath
thungak kariyum pariyum irAchchiyamum
engum baradhaRku aruLi van kAnadai
angaNNan appUchchi kAttuginRAn ammanE! appUchchi kAttuginRAn
Word-by-Word Meanings
kongai – appearing as if a bosom had come up on her back
van – strong
kUni – manthara, who had a hunch back
sol koNdu – considering her words
kuvalayam – among the elephants in the world
thungam – being the tallest
kariyum – elephants
pariyum – and horses
irAchchiyamum – as well as kingdom
engum – the forest where he was mercifully stepping into
baradharRku – to bharathAzhwAn
aruLi – offered
van – difficult to enter for anyone
kAn – forest
adai – one who attained
am – beautiful
kaNNan – one, who has eyes, is showing appUchchi
ammanE! – oh, my! He is showing appUchchi
Simple Translation
Considering the words of manthara, who had a huge hump on her back, which appeared like a bosom on the back, SrI rAma offered the tallest among the elephants in the world, along with horses, the kingdom and the forest which he was going to enter, to bharathAzhwAn. He entered the forest, which is difficult to enter. Such an entity, who has beautiful eyes, is showing appUchchi. Oh, my! He is showing appUchchi.
vyAkhyAnam (Commentary)
kongai …– manthara had a strong hump on her back which appeared as if a bosom had arisen on her back. Considering the words of such kUni… While SrI rAma had gone to the forest in order to fulfil the words of his father, why is the pAsuram saying that he went as per the words of kUni? Just as bharathAzhwAn had said in SrI rAmAyaNam ayOdhyA kANdam “na mantharAyA na mAthurasyA dhOshOnurAgya:” (It was not the fault of kUni’s, it wasn’t mother kaikEyi’s neither was it dhaSaratha’s), among the reasons for SrI rAma to enter the forest, the first mentioned name was that of kUni’s. It was due to her words that kaikEyi’s mind got confused and because of that, chakravarthi (emperor) had to ask SrI rAma to go to the forest. Thus, since she was the root of all these, the pAsuram says that considering her words, SrI rAma went to the forest.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that kUni’s intelligence too was crooked, just like her form.
kuvalayath thungak kariyum – Sathrunjayan, which was the tallest among all the elephants on earth, and elephants which were similar to it
pariyum – horses, which were eminent, like those elephants.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that the horses in the kingdom were similar to uchchaiSravas (horse seen in celestial world).
irAchchiyamum – expansive kingdom, which did not have any enemies in between
engum – just as it has been mentioned in SrI rAmAyaNam kishkindhA kANdam 18-6 “ikshvAkUNAm iyam bhUmi: saSailavanakAnanA” (earth, with its mountains, woods and forests, belongs to ikshvAku kingdom), even the forest to which SI rAma was about to mercifully go to, belonged to ikshvAKu kingdom.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai asks here: Did SrI rAma give the forest too, which he was going to enter, to bharatha? He answers this question in the following way: After SrI rAma had felled vAli with his arrow, vAli took that arrow and asked Sri rAma many questions, of which one was “What benefit would you attain by killing me?” to which SrI rAma said “In the kingdom of bharatha, would you covet your brother’s wife?” vAli then asked SrI rAma “Did he [his brother, sugrIva] not commit the same offence?” Sri rAma told him “If you speak this way, I will hurt you in such a way that you would feel that you have been kept on top of a totem pole” [In SrI rAmAyaNam, SrI rAma had told vALi that sugrIva had taken vAli’s wife to offer her protection, since everyone had thought that vAli was dead. However, vAli had seized sugrIva’s wife, even when sugrIva was alive]. It is due to this reason that SrI rAma said that the forest too belonged to bharathAzhwAn. Alternatively, it could be said that SrI rAma had told bharatha that through righteousness and through valour, he had offered bharatha whatever he desired. perumAL [SrI rAma] had said “I have given you” when it should have been “Father has given you”. Why did he say this way? Even if chakravarthi [dhaSaratha] were to give it, he needed SrI rAma’s permission. Absence of objection is equivalent to granting permission. Hence, it could be said that SrI rAma had given the forest too, to bharatha.
baradhaRku aruLi – SrI rAma gave all these to bharathAzhwAn, in line with the boons asked for by kaikEyi, and as accepted by emperor dhaSaratha.
van kAn adai … – the one, who is beautiful and simple, who attained the forest, which could not be entered into, by anyone. When SrI rAma was asked to leave for the forest, with the kAppu [protective sacred thread] around his wrist, his face did not darken [viz. he did not become sorrowful that he had to go to the forest when he was to be coronated the next day as the king of ayOdhyA]. He removed the crown, plaited his hair into matted hair and set for the forest, leaving the kingdom. Considering these aspects, SrI rAma is being referred to here as one with beauty and simplicity. Alternatively, the term am kaNNan would refer to one who has beautiful, divine eyes, as mentioned in SrI rAmAyaNam ayOdhyA kANdam 66-8 “rAma: kamalapathrAksha:” (SrI rAma who has his eyes like the petals of lotus flower). This describes the happiness in the eyes of SrI rAma, reflecting the state of his mind, instead of having any distress that he was leaving the wealth of kingdom and entering forest.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that after sending off sumanthran [dhaSaratha’s minister] and the chariot, SrI rAma entered the forest. where the small stones were hot due to the scorching sun and with his feet burning and paining, knowing the way to enter the forest but not the way to come out.
We shall next consider the 9th pAsuram of this thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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