SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: Sri varavaramunayE nama:
periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> Second Centum >> Fifth decad
avathArikai (Introduction)
There is no specific avathArikai for this pAsuram.
piNdath thiraLaiyum pEykkitta nIrchchORum
uNdaRku vENdi nI Odith thiriyAdhE
aNdaththu amarar perumAn azhagamar
vaNdoththu iruNda kuzhal vArAy akkAkkAy! mAyavan than kuzhal vArAy akkAkkAy!
Word-by-Word Meanings
piNdam – balls of cooked rice, kept as offering for forefathers
thiraLaiyum – collection
pEykku itta – offered for fiends
nIr sOrum – food, mixed with water
uNdaRku vENdi – desiring to eat them
nI – you, desiring to eat such offerings
Odith thiriyAdhE – instead of roaming around, trying to find those
aNdam – remaining in nithya vibhUthi [SrI vaikuNtam]
amarar – for nithyasUris
perumAn – one who is the lord
azhagu amar – being beautiful
vaNdu oththu – like beetles
iruNda – oh, crow! Comb the dark locks
mAyavan than – oh, crow! Comb the divine locks of one who has amazing activities.
Simple Translation
Crows roam around, looking for ball of cooked food, which is offered to forefathers as well as food mixed with water, which is offered to fiends. Oh, crow! Instead of roaming around for those types of food, comb the beautiful, divine locks of the lord of nithyasUris, which are dark like beetles. Comb the divine locks of one, who has amazing activities.
vyAkhyAnam (Commentary)
piNdath thiraLaiyum – the collection of ball-shaped, cooked rice, which is offered to forefathers.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai, in his svApadhESam, says the following: The reason for adding “also” [as in sORum, food also] needs an explanation. (1) Apart from eating the food meant for it, crow will roam around for eating food which has been offered by someone for someone else [food offered by people for their forefathers]. (2) It will eat the food and excrements of others (3). Unlike dog, which also eats others’ excrements but shows gratitude, crow will not show any gratitude (4) It does not feel ashamed of earning the name that it eats food offered to others (5) Just as the saying goes “paRakkum kAkkai irukkum kombu aRiyAdhu” (a crow which keeps flying will not distinguish between one stick and another), it does not have a regular place to live (6) It does not follow the rule of “Have a bath before eating”. After eating dirty food, it will wash of its head, to remove the fault of eating dirty food. (7) It will harm others [such as sitting atop cattle and pecking them] (8) It will eat the left-over food of those who have harmed others (9) It will eat the grains which have been kept for drying by those, who eat only grains which have got scattered around fields for their sustenance, when they are not standing guard over the grains (10) While it will bring up those who have sweet voices [cuckoos], it will drive them away later. Thus, the crow indulges in all these wrongful activities.
pEykku itta nIr sORum – food, which is mixed with water, and offered to fiends
uNdaRku vENdi – desiring to eat those
nI Odith thiriyAdhE – don’t roam around, trying to locate those places.
aNdaththu amarar perumAn – the eminent entity [emperumAn] who gives sustenance, nourishment and enjoyment to nithyasUris, who dwell in SrI vaikuNtam
azhagamar vaNdoththu iruNda kuzhal vArAy – Oh, crow! Comb the beautiful, divine locks of such entity, which are curled and dark, like beetles.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that the term vaNdu refers to those who have taken refuge under emperumAn. The term oththu also indicates that emperumAn too takes refuge in them, just as it has been mentioned in thiruvAimozhi 9.9.4 “dheyva vaNdu” (supreme lord who is like a beetle). emperumAn had surrendered to sugrIvan, who had surrendered to emperumAn [in order to kill vAli and to get back his wife], just as it has been said in SrI rAmAyaNam kishkindhA kANdam 4-19 “sugrIvam SaraNam gatha:” ((such SrI rAma) is now taking shelter under sugrIvan) and in SrI rAmAyaNam kishkindhA kANdam 4-18 “sugrIvam nAtham ichchathi” ((such SrI rAma) now accepts the lordship of sugrIvan). In the same manner, in order to make his follower to surrender to him, he surrenders to the same person ahead, just as he had done in the case of varuNa et al [samudhra rAjan, at the seashore, for asking him to give way for his army of monkeys to cross the ocean). How do he and his followers take refuge in each other? Just as it has been said in thiruvAimozhi 6.10.10 “alarmEl mangai uRai mArbA – nigaril amarar” (one who has a divine chest from which SrI mahAlakshmi does not leave even for a moment and who is desired by the matchless nithyasUris) or as said in thiruvAimozhi 1.7.8 “pinnai nedum paNaiththOL magizh pIdu udai munnai amarar” (emperumAn has the greatness of enjoying the wide, well-rounded shoulders of nappinnaip pirAtti and is the leader of nithyasUris), they do so in the presence of pirAtti or nithyasUris. This is also mentioned in periya thirumozhi 5.8.1 “un thOzhi – umbi nI ugandha thOzhan” (sIthAp pirAtti is your friend, lakshmaNa is your brother and you are my friend), when he became friends with guhap perumAL, in the presence of sIthAp pirAtti and lakshmaNa [a nithyasUris].
thiruvAimozhip piLLai further says that the term kuzhal [as in iruNda kuzhal] refers to prapaththi [act of surrendering] and irutchi [darkness] refers to the depth of the meaning [of surrendering] which is not fathomable in emperumAn’s divine mind.
mAyavan … – Comb the divine locks of one, who has amazing activities.
We shall next consider the 8th pAsuram of this thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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