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periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> Second Centum >> Sixth decad
avathArikai (Introduction)
There is no specific avathArikai for this pAsuram.
Alaththu ilaiyAn aravin aNai mElAn
neelak kadaluL nedum kAlam kaN vaLarndhAn
pAlap pirAyaththE pArthaRku aruL seydha
kOlap pirAnukku Or kOl koNdu vA kudandhaik kidandhARku Or kOl koNdu vA
Word-by-Word Meanings
Al ilaiyAn – as one who is reclining on a tender banyan leaf (in the term ‘Alaththu’, the term aththu is present as a poetic metric and does not carry any meaning)
aravu aNai mElAn – as one who is reclining on thiruvananthAzhwAn [AdhiSEshan] [here too, the term ‘in’ in aravin does not have a meaning; it is present for poetic metric]
neelam – being dark (due to the shadow from the divine form)
kadaluL – in the ocean
nedu kAlam – until the time of deluge
kaN vaLarndhAn – as one who is reclining
pAlap pirAyaththu – at young age
pArththaRku – for arjuna
aruL seydha – one who showered his grace mercifully
kOlam – being beautiful
pirAnukku – bring a stick for the one who is the benefactor for the world
kudandhai – in thirukkudandhai [present day kumbakONam]
kidandhARku – bring a stick for one who is mercifully reclining
Simple Translation
emperumAn is one, who is reclining mercifully on a tender banyan leaf. He is mercifully reclining on thiruvananthAzhwAn. He is reclining on the ocean, which is dark [due to the shadow cast by his divine form], until the time of deluge. Bring a stick for one, who is beautiful, who showered his mercy on arjuna at his young age and who is the benefactor for the world. Bring a stick for one, who is mercifully reclining in thirukkudandhai.
vyAkhyAnam (Commentary)
Alaththu ilaiyAn – when deluge came to destroy all the worlds, emperumAn mercifully reclined on a banyan leaf. As seen earlier, the term aththu is a sAriyai – it is added to keep with the metrics of the poem and does not carry any meaning.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai, in his svApadhESam, says here that just as the incarnation of krishNa, AdhiSEshan too, as said in mudhal thiruvandhAdhi 53 “senRAl kudaiyAm” (when emperumAn walks, AdhiSEshan goes as the umbrella), incarnated, esoterically, as a banyan leaf, indicating the meaning for this pAsuram. periyavAchchAn piLLai would say that “poygai AzhwAr prays to emperumAn and asks him ‘AlanRu vElai nIr uLLadhO viNNadhO maNNadhO sOlai sUzh kunRu eduththAy sollu’” (Oh emperumAn! Only you should say as to how that banyan leaf came on that day. Did it come in the ocean, or did it come in the unsupported sky or did it come out of the [dissolved] earth?) In the term Alaththu, the term aththu is a sAriyai. If it is considered as a case [as in AlAna aththinudaiya], it will be an indicative word, showing the reason for the leaf.
aravin aNai mElAn – he also mercifully reclines on the mattress of thiruvananthAzhwAn [AdhiSEshan]. Just as the saying goes “sahasra vadhana: dhEva: paNAmaNi virAjitha: l sa Eva vatavrukshO bhUth anantha: adhbhutha rUpavAn” (AdhiSEshan has a thousand faces through which he delivers thousand divine speeches; he is a nithyasUri; he is resplendent with his spread hoods; he is also the banyan tree; such AdhiSEshan is without an end and has an amazing form), it is only AdhiSEshan who also is the banyan leaf. Since the pAsuram says Alaththu ilayAn aravin aNai mElAn that meaning also holds good.
neelak kadaluL nedum kAlam kaN vaLarndhAn – Though the ocean is inherently white in colour, being the milky ocean [where emperumAn reclines], due to reflection from emperumAn’s divine form, the colour of the ocean appears to be blue. He reclined mercifully on that ocean, until the time of deluge. Just as it has been said in periya thirumozhi 3.1.1 “karum thaN mAkadal kaN thuyinRavan” (one who reclined on the dark, cool, expansive ocean) and in mUnRAm thiruvandhAdhi 37 “uvarkkum karum kadal nIr uLLAn”(emperumAn is mercifully reclining in the dark ocean which is salty), we could consider that emperumAn is reclining on the salty ocean [instead of the first meaning considered here, where due to his reflection, the milky ocean has acquired a bluish colour].
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that the term neelak kadal could refer either to the normal [salty] ocean or the milky ocean which has turned dark due to reflection from emperumAn’s divine form, just as it has been said in thiruvAimozhi 7.2.11 “mugil vaNNa vAnam” (due to the colour of emperumAn’s divine form, the [spiritual] sky is also dark in colour). When milky ocean was churned [during kritha yugam] many herbs were dropped in the ocean to get nectar. Due to these herbs, the colour of ocean had become blue. If one says that the colour which was manifested during kritha yugam will not hold good during kali yugam [when AzhwAr had composed this pAsuram], it could be said that since AzhwAr had seen that blue colour [due to emperumAn’s causeless devotion-based-knowledge], he is referring to that. Though good qualities and faults are incidental, they could be referred to, as long as the person who has those qualities and faults lives. In the same way, the ocean could be termed as blue, even now. If the reference is to the salty ocean, just as it has been said in periya thirumozhi 3.1.1 “karundhaN mA kadal kaN thuyinRavan” and in mUnRAm thiruvandhAdhi 37 “uvarkkum karum kadal nIr uLLAn” [we have seen above, the meanings for these pAsurams], this is also true since emperumAn reclines in all the oceans. In an ocean of this type, just as it has been said as aravin aNai mElAn, he mercifully reclined, in yOga nidhrA [resting while reclining], thinking about protecting the worlds.
bAlap pirAyaththE pArththaRku aruL seydha – Since indhra [celestial head] came and pointing out arjuna, told emperumAn “He is my son; you should mercifully protect him”, right from young age, krishNa was protecting arjuna. During later years, since arjuna became friendly with emperumAn and lived under his protective care, krishNa took extra care in the case of arjuna, unlike the others. Thus, that mercy grew up with time.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that krishNa had been supportive of arjuna for several reasons: (1) due to indhra’s request to take care of him since arjuna was his son, (2) since he was biased towards arjuna, (3) since arjuna was listening to his words, (4) from the time when the pANdavas were brought up along with servants of dhrutharAshtra in a shed, krishNa was reminding the pANdavas about what they had forgotten, and later, after they had grown up, due to dhraupadhi’s pledge [that she will plait her locks only with the blood of dhuSAsan] and (5) with overwhelming mercy. It was for these reasons that krishNa mercifully gave bhagavath gIthA to krishNa, on the chariot.
kOlap pirAnukku – the beautiful benefactor. He manifested his unique, beautiful, divine form, which is beyond one’s sense organs, to arjuna, conducting his chariot, and thus became a benefactor.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that apart from all the above, krishNa became a benefactor for arjuna by making his divine form, which is enjoyed by nithyasUris, to be under the control of arjuna when he sat on arjuna’s chariot, conducting it, and protecting arjuna.
kudandhaik kidandhRku – just as it has been said in thiruvAimozhi 10.9.7 “kudandhai en kOvalan” (krishNa, who is mercifully reclining in thirukkudandhai), it is in thirukkudandhai where emperumAn is mercifully reclining, manifesting his saulabhyam [easy approachability] during his incarnation as krishNa. Just as he mercifully manifested himself as kOlap pirAn, here [in thirukkudandhai] he mercifully reclined, just as it has been mentioned in thiruvAimozhi 5.8.1 “ErAr kOlam thigazhak kidandhAy” (you are resting, exhibiting your abundant beauty, which is shining).
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that apart from saying “mOkshayishyAmi” (I shall relieve you from all your sins), krishNa is mercifully reclining in thirukkudandhai, to lend authenticity to the saying “kumbakONE vinaSyathi” (sins will be destroyed in kumbakONam). He is one who, just as it has been said in thiruvAimozhi 5.8.10 “Avi agamE thiththippAy” (you trigger great taste in me, towards you, in my heart) is very sweet.
We shall next consider the 7th pAsuram of this thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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