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periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> Third Centum >> Eighth decad
avathArikai
thiruvAimozhip piLLai, in his svApadhESam, says that this pAsuram recounts the sadness of the mother, not finding her daughter in the bed.
nalladhOr thAmaraip poygai nANmalar mEl pani sOra
alliyum thAdhum udhirndhittu azhagu azhindhAl oththadhAlO
illam veRiyOdiRRAlO en magaLai engum kANEn
mallarai attavan pin pOy madhuraip puRam pukkAL kolO
Word-by-Word Meanings
nalladhu – being beautiful
Or – being unique
thAmaraip poygai – lotus pond
nAL – just then blossomed
malar mEl – on the flower
pani – dew, which is an inimical entity for that flower
sOra – as it condenses
alliyum – inner petals
thAdhum – and pollens
udhirndhittu – as they fall
azhagu azhindhAl oththadhu – just as the beauty of the pond gets destroyed
illam – house
veRiyOdiRRu – has become empty
en magaLai – my daughter
engum – in any place
kANEn – I am not seeing
mallarai – chANUra, mushtika [wrestlers]
attavan pin pOy – going behind the one who annihilated them
madhuraip puRam – to AyppAdi, which is close to mathurA
pukkAL kol O! – Have they entered! She is suspecting
Simple Translation
In a pond, which is beautiful and unique, with plenty of lotus flowers, when dew condenses, the inner petals and pollens from the flowers fall off, destroying the beauty of the pond. The house has become empty. I am unable to see my daughter in any of the places. Has she gone behind the one who had annihilated wrestlers such as mushtika and chANUra and entered thiruvAyppAdi, which is close to mathurA!
vyAkhyAnam (Commentary)
nalladhOr thAmaraip poygai – the pond looked beautiful and unique since lotus flowers had blossomed throughout the entire area of the pond.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that abundance of water and fertile soil are the eminence for a pond. It is because of such a pond that the lotus flower had got distinction. The word Or [as in nalladhOr] indicates absence of any metaphor for the pond.
nANmalar mEl pani sOra – while the lotus has qualities such as “Reddishness, blossomed, freshness, coolness, fragrance and tenderness”, dew, which is of an inimical nature to lotus flower, was condensing in large quantity.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that just as the lotus flower has qualities of freshness, coolness, tenderness etc, her daughter too had qualities of birth in a good clan, good conduct etc, having been born to her. Now, with her leaving, the house looks totally empty. Is the pond, which is devoid of lotus, a metaphor for her house? Though the pond has lost its beauty since the lotus has lost its inner petals and pollens and has withered, this is a temporary phenomenon since the lotus will bloom again, as long as the reason for its existence [pond] remains. The mother says that this is not the case for her or for her house. Once rAjarishi became brahmarishi, his quality of being a warrior did not follow him [reference here is to sage viSwAmithra, who became brahmarishi (a supreme sage) from the status of rAjarishi (a lower grade among the sages, referring to sages coming from regal background)]. The divine daughter of janaka maharAja [sIthAp pirAtti] too did not think of SrI mithilA [the town of mithilA, where she had spent her early years] after leaving it [the mother is quoting these examples to show that her daughter too would not return to her house]. Thus, the usage of the term AlO [as in illam veRiyOdiRRAlO] signifies absence of any metaphor and the impossibility of her daughter coming back.
alli … – due to that, the inner petals and pollens lost their freshness and started withering. Since the flowers, which were a decoration to the pond, got destroyed, the pond lost its beauty. While dew helps most of the botanical entities, it has a nature of being inimical to lotus flower alone. The house has become just like the lotus flower which had been affected by dew. The syllables Al and O [as in azhagu azhindhAl oththadhAlO] reflect the excessive sadness in the mother.
illam veRiyOdiRRAlO – house has become empty. It says that the house has become empty without anyone roaming around, inside. Only this girl was roaming around inside the house earlier. Even if others had been present, if this girl had left, it would appear to the mother that the house has become empty. She says AlO again, due to overflowing sadness.
en magaLai engum kANEn – I am unable to see my daughter anywhere. It is not only inside the house, the mother has searched in all the places where the daughter used to go to, earlier and says that she is unable to see her anywhere.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that though the daughter has left, emphasising that “She is not my daughter”, the mother still looks for “My daughter”, everywhere. Even after not seeing her anywhere, even when she searches in the houses of others, she looks for “My daughter”, just like looking for her in her house. Despite tracking her movements, she did not see her daughter anywhere. When those, of whom she had enquired about the whereabouts of her daughter, responded in the negative, she became deeply saddened. Yet, due to her fickle-mindedness, due to the fact that she was born to her, due to her daughter’s natural quality [of being a lady], due to the mischief of gOvindhan [krishNa, who tends to cattle], due to his ability of annihilating his enemies as a measure of protecting his followers, just as it has been mentioned in periya thirumozhi 3.7.1 “aNiyAli puguvar kolO” (Will they enter the town, thiruvAli, which is like an ornament for earth?), the mother asks “Has she entered the vicinity of mathurA, following him, who had annihilated wrestlers?”puRam – thiruvAyppAdi. Since the two of them are deeply infatuated with each other, they could even enter the town of kamsan, mathurA. Alternatively, it could be said that the mother is suspecting whether “She has entered thiruvAyppAdi, which is hers”. Though the wrestlers had been killed, kamsan had been destroyed, ugrasEna had been coronated as the king of mathurA and the people of that place have become favourable towards krishNa, AzhwAr is still scared of mathurA, due to the fear that in that place, even a corpse could get up and walk.
He says at the end, the following: Through this [narrative], it appears that an AchAryan, from whose residence a disciple has gone on his own [in search of emperumAn], going past his hitha vachanam [instructions which bear good for the disciple] due to cool and comforting words of emperumAn, equates his residence to the pond. If a disciple leaves the divine abode of an AchAryan, the dwelling place for the disciple will be other abodes of emperumAn, including SrI vaikuNtam. Similar to that, the mother too has got to search for her daughter in various places, including others’ residences and has to say that she is nowhere to be seen. However, the place to attain for the daughter is only the noble abode of gOvindhan. His wish will be fulfilled only in his favourite abode of thiruvAyppAdi. For the disciples of the AchAryan, who were separated from their apt residence of AchAryan’s dwelling place, and who were taken by emperumAn, as well as for emperumAn, the boundary is that only [place to reside is emperumAn’s noble abodes]. Just as parAnguSa nAyaki’s mother determined the place where her daughter has entered, as in thiruvAimozhi 6.7.1 “pugum Ur” (the place which she entered) through various guesses and suspicions, this mother too determined the destination for her daughter. When the explicit is supported by logical thinking, guess would also be supported by logical thinking.
mallarai … – since the mother did not find the daughter here, she concluded firmly that “He has taken her with him”. She wonders whether the daughter has gone behind the one who had annihilated the wrestlers and entered the vicinity of mathurA. Vicinity of mathuRa refers to thiruvAyppAdi [SrI gOkulam] which is next to mathurA. The query “madhuraip puRam pukkAL kolO” is similar to thirumangai AzhwAr saying in periya thirumozhi 3.7.1 “aNiyAli puguvar kolO” [parakAla nAyaki’s mother wonders whether her daughter and emperumAn would have entered thiruvAli]. In other words, since the two of them [her daughter and krishNa] are highly infatuated with each other, it is possible that they would have even entered mathurA, ruled by kamsan. Instead of doing that, the mother is wondering whether her daughter has entered thiruvAyppAdi.
We shall next consider the 2nd pAsuram of this thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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