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periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> Fourth Centum >> First decad
avathArikai
There is no specific avathArikai for this pAsuram.
nAndhagam sangu thaNdu nANolich chArngam thiruchchakkaram
Endhu perumai irAmanai irukkumidam nAdudhirEl
kAndhaL mugizh viral sIthaikkAgik kadum silai senRu iRukka
vEndhar thalaivan sanagarAsan than vELviyil kaNdAr uLar
Word-by-Word Meanings
nAndhagam – the divine sword, called as nAndhakam
sangu – SrI pAnchajanyam [divine conch]
thaNdu – mace, called as SrI kaumOdhaki
nAN oli – with resounding
sArngam – the divine bow, called as SrI SArngam
thiruchchakkaram – the divine disc
Endhu – holding
perumai – if you are looking for the place where SrI rAma is present, with eminence
kAndhaL – the flower, sengAndhaL [red glory lily, also called as Malabar lily]
mugizh – petals, which are just then blossoming
viral – having divine fingers
sIthaikkAgi – for [marrying] pirAtti
vEndhar thalaivan – one, who is the leader of all the kings
sanagarAsan than – SrI janakarAja’s
vELviyil – in the yAgam [a ritual]
senRu – mercifully going
kadu silai – strong bow
iRukka -to break
kaNdAr uLar – there are those, who have seen
Simple Translation
SrI rAma is holding the divine weapons of SrI nAndhakam [a short sword], SrI pAnchajanyam [conch], divine bow, whose cord makes a resounding noise, mace and disc. SrI janakarAja, leader of all the kings, was conducting a yAgam, for the sake of his daughter, sIthAp pirAtti, whose divine fingers look like the blossoming petals of the red glory lily. If you are looking for that SrI rAma, there are people, who have seen him, mercifully going to that yAgam and breaking the strong bow
vyAkhyAnam (Commentary)
nAndhagam – the divine short sword, which, without separating itself from the divine hand, destroys the enemies.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says, in his svApadhESam, that when the five divine weapons are mentioned, there is no specific order in which they should be mentioned [here, the weapons start with the divine sword]. Since they are all of the same mental makeup [waiting for emperumAn’s divine mind to take action], when one of them is mentioned, it is equivalent to mentioning all of them. periyAzhwAr had said in thiruppallANdu 12 “sArngam ennum villANdAn” (One who controls the divine bow, SrI SArngam); nAchchiyAr thirumozhi 5.8 “sArngam vaLaiya – nAnum avanum aRidhum” (When he draws his divine bow, SrI SArngam – he and I know); periya thirumozhi 10.10.9 “Azhiyodum ponnAr sArngam” (one who was holding the divine disc and the divine bow). In all these, either SArngam alone has been mentioned, or another divine weapon has been mentioned. Thus, even if one divine weapon is mentioned, it is equivalent to mentioning all of them.
sangu – divine conch, which, while staying at the corner of the mouth, through its sound, cooks the enemies and destroys them
thaNdu – the divine mace, which, without separating from his divine hand, kills the enemies
nANolich chArngam – the divine bow, SrI SArngam, which rains arrows on the enemies, while its cord makes a resounding noise
thiruchchakkaram – the divine disc, on the hand, which kills the enemies by going to the place thought of by emperumAn, as mentioned in thiruvAimozhi 10.6.8 “karudhum idam porudhum” [going to the place thought of by emperumAn]
Endhu perumai irAmanai – having the eminence of holding these, which are meant for both beauty and for destroying enemies, one, who makes everyone happy by his sheer beauty, rendering these divine weapons as superfluous.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that since emperumAn carries out the task with one of them, which carries out the task of all five, the other divine weapons are held for the beauty. These are superfluous for his beauty. His eminence is such that it could be said that the divine weapons derive beauty from him and that his beauty is such that the divine form steals the vision and mind of the beholder. irAmanai – one who makes everyone happy, in all manners.
irukkum idam nAdudhirEl – If you are searching for the place where that SrI rAma is present, in order to see him with these valorous weapons and with his beauty …
kAndhaL … – for the sake of pirAtti, who has her divine fingers like the tender petals of red glory lily, which is just then blossoming.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that mentioning about her divine fingers is illustrative of mentioning about all her divine limbs, also denoting her age; consequently this denotes calling SrI rAma to her place. Mentioning her name denotes the eminence of the clan of her birth.
kadum silai senRu iRukka – going along with sage viSvAmithra. It was a bow belonging to “rudhra, and was difficult for anyone to lift or to draw”. SrI rAma broke that bow. kadumai – strong
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that mentioning the verse Agich chenRu kadum silai iRuththu implies that sage viSvAmithra was only a pretext to take SrI rAma to the ritual.
vEndhar … – king janaka was considered as the head of all kings since, apart from knowing the principles of regal duties, he was also having the knowledge of thathvam [true entity, emperumAn] and was carrying out activities without any attachment. There are people who have seen that SrI rAma in king janaka’s ritual. While there is no incongruence here when the response to “If you are searching for SrI rAma – he is seen in the ritual”, the same applies to the previous pAsuram too when it was asked “If you are searching for SrI rAma” the response was “He was seen with his hands wallowing in blood” [since both SrI rAma and narasimha are manifestations of the same entity, SrIman nArAyaNa].
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that due to his quality of being the most distinguished among kings in conducting the principles of regal duties, he was the most eminent among all the kings, apart from having been born in a great clan. When he conducted the ritual, there were many who saw [SrI rAma]. Alternatively, it was AzhwAr’s desire to see perumAL and pirAtti together. Hence, SrI rAma broke the bow, which had been kept as the wager for marrying pirAtti. Then, SrI rAma had his divine father and divine mothers, along with all the other relatives to come there for the marriage. In their presence, as mentioned in SrI rAmAyaNam bAla kANdam 73.24 “iyam sIthA mama suthA sahadharma charIthava” (She is sIthA, my daughter, who is well qualified to accompany you in the path of righteousness), king janaka mentioned about her beauty, her clan of birth and her conduct in treading the path of righteousness. AzhwAr, in line with his desire, has the two of them together, next to each other, compares them and accepts that the beauty of her eyes is a notch higher than perumAL’s. It is due to this that he says “vELviyil kaNdAr uLar”.
We shall next consider the 3rd pAsuram of this thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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