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periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> Fourth Centum >> Second decad
avathArikai
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says, in his svApadhESam, that AzhwAr says that the divine mountain has been praised by emperor malayadhvajan too.
mannar maRuga maiththunanmArkku oru thErin mEl
munnangu ninRu mOzhai ezhuviththavan malai
konnavil kUrvEl kOn nedumARan then kUdal kOn
thennan koNdAdum then thirumAlirum sOlaiyE
Word-by-Word Meanings
kol navil – having killing as its profession
kUr – sharp
vEl – having spear
kOn – one who conducts the kingdom without slipping from regal rules
nedu – having eminence
mARan – one who carries out battles righteously
then – beautiful
kUdal – for madhurai, which is known as kUdal
kOn – being the controller
thennan – king malayadhvajan, who is prominent in southern direction
koNdAdum – then thirumAlirum sOlai, which is praised
mannar – all the kings
maRuga – feeling the churning in their stomachs as to whether they would be able to win against him
maiththunanmArkku – for the pANdavas, who are his brothers-in-law
oru – unmatched
thErin mEl – on the chariot
mun angu ninRu – standing in the front, manifesting his role as charioteer
mOzhai ezhuviththavan – dwelt upon by one, who made water gushing out with bubbles, through the path of arrow, varuNAsthram (a type of weapon), which was shot at the region where water flows underground
malai – it is the divine mountain
Simple Translation
The beautiful mountain of thirumAlirum sOlai is praised by malayadhvajan, king of the beautiful madhurai, which is also known as kUdal, who has the sharp spear, which has killing as its profession, who rules the kingdom without slipping from the royal rules, who is eminent and who fights battles in a righteous manner. krishNa stood in the front part of the matchless chariot, manifesting his role as the charioteer, for the pANdavas, his brothers-in-law, such that all the kings [on the opposite side] had a churning feeling in their stomachs, wondering whether they will be able to win against him. He made water to gush out with bubbles, through the path of arrow shot at a place where water was flowing underground. thirumAlirum sOlai is the abode where he lives
vyAkhyAnam (Commentary)
mannar maRuga – When the horses, which were drawing arjuna’s chariot, became thirsty and were tired, since krishNa knew as to where water could be found in that hard battlefield, he made arjuna to shoot vAruNAsthram [a weapon, controlled by varuNa, the deity for water], making water to flow there. He gave water to the horses, made them fresh, and brought them back to the chariot, locking them in place. Seeing these events, all the kings [on the opposing side], with their stomachs churning, wondered “Is there a way to defeat him, who is so much biased towards the pANdavas?”
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that one day, during the mahAbhAratha war, the pANdavas and their armies were facing acute thirst, suffering due to that. However, since the opponents were still fighting, they were wondering as to what to do. At that time, standing on the chariot, as the charioteer.
ninRu – standing, manifesting his bias towards pANdavas. Even when arjuna told him to take the chariot back and that they would return the next day, if alive, krishNa stood on the chariot. He told arjuna “Shoot the vAruNAsthra here. You will get water; do not fear”. When arjuna placed the asthram [arrow] and asked krishNa the place where he has to shoot it, since krishNa was an expert on the path of waterways, he pointed to a specific location. When arjuna shot the arrow, water came gushing out, with bubbles. The entire army could quench its thirst. This [thirumAlirum sOlai] mountain is the place where such krishNa resides permanently. mOzhai – bubbly water.
maiththunanmArkku – he is looked upon as everything by the pANdavas, who have attained him, as mentioned in mahAbhAratham dhrONa parvam 18.3.24 “krishNASrayA: krishNa balA: krishNa nAthAScha pANdavA:” (pANdavas have attained krishNa’s divine feet, he is their strength, he is their lord).
oru thErin mEl – Since he has taken a pledge “I will not wield weapon”, as mentioned in thiruvAimozhi 3.2.3 “kollA mAkkOl kolai seydhu” (wielding a stick used for conducting horses, krishNa, through his will, carried out the activity of killing) through his skill of conducting the chariot using the stick, he killed enemies through the wheels of the matchless chariot.
munnangu ninRu – standing in the front part of the chariot, apt for conducting the chariot as the charioteer
mOzhai ezhuviththavan – through the arrow shot at the place where water was flowing below, he made water to gush out, with bubbles
malai – this is the mountain where the one, who is biased towards his followers, resides.
konnavil … – since the king malayadhvajan, who has been mentioned as “malayadhvaja ithikhyAthO mAnavEndhrO mahIpathi:” (one who was eminent, named as malayadhvajan, was ruling as the king of all), was ruling that place, AzhwAr praises him, further. The king had a sharp spear, which had killing as its profession. He was fighting battles, without slipping from the path of righteousness. Through the strength of his penance, he used to take bath in gangA, every day. He was the king of pANdiya kingdom, being the controller of madhurai, which is also called as nAnmAdak kUdal. The region of thirumAlirum sOlai was praised by that king, who is prominent in the southern direction. In other words, he went to the mountainous region, where sage agasthya was staying and told him “I take a pledge that I will rule only by the path of righteousness” and made mountain as the symbol on his flag. When he was once going towards gangA to take bath, at one point, his chariot stopped, not moving further. He got down from the chariot, thinking “This place must have sacred water and proximity of deity“. azhagar [emperumAn] appeared there and told him “Take bath in this river”. Since the name of the river should be known, prior to taking bath, the king asked “What is the name of this river?” emperumAn said “Earlier, when our foot was being washed by brahmA, water from our anklet fell on this place and started flowing. This is called as silambARu” [silambu – anklet; ARu – river]. The king took his bath in the river, forgot about gangA and had bath every day in silambARu. It is well known that he carried out all the servitude to azhagar.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that thennan refers to one who has the southern part of the land. It used to be said of the valour of the kings of the country that “He chained the clouds; he made the goblin to carry out servitude; he threw a ring on indhran’s head; he let a fish on his lap” etc. Having the name of malayadhvajan, and going beyond these, the king took bath in silambARu, instead of in gangA, thus celebrating anyaSEshathva nivruththi [not being a servitor to a deity other than emperumAn; gangA has contact with rudhra]. Since he was famous for carrying out all servitude to azhagar, to highlight that, the pAsuram says thennan koNdAda.
then thirumAlirum sOlaiyE – It is the divine mountain in the southern direction, celebrated by the king.
We shall next consider the 8th pAsuram of this thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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