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periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> Fourth Centum >> Fourth decad
avathArikai
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says, in his svApadhESam, that AzhwAr changes the type of food taken by people, in this pAsuram.
Amaiyin mudugaththidaik kudhi koNdu thUmalar sAdip pOy
thImai seydhu iLa vALaigaL viLaiyAdu thirukkOttiyUr
nEmi sEr thadam kaiyinAnai ninaippilA vali nenjudai
bUmi bArangaL uNNum sORRinai vAngip pullaith thiNiminE
Word-by-Word Meanings
iLa – being young, by age
vALaigaL – fish type, called as vALai (scabbard fish)
Amaiyin mudhugaththidai – on the back of tortoise
kudhi koNdu – jumping on it
thU – pure
malar – flowers such as lotus, which have blossomed nearby
sAdi – hitting them
pOy – going [further]
thImai seydhu – carrying out mischief such us driving away the smaller types of fish
viLaiyAdu – playing, in this manner
nIr – thirukkOttiyUr, having abundance of water bodies
nEmi – with the divine disc
sEr – being together
thada – huge
kaiyinAnai – one, who has divine hands
ninaippu ilA – not thinking of, even momentarily
vali nenju udai – having hardened hearts
bUmi bArangaL – those sinners, who are considered as a huge weight on earth
uNNum – that which they eat
sORRinai – food
vAngi – seizing from them
pullai – grass, eaten by cattle, which do not have knowledge
thiNimin – fill up (their stomachs)
Simple Translation
thirukkOttiyUr has abundance of water bodies. Scabbard fish, which are young, jump onto the backs of tortoises. They hit against lotus and other flowers, which are nearby, bending their petals. They drive away other smaller types of fish which are nearby. In such thirukkOttiyUr, emperumAn, holding the divine disc on his divine right hand, has taken residence. There are people, who have hard hearts and who do not ever think of the emperumAn, who has mercifully come there. Seize the food, which they are eating and instead fill up their stomachs with grass, eaten by cattle, which do not have knowledge
vyAkhyAnam
Amai … – In a place where water resource is available in abundance, tortoise and fish along with plants with flowers such as lotus, water lily etc will be present. Among the fish, there are fish which grow large and those, which are small. The fish vALai [scabbard fish] belongs to the larger type. Among these, the older fish, without jumping or turning suddenly, will move steadily. The younger ones will keep jumping, out of pride and joy, onto the backs of tortoises, which are inside the water bodies. They will then hit against the flowers [such as lotus, lily etc], folding their petals. They will then mischievously drive way the smaller fish from the water bodies. thirukkOttiyUr has such playful activities enacted in water bodies, present in it. For AzhwAr, in the divine abode which is to be attained, everything will be seen as being eminent. Hence, he transposes the activity of scabbard fish as a distinction for that divine abode.
nEmi sEr thadam kaiyinAnai – one, who has large divine hand, which is together with the divine disc. While the divine hand is beautiful, even without any additional entity on it, when the divine disc rests on it, the beauty gets doubled. The divine disc too appears to be beautiful, on its own. When one thinks of the beauty of emperumAn, with the divine hand and divine disc, as mentioned in thiruvAimozhi 4.7.10 “chakkaraththaNNalE” (Oh, my lord, with the divine disc), one will fall down on the ground, with tearful eyes [due to excessive joy].
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that emperumAn has the divine disc on his divine hand, which is as mentioned in thirunedundhANdagam 6 “alam purindha nedum thadakkai” (emperumAn keeps giving with his huge hand, until the person, who received from him, says that it is enough).
ninaippilA vali nenjudai – not thinking of such emperumAn, these people have hard hearts. AzhwAr feels saddened that they are not thinking of emperumAn even for a moment, when he has to be constantly thought of and meditated upon. The union of divine hand and divine disc is very much needed for one who remains both as the upAyam [means to attain emperumAn] and as upEyam [the benefit which one gets, on attaining him]. When emperumAn remains as the upEyam, he needs to manifest the beauty of his divine disc on his divine hand. When he remains as the upAyam, he needs the divine disc on the divine hand in order to remove the enemies of his followers. It is pertinent here to recall periya thiruvandhAdhi pAsuram 87 “eppOdhum kai kazhalA nEmiyAn nam mEl vinai kadivAn” (emperumAn, from whose divine hand, the divine disc will not separate, in order to remove sins from us). Could there be a harder heart than this, which will not think of such an eminent entity, ever? The hardness in the heart is such that, apart from the person not thinking of emperumAn at any point of time, when reminded by those who seek good augur for him tell him “This matter is to be meditated upon constantly. Will you not think of him at some point of time?” he will respond “There are other matters to be thought of, for me”.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that bhUmi (earth) will not consider the oceans as being heavy for it to bear. It will only consider these people, who have such hard hearts that they do not think of emperumAn, to be heavy for it to bear.
bUmi bArangaL – Since they do not ever think of emperumAn, these people become a huge load even for earth, who sustains everything in the world. Though these people do not have any knowledge, when emperumAn, with the connection which he has with them as the reason, sustains and protects them, they do not have any gratitude even for him. This is the reason that they are being termed as load on earth.
uNNUm sORRinai vAngip pullaith thiNiminE – “After being born in the human species, since you do not have the knowledge which is required for that species, why should you have the food eaten by human species?” AzhwAr says that they should be offered grass, which is eaten by cattle, which do not have knowledge, stuffing their stomachs. While the four features of eating, sleeping, reproducing and fearing are common activities between human and animal species, it is knowledge which distinguishes humans from animals, since humans have higher level of knowledge. Those, among people, who do not have that knowledge, are to be considered as animals only. In line with this, AzhwAr says that the food, being consumed by such people, should be seized and that grass, which is eaten by animals, should be offered to them. thiNimin – stuff their stomachs, fully. SrI thoNdaradippodi AzhwAr, in thirumAlai 14 had said “miNdar pAyndhu uNNum sORRai vilakki nAykku idumin nIrE” (Take away the food eaten by the ungrateful fools and offer them to dogs, which show gratitude). While people should realise the benefits carried out by emperumAn towards them and praise the divine abode where emperumAn has taken residence mercifully, instead of doing that, being ungrateful, they fight with others and through their strength, get the food which they desire. AzhwAr tells us to remove such food from those fools and offer that to a dog, which shows gratitude to a person, who has offered it food once in its lifetime and stays at the door of such a person. Who do the terms such as thiNimin, idumin refer to? It refers to those, who have the knowledge about these mattes and who have the strength to remove the food from such people and to offer them grass or to offer their food to a dog. AzhwAr says this, with the hope that after hearing this, out of shame and fear, they will engage their hearts with matters related to emperumAn.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that uNNum sOru refers to the food which has been taken in their mouths, when they are extremely hungry. He says that even when they do not want to take the grass, keep pushing the grass down their throats. He says that they should be made to agree to part with their food, saying that this is what their ancestors had done, and to offer that food to animals. Animals would show gratitude to one who has offered food and remain under that person’s control. These people do not know the person who gave them food and they will not know the food which they have to take. AzhwAr tells those who know the difference between the two to remove the food from such people and to offer them grass.
He says at the end, the following: Through this, it is known that AchAryas are capable of uplifting the sons and disciples who are near them, who are under their control, through their distinguished glances [fish bring up their little ones through their glances. Thus, here, the vALai fish are referred to here as AchAryas and tortoises, which are near them, are referred to as disciples]. Through their thoughts and meditation, they will also uplift disciples who are at a distance [lotus and other flowers, which are at a distance, are referred to as disciples at a distance]. These AchAryas will also drive away the lowly people who act beyond permitted limits and who are not of any benefit [similar to the vALai fish, driving away the other smaller fish].
We shall next consider the 6th pAsuram of this thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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