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periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> Fourth Centum >> Sixth decad
avathArikai
There is no specific avathArikai for this pAsuram.
angoru kURai araikku uduppadhan AsaiyAl
mangiya mAnida sAdhiyin pEr idum AdhargAL!
sengaN nedumAl! siridharA! enRu azhaiththakkAl
nangaigAL! nAraNan tham annai naragam pugAL
Word-by-Word Meanings
angu – from affluent people
oru kURai – getting one dress
araikku uduppadhan – to wear on the waist
AsaiyAl – with the desire
mangiya – decaying
mAnida sAdhi – the human species’
pEr idum – keeping the name
AdhargAL – oh, blind people!
nangaigAL – oh, those who have the intelligence to know that which is being said!
sem – being reddish
kaN – divine eyes
nedu mAl enRu – calling as, oh, one who is highly infatuated!
sirIdharA enRu – calling as oh, Sridhara!
(naming the children)
azhaiththakkAl – if you call
nAraNan – nArAyaNan
tham annai – the mother of that child
(referring to mother being the representative of father, too)
naragam pugAL – will not enter hell
Simple Translation
Oh, blind people! With the desire to don a dress on the waist, and getting it from an affluent person, you are naming your children after the names of human species, which are decaying. Oh those, who have the intelligence to understand what is being said! If you name your children with the name of nArAyaNan, who has reddish divine eyes and who is infatuated with his followers, or as SrIdhara, the mother of the child will not go to narakam.
vyAkhyAnam
angoru kURai araikku uduppadhan AsaiyAl – with the desire to obtain a dress from that person and to don it on the waist. Here too, the term angu [as in the previous pAsuram] refers to the lowliness of the matter which is being given. Since the words in the pAsuram are “oru kURai” [one dress] and “araikku uduppadhu” (to wear on waist), it is evident that one has to search for a matching dress for the top. The term AsaiyAl” indicates that the desire is that of the seeker and not of the giver. This also indicates that it may or may not be given.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says, in his svApadhESam, that the term angu refers to a place at a distance [one has to travel a long distance, in order to obtain a dress from someone, living in a faraway place]. The term oru kURai, refers to a lowly gift, not worthy of the person, who is giving or of the person, who is taking. This term signifies that one has to search for and seek the other part of the dress [one is for wearing at the waist, to cover the lower part of the physical form and the other, is for the upper portion]. AsaiyAl – this indicates the desire of the person who is seeking and the despair of the person, who is giving [he does not wish to give even that single part of the dress].
mangiya mAnida sAdhiyin pEridum AdhargAL – just as it is mentioned in thaiththirIya upanishadh Anandhavalli 6 “asannEva” (the one, who does not know about emperumAn, does not exist), the human species is in a state of decay. Oh, those without any knowledge, who are naming your children after the human species! They are lowly people, as mentioned in periya thirumozhi 11.7.9 “Anvidai Ezhu anRu adarththARku ALAnAr allAdhAr mAnidavar allar” (those, who do not carry out servitude to emperumAn, who killed the seven bulls during krishNAvathAram, are not human beings at all); it is the names of these lowly people which are being kept for the children. It is due to your ignorance that you are keeping names which do not give any benefit, either here or in paramapadham.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that the person, who is seeking some wealth from another, would name his children after the name of a dead person in the family of the donor, such as “ungaLai ANdAr” “appANdAr” “aiLibiLi” [or some such gibberish names] with the hope that this would get him the money or material which he desires from the donor.
sengaN nedumAl sirIdharA enRu azhaiththakkAl – if you name your children after the lord, who is ordained, calling your children as “Oh, sengan nedumAlE!” “Oh, SrIdhara!” … The term “sengaN nedumAl” refers to the divine eyes which convey vAthsalyam [motherly forbearance] and vyAmOham [infatuation] towards followers. Alternatively, the term mAl refers to one who is eminent; the term nedumai [root word for nedu as in nedumAl] refers to one who is greater than everyone else. In that case, sengaN would hint at aiSwaryam [affluence]. The term sirIdharA is common to both the interpretations given [sirIdharA refers to one, who is having SrI mahAlakshmi, on his divine chest; mahAlakshmi brings in the qualities of simplicity and eminence to emperumAn. She implores emperumAn to shower vAthsalyam and vyAmOham towards his followers; also, she brings in the wealth for him, which is part of the second interpretation].
nangaigAL – Oh, those who have the completeness of intelligence to understand the instructions being given!
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that AzhwAr refers to people as nangaigAL since everyone, apart from emperumAn, is feminine in nature, as mentioned in “sthrIprAyam itharam jagath” [all the others in the world [apart from emperumAn] are feminine in nature] and as mentioned in periyAzhwAr thirumozhi 3.6.1 “nAvalam periya theevinil vAzhum nangaimIr” (oh, those women who reside in the huge jambudhvIpam!).
nAraNan – nAraNan refers to one who has all the auspicious qualities. Thus, he is one, who has the relationship and the auspicious qualities to protect the followers.
thammannai – one, who is the mother. It is similar to saying thamappan – (tham + appan, one’s father).
naragam pugAL – When the name of the son is “nArAyaNan”, how will the mother come under the control of yama! Is it for going under the control of yama, that the son was sired and named as “nArAyaNan”! Since the pain of siring the child and affection towards the child are more for the mother, she is being indicated here as the primary beneficiary. This benefit will accrue to the father and others too, who have affection towards the child.
We shall next consider the 3rd pAsuram of this thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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