SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:
periya thirumozhi >> Ninth centum >> Third decad
Highlights from avathArikai (Introduction)
No specific introduction.
pAsuram
thannai naivikkilEn valvinaiyEn thozhudhum ezhu
ponnai naivikkum appUnjerundhi maNaneezhalvAy
ennai naiviththu ezhil koNdu aganRa perumAnidam
punnai muththam pozhil sUzhndhu azhagAya pullANiyE
Word-by-Word meanings
val vinaiyEn – I, who have committed cruel sins
thannai – me
naivikkilEn – not destroying;
ponnai – (Oh mind!) nature of gold
naivikkum – destroying
appUm serundhi – vastly blossomed serundhi (champa) flower’s
maNam – fragrance
neezhalvAy – in the shadow
ennai – me
naiviththu – weakening by the union
ezhil koNdu – taking away my complexion
aganRa – separated
perumAn – for emperumAn
idam – abode
muththam – having flowers which resemble pearl
punnai – punnai trees’
pozhil – by orchards
sUzhndhu – surrounded
azhagAya – beautiful
pullANiyE – dhivyadhESam named thiruppullANi
thozhudhum – worship
ezhu – try to become uplifted
Simple translation
I, who have committed cruel sins, am not destroying myself. Oh mind! emperumAn has weakened me by his union under the shadow of fragrant and expansively-blossomed serundhi tree which can defeat gold; the abode for such emperumAn is thiruppullANi which is surrounded by orchards having punnai tree with flowers which resemble pearl; let us worship that dhivyadhESam and be uplifted.
Highlights from vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
thannai naivikkilEn – I cannot be him; he is tormenting me fully; he has tormented me and taken away my beauty.
thannai naivikkilEn – There is nothing wrong in tit-for-tat. But I cannot do it [torment him]. He separated from me with scope for re-union and tormented me; I can also kill myself and deprive him of his wish [to unite with me]; but I will not do it. If he can unite with me and destroy me, I too can separate from him and destroy him. I will not do that as well. That is – parakAla nAyaki becoming disinterested in living [that will torment and destroy him].
thannai naivikkilEn – I will not destroy the world [if I destroy him, the world will cease to exist]. If I destroy him because he tormented me, who will remain in this world? Tormenting him is nothing but parakAla nAyaki killing herself. Just as a person who got the pot which is supposed to fetch water, becomes broken, as he [emperumAn] arrives, if she is non-existing, he will also cease to exist.
val vinaiyEn – I have committed great sin to live while I should have killed myself and be saved. Reason for sorrow – pApam (sin); reason for joy – puNyam (virtue). Now, for parakAla nAyaki, to be killed is joy. I have committed great sin to live for the sake of others (bhagavAn) instead of being killed and being joyful.
val vinaiyEn – I have committed sin which cannot be tolerated by me. That is – whatever I do, it ends up harming him. I am unable to do anything to eliminate my sorrow. After I have become an entity which is totally at his disposal, if whatever I do would cause blemish to his true nature, what could I do? I am a sinner; there is nothing more harsh than pArathanthryam (total dependency on him). It is said in SrI rAmAyaNam sundhara kANdam 25.20 “dhigasthu paravaSyathAm” (It is a curse/shame to be a dependent on others). Previously, she was thinking that svAthanthryam (independence) is the purushArtham (the goal). It is the goal for only one [bhagavAn]; if this is not the case, she is not saying that the wrong understanding of true nature [to be independent] is the goal. It is only due to a situation [her separation] that she is saying that pArathanthryam is bad. Only for someone like chakravarthi [dhaSaratha], it is possible to give up the life when desired.
thozhudhum ezhu – If killing herself is an independent act, living is a dependent act. If one cannot be killed and be saved, for someone to live, some support is required. mahAbhAratham Santhi parvam 344-45 “nithyAnjaliputA hrushtA:” [performing anjali and being blissful) – similar to “I ate and my hunger vanished”. “nama ithyEva vAdhina:” (they will have the nature of repeatedly saying nama:). When they don’t say “namO nama:“, they will die. Only if it is said as sAdhanam (means), it is to be said once. There (in SvEthadhvIpam and paramapadham), this will be their livelihood [hence they repeatedly say nama:].
ezhu – The mind remained “I cannot do such a great task”. parakAla nAyaki said “This nama: will not count as sAdhanam; this is an outcome of our sorrow. Quickly proceed”. That is – “This is not bowing down to someone to conduct our livelihood; instead, this is to sustain ourselves”. Now, the mind is thinking “To bow down to sustain ourselves [self-effort] will also lead to self-destruction” and has fallen flat. Thinking about that, she is lifting up her heart saying “Come on. That is not what it is”.
ponnai naivikkum appUm serundhi maNa neezhal vAy ennai naiviththu -Does the one who can unite and separate in such [a beautiful] place, have any chance of coming? The only option is for us is to go to him. My bad; will anyone unite in that place? The nature of that place is such that it will appear as if he has been falsely blamed.
ponnai naivikkum … – Only those who are fixed on a task can remain patiently. Can one who separated after knowing about him, sustain oneself? Only those who are like sIthAp pirAtti who is the divine daughter of SrI janakarAjan can sustain oneself remaining tolerant, till he arrives. Can new consorts handle the sorrow which can be handled by older ones? It is said in thiruvAimozhi 9.6.9 “Aruyir pattadhu enadhuyir pattadhu” (Did nithyasUris, who enjoy such emperumAn, eternally immerse in him the same way that my AthmA immersed in him as the enjoyable object? Implies that the experience with new/beloved person is more enjoyable than prevailing/married person). AzhwAr is saying “Did the distinguished nithyasUris such as thiruvadi (garudAzhwAr), thiruvananthAzhwAn (AdhiSEshan) et al get the enjoyment that I got?”. For this, nanjIyar mercifully gives an explanation – As AzhwAr thiruvarangap perumAL araiyar was singing this pAsuram, emperumAnAr said “ingu enadhuyir pattadhu angu Aruyir pattadhu?” (whatever I experienced here, did anyone experience it there?). I [nampiLLai] asked jIyar (nanjIyar) “If AzhwArs’ [here – the word “AzhwArs” means nithyasUris and mukthAthmAs who are immersed in enjoying bhagavAn in paramapadham] experience is explained by eveyone as the supreme goal, why is it said as if the enjoyment of nammAzhwAr, thirumangai AzhwAr et al as greater?” For that nanjIyar responded “Just as a newly married woman will sweat and go through different emotions when touched by her husband, this is the special enjoyment attained by AzhwAr [who has newly become surrendered to bhagavAn] while enjoying bhagavAn [For a woman who has been married to her husband for a while, the touch would not trigger such emotions. Similarly for nithyasUris and mukthAthmAs, enjoying bhagavAn would not be as emotional as for nammAzhwAr, thirumangai AzhwAr et al]. This whole conversation was mercifully narrated by nampiLLai to me [periyavAchchAn piLLai, the author of this commentary].
ponnai naivikkum – The nature of this abode [thiruppullANi] is to destroy good things. The main task of the entities in that town is to destroy anything which has acquired superiority. If the serundhi tree, which is an achEthana (insentient), defeats gold purely based on the similarity in complexion, do we have anything to say about paramachEthana (bhagavAn) destroying me who is at par with the youthfulness spoken about in SrI rAmAyaNam sundhara kANdam 14.5 “thulya Seela vayOvruththAm” (SrI rAma and sIthAp pirAtti were an exact match for each other, in terms of their qualities, age, activities etc)? The residents of the town will destroy those who have completely matching nature. Because he is purushOththaman (best among men), he destroyed her who is nArINAm uththamA (best among women). serundhi tree is destroying gold; he destroyed her. The nAyaka (hero) will usually call her “ponnE” (Oh, gold!). It is said in thiruviruththam 26 “umizh pAlai kadandha ponnE” (Oh one with the complexion of gold! sUriyan, who is beautiful and who has fiery rays, started chewing this earth with the help of his hot rays, in his mouth, drank up all the water on earth and spat out the residue which is called as desert land).
appUm serundhi – As said in SrI rAmAyaNam AraNya kANdam 39.14 “vrukshE vrukshE paSyAmi” (mArIcha says to rAvaNa – I am seeing SrI rAma in every tree), the enjoyment which was experienced during the union, is still present in the heart. It seems, that sweetness is appearing even now.
pUm serundhi maNa neezhalvAy – The serundhi tree is fully blossomed with flowers, having abundance of fragrance and giving shade. The complexion, fragrance and shade are all present. There is no way to escape after giving joy to just one sense. The abode where all the senses are captivated. Complexion is there for the eyes, fragrance for the nose and shade for the skin [body].
neezhalvAy ennai naiviththu – Each aspect (complexion, fragrance and shade) has its own greatness; still, it makes no difference; shade itself can destroy. Tormenting me under the shade – as said in “kadalaith tharaikaNdEn” (I have seen the bottom of the ocean), having come to me, eliminating my pride about my femininity, leaving out whatever I was thinking to do to him, turning the tables (instead of him longing for me, I am longing for him now), destroying me such that he does not have anyone to unite with. Doesn’t a person, who desires to unite, need another person to unite with? Previously he was destroyed [subdued] by her. Just as there is no fixed victory or loss in wars, the same can be seen in union as well.
ennai naiviththu – When two persons enjoy the union together, while both of them should have equal enjoyment, he had no engagement [loss]. Here, naiviththu [tormented] is the name for the union itself [that is, by the union, he won over me].
naiviththu ezhil koNdu – Just as a person will kill and take away the things as well, he destroyed me so that there is none existing for vidhi (ordainment) and nishEdham (forbiddance) [that is, only if I am present, I can be instructed “You can surrender to bhagavAn and wait” or “You should not try on your own to reach him”].
aganRa – Now, separation is certainly desirable [for him]. Once the goal is attained [gold like parakAla nAyaki is won over], there is nothing stopping a person from going overseas.
perumAn idam … – The abode of such emperumAn is beautiful thiruppullANi which is surrounded by punnai tree orchards which are well blossomed.
In the next article we will enjoy the next pAsuram.
adiyen sarathy ramanuja dasan
archived in https://divyaprabandham.koyil.org
pramEyam (goal) – https://koyil.org
pramANam (scriptures) – http://granthams.koyil.org
pramAthA (preceptors) – http://acharyas.koyil.org
SrIvaishNava education/kids portal – http://pillai.koyil.org