SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: Sri varavaramunayE nama:
periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> Fourth Centum >> Eighth decad
avathArikai
AzhwAr says in this pAsuram that SrIrangam is the abode dwelt upon by [emperumAn, who, as] krishNa, made a burnt piece of wood as a child and protected the physical forms of pANdavas such that they did not get destroyed in the mahAbhAratha war.
marumagan than sandhadhiyai uyir mIttu maiththunan mAr
urumagaththE vIzhAmE gurumugamAyk kAththAn Ur
thirumugamAych chengamalam thiruniRamAyk karum kuvaLaip
porumugamAy ninRu alarum punal arangam enbadhuvE
Word-by-Word Meanings
sengamalam – lotus flower
thirumugam Ay – as equivalent of the divine face of periya perumAL
karu – dark
kuvaLai – blue Indian water-lily
thiru niRam Ay – as equivalent of his divine complexion
poru – fighting with each other
mugamAy ninRu – having face
alarum – blossomed
punal – SrIrangam, which has the prosperity of abundant water
marumagan than – his nephew abhimanyu’s
sandhadhiyai – the physical form of parIkshith, son of abhimanyu, lying as a burnt piece of wood
uyir mIttu – reviving his life
maiththunan mAr – pANdavas, his brothers-in-law
uru – physical forms
magaththu – in the human sacrificial ritual of mahAbhAratha war
vIzhAmE – not falling down and getting destroyed
guru mugam Ay – as the teacher (instructing those which were good for them]
kAththAn – dwelt upon by one, who protected
Ur – abode
Simple Translation
Lotus flower, which is like the divine face of emperumAn, and blue Indian water-lily, which is like the divine complexion of emperumAn, stand against each other, fighting and blossoming, in the waters of SrIrangam. This is the divine abode, dwelt upon by krishNa, who gave life to parIkshith, who came out as a burnt piece of wood and who was the son of krishNa’s nephew, abhimanyu. krishNa who also protected his brothers-in-law, pANdavas, such that their physical forms did not fall down and get destroyed in the battle of mahAbhAratha, which was like a ritual where human beings were given in sacrifice.
vyAkhyAnam
marumagan … – reviving the life of parIkshith, the son of krishNa’s nephew, abhimanyu. In other words, when parIkshith came out [of uththarA’s womb] as a burnt log, krishNa mercifully said, as in mahAbhAratham udhyOga parvam 58.22 “yadhi mE brahmacharyam syAdh mayi sathyancha thishtathi – avyAhatham mahaiSwaryam thEna jIvathu bAlakA:”(if it is true that I practice celibacy and that I have truthfulness, an aspect of being ISvaran, which is without any hurdle, let this child come out with life) and touched the burnt log with his divine foot, as mentioned in mahAbhAratham “pAdhEna kamalAbhEna brahmarudhrOrchithEna – pasparSa puNdarIkAsha: ApAdha thala masthakam” (with his divine foot, which has the radiance of lotus flower, which was worshipped by brahmA and rudhra, emperumAn, who has lotus-like divine eyes, touched the physical form of that child, from head to foot), retrieving the life of that child.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says in his svApadhESam, that krishNa revived the life of parIkshith, who is the son of uththarA and abhimanyu, krishNa’s nephew. The term than [as in marumagan than] indicates his affection.
maiththunanmAr uru magaththE vIzhAmE – ensuring that the physical forms of pANdavas, his brothers-in-law, did not fall down in the human sacrificial ritual of mahAbhAratha battle and get destroyed. makham – yagyam, ritual.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that krishNa protected the pANdavas from not falling into dhraupathi’s sahadharma pathivrathAgni [ritual of her following the righteous path of her husbands], when she was disrespected even after having surrendered to krishNa. The pANdavas thought that they should not show any strength [after having lost in the game of dice], when they were bewildered, thinking that they should follow the path which was against the rule of law. krishNa, when he was about to leave back for his divine abode, said that his debt was increasing [reference here is to his inability to go in person and help dhraupadhi when she surrendered to him when she was being disrobed]. He had revived the life of parIkshith due to the surrendering of kunthi, dhraupadhi and uththarA, to save him [due to the effect of the weapon apANdavAsthram released by dhrONa’s son, aSvaththAma]. The term magaththu [as in magaththE], is to be considered as mahath, eminent; here, this term refers to the eminent battle of mahAbhAratha. krishNa protected the pANdavas from falling and dying in that great battle. Alternatively, makham refers to yagyam, a ritual. Thus, in the ritual of human sacrifice, during the mahAbhAratha war, krishNa protected the pANdavas. Due to the aptness of the context, the words [mahaththu, makham etc] could contract or expand, giving rise to different interpretations.
gurumugamAyk kAththAn – protected, by remaining as their teacher and instructing words, which were good for them. Through this it is inferred that the battle, which was started in order to destroy all those who were a burden on earth, as mentioned in thiruvAimozhi 3.2.3 “ellAch chEnaiyum irunilaththu aviththa” (one, who destroyed all the armies in the vast land), was a ritual where human entities were offered as sacrificial entities, since it was dear to the divine mind of one who was born in the divine abode of mathurA [krishNa]. The reason for the pANdavas not falling down in that ritual and getting destroyed was due to the fact that right from their childhood days, krishNa was affectionate towards them, protecting them as their teacher, irrespective of whether they were in the forest or in the town, instructing only those words which were good for them, preventing them from pursuing the path of evil, guiding them in the path of righteousness.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that krishNa, as gIthOpanishadhAchAryan [teacher, who instructed bhagavath gIthA, which is considered as an upanishadh], taught the pANdavas [while bhagavath gIthA was instructed to arjuna, it is to be considered that arjuna represents all the pANdavas] that which they did not know; with maturing knowledge gained by pANdavas, krishNa manifested his wealth as well as his viSvarUpam [his divine form encompassing the entire vibhUthis]; beyond that, he clarified to them about his simplicity, through the term mAm, his eminence, through the term aham, informing them about vraja, thvA, and mA Sucha: [these terms are taken from bhagavath gIthA SlOkam 18.66, also known as charama SlOkam, where krishNa implores chEthanas [those with the power to think] to give up all the other deeds as means and to take refuge under him alone; he assures that he will liberate them from all their sins, telling them not to grieve]. Thus, krishNa made himself as the teacher, standing in the forefront [on the chariot], made the pANdavas as his disciples, and protected them. When aSvaththAma [son of dhrONAchArya] released the apANdavAsya [a weapon to remove all the pANdavas], krishNa stood between the weapon and the target [parIkshith], asserting that he is yAdhavasya, protecting the child. It is well known that krishNa protected the pANdavas right from their childhood days, referring to pANdavas as his panchavruththiprANan [the five vital airs, which sustain life]. SrIrangam is the divine abode, where such krishNa resides forever.
Ur – just as emperumAn had protected pANdavas by remaining as their teacher, he protects those who take refuge under his affection, ensuring that they do not follow the path of evil, by residing permanently in the divine abode of Srirangam.
thirumugamAych chengamalam – lotus flower, matching the divine face of periya perumAL.
thiruniRamAyk karunguvaLai – blue Indian water-lily, matching the divine complexion of periya perumAL.
porumugamAy ninRu alarum punal arangam enbadhuvE – it is the divine abode of SrIrangam, which has the fertility of abundant water bodies where these two flowers, with complementing colour, stand facing each other, blossoming.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says at the end that the pAsuram manifests SrIvaishNavas who have lost out to the divine face of emperumAn, which is like lotus flower and SrIvaishNavas, who have lost out to the overall beauty of emperumAn, which is like the blue Indian water lily flower.
We shall next consider the 4th pAsuram of this thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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