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 divine abode where emperumAn, who has distinguished form which needs to be explained through many metaphors, and who is infatuated with his followers, lives.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai, in his svApadhESam, says that AzhwAr mercifully compares emperumAn’s states of parathva [his residence in SrIvaikuNtam] etc, with kOyil [periya perumAL in archai form].
kunRAdu kozhu mugil pOl kuvaLaigaL pOl kurai kadal pOl
ninRAdu kaNa mayilpOl niRam udaiya nedumAl Ur
kunRu Udu pozhil nuzhaindhu kodi idaiyAr mulai aNavi
manRu Udu thenRal ulA madhiL arangam enbadhuvE
Word-by-Word Meanings
thenRal – southern breeze
kunRu – on top of mountains
pozhilgaL Udu – through gardens
nuzhaindhu – entering
kodi – like a creeper [slender]
idaiyAr – women, who have waists
mulai – bosoms, decorated with sandalwood paste
aNavi – contacting
manRUdu – through the junction of four streets
ulA – blowing
madhiL – SrIrangam, which has fortified walls, is …
kozhu – imbibing water till their necks
kunRu Adu – settling on top of mountains
mugil pOl – having the coolness of clouds
kuvaLaigaL pOl – having the lustre of blue Indian water-lily
kurai – resounding
kadal pOl – having the depth of ocean
ninRu Adu – standing due to overflowing joy, and dancing
kaNam mayil pOl – having the brightness of a flock of peacocks
niRam udaiya – having beauty
nedumAl – where emperumAn, who has infatuation towards his followers, lives
Ur – divine abode
Simple Translation
Southerly breeze gathers fragrance from gardens, which are located on mountains. It also gathers fragrance from the bosoms of women, who have slender waists, like a creeper, and which are decorated with sandalwood paste. It then moves to the junction of four streets in SrIrangam, which has fortified walls. Such SrIrangam is the divine abode, where, emperumAn, who is infatuated with his followers, who has the coolness of clouds which have imbibed water till their necks and which have settled on the peaks of mountains, who has the lustre of blue Indian water-lily, who has the depth of ocean and who has the brightness of a flock of peacocks which stand and dance due to overflowing joy, lives.
vyAkhyAnam
kunRAdu kozhu mugil pOl – like clouds, which have imbibed water till their neck, unable to move, settling on top of mountains.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that emperumAn is like the clouds, which have taken plenty of water and roam on top of mountains [this is equivalent to parathvam, emperumAn’s dwelling in paramapadham], like blue Indian water-lilies, which have blossomed just then [this is equivalent to antharyAmi (indwelling), when emperumAn is present inside the minds], like the ocean which is uproarious [like vibhavam when emperumAn incarnates with fanfare] and like a flock of peacocks which dance in the rain [this is equivalent to vyUham, when emperumAn resides in ocean]
kuvaLaigaL pOl – like blue Indian water-lily flowers, which are seen by the eyes and enjoyed
kurai kadal pOl – like the uproarious ocean, which one cannot enjoy fully
ninRAdu kaNa mayil pOl – like a flock of peacocks, which stand and dance due to overflowing joy, and which one could see without taking the eyes off.
niRam udaiya – having beauty of divine form. niRam – beauty of [emperumAn’s] divine form. Alternatively, if these metaphors are taken to reflect the complexion itself of the divine form, for coolness leading to gooseflesh, one could compare the colour of clouds which have imbibed water fully; for glossy appearance, one could compare with the blue Indian water-lily; for darkness, one could compare with the colour of ocean at its depths; and, for brightness, one could compare with the colour of peacocks’ necks; instead of comparing with a single metaphor, AzhwAr selects from different entities and compares.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that SrIrangam is the divine abode, where emperumAn, who has the divine complexion of the metaphors mentioned above, and who is infatuated with his followers, lives forever.
nedumAl Ur – just as it has been mentioned in jithanthE SlOkam 5 ”bhakthAnAm thvAm prakASasE” (you display all these, for the sake of your followers), he offers these aspects fully for his followers, since he is totally infatuated with them. SrIrangam is the divine abode, where such emperumAn lives forever.
kunRu … – just as it has been mentioned in periya thirumadal “thennan podhiyil sezhum sandhin thAdhu aLaindhu” (the southerly breeze carries with it, the pollens of beautiful sandalwood trees, which are planted in the podhigai hills of pANdiya kings), the breeze enters gardens, wallowing in the pollens of flowers there and carries the great fragrance from there.
kodi idaiyAr mulai aNavi – it also carries the fragrance of sandalwood and vermillion paste applied on the bosoms of women, who have waists like a creeper to compare with the slenderness and movement.
manRUdu thenRal ulA – with the vanity of having got all those fragrances with it, the breeze comes on to the land, and moves to the junctions of four streets.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that the breeze, unable to enter the houses inside the town [of SrIrangam], stands at the junction of streets and roams around, unsteadily. There is none in that town, who is waiting to sleep, looking for it to come and blow gently. It is the town inhabited by people who do not have attachment with worldly pursuits and who are attached only to emperumAn in the big temple. Apart from staying outside and blowing at the junction of four streets, there is nothing else that the southerly breeze could do. In the town where periya perumAL’s divine order rules the roost, there is no scope for entities who are under the control of cupid, to rule. It is only to prevent such worldly pursuits from entering that those, who are steadfast in their mangaLASAsanam [carrying out servitude to emperumAn and worshipping him] have built huge fortified walls around the town. Those who are inside the town are mangaLASAsanaparars. They are firm in seeing only emperumAn and do not see anything else, after seeing emperumAn, as mentioned in amalanAdhipirAn 10 “kaNda kaNgaL maRRonRinaik kANA”.
madhiL arangam enbadhuvE – it is that SrIrangam, which has breeze blowing like this and which has fortified walls for protection.
We shall next consider the last pAsuram of this thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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