SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: Sri varavaramunayE nama:
periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> Fourth Centum >> Ninth decad
avathArikai
AzhwAr says that SrIrangam is the divine abode for one who removed the vanity of mahAbali.
kuRat biramachAriyAy mAvaliyaik kuRumbadhakki arasu vAngi
iRaip pozhudhil pAdhALam kalavirukkai koduththu ugandha emmAn kOyil
eRippudaiya maNi varai mEl iLanAyiRu ezhundhARpOl aravaNaiyin vAych
chiRappudaiya paNangaL misaich chezhu maNigaL vittu eRikkum thiruvarangamE
Word-by-word meanings
eRippu udaiya – having effulgence
maNi varai mEl – over a mountain of bluish gemstone
iLa gyAyiRu – young suns
ezhundhAR pOl – similar to their rising
aravu aNaiyin vAy – on thiruvananthAzhwAn [AdhiSEshan]
siRappu udaiya – beautiful
paNangaL misai – seen on the spread hoods
sezhu – opulent
maNigaL – precious gemstones
vittu eRikkum – SrIrangam, which is splendorous
mAvalaiyai – to mahAbali
kuRaL biramachAriyAy – going, as a dwarfed bachelor [bachelor here refers to one who sets out
to learn vEdhams etc]
kuRumbu adhakki – controlling his vanity
arasu – kingdom
vAngi – accepting, through water [symbolically]
iRaip pozhudhil – in a moment
pAdhALam – in the nether world [pAthAlam]
kalavirukkai koduththu – giving him, as dwelling place
ugandha – feeling happy, after having fulfilled the desire of indhra
emmAn – dwelt upon by the one, who is my lord
kOyil – it is the temple
Simple Translation
Just as young suns rise over a mountain of bluish gemstones, which are effulgent, opulent gemstones shine over the spread hoods of AdhiSEshan. SrIrangam, which has that splendour, is the dwelling place of one, who is my lord, who went to mahAbali, as a dwarfed bachelor, controlled mahAbali’s vanity, took back the kingdom from him, and in a moment gave him space in the nether world for dwelling, feeling happy that he had fulfilled the desire of indhra.
vyAkhyAnam
kuRat biramachAriyAy – as a bachelor, who is dwarfed. kuRaL – just as a huge material is shrunk into a small material, emperumAn shrunk his huge form such that he could be seen with the eyes and enjoyed. Just as milk, when heated continuously, becomes lesser in volume, yet tastier [than the original], his smaller divine physical form too was full of charm. thirumangai AzhwAr celebrated this beauty in his thiruvAimozhi 1-8-6 “pulan koL mANAy” (having the divine form of a dwarf, which was enchanting for the senses). It was with this divine form that he attracted mahAbali. biramachAriyAy – this was another means to attract others. With the sacred thread, deer skin and the sacred grass worn as a belt, emperumAn looked handsome, as mentioned in periya thirumozhi 4.4.7 “pongilangu purinUlum thOlum thAzha” (with the sacred thread, having well grown radiance and shining, and the deer-skin hanging down). indhran, the head of celestial entities, came with tears in his eyes to emperumAn, beseeching him “I have lost my kingdom; you should mercifully redeem it for me”, taking refuge under emperumAn. emperumAn thought “One who is famous has seized indhran’s kingdom. Unlike rAvaNa, we cannot kill him, since he has the quality of magnanimity. Without any contrariety to the two [getting back the kingdom and mahAbali’s quality of magnanimity], how should we complete the task? If he is willing to give, let us go and seek alms from him”. It was due to this thought that he took the form of a brahmachAri [a student], who is used to seeking alms, as a habit.
In the svApadhESam, it is mentioned that emperumAn, as vAmana, was such short that the dwarfs in that place appeared well grown and tall.
mAvaliyai – just as it has been mentioned in thiruvAimozhi 9.8.7 “kOvAgiya mAvaliyai” (mahAbali, who considered himself as the lord of three worlds), mahAbali seized the kingdom, granted by emperumAn to indhran, through his strength and remained as uncontrollable by anyone.
kuRumbu adhakki – just as people in the world seize the properties of helpless and harmless people, making them as their own and do not come under anyone’s control, mahAbali seized the property of others, considering it as his own, and remained without any fear as if enjoying his own possession. kuRumbai adakki – destroying the pride.
arasu vAngi – emperumAn went to mahAbali, with the divine, physical beauty and enchanting form, stealing the mind of mahAbali. He uttered a few words, which were a misfit, as mentioned in thiruvAimozhi 3.8.9 “koLvan, nAn, mAvali, mUvadi, thA” (Oh mahAbali! I shall accept three steps of land. Give). He softened mahAbali’s heart with his words, made him to pour water and give whatever he had asked for, without hearing the words of people such as Sukra et al, who said “He has come to carry out the task for celestial entities. He has come to seize all your wealth”. He accepted water poured by mahAbali, on his divine hands [as a symbol of accepting the offer], hands which had only given and attained radiance and had never accepted anything from anyone, as mentioned in nAchchiyAr thirumozhi 11.5 “poRkaiyil nIr ERRu” (took alms on his beautiful hands), taking back the kingdom of indhran, from mahAbali.
iRaip pozhudhil – he carried out this task in a moment, without stretching the time.
pAdhALam kalavirukkai koduththu – He had sought three steps of land. With two steps, he measured all the worlds. Just like keeping the person in prison until he gives the third step, emperumAn made pAthAlam [nether world] as the dwelling place for mahAbali, as mentioned in periya thirumozhi 3.4.1 “onRum tharuga enA mAvalaiyaich chiRayil vaiththa” (emperumAn placed mahAbali in the nether world, asking him to [give land] for one more step). The term kalavirukkai koduththu refers to the fact that unlike a prison, that place [in nether world] was an enjoyable place for mahAbali. kalavirukkai refers to the heart being joyful.
It is said in svApadhESam that kalavirukkai refers to the place desired, fitting well with the mind.
ugandha – giving mahAbali, his dwelling place [thus making him happy], emperumAn gave back the kingdom to indhran, and felt happy, thinking “We have made the one, who surrendered, to come out of his loss”
emmAn kOyil – it is the divine temple, where, one, who is my swAmy [lord], resides forever to give himself to ananya prayOjanar [those who do not desire other benefits].
eRippudaiya maNi varai mEl – over a mountain of bluish gemstones, which are effulgent.
In svApadhESam, it is said that young suns rise over a mountain, which appears like crystalline gemstones. The brightness on the spread hoods of thiruvananthAzhwAn appeared like the rays of carbuncle gemstone. It is pertinent to recall perumAL thirumozhi 1.1 “sudar maNigaL imaikkum neRRi” (effulgent carbuncles shine brightly on the forehead of thiruvananthAzhwAn)
iLa gyAiRu ezhundhARpOI – just like young suns rise up.
aravaNaiyin vAy siRappudaiya paNangaL misaich chezhu maNigaL vitteRikkum – the huge gemstones on top of thiruvananthAzhwAn’s spread hoods will shine brightly. As a result, for those who enjoy the divine form of periya perumAL reclining on top of that thiruvananthAzhwAn, which looks like a mountain of emerald, as mentioned in thirumAlai 2 “pachchai mAmalai” (having a divine physical form, which is like a huge emerald mountain), that splendour from that thiruvananthAzhwAn would appear bright.
thiruvarangamE – the meaning mentioned above, has become a distinction for this place.
We shall next consider the 8th pAsuram of this thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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