SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: Sri varavaramunayE nama:
periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> Fifth Centum >> First decad
avathArikai
In the end, it is said that those who recite these pAsurams need not cry like AzhwAr, for reciting the divine names of emperumAn in their last moments. These pAsurams alone are sufficient since the pAsurams in this thirumozhi mention only the divine names of emperumAn, such as “mAdhava”, “nArAyaNa” et al.
In the svApadhESam, it is mentioned that those who recite these ten pAsurams will immediately attain paramapadham, only on account of these pAsurams.
kAmar thAdhai karudhalar singam kANa iniya karum kuzhal kuttan
vAmanan en maragadha vaNNan mAdhavan madhusUdhanan thannaich
chEmanangu amarum pudhuvaiyar kOn vittuchiththan viyan thamizh paththum
nAmam enRu navinRUuraippArgaL naNNuvAr ollai nAraNan ulagE
Word-by-Word Meanings
kAmar thAdhai – as one who sired kAman [deity for love]
karudhalar – for those who do not think of him
singam – difficult to go near, being like a lion
kANa – for those who take refuge under him, to see him and to feel happy
iniya – being sweet
karu – dark
kuzhal – having divine locks
kuttan – as a small child
vAmanan – as a dwarfish celibate
en – being obedient towards me
maragadham – with a greenish complexion, like an emerald
vaNNan – as one, having divine form
mAdhavan – as the divine consort of SrI mahAlakshmi
madhusUdhan thannai – regarding emperumAn, who is madhusUdhanan [one who
annihilated the monster, madhu]
sEmam nangu amarum – for those in SrI villibuththUr, where protection fits well
kOn – one, who is he controller
vittu chiththan – mercifully composed by periyAzhwAr
viyam – being amazing
thamizh – in thamizh language
paththum – all the ten pAsurams
nAmam enRu – considering them to be ‘divine names’
navinRu – thinking with their hearts
uraippArgaL – those who praise, to the satisfaction of their mouths
nAraNan ulagu – SrI vaikuNtam
ollai – at once
naNNuvAr – will get to attain
Simple Translation
emperumAn is one who sired kAman [cupid, the most handsome entity]. He is like a lion, being difficult to get near, for those who do not think of him. He is a sweet little child, with dark divine locks, for those who take refuge under him, for enjoying him. He is like a dwarfish celibate, vAmanan, being obedient to me, with a beautiful divine form, like a greenish coloured emerald. He is the divine consort of SrI mahAlakshmi and is madhusUdhanan, one who annihilated the monster, madhu. These ten pAsurams have been composed by periyAzhwAr, who is the controller of SrI villibuththUr, where the quality of protecting emperumAn fits well, in the amazing language of thamizh. Those who consider these pAsurams to be divine names of emperumAn, and praise to their hearts’ content, will get to attain SrI vaikuNtam, at once.
vyAkhyAnam
kAmar thAdhai – This is the nature of the entity, in whom AzhwAr is engaging with. It was this divine, beautiful form of being “kAmar thAdhai” [one, who sired the deity of love, kAman], which took AzhwAr away from the beauty of women, as mentioned in periya thirumozhi 1.1.3 “therivaimAr uruvamE maruvi” (thinking constantly of the forms of women alone), and brought him towards emperumAn.
In the svApadhESam, it is mentioned that emperumAn is the father of kAman, who goes around the worlds, making people infatuated with his beauty. This confirms that even for kAman, the root of his beauty is emperumAn.
karudhalar singam – those who do not desire to look at this divine beauty are inimical entities only. It is the divine beauty which makes even the unfavourable entities to become favourable entities, bringing them closer to him, as mentioned in “alaivalaimai thavirththa azhagan” (one having beauty, which removes the quality of speaking what comes to one’s mind, without looking at the beauty of the person standing in front).
kANa iniya karum kuzhal kuttan – emperumAn’s divine form is such that even entities such as rAvaNa et al [who are totally inimical towards him] will admire him as mentioned in the saying “ranjanIyasya vikramai:” (prowess which is rejoiced). He is an entity who is sweet for both the external eyes, as mentioned in periyAzhwAr thirumozhi 3.2.4 “kaNNukku iniyAn” (one, who is enjoyable for the eyes) and for the internal eyes, as mentioned in thiruppAvai 12 “manaththukku iniyAn” (one, who is sweet to the heart). karum kuzhal kuttan – the first part to be considered when admiring beauty is the locks, as mentioned in nAchchiyAr thirumozhi 11.2 “kuzhal azhagar” (having beautiful, divine locks). kuttan – creating such a beautiful, divine form and making all to enjoy that divine form. Alternatively, the term kANa iniya karum kuzhal could be considered as an adjective for the locks.
vAmanan – it is pertinent to recall periyAzhwAr’s pAsuram 2.9.2 “kariya kuzhal seyya vAy mugaththu – vAmana nambI varuga” (having dark, divine locks, along with reddish divine lips, oh, one who is like a dwarfish celibate!)
In the svApadhESam, it is mentioned that in order to get people [to be favourable to him], emperumAn condensed his beauty into a small form, such that they could enjoy his beauty, as if contained within a coconut shell.
en maragadha vaNNan – one, who has a cool, divine form. This is similar to thiruviruththam 85 “ulagaLandha mANikkamE en maragadhamE” (Oh one who measured all the worlds! Oh, one who is virtuous and is like an invigorating emerald gem).
mAdhavan – pirAtti will enjoy this divine form, from near his head. This is similar to iraNdAm thiruvandhAdhi 82 “vadikkOla vAL nedum kaN mAmalarAL sevvip padikkOlam kaNdu agalAL” (Having pure beauty, having divine sweet eyes, which are shining, periya pirAttiyAr, who was born in a great lotus flower, looking at emperumAn, having a natural beauty which is appropriate, is always together with him, without separating from him even for a moment).
In the svApadhESam, it is mentioned that emperumAn gives this beauty for the full enjoyment of pirAtti and that as her purushakAram [recommending to emperumAn], she enables me to enjoy that beauty.
madhusUdhan thannai – removing the hurdle to enjoyment. It is pertinent to recall here thiruvAimozhi 1.5.5 “vAnArsOdhi maNivaNNA madhusUdhA nI aruLAy” (Oh, one who has a beautiful form like a carbuncle, whose radiance reaches the land of wise people! Oh, one who destroys enemies such as madhu!)
sEma nangamarum pudhuvaiyar kOn – the ten pAsurams, mercifully composed by AzhwAr, who is the controller of SrI villibuththUr, which has protection fitting well in it.
nAmam enRu – considering these to be divine names, as mentioned in nAchchiyAr thirumozhi 2.1 “nAmam Ayiram” (the thousand divine names [recited by nithyasUris]).
navinRu uraippArgaL – those who are capable of praising, with affection.
naNNuvAr ollai nAraNan ulagE – they will get to attain paramapadham at once. In other words, they will become very affectionate towards ISvaran. The term sEma nangamarum reflects only this meaning. The semaththukku nanmai [benefit for protection] is to carry out mangaLASAsanam for emperumAn. The manner in which this meaning is reflected in samsAram is to recite thiruppallANdu [wishing well for emperumAn], matching paramapadham, as mentioned in periyAzhwAr thirumozhi 5.3.10 “pon thigazh mAdam polindhu thOnRum pudhuvai” (SrI villibuththUr, which is shining with mansions made of gold). Since the verse namO nAraNA is being recited without a break [periyAzhwAr thirumozhi 5.1.3], the term ollai would mean that once the verse has been recited once, the person would reach paramapadham, to recite it the second time.
nAraNan ulagE – Apart from reciting this divine name, nAraNA, during the time when one is here [in samsAram], even during the journey through the path of archis [to reach paramapadham], as mentioned in garuda purANam, the food on the way for the jIvAthmA is only reciting this name “pAdhEyam puNdarIkAksha nAmasankIrthanam amrutham” [for the jIvAthmA, the singing of nectar-like divine name of kaNNan, who has lotus-like eyes, is the food enroute]. It is naman thamar [as said in thiruvAimozhi 10.9] who are seen and enjoyed, by people on the way to paramapadham. After reaching that place, it is this divine name which is recited, surrounding emperumAn. Without any difference among samsAram, the path of archis or paramapadham, this divine name is the benefit.
In the svApadhESam, it is mentioned that it is the abode of one who is the lord of both vibhUthis [leelA vibhUthi and nithya vibhUthi]. He alone is the one who is mukthaprApyan [one who is attained by mukthAthmAs].
viyam thamizh – thamizh which is amazing. If the verse had been viyandhamizh, just as it has been said in thiruvAimozhi 1.1.8 “amararkkum ariviyandhu” (bestowing knowledge to celestial entities) it would refer to bestowing knowledge.
We shall next consider the pravESam of the next thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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