This prabandha is written by tiru nammAzhwAr; the chief of all AzhwArs who are all endowed with ‘mayarvara madinalam’ given by emberumAn, due to His nirhEtuka kaTAkSha. AzhwAr has written four prabandhas tiruviruttam, tiruvAsiriyam, periya tiruvandAdi and tiruvAimozhi. These are said to four vEdas. This prabandha is rgvEdasAra. It is placed as the 5th in iyarpA, the 3rd Ayiram by Sreeman nAdamunihaL.
Why is it called tiruviruttam? ‘vrtta’ of Sanskrit becomes viruttam’ in tamizh. The word has many meanings, one of them being ‘message’.
AzhwAr sees emberumAn with His jnAnakkaN. ‘This worldly life is unbearable. you should remove this deha sambandha which i consider as a virOdhi to enjoy You, i have great desire for Your nityAnuBava’. ‘Sree’ in Sanskrit becomes ‘tiru’ in tamizh both having the same meaning and significance.
This prabandha is in kaTTaLai kalitturai’ which is usually called viruttam. AzhwAr says ‘inninra neermai iniyAmurAmai—aDiyEn seyyum viNNappam—mei ninru kETTaruLAi. This prabandha gives a ‘message’ to emberumAn. Therefore it is called tiruviruttam.
Some say tiru means pirATTi. Here AzhwAr speaks like a woman i.e. it is a message sent by pirATTi to perumAn. Hence ‘tiruviruttam’.
All pASuras contain both the surface meaning (anyApadESa) and inner meaning (swApadESa) the prabandha has depth of meaning, beauty of words, alankAra, imagery etc. Therefore it excels in all aspects of poetry. To those who read this prabandha the chain of samsAra is cut off. It teaches us how to experience the BAva in our minds.
This prabandha is similar in style with tiruchchiTTrambalam of mANikka vAsahar.
AzhwAr’s anuBava is full of Bakrirasa. These divya prabandhas are full of jnAna viShayas. If such is the case why should they employ SringAra rasa in their works? The answer is—All are paratantras whereas He alone is swatantra. Of all other rasas Bakti rasa comes to them naturally. The riShis of daNDakAraNya becomes slaves of Sree rAma’s soundarya and guNa, wanted to enjoy His company as their lover. It was made possible only during kriShNAvatAra when they were born as gOpis. But to AzhwArs the BAvas comes to them instantly and they enjoy the madhura rasa even in that janma.
The two genders are created only for the sake of carnal pleasures. In the case of the experience of bliss these genders and the terms like ‘kongu (breasts)’ etc. are irrelevant. Then why should AzhwAr mix such words and blissful experience? Is it possible and propels? The answer is—to one who refuses to drink the medicine it is mixed with honey and given. Similarly the bliss anuBava is explained in terms of sense pleasures ‘BOktum tava priyatamam Bavateeva gOdE! Baktim nijAm praNaya BAvanayA grNantah uchchAvachaih viraha sangamajairudantaih SringArayanti hrdayam guravastvadeeyah’ ‘baktih SringAravrttyA pariNamati’—Sreemad vEdAnta dESikar.
There is another question. SringAra rasa is between a man and a woman. Here AzhwAr is in a state of SESha and He is SEShee. How can SringAra rasa be possible between a SESha and SEShee? Bakti anuBAva are of different kinds—to chant divya nAmas, describe His divya mangaLa vigraha, describe the divya dESas; describe the greatness of Sree vaiShNavas, etc. To experience streetva over himself and speak the language of stree. AzhwArs experience this BAva and use SringAra rasa in their pASuras.
In such pAN pASuras there are 3 types—tAyAr pASuras, talaivi pASuras and tOzhi pASuras. It is one AzhwAr who speaks His feelings through different mouths. It is one kAvEri river which flows in different branches bearing different names. As all of them are called kAvEri so two AzhwAr may speak in different voices but the final pASuras is from AzhwAr’s voice. ‘nallAr navil kuruhoor naharAn-----mAran viNNappam seida sollAr toDaiyal innoorum’. When He is a nAyaki His name becomes parAnkuSa nAyaki.
But why should AzhwAr lose His identity and superimpose a streeBAva on himself? Is it possible to do so? They don’t do it purposely. The BAva comes to them naturally. Since He is puruShOttama, all the other jeevas become strees.
Isn’t it possible to sing in pASuras without the mixing of sense pleasures and bliss? For the worldly people who can understand only worldly pleasures (SiTTrinbam). AzhwArs coat the pErinbam with SiTTrinbam and gives them.
This prabandham is in andAdi form. There are two types of andAdis—One is the use of words & the others is the use of meaning—soTTroDar nilai and poruTTroDar nilai. In these pASuras there is the usage of both types, i.e. the next pASura starts with the same word and with the continuation of meaning.
The prabandha starts with ‘poi ninra jnAnamum pollA ozhukkum azhukkuDambum inninra neermai iniyAmurAmai----aDiyEn seyyum viNNapamE’. The prabandha ends with the pASura ‘mAran viNNappam seida sollAr toDaiyal innoorum allAr azhundAr pirappAm pollA varuvinai mAyavan SETTraLLal poi nilattE’. In both the pASuras AzhwAr wants the cessation of prakrti sambandha. therefore this prabandha is meant to give mumukShutva and mukti.
taniyan
karu virutta kuzhi neettapin kAma kaDunguzhi veezhndu
oru viruttam pukku uzhaluveer uyirin poruLhaTku |
oru viruttam puhudAmal kuruhaiyar kOn uraitta
tiru viruttattu OraDi kaTTrireer tirunATTahattE ||
by kiDAmbi AchchAn
Sree vaikuNTha is called tirunADu since it is the greatest and noblest of all places.
karuvirutta kuzhi neettapin kAmakkuzhi veezhndu oru viruttam pukku uzhaluveer—garBa, janmam, bAlyam, youvanam, jarA, maraNa and naraka—These are the 7 avasthas mentioned by karu, kAma kaDunguzhi, viruttam.
viruttam is used many times, each time with a different pronounciation and meaning.
aru viruttam—‘vrtta’ of Sanskrit becomes viruttam meaning circular, round etc.
oru viruttam pukku- ‘vrdha’ of Sanskrit meaning oldage
oru viruttam puhudAmal—‘virudha’ of Sanskrit meaning opposed to swaroopa.
tiruviruttam—This prabandha called tiruviruttam.
The poet looks at people who are tossed about in the ocean of samsAra by repeated births and deaths. He tells them ‘do not let this duhKa torment you. If you want to reach the mOkSha sAmrAjya and enjoy in bliss for ever learn at least one pASura of tiruviruttam sung by nammAzhwAr’.
Some say this taniyan is written by Sree rAma piLLai and some say by ALavandAr.
thiruviruththam
poi ninra jnAnamum pollA ozhukkuDambum
inninra neermai iniyAmurAmai uyiraLippAn |
enninra yOniyumAi pirandAi imaiyOr talaivA
meinninru kETTaruLAi aDiyEn seyyum viNNappamE || One ||
AzhwAr requests emberumAn whom he sees with his jnAnakkaN ‘Oh! swami! Let us not undergo anymore the samsAra tApa. i pray for Your anugraha. Please listen to my sincere and humble request.
iniyAmurAmai—‘yAm’ is the plural form of ‘I’. AzhwAr however, ends the pASura with the singular ‘aDiyEn’. The significance of this is—AzhwAr makes this ‘viNNappam’ not only for himself but as a representative for all of us, the samsAris. ‘para anartham nenjilE paDuhaiyAlE nATTukkAha tAm manrADuhirAr’—periyavAchchAn piLLai.
poi ninra jnAnam—is vipareeta jnAna i.e. the opposite of tatva jnAna. There is puNya pApa, there is paralOka, there is eeSwara—all this is tatva jnAna. There is no such thing as puNya pApa, there is no lOka except this Boo lOka, there is no such a thing called mOkSha—such a knowledge is called vipareeta jnAna. In tirukkuraL in meyyuNardal adhikAram he says ‘poruLallavaTTrai poruL enru uNarum maruLAn Am mANAppirappu’, ‘iruL neengi inbam payakkum maruL neengi mAsaru kATchiyavarkku’ ‘aiyattin neengi teLindArkku vaiyattin vAnam naNiyaduDaittu’—the tatva jnAna leads to mukti, whereas vipareeta jnAna leads to samsAra. ‘jnAnAt mOkShah, ajnAnAt samsArah’.
pollA azhukku—The action that are done out of ahankAra and mamakAra. Instead of saying ‘yAnE nee ennuDaimaiyum, neeyE’ the ahankAri behaves with a selfish motive. ‘yAnE ellAm’. vipareeta jnAna leads to pollA ozhukkam which is the effect of dEha sambandha.
Azhwar first talks about kArya and then about kAraNa.
inninra neermai—When rAmappirAn went to daNDakAraNya the riShis met Him and told how they suffered from the asura gaNas. As they showed their bodies to Him (yEhi paSya SareerANi) ‘idu oru veTTu, idu oru kuttu, idaippAr idaippAr’, AzhwAr shows his Sareera to Him and says ‘look here and here’. ‘SreedaNDakAraNyattil riShihaL perumALukku rAkShasar tinra uDambai kATTinArpOlE prakruti tinra AtmAvai kATTuhirAr’—ALavandAr would say.
inninra neermai iniyAm urAmai—Le me have mOkSha. ini urAmai—there is no rebirth after going to paramapada. enninra yOniyumAi pirandAi—You take avatAras in all kinds of yOnis—fish, tortoise, boar etc. AzhwAr says ‘enninra yOniyumAi pirandAi—instead of ‘enninra yOniyirpirandAi’—one should know the significance i.e. when he takes birth in a particular species he completely becomes that species itself.
uyiraLippAn enninra yOniyumAi pirandAi—kaNNan says in Bagavadgeeta—‘paritrANAya sAdhoonAm vinASAya cha duShkrutAm dharma samsthApanArthAya sam BavAmi yugE yugE’—to do sAdhu samrakShaNa and to punish duShkrutas I take births very often. SiShTa jana samrakShaNa is the primary aim of his births. His births are not like ours which happen due to karma sambandha. His births are ‘decided by Him’, not ‘given to Him’. And the purposes of birth is not to spend the karma Pala as is ours but to do sAdhu paritrANa, duShTa nigraha and dharma samsthApana. (uyiraLippAn enninra yOniyumAi pirandAi) His births are to remove our births’ ‘avan pirakkira piravi nam piraviyai arukkaikkAhavanO’. aLippAn—only to do anugraha, not for any other purpose.
emberumAn takes avatAra for 3 purposes—SiShTa paripAlana, duShTa nigraha and dharma samsthApana. Of the three the SiShTa paripAlana is the chief aim. To do that he should kill the duShTas and only then establish dharma. Therefore SiShTa paripAlana includes the other two.
Can’t he do this by his mere sankalpa? Should he take birth to do these things? yes, He takes births to do one thing i.e., to fulfill the Baktas desire to see him ‘koorArAzhi veN sangEndi koDiyEn pAl vArAi ournAL maNNum viNNum mahizhavE’. ‘sAyal sAmattirumEni…………oru nAL kANa vArAyE’. The dAsas pray he should come and give darSana, which cannot be fulfilled by mere sankalpa! Therefore He comes down to earth leaving the great paramapada or pArkaDal (uyiraLippAn).
imaiyOr talaivA—imaiyOr—those who don’t bat their eyelids i.e., indrAdi dEvas (or) imaiyOr—one whose inner jnAnakkaN never closes i.e., nityasooris. Here it means nityasooris as AzhwAr says ‘ayarvarum amararhaL adipadi’. pEraruLALa perumAn is called ‘dEvAdirAja’. AzhwAr talks about Him in this pASura as well as in the first pASura of tiruvAimozhi (ayarvarum amararhaL adipadi) ‘Oh! dEvAdirAja! You have nityasooris to do Your kainkarya in paramapada please let me be one of them—is his prayer.
mei ninru kETTaruLAi—‘mei viNNappam kETTAruLAi’ (or) mei ninru—mei-tirumEni; ninru-don’t move here and there, just stand there; Listen to my words till i finish it. Azhahiya maNavALa jeeyar would say ‘tirumEniyai kATTi uNmaiyAha nEr ninru engai angum ingum padari ODippOi viDa pArAmal nilaittu ninru en viNNappattai muDiya kETTaruL perumAL tiruveedi purappADuhaLil vEda pArAyaNam kETka nirapdillai; aruLichcheyal iyal kETka nirapduNDu; AzhwAn ijnanE ‘ninru kETTaruLAi’ enru prArttittadanAl anrO idu’.
kETTaruLAi—AzhwAr does not say ‘aDiyEn seyyum viNNappatai kETTaruLi kOrikkaiyai poorttiseyya vENum’ but simply says ‘kETTaruLAi’—just listen to my request. he feels it is enough if he listens; the prayer will be fulfilled without fail. The words should not be split as ‘kETTu’ and ‘aruLAi’ (listen and do anugraha). It is kETTaruLAi—a single word meaning listening itself is aruL (anugraha) Sree vEdAnta dESikar in his upakAra sangraha has done vyAKhyAna to this fist pASura only.
sezhuneer taDattu kayal miLirndAloppa SEyarikkaN
azhuneer tuLumba alamaruhinrana vAzhiyarO |
muzhuneer muhilvaNNan kaNNan viNNATTavar mooduvarAm
tozhuneer iNaiyaDikkE anbusooTTiya soozhkuzharkE || Two ||
In the last pASura AzhwAr spoke as his dAsa—Now he speaks as parAnkuSa nAyaki.
There are 3 kinds of nAyakai BAvas—tAyAr pASuras, talaivi pASuras and tOLi pASuras. This pASura is tOzhi pASura. The friend of parAnkuSa nAyaki wonder at her condition and sings this pASura. ‘talaivi vErupADu kaNDa tOzhi viyanduraittal’.
AzhwAr called him ‘imaiyOr talaiva’. he thought how He is uttamapuruSha. At once his desire to get Him increased. At this thought AzhwAr lost his identity, got nAyaki BAva. he loses his name parAnkuSar but instead gets the name parAnkuSa nAyaki. Instead of describing her mental and physical states ‘herself’ she speaks through the mouth of tOzhi.
emberumAn was pratyakSha to AzhwAr’s jnAnakkaN. She wanted to have samslESha with Him but he disappeared without fulfilling her wish. Now she feels the agony of separation. Her friend is surprised at her sudden change and wonders how anyone can feel so much about him! Amazing!
He is like the rain cloud that has drunken the sea water and is dark in colour. He is worshipped by nityasooris. This, my parAnkuSa nAyaki is in love with him. She is immersed in sorrow because He is not here. Her eyes are compared to kayal fish; the tears are compared to the sezhuneer taDam.
vAzhiyarO—When the nAyaki is crying the tOzhi says ‘vAzhi’ because she thinks the sight of a Bakta who cries out of Bakti BAva is worth seeing ‘vaN ponni pErAru pOl varum kaNNa neer koNDu arangan kOyil tirumuTTram sEru sei toNDar sEvaDi sezhunjEru en sennikkaNivanE’ ‘kaNDiDakkooDumEl adu kANum kaN payanAvadE’—kulaSEkara AzhwAr.
vAzhi—It can also be interpreted as—let her get out of this viraha tApa and be happy.
viNNATTavar mooduvarAm—viNNATTavar are not the dEvas of swargalOka but the nityasooris in paramapada.
They are not like muktas who are released from samsAra and go to paramapada, but are the residents of paramapada since anAdikAla. They are souls like garuDa, SESha, viShvaksEna, etc……..
tozhuneer—‘neer’ or ‘neermai’ means swaBAva. The swaBAva of His tiruvaDi is to be worshipped by nityasooris. AzhwAr does not say ‘tiruvaDikkE anbu vaitta’ but says ‘tiruvaDikkE anbu sooTTiya’—it reveals the idea that AzhwAr’s Bakti is an ornament to emberumAn’s tiruvaDi. periyAzhwAr says ‘Arvam enbadOr poo’, ‘Sreemat parAnkuSa muneendra manO nivAsAt tajjnAnurAga rasamajjanamajjasArya adyApyanArata taduththita rAgayOgam SreerangarAja charaNAmbujam’—atimAnuShastava of koorattAzhwAn. ‘iNaiyaDikkE anbu sooTTiya soozh kuzharkkE’—AzhwAr’s Bakti is an ornament to BagavAn’s tiruvaDi and BagavAn’s tiruvaDis are ornaments to AzhwAr’s tirumuDi ‘kOlamAm en sennikku un kamalamanna kurai kazhalE’—tiruvAimozhi.
This AzhwAr who bears the tiruvaDiyiNai of emberumAn on his head which are worshipped by nityasooris, now she cries because of her separation from Him. This state of nAyaki is paramaBOgya—says the tOzhi.
kuzhar kOvalar maDappAvaiyum maNmahaLum tiruvum
nizhal pOlvanar kaNDu nirkungol meeLungol taNNanduzhAi |
azhar pOl aDum chakkarattaNNal viNNOr tozhakkaDavum
tazharpOr sinatta appuLLinpin pOna tani nenjamE || Three ||
This pASura is by nAyaki herself. She asks her tOzhi whether her mind which had gone behind Him will come back or not.
emberumAn came to her to give his darSan on garuDa vAhana and went back immediately. This garuDa is very cruel indeed! Him, who is difficult to be seen even in dream, is borne by garuDa on his back day and night! As she thought about him (garuDa) her mind went back to paramapada along with him. There it saw emberumAn surrounded by the three dEvis—SreedEvi, BoodEvi and neeLAdEvi. They are like His shadow never separated from Him. The mind is still there enjoying His sight. Oh! tOzhi! Will it come to me or not? Will it refuse to come back to its boss?
appuLLin pin pOna tani nenjam-AzhwAr says his mind had gone to paramapda. Now he is left without a mind. The question is—how can AzhwAr speak if he has no mind? How is it possible to say ‘I have no mind? Well! It is poetic fantasy to say so. The real meaning is—i have a strong desire to see Him on garuDa along with His three dEvis. Will this desire be permanent or will my mind come back again to these worldly pleasures? Will it again as before go behind ‘uNDiyE uDaiyE’? i sincerely hope to have this desire for Bagavad viShaya always.
As rAma departed to the forest leaving the palace, daSaratha says ‘rAmam mEnugatA druShTih adyApi na nivartatE na tvA paSyAmi kousalyE’—my eyes have gone behind Sree rAma. They have not yet returned to me. Oh! kousalya i am not able to see you even though you are near me’. This should not be taken literally to mean the eyes had really gone behind Him and he had lost them. The meaning is—my eyes don’t want to see anything except Sree rAma. Similarly AzhwAr’s mind went behind garuDa to enjoy the sight of emberumAn who is with kuzhar kOvalar maDappAvai, maN mahaL and tirumahaL.
appuLLin pinnE pOna tani nenjam—The swApadESArtha—‘suparNOSi garutmAn’—vEda vAkya. ‘vEdAtma vihagESwarah’—ALAvandAr. It is said garuDa is vEdaswaroopi. AzhwAr says his mind has gone behind the vEda which is the best pramANa. ‘tazhal pOl sinatta appuL’—this vEda pramANa kills the bAhya kudruShTi matas. ‘chakkarattaNNal kaDavum puL’—this paramANa is under the control of sarvESwara. ‘viNNOr tozha kaDavum puL’—because of this pramANa bala all the dEvas becomes his slaves.
kuzhar kOvalar maDappAvai—nappinnai is the daughter of a shepherd called kumBar. ‘kuzhar kOvalar’—is the shepherd who controls the herds by playing on his flute. She enslaved Him by her charm. If kuzhal is taken as an adjective to kOvalar it means the shepherd with flute; if it is taken as an adjective to pAvai then it means ‘the woman with beautiful hair!
maDappAvai—‘There are 4 qualities for a good woman—achcham, maDam, nANam and payirppu. maDam means though knowing everything does not reveal the knowledge. pAvai—a doll; as beautiful as a doll.
kumBar had seven powerful bulls which he kept as kanyA Sulka. kaNNan subdued their power and married nappinnai who is an incarnation of neeLa dEvi.
neezhal pOlvanai—The three dEvis do not leave Him at any time. They always follow Him like shadow. ‘lakShmeem vihAra rasikAmiva rAjahamseem chAyAmivAByudayineem avaneecha tasyAh'—Sree rangarAja stava of BaTTar ‘dEvi tvAmanu neeLaya saha mahee dEvyassahasram tathA yABistvam stanabAhudriShTiBiriva swABih priyam SlAGasE’—Sree guNaratna kOSa of BaTTar.
nizhal pOlvanar—They are like cool shades to their dAsas.
kaNDu nirkungol meeLungol—Will i get nitya samslEsha like these dEvis? or will i get many births in this world?
taNNanduzhAi azhal pOl aDum chakkarattaNNal—Our swami has both cool tuzhasi mAla and burning chakrAyudha (or) though tuzhasi is taNNanduzhAi it burns like fire like chakrAyudha since she is away from Him. ‘mEvu taN madiyam vemmadimAlO men malar paLLi vempaLLiyAlO’—tiruvAimozhi.
AzhwAr’s mind went behind vEdas. Through that pramANa he had BagavadanuBava. he has the apprehension whether this will stay or go away.
taninenjam munnavar puLLE kavarndadu taNNanduzhAikku
ini nenjamingu kavarvadu yAmilam neenaDuvE |
munivanja pEichchi mulai suvaittAn muDisooDutuzhAi
pani nanja mArudamE emmadAvi panippiyalvE || Four ||
The breeze blows softly. But to parAnkuSa nAyaki it burns. The mind went behind the nAyaka when he left her. She was thinking about tiruttuzhAi mAla. Suddenly the wind blew to torture her. She addresses the wind ‘i have already lost my mind. i am in sorrow, should you too come and enhance my duhKa and act like an enemy?
In the previous pASura AzhwAr said his mind went behind the vEda pramANa. ‘appuLLin pin pOna tani nenjamE’. Now he says after he tasted the BagavadanuBava he has become totally averse to all worldly pleasures.
tani nenjam mun avar puLLE kavarndadu—Since my mind had already gone to vEda pramANa, i don’t have another one left to be taken by taNNanduzhAi. ‘taNNanduzhAikku ini nenjam ingu kavarvadu yAmilam’. Here taNnanduzhAi means prakrti called mAya which attracts the mind like the taNnanduzhAi. ‘my mind which went behind the vEda pramANa to go to emberumAn cannot be taken away by the mAya prakruti anymore’.
The very same objects that give pleasure to both the nAyaka and nAyaki during samslESha give duhKa during vislESha. The cool breeze which formerly helped her enjoy Him now tortures her already wounded mind.
vanju pEichchi mulai suvaittAn—kaNNan killed pootana by suckling life along with milk. She was sent by kamsa to kill kaNNan.
muDi sooDu tuzhAi pani nanja mArudamE—To kill the wicked people alone is the job of tiruttuzhAi mArban. But emberumAn! You try to kill me who love You very much. Why?
emmadAvi panippiyalvE—My life (Avi) too would have left me when my mind left me. But this damn life does not leave me! (emmadAvi) panippiyalvE—Oh! breeze! you remove the tApa of everyone. But why should you behave adversely in my case alone? Should you kill me when i have already lost my mind?
AzhwAr uses the plural form ‘avar’ in the fist line (avar puLLE) then was ‘avan’ in the third line. (suvaittAn) she is angry since emberumAn left her. Hence she uses the word ‘avanr’ out of anger. Then she uses ‘avan’ when she remembers his upakAra.
panippiyalvAha uDaiya taNvADai ikkAlam ivvoor
panippiyal vellAm tavirndu eri veesum anadataNNantuzhAi |
panippuyalsOrum taDangaNNi mAmai tirattu kolAm
panippuyal vaNNan sengOlorunAnru taDAviyadE || Five ||
This is tOzhi pASura. She finds the nAyaki suffering the agony of separation. She feels terribly sorry for her. The manda mArudam (southern breeze) which has the natural tendency to cool is now become hot air in my case only. Why should it act like this? i think it is He who ordered the breeze to act so. It is He who has made a sankalpa that this object should behave in this way. That is why it acts contrary to its nature in my case alone. ‘manda mArudam parAnkuSa nAyakikku tApattai uNDAkkakkaDavadu’—so he had made a sankalpa.
AzhwAr wanted His samslESha ‘here and now’. Since his desire was not fulfilled, he feels all the objects are repulsive. The objects like manda mAruta that gives pleasure to others give pain to him alone.
It would have sufficed to say ‘taN vADai’ or ‘panippiyalvAha uDaiya vADai’ but he says ‘panippiyalvAha vuDaiya taN vADai’, Why? AzhwAr’s idea is—‘i have never seen one of the pancha Bootas taking the character of another Boota. The air has taken the guNa of agni! This twist of natures law is happening for the first time’.
ikkAlam—When she was with Him the pani vADai was very pleasant; now it burns her.
ivvoor--After witnessing the nAyaki’s state the residents of this place (ivvoor) too are worried.
mAmai tirattu kolAm—Through garuDa He made her lose her mind; through panivADai He caused her lose her complexion!
puyal vaNNan—He is called mEGa vaNNan since he is dark and showers his grace on all alike without expecting any return. But now he acts contrary to his name ‘puyal vaNNanAyirundu vaittu ippaDi ivan varuttuhinrAnE’. kATTrin swabAvattai mAttiram mATTrinAnallan; tan swabAvattaiyum mATTrikkoNDAnE’.
‘neDungaDal nirpadum jnAyiru kAivadum niTTralum kAl oDungi naDappadum taN kAr pozhivadum oozhitannil, suDum kanal paTTri suDAdE iruppadum tumbai punaindu, aDum kanalAzhi arangEsar tan tiruvANaiyinE’ (tiruvarangattu mAlai). All the objects have their characteristics obey His orders as He had ordained them to be so. This vADai also acts differently not out of its own intention but according to His instruction!
oru nAnru taDAviyadE—Usually emberumAn does not interfere in their acts but today He has purposely changed His previous order.
Some commentators take this as tAi pASura.
taDAviya ambum murinda silaihaLum pOhaviTTu
kaDAyina koNDolhum valliyidEnum asurar manga |
kaDAviyavEha paravaiyin pAhan madana sengOl
naDAviya kooTTrangaNDeer uyirkAminhaL jnAlattuLLE || Six ||
A BAgavata observed AzhwAr, his jnAna, his calm nature that is the result of jnAna. he addresses the people around him and says this AzhwAr can give you mOkSha and release you all from this samsAra which is a veritable dark world. If you want to stay in this samsAra then go away from this place and save your lives! This is the inner meaning of this pASura.
A nAyaka loved a nAyaki attracted by her extraordinary beauty. he addresses the people and says look at her beauty! Her slender body is like a tender creeper. It is a powerful weapon of manmatha, a real mrtyu indeed! you can escape from the real mrtyu dEvata, but not from this mrtyu. If you fall in the net (of her beauty) you will never escape. So run away and save your lives!
AzhwAr’s love for his Baktas is as much as they have for him. Therefore they sometimes make BAgavatas the talai mahan (hero) of the poem. ‘mAyapirAn aDiyAr kuzhAngaLai—uDan kooDuvadu enru kol)’—tiruvAimozhi. There are many such instances in the drAviDa prabandha. taDAviya ambum murinda silaihaLum pOhaviTTu kaDAyina koNDu olhum valli idEnum—valli—a beautiful damsel. Here it means parAnkuSa nAyaki. She is called valli (creeper) because like a tender creeper which cannot stand by itself, but needs the support of a tree or branch AzhwAr needs the support of BagavAn.
This nAyaki has good bows and arrows with her to assist manmatha (kaDAyina koNDu) the arrows are her eyes and the bows are her brows. These bows and arrows create agitation in the minds of men. She is the chief of manmathas army and creates kAma in the minds of men which is like mrtyu (death)—madana sengOl naDAviya kooTTram. ‘meen sEr kuzhAmanaiya mEhalaiyum vemmulaiyum kooTTram kooTTram, oon sEr uyiruyya koNDODi pOminhaL uraittEm’ and ‘ikkoDiyai eenrAL pOlum koLvAn ulahukkOr kooTTru paravaiyin pAhan madanan—seevaha sindAmaNi. paravaiyin pAhan means garuDa vAhana i.e. emberumAn. His son is pradyumna an incarnation of manmatha.
The inner meaning is—valli is parAnkuSa nAyaki. She is called a creeper since she needs the support of emberumAn to lean against. The bent arrows and broken bows are the worldly men's wrong knowledge, and upAyas. The beautiful unbent arrows and unbroken bows are AzhwAr’s steadfast jnAna.
asura manga—The bAhya and kudruShTi matas are asuras. AzhwAr with his jnAna brings love in people towards emberumAn, the garuDa vAhanan. He is yama to the chain of karma and samsAra. He helps them to attain mukti.
kaNDeer uyir kAminhaL jnAlattuLLE—Those who listen to AzhwAr’s upadESa, worship him will lose their swatantra to become ananya SEShas. The very purpose of his avatAra is to correct them and make them realize their Atma swaroopa. If they, however, want to remain in samsAra and be ignorant of their swaroopa, they can run away from AzhwAr and escape from his net.
The jnAnakkaN are compared to arrows. These arrows hit the target (emberumAn) without fail. The bow is compared to his jnAna sAdhana. The bent bow (taDAviya ambu) is compared to roaming and viShayAntara (worldly matters); the broken arrows—to go astray.
What AzhwAr means in this pASura is—i have come to catch you all. Well! emberumAn too comes down for the same purpose. But He fails several times. My efforts never fail. Those who want to escape from me run away and save yourselves. Those who remains here near me i shall lead you to mOkSha.
jnAlam panippa serittu nanneeriTTu kAl sidaindu
neelavallEru porAninra vAnamidu tirumAl |
kOlamsumandu pirindAr koDumai kuzharutaNpoona
kAlam kolO ariyEn vinaiyATTiyEn kANhinravE || Seven ||
The nAyaka had samslESha with the nAyaki. Then he went abroad on business promising her he would be back by rainy season. The talaivi was waiting for him and the season. The season came but not he. She feels sad ‘Alas! The rainy season has come. But i don’t see him coming!’ The tOzhi tells her ‘nangAi! Don’t worry. The rainy season has not yet come’. ‘But tOzhi! i see the dark clouds and the rain. Are they not indicative of the season?’ ‘nangAi! They are not rain clouds. They are just two dark huge bulls fighting. you mistook them as clouds. And this is not the rain, it is the sweat and urine of the bulls that look like rain.’
Why should the tOzhi lie to her dear friend? Is it proper to lie? tiruvaLLuvar says ‘poimmaiyum vAimaiyiDatta purai teernda nanmai payakkumenin’. If a small lie could save a man from danger or from death, it is not a lie at all. Similarly here the tOzhi tells a lie to save her friend.
But does the talaivi believe it as truth? Doesn't she realize it is a lie? No. In order to make her believe she adds at once ‘taN poongAlam kolO ariyEn’.
If the tOzhi tells her firmly it is not the rainy season, the nAyaki may doubt her words thinking she tells lie to pacify her. If she starts verifying her words she will certainly find out it is a lie. That is why tOzhi says is it really kAr kAlam? It appears so, but i have my own doubts too’. The talaivi would think. ‘This tOzhi perhaps tells the truth. If she wants to tell a lie she could have very well said it is not kAr kAlam. If she wants to tell the truth she would have said it is rainy season. So let me think and find out. Thus the talaivi would forget her sorrow for sometime, her attention being diverted.
tirumAl kOlam sumandu—The dark cloud is like emberumAn’s tirumEni; the lightning is like periya pirATTi in His tirumArbu . pirindAr koDumai kuzharu—The thunder appears to say ‘this talaivan who is away is really hard hearted since He does not lie on bed embracing such a beautiful girl as all the couples and lovers do at this season’.
koDumai—The cruelty of the talaivan is not arriving at the promised moment.
taN poongAlam—The rainy season is the time when the men folk stay at home with their talaivis. They don’t normally go out on business or trade.
The tOzhi does not say ‘taNpoongAlamanru’ but says ‘taNpoongAlangolO’. It is perhaps to say ‘talaivi! Dint you realize it is kArkAlam in that place too where he had gone! i think he should be worried too. There fore he would hasten up to come here!’
vinaiyATTiyEn—The tOzhi feels sad for the talaivi’s condition. She feels sad, she is not able to do anything to alleviate her suffering. Therefore she says ‘i am a mahApApi to see her like this. The reason for his condition is not kAr kAla, is not his absence, but my pApa alone.
In Sreemad rAmAyaNa Barata says ‘matpApamEvAtra nimittamAseet’—the reason for rAma’s leaving for forest is not mandara’s scheme, not kaikEyi’s plan, nor daSarathas words, but it is me being the son of kaikEyi’. Similarly tOzhi says ‘avan vArAmal nee varundudarku kAraNam avanuDaiya koDumaiyum anru, unadu ATTrAmaiyumanru, kAlamumanru, kANginra ennuDaiya pApamEkAN’.
vinai means both puNya and pApa karmas. Here only pApa karma is taken as the meaning.
jnAlam panippa serittu—The bulls encounter with each other so fiercely that all the people tremble with fear.
jnAlam panippa nanneeriTTu—jnAlam—Boomi; panippa—to become wet; nanneeriTTu—sweat and urine.
porAninra vAnamidu—The bulls keep fighting moving here and there and have finally gone to the AkASa and continue their fight. The reason for saying this is—the tOzhi thinks ‘let the talaivi think over it and thus for a while at least forget her sorrow’.
Different commentators give different versions of inner meaning. ALavandAr in stOtra ratna says ‘avivEka GanAnga dingmuKE bahudhA santata duhKavarShiNi Bagavan BavadurdinE’—the samsAra is compared to rainy season. In the kAr kAlam the sky is completely covered by dark clouds, the directions are veiled in darkness. Similarly the samsAra is full of ignorance, that the man does not know where to go. The rain pours heavily in that season; there is duhKa varSha in samsAra; naNNAdAr muruvalippa nalluTTrAr karaindEnga eNNArA tuyar viLaikkum ivai enna ulahiyarkai’—tiruvAimozhi.
It is said every duhKa will be followed by suKa. But in my case duhKa alone follows duhKa. i don’t see him coming. Perhaps he may not come at all.
kANhiranahaLum kETkinranahaLum kANil innAL
pANkunranADar payilhinrana idellAmarindOm |
mANkunramEndi taNmAmalai vEngaDattu umbar nambum
SEN kunram senru poruL paDaippAn kaTTra tiNNanavE || Eight ||
This is the talaivi pASura. parAnkuSa nAyaki tells her tOzhi that he has gone away to earn money. This is called ‘poruL vayir piridal’. A householder normally leaves his family to go abroad for trade and earn money.
But should parama puruSha who is paripoorNa too go on journey and earn money? Any house holder should go out to earn money even if he has inherited properties. The dEva and pitru kAryas should not be performed with the forefathers’ money but should be conducted only with the earned money. Whether poor or rich every man should earn money. ‘poruL vayir piridal enbadu—kuravarhaLAl paDaikkappaTTa poruL koNDu illaram seidAl adanAl varum payan avaikku Am attuNaiyalladu tamakku AhAmaiyAi tamadu poruL koNDu illaram seidarkku poruL tEDa piriyA niTTral—tirukkOvaiyAr uraikkArar.
Normally a talaivan who is about to leave his wife or love, pays extra attention to her, speaks more soft and loving words and acts differently, For example he may embrace her or kiss her more than he usually does, holds her hand for long time, falls on his knees, makes false promises (i wont leave you, i wont go anywhere, if i go i shall cease to live etc……..). innAL pANkunra nADar payilhinrana kANginranahaLum kETkinranahaLum idellAm poruL paDaippAn kaTTra tiNNanavu arindOm’. The woman is surprised at his unusual behavior and wonders what is the matter. She would guess he is going to leave her, go away on a journey to earn money.
parAnkuSa nAyaki says ‘his behaviors is very strange. i think he is going to some mountain to earn money. he has learnt this behavior from somewhere and someone (kaTTra tiNNanavu). Earlier he had kissed her, embraced her, spoken lovingly but this time it appears as pretentious. (poruL paDaippAn kaTTra tiNNanavu).
innAL—He repeatedly kisses, embraces; repeatedly speaks the same words like ‘i love you; i shall not leave you’ etc.,
pAN kunranADar—pAN-music or whose profession is singing. Even ‘kuDakuDuppANDi’ is called pANar. They sing some songs with nice words to get money from them. (poyyAna upachAram). Today the words and actions of the talaivan is like pANar.
pAN kunra nADar—pAN kunram—Mountains where there are plenty of flowers which the bees seek. pAN kunra nADar—he chief of such mountainous regions. The inner meaning is—Our swami is the nAyaka of tiruvattimalai, tiruvEngaDa malai, tirumAlirunjOlai malai, tirumeyya malai etc (or) He is as hard hearted as the mountains on which He lives.
mAN kunram Endi taN mA malai vEngaDattu—mAn kunram Endi—When indra was not given his due share of food and pooja, he got angry and poured heavy rains over AyarpADi. kaNNa pirAn lifted the gOvardhana malai for 7 days and protected them. mAN kunram—A very comfortable hill under which all the AyarpADi folks and cattle could take rest for any number of days.
mAN—vAmana. In this case it means ‘our emberumAn who is vAmana and kaNNa’. It is the usual practice of AzhwArs to combine vAmana and kriShNa. nammAzhwAr in the tirumozhi ‘kuravai AichchiyarODu kOttadum’ (where AzhwAr talks only kriShNAvatAra) speaks vAmana avatAra too in the sixth pASura ‘ahalkoL kaiyam aLanda mAyan ennappan tan mAyangaLE pahal iravA parava peTTrEn’.
umbar nambam vEngaDattu SEN kunram—paramapada, the greatest of all places, is the dwelling place of nityasooris. They always enjoy the kainkarya of emberumAn. Yet, they like to come and worship Him in tirumalai where they can enjoy His soulaBya, souSeelya, guNas. This pASura can be taken as talaivi addressing the tOzhi, (or) talaivi speaking to talaivan (who is absent) as if he is present (or) to Him when she comes to know he is leaving.
The inner meaning of this pASura is---when parAnkuSa nAyaki is feeling sad on separation from Him the BAgavatas come to pacify her. Thus they proceed on their journey to some divya dESas (SEN kunram senra) to attain the paramporuL (poruL paDaippAn). They come to her to bid good bye and speak soft and pacifying words to her. (innAL payilhinrana kANkinranahaLum kETkinranahaLum kANil pAN idellAm) since they have decided to stay in tiruvEngaDam they are called kunranADar. ‘kunramEndi kuLir mazhai kAttavan senru SEr tiruvEngaDa mAmalaiyilE niharil amarar munikkaNangaL virumbum uyarnda siharattai senru sErndu angu vaitta mA nidiyAm madusoodananai perudarku tuNinda tuNivE idu’.
AzhwAr expresses the truth that BAgavata sambandha is far superior to divyadESa vAsa.
tiN poonjuDar nudi nEmiyanselvar viNNADanaiya
vaNpoo maNivalliyArE piribavar tAm ivaiyO |
kaNpoongamalam karunjuDarADi veNmuttarumbi
vaNpoonguvaLai maDamAn vizhikkinra mAyidazhE || Nine ||
The nAyaka sings this pASura. he does not want to leave her and go. The nAyaki too feels very sad since, she understood from his extraordinary behavior that he is going to leave her. She even now experiences the duhKa which she is going to experience in future (after he goes away). Seeing her in this state nAyaka feels sorry for her.
He has no mind to leave her who gives Ananda like the paramapada; who is as beautiful as a creeper; who has lotus-like eyes dark like karuneidal flower. Tear drops like pearls fall from her eyes. To look at her is the purpose of having eyes. Will any wise man leave her and go on a journey?
ivaiyO kaN—These eyes are not ordinary eyes of ordinary women. They are as beautiful as red lotuses (with red streaks) and as dark as karuneidal flowers. With dark large eye lashes the eyes look like that of deer.
tiN poonjuDar nudi nEmi—tiN -because it is an Ayudha; poo-because it is an ornament.
tiN poonjuDar valli—is AzhwAr himself. AchArya hrdaya—‘maNi valli pEchchu vandEriyanru’.
mAyidazhE—idazh also means lips (or) eye lashes.
The swApadESArtha—AzhwAr is very reluctant to bid goodbye to the BAgavatas who wanted to go to divya dESas. The BAgavatas too hesitate to go away leaving the AzhwAr behind after seeing his jnAna and Bakti. his presence gave them Ananda that is equal to paramapada. They feel he is the very form of pAratantrya like a creeper that cannot stand without a support. (vaN maNi poovallli). his jnAna is not ordinary. It is simply extraordinary (ivaiyO kaN).
his jnAna has the target periya pirATTi and emberumAn, who are described as poongamalam, karunjuDarADi. AzhwAr’s Bakti is such that he loses his identity. his nature is so pure that it is Suddha satva. When he thinks of emberumAn his eyes shed tears.
mAyOn vaDa tiruvEngaDa nADa vallikkoDihAL
nOyO uraikkilum kETkinrileer uraiyeer numadu |
vAyO aduvanri valvinaiyEnum kiLiyumeLhum
AyO vaDuntoNDaiyO araiyO idu arivaridE || Ten ||
In poetic literature this pASura is called ‘madiyuDabaDuttaluTTra talaivan kuraiyura uraittal’. nAyaki and nAyaka had samslESha and got separated for some reason. The nAyaka wanted to renew their sambandha and approaches the tOzhi and reveals his feelings to her.
Once where both the nAyaki and her tOzhi were together guarding the field he approaches them and talks to the tOzhi. The tOzhi, who did not know the reason for their separation now comes to know what the matter is. Hence it is called madiyuDampaDuttal (madi-opinion; uDan paDuttal—to agree).
vallikkoDihAL—The plural suggests both the nAyaki and the tOzhi were present.
valvinaiyEnum kiLiyum eLhum AyO—Suggests the place where he meets them. It is a field where they sit guarding the crops against birds. AyO—The word uttered loudly to chase away the birds.
Why should nAyaki do this act of ‘punam kAttal’? She seems to be a rich girl. And why should the nAyaka come alone to the place as if he is a commner? isn’t he a man of power and position? isn’t he always surrounded by people and retinue? The reason is both of them wanted to have a heart to heart talk at this appointed place and time. They wanted help of the tOzhi to bring them together. ‘eLiyaLAi punam kAttALumallaL; eLiyanAi kuraiyuTTrirandAnumallan’—tanjai vANan kOvai.
vallikkoDihAL—valli and koDi are synonymous. When one word is enough AzhwAr uses both words. koDi suggests a beautiful girl and valli is the simile word. he calls even the tOzhi as vallikkoDi since he wants her help in uniting them.
vaDa vEngaDam—vaDa is used to say the mountain that lies north of this place. This suggests the nAyaki and tOzhi were doing punangAttal in tirumalai.
The nAyaka says ‘i am suffering from kAdal nOi. But you don’t seem to suffer from that nOi! Therefore i don’t think you care for me. you neither sympathize with me nor care to enquire about me. Well! i shall myself explain to you even if you don’t ask. Please listen to me at least. you may not cure my nOi but shouldn’t you care to listen to my words? (nOyO uraikkilum kETkinrileer). If you listen to my woes i feel grateful.
Why should he say ‘uraiyeer’ as if he expects an answer? If they don’t even care to listen to him will they answer him? ‘kELAdavarhaLai solleer engiradu Asaiyin mihudi irundapaDi’—periyavAchchAn piLLai. kiLiyum eLhum AyO—The kiLihaL go away when you say ‘AyO’ (or) The sweetness of your voice makes the kiLihaL feel shy and make them go away. Not only the kiLi but i too become a slave to the sweetness of your voice (kiLihaLum).
valvinaiyEn—i know i am sad but i don’t know what caused it. The effect is known but not the cause. you should tell me (What the nAyaka expects the tOzhi to say is ‘Oh! nAyaka! i know the cause. Since you are separated from her you feel sad’. If the talaivi listens to her saying this, she will feel sorry for him and forget her anger).
araiyO—Please. he wants to make her speak (or) he wants to know the cause of his suffering.
swApadESArtha—The BAgavatas talk to AzhwAr. mAyOn vaDa tiruvEngaDa nADa vallikkoDihAL—mAyOn—emberumAn has come to tirumalai from paramapada for lOka samrakShaNa. AzhwAr wants to seek Him in tirumalai as He is sarvasulaBa here. AzhwAr is called vallikkoDi to suggest his pAratantrya. The plural is gauravArtha.
nOyO uraikkilum kETkinrileer—AzhwAr! your mind is fully engrossed in Bagavad viShaya. you don’t seem to listen to our words. We want to tell you how we suffer out of love for you. But your mind is elsewhere what do we do now!
numadu vAyO aduvanri valvinaiyEnum kiLiyum eLhum AyO aDundoNDaiyO arivaridE—your beautiful lips (vAyO) the wonderful words coming out of them (AyO), the sweet voice (tonDaiyO)—we don’t know which of them enslave us and emberumAn (paingiLivaNNan). Please tell us! (araiyO)
ariyana yAm inru kANhinrana kaNNan viNNanaiyAi !
periyana kAdam poruTkO pirivana jnAlameidarku |
uriyana oNmuttum paimponnumEndi OrO kuDangai
periyana keNDaikkulam ivaiyO vandu pErhinranavE || Eleven ||
The talaivan simply mention that many men go on journey to earn money. Just she sheds tears and changed colour. This pASura is by the talaivan.
The nAyakan wants to go abroad to earn money. he does not want to go without bidding her goodbye, and also does not want to say all of a sudden his decision to leave. he is afraid about how she would be able to bear the shock. Therefore he slowly opens up the topic in general. But the nAyaki even at such casual reference feels sad and feels the separation even now itself. She thinks ‘i know this reference is not a passing remark but he actually means what he says’. Suddenly she sheds tears and her complexion changes to golden hue.
The talaivan is quite surprised at her reaction and this pASura is taken to be a one said to tOzhi or his own mind.
AzhwAr begins this pASura ‘ariyana yAminru kANginrana’ i have not seen anything like this before. ‘Oh! tOzhi! i just mentioned the usual practice of men going on a business trip to earn. Just at this reference she changed colour and shed tears’.
kaNNan viNNanaiyAi—Suggests how difficult it is to leave her and go. Still the nAyaki feels sad that he is going away. Those in the paramapada do not like to leave the place and go elsewhere. Similarly no one will have a mind to leave her and go away.
periyana kAdam poruTku pirivu ena—i told my nAyaki –‘Oh! Sweetheart! There are many men who go away to distant lands. Is it to earn money?’ This can be taken as a question as a statement.
jnAlam eidarkuriyana—Desired by all the people (or) world is the price.
ON muttum paimponnum Endi—‘pon kulAm payalai poottana mentOL’ tirumangai AzhwAr. ‘ooruN KENi uNDurai tokka pASiyaTTrE pasalai, kAdalar toDuvuzhi toDuvuzhi neengi viDuvuzhi viDuvuzhi parattalAnE’—krurundohai. As the kAdalan touches (toDuvuzhi) as he takes away his hand (viDuvuzhi) pASiyaTTrE—the moss. The tears are pearl like; the pasalai is called pon.
keNDaikkulam pOnra kaNgaL—Cool, shining and always moving. Hence the eyes are compared to keNDai meen.
ivaiyO—As i mentioned about the general practice of men going out to earn her fish like eyes shed pearl like tears and her skin became ‘gold’ (pasalai) as if to say ‘why should you go out to earn? Here are the precious pearls and the gold. They are yours (ON muttum paimponnum Endi).
swApadESArtha—The BAgavatas asked AzhwAr’s permission to go to diyva dESas. AzhwAr is reluctant to permit them. ariyana yAm inru kANginrana—This AzhwAr’s jnAna is extraordinary and is not seen anywhere.
kaNNan viNNanaiyAi—AzhwAr’s company gives andamil Ananda (infinite biss) and his sambandha cuts off our prakrti sambandha; his nature is always the same, never varies—all these are the characteristics of paramapada and AzhwAr.
periyana kAdam poruTkO pirivana—As we said we are going to far away divyadESas to worship Him. The paramporuL .
jnAlam eidarkuriyana—To experience all the worlds (or) capable of enslaving all the Sree vaiShNavas—jnAlam is taken to mean people which in turn refers to Sree vaiShNavas. ‘ulaham enbadu uyarndOr mATTE’.
ON muttum paimponnum Endi—AzhwAr has Suddha satva guNa (ON muttu) and effulgent form like gold (paimponnum) OrO kuDangai periyana—are as easy as can be held in the palm of a hand.
keNDaikkulam—Whose mind is engrossed in the matsyAvatAra. ivai—The variety of jnAna (the degrees of jnAna)
vandu pErhinrana—Coming near us make us desire Him more ‘piriyavoNNAdapaDi Asaiyai mooTTuhinrara’.
O—How wonderful.
AzhwAr fears the separation from Sree vaiShNavas who want to leave him and go to divya dESas. he is very much worried as they mention the topic.
pErhinradu maNimAmai pirangiyaLLarpayalai
oorhinradu kangul oozhihaLE idellAm inavE |
eerhinra chakkarattemberumAn kaNNan taNNanduzhAi
sArhinra nanenjinAr tandu pOna tanivaLamE || Twelve ||
As the nAyaka went away the nAyaki pours her mind out to her tOzhi (or) speaks to her mind.
mAmai—The healthy beautiful complexion of a young girl. She calls her complexion ‘maNi mAmai’. The nAyaka used to describes her so.
pirangi aLLal payalai oorhinradu—The pasalai niram is spreading all over my body.
kangul oozhihaLE—When i am with nAyaka the nights end in a second; when i am away from Him they extend like yugas.
idellAm inavE—All things like anril (a bird) tenral (breeze), tingaL (moon) etc torment me.
eerhinra chakkarattu emberumAn—emberumAn who has tiruvAzhi (charka) that kills the ASritavirOdhis (or) his beautiful form with chakrAyudha toments me. ‘piradikoolarai ANmaiyAlE kollum; anukoolarai azhahAlE kollum’—peiyavAchchAn piLLai.
kaNNan tuzhAi sArhinra nenju—My mind thinks it is lucky to have the sambandha of tiruttuzhAi which has the sambandha of emberumAn. sArhinra—It simply jumps at the offer without any doubt whether it will get it or not. nal nenju—my mind which is my friend has gone behind emberumAn leaving me.
tandupOna tanivaLamE—She calls the change of her maNi mAmai, the lengthening of nights, the loss of her mind which went behind His tiruttuzhAi—as ‘vaLam’. This is called vipareeta lakShaNa. To call a beggar as ‘rich man’ is an ironical expression. This is vipareeta lakShaNa. She calls herself as one possessed of much ‘aiSwarya’.
AzhwAr had the darSan of emberumAn with his jnAnakkaN. But he could not have his samslESha. Therefore he expresses his love in this pASura ‘emberumAn kaiyum tiruvAzhiyumAi tOLum tOLmAlaiyumAi sEvai sAdikkira nilaimaiyilE sEvikka peravENumenru Asai paTTu adu kiDaiyAmaiyAlE ‘oru pahal Ayiram oozhiyAlO ‘enru varundavum ‘sanguvil vAL taNDu chakkarakkaiyarku…kongalar taNNanduzhAi muDiyAnukku en mangai izhandadu mAmai niramE’ enru klESikkavum nErndadu’.
tanivaLar sengOl naDAva tazhal vAyarasaviya
panivaLar sengOliruL veeTTrirundadu pArmuzhudum |
tunivaLar kAdal tuzhAyai tuzhAvutaN vADaitaDindu
inivaLai kAppavarAr enai yoozhihaLeervanavE || Thirteen ||
The nAyaki is sad because of her separation from the nAyaka. She curses the nights and the breeze in this pASura.
The indriyas are engaged in various activities during the day time. They keep quiet in the night except the mind. The mind, however keeps thinking of the nAyaka alone as there is nothing else to do. Therefore the thoughts of the lover reminds her of the samslESha with him and enhances the sorrow.
When the emperors are powerful the kings and lords lie low. When he is gone, these small kings and lord raises their heads and become powerful. Similarly when the sun is bright in the day the stars and the moon are not seen but as soon as he sets they reign over the earth. tazhal vAi—sun’s hot rays and his glories
AzhwAr does not say ‘sooriyan maraiya’ but says ‘sooriya aviya’ to suggest the sun does not seem to rise at all, perhaps he is dead.
sengOl means a just rule. But AzhwAr calls the rule of the night too as ‘sengOl’. It is vipareeta lakShaNa. The just rule of the night is to kill all the separated lovers. pAr muzhudum veeTTrirundu—The ‘panivaLar sengOl irul’ spreads his power over all the areas of the earth i.e., he has the whole earth under his control. There is no enemy to oppose him. he was all along waiting for the sun to set so that he can spread his rule everywhere.
On one side the night tortures me and on the other the ‘tiruttuzhAi kATTru’ (the breeze that brushes past the tiruttuzhAi bringing the scent to her) also torments her. Is there no one who can punish these fellows and save her?
taN vADai—She calls the breeze ‘taN’ because it was once pleasing to her when she was with Him. She remembers how the breeze was a good friend once.
taDindu—To cut. Is it possible to cut the breeze? nAyaki, however, says so out of her anger towards the breeze.
ini—The nAyaka who should my rakShaka has left me. Now the night when very nature is to trouble the lovers has come to add to my woes.
vaLai kAppavar Ar—i have lost my weight and become thin due to separation. The bangles do not stay in my hands. They slip away again and again. The reason for this is me becoming thin, the reason for which is his separation. If the bangles are to stay in my hands i should become fat which is possible if only he comes. Who will help me in this regard? enai oozhihaL eervana—The nights seem to split my body causing terrible pain. they never seem to end auguring the morning.
swApadESArtha—AzhwAr is separated from emberumAn. he is in sorrow, wants the help of someone. he has lost his discrimination, become weak physically and mentally.
tani vaLar sengOl naDAvu tazhalvAyarasu aviya—The matchless ever shining rays of the sun kill the darkness. Similarly the vivEka kills ajnAna. The vivEkajnAna is called tazhalvAi arasu. This vivEka defeats the matAntaras and therefore is very powerful. This alone makes one follow the commandments of BagavAn. AzhwAr loses this excellent vivEka because he is immersed in darkness due to the separation from emberumAn. panivaLar sengOl iruL veeTTrirundu—The mOhAndhakAra that deludes the buddhi and causes duhKa has come to him. tuni vaLar kAdal tuzhAyai tuzhAvu taNvADai taDindu—When he is separated there are many worldly things like the tuzhAi etc. that reminds Him.
vaLai kAppavar Ar—Who will make me stand firm in my decision to worship Him alone and not to worship dEvatAntaras.
vaLai—Bangles is the symbol of Bagavatsambandha in swApadESa and represents AzhwAr’s dAsatva buddhi.
enai oozhihaL eervanavE—‘koovikkoLLum kALam innam kuruhAdO’—This delay is unbearable. When will it end?
eervanavElum anjElum uyirmEl miLirndivaiyO
pErvanavO valla deivanal vETkaNai pEroLiyE |
sOrvana neelasuDar viDu mEniyammAn visumboor
tErvana deivamanneer kaNNO ichchezhungayalE || Fourteen ||
This poetry is called ‘nalampArATTu’. The nAyaka describes the nAyaki. Here the description is on her beautiful eyes. Why should he describer her? 1. The nAyaka really loves her and enchanted by her beauty. 2. So that both of them can sustain life after separation (by the memory of his words) 3. nAyaki gains confidence that he will not go away from her as he likes her so much or even if he goes he will come back soon.
eervana vElum—Sharp like a spear that kills the foes. Her eyes pierce and kill me’—says the nAyaka.
am sElum—The eyes are normally compared to fish because of similarities like cool, bright, moving.
uyir mEl miLirndu ivaiyO pErvanavO alla—They are like arrows that fall on the lovers and take away their lives. They never miss the target. They not only kill the perishable body but also imperishable Atma too. (pErvanavO alla).
deiva nal vETkaNai pEroLiyE sOrvana—what manmatha’s pancha bANas (5 arrows) can do these two ‘arrows’ of my nAyaki do effortlessly. They cause change of complexion and constant remembrance of the beauty, words, deeds etc. Thus both the manmatha bANas and her eyes resemble in their act.
neela suDar viDu mEni ammAn visumboor tErvana—The eyes resemble paramapada (visumboor) in that once you enter you don’t come out of it. These eyes not only enslave those in the leela viBootis but also of those of nityaviBootis. visumboor tErvana—The eyes search for their equals in paramapada (or) they are sought after by those in paramapada ‘paramapadattil aLavukaDanda inbam anubavikkum nitya muktarAlum AsaippaTTu nADudarku tahundavai’.
deivamanneera kaNNO—Without any change in pronounciation but the change of ‘nakAras’ in tamizh can give two meanings, with one ‘nakAra’ it means divine nature, the other ‘nakAra’ gives the meaning the eyes of goddess mOhini.
swApadESArtha—This pASura is by the BAgavatas. They praise AzhwAr’s jnAna.
eervana vElum anjElum—The sharp and clear jnAna defeats the matAntaras and pleases the Sree vaiShNavas.
uyir mEl miLirndu ivaiyO pErvanavO alla—This jnAna never fails to give poorNa anugraha to all the chEtanas.
deiva nal vETkaNai pEroLiyE sOrvana—The jnAna is as soft as manmatha’s bANas; not at all harsh.
neela suDar viDu mEni ammAn viSumboor tErvan—The aims of the jnAna is paramapada after renouncing the nityaviBooti. ‘iruL tarum mA jnAlattuL inippiravi yAn vENDEn’.
ichchezhungayalE—his heart is fixed in emberumAn’s matsyAvatAra deivamanneera kaNNO. AzhwAr is lOkavilakShaNa and his jnAna is also lOka vilakShaNa (not ordinary).
kayalO numakaNhaLenru kaLiruvinavi niTTreer
ayalOrariyilumeedenna vArttai kaDal kavarnda |
puyalODu vAngoNDal vaNNan puna vEngaDattu emmODum
payalOvileer kollakAkkinra nALum palapalavE || Fifteen ||
This is a tOzhi pASura. The nAyaka comes to the field where the nAyaki and her tOzhi are sitting guarding the field. The tOzhi talks to the talaivan.
The nAyaka comes to the field where she is with her tOzhi. he comes under the pretext of hunting and searching for the missing elephant.
periyavAchchan piLLai—‘iyarkaiyilE kalandu pirinda talaimahan iraNDAm kooTTattukkAha punattilE vandu kiTTakkaDavadAha kuri varaviTTuppOi kAlAtikramam pirandu pinbu angE senru kiTTinavan ivarhaLai kaNDu kalangi asangata BAShaNam paNNa, avarhaLum attaikkoNDu, ivar varuvadAha pOnapaDikkum vandapaDikkum ippOdu ATTrAmai tOTTra pESuhira pEchchukkum oru SErtti kaNDilOm enru Sirittu koNDADuhirArhaL. ivantAn veeranAhaiyAlE, enrum Anai vETTaikku pOm pazhakkattAlE Anai vETTaiyai vinavikkoNDu sellakkaDavadAha ninaikkirAn. piDiyai izhandadoru kaLiru tan ATTrAmaiyAlE amaNAnaippaTTu tiriyumApOlE ivarhaLai izhandu tAn ATTrAmaiyODE tirihirapaDiyai anyApadESattAlE AviShkarikkirAn’.
The nAyaka had gAndharva vivAha with the nAyaki. Then he went away and was not seen for many days. The nAyaki and tOzhi go everyday to the field under the pretext of guarding it, waiting for his arrival, nAyaka pretending to search for an elephant comes to where they are sitting. The nAyaka feels she might be angry with him for the delay. he does not want to suddenly start the topic of love without knowing her mood and intention. Therefore he speaks on some unrelated subject matters such as ‘did you seen an elephant coming this way? Ah! your eyes are very beautiful’ From their reply he would know what is in her mind. This is called ‘vEzham vinAdal’. In tirukkOvaiyAr it is described also as kalaimAn vinAdal, vazhi vinAdal, padivinAdal, peyar vinAdal etc. ‘vEzham vinAdal enbadu—kurai koora tuNiyA ninra talaimahan en kurai innadenru ivaLukku veLippaDa kooruvEnAyin ivaL marukkavum kooDumena uTkoNDu en kurai innadenru ivaL tAnE uNarumaLavum karanda mozhiyAl sila solli pin kuraiyuruvadE kAriyamena vETTai karudi senrAnAha avviruvarum irukka senru ninru tan kAdal tOnra ‘ivvidattoru mada yAnai vara kaNDeerO’ ena vEzham vinAvAniTTral’—tirukkOvaiyAr urai.
We can see such vinAdal even today like a man asking ‘teerttam kiDaikkuma?’ ‘ippOdu maNi enna’ etc he starts conversation by asking some common question and finally come to the subject matter.
The nAyaka started the topic by enquiring about a missing elephant switches the topic saying ‘how beautiful are the eyes’. (kayalO num kaNgaL) he has been a slave of her beautiful eyes.
The tOzhi now realizes how truly the talaivan loves the talaivi but says ‘eedenna vArttai’ since she is afraid the people nearby may overhear them.
kayalO numa kaNgaL enru kaLiru vinavi niTTreer—There are two meanings.
1. kaLiru vinavi kayalO numa kangaL enru niTTreer—you wanted to ask about the elephant. Then why should you talk about her eyes? If anyone overhears you what will they think about us? They will think we have some sambandha with you. And that will be end of your love affair. So stop such unrelated talks.
2. kayalO numa kaNgaL enru kaLiru vinavi niTTreer, ayalOr ariyilum eedenna vArttai—you said ‘numa kaNgaL kayalO?’ we were happy to hear this. They why should you talk about some unknown elephant? We thought your intention of coming here is to see us. But i think we are mistaken. Perhaps you had come here in search of elephant. Let the others too know about your love. What do we care? Why should you hide the fact? eedenna vArttai—What sort of dialogue is this! you forget the very purpose of coming here and talk about some stupid elephant! ayalOr—it is enough if you think you are hers and she is yours. All the others are strangers only (let us not be strangers to each other).
puna vEngaDattu emmODum payalO ileer—payal means one who has a share in the land. Do not stand here as if you have a share of this land. It is not proper.
kollai kAkkinra nALum pala palavE—Oh! nAyaka! we have been guarding this ‘punam’ since a long time. you come, stand here and talk to us which the others may think as if you have a share in this land. Go away. The real meaning is—we come here daily since a long time under the pretext of guarding this field. Our real purpose is to meet you if you come here. All these days you never came—Only today you came and give us the pleasure of your company. Are you not interested in our nAyaki?
palapala oozhihaLAyiDum anriyOr nAzhihaiyai
palapalakooriTTa koorAyiDum kaNNan viNNanaiyAi |
palapala nALanbar kooDilum neengilum yAmelidum
palapala soozhaluDaittu amma! vAzhiyippAyiruLE || Sixteen ||
The nAyaki had samslESha and then vislESha. She tells her tOzhi how the nights without his presence are painful to her. She tells her she wants only samslESha without any vislESha.
This pASura is also interpreted as the nAyaki telling her tOzhi how she enjoyed the samslESha and how the time passed as of a minute and the nights appeared as a fraction of a second.
anbar neengil palapala oozhihaLAyiDum – When i am not with nAyaka the nights lengthen like many yugas. This pASura is similar to the tiruvAimozhi pASura ‘oorellAm tunji’. anbar kooDil or nAzhihaiyai pala pala kooriTTa koorAyiDum—the nights become very short like a fraction of a second if the nAyaka is near me. ‘apoorva nAnA rasa BAva nirBara prabaddhayA mugdha vidagdha leelayA kShaNANuvat kShipta parAdikAlayA praharSayantam mahiSheem mahABujam’—stOtra ratna of ALavandAr.
Note the words ‘kShaNANuvat kShipta parAdikAlayA para’ is the life time of a brahma. parArdha is half the life period. ‘avidita gatayAmA rAtrirEva vyaramseed’—uttara rAma charita. ‘kOzhi koovennumAl tOzhi nAn en seidEn Azhi vaNNar varum pozhudAyiTTru kOzhi koovennumAl’—tirumangai AzhwAr.
anbar kooDilum neengilum yAmelidum—i am sad when i am with Him as the nights end up very soon; i am sad when he is not with me as the nights lengthen like yugas. i know vislESha will always follow samslESha. Since in one case the nights are very short and the other case they are very long. i always felt the nights are long.
ippAyiruL pala pala soozhuDaittu—i wonder at the ‘sAmarthya’ if these nights! They know how to shrink and also know how to lengthen. They do just the opposite of what i want.
vAzhi—Long live the nights—a vipareeta lakShaNa.
swApadESArtha—AzhwAr says the time is short when he is with the BAgavatas and long when are away. ippAyiruL—That which causes mOhAndhakAra. kaNNan viNNanaiyAi—Ah! BAgavatas! you are like paramapada to me when there is no kAla tatva. amma vAzhi—How astonishing is this kAla.
iruLvirindAlanna mAneertirai koNDu vAzhiyarO
iruLpirindAranbar tErvazhi tooral aravaNai mEl |
iruL virineela karujnAyiru suDarkAlvadu pOl
iruLvirisOdi perumAnuraiyumerikaDalE || Seventeen ||
This pASuram is called ‘tErvazhitooral’. In tirukkOvaiyAr it is called ‘tErvazhi nOkki kaDalODu kooral’. ‘uLLam uruhi rOmam silirppa uDaiyavan ATkoLLum avarilOr kooTTram tantAn kunikkum puliyoor viLLum parisu senrAr viyan tErvazhi tooral kaNDAi, puLLum tiraiyum pora sangam Arkkum poru kaDalE’—tirukkOvaiyAr.
The nAyaka had samslESha with the nAyaki in secret. he wanted to leave her and go before she wakes up and before the people come to know about their affair. Therefore he leaves her in the night when she was sleeping. After she wakes up she finds him missing. She comes out to see whether the chariot parked in front of the house is still there or gone. She finds the chariot had gone leaving the wheel mark. She stands gazing at it, as the place is near the sea shore she tells the sea not to erase the marks, as her life depends on it’.
Sree rAma leaves the palace and goes in a chariot to the vanavAsa. The people of ayOdhya follow Him and refuse to obey his words to go back. In the early morning, when all of them are fast asleep, he leaves them and thoughtfully erases the wheel marks so that they will not find out his place. ‘kaDalE! iruLil pirindavarAna anbaruDaiya tEr vazhiyai iruL virindArpOnra mA neer tiraihaLai kaNDu (tooral) maraittiDAdE.
vAzhiyarO—Oh! Sea! If you do what i say then i shall bless you long life.
perumAn aravaNaimEl—Oh! sea! your nAyaka (emberumAn) does nityavAsa (uraiyum) in you. (i.e. He lies in tiruppArkaDal on AdisESha) Hence you don’t know the agony of separation. That is why you are always happy with your lashing waves.
iruL viri neela karu jnAyiru—emberumAn’s tirumEni is compared to the sun. But here the soorya maNDala is described as dark and effulgent. This type of simile is called ‘aBootOpama’ ‘Or karu jnAyiru andamilla kadir parappi alarndadokkum ammAn’—tiruvAimozhi.
nAyaki says ‘tirai koNDu vAzhiyarO tEr vazhi tooral’ she introduces the word ‘vAzhiyarO’ in the middle of the sentence, not in the end. She hastens up to add the word since she wants to seek the mercy of the sea before it erases the mark with its continuous waves.
iruL pirindAr anbar—If the nAyaka had left her in the morning she would have had the satisfaction of seeing him till he disappears. But he left her in the night and that too when she was asleep. Now the only life-giving substance is this ‘tErvazhi’. She laments ‘why should he leave me in the night which is the time the couple enjoy each other’.
periyavAchchAn piLLai—‘pahalil pririndu pOnArAhil ATTrAmaiyAlE naDakka mATTAdu ozhihirapaDiyaiyum avar muhattil uNDAna kuLirttiyaiyum smitattaiyum kaNDu darittirukkalAm. avar tAmum pahalil pOhil ivaLai kaNDu vaittu kAl naDai tArAdu enru iruLilE pOnAr; engaNum pOnArum meeNDu vandu sErungAlattilE pOnAr; padArtta darSanangaLAlE Ariyirukka voNNAda kAlattilE pOnAr; sambOga kAlattilE pOnAr’.
swApadESArtha—AzhwAr is feeling sad because the BAgavatas left Him. he wants to think of them constantly. For this purpose he requests the samsAra kaDal to help him by not interfering in the thought.
erikaDal—As the waves lash continuously, so too the waves of duhKas lash at us continuously in the samsAra sAgara. ‘iruL virindAl anna mA sirai neer koNDu'. The samsAra kaDal too has Bagavat sambandha (as pArkaDal has) because it is his leelA viBooti.
iruL pirindAr anbar tEr vazhi tooral—anbar—The BAgavatas;
iruL pirindAr—Left the samsAra sAgara that causes mOhAndhakAra.
tEr vazhi tooral—Do not erase their thought from my mind.
vAzhi—If you do so i shall bless you.
kaDalkoNDezhundadu vAnam avvAnattai anrisenru
kaDal koNDozhinda adanAlidu kaNNan maNNum viNNum |
kaDalkoNDezhunda akkAlangolO puyal kAlangolO
kaDal koNDa kaNNeer aruvi seyyAnirkum kArihaiyE || Eighteen ||
nambiLLai and periyavAchchAn piLLai call this pASura ‘kAla mayakku’ (as the 7th pASura). vAdikEsari azhahiya maNavALa jeeyar calls this ‘kArkAlam kaNDazhinda talaiviyin ATTrAmai kaNDu tOzhi irangal’.
The nAyaka promised while leaving he would return before kAkAla (rainy season) but the season has arrived not he. The tOzhi pacifies her.
nambiLLai eeDu—‘kalandu pirinda talaimahan kArkAlattai kurittu pOnAnAi akkAlamum vandu ivan vArAdozhiya, attAlE ATTrAmai meedoorndu nOvu paDuhira pirATTiyai kaNDa tOzhiyAnavaL avan varumaLavum ivaLai jeevippaikkAha kAlattai mayakki ASvasippikkirALAi irukkiradu’.
This is kAla mayakku ‘since the pASura says ‘puyarkAlangolO’ as in the 7th pASura where it said ‘tirumAl kOlam sumandu pirindAr koDumai kuzharu taN poongAlam kolO ariyEn’.
The nAyaka promised her ‘mAdE! i shall go to far away lands to earn money. i shall certainly return in the rainy season’. The season has arrived but not the nAyaka. So the nAyaki is sad. The tOzhi pacifies her saying ‘nangAi!—The kAr kAlam has not yet arrived. What you see are not indications of the season. The clouds had drank all the waters of the sea. The sea creatures bereft of water could not live. So the sea got angry and has gone above to fight with the sky’. This explanation is quite unbelievable and improbable. So the tOzhi finally adds ‘i cannot really say whether it is kArkAla or the fight between the sky and the sea, the idea of saying this is the talaivi would spend sometime to verify the truth thereby forget her sorrow for sometime. This is called ‘kAla mayakku’.
swApadESArtha—AzhwAr is feeling sad since he could not have BAgavata samslESha. The BAgavatas pacify him saying ‘BagavAn would never leave his Baktas unprotected. He shall come in time we should wait for Him. That is the only thing we should do. We shall spend the time by thinking and singing his glories, names, chEShTitas.
anri—To be angry. ‘anriya vANan Ayiram tOL tuNiya’.
kArihaiyAr niraikAppavar yArenru kArkoNDinnE
mAri kaiyEri araiyiDungAlattum vAzhiyarO |
sArihaippuLLar andaNNanduzhAi irai kooyaruLAr
sEri kaiyErum pazhiyAi viLaindaden sinmozhikkE || Nineteen ||
This pASura is called ‘sevilittAi pazhikku irangal’. The mother feels sorry for her daughter, the nAyaki, who becomes the gossip of the town as her nAyaka had not returned from the journey.
azhahiya maNavALa jeeyar calls this ‘pAngi pazhikkirangina pASuram’ as tOzhi pASura. nambiLLai and periyavAchchAn piLLai calls this as tAyAr pASura. Normally in tAi pASuras there will be a word suggesting ‘my daughter’ will be present. Here too the word ‘en sil mozhikku’ which is not appropriate to a tOzhi pASura. Hence the majority view is to call it a tAi pASura.
kArihaiyAr nirai kAppavar yAr—The rainy season has come. There is thunder and lightning. It seems to say ‘Look! i have come! This is the time when the women leave aside their bashfulness and seek the company of men. They set aside their natural qualities like achcham, maDam, nANam etc. and all their modesties. Is there anyone who dare say no? nirai—the guNa of a modest women who does not openly say what she thinks i.e. out of modesty they do not openly declare their love to the lovers. But as kAr kAla comes they set aside their modesty, call their men for kalavi kAr koNDu—kAr means both dark and anger. ‘karuppum sihappum vehuLipporuL’—tolkAppiyam.
It can be read as ‘kAr mAri koNDu kaiyEri’. kAr mAri—The clouds absorbing wataer. kaiyEri—stand in a line like the soldiers in an army.
araiyiDum—To call loudly as if to challenge ‘who is there who can do this?’
sArihai puLLAr—The clouds move very fast like wind as if to rain. The talaivan had promised he would come before the rain. Would he come before it rains? Can he come faster than wind? Yes. he can. garuDa is a fast moving bird. If he rides on garuDa he can certainly come before rain.
tuzhAi aruLAr—If he comes and has samslESha with her well and good. If not let Him at least give her the tiruttuzhAi which will pacify her to some extent. It is taNNanduzhAi as it is her life saving herb.
kooyaruLAr—If he wont give tiruttuzhAi, let Him speak a few words to her.
en sin mozhikku sEri kaiyErum pazhiyAi viLaindadu—What is that ‘pazhi’ (blame) which will come to her if he does not come? They are the following—they will blame Him for not keeping his words; they will blame her for loving such an unworthy person; let her suffer like this for she deserves this for having such a person; she is too young to love and is this the age to fall in love? Is this way to behave when he fails to come?—thus the people talk about her.
sin mozhi—A girl of very limited words (or) she is very young that she does not speak coherently (or) she has spent all her words; now she is left without any words to utter.
swApadESArtha—AzhwAr was waiting for the proper kAla to have BagavadanuBava. But his anugraha was delayed. AzhwAr feels very sad but is pacified by BAgavatas. This pASura is spoken by BAgavatas. kArihaiyAr nirai kAppavar yAr enru—AzhwAr is paratantra like a stree (woman)—kArihaiyAr. ‘She’ patiently waits for Him. Is there anyone who can dare make Him lose this attitude (of quietly waiting for Him)—kAppAr yAr.
kAr koNDu innE mAri kaiyEri araiyiDum kAlattum—Thinking about emberumAn’s tirumEni (kAr koNDu) and the rains of guna (mAri kaiyEri).
sArihai puLLar andaNNanduzhAi irai kooyaruLAr—He who has beautiful vAhana (sArihai puLLar) or He who did anugraha to gajEndra coming on garuDa. He does not do such anugraha to me (aruLAr) does not call me and my name (iraikoovi).
en sin mozhikku—Our AzhwAr uses minimum words to explain the infinite.
sEri kai yErum pazhiyAi viLaindadu—When emberumAn is the rakShaka, we should not make any effort but patiently wait for Him even if unbearable duhKas come. But AzhwAr cries when he does not come and goes out to seek Him. Therefore people say AzhwAr does what he should not do.
nambiLLai eeDu—‘ippOdu ivar pazhi engiradu Bagavat prAvaNyattaiyirE. attai pazhi enbAn ennenni) attalaiyAlE varakkONDirukkum attanaiyozhiya ittalaiyAlE pravarttikkumadu pazhiyAyirukkumirE. Anapinbu pazhi enna taTTillaiyirE’.
sinmozhi nOyO kazhiperun deivam in nOyinadenru
inmozhi kETkum iLandeivamanridu vEla nilnee |
enmozhi kENminen ammanaimeer ulahEzhumuNDAn
sonmozhi mAlai andtaNNanduzhAi koNDu sooTTuminE || Twenty ||
The nAyaka had secretly samslESha with her. Thus he left her to go abroad in order to earn money so that he can marry her publicly. But he does not return at the promised kAla. The nAyaki is very much worried. The mother sees her condition, not knowing the real reason behind it, calls the kaTTuvichchi (soothasyas) to find out the cause for her unique behaviour and pale complexion. The kaTTuvichchi says ‘ivaLukku muruga kaDavuL AvEsittadozhiya piridonrumillai’. (She is possessed by muruga kaDavuL). The mother then calls the veriyATTALan who dances to drive away ‘the spirit’. There is no improvement in the nAyaki’s condition. There comes the tOzhi who is aware of the real cause and orders the kaTTuvichchi and the veriyATTALan to leave the place. ‘tisaikkinradE ivaL nOi idu mikka perundeivam isaippinri neeraNangADum iLandeivam anridu tisaippinriyE sangu chakkaram enru ivaL kETka neer isaikkiTTrirAhil nanrE ipperumidu kANminE’—tiruvAimozhi in ‘tErppAvai yAmini’ the verivilakku padiham. ‘idu kANmin annaimeer ikkaTTuvichchi sor koNDu neer eduvAnum seidu angOr kaLLum iraichchiyum toovElmin, maduvAr tuzhAi muDi mAyappirAn kazhal vAzhttinAl aduvE ivaLuTTra nOikkum aru marundAhumE’—tiruvAimozhi.
The tOzhi knows the nOi that is troubling our nAyaki is not caused by any kShudra dEvata as these people seem to think. It is caused by her deep love towards emberumAn. The mother has already called the kaTTuvichchi who says the girl is possessed by muruga and there is this vEla who dances to drive away the spirit. The tOzhi tells the mother. ‘mA! Though i am young in age i know the truth. You please listen to my words. Please send away these people, chant his divine nAmas in her ears, bring the tuzhasi mAla prasAda from BagavAn nArAyaNa, place it on her head. She will be all right soon. This alone is the right remedy for her nOi.
sin mozhi—She is so young that she cannot utter full sentences (or) mitaBAShiNi who speaks very little (or) who is very young that she talks incoherently (or) she talks sweetly.
kazhi perundeivam—emberumAn; iLandeivam—other dEvatas. The difference is like that of mEru parvata and pramANa (molecules)
inmozhi kETkum iLandeivam—The kShudra dEvatas are pleased by any words of praise (even uttered without meaning) they are alpa dEvatas who are pleased to listen to the songs sung about their glories which are not actually theirs. periyavAchchAn piLLai—‘artta rahitamAna mozhi kETkum iLandeivam anru idu; tanakku illAdadai uNDAha sollappukkAl kETTu koNDADum deivam anru idu; kaikkooli koDuttu kavi pADuvittukkoLLum dEvadaihaLanru.
vElan—One who dances to drive away any spirit. he carries in his hand a spear (vEl) the weapon of murugan. he is also called ‘vEn mahan’.
vElA nil nee—‘Oh! vElA! Get away from this body which is the tirumALihai of emberumAn, not to be possessed by kShudra dEvatas ‘koovArAzhi ven sangEndi engirapaDiyE tirukkaiyum tiruvAzhi tiruchchangumAha sEvai sAdikka vENDiya ittirumALihai yil nee kaiyum vElumAha vandu nirpadE pAvi! ozhindu pO’.
ulahEzhumuNDAn—Refers to his interest in lOka samrakShaNa and his wonderful Sakti. he alone has the Sakti to cure her illness. The tirunAmas alone have the power to do the magic. ‘orungAhavE ulahEzhum vizhungi umizhndiTTa perundEvan pEr sollahirkil ivaLai perudirE’—tiruvAimozhi.
The mantra to cure is His tirumantra; the medicine to be given is ‘tuzhasi prasAda’.
sooTTumin—The tuzhasi is a sanjeevani moolihai to eat as well as to wear. (The doctors usually prescribe two types of medicines—on to be taken inside and the other for external application. But here the tuzhasi does the job of both.
vEla! nil nee! ammannimeer en mozhi kENmin ulahEzhum uNDAn son mozhi andaNNanduzhai mAlai koNDu sooTTuminE—Oh! vEla! Stop your nonsense. Oh! women do the nAma sankeertana, bring the tuzhasi and place it on her hair.
swApadESArtha—AzhwAr is sad about not having bagavat samslESha. Some jnAnis advice him to do Bajana of some dEvatAntaras which will help him to cure the illness. They have forgotten the fact that he cannot be attained by any other upAya. Some Sree vaiShNavas who happen to come there advice him not to do so. They advice him to spend the time in chanting his names and receive the Bagavat prasAda.
sin mozhi—AzhwAr speaks very little for himself but speaks thousands of pASuras for the sake of others.
nOi—is due to excessive Bakti.
sooTTu nanmAlaihaL tooyanavEndi viNNOrhaL naneer
ATTiyandoobam tarAnirkavE angu Or mAyayinAl |
eeTTiya veNNei toDuvuNNa pOndimilETTru vankoon
kOTTiyaDaiyADinai koottu aDalAyartam kombinukkE || Twenty One ||
nambiLLai and others call this pASura as sung by AzhwAr as AzhwAr whereas some call it as talaivi pASura or tOzhi pASura.
The first two lines talk of this his paratva and the next two His soulaBya. In paramapada the nityasooris do tiruvArAdhana to emberumAn by performing snAna (tirumanjana) and alankAra (offering mAla etc.) As they are offering dhoopa emberumAn takes the opportunity to disappear, come to AyarppADi to eat butter and marry nappinnai pirATTi after defeating the 7 powerful bulls (andoobam tarA nirkavE angu Or mAyaiyinAr pOndu). ‘Oh! pirAn! Who can describe Your Sakti viSESha!)
Or mAyaiyAl—mAya has several meanings of which it is taken as ‘jnAna viSESha’ here. ‘samBavAmi Atma mAyayA’—Bagavadgeeta. It is sankalpa roopa jnAna. (or) Your mAyA Sakti.
kooTTriDai koottADinai—The shepherd called kumBa had a beautiful daughter called nappinnai, an amSa of neeLAdEvi. The father had kept 7 bulls as kanyA Sulka and promised to give her in marriage to the one who defeats them. kaNNan did so and married her.
eeTTiya veNNei—He ate all the butter of all the houses in AyarppADi.
toDu uNNa—You ate after stealing them.
kombu—She is like a tender creeper with slender waist.
The upachAra like snAna and alankAra done is the nitya viBooti and his eating and Sayana are in the leela viBooti. He is the nAyaka of both the viBootis.
Some commentators call this pASura as talaivi pASura or tOzhi pASura. They call this as ‘Eru kOn koori varaivu kaDAdal’ (Eru kOL koori—asking Him to fight with the bulls and defeat them; varaivu kaDAdal—to marry the girl).
The talaivan had married her in secret. The tOzhi asked Him to marry her with the consent of the parents and the people by defeating the bulls which the father had kept as kanyA Sulka. ‘Didn’t You do the same for nappinnai pirATTi? Why don’t you do the same for this nAyaki’s sake? ‘ini nee ivaL kulattukkuriya marabin paDi veLippaDaiyAha viraindu vandu Eru tazhuvi ivaLai vivAham seidu koLvAyAha’—so says the tOzhi to the talaivan.
kombAr tazhai kai sirunANerivilam vETTai koNDATTu
ambAr kaLiru vinavuvadaiyar puLoourum kaLvar |
tambArahattu enrum ADAdana tammil kooDAdana
vambAr viNAchchollavO emmaivaittadu ivvAnpunattE || Twenty Two ||
The nAyaka married parAnkuSa nAyaki by gAndharva vivAha. he left her promising to come back soon.
Here he approaches the tOzhi to express his opinion. But he does not speak openly. he goes to the field where the tOzhi and the nAyaki are guarding the field. Dressed like a hunter he enquires them about an elephant that escaped pierced by his arrow. ‘enadu ambODu oru madayAnai ivvidattu varakkaNDaduNDO?’.
The tOzhi knows very well for what purpose this man has come here. She makes fun of Him. ‘This man is carrying in his hand a branch of a tree. he says he has actually come for hunting and has met us accidentally. To support his statement he asks us whether we have seen an elephant pierced by his arrow coming this side. If he has come here really for hunting, shouldn’t he be carrying a bow and an arrow? Won’t he be making a twang with his bowstring? he does not do all these things. Moreover he is carrying a branch in place of a bow! his speech and dress do not match. Have we been sent by our parents only to answer his silly questions?’
aiyar kai kombAr tazhai—The nAyaki belongs to the kurinji nilam (mountainous) It is their custom to propose a girl with a branch in his hand. When it was plucked, it had fresh leaves. Now after a very long search he had found them. By this time the leaves had dried and drooped. This suggests his sad mental state after separation from her. kombAr tazhai kai—Oh! nAyaka! This branch may regain the freshness after your touch. Will the same happen to my nAyaki at your touch?
SirunANerivilam—he says he has come to hunt. i don’t see bow and arrow with him. i don’t see even the scar on his shoulders caused by constant carrying of the bow.
vETTai koNDATTu-vETTai—hunting is only a pretext. Actually he has come not for vETTai but out of vETkai (thirst for her).
ambAr kaLiru vinavuvadu—‘paNNuTTra tEn mozhi pAvai nalleer! Or pahazhi moozhha puNNuTTra mA onru pOndaduNDO num punattayalE’. ‘maN paTTa kODum madam paTTa vAyum vaDikkaNai tOi puNpaTTa mEniyumAi vandadO oru pOrkkaLirE’—tanjai vANan kOvai. ‘Oh! tOzhi! i am being pierced by the arrow of her eyes; i only know what my feelings are’—says he.
‘Why are you here?’
‘to hunt’
‘look. This is my bow’ (shows the stick)
‘This is not a bow! Do you carry arrows at least?’
‘Well! It got stuck into the body of an elephant which ran away’.
After listening to his nonsensical replies she calls him ‘aiyar (a wise learned mean) ironically.
puLLoorum kaLavar tam pArahattu enrum ADAdana kaLvar—The thief who snatches away others properties without their knowledge. enrum ADAdana—we have not seen such unconnected words and actions in this world. (maNNulahil) i don’t know whether it can be seen in the other world (viNNulahil)
tammil kooDAdana—he carries a branch and asks whether we have seen ‘ambODE oru yAnai vandadO’. These two don’t go together.
vambAr vinA—These questions not heard before. (They are stupid questions).
emmai vaittadu ivvAnpunattE—We are paratantras to our elders. Therefore we request you to propose the marriage before the elders and get married with their blessings.
swApadESArtha—Some men who pride themselves as scholars come to AzhwAr whom they have heard as the Bagavat Bakta. They ask some questions only to reveal their erudition. AzhwAr says their words and actions are contrary to each other.
kombAr tazhai kai—They carry a green branch with fresh leaves in their hands i.e. they haven’t renounced their sense pleasures.
siru nANerivilam—i don’t hear the twang of the bow i.e., the praNavOchchAraNa. ‘praNavO ahanussarO hyAtma brahma tallakShyamuchyatE’.
vETTai koNDATTu—They boast they have killed the wild animals (kAma, krOdha etc) in this samsAra vana.
ambAr kaLiru vinavuvadu—kaLiru—The elephant called SabdAdi viShayas; ambu-the arrow called learning. They aim the arrow only at the SabdAdi viShayas which run away in the samsAra vana. They roam in search of their elephant.
aiyar—What great learning.
puLLoorum kaLvar tam pArahattu enrum ADAdana—he who unfolds the praNava; he who is the rakShaka without revealing Himself. Have we been appointed by Him only to answer such stupid questions of seemingly learned men like these?
This pASura is about the men who lack real tatva jana and prapatti mArga but who pose themselves as erudite men. They are led astray by false regions and sects.
punamO? punattayalE vazhipOhum aruvinaiyEn
manamO? mahaLir! nungAval solleer puNDareekattangEzh |
vanamOr anaiya kaNNan kaNNan vAnADamarundeivattu
inamor anaiyeerhaLAi ivaiyO num iyalvuhaLE || Twenty Three ||
The nAyaka comes to meet the nAyaki who is guarding the field with her tOzhi. he tells them how he lost his mind to the nAyaki. you don’t go away from the place as well as from my mind. As the field is under your control so is my mind. ‘peNgAL! ungaLai periyOr ingE vaittadu punattaikkAkkavO? anri en manattaiyum kAkkavO?
punattayalE vazhi pOhum aruvinaiyEn—he wanders near where they are in order to see her face and enable the nAyaki to see his.
aruvinaiyEn—i am a mahApApi that i suffer so much caught in the net of love.
mahaLir—Both of you have all the womanly qualities.
puNDareehattu angEzh vanam Or anaiya kaNNan kaNNan—Even the best lotus which possesses all the qualities of a great flower does not come anywhere hear his eyes for comparison.
vAnADamarum deivattinam—The ntiyasooris who reside in paramapada of puNDareekAkSha.
anaiyeerhaLAi—Even they (nityasooris) cannot be compared to you who have excellent guNas.
numiyalvuhaL ivaiyO—Is it proper of such a one as you to rob my mind?
swApadESArtha—A BAgavata says how he has become a slave to AzhwAr. punamO—is this the place under your control? punattayalvE vazhi pOhum aruvinaiyE manamO—my mind is attracted by you and loves you.
mahaLir—you are a paratantra to emberumAn.
num kAval solleer—Which of the two (punam and manam) come under your rakShakatva?
puNDareehattu angEzh vanam anaiya kaNNan kaNNan—vAnADu amarum deivattu inam oranaiyeer num iyalvuhaL—‘viNNuKArilum seeriyar’ The nityasooris live in paramapada of puNDareekAkSha. You are greater than them. Your actions make those who follow upAyAntaras to follow you.
iyalvAyina vanja nOi koNDulAvum OrOkuDangai
kayalpAivana peruneerkkaNgaL tammoDum kunramonrAl |
puyalvAyina niraikAtta puLLoordi kaLLooruntuzhAi
koyalvAimalarmEl manattoDennAngol engOlvaLaikkE || Twenty Four ||
This is a tAyAr pASuram. The tAyAr is feeling sorry for the miserable condition of her daughter as she is separated from her lover. She sheds tears profusely; she has lost her mind too. i fear what more is ins tore for her!
iyalvAyina—swAbAvikamAi—naturally. The kAdal nOi is the nature of her eyes; it is hidden from others as it is in her eyes (vanja nOi)
vanjanOi—This nOi is caused by the talaivan who cheated her by not abiding by his promise (of returning soon) there fore she calls it vanjanOi.
ulAvum—Look here and there.
kayal pAivana—Look like fish in the water (as her eyes are filled with tears)
peruneer kaNgaL—They are filled with tears.
OrO kuDangai—They are as large as the palm of one’s hand.
iyalvAyina vanja nOi koNDu, ulAvum, OrO kuDangai, kayal pAivana, peru neer kaNgaL—All these are qualifying words to her eyes.
manattOdu—Her mind too has gone behind the tuzhasi mAla which he wears.
puyal vAi—kunram onrAl ina nirai kAtta puLLoordi—He lifted gOvardhana mountain when there was torrential rain in order to protect the cattle and men of AyarppADi. he is garuDa vAhana.
engOl vaLaikku—She will become thin (due to virahatApa) and her beautiful bangles will slip away from her hands.
swApadESArtha—AzhwAr is sad because he could not have Bagavat samslESha. Some jnAni approaches Him and says he is already suffering from the separation. i don’t know what is going to happen to him.
iyalvAyina—‘ariyA kAlattuLLE aDimaikkaN anbu seivittu ariyA mAmAyattaDiyEnai vaittAyAl’—tiruvAimozhi. her love for emberumAn is quite natural. vanjam—known only to Him, not by others. nOi—the Bakti nOi, koNDu—he has. ulAvum—he cannot stand in one place, pace up and down due to anxiety. OrO kuDangai kayal pAivana peru neer kaNgaL tammODum—AzhwAr’s eyes keep shedding tears of love. kunram onrAl puyal vAi ina nirai kAtta—SaraNAgata rakshaka. he protects even animals like he would protect men.
puLLoordi—He hastens to protect his aDiyars when they are threatened by dangers.
AzhwAr’s mind has gone behind the tiruttuzhai of emberumAn.
engOl vaLaikku—To the AzhwAr who is liked by such jnAnis like me.
ennAngol—What will happen to im if he continues in this state?
engOlvaLai mudalA kaNNan maNNum viNNum aLikkum
sengOl vaLaivu viLaivikkumAl tiralsEramarar |
tangOnuDaiya tangOn umbarellA yavarkku tangOn
nangOnuhakkum tuzhAi en seyyAdini nAnilattE || Twenty Five ||
The tuzhasi mAla was an object of pleasure during samslESha but is an object causing distress during vislESha, because it reminds her of the moment of enjoyment’. She becomes lean and loses her bangles. Who will protect her? This causes a blemish in his name as sarva rakShaka. What more is in store for her?
sengOl vaLaivu—he has failed to come as he promised at the time of separation. This has tarnished his image as the just ruler of both the viBootis. This tiruttuzhAi which acts according to his thoughts will certainly ruin me if he continues to be indifferent. Who will protect me if the rakShaka Himself is the cause of my ruin?
nangOnuhakkum tuzhAi—‘tOLiNai mElum nan mArbin mElum SuDar muDi mElum tALiNai mElum punainda taNNanduzhAiyuDai ammAn’. tiruttuzhAi is his favorite object.
swApadESArtha—AzhwAr was immersed in the thought of BagavadanuBava. This thought reminded him of his separation too. Consequently AzhwAr dived in to the well of duhKa.
nAnilam vAikkoNDu nanneeraramenru kOdu koNDa
vEnilanjelvan suvaittumizh pAlai kaDanda ponnE |
kAnilam tOindu viNNOr tozhum kaNNan vehKA udampoo
tEniLanjOlai appAladu eppAlaikkum SEmattadE || Twenty Six ||
This pASura is called ‘nahar kATTal’. The nAyaki walks with the nAyaka to this place. They have just crossed the desert. The nAyaka, in order to encourage her to walk further without feeling the tiredness, shows the place yonder and says ‘talaivi! The place is not very far. There you see the big city. It is where we are going; ‘puNarndu uDan pOna talai mahan naDandu iLaitta talaiviyai kurittu iDam talippeidamai sonna pASuram’—azhahiya maNavALa jeeyar. The nAyaki does not feel tired as she has his company. But the nAyaka feels she may feel tired after a long walk. ‘nAyaki! We have already crossed the pAlai nilam. Hereafter our journey will not be tedious. We shall soon reach our place. Don’t worry’.
nAnilam vAi koNDu—The 4 types of lands are—mullai, kurinji, marudam and neidal. mullai—the forest region; kurinji—the mountainous region, marudam—the city; neidal—the coastal region. Some add pAlai (desert) to the list and say there are 5 kinds of land. But the truth in—there is no land called desert; but when the other lands lose their characteristic features it becomes pAlai. AzhwAr says ‘nAnilam vAi kindu nanneer ara menru kOdu koNDa vEnilajelvan suvaittu umizh pAlai’. The sun god put all the lands in his mouth; swallowed all the rasa and spat out the asAra which is called pAlai. ‘kOtozhilALarODu koTTravan kODi, vEttiyalizhanda viyanilam pOla vEnirkizhavanODu vengadir vEndan tAnalandiruha tanimaiyil kunri mullaiyum kurinjiyum muraimaiyil tirindu nalliyal pizhandu naDungu tuyaruruttu pAlai enbadOr paDivam koLLum’—silappadihAram. ’nilandAn nAlenbArum anjenbArumAyirukkum’. ‘aindu engiravarhaL pAlai nilattaiyum tannilE onrAkki solluvarhaL. nAlenravarhaL ippAlai nilandAn maTTrai nAlilum uNDengirArhaL; adAhiradu—neerum nizhalum illAdaviDam pAlaiyAmattaniyirE’.—nambiLLai eeDu.
pAlai—‘vEnilanjelvan suvaittu umizh pAlai’—The sun, whose rays are hot, chew the lands and swallow the rasa, spit out the asAra which becomes the desert.
pAlai kaDanda ponnE—Oh! My dear! you have crossed the difficult terrain without feeling the tediousness. you appear like gold which shines brightly after coming out of fire.
kAl nilam tOindu viNNOr tozhum vehKA udu—kAl nilam tOindu—It is said the dEvas do not place their feet on the ground. But this vehKA, a divya dESa of kaNNan is very special that they place their feet on this land. udu—neither very far nor very near.
Even men hesitate to stand in pAlai; vehKA is the place where even dEvas stand on the ground. ‘nilattil kAl tOibavarAna maNNulahattOrum kAl porundudarku ariya pAlaiyin veppattai taNikkavalladAna tiruvehKA kAl nilam tOyAdavarAna viNnulahattOrum kAl porundumbaDiyAnadu’.
tiruvehKA—A toNDainATTu tiruppadi kAncheepuram. He is called Sonna vaNNam seida perumAL or yathOktakAri. BagavAn did as tirumazhisai AzhwAr ordered Him. That is why He is called so.
vehKA was originally called vEgasEtu once brahma performed a yAga. The river vEgavati came to destroy it. BagavAn lay across it to protect the yAga. It was called vEgavaNBai, vEgaNai, vehKaNai and finally vehKA. tiruviruttam is nammAzhwAr’s first prabandha. Here he mentions only 3 divya dESas—tirumalai, tiruvanangam and tiruvehKA (kOyil tirumalai perumAL kOyil)
iLanjOlai—Full of trees and flowers as if it is ever spring. talaivan says she will not feel tired here.
‘Oh! talaivi! We met in kurinji, crossed pAlai; now we are going to marudam’.
eppAlaikkum—pAlai-duhKa (since the desert causes duhKa).
eppAlaikkum sEmattadE—‘ellA pAlai nilangaLAl vanda vemmaiyaiyum pOkki namakku rakShaka mukamAna dESam kAN adu (vehKA); inda pAlai nilamEyanrikkE innamum sila pAlai vanamum kaDakkalAm kAn innilamuNDAha’—periyavAchchAn piLLai.
appAladu—There it is! (pAl-iDam) or appAladu—beyond tiruvehKA. i.e. tiruttaNkA. (viLakkoLi emberumAn sannidhi). This word will restore her lost spirit. viSwAmitra maharShi gave rAma and lakShmaNa two mantras called bala and atibala which if chanted will give them strength. The words of talaivan is like this mantra to talaivi.
swApadESArtha—In the last pASura AzhwAr was feeling sad. The BAgavatas pacify Him saying ‘Oh! AzhwAr! you have already crossed the desert land called samsAra (which is asAra); the land where kaNNan lives is not far’. Tis diyva dESa is sought by dEvas, nityasooris and sasAris. This place removes all the duhKas of samsAra and gives one the pleasure of paramapada.
SEmam sengOnaruLE seruvAru naTpAhuvarenru
Emampera vaiyam sollum meyyE paNDellAm arai kooi |
yAmangaL tOreriveesu nangaNNan andaNNanduzhAi
tAmampunaiya avvADai eedO vandu taNNenradE || Twenty Seven ||
Because the nAyaki wore the tuzhasi malai of emberumAn, the breeze which was so far blowing hot air become cool and pleasant. It appears the nAyaka had come to have samslESha with her during the night. Therefore she sings happily in this pASura.
Whatever duhKa comes think that emberumAn’s anugrha will protect you. If you do so the enemies become your friends. As if to prove this fact, the breeze which was hot was her enemy who was challenging her to fight and pouring fire on her throughout the night, has now become her friend and blows cool air since she had the Bagavat sambandha (of His tiruttuzhai).
The natural fiends like the moon, the breeze, the flower which please the nAyaki during samslESha become objects of dislike during vislESha.
swApadEShArtha—During Bagavat vislESha the worldly objects like moon, breeze etc. since they bring back the memory of Him and his separation from her. Then AzhwAr started to meditate on his guNas and chEShTitas. This pacified Him a little a bit. Again the sambandha of tuzhasi caused more happiness in Him. Now the worldly objects which were once disliked become objects of pleasure since he thinks all objects have his sambandha. ‘pandu kazhal pAvai kuzhamaNan yAzh tenral madiyamaDisil sAndam pooNahil siTTril toodai mudalAvana’—‘madEyamennil viTTahalavum tadeeyamennil ihazhvaravum munivadu ikkAlameedu enappaDum pongaimulnil BOgyAdisamooham’—AchArya hrdayam.
taNNanduzhAi vaLai koLvadu yAmizhappOm naDuvE
vaNNanduzhAvi OrvADai ulAvum vaLvAyalahAl |
puNNanduzhAmE poruneer tiruvarangA! aruLAi
eNNantuzhAvumiDattu uLavO paNDum innannanavE || Twenty Eight ||
The samslESha anuBava as explained in the previous pASura is like a dream lasting for a minute. Again she has vislESha. Now she feels the vADaikkATTru troubles her. This pASura is interpreted as talaivi talking to the talaivan as if he is present before her (or) appear in her delusion as standing in front of her.
The tiruttuzhAi which has your direct sambandha reminds me of our samslESha even in vislESha kAla. It makes me go thin and loose my bangles. The breeze too troubles me. It is said ‘BeeShAsmAdvAtah pavatE’ (the wind blows fearing your command). But why should it blow hot air on me? Please order Him not to do so or come here so that the wont do so. No one has loved you so much as me, and no one had been as much neglected by you as me. This vADai does himsa to me and your tuzhasi helps Him to enhance the duhKa in me! I simply cannot tolerate this duhKa caused by both of them. Therefore help me with your presence and save me from these enemies.
Or vADai—This breeze does not need anyone’s help in torturing me. he does it all alone; ulAvum—he is slowly taking a walk and at each step brings increasing duhKa.
vaL vAyalhAl puL nanduzhAmE poru neer tiruvaranga—The river kAvEri protects her subjects i.e., the snails and other creatures from their birds of prey. If a river, which is an achEtana (insentient) has such rakShakatva why not that seen in you who is parama chEtana towards me.
aruLAi—you should do anugraha (or) you are not doing any anugraha to me.
swApadESArtha—AzhwAr speaks about his sorrowful state. When emberumAn is not with Him he finds all the objects of this world remind him of emberumAn causing duhKa in him.
taNNanduzhAi vaLai koLvadu yAm izhappOm—Let your guNa which is pleasant and charming steal my ananyArha SEShatvam.
Or vADai naDuvE vaNNam tuzhAvi ulAvum—The objects of this world which obey your commands change my form.
puL nandu vaL vAyalhAl uzhAmE porum neer tiruvarangA—The wicked mAya tortures my Atma by subjecting it to puNya pApa. Oh! arangA! Protect me from their clutches.
eNNam tuzhAvumiDattu paNDum innanna uLAvO—Did you have this stubborn nature of not showing mercy on those afflicted with duhKa even earlier? i don’t think so! you have blessed many with your merciful anugraha—to seeta pirATTi, droupadi, gajEndra, prahlAda, viBeeShaNa and even kAkAsura. Why not to me?
innanna toodemmai ALaTTrapaTTirandAL ivaLenru
annanna sollA peDaiyoDum pOivarum neelamuNDa |
minanna mEni perumAnulahil peNtoodu sellA
annanna neermaikolO kuDichcheermaiyil annangaLE || Twenty Nine ||
Not only the swan not do her biddings but show their indifference to her. They not only not act as amessenger but take a leisurely walk in front of her. This pASuram is called ‘annamODazhidal’—tirukkOvaiyAr urai. ‘ulahamellAm tuyilA ninra innilaimaikkaNNum yAn tuyilAmaikku kAraNamAhiya en varuttattai senru avalukku sollAdadu tAn tan sEvalai porundi kavarchchiyinri tuyilA ninradu ena annattODu azhindu koorA niTTral’.
innanna toodu—i am not sending you as a messenger to some mean person but to that pama puruSha. Actually you should be doing it as ‘paramapuruShArtha’. There is a pleasure in helping others. i am not asking someone who cannot go’ you have wings to fly! you should feel proud that you are chosen as hanumAn was chosen by Sree rAma. Not that you are taking rest; you are moving here and there with your pEDai; Walk where He is and give my message too! Oh! annam! you don’t feel sorry for me at all! you don’t seem to understand this importance which makes me renounce my shyness and makes me ask you. you know very well there is no one here except you and me. If you refuse whom shall I ask?
ulahil peN toodu sellA—Perhaps you feel it is below your dignity to act as a messenger for women! you may think that hanumAn, kaNNan and naLan acted as messengers to men. If you were asked by a man you would have willingly obeyed to do so!
Therefore she calls them ‘kuDichcheermaiyil annangaL’, ‘nalattin kaN nArinmai tOnrin avanai kulattin kaN aiyappaDum’—tirukkuraL. One born of a good family will possess qualities like soft words, not blaming others, helping others etc. you don’t have these guNas. Therefore i think you are not born of a good family.
swApadESArtha—AzhwAr wanted to send a messenger to emberumAn about his longing to see Him. he sends an AchArya who is like a swan because he takes only sAra leaving the asAra (like a swan drinks milk leaving water) and is full of satva guNa (white like swan).
annam selveerum vaNDAnam selveerum tozhudirandEn
munnam selveerhaL maravEnminO kaNNan vaihundanODu |
ennenjinArai kaNDAlennai solli avariDai neer
innam solleerO iduvO tahavenru isaiminhaLE || Thirty ||
The nAyaka left the nAyaki. Now the nAyaki sends the annam and vaNDAnam as messenger to her mind which has gone behind Him when he left. It is a wise way of telling her mind is with emberumAn. ‘neerirukka maDamangaimeer! kiLihaL tAmirukka madukaramellAm nirandirukka maDavannam munnam niraiyAyirukka uraiyAmal yAn, Arirukkilum en nenjamalladoru vanjamaTTra tuNaiyillai enrAdarattinODu toodu viTTa pizhai yAriDattu urai seidAruvEn, seerirukkum marai muDivu tEDariya tiruvarangarai vaNangiyE tiruttuzhAi taril virumbiyE kODu tirubiyE varudalinriyE, vArirukku mulai malar maDandai urai mArbilE periya tOLilE mayangi inbura muyangi ennaiyum marandu tannaiyum marandadE’—tiruvaranga kalambaham.
vaNDAnam—A kind of bird like nArai. When these birds fly in the sky AhzwAr thinks they fly to meet Him. Therefore she ask them—‘Oh! Birds! you are flying to meet Him i suppose. Whoever goes there first don’t forget to meet Him and tell my words’.
‘My mind told me he would just go to paramapada, meet Him and come back soon. he also said he will bring some prasAda for me. But till today he has not yet returned. Therefore, Oh! Birds! meet Him and tell Him to come back soon. he would be sitting on a simhAsana (throne) with all royal glories. you can easily identify Him. Tell Him—‘Oh! sir! Are you not parAnkuSa nAyaki’s mind? you have come here long ago! Haven't you finished you work here? Why do you still stay in this place? Shouldn’t you go back to your nAyaki? you came here only as a messenger but now you seem to stay here permanently! What is this!’
tozhudu irandEn—tozhudu kAyika (body),
irandEn—vAchika (words)
‘yan manasA dhyAyati tadvAchA vadati tatkarmaNA karOti’ ‘manah poorvO vAguttarah’—Sruti. ‘I have surrendered myself with my trikaraNar to the birds’.
maravEn minO—i have sent so many birds before this. They have either forgotten to give my message or to come back. Therefore i repeat ‘don’t forget’.
‘ivaL prakrtiyai ariyum nAyahan marandAn; avan kaipinnE pOna nenjum marandadu; ini yArtAn maravAdAr’—nambiLLai eeDu. Even if forgetting is not your nature, the very place called paramapada will make you forget everything. kaNNan—soulaBya vAchaka; vaihundan—paratva vAchaka.
kaNNan vaihundanODu en nenjinArai koNDAl—kaNNan is sarva sulaBa. He revealed His soulaBya guNa and came to me. He stole my mind and went back to paramapada. Now He shows His paratva and does not look at me. My mind, foolishly, has gone behind Him and has not returned till today’.
nenjinArai kaNDAl—It is easier comparatively to see the paramapadanAtha, but not my mind since the latter has identified himself as one of the nityasooris.
ennai solli—Remind me to my mind. Tell Him ‘you belong to parAnkuSa nAyaki. you should certainly go back to her. She needs you badly. She is all alone with no one near her. you came only as her messenger. Since you have not returned. We have come as messenger to you.
avariDai neer innam selleerO—‘Oh! nenjinArE! neer varuhira pozhudE ATTrAmai mikka avariDattu avarukku antahkaraNamAna neer avar tuyarai arindu teerttiDAmal nAyakan poruTTE anri umporuTTum avar toodu viDumbaDi innamum pOhAdirukkalAmO enru sollungOL’.
She uses the plural words like ‘selveerhaL’ ‘maravEnminO’ ‘isaiminhaL’ to suggest she addresses both the nArai and vaNDAnam simultaneously. Her idea is-let the one which reaches he place first take the message. She is in a haste to somehow give Him the message. So she sends the one first and sends the other too soon after before the first one returns.
swApadESArtha—AzhwAr sends some AchAryas to meet emberumAn and sends his message. selveer—They are going to paramapada. AzhwAr wants his mind back which has gone to emberumAn because he feels there is nothing but duhKa when his mind is with Him.
isaiminhaL toodenru isaittAl isaiyilam en talai mEl
asaiminhaL enrAl asaiyungolAm ambon mAmaNihaL |
tisaimin miLirum tiruvEngaDattu van tAL simayam
misai min miLiriya pOvAn vazhkik koNDa mEhangaLE || Thirty One||
The talaivi requests the clouds which were moving towards tirumalai to take her message to emberumAn. ‘Oh! clouds! Please act as my messenger. So to emberumAn who left me and is in tirumalai now and tell Him my condition’. They don’t seem to agree. Again she requests them ‘you are very fortunate to go to the divya dESa where he resides. i am not that fortunate. So please place your feet on my head and then proceed’. The clouds, however, are in a hurry to go to tirumalai. Hence they hesitate to concede to her request. She feels very sad and this pASura expresses her feelings.
In the last pASura she asked swans and vaNDAnam to go ‘toodu’. They refused and went away minding their own business. Now she looks up, sees the clouds moving towards the mountain. She thinks they are going to tirumalai. ‘Oh! Clouds! you are always intent on doing your duty without expecting any result from anyone. Therefore will you do a job for me? This is a monologue where she finds them hesitate. This will help in lessening her sorrow. When the lid is removed from the boiling kettle, the temperature suddenly falls. Similarly her monologue helps in reducing her sorrow. For a while. ‘poorOtpeeDE taTAkasya pareevAhah pratikriyA SOka kShOBE cha hrdayam pralAparirEva dhAryatE’—uttara rAma charita—a play, ‘keezh neelamuNDa minnanna mEni perumAnulahu’ enru paramapadattE toodu viTTAl; adu para Bakti parajnAna parama Bakti yuktarAnArkkalladu puhavoNNAda dESamAhaiyAlE avatArangaLilE tooduviDa pArttAL; aduvum samakAlattil uLLArkkAi pinnai illaiyAhaiyAlE pirapaTTArkkum anubavikkalAmpaDi sulabamAna tirumalaiyilE tiruvEngaDamuDaiyAn tiruvaDihaLilE mEhattai toodAha viDuhirAL. tirumalai nOkki pOhinra mEhangaLE! ennuDaiya toodAha vAkkiyangaLai koNDu pOi sollungOL enrAl solluhirilihOL; tirumalaikku pOhira parAkkilE pEsAdE pOhiravaTTraikkaNDa, solla mATTikOLAhil ungaL tiruvaDihaLai en talaimElE vaiyungOL enrAl vaippudihOLO? tirumalaikku pOvAruDaiya tiruvadihaL uddESyamAyirE iruppadu tirumalaikku pOhiravarhaLai talaiyilE vaikka kiDaikkumO? tiruvaDiyai (hanumAnai) pirATTi ingE OrirA tangi pOhavENumenru aruLichcheyya, oNNAdu enru avanum maruttu pOnAppOlE pOhA nirana’—peiryavAchchAn piLLai.
These clouds which are going to tirumalai which is bright with brilliant gems and gold, do not listen to my request when i ask them to act as my messenger. Perhaps if i do SaraNAgati and ask them to place their feet on my head, they might comply to my request.
parAnkuSa nAyaki feels the birds that fly high in the sky are going to paramapada. Similarly she thinks the clouds are going to tirumalai. In other words, whenever AzhwAr sees any moving object he feels they must be going to divya dESa. ‘varuvAr selvAr vaN parisArattirunda en tiruvAzh mArbarku en tiram sollAr seivaden’—tiruvAimozhi. When he sees anyone walking in the street he thinks they are going to tiruvaN parisAram.
‘engAnalahangazhivAi irai tErndu inginidamarum sengAla maDa nArAi tirumoozhikkaLatturaiyum kongAr poonduzhAi muDi en kuDakkoottarku en toodAi nungAlhaL en talaimEr kezhumeerO numarODE’—tiruvAimozhi.
swApadESArtha—In the last pASura AzhwAr asked some BAgavatas who are going to paramapada to ask his mind to return back to Him. They kept quiet because they thought it is an impossible task to make the mind come back form BagavAn. Now AzhwAr sees some yAtrikas going to divya dESa to take his message to tiruvEngaDamuDaiyAn. They don’t accept to so. AzhwAr feels it is a better puruShArtha if the BAgavatas place their tiruvaDi on his head ‘emberumAn tAL tozhuvAr kANmin en talaimElArE’—periya tirumozhi.
mEhangaLO uraiyeer tirumAl tirumEni okkum
yOgangaLum ungaLukku evvAru peTTreer uyiraLippAn |
mAhangaLellAm tirindu nanneerhaL sumandu nundam
AhangaL nOva varuttum tavamAm aruL peTTradE || Thirty Two ||
In her state of agony parAnkuSa nAyaki sends everyone whomever she happens to see as her messenger. In the last pASura she addressed the clouds. Now she feels these clouds must have performed great tapas in order to get similar tieumEni as emberumAn. ‘Oh! Clouds! How did you get this sAroopya? You shower your rains on the creatures to make them live as he showers his anugraha without expecting any returns or a word of thanks from them.
‘mAlum karungaDalE! ennOTTrAi! vaiyaham uNDu Alinilai tuyinra AzhiyAn kOlakkarumEni sengaNmAl kaNpaDaiyuL enrum tirumEni nee teeNDappeTTru’—poihai AzhwAr. ‘Oh! Sea! What tapas did you do in order to get His nitya sambandha? Similarly AzhwAr asks the clouds ‘emberumAnODu uru ottirukkumbaDiyAha neengaL enna tavam purindeerhaL?’ AzhwAr’s idea is to perform similar tapas in order to get his sambandha and sAroopya. ‘karum peru mEhangaL kANil kaNNanenru Era parakkum’—tiruvAimozhi. ‘nanru peyyum mazhai kANil nAraNan vandAnenru Alum’—tiruvAimozhi. ‘okkum ammAnuruvam enru uLLam kuzhaindu nANALum, tokka mEha palkuzhAngaL kANundOrum tolaivan nAn’—tiruvAimozhi.
mEhangaLO—like gajEndra cried loudly ‘nArAyaNa O…………….’maNivaNNA…….’ nAhaNaiyAi………’ So too kazhwar cries loudly ‘mEhangaLO……’
yOgam—The upAya which gave them similarities with Him.
swApadESArtha—Those in Sree vaikuNTha have similar forms as His. AzhwAr sees such muktas and ask them how they got it. ‘Adiyandam anandam arbudamAna vAnavar tam pirAn pAda mAmalar sooDum pattiyillAda pAvihaLuindiDa teedil nanneri kATTi engum tirindu arangan ammAnukkE kAdal sei toNDar’—perumAL tirumozhi of kulaSEkara AzhwAr. The BAgavatas roam on this earth without minding the difficulties in order to convert the people who are in samsAra by revealing their good AchAra, guNa and upadESa.
aruLAr tiruchchakkarattAl ahal visumbum nilanum
iruLAr vinaikeDa sengOl naDAvudir eengOrpeNpAl |
poruLOvenum ihazhvO ivaTTrin purattAL enreNNO
teruLOm aravaNaiyeer ivaL mAmai sidaikkinradE || Thirty Three ||
This is a tOzhi pASura. She witnesses the pathetic condition of the nAyaki because of her separation form her nAyaka. She is angry with Him for not protecting her, not caring for her and not helping her. ‘emberumAn! You are not an ordinary vyakti. You have tiruvAzhi in Your hand with which You protect the good and kill the wicked in all the worlds. You have vowed to do so. What kind of a sarva rakShaka are You to protect all the people except her! Why? Do You think she does not deserve Your attention and care? or is it because You think she is out of the jurisdiction of Your uBaya viBootis? ‘nammAl kAkkappaDum ulahangaLikku ivaL uTpaTTavaL allaL; bahirboodai’.
aruLAr tiruchakkaram—The tiruvAzhi acts both as Ayudha and an ornament. The Ayudha is unmerciful to the wicked and merciful to the god.
iruLAr vinaikeDa—‘bAhyAbAhyAndhakAra kShataja gadagadankAra BoomnA swadhAmnA’—Sree sudarSana Sataka. iruLAr—The darkness refers both to ahaviruL (ajnAna iruL) and puraviruL (the darkness outside).
aravaNaiyeer—When Your nAyaki does not get even a wink of sleep, is it proper on Your part to lie on the cozy bed of tiruvanandAzhwAn? Shouldn’t You have her on Your side when You sleep? Should You lie all alone like a brahmachAri? Don’t You want her near You?
ivaL mAmai sidaikkinradE—‘ivaLuDaiya mEni nirattai avantAnE kai toTTu azhikkirAn enrapaDi. prajai ikiNaTTrilE vizhundAl vAngAda tAyai taLLinAL ennumOpadi rakShakanAnavan rakShiyAdozhindAl avvaLavum sollalamirE’—periyavAchchAn piLLai.
swApadESArtha—On seeing the condition of AzhwAr some wise men plead to emberumAn to somehow save Him from such a state. In the nitya viBooti He protects the nityasooris by removing the virOdhis of BagavadanuBava with the help of His tiruvAzhi; in this lOka (His leela viBooti) He kills the virOdhis i.e, ahankAra and mamakAra caused by ajnAna with the help of tiruvAzhi. ‘kaiyum tiruvAzhiyumAna azhahaikkATTi piriyAmaiyAlE rakShikkum anguLLArai; attaikkoNDu virOdhihaLai iru tuNDamAha iTTu rakShikkum inguLLArai’—nambiLLai eeDu. ‘Should you neglect Him because he is paratantra and is not able to protect himself? look at his helpless state and changed complexion!
ivaTTrin purattAL enru eNNO—he is not like a samsAri enjoying the pleasures of this world; nor is he like a nityasoori enjoying the nitya Bagavat kainkarya! Therefore he belongs to neither groups. Is it because of this reason that you fail to protect her? i really don’t know the reason! ‘aSaktiyum pAratantryamum anAdarattukku uruppallAmaiyAlum viBooti dwaya vyAvritti vailakShaNyattukku uruppAhaiyAlum angeekAra hEtu uNDenrapaDi aravaNaiyeer engaiyAlE anda viBootiyil uLLArODu nitya samslESham naDakkira paDiyai solluhiradu’—azhahiya maNavALa jeeyar urai.
sidaikkinradAzhi enrAzhiyai seeri tan seeraDiyAl
udaikkinra nAyahan tannODumAlE unadutaNDAr |
tadaikkinra taNNanduzhAi aNivAnaduvE manamAi
padaikkinra mAdin tirattu ariyEn seyarpAladuvE || Thirty Four ||
This is a tOzhi pASuram. The talaivi wants to know whether he will come back or not. So she does kooDalizhaittal. It suggested his not coming. She is very upset about this.
kooDalizhaittal—The nAyaki sad by the separation of nAyaka worships the kooDal deivam, draws a cirlce in the sand and draws many circles inside it. When she counts all the inner circles the even number would suggest his coming back and the odd number the separation. ‘kooDalAvadu—vaTTamAha kOTTai keeri adukkuLLE suzhi suzhiyAha SuTTrum suzhittu ivviraNDu suzhiyAha kooTTinAl iraTTai paTTAl kooDuhai, oTTrai paTTAl kooDAmai enru sankEtam’—periyavAchchAn piLLai. ‘Azhi tiruttum puliyooruDaiyAn aruLinaLittu Azhi tiruttum maNarkunrineettahanrAr varuhenru, Azhi tirutti suzhikkaNakkOdi naiyAmal aiya, vAzhi tirutti tarakkiTTriyO uLLam vaLLalaiyE’—tirukkOvaiyAr. ‘’koLLumAhil nee kooDidu kooDalE’, ‘kooTTumAhil nee dooDiDu kooDalE’ ‘kOmahan varil kooDiDu kooDalE’—nAchchiyAr tirumozhi of ANDAL.
Azhi sidaikkinradenru---She counted the circles and got odd number suggesting his not coming. This is also called ‘kalangudal’ ‘pizhaittal’ ‘tavarudal’ ‘kooDAmai’ ‘sidarudal’ etc. If she gets even number it would be called ‘kooDudal’.
kooDalizhaittal—Some say it is drawing a circle on the sand with eyes closed. If the line joins the starting point it would suggest ‘kooDudal’, if not it suggests ‘piridal’.
udaikkinra—The kooDal did not suggest her union with her lover. She got angry and kicked the kooDalvaTTam with her feed (i.e. she erased them).
seeraDi—small feet (or) beautiful feet (or) angry feet (udaikkinra)
mAdin tirattu—This beautiful girl who does not deserve to be sad.
seyarpAladu yAnariyEn—i don’t know what to do but surely you know because you alone are the cause.
swApadESArtha—AzhwAr is in haste to be with emberumAn. After trying many upAyas, all in vain, he understand self effort will not yield the desired puruShArtha. The BAgavatas report to BagavAn about AzhwAr and his feelings. Azhi sidaikkinradu enru—AzhwAr finds all the upAyAntaras do not get the desired fruit; Azhiyai seeri—renouncing all self efforts; tan seeraDiyAl udaikkinra—pushed them all aside. nAyahan tannODu-wisely; unadu taN tAr tadaikkinra taNNanduzhAi aNivaduvE manamAi padaikkinra—he is immersed in his thirst to enjoy his company. But he feel sad when it is not fulfilled at once;
mAdin tirattu—For the sake of this AzhwAr now is paratantra (like a woman); seyarpAladu ariyEn—We don’t know what to do to alleviate his suffering. Only You know and have the medicine. mAlE—Oh! pirAn! you are full of jnAna and Sakti.
sidaikkinradu Azhi enru Azhiyai seeri tan seerraDiyAl udaikkinra—The nAyaki draws the kooDal on the banks of the sea (Azhi) the nAyaki is angry at the sea since the sea water erases the kooDal with her waves. Therefore she kicks the water with her tiny feet. ‘avan varumaLavum Ariyirukka oNNAmaiyAlE kooDalizhaikka toDanginAL; adu tappina paDiyaikkaNDu nAyahan tannai kaNDAl kObikkumAppOlE kooDalODE kObikkirAL munbuLLAR kooDalizhaikka pukkavArE adu sidari varuhirapaDiyai kaNDu attODE seeri azhiyA ninrAL enbArhaL.
BaTTar, idu kooDuhaikku EkAndamanriyE pirihaikkumoru puDai uNDAyirukkaiyAlE seeri udaiyA ninrALanru; kooDalizhaikka pukkavArE kaDalAnadu tan tiraiyAhira kaiyAlE azhikka puha attODE seerA ninrAL enbar’—periyavAchchAn piLLai.
pAl vAi pirai piLLai okkalai koNDu pahalizhanda
E mEl pAl tisaippeN pulamburu mAlai ulahaLanda |
mAl pAl tuzhAikku manamuDaiyArkku nalhiTTraiyellAm
sOlvAn puhundu iduvOr panivADai tuzhAhinradE || Thirty Five ||
The talaivi is already in agony because of the evening time. To add to her woes in this cool breeze blowing. Considering the terrible pain caused by this breeze the pain caused by the evening appears as pleasure. This breeze blows to covet all the happiness of a woman who desired the tiruttuzhAi of emberumAn. The evening robs all her possessions except her life whereas the breeze takes away even that.
iduvOr panivADai—She points out with her finger ‘this is that panivADai that causes pain in me’. Or vADai—This vADai is not an ordinary one but is the one which comes all alone only to cause havoc in the minds of women in love. panivADai—That vADai that is cool and pleasant by its nature is now hot and painful (or) the vADai that cause shiver (pani) in me.
tuzhAhinradu—Searches me to find out where the life is and touches that part.
Or vADai puhundu tuzhAhinradu—This vADai comes all alone and does the job of himsa that the sea, the moon, the evening etc. do all put together.
pahalizhanda mEl pAl tisaippeN pulambum mAlai—The evening is the time that reminds the nights when they were together and the nights that are long without Him. To her who is feeling sad all the objects appear to feel the same.
pAlvai—An adjective both to the woman and to the child. The western direction is the woman; her child is the crescent moon; her husband is the sun. This evening is like a woman who carries the baby on her waist, cries piteously at her lost husband.
ulahaLanda mAlpAl tuzhAikku manamuDaiyArkku nalhiTTrai ellAm—To those women who desire to possess the tiruttuzhAi of ulahaLanda perumAL the evening has robbed her of all her possession but left her alive. This vADaikkATTru is the worst fellow who took away all that she had including her life.
swApadESArtha—AzhwAr’s desire for BagavadanuBava tries his patience since he could not have it immediately. As the time passes his longing increases. At this moment all the objects that naturally cause pleasure cause pain only to Him.
pAlvAi pirai piLLai okkalai koNDu pahalizhanda mEl pAl tisaippeN pulamburumAlai—To the AzhwAr who is paratantra the vivEka jnAna decreases as the time approaches for BagavadanuBava. The agony increases not able to bear even the slightest delay. pAlvAi piral piLLai—The small portion of jnAna; pahalizhattal—The vivEka decreasing; mElpAl tisaippeN—The paratantra who shows the path to others; pulamburudal—is very impatient due to longing; mAlai—dusk time; ulahaLanda mAl—He who placed his tiruvaDi even unasked on all alike should he be in different to me who cries for Him! To those who are engrossed in BagavadviShaya all the objects of samsAra cause duhKa.
manamuDaiyArkku—Some interpret this pASura as tOzhi pASura or tAi pASura as it is in third person. In swApadESArtha it is taken as BAgavata pASura.
tuzhAneDum soozhiruLenru tam taNtAr adu peyarA
ezhA neDu oozhi ezhunda ikkAlattum eengivaLO |
vazhA neDuntunbattaL enrirangAr ammanO ilangai
kuzhA neDumADamiDitta pirAnAr koDumaihaLE || Thirty Six ||
This is a tOzhi pASura. She feels very sorry for the nAyaki, blames the nAyaka for his indifference to her. In the last pASura the evening and the vADai tortured her. Then came the night which extended endlessly like a yuga. The vADai and the night vie with each other as to who is going to torture her more. he does not seem to care to alleviate her sufferings. How cruel he is!
Many reasons are present for taking pity on her—the nights are long and unbearable; she is alone; she feels chanting the name of tiruttuzhAi will somehow reduce her sorrow. He who took great effort to rescue seeta pirATTi by waging war on srilanka and destroyed the city and the rAkShasas does not care to come to save her who has many reasons to be pitied. ‘ilangia kuzhA neDumADam iDitta pirAnAr koDumaihaLE’, ‘kaDal vazhi viDa niSicharar poDi paDa irukaN seeri’, ‘vaDa kayilaiyil ezhu viDai tazhuviyadu marandArO, aDalaravamaLiyil arituyilamarum arangESar, iDarkeDa varuhilar muruhalar tuLavum irangArE’—tiruvaranga kalambaham.
pirAnAr—A praBu. Perhaps to establish His praButva He waged war with the rAkShasas, not for the sake of seeta pirATTi.
‘oruttikkAha kaDalai aDaittu rAmanenrum lakShmaNenrum ezhuttu veTTina ambuhaLai puha viTTu kuTTichchuvarum maTTai tengumAkki moolaiyaDiyE pOhappiNNina inda upakArakanuDaiya inda neermaiyellAm engE kuDippOittO engirAL’ enru embAr aruLichcheivar. iduvum azhahidonru uNDAyirukkalAhAdu enru asooyaiyAlE azhittAnittanai kAN; oruttikkAha udavinavanillai kAN engirAL—peiryavAchchAn piLLai.
tuzhA—he searches for her life force by probing in the darkness to snatch it away!
soozh iruL—It is very dark. It is so dark on all sides that she cannot escape even if she wants to.
‘taNDAradu peyarA vazhA neDuntunbattAL’ (or) ‘taNDAradu peyarA oozhi ezhunda’. She suffers to get tiruttuzhAi mAl (or) the nights are like yugas in order to torture her who wanted the tiruttuzhAi. he has sent the iruL to destroy her completely for the simple reason that she desired his tiruttuzhAi.
iruL enru oozhi ezhunda ikkalam—The night when it arrives is called ‘Or iruLAi’ but when it goes it is like many yugas like it was a swami when rAvaNa came to seeta and was called a rAkShasa when he got her.
irangAr—Sree rAma sent hanuman with His ring as a messenger to seeta pirATTi whereas He does not send even his tiruttuzhAi as a messenger to her. Even if he does not love her what prevents him from feeling sorry for her?
irakkam is defined as intolerance to see others suffer.
neDu oozhi—‘kalpattukkum Or ellai uNDu. aduvumillai idukku’ is the significance of the expression.
ikkAlattum—It is said he comes to rescue all the jeevas but he fails to come when i am i agony finding the nights pass like yugas.
swApadESArtha—tuzhA neDunjoozhiruLenru ezhA neDu oozhi ezhunda ikkAlattum—The kAla has brought mOhAndhakAra in AzhwAr because he could not bear the separation and the long endless wait.
eengivaLO tam taNDAradu peyarA vazhA neDuntunbattaL enru irangAr—This AzhwAr is unable to lessen his own duhKa in this samsAra full of ignorance. What he asks Him is only an anugraha which is not coming.
ilangai kuzhA neDu mADam iDitta pirAnAr koDumaihaLE—He takes avatAras only to do duShTa nigraha and SiShTa paripAla. Didn’t He kill rAvaNa and rescued seeta? Why should He not take any action to do the same rakShaNa to me?
koDungAl silaiyar nirai kOLuzhavar kolaiyil veyya
kaDungAliLaijnar tuDipaDungavaittu aruvinaiyEn |
neDungAlamum kaNNan neeNmalarppAdam paravi peTTra
toDungAl osiyumiDai iLamAn senra soozhkaDamE || Thirty Seven ||
The nAyaka and nAyaki got married by gAndharva vivAha. Since it is a marriage in secret they live separately. When the news of their marriage leak out people gossip and blame them. At that time the nAyaka stops meeting her and goes out of the town till the gossip subsides. The tOzhi meets the nAyaka and asks Him to come and marry her in public. She suggests he should go out of town and come back after the gossip subsides (or) boldly marry her in public (or) elope with her and get married somewhere. In this pASura the tozhi helps the nAyaki to meet the nAyaka without her mother knowing anything about it. The mother on coming to know abut this feels sad how this young girl is going to bear the suffering of traveling through the desert etc.
This pASura can be interpreted as—the nAyaki who waited for long time for her nAyaka to come, finds Him not coming. So one night she leaves the house and goes where he is. The mother finds her missing in the morning, understands where she might have gone and feels sad about it.
‘aruvinaiyEn neDungAlamum kaNNan neeN malar pAdam paravi peTTra toDungAl osiyumiDai iLamAn senra soozhkaDamE—is the prose order
aruvinaiyEn—i am a mahApApi since i lament over the loss of my daughter whom i gave birth after so much tapas, pradakShiNa, worship of gods etc. such a girl should walk through the desert!.
toDungAl osiyumiDai—She describes the beauty and soukumArya (tenderness) of her daughter. She has such a slender waist that it would appear to break if touched. When even she herself places her hand on her waist it would be like a mountain placed on a creeper. The waist should be touched to see whether it exists or not.
iLamAn—She is as beautiful as a young doe.
koDungAr silaiyar niraikOLuzhavar kolaiyil veyya kaDungAl iLaijnar tuDipaDum kavvaittu—The desert is the place where roam the wicked young men beating the ‘parais’.
koDungAr silaiyar—They carry the bow which is bent with arrow fixed to it, ready to hit anything that they happen to see. niraikOLuzhzvar—nirai—cattle; kOL—to inflict pain; uzhavar—that being their only job. uzhavar normally means farmer. Here it means those who inflict pain on animals like the farmers care for their land unceasingly.
kolaiyil veyya—murderers. They don’t hesitate to kill anything and anyone for money or for enmity or even to gain some sadistic pleasure in making other suffer. (or) they don’t kill others to die but takes pleasure in slow killing.
kaDungAliLaijnar—If they hear there is a creature 10 miles away or 20 miles away they walk fast to go there only to inflict pain and take pleasure in their suffering.
tuDipaDum kavvaittu—tuDi—parai. They always carry parai and beat it loudly to announce their arrival.
soozh kaDam—‘soozhchchiyai’ uDaiya vazhi enrum, soozhchiyAvadu—vemmaiyAl tuyarai viLaittal’—azhahiya maNavALa jeeyar.
kaNNan neeN malar pAdam—The long tiruvaDi of trivikrama (or) the long tiruvaDi; which reaches the aDiyArs in a jiffy.
iLamAn—The eyes of a doe. She would be looking her and there with her beautiful eyes.
swApadESArtha—The samsAra is a desert very difficult to cross. But AzhwAr walks this path with abundant Bakti in his heart. The jnAnis look at Him with astonishment.
iLamAn—AzhwAr who has excellent Bakti combined with extraordinary jnAna.
toDungAl osiyumiDai—vairAgya which is the outcome of Bakti. ‘iDaiyazhahenbadai onrum porAda vairAggiyattai’—azhahiya maNavALa jeeyar.
aruvinaiyEn neDungAlamum kaNNan neeN malar pAdam paravi peTTra—One will get Bakti towards AzhwAr if only he had done tapas, yOga and jnAna through many earlier janmas.
senra soozh kaDam—The desert called samsAra koDungAr silaiyar nirai koLuzhavar kolaiyil veyya kadungAl iLaijnar—The strong and powerful panchEndriyas announce their presence with much fanfare and tomtom. AzhwAr is sad that he suffers in this dark ignorant world dragged by the 5 indriyas which cause destruction of his Atmaswaoopa.
kaDamAyinahaL kazhittu tamkAlvanmaiyAl palanAL
taDamAyinapukku neer nilaininra tavamidukol |
kuDamADi immaNNum viNNum kulunga ulahaLandu
naDamADiya perumAn uruvottana neelangaLE || Thirty Eight ||
The nAyaki separated from the nAyaka looks at the neelOtpala flowers that remind sher of his tirumEni. She rejoices as if she had seen Him in person. She gazes at the flowers in the ponds situated in the neidal nilam and feels happy that she can now sustain her life looking at these flowers that resemble Him in the colour.
‘ivai neDunAL neer nilaiyilE ninru iDaiviDAdu seida tavattin payanAhavanrO idu peTTradu!’ This pASura is called pOli kaNDu mahizhdal’. There are some pASuras where the talaivi on seeing the similarities between the objects and him feel sad as they remind her of his separation. This is called ‘pOli kaNDu azhidal’. ‘poovaiyum kAyAvum neelamum pookkinra kAvi malar enrum kANDOrum—pAviyEn mellAvi mei mihavE poorikkim avvavai ellam pirAn uruvE enru’—periya tiruvandAdi, an example of ‘pOlikaNDu mahizhdal’. ‘’okkum ammAnuruvam enru uLLam kuzhaindu nANALum tokka mEha palkuzhAngaL mANundOrum tolaivan nAn’—tiruvAimozhi—‘pOli kaNDu azhidal’. ‘paimozhil vAl kuyilhAL mayilhAL oN karuviLaihAL vambak kaLanganihAL vaNNappoovai narumalarhAL aimperumpAdaharhAL aNimAlirunjOlai ninra emberumAnuDaiya niram ungaLukkum en seivadE’—nAchchiyAr tirumozhi.
kaDamAyinahaL kazhittu tam kAl vanmaiyAl palanAL taDamAyina pukku neer nilai ninra tavamidu kol—kaDamAyinahaL kazhittu—These flowers leaving the first regions; taDamAyina pukku—have come to ponds; tam kAl vanmaiyAl—stand on their powerful legs; pala nAL neernilai ninra—After traveling many miles they have finally selected a suitable place to perform tapas; tavamidu kol—is this the tapas that enabled them to have similar colour as his? Those who perform tapas stand on one leg unmindful of heat and cold, rains or sunshine. Similarly these neelOtpala flowers stand in water for a long period (as if to perform tapas) unmindful of what is happening around it.
perumAn uru ottana—tadA vidvAn puNya pApE viDhooya niranjanah; paramam sAmyam upaiti’—vEda. Those who gain mukti through tapas gain sAroopya. ‘muruhavizh seyya kamalamuNNehizhndu muhamalarnduru kaNNeer sindi, oru pasuntALin vanattin inraritinujnaTTriya tavattinAlanrO, viri malar aSOkin tALir nalangavaTTri men siraiyanamena mizhaTTrum, paripuramaNindu panjiyooTTiya porpadattinai siridu pOnranavE’—naiDadam.
kuDamADi—‘andaNarkku selvam vinjinAl yAgam seivadu pOla iDaiyarkku selvam mihundAl adanAl uNDAhum serukkukku pOkkuveeDAha kuDakkoottADuvArha:’ . ‘kuDangaL eDuttEraviTTu koottADavalla engOvE’. Placing many pots one over the other on his head, placing 2 on each shoulder he would perform an act of jugglery with 2 or more pots in his hand. ‘kuDattADal kunreDuttOnADal anadukku aDaikkupavarndu uruppAindu’—silappadihAram padavurai by aDiyArkku nallAr.
immaNNum viNNum kulunga—‘immaNNum viNNum kulunga kuDamADi’, ‘immaNnum viNNum kulunga ulahaLandu naDamAdiya perumAn’. He performed both the acts of ulahamaLattal and kuDakkoottu with the same ease ‘vAmananAi seida koottukkaL kaNDumE’—tiruvAimozhi. ‘kulunga’ is not interpreted as ‘tremble’ but is taken to mean ‘immaNNulahattArum viNNulahattArum manam iLahumpaDiyAha’.
‘samhAra kAraNanuDaiya nrttamAhilirE lOkam naDungiTTrennalAvadu; anjananrikkE lOkamudAiya achcheyalukku nenju uLukkinapaDi—‘periyavAchchAn piLLai. embeurman’s tiruvaDi is more tender and softer than a fresh flower. When it touches it would certainly cause pealsure not pain.
swApadESArtha—AzhwAr is in great duhKa because he could not get BagavadanuBava. Through his jnAnakkaN he sees the muktas and nityasooris having sAroopya doing kainkarya. ‘ivarhaL inganamAnadu upAyAntarangaLai tavirttu neDungAlam ivvulahil ninru seida yOgattinAlO’ If only i know what it is and able to perform the same sAdhana i too could get the same swaoopa as his.
kuDamAyinahL kazhittu—A prapanna renounces all self efforts and upAyAntaras (or) to perform all kinds of duties towards emberumAn without fail.
tam kAl vanmai—Perseverance and dedication in their efforts. pala nAL taDamAyina puhudal—emberumAn’s swaroopa is as pleasant and cool as pond. puhudal—to enjoy that swaroopa with devotion. neer nilai niTTral—What is a tapas? It is nothing but enjoying his guNas like soulaBya (or) it is a great sAdhana. perumAnuru ottal—sAroopya.
neelattaDavarai mEl puNDareeka neDuntaDangaL
pOla polindemakku ellAviDattavum pongumunneer |
jnAlappirAn visumbukkum pirAn maTTrum nallOr pirAn
kOlam kariya pirAn embirAn kaNNin kOlangaLE || Thirty Nine ||
Because the nAyaki’s thoughts are completely immersed in Him alone, she sees Him everywhere in her delusive state. She speaks this pASura visualizing the beauty of his eyes. ‘kaDal soozhnda maNNulahattukku talaivanum viNNulahukkum talaivanum maTTrumuLLa nallavar yAvarkkum tavalivanum kariya tirumEniyanumAna emberumAnadu tirukkaNgaLin azhahuhaLE emakku kANumiDantOrum tOnruhinravaiyAyuLLana’. The eyes are like two huge lotus ponds on the top of the sapphire mountain.
The dark huge tirumEni is like a sapphire mountains and the two eyes are like lotus ponds as the top of the mountain.
kOlangaLE—To those who admire his eyes nothing seem to possess beauty. ‘tOL kaNDAr tOLE kaNDAr toDukazhar kamalamanna tAL kaNDAr tALE kaNDAr taDakkai kaNDArum akdE, vAL kaNDa kaNNAr yArE vaDivinai muDiya kaNDAr oozhkoNDa samayattannAn uruvu kaNDArai ottAr’—kamba rAmAyaNam.
kOlangaLE—Alas! The tirumEni that has such beautiful eyes is not embraced by me!
jnAlam—leelA viBooti; visumbu—niyta viBooti; maTTrum nallOr—The mumukShus who have not yet gone to paramapada and also not involved in samsAra but immersed in his guNAnuBava (or) visumbu—dEvalOka, nallOr—nityasoori’s and muktas.
swApadESArtha—AzhwAr has the delusory vision of emberumAn where he sees His beautiful eyes. he describes them to his aDiyArs. ‘Ezhai arAviyuNNum iNai kooTTrangolO ariyEn, soozhavum tAmaria nAN malar pOl vandu tOnrum kaNDeer, tOzhiyarhAL annai meer en seihEn tuyarATTiyEnE—tiruvAimozhi.
kaNNin kOlangaL—The tirukkaNgaL have the qualities of being cool, bright, pleasing and beautiful. ‘kariyavAhi puDai parandu miLirndu sevvariyODi neeNDa apperiyavAya kaNgaL ennai pEdaimai seidanavE’—tiruppANAzhwAr. emakku ellAviDattum—in all places wherever i see ‘ninru tOnri kaNNuL neengA en nenjuLlum neengAvE’.
kOlappahar kaLironru karpuyya kuzhAmviritta
neela kangul kaLirellAm niraindana nErizhaiyeer |
jnAla ponmAdin maNALan tuzhAinangaL soozh kuzharkE
ElappunaindennaimAr emmai nOkkuvadenru kolO || Forty ||
This pASura is called ‘talaimahaL tOzhiyArkku varaivu viruppuraittal’. The day is over, the night has set in and the talaivi is sad. Her concern is when are the parents going to give her in marriage to the talaiva. She asks her tOzhi about it. ‘Oh! nErizhaiyeer! The elephant called sun has gone behind the mountains (i.e. it has set). Many elephants called darkness have come out of the mountains, stand in an array in front of me. (The night has come). This night reminds me of Him and extends like yuga. When will my mother be pleased to see me wearing the tiruttuzhAi of emberumAn who is the consort of SreedEvi and BoodEvi(when is she giving me in marriage to Him) ‘anrippin maTTroruvarkennai pEsaloTTEn mAlirunjOlai emmAyarkallAl, koTTravanukkum ivaLAm enreNNi koDuminhaL koDeerAhil kOzhambamE—periyAzhwAr tirumozhi. ‘Oh! tOzhi! Make my mother hasten up to give me in marriage to Him’. kOlappahal kaLironru—The elephant born of a good family will have certain lakShaNas like red spots on his body, wear red cloth on its back and over his face.
kal—mountains. ‘kalleDuttu kal mAri kAttAi’—tiruneDundANDaham of tirumangai AzhwAr. pahar kaLironru karupuyya kangurkaLirellAm niraindana—One elephant disappeared behind the mountain, many elephants came out of it and stand in an array like an army in front of me. These elephants driven away by that single one now dare to come out and stand in a line (niraindana). The sun is described as an elephant in singular since it is short lived; the night is described in plural (kaLirellAm) because it is long.
jnAla pon mAdin maNALan—jnAla mAdin maNALan and pon mAdin maNALan. he who is enjoyed by both SreedEvi and BoodEvi is out of reach of me!
jnAlappon mAdin maNALan suggests her longing to have similar experience.
nangaL soozh kuzharkkE Ela punandu ennaimAr emmai nOkkuvadu enru kolO—When does he put tiruttuzhAi on my hair so that my parents would be glad to see me like this (or) When do my parents put the tiruttuzhAi on my hair and feel happy to see me wearing it.
swApadESArtha—AzhwAr is still sad because he could not have BagavadanuBava. he has lost his vivEka too. he is immersed in mOhAndhakAra. ‘innilaiyil emadu peiryOr emmai emberumAnadu prasAdattukku pAttiramAmbaDi samarppiyAmal tAmadippadE’—so ask the jnAnis. kOla pahar kaLironru karpuyya—The vivEka disappears because of excessive Bakti. kuzhAm virinda neela kangul kaLiru ellAm niraindana—mOhAndhakAra (the darkness of ignorance) has overpowered Him. It is called kaLiru because it is uncontrollable.
jnAla pon mAdin maNALan—The desire to have BagavadnuBava as the two nAichchimArs have.
maNALan tuzhAi nangaL soozh kuzharkE Ela punaindu—AzhwAr wants to carry his prasAda on his head.
ennaimAr- The elderly Baktas and BAgavatas.
enru kolO—suggests his strong desire.
nErizhaiyeer—The kalyANa guNas are the ornaments which the Baktas wear. ‘jnAna vairAgya BooShaNam’.
enrum punvADai idu kaNDaridum ivvAru vemmai
onrum uruvum suvaDum teriyilam Ongasurar |
ponrumvahai puLLaiyoorvAn aruLaruLAda innAL
manril niraipazhi tooTTri ninrennai vankATTradumE || Forty One ||
The nAyaki blames the vADaikkATTru. Normally she used to blame the talaivan when the breeze blows since her sorrow increases. Now she blames directly the wind itself.
This vADai is very cruel, is known to me since a long time. i simply say ‘vADai varuttuhiradu’ but cannot say how and when. Such is His nature i.e. each time it pains me in different ways. He who kills the asuras to protect His Baktas do not take any actions against this vADai who tortures me, His dAsi. People scold me whenever i blame the vADai. Thus the breeze causes indescribable pain in several ways.
vADaiyidu kaNDaridum—i now this vADai very well. i know His cruelty too. Since i have experienced it (or) i have been experiencing His cruelty since a long time. But today he seems to be giving more pain as never before. ‘idan swaroopa swaBAvangAL inrE mArupaTTana’.
Ongu asurar—The rAkShasas are puffed up with pride and might due to boom got from the ArAdhana of dEvatAntaras (or) those asuras who don't bent their heads to salute Him.
manril nirai pazhi tooTTri –The vADai is the cause of such a censure by the people. They say ‘Oh! This proud girl is separated from nAyaka. She is all alone. She trembles whenever the vADai blows! Look at her? All her feminine qualities like achcham, maDam have been lost.
‘irungungumattOL arangESar munnAL ilangApurangAvalan kAlinAl veezh, karungunru pOl maN muhamkutti veezha kaNDAr enakkinru tANDAraLittAl, marungengum vampOduvAr vAyaDangum vADaikkum nilamangai ADaikkum nOhEn, nerungundanam sandanam poosalAhum neeLAdirAmaiyal meeLAdirAdE’—tiruvaranga kalambaham.
nirai pazhi—The pazhi is not only for nAyaki but also for nAyaka. They blame her for her behaviour and Him for the cause. ‘oruttiyai tan pakkalilE AsaippaDa vaittu vADaikku eeDupaTTu tuDikkumpaDiyAha upEkShippadE enru emberumAnaiyum alar tooTTruvArhaLAm’—periyavAchchAn piLLai.
aDum—Kill, will cause pain leading to death.
vankATTru ennai aDum—This invisible kATTru pains me. i, being a woman, am incapable of protecting myself. This vADai does not show any compassion on me who is but a woman. Instead it tries to kill me.
swApadESArtha—Because His desire for BagavadanuBava is not fulfilled immediately AzhwAr feels all the object of this world, that normally give pleasure to a samsAri, give pain. All the duhKas that he so for experienced in this samsAra seem like suKa when compared to the duhKa that he is experiencing now.
enrum punvADai idu kaNDaridum—i know all the objects of this world cause pain in me.
ivvAru vemmai uruvum suvaDum onrum teriyilam—Their tendency to inflict pain in me is inexplicable by me.
Ongasurar ponrumvahai puLLaiyoorvAn aruL aruLAda innAL—he who does duShTa nigraha for the sake of SiShTa paripAlana keeps quiet in case of me. manril nirai pazhi tooTTri van kATTru ennai ninru aDum—The people blame me for suffering like this even after my total surrender to Him. pazhi in swApadESArtha means ‘emberumAn tAnE vandu ATkoLLumaLavum AriyirAmal padaruhinradanAl uNDAhum swaroopahAni’. ‘pETTrukku tAn pravarttikkaiyum pazhiyirE’—nambiLLai.
vankATTraraiya orungE marindu kiDandalarnda
menkAr kamalattaDam pOl polindana maNNum viNNum |
en kAr kaLavinmai kANmin enbAnottu vAn nimirnda
tan kAr paNinda enpAl embirAn taDangaNgaLE || Forty Two ||
This is a nAyaki pASura. She describes how he looked at her and how beautiful the eyes are.
i bowed at His tiruvaDi that measured all the worlds. He looked at me out of the corner of His eyes. They were like lotus flowers with bent stalks due to heavy wind. ‘Sree rangESaya! SaraNam mamAsi vAtya vyAlOlatkamala taTAka tANDavEna’—Sree rangarAja stava of BaTTar.
maNNum viNNum enkArku aLavinmai kANmin enbAnottu vAn nimirnda—He wanted to anugraha to all the people of all the worlds. But some with ahankAra and mamakAra would not let Him do that. Hence he stood there as if to challenge the people ‘look at My tiruvaDi. All the upper and lower worlds are not enough for them!’ As if to prove that He placed them on all by measuring the worlds. Thus He fulfilled His aim. Thus He showers ?His grace even without anyone asking. ‘ninra kAl maNNelAm nirappi appuram senru pAviTTrilai siridu pArenA onra vAnahamelAm oDukki umbarai venra kAl meeNDadu veLi perAmaiyE’—kamba rAmAyaNam. ‘ulahamelAm uLLaDakki’—kamba rAmAyaNam.
kaNNum sendAmarai kaiyumavai aDiyO avaiyE
vaNNam kariyadOr mAlvarai pOnru madivikarpAl |
viNNumkaDandum parappAlmikku maTTreppAl avarkkum
eNNum iDattaduvO embirAnadu ezhilniramE || Forty Three ||
The nAyaki describes the nAyaka. His eyes, hands and feet are all like lotuses. Since she could not find a separate object for comparison to each of them, she compares them all with lotus alone. ‘kai vaNNam tAmarai vAi kamalam pOlum kaNNiNaiyum aravindam aDiyum aKdE’—tiruneDundANDaham. His tirumEni is like a huge anjana mountain.
madi vikarpAl eNNiDattaduvO—In terms of intellect, the dEvas are superior to manuShyas; the brahma is better than the dEvas; muktas are more intelligent than brahma; and the nityasooris top the list of jnAnis. Even the nityasooris do not fully know His tirumEni and its beauty.
vikalpa—Difference i.e. maTTraiyOrarivinum sirandu vErupaTTu tOnruhinra madiyinAl enravAru appaDippaTTa madiyinAlum eNNum tirattadanru emberumAnadu ezhil niram’.
AzhwAr sees Him with His jnAnakkaN and says he cannot describe His from. Even though AzhwAr has as much jnAna as the nityasooris, he says so. The thoughts fail because the form does not come under His imagination; the words fail because what one cannot feel one cannot say.
yavarkkum—It should be yAvarkkum. Similar usage is found in places like ‘uyarvara uyarnalam uDaiyavan yavanavan’ ‘nenjinAl ninaippAyavan’ ‘payilum tiruvuDaiyAr yavarElum avar kaNDeer’--tiruvAimozhi.
niramuyar kOlamum pErumuruvumivai ivaiyenru
aramuyal jnAna samayihaL pEsilum angangellAm |
uravuyar jnAna suDarviLakkAi ninradanri onrum
peramuyanrArillaiyAl embirAn perumaiyaiyE || Forty Four ||
The nAyaki continues the description. Philosophers belonging to different schools of thought have described Him but the fact is they have described Him only a fraction of what He really is. His beauty etc. are aprAkrita that they do not fall into imagination or words of description. ‘vAL koNDa kaNNAr yArE vaDivinai muDiyakkaNDAr oozh koNda samayattannAn uruvu kaNDArai ottAr’—kamba rAmAyaNam.
In the last pASura the nAyaki said ‘emberumAnadezhil niram yavarkkum eNNumiDattaduvO’. Now she replies to those who ask ‘emberumAnuDaiya nirattaiyum kOlattaiyum peyaraiyum uruvaiyum ivai ivai enru jnAna samayihaL pEsuhiranaranrO? appaDiyirukka ‘eNNumiDattaduvO’ enru enganE sollalAm?
aramuyal jnAna samayihaL—ara—in large measure; muyal—with effort i.e. with great effort. Those who try to know Him with self effort do not know Him fully whereas AzhwAr who was blessed with jnAna by His nrhEtuka kaTAkSha would know Him well. So he calls Him ‘embirAn’.
niramuyar kOlamum pErum uruvum—niram—‘munnai vaNNam pAlin vaNNam muzhudum nilai ninra pinnai vaNNam koNDal vaNNam’—periya tirumozhi;
kOlam—Sree koustuBa gem etc; pEr—sahasranAma; uru-matsya, korma, etc.
perungEzhalAr tam perum kaNmalar puNDareekam nammEl
orungE pirazhavaittAr ivvakAlam oruvarnampOl |
varungEzhbavar uLarE tollai vAzhiyum soozhpirappu
marungE varapperumE sollu vAzhi maDanenjamE || Forty Five ||
nAyaki remembers how the nAyaka saved her when she was about to drown in water. Her mind tells her ‘avan irakka maTTravan, eera nenju iLa nenju aTTravan’. She knows how the mind is full of thought waves ‘eNbadu kODi ninaindeNNuvana’. Hence she tells the mind ‘Oh! mind! Don’t you remember how he saved me when i was playing in a pond and was about to drown. Didn’t he save me in spite of the threat to His life? Who else has got such BAgyas as me? Isn’t my sambandha with him is since a very long time?’
perungEzhalAr—There is no direct reference to His saving her from getting drowned etc. (neeriDai udavi) but the reference to His mahAvarAha avatAra, His lifting the Boomi from the praLaya jala suggests this. A help done to an aDiyAr is the help done to all the aDiyArs. ‘pinnai kol nilamAmahaL kol tirumahaL kol pirandiTTAL’—tiruvAimozhi where AzhwAr identifies with ‘nilamahaL’.
tam perungAN malar puNDareekam nammEl orungE pirazha vaittAr—She says He fixed His gaze (kaTAkSha) on her alone. Even if He wanted to shift His gaze on periya pirATTi He couldn’t have done so (orungE) ‘engum pakka nOkkariyAn en paindAmarai kaNNanE’—tiruvAimozhi.
ivvakAlam—AzhwAr uses this word instead of ikkAlam suggesting the particular kAla when unmindful of danger to His own life He saved her form the water. Even when it was not a suitable kAla for rakShaNa He did it for her sake. (or) when she had lost all hopes of survival He had come to rescue her (or) varAhAvatAra occurred long long ago but she feels as if it had happened now.
nampOl varum kEzhbavar oruvar uLarE—Is there anyone who has as much sambandha with Him as i have? This is special for me alone. Is this my sambandha a newly got one? No. It has been there since a long time. If this be so can the samsAra duhKa ever trouble me? Tell me Oh! mind!
swApadESArtha—This kAla when we are well immersed in samsAra is not an opportune time for rakShaNa. But He who saved the Boomi from getting drowned in praLaya water has saved me too with His poorNa kaTAkSha. Therefore there is no one who can claim to have His sambandha as i do. Moreover isn’t the jeevAtma His dAsa? The duhKas of births and deaths do not touch me anymore. There be a janma sambandha when there is Bagavat sambandha and His kaTAkSha? Therefore Oh! mind! Please be at peace.
maDa nenjam enrum tamadu enrum Or karumamkarudi
viDa nenjai uTTrAr viDavO amaiyum appon peyarOn |
taDa nenjam keeNDa pirAnAr tamadaDikkeezh viDappOi
tiDa nenjamAi emmai neettu inru tArum tirihinradE || Forty Six ||
nAyaki is feeling sad because her mind whom she sent as a messenger to emberumAn has not returned till today. ‘neerirukka maDamangaimeer! kiLihaL tAmirukka madukaramelAm niraindirukka maDavanna munna niraiyAyirukka uraiyAmal yAn, Arirukkilum en nenjamalladoru vanjamaTTra tuNaiyillai enrAdarattinODu toodu viTTa pizhai AriDatturai seidAruvEn, seerirukkum marai muDivu tEDariya tiruvarangari vaNangiyE tiruttuzhAi taril virubiyE koDu tirubiyE varudalinriyE, vArirukku mulai malar maDandai urai mArbilE periya tOLilE mayangi inbura muyangi ennaiyum marandu tannaiyum marandadE’—tiruvaranga kalambaham.
She could have sent clouds, birds, bees, swans, tOzhi as her messenger. But unfortunately she chose her mind as a better person since it is her antahkaraNa and a very trustworthy friend who knows her feelings and understands her emotions. Now she finds Him most unfaithful since not only has he not returned but finds pleasure in staying there with the nAyaka totally unmindful of her condition her. ‘Therefore’ she says ‘do not send your mind as a messenger if you want to send someone’. maDam—to be naïve.
nenjai viDa uTTrAr viDavO amaiyum—There are certain tasks for which you should approach a third person; there are certain other tasks which only your dear and near can do. In the latter case trust anyone but your mind. viDa nenjai—Can also be interpreted as ‘poisonous mind’ since it is very unfaithful. ‘Or karumam karudi viDa nenjaiuTTrAr viDavO amaiyum—If you have any notion to send your mind to accomplish any task better drop that idea since it is my experience that it does not return back to His master. i thought He who split open the chest of an asura to protect His Bakta (prahlAda) would certainly take pity on me. So i sent my mind with a message. But the cruel mind not only not give my message but also refuse to come back to me. If He had some other engagement which made Him overstay i would have pardoned Him. But he has none of that sort. he had, moreover, to forget the master’s anguish and wander with the nAyaka wherever he goes taking pleasure in such acts. ‘tiDa nenjamAi tirihinradu’.
apponpeyarOn taDa nenjam keeNDa pirAnAr—he kills the enemies of His Baktas as He did hirANya who tortured His son prahlAda.
inru tArum—till today.
AzhwAr spoke about varAhAvatAra now speaks about narasimhAvatAra.
tirihinradu vaDamArudam tingaL venteemuhandu
sorihinradu aduvummadu kaNNan viNNoortozhavE |
sarihinradu sangam taNNantuzhAikku vaNNam payalai
virihinradu muzhumeyyum ennAngolen melliyarkkE || Forty Seven ||
This is a tAi pASura. The mother feels sad over her daughter’s duhKa. The cool breeze, the moon which normally brings joy now act contrary to their nature. They scoop out fire and pour them on her daughter.
tirihinradu vaDa mArudam—As if a mad elephant would chase a person wherever he goes, this breeze goes in search of her in order to pour fire over her.
tirihinradu—Can also be interpreted as ‘it has changed His nature (tiridal-to change) and pours fire on me’
tingaL vendee muhandu sorihinradu—the moon takes pot full of fire and keeps pouring them on her. It is not any ordinary fire; it is hotter than any known fire (vendee).
aduvumadu—She does not want to repeat the phrase ‘muhandu sorihinradu’ for the breeze too. Hence she says ‘even that does the same thing’. ‘paDiyin mEl vemmaiyai paharinum paharu nA muDiyavEn’—kambarAmAyaNam.
kaNNan viNNoor tozhavE sarihinradu kangam—i desired to have paramapada anuBava as the nityasooris have. But i could not get it. The bangles, therefore, slip away form my hands which suddenly became thin. i desired to have His tiruttuzhAi mAla. i could not get that again. What happened to me? i grew pasalai all over my body—‘taNNanduzhAikku vaNNam payalai virihinradu muzhu meyyum’.
taNNanduzhAi—Since the moon and the breeze keep pouring fire on me i thought i would cool myself with the taNNanduzhAi. i don’t get them.
melliyal—Such an agony is unbearable for any normal woman. My daughter is very young and tender. How can she bear them? Oh! dear! i don’t know what is yet in store for her!—en melliyarku ennAngol.
swApadESArtha—Certain jnAni speak this pASura when they see the AzhwAr not getting the BagavadanuBava which he longs for. They speak about His sorrowful state.
tirihinradu vaDa mArudam tingaL vendee muhandu sorihinradu.
aduvum adu—All the things like the moon, breeze etc. that cause joy in a samsAri brings pain to AzhwAr who has no interest in worldly pleasures and seeks only BagavadanuBava. These things remind him of the Ananda swaroopa of emberumAn. They, therefore, cause pain. kaNNan viNNoor tozhavE sarihinradu sangam—because of His prEma Bakti, His pAratantrya too is lost. taNNanduzhAikku vaNNam payalai virihinradu muzhu meyyaum—The nature of AzhwAr changes because of not getting what he desired. en melliyarku ennAngol—What will happen to our dear AzhwAr if this state continues!—Thus the BAgavatas worry over Him.
melliyal Akkaikkirumi kuruvil miLirntandAngE
selliya selhaittu ulahaiyen kANum ennAlundannai |
solliya soozhal tirumAlavan kaviyAdu kaTTrEn
palliyin sollum sollA koLvadOvuNDu paNDu paNDE || Forty Eight ||
The talaivi tells her tOzhi that everything would be all right soon since she heard some good omens. She was previously not happy about her nAyaka not coming as he had promised.
Suddenly she heard the lizard making some sound which augurs good tidings. The tOzhi is surprised at the sudden change of mood, asks the reason for it. Oh! nAyaki! Is it because you remembered His embrace and His words of promise to come soon? or is it because you believe His words when he said he would not live if he does not see you? or is there any other cause? The nAyaki tells her about the good omen she heard ‘koTTAi pallikkuTTee! kuDamADi ulahaLanda mattAr poonguzhal mAdavanai vara koTTAi pallikkuTTee’—periya tirumozhi. ‘inai nalamuDaiya kAnam senrOr punai nalam vATTunarallar mania vayir palliyum pAngottisaittana nallezhiluNkaNu mADumAliDanE’—kalittohai. It is the sampradAya that when the lizard marks sound it suggests good news.
‘namadu manaiyiDattu palli nalla iDattil avan varavukku Erpa olittalaikkaNDu anda narkuriyAlEyE AriyirukkirEn enru kooruhinrAL’.
Before leaving nAyaka said ‘piriyEn, piriyil tariyEn’. The tOzhi asks her ‘nAyaki! i think you remembered His sweet words. This makes you happy!’. The talaivi replies ‘melliya Akkai kirumi kuruvil miLirndadu AngE selliya selhaittu ulahai en kANum’—The worm coming out of the wound moves in the wound space alone; it does not know anything that is outside it. Similarly my mind is always in His heart where lies His love for me. i don't know anything outside it as the worm in the wound. Therefore my happiness is due to His words. i am happy because the lizard told me he would come soon.
melliyalAkkai kirumi—a very soft worm. kuru-wound (as in vErkkuru)
Though the comparison is not very apt. It is given only to suggest the sAdharmya—similarity of moving in one place. ‘vEmbin puzhu vEmbanri uNNAdu aDiyEn nAn pinnum un sEvaDiyanri nayavEn’—periya tirumozhi.
ennAlum—‘kAmuTTra peNNukku aNihalam nANuDaimai’, me, whose ornament is modesty.
tannai solliya soozhal tirumAlavan—He made me lose my bashfulness, go crazy about Him, cry loudly for Him.
tirumAl—He who loves tiru (lakShmi)
ennAlum tannai solliya soozhal tirumAlavan kaviyAdu kaTTrEn—i am a tender and soft person. he who loves another woman (tirumAl) made me crazy about Him. he is the cause for all my unwomanly behaviour. i can neither accept His words as true not reject them as false.
palliyin sollum—i, who hesitate to believe His words, now believe in the words of a palli!
swApadESArtha—AzhwAr hastens to get paramapadAnuBava. The delay causes pain in him. The BAgavatas come and say ‘Oh! AzhwAr! Why do you hurry to go to paramapada? emberumAn has sent you here to correct the people through your pASuras! AzhwAr replies—melliyal Akkai kirumi kuruvil miLirtandu AngE selliya selhaittu ulahai en kANum—i am like a woman who is tender. My jnAna Sakti is as tender as a woman. How can i correct the world?’ BAgavatas say—‘AzhwAr! Why do you say so? emberumAn made you sing His glories’. AzhwAr replies—‘ennAlum tannai solliya soozhal tirumAlavan kavi yAdu kaTTrEn—i am born of a low caste; i lack jnAna. i don’t know how to sing Him who is the supreme lord. It is he alone who sings about Himself making me as an instrument. In fact i really don’t know anything. ennAlum tannai solliya soozhal—he is very tactful in making me sing His glories. He who is the greatest of all makes me who is the lowest of all, an instrument to sing. poozhal—There is no greatness in singing one’s own glories; and there is no one to sing His glories. Hence He is wise enough to make me sing. This is a wise upAya indeed! ‘eeSwaran tAnE lOkattai tiruttuhaikku ivar Avar enru angeeharitta ennAlum tannai solliya soozhal tirumAlavan kavi yAdu kaTTrEn ennumbaDi ivar tiruvuLLattilum nAkkilum ninru ivar tammai koNDu tAnE pravarttippikkaiyAlum atyanta vyAvrttarAyiruppAroruvar’—vAdi kEsari azhahiya maNavALa jeeyar in the introduction to this prabandha.
yAdu kaTTrEn—i don’t know anything. He prompted one with the first line and i ended by singing the last line. That is all! i did not sing these pASuras out of my jnAna Sakti (or) i sang these pASuras as the outpouring of Bakti BAva. i did not do them out of any conscious effort.
palliyin sollum sollAk koLvadO uNDu paNDu paNDE—‘But AzhwAr! People and even emberumAn say it is you who did these prabandhas’. AzhwAr—‘Oh! BAgavatas! Even the lizard, which is a tiny low creature makes some sort of sound which the people interpret as indicating good omen. Does the creature actually know what is going to come? Does he know how to read the future? No. Similarly i speak some words which the people interpret as great poetry!’
paNDum palapala veengiruL kANDum ippAyiruLpOL
kaNDum arivadum kETpadum yAmilam kALavaNNa |
vaNDuN tuzhAipperumAn madusoodanan dAmOdaran
uNDu umizhndumkaDAya maNNEranna oNNudalE || Forty Nine ||
The nAyaki tells her tOzhi that she has never seen a night as this. i have seen, heard and known nights that extend limitlessly like yugas and which increase your duhKa manifold.
kALa vaNNam—He is dark like night. The nights remind me of His tirumEni and add to my agony (or) kALavaNNam can be taken as an adjective to the bee kALavaNNa vaNDu—a black bee.
madusoodanan dAmOdaran uNDum umizhndum kaDAya maNNEr anna oNNudalE—The tOzhi addresses the nAyaki describing her forehead which is as broad and bright like the earth which was swallowed and spat out by emberumAn.
mannEranna—is an adjective to her forehead (or) is an adjective to the nAyaki herself who is like Boomi pirATTi.
maNNEranna oNNudalE—Some commentators interpret it as nAyaki addressing the tOzhi. But it is not proper since in AchArya hrdaya the author says ‘ittiru maNNEranna oNNudal pinnaikol engira oppu’ so the tOzhi addresses AzhwAr. Hence the phrase is taken to be spoken by the tOzhi to parAkuSa nAyaki (AzhwAr) ‘kalandu pirindu pirivATTrAda talaimahaL rAtri vyasanattAlE tAn nOvupaDuhirapaDiyai tAnE solluhirALAdal; tOzhi vArttaiyAdal’—nambiLlai eeDu.
maNNEranna oNNudalE—you are as dear to emberumAn as His consort Boomi pirATTi is to Him.
swApadESArtha—maNNEranna oNNudalE—Oh! AzhwAr! There is effulgence in your face which can be compare to the leelA viBooti which is protected by our swami (or) Oh! AzhwAr! your forehead shines with the oordhvapuNDra (tirumaN and SreechoorNa)
paNDum pala pala veengiruL kANDum—We have seen your vyAmOha towards emberumAn many times. ippayiruL pOl kaNDum arivadum kETpadum yAmilar—but today it transcends all the limits’.—so say the BAgavatas.
kaNDum arivadum kETpadum yAmilam—kaNDumillOm, arivadumillOm, kEpadumillOm.
oNNudal mAmaiyoLi payavAmai viraindu nandEr
naNNudal vENDum valavakaDAhinru tEnnavinra |
viNmudal nAyahan neeNmuDi veNmutta vAsihaittAi
maNmudal sOrvuTTru aruviseyyAnirkum mAmalaikkE || Fifty ||
’The nAyaka comes back from His voyage to meet His nAyaki. He tells the charioteer to drive fast.
The nAyaka who left the nAyaki to earn money has comeback a little late. He feels if He does not go there fast the nAyaki would be feeling sadder still.
When Sree rAma returned back to ayOdhya after 14 years He went fast to meet Barata in nandigrAma. He covered the whole distance in a few days which he took 14 years to travel. Similarly, the nAyaka asks His charioteer ‘viriaya tErai naDattu’.
‘valava! oNNudal mAmai oLi payavAmai mAmalaikku nam tEr viraindu naNNudal vENDum (AhaiyAlE) viraindu kaDAha’—is the prose order. Oh! Charioteer! Let us go to tirumalai as fast as we can. i fear her complexion would change to pasalai niram if we delay. If it happens He cannot bear to see her; not only that even He cannot cure her.
viraindu nandEr naNNudal vENDum—if we don’t hasten she may die and we get the blame. So please drive fast before this happens.
valava kaDAha inru—valava—an expert i.e. here it means an expert driver. He is asked to drive fast to tirumalai.
The name tirumalai suggests parAnkuSa nAyaki is living there. In the 8th pASura it is said ‘idellAm arindOm mANkunramEndi taN mAmalai vEngaDattu umbar nambum sEn kunram senru poruL paDaippAn kaTTratiNNanavE’—where the nAyaki says the nAyaka is gone to tirumalai to earn money. Here the pASura says He is returning to tirumalai from some place. There appears to be some contradiction. But it is not so.
azhahiya maNavALa jeeyar—‘ivviDattil mAmalaikkE enraviDam AzhwArkku aNittAna terku tirumalaiyaiyAhavumAm’ i.e. tirumAlirunjOlai.
tEn navinra viN mudal nAyahan neeN muDi—He has long hair which has natural fragrance. Moreover, He wears ‘SheNbaham mallihaiyODu sengazhuneer iruvATchi’ (periyAzhwAr). These flowers have honey in them. Therefore it is tEn navinra. tEn navinra can be taken as an adjective to emberumAn which would mean He is as sweet as honey. ‘tiruvarangattE vaLarum tEn’—tiruvaranga kalambaham. tEn navinra mAmalaikkE—here it is an adjective to the mountain i.e. there are plenty of flowering trees that have profuse honey flowing from them sought by the bees. ‘ennA tenAvenru vaNDu mural tiruvEngaDam’ ‘kOl tEn pAindozhuhum kuLir sOlai soozh vEngaDam’.
viN mudal nAyahan—He is the lord of upper worlds (or) He is the lord of viNNADu etc.
vAsikai—garland
viN mudal nAyahan neeL muDi veN muttam vAsihaittAi maN mudal sEruvuTTra—He is dark and huge like a mountain. The pearl garland hangs from His head to foot. It looks like the stream flowing from the top of the mountain to the base.
mA malaikku naNNudal vENDum—Let us hurry to tirumalai. This shows the nAyaki is a girl belonging to kurinji region (mountainous) ‘kooDumiDam kurinji’.
swApadESArtha—A BAgavata heard that AzhwAr is in such a sad state because of the delay in BagavadanuBava. he wants to come and meet Him. therefore he hastens to where AzhwAr was staying in the mountain. The chariot is his manOratha; the charioteer is his mind.
malai koNDu mattA aravAr suzhaTTriya mAyappirAn
alai kaNDu koNDa amudangoLLAdu kaDal baradar |
vilai koNDu tanda sangamivai vErittuzhAi tuNaiyAi
tulai koNDu tAyangiLarndu koLvAnottazhaikkinradE || Fifty One ||
The nAyaki’s duhKa increases on hearing the roar of the sea since it kindles her lust when she separated from him. parAnkuSa nAyaki now feels her bangles slip down from her lean hands. Therefore she laments—‘emberumAn who possesses pari poorNa Sakti helped the dEvas and asuras to churn the sea in order to get amruta by winding the serpent vAsuki around the mountain mandara. The sea had to part with amruta which the emberumAn took and went away. The sea, however, could not get back the nectar. ‘valiyAriDattu valimai kATTa mATTAdavan eLiyArai valindu nalivAn’—as this saying goes when He could not get by challenging the all powerful Lord He wanted to show His might to a weakling as nAyaki. To compensate for His loss He wanted to take her bangles.
He feels He may not be able to do this job all by himself. So He calls the tiruttuzhAi for His help to snatch the bangles. Like the relatives join with their fellows to demand their share of property so too the sea joined with the tiruttuzhAi.
vErittuzhAi tuNaiyA—‘The sea was looking for an opportune moment to take away my bangles. Now when i am feeling desperate without able to get His tuzhasi mAla He thinks this is the right time to join hands with the tuzhasi mAla and take away my bangles’.
tulai koNDu—The sea supposed He may not succeed if He acts alone; so He takes the help of tiruttuzhAi. sugreeva could not even stand in front of vAli. But He took the help of Sree rAma, himself went to challenge vAli to a fight.
tulai koNDu—tulai—to put an end, i.e. He took the help of tiruttuzhAi to put an end to me.
tAyangiLarndu koLvAnottu—The relatives (dAyAdis) claim the ancestral property as theirs even after it had passed several hands after several years and go to the court of law to settle the matter. Similarly the sea seeks the help of the tiruttuzhAi to somehow kill her.
azhaikkinradE—Why should this sea try to kill me who is an innocent woman. What did I do to the sea? isn’t it He who left me and gone for ever? Shouldn’t the sea go and challenge Him instead of me? i think the sea doesn’t do it since He is similar in colour and form. He shows His might on me who is a lamenting woman.
swApadESArtha—AzhwAr cries over the tumult of the samsAra sAgara. He is already sad over the separation from emberumAn. kaDal—samsAra sAgara;
malai mattAkkoNDu—A steady mind; aravu—love; with steadfast love emberumAn churned the samsAra sAgara from which came the nectar-like Atma which He took away as His own. The samsAra has no power to get it back from Him. So He is vexed over it. takes revenge on AzhwAr ‘kaNDATTEn ulahiyarkai kaDal vaNNA aDiyEnai paNDE pOr karudAdu unnaDikkE kooi paNi koLLE’—tiruvAimozhi. baradar vilai koNDu tandu sangamivai koLvAnottu—it wants to take away His suddha satva which was given to Him as a gift because of the SuSrooSha He did to His AchArya.
baradar—The people of neidal nilam are called so. valaiyar, nuLaiyar are the other names for them. The woman folk are called parattiyar, valaichchiyar, nuLaichchiyar.
azhaikkum karungaDal veNDirai kaikkoNDu pOi alarvAi
mazhaikkaN maDandai aravaNaiyEra maN mAdarviNvAi |
azhaittu pulambi mulai malai mEl ninrum AruhaLAi
mazhaikkaNNa neer tirumAl koDiyAnenru vArhinradE || Fifty Two ||
This is called kAla mayakku. The 7th and the 68th pASuras also belong to kAla mayakku. Why AzhwAr has kAla mayakku? AzhwAr wanted to have bagavat samslESha even from the first pASura. ‘inninra neermai iniyAmurAmai’. But He could not get it immediately. The kAla seems to be stretching like yugas. The tOzhi, in order to pacify parAnkuSa nAyaki, does this kAla mayakku. The nAyaka promised that He would come back when the rainy season starts. The nAyaki is waiting for the season which would consequently bring Him too. The season arrived but not He. She feels much distressed. The tOzhi tells her ‘nAyaki! This is not the kAr kAla (rainy season). It is only that the Boomi is crying shedding profuse tears because periya pirATTi climbed onto the couch of AdiSESha, is with her consort enjoying His company. you are deluded to believe this as kAr kAla’.
The nAyaki wonders as this explanation and thinks over it whether it can be true or not. This gives her a much needed diversion. In the meantime He may arrive bringing joy in her. ‘kArena kalangum ErEzhirkaNNikku, intuNaittOzhi anrenru maruttadu’ –tirukkOvaiyArurai.
azhaikkum karungaDal veNDirai kai koNDu pOi alarvAi mazhaikkaN maDandai aravaNai Era—karungaDal—The pArkaDal appears dark since the dark-mountain-like emberumAn lies on it. SreedEvi and BoodEvi are the two pirATTis of emberumAn. Of the SreedEvi is the daughter of the sea. he lovingly carries His daughter with His hands (waves), calls her sweetly (the sound of waves), takes her to emberumAn who is lying on tiruvanandAzhwAn. She climbs on the the bed and happily lives there with Him.
maN mAdar viNvAi pulambi azhittu—The Boomi pirATTi not as fortunate as SreedEvi goes to a lonely place (viNvAi), cries loudly (thunder) the tears flowing like river down her breasts (mulai malai mEl ninrum).
tirumAl koDiyAm enru vArhinradu—She cries saying ‘Oh! This tirumAl is very wicked. He loves her alone, not me!’ ‘pittar pani malar mEl pAvikku’—tiruneDundANDaham.
The tOzhi seems to say this is the way of me. Look! How emberumAn Himself has 2 wives of who He is more fond of the one and the other cries bitterly over her fate. Therefore nangAi, don’t cry for His sake.
karungaDal—When a blue diamond is placed inside a cup of milk, the milk appears blue. Similarly, He who is like a blue diamond lies in tiruppArkaDal, causes the dark colour of the sea. ‘api PaNipati BAvAchchuBramantaSSayAlOh marakata sukumArai rangaBartuh mayooKaih sakala jaladhipAna syAma jeemootajaitram pulakayati vimAnam pAvanam lOchanE nah’—Sree rangarAjastavam—tiruvanandAzhwAn who is white in colour himself is the vimAna of Sreerangam. But because of emberumAn who is like kALamEGa lies under it, He too appears dark in colour. This dark vimAna pleases my eyes.
‘kSheerAmBOdErjamvamaBidO dEhaBASAm prarOhaih kAlOnmeelatkuvalaya dalAdvai tamApadAyantam’—BOja champoo-- bAlakANDam.
mazhaikkaN maDandai—SreedEvi is loved by Him because of her beautiful eyes.
alarvAi—From the flower (or) one who has mouth like Ambal flower.
viN vAi—in the sky (or) with her mouth called sky mulai malai mEl—‘kArAr varai kongai’—it is said the mountains are the breasts of Boomi pirATTi.
swApadESArtha—emberumAn is sarva swatantra. Of His two dEvis He is sometimes very fond of SreedEvi. The other dEvi feels sad and cries. In fact He is always seen with uBayanAchchimAr. If it is said He is more fond of one it is only to express His sarvaswatantratva, nothing else. The BAgavatas pacify AzhwAr who laments over the delay and say He is sarvaswatantra. If this is the state of even Boomi pirATTi what to talk of others who are mere jeevAtmas. His pakShapAta towards one of the dEvis is only to reveal His nirankuSa swAtantrya.
vArAyina mulaiyALivaL vAnOr talaimahanAm
seerAyinadeiva nannOyidu deiva taNNanduzhAi |
tArAyinum tazhaiyAyinum taNkombadAyinum keezh
vErAyirum ninra maNNAyinum koNDu veesuminE || Fifty Three ||
This pASura is called ‘verivilakku’. 20th pASura is also similar to this.
The mother and others are baffled by the behaviour of parAnkuSa nAyaki. They don’t know the reason for it. They, therefore, think it is due to some kShudra dEvata possessing her. But an old woman who knows the symptoms of such a nOi says ‘neengaL seihiravidu tahudiyanru; ivaLuDaiya innOi dEvatAntarattin AvESattAl vandadanru; dEvAdi dEvanAna emberumAniDattu eeDupaTTadanAl uNDAna siranda nalla nOyidu; ivaL pizhaikka vENumAhil nAn solluhira paDiyEparihAram seyya pArungOL;--divyamAna tiruttuzhAi mAlaiyaiyAyinum attuzhAyin OrilaiyaiyAyinum adarku iruppiDamAi ninra maNNaiyAyinum koNDu veesungOL; adan kATTru ivaL mEl paTTa mAttirattilE ivaL pizhaittiDuvaL’.
Some commentators say this pASura is sung by the kaTTuvichchi (soothasayar) ‘talaivi ATTrAmaiyAl vanda annOvukku parihAram EdOvenru vinavina seivli mudalAnOrku kaTTuvichchi nOi nADi parihAram sonna pASuram’—azhahiya maNavALa jeeyar.
The mother who could not bear to see the sufferings of her daughter tries to find the cause and the remedy for it. She calls the kaTTuvichchi to read the palm. The kaTTuvichchi was going along the street singing a song—
kangum kuDandaiyum kOTTiyoorum pErum
engum tirindu inrE meeLvEnai yAringazhaittadooo…
kaNDiyoor arangam meyyam kachchi pEr mallai enru
maNDiyE tirivEnai yAringazhaittadooo…
viNNaharam vehKA viritirai neer vEngaDamum
maNNaharam mA mADa vELukkai ten kuDandai
engum tirindu inrE meeLvEnai yAringazhaittadooo…
vEngaDamum viNNaharum vehKAvum ahKAda
poongiDangin neeL kOval pannaharum poodoorum
engum tirindu inrE meeLvEnai yAringazhaittadooo…
She comes when called, reads the palm and says she is infatuated with emberumAn. Any object connected with Him like tuzhasi mAla, a leaf, a twig, a root or even a clad of mud will cure her illness. She will be all right soon if this is done.
vAnOr talai mahanAm seerAyira deiva nannOyidu—This is not a nOi caused by a kShudra dEvata but a good nOi indeed caused by emberumAn Himself. This is a nannOi which everyone must get. It is rarely seen among the people. No amount of vrata or mantra would bring this nOi. It gives one an infinite bliss.
swApadESArtha—The BAgavatas watch AzhwAr pine, cry and swoon. They don’t know what caused this and what the remedy is. There comes a vaiShNava who knows this kind of illness by looking at the symptoms. He says this condition is caused by the involvement in BagavadviShaya. The only remedy is to bring any object connected with Him.
vArAyina mulaihaL—AzhwAr’s Bakti and its matured state is called ‘mulai’.
veesunsirahAr parattir viNNODu nungaTkeLidu
pEsumbaDiyanna pEsiyum pOvadu nei toDuvuNDu |
EsumbaDiyanna seyyum emeesar viNNOr pirAnAr
mAsin malaraDi keezh emmai sErvikkum vaNDuhaLE || Fifty Four ||
This pASura is called ‘vaNDu viDu toodu’. The nAyaki’s agony of separation is so intense that she would not keep quiet and wait for Him; but sends a messenger to Him describing her physical and mental condition. She would become all right only when He comes.
‘Oh! Bees! you are capable of taking me to the tiruvaDi of sarvESwara in paramapada, you have beautiful strong wings which can take you even to paramapada. i lack such wings and the strength; hence i stay where i am. paramapada is an easy destination for you whereas for me it is beyond even for my imagination. Therefore i request you to take a message to Him on my behalf. Therefore you start, let me hear what you are going to say there because that will make me feel good and do any corrections if necessary. Those words will keep me alive till you return.
nei toDu uNDu EsumbaDi anna seyyum—The bees ask her ‘how can we, tiny insects as we are, go to Him who is the Lord of even the nityasooris?’ The nAyaki says ‘He is sarva sulaBa though He is sarvESwara. Didn’t He come to AyarpADi to steal butter etc, got caught, beaten by women? He did other mischievous acts too like ‘veNNei vizhungi verungalattai verpiDai iTTu adan Osai kETkum’, ‘illam puhundu en mahaLai koovi kaiyil vaLaiyai kazhaTTrikkoNDu kollaiyil ninrum koNarndu viTTra angoruttikku avvaLai koDuttu nallana nAvar pazhangaL koNDu nAnallEn enru sirikkinrAnE’—periyAzhwAr tirumozhi.
emmai sEvikkum vANDuhaLE—She praises the vaNDu saying the credit goes to you when you make us unite.
swApadESArtha—AzhwAr approaches some BAgavatas, requests them to do puruShakAra so that He can be with emberumAn. veesum sirahAl paratteer—‘uBAByAmEva pakShAByAm yathA KhE pakShiNAm patih tathaiva jnAnakarmaByAm’—The two wings of an AchArya are jnAna and anuShThana (knowledge and practice) The wings help the bees to fly high in the sky, so too the jnAna and anuShThAna help the sAdhaka to reach the highest realm called paramapada. The AchAryas are compared normally to honey bees since they suck only the sAra leaving out the asAra from all the SAstras.
viNNADum nungaTku eLidu—jnAna manuTTAnamivai nanrAhavE uDaiyanAna guruvai aDaindakkAl—mAnilatteer tEnAr kamala tirumAmahaL kozhunan, tAnE viahundam tarum’.—upadESa ratna mAlai.
When even the SiShyas who seek such AchAryas get paramapada can anyone doubt about the AchAryas getting paramapada? pEsumbaDi anna pEsiyum pOvadu—you should tell me here and now what you are going to tell Him so that i can always remember those words, sustain my life and get peace of mind.
nei toDuvuNDu EsumbaDi anna seyyum emmeesar—nammAzhwAr always melts when He thinks of His soulaBya guNa. ‘maTTru kaDai veNNei kaLavinil uraliDai AppuNDu ettiram uralinODu iNaindirundu Engiya eLivE’—tiruvAimozhi. After this pASura, it is said, AzhwAr went in to samAdhi for nearly 6 months. So it is no wonder He should talk about His soulaBya.
mAsil malaraDikkeezh—The pure tiruvaDi—the purity is the act of not minding the sins of His aDiyArs.
vaNDuhaLO vammin neerppoo nilappoo marattiloNpoo
uNDu kaLittuzhal veerkonru uraikkiyam EnamonrAi |
maNDuhaLADi vaihundamannAn kuzhalvAiviraipOl
viNDu kaLvArum malaruLAvO numviyaliDattE || Fifty Five ||
This pASura is called ‘nalam pArATTu’. The nAyaka wants to express His love to the nAyaki. This He does indirectly by describing the bees and flowers.
The nAyaki is standing in a garden where the nAyaka too comes, looks at her, marvels at her beauty but feels shy to speak to her. ‘ivaL tirattil namakkuLLa kAdalai oruvAru ivaLukku nAm uNarttuvOm; pirahu ennAhiradO pArppOm’. Thus He thinks. He sees some bees drinking honey from the fragrant fresh flowers. He addresses them—‘Oh! Bees! you go in search of flowers—in ponds, on the tree, on the ground and in bushes. Have you seen any flowers having as much natural fragrance as my nAyaki’s hair has? Tell me! ‘marunguzhalum kali vaNDinangAL uraiyeer maDandai karunguzhal nArum en pOduDaittO num kaDipozhilE’ ‘marunguzhal vAi neeyaridi vANDE sollenakku mangai karunguzhal pOluLavO virai nAm kaDimalarE’.
vaNDuhaLO vammin---‘Oh! Bees! you know different kinds of flowers, different kinds of fragrances and different kinds of honey since you keep wandering from place to place; from flower to flower. i ask you to come near me to listen to what i say’.
There are 4 kinds of flowers—kOTTuppoo, koDippoo, neerppoo and nilappoo.
EnamonrAi maN tuhaLADi—He took a mahAvarAha roopa, lifted the Boomi and placed it on His tusk. It looked like a small grains of sand. ‘panriyAi paDiyeDutta pAzhiyA enbaradu, venriyAr unadeyiTTrin men tuhaL pOnrirundadAl’—tiruvaranga kalambaham.
vaihundamannAL—She has auspicious guNas which don’t leave her. So He compares her to vaikuNTha.
kuzhal vAi virai—The fragrance of her hair is not due to the flowers worn and artificial scent applied. It is a natural guNa of her hair. It is said women of good birth will have natural fragrance.
swApadESArtha—The BAgavatas praise nammAzhwAr for His pure jnAna and Bakti. They call the other BAgavatas who seek paramporuL ‘Oh! BAgavatas! Come here!’
neerppoo nilappoo maratil oNpoovuNdu kaLittuzhalveerkku onru uraikkiyam—neerpoo—He who lies in tiruppArkaDal; nilappoo—He who takes avatAras like Sree rAma and Sree kriShNa; marattiloNpoo—He who is revealed by vEdAntas; Thus your thoughts keep wandering in all these moortis and you wander freely in all the lOkas. AzhwAr wears Bakti as His ornament. He gives as great Ananda like the bliss of paramapada. Have you seen anyone like Him?
viyaliDamuNDa pirAnAr viDutta tiruvaruLAl
uyaliDam peTTruindam anjalan tOzhi Or taN tenralvandu |
ayaliDai Arum arindilar ampoonduzhAyin intEn
puyaluDai neermaiyinAl taDaviTTru en pulan kalanE || Fifty Six ||
The talaivi tells her tOzhi ‘last night my talaivan came and had samslESha with me!’ ‘tan ATTrAmaikku kalangi uraitta tOzhiyai kurittu talaivi iraviDattu talaivan kalandamaiyai tenral mEl vaittu uraitta pASuram’—azhahiya maNavALa jeeyar.
Feeling shy, the nAyaki does not openly say she had samslESha with Him; but says suggestively that the tenral touched her and embraced her. ‘Oh! tOzhi! i was feeling very sad. you too felt sad on my account. Now because of my nAyaka’s grace i am given existence. Hereafter i don’t fear vADaikkATTru etc. Today the vADai blew and removed a few drops of honey from the tiruttuzhAi mAla of my lord. When no one was looking, dropped on my limbs and ornaments bringing me joy’. The real meaning is the nAyaka embraced her so well crushing the tiruttuzhAi mAlawhich dropped honey on her limbs and ornaments.
viyaliDam uNDa pirAnAr viDutta tiruvaruLAl—The sarvESwara protects all the worlds by placing them inside His tiruvayiru when they are about to get submerged in praLaya water. Similarly He saved me when i was about to get drowned in the duhKa sAgara. This He did out of love for Boomi and me.
anjalam—i do not fear (or) anjal am tOzhi—Oh! Beautiful tOzhi! Don’t fear!
Or tAN tneral vaNDu—This tneral is very special. All these days it used to pour fire on me. But today it is very pleasant and cool feeling friendly.
ayaliDai yArum arindilar—As soon as the tOzhi heard the words of talaivi she feared if the neighbours come to know this affair there would be a gossip and they will speak ill of her. Therefore the talaivi says ‘tOzhi! Don’t worry! No one knows abut this’.
puyaluDai neermaiyinAl—The emberumAn is as compassionate as the rain cloud.
taDaviTTru en pulan kalanE—‘indriyangaL viDAi teeravum AbaraNam kazhalAda paDiyum taDaviTTru pOlEkANum—peiryavAchchAn piLLai.
swApadESArtha—When the BAgavatas were with AzhwAr who was in agony, emberumAn comes and gives His darSana to pacify Him and expressed His desire to take him with Him.
AzhwAr gets rid of His duhKa, pacifies the BAgavatas who loved him very much. ‘we have been blessed by Him who has limitless mercy and who saves those in danger. Now we need not fear the worldly objects. He comes without the other knowing, revealed His glories, made me and all that is mine His and removed all my duhKas’.
pulakkuNDala puNDareehatta pOrkkeNDai valliyonrAl
vilakkuNDulAhinru vElvizhikkinrana kaNNankaiyAl |
malakkuNDa amudanjuranda marikaDal pOnravaTTrAl
kalakkuNDanAnru kaNDAr emmai yArungazharalarE || Fifty Seven ||
This is a pASura by the talaivan. It is called ‘talaivan pAnganukku kazhaTTredir maruttal’ ‘kANir kazharalai kaNDilai men toTkarumbinaiyE’—tirukkOvaiyAr urai.
After samslEsha the nAyaki and the nAyaka got separated. He is feeling sad that the could not meet her again. the friend asks Him what the matter is. ‘nALaDaivil nee inganam iLaittu varuvadarku yAdu kAraNam?’ The nAyaka replies ‘nAn orutti valaiyilE ahappaTTEn kAN’. The tOzhan says ‘you are unshakable and dignified like the sea. It is a shame that you are disturbed by a mere woman!’ The nAyaka replies-‘you say so because you haven’t seen her yet. If you only see her once you wont be talking like a silly man. She is an extraordinary woman of excellent beauty. Do you know how her face looks like? It is like lotus wearing kuNDalas. Do you know how her eyes look like? They are like two keNDai fish fighting with each other. They would have wrestled with each other if not a creeper like nose come between them and separated them. Much angered they look to pierce you with a spear. When she looks at me i get agitated as the sea was agitated when tirumAl churned it. Not knowing all these facts you simply ask me ‘friend’. How can you so!’ In fact if you had seen her you would ask me ‘Friend! How are you still able to live! You should be dead by now!’ If you don’t believe my words you just go and see her for yourself’.
Sree rAma was staying in mAlyavAn during rainy season after the death of vAli. He would always be lamenting over the loss of seeta and cry bitterly. On seeing Him like this hanumAn would think ‘samudra iva gAmBeeryE……’ ‘i think my idea of Him like samudra is wrong. He is just like an ordinary man, crying for the loss of His wife! there is no sign of bravery of a kShatriya’. But when hanumAn visited lankApuri and saw her in aSOka vana He said to himself ‘duShkaram krtavAn rAmO heenO yadanyA praBuh dhArayatyAtmanO dEham na SOkE nAva seedati’—Alas! rAma knows only to ride horses and chariots. He does not know what kAma SAstra is. On being captured from such a beautiful woman I wonder how He is still alive! He does not seem to lament over her!
pulakkuNDalam—pulappaDudal—That which is seen i.e., beautiful. If it is read as polakkuNDalam it means golden kuNDalas.
pulakkuNDalam pOr keNDai—The fish like eyes which are long to touch the kuNDalas.
kuNDala puNDareekam—The round lotus-like face. Face like lotus, eyes like fish, nose like creeper are mentioned with the compared objects. ‘sravO nAsArOdhAtta davadhika DOlAyitagatE……mithO badha sparyaSchuritaSaKaradvandva lalitE kriyAstAm Sreeranga praNayinayanAbjE mayi dayAm’—Sree rangarAja stava of BaTTar.
valli onrAl vilakkuNDulAhinra—‘iraNDu matta gajam tannilE pora uddEsittu, naDuvilE kaNaiyamiTTavArE tAm ninaittapaDi pora perAdozhindu perum seeTTrattODE sanjarikkumApOlE ninru’—is the vyAKyAna.
vEl vizhikkinrana—They are sharp like a spear causing Him pain. The verb is in the present tense suggesting even now when he thinks of them it pains.
amudam suranda marikaDal pOnru avaTTrAl kalakkuNDa nAnru—emberumAn churned the sea and took away the nectar. Similarly her eyes churn my mind and take away the essence of my intellect.
Why say more? They due to be experienced to be understood. They defy all your imagination.
yArum—even sansyAsin falls a victim i.e., no one can escape from falling in to the net. koNDAr tozhakalar—they would go crazy like me.
swApadESArtha—When the BAgavatas praise AzhwAr so much the others find it hard to believe. The BAgavatas say if they had seen AzhwAr with their won eyes they would believe their words. In fact they too would soon become the aDiyArs.
There are 3 upAyas for mukti—SravaNa, manana and nididhyAsana. SravaNa—to hear the SAstrArtha; manana—to think about it again and again; nididhyAsana—to understand without any doubt. The pulakkuNDalam is a reference to the ears—SravaNa. The puNDareekam refers to hrdaya kamalam i.e—manana; porkeNDai—analysing with poorvapakSha and siddAnta (argument, counter argument and arriving at the conclusion)
vEl vizhikkinrana—After these three one’s intellect becomes very sharp to pierce all SAstras and know Him, the revealed.
marikaDal pOnru avaTTrAl kalakkuNDa nAnru—Like the sea is churned by emberumAn my mind is churned by the AzhwAr’s jnAna viSESha. The nectar is the Bakti which i got from Him.
kaNDAr emmai yArum kazharalar—If anyone is in my position they too would become like me. ‘mEvinEn avan ponnaDi meimmaiyE, dEvu maTTrariyEn kuruhoor nambi pAvin innisai pADittirivanE’—madhurakavi AzhwAr. If anyone looks at AzhwAr and understand His jnAna and Bakti. They cannot but become a dAsa to Him.
kazharalam onrE nilamuzhudAyiTTru orukazhal pOi
nizhal tara ellA visumbum niraindadu neeNDa aNDattu |
uzharalar jnAna suDarviLakkAi uyarndOrai illA
azharalar tAmarai kaNNan ennO ingaLakkinradE || Fifty Eight ||
The reference to the trivikrama avatAra is to suggest His sarvaSaktitva. The nAyaki laments ‘i don’t see any sign of my nAyaka’s coming. i don’t know what prevent Him? Perhaps He does not have Sakti to break all the obstacles! ‘The tOzhi pacifies her saying ‘nangAi! Why do you say so! your nAyaka is sarvaSaktimAn. Nothing is impossible for Him. To further bring confidence she talks about His tirivikrama avatAra. ‘nAyaki! you should not doubt His power. You firmly believe in His Sakti to break all obstacle to come to you. Don’t underestimate Him. He is sarvESwara.
tAmarai kaNNan ennO ingaLakkinradE—There are two interpretations—1. What an amazing feet that He measured all the earth with one tiruvaDi and all the upper worlds with another tiruvaDi! 2. Did He really measured? In order to measure one should place one foot, left the other and place it at a distance. But He placed one foot on earth and the other foot on dEva lOka. i don’t call it ‘measuring’ it is only ‘lifting’. ‘aLakkaikku oru avakASam kAnginrilOm; ninra nilaiyilE ninrArai aLandAr ennavoNNAdirE; aDimAriyiDilirE aLandadAvadu; ivan ingu aLandAnAha onrum kANginirilOnee’—periyavAchchAn piLLai.
Those sentences ‘neeNDa aNDattiluLLavan’, ‘uzharalar jnAna suDarviLakkAi uyarndOrai illAdavan’ and ‘azharalar tAmarai kaNNan’ describe Him.
azharalar tammai kaNNan—azharu—muddy; alar-bloom-tAmarai. In Sanskrit it is called pankajam.
swApadESArtha—‘Oh! AzhwAr! He is sarvaSaktimAn. There is no obstacle which He cannot break. Therefore He will come soon. Don’t worry. As trivikrama He took possession of everything since they belong to Him alone. So too He would take possession of you too. There is the sambandha (SESha-SEShee) between you and Him and there is infinite Sakti in Him. So why worry about Him’—So pacify the BAgavatas.
aLapparum tanmaiya oozhi amkangul andaNNanduzhAikku
uLapperungAdalin neeLiya vAyuLa Ongumunneer |
vaLapperu nADan madusoodananennum valvinaiyEn
taLapperu neeNmuruval seyya vAya taDamulaiyE || Fifty Nine ||
This is a tAi pASuram. She feels sorry for her daughter who laments over the never-ending nights. ‘My daughter keeps talking loudly about the long nights, The rakShakatva of the nAyaka, and His virOdhi nirasana sAmarthya. She also says there seems to be no end to the nights as well as to her love’.
aLapparun tanmaiya oozhi am kangul—‘aLakka ariyadaiyum aLandavan tiruvaDihaLAlum aLakka pOhiradillai; aLakkulahil vaNDu tOTTrAnO’—peiryavAchchan piLLai.
Ongu munneer vaLapperu nADan—talks about the rakShakatva. He protects the worlds against the praLaya jala.
madusoodanan—duShTa nigraha sAmarthya—He protects the wise from the wicked the by destroying them.
valvinaiyEn—‘Oh! i am not able to alleviate her duhKa either by shortening the nights or by making Him come to her. Therefore i detest myself.’
swApadESArtha—The BAgavatas feel sorry for the AzhwAr who is sad over the delay of emberumAn’s anugraha.
He who measured all the worlds and protected them, He who took possession of them does not seem to take any effort to possess Him even though He is capable of destroying even the subtlest obstacles’ AzhwAr feels the samsAra iruL (darkness) is never ending. Therefore He cries loudly.
maulaiyO muzhumuTTrum pOndila moipoonguzhalkuriya
kalaiyO araiyillai nAvO kuzharum kaDalmaNNEllAm |
vilaiyO enamiLirungaNivaLparamE perumAn
malaiyO tiruvEngaDamenru karkinra vAsahamE || Sixty ||
This is a tAi pASura. She says her daughter is still very young, had not attained marriageable age.
The nAyaka had samslESha with the nAyaki in secret. Then He left her saying He would be back very soon. But failed in His promise. The nAyaki keeps thinking of Him, grows very thin, cries loudly shedding tears like rain, calls Him loudly, chants the name of tirumalai as if it is sahasranAma. The mother wonders what has happened to her young daughter. She enquires the tOzhi who tells her all about the love affair of the nAyaki with emberumAn.
Even though nAyaki is a grown up girl, the mother feels, out of love, she is still very young and innocent girl. ‘seyya noolin siTTrADai seppanuDukkavum vallaLallaL’ ‘vayhir pallum ezhundila mayirum muDi kooDiTTrila mAyan mAmaNi vaNNan mElivaL mAluruhinrALE’ ‘kongai innam kuvindezhundila’—periyAzhwAr pASuras. ‘muLLeyirEndila koozhai muDi koDA teLLiyaL enbadOr tEsilaL’—tirumangai AzhwAr. mulaiyO muzhu muTTrum pOndila—The breasts have not developed fully.
kuzhal kuriya—her hair has not grown long to tie it as a plait or bun.
kalaiyO aria illai—Even though she is give to wear sarees she does not know how to wear them properly.
nAvO kuzharum—She does not know how to speak coherently and wisely. She speaks like a child.
kaDal maNNellAm vilaiyO—All the wealth of the sea and earth are the price.
miLirum kaN—She has an empty innocent look, not able to express love.
The things which attract a loves are—beautiful breasts, loving words and the expression of her eyes. But she has none of these. Her breasts are not developed, her hair has not grown long, she does not know even to dress properly, her speech is like that of a child, her look is innocent and vacant. How can this girl fall in love?
If this girl lacks all the qualities that attract men, how can the mother say ‘kaDal maNNellAm vilaiyO’? The answer is –her beauty is not of the type that attracts opposite sex but of a high order of a small girl.
swApadESArtha—The BAgavatas suppose AzhwAr lacks that supreme Bakti. Hence BagavAn deals His samslESha. Therefore they think AzhwAr’s worry is quite unwanted mulaiyO muzhu muTTrum pOndila—The inner meaning of the word ‘mulai’ is Bakti. AzhwAr’s Bakti has not matured into parama Bakti which alone is the final stage to allow Him. moi poonguzhal kuriya—His praNAma—to bow down His head at His tiruvaDi is not up to the mark. kalaiyO araiyillai—‘maDitaTTru tAn mundurum’—tirukkuraL He does not tighten His dress to get out and seek Him. nAvO kuzharum—There is no continuous BagavAn nAma sankeertana. kaN miLirum—He has a general tatva jnAna but not as jnAna that leads to single pointed dhyAna.
kaDal maNNellAm vilaiyOvena—But the tatva jnAna that He has is of ‘no less measure’ of course’. ivaL paramE—He is not acting properly in going out seeking Him. He should be a paratantra and a prapanna.
perumAn malaiyO tiruvEngaDam enru karkinra vAsagam—‘veruvAdAL vAi veruvi vEngaDamE vEngaDamE engirALAl’—He keeps on chanting the name ‘tirumalai’ where He dwells.
This pASura reveals AzhwAr’s only aim is to have BagavadanuBava since His birth.
vAsaham seivadu namparamE tollai vAnavar tam
nAyahan nAyaharellAm tozhumavan jnAlamuTTrum |
vEyaha mAyinum sOrAvahai iraNDEyaDiyAl
tAyavan AikkulamAi vaNDu tOnriTTru nammiraiyE || Sixty One ||
This is a tOzhi pASura. The talaivi is feeling very sad over the absence of the nAyaka. She is worried whether He, who is parAtpara, will care fro her, come here and marry her. The tOzhi pacifies her saying ‘anganam yAvarinum uyarnda anvanukku anbuDaiyAr pakkal eLiyanAhum tan maiyum iyalbil uNDu’.
‘nangAi! He who is parAtpara is sarva sulaBa. Therefore He will certainly come and marry you’.
vAsaham seivadu—Even the vEdas which speak about him and nothing but him finally says no words can sufficiently describe him. ‘yatO vAchO nivartantE aprApya ,amasA saja’. If even the vEdas speak so what to talk of me who is bound by all kinds of limitations!’
vEyahamAyinum—vEi-bamboo; aham—place; i.e., He measured all the worlds so completely tha there was no space left even to fix a bamboo stick.
iraNDE aDiyAl tAyavan—‘oru kuraLAi iru nilam moovaDi maN vENDi ulahanaittum eeraDiyAl oDukki onrum taruhavenA mAvaliyai siraiyil vaittu tADALan’. He asked from mahAbali two feet of land; measured by 2 tiruvadis all the upper and lower worlds. There was no use for the 3rd step.
AikkulamAi vaNDu tOnriTTru—He took birth in the royal family of vAsudEva and dEvaki, brought up in the shepherd clan in the family of nandagOpa and yaSOda ‘orutti mahanAi pirandu Oriravil orutti mahanAi oLittu vaLara’—tiruppAvai.
The first three lines speak about His paratva and the last line about His soulaBya.
swApadESArtha—The BAgavatas come to pacify AzhwAr and say our swAmi who is uBayaviBootinAtha has both paratva and soulaBya. Hence do not cry. He will come soon. He is ASrita sulaBa. ‘karuvasam illadavan pirappau eDuttalum adilum arivillAmaikku ellai nilamAna eLiya kulattinanAdlaum enna Achchariyam’ AzhwAr in His tiruvAimozhi says ‘pirandavArum’ and ettiram’ once can only say ‘ettiram’ and stay dumb founded.
iraiyO irakkinum eengOr peN pAlenavum irangAdu
araiyO ena ninradirum karungaDal eengivaL tan |
niraiyO iniyum tiruvaruLAlanri kApparidAl
muraiyO aravaNai mEr paLLikoNDa muhil vaNNanE || Sixty Two ||
The tOzhi talks about the nAyaki’s condition. Her agony increases manifold if she hears the roar of the sea and says ‘I have been so far controlling her somehow; It cannot do it anymore. Only the nAyaka should save her’.
It is but natural to pity someone suffering from an illness; especially so in case of a woman. More so if she young and tender. This karungaDal is very cruel it does not take pity on her. He purposely makes loud noise to increase her suffering.
karungaDal—He is dark both inside and outside.
karungaDal—Can be interpreted also as ‘angry sea’.
ivaLtan—She who is totally incapable of taking care of herself.
nirai—modesty, quiet, clam.
ini—She had been pining for him since a long time. Now her condition is worse than before. Hereafter she wont be able to take care of herself.
un tiruvaruLAl anri kApparidu—Therefore her only savior is You alone. If you come here and satisfy her desire she will be completely all right. But, Alas! you don’t seem to bother about her.
aravaNaimEr paLLikkoNDa—You lie comfortable the soft bed of tiruvanandAzhwAn whereas she lies on this hard surface not getting a wink of sleep!
muhil vaNNanE—You are called muhil vaNNan since you help others without expecting results. you should not act like this towards her! It isn’t proper for you to do that.
swApadESArtha—AzhwAr is already feeling very sad because He could not get Bagavat samslESha. Now the samsAra sAgara too torments him more. AzhwAr feels sadder after hearing the tumult and turbulence of the samsAra sAgara. The BAgavatas pray to him who is called karuNA sAgara to alleviate his suffering. Only He can do the miracle.
Or peNpAl enavum eengu irai irangAdu—The samsAra sAgara torments him not withstanding His pAratantrya.
karungaDal—The terrible samsAra sAgara. un tiruvaruLAl anri kApparidu—Only you can save him by Your anugraha. aravaNaimEl paLLikkoNDa—emberumAn always receives the kainkarya from the chEtana called AdiSESha. AzhwAr too desires to do such kainkaryas. For this he needs His anugraha. The BAgavatas speak on his behalf to emberumAn.
vaNNam sivanduLa vAnADamarunguLir vizhiya
taNmen kamalattaDam pOl polindana tAmivaiyO |
kaNNan tirumAl tirumuhantannoDu kAdal seidErrku
eNNam puhundu aDiyEnoDikkAlam irukkinravE || Sixty Three ||
In this pASura the nAyaki refutes the charges against the nAyaka expressed by the tOzhi. Whenever the nAyaki was feeling dejected due to the absence of the nAyaka, the tOzhi used to praise him, defend His actions, only to pacify her. Now she blames him and advises the nAyaki not to pine for such a man.
The nAyaki, however, reproaches her for such words. ‘ippozhudum avanadu kaNgaL en nenjilum kaNNilum tOnri neengAdu irukkinrana; inganam anbODu aNiyanAyuLLAvanai, anAdaram seidu pirindu senrAn enru nee koDumai kooruhinradu ennO?’—says the talaivi.
taN mel kamala taDam pOl polindana ivaiyO tAm—His tirukkaNgaL are as pleasant and beautiful as red lotuses. They entered my mind when i entertained a desire for His tirumuKa maNDala. they are still with me. Oh! tOzhi! Why do you unnecessarily blame him?
vaNNam sivanduLa—His eyes are red because of His love for me. tOzhi—‘i think they are red due to anger!’ ‘No. ‘vAnADamarum kuLir vizhiya’.
His eyes are kuLir vizhi. Therefore the redness is not due to anger as you say. It is because of love towards me’.
tAm ivaiyO—ivai—refers to direct perception by her. This is due to her constant thinking of him.
aDiyEnODu ikkAlam irukkinravE—He is in my mind and eyes even today. They have never left me. Therefore don’t blame him saying He doesn’t love me. A chaste woman never blames her husband even in His absence.
swApadESArtha—Some BAgavatas, out of love for AzhwAr, blame BagavAn who is the cause for this state of AzhwAr. To them AzhwAr applies—‘you are wrong. His paripoorNa anugraha is always with me. He is in my heart and eyes’.
irukkAr mozhiyAl neriyizhukkAmai ulahaLanda
tiruttALiNai nilattEvar vaNanguvar yAmumavA |
orukkA vinaiyoDum emmoDum nondu kaniyinmaiyil
karukkAi kaDippavar pOl tirunAmasol kaTTranamE || Sixty Four ||
The nAyaki tells her tOzhi that she sustains her life by chanting His names. This is what the nayakis usually do when they are away form the nayakas.
The brAhmaNas who have done lot of puNya karmas always chant vEda mantras and experience Bagavad viShaya. But since I am a mahApApi I don’t enjoy His company. That is why I chant His names and forget my sorrow. It is like a person eating raw unripe fruits when He does not get ripe furits. I don’t get poorNAnuBava of emberumAn. Hence I satisfy myself by chanting His names. Is this a satisfying substitute for one like me who want to hug him and gaze at him?
irukkAr mozhi—puruShasooka etc (or) irukku—vEdas Ar—that contains in a seed form mozhi—the aShTAkShara mantra. ;rchO yajaoomShisAmAni tathaivAtharvaNAni cha! sarvam aShTAkSharAnthastham yachchAnyadapi vAngmayam’.
nei izhukkAmai—Doing proper worship in a befitting manner without omitting any details.
ulahaLanda—sarva sulaBa.
nilattEvar—‘BoosurAh’—As the indrAdi dEvas are to swarga lOka, the vaidika brAhmaNas are to this BoolOka.
vinaiyODum emmODum nondu—i detest myself for all the sins i have committed in many janmas which act now as pratibandha (obstacle) preventing my samslESha with him.
kani inmaiyil karukkAi kaDippavar pOl—karukkAi—Raw unripe fruit, kani—ripe fruit. Like one who cannot afford if ripe fruit eats raw unripe one, i am satisfied in nAmasankeertana alone.
swApadESArtha—AzhwAr who received the nirhEtuka kaTAkSha (mayarvara madi nalam) from emberumAn who is ayarvarum amararhaL adhipadi, speaks himself as the most unfit person (because He compass himself with the supreme Lord and feels He is very low)
irukku—rigvEda (or) a common name for all the vEdas.
yAmumavA—If read as ‘avvA’ it means ‘Am i like that?’ Am i that fortunate as the nilattEvar to worship His tiruvaDi? No. definitely not.
kaTTruppiNaimalar kaNNin kulam venru OrO karumam
uTTruppayinru sEviyoDusAvi ulahamellAm |
muTTrum vizhungi umizhnda pirAnAr tiruvaDikkeezh
uTTrum urAdum milLarnda kaNNAi emmai uNhinravE || Sixty Five ||
The nAyaka admires her eyes, look and describes them to His friend. Some commentators say this pASura is talaivan pASura addressing His mind. ‘talaimahaL nOkkilE eeDuppaTTa talaimahan ekkaNgaL tanakku pAdahamAhirapaDiyai pAnganukku solluhirAn’. kaTTru piNai malar kaNNin kulam venru—kanru+piNai—kaTTruppiNai. kanru—young; piNai-doe. ‘yAnaiyum kudiraiyum kazhudaiyum kaDamaiyum mAnODu aindum kanrenarkuriya’ ‘pulvAi navviyuzhaiyE kavari, solvAi nADirpiNai enappaDumE’—tolkAppiyam.
OrO karumam uTTru payinru seviyODu usAvi—When He is not looking at her, she fixes her loving gaze at him; and when He is looking at her, she looks elsewhere fixing her gaze on some object. Then she looks here and there. When she looks sidelong, her eyes seems to consult the ears about something. When a person starts to pay attention and interest in a new venture He would normally consult an expert about it. Similarly, she has fallen in love with him and wants to discuss the matter with the ears.
seviyODu usAvi—Her long eyes touch the ears.
uTTrum urAdum miLirnda—The eyes sometimes gaze at him, sometimes away form him thus favouring and opposing alternately.
uTTrum urAdum miLirnda kaNNAi emmai uNginravE—Ah! This should happen to me in this world which is swallowed and spat out by him. Should this happen right in front of him who measured all the worlds with His tiruvaDis!
uNginra—Pull me to His side; enslave me.
swApadESArtha—kaTTru piNai malar kaNNin kulam venru—The BAgavatas wonder at AzhwAr’s supreme jnAna. His jnAna is far superior to the alpa jnAna of samsAris who are like meek animals roaming in the forest of samsAra, who let go their jnAna through the 5 indriyas.
OrO karumam uTTru payinru—His jnAna, after much analysis, is fixed on Bagavatswaroopa alone.
seviyODu usAvi—sevi—Through which Sabda is heard. So it means Sruti (vEda). His jnAna is in concordance with the vEdas which is the highest paramANa (means of knowledge).
pirAnAr tiruvaDikkeezh uTTrum urAdum—uTTrum—mAnasAnuBava ‘eNnam puhundu’; urAdum—lack of poorNAnuBava is the opposing force. ‘karukkAi kaDippavar pOl’.
miLirnda kaNNAi—His jnAna never gets diminished; it is always fully bloomed.
‘emmai uNginravE—such is AzhwAr’s jnAna paripAka which enslaves us all—say the BAgavatas.
uNNAdurangAdu uNarvurum ettanai yOgiyarkkum
eNNAimiLirum iyalvinavAm eri neervaLivAn |
maNNAhiya emberumAn tanadu vaihunda mannAL
kaNNAi aruvinaiyEn uyirAyina kAvihalE || Sixty Six ||
This pASura is called ‘kazhaTTredir maruttal’. This is similar to 57th pASura. ‘pulakkuNDala puNDareehatta’. The talaivan tells His friends (pAngan) how the beautiful enchanting eyes of the talavi enslave him. He describes her beautiful eyes and says even the yOgi’s who renounce the worldly desires, renounce the food and sleep, meditate on him alone, fall for them. ‘Therefore, tozhA’, it is no wonders that i fall for those beautiful eyes’.
‘talai mahaLai iyarkaiyil kalandu pirinda talaivan tan urAvudal kaNDu vinavina panganai kurittu uTTraduraitta pASuram’—vAdikEsari azhahiya maNavALa jeeyar.
eri neer vaLi vAn maN—The names of the pancha Bootas are not in order.
emberumAn tanadu vaihundamannAL kaNNAi—She is as enjoyable as paramapada. Here sengazhuneer like eyes attack exactly at the place where my life is.
If alone the jnAnis in meditation happen to see her and her charming eyes they would replace the object of meditation (emberumAn) with the eyes.
aruvinaiyEn—i am a mahApApi to miss her.
uyirAyina—her eyes are my very life. i cannot live without looking at them.
swApadESArtha—The BAgavatas eulogize AzhwAr’s jnAna. The AzhwAr is as immortal as paramapada; His jnAna is like the sengazhuneer flower which enslave not only us but also the great nityasooris who are nityajnAnis.
kAvihaL—His varieties of jnAna are as pleasant as the sengazhuneer flowers.
kAviyum neelamum vElum kayalum palapalavenru
Aviyin tanmai aLavalla pArippu asurai seTTra |
mA viyam puLvalla mAdavan gOvindan vEngaDam sEr
tooviyampEDaiyannAL kaNhaLAya tuNaimalarE || Sixty Seven ||
In the last pASura the nAyaka was feeling sad and expressed His feelings to His friend. Now the friend pacifies him saying ‘orukAlum kalanga kaDavadallAda unadu uLLam inganE kalanguvadarku kAraNam ennO” The nAyaka replies—‘tozhA! i saw the beautiful bright eyes of my nAyaki they were powerful enough to kill me!’ vEngaDam-i saw my lady in tiruvEngaDam which is the residing place of tirumAl who drives guard, the bird of birds. Her gait was like that of a swan; her eyes were like lotuses with red streaks; the eyes were dark like karuneidal flowers; sharp like spears, cool like fish and moving like that of a does eyes. In fact these comparison are not very apt. The eyes have no comparison at all. Their effort to kill my feeble life was more than necessary. i.e. they shouldn’t have taken so much effort to my a heady feeble prANa.
swApadESArtha—asuraichcheTTra mAviyam puL valla mAdavan gOvindan vEngaDam sEr—asurai seTTra—duShTa nigraha seela; mAviyam puL valla—garuDa vAhana; mAdava—who is loved by SreedEvi who does puruShakAra; gOvindan, who protects all the Atmas;
vEngaDam sEr—tiruvEngaDam is His BOgasthAna. AzhwAr always thinks on tiruvEngaDam.
tooviyam peDaiyannAL—AzhwAr has jnAna and anuShThAna as the two wings which can take him to the highest realm called paramapda. He has Sudda satva swaBAva (like the whiteness of the swan) and pAratantrya (pEDai).
kaNgaLAya tuNai malar—the jnAna vikAsa
kAviyum—(red) He has transcended rajO guNa.
neelamum—(black) won over the tamO guNa
vElum—transcending even satva guNa which is white (vEl—waves)
kayal—After transcending the three guNas His mind is not distracted by worldly insentient objects (or) He has conquered the oscillating mind.
The BAgavatas say ‘such a jnAni, no wonder, enslaves us’.
malarndE ozhindila mAlaiyum mAlaippon vAsihaiyum
pulandOi tazhaippandar taNDura nATTri porukaDalsoozh |
nilandAviya emberumAn tanadu vaihundamannAi
kalandAr vara edir koNDu van konraihaL kArttanavE || Sixty Eight ||
This pASura is called ‘kAla mayakku’, ‘kAlam iLaiyadu’, ‘kArena kalangum Erezhir kaNNikku, intuNai tOzhi anrenru maruttadu’—turai ilakkaNam.
The nAyaka promised after enjoying samslESha ‘i shall certainly be back before the rainy season starts’. The konrai trees have started to produce flowers indicating the rainy season. The talaivi feels sad since He had not yet returned. ‘kAr kAlam vanduviTTadE, innamum nAyahan varavillaiyE’. The tOzhi answer her ‘nangAi! kAr kAlam vandadanru kAN; pirindu senra nAyakaruDaiya varuhaiyai murpaDa edirnOkkikkoNDu tamadu mahizhchchiyAl konrihaL tAmAha arumbi ninrana; aduvEyanri kAr kalam vaNDu nangu malarndanavillai’.
nabiLLai eeDu—‘kalandu pirinda talaimahan konrai pookkum kAlattilE varuhinrEnenru kAlam kurittu pOnAnAi, akkAlam vaNDu avaiyum pookka seidE avan vArAmaiyAlE talai mahaL taLara, attaikkaNDa tOzhiyAnavaL akkAlamalla ennavoNNAdapaDi adu muDuhikkoDu nirkaiyAlE ‘ivai pookko udyOhikkira vittanai; poottu samaindanavillai kAN. Anapinbu avanum vandAnattanai, nee anjAdE koL’ enru avaLai AsvasippikkiraL, akkAlamalla kANennumE tOzhi; keDuvAi, ivai inganE malarA nirka alla kAN ennumbaDi enganE enna, malara upakramitta ittanai kAN, malarndu samaindadillai kAN engirAL’. The birds have not yet fully opened their petals. They are just half opened.
mAlaiyum pon vAsihaiyum—The flowers are golden yellow in colour. They hang in bunches with curled petals. They appear like the golden bunches hanging form a pandAl—tazhaippandar taNDura nATTri.
pulandOi tazhai—pulam indriya—Here it refers to the eyes. They are very beautiful to look at that it is difficult to shif the gaze elsewhere (or) pulam—ground—the bunches of flowers hang so low as to touch the ground.
vaihundamannAi—Sree vaikuNTha is the special abode of emberumAn alone. Similarly the nAyaki belongs to our nAyaka alone. He cannot exist without her.
kalandAr—After samslESha He will not have the mind to leave you. Therefore He is certain to come back.
varavedir koNDu van konraihaL kArttanavE—Even the insentient plants feel happy and stand with laughing flowers. Why should you, achEtana, be unhappy?
van konraihaL—The konrai flowers are called cruel because they never considered her mental state but they just bloomed with bunches of flowers. They never thought that she would feel sadden if she sees them full of flowers (or) the trees bloom because they know very well He will come. Otherwise they wouldn’t have bloomed.
kArttana—The buds are formed after pollination. They still remain half opened.
swApadESArtha—AzhwAr likes to have the darSana of both BagavAn and the BAgavatas. He had the darSana of BAgavatas but not of BagavAn. The BAgavatas pacify AzhwAr by saying He will certainly come soon. He should wait patiently because there are indications of such an event.
kArETTriruL sehilETTrin suDarukkuLaindu velvAn
pOrETTredirndadu punralaimAlai buvaniyellAm |
neerETTraLanda neDiyapirAnaruLA viDumE
vArETTriLamulaiyAi varundEl un vaLaittiramE || Sixty Nine ||
The evening time torments the nAyaki who keeps thinking of her nAyaka all the time. The tOzhi tells her ‘nangAi! This is not the evening time! ‘idu nee ninaikkira sandyA kAlam vandadanru; iruLAhinra karutta erudukkum sooryanAhira sivanda erudukkum yuddam nihazhhira paDi kAN; nee ninaikkirapaDi uNmaiyAna malai pozhudayin ulaham muzhuvadaiyum pAdukAkkavalla mulai uDaiya talaivan unakku aruL seyya vArAdozhivanO? avan vArAmaiyAlum idanai meyyAna mAlai ppozhudu anru enru nee teLindu koLLalAm; un kaivaLaihaL kazhanru pOvadai kurittu nee varuttappaDavENDA; avai kazhala oNNAdapaDi avan viraivil vandaruLuvan’.
The two bulls one black (night) and the other red (sun) fight with each other. The black bull was defeated at first (i.e. the days et in driving away the night) now the humiliated bull is challenging the red bull with redoubled vigour. (i.e. the night is going to set in driving away the day time) Now it is the evening time which is a short while will give place to night.
rAvaNa was defeated by Sree rAma and was lying on the battlefield wounded heavily. manDOdari, the queen of lankA, cries bitterly on seeing her valiant husband lying helplessly on the ground. ‘indriyANi purA jitvA jitam triBuvanam tvayA. smaradBiriva tadvairam adya tairEva nirjitah’. Oh! rAvaNa! you once defeated the indriyas when you were performing tapas. Now the indriyas, in order to take revenge on you, which were waiting for an opportune moment, have overpowered you and killed you’.
toNDaraDippoDi AzhwAr too says ‘Once my indriyas defeated my buddhi. Consequently I was punished as guilty of stealing a gold bowl of Sree ranganAtha. I waited all these days to take revenge on them. Now I have put them in jail ‘kAvalil pulania vaittu’—says He.
The dark bull defeated by the red one in the morning, now conquers him in the night.
pun talai mAlai—the evening which torments the nAyaki (or) the evening which is the time in between the day and night is short lived.
neerETTru—Receiving dAna from mahAbali by receiving water from him (or) Receiving water from brahma who washed His tiruvaDi which measured the upper lOkas. ‘tArETTra veN kuDai mAvali vArkkavum tAmarai mEl, seerETTra tol nAn muhan viLakkavum sempon muDikkArETTra mEni arangEsar kaiyum kazhalumokka neerETTrana vaN tirukkuraLAhi nimirndavanrE’—tiruvarangattu mAlai.
neDiya pirAn—He who took a huge form (or) He who is above all.
buvaniellAm neerETTraLanda neDiya pirAn aruLA viDumE—‘tAmara prakrtihaLAnAr mEliDappukkAl vaNDu udavumavan tamassu tAn vandu aBiBavikka pukkAl viTTirukkumO?.... tan uDaimaiyai pirai enadenru aBimAnittirundAl tannai arttiyAkki avarhaL pakkalilEyum vandu irandu koLLumavan; irakkavENDAdE tan uDaimaiyEyAna unnai viTTirukkumO’—periyavAchchan piLLai.
vArETTriLa mulaiyAi—Will He leave you who has such beautiful breasts and youthful appearance?
swApadESArtha—The ajnAna (darkenss) was removed by the right jnAna (day time)
velvAn pOrETTredirndadu puntalai mAlai—But this jnAna was clouded by mOhAndhakAra becuas he (AzhwAr) could not have BagavadanuBava.
vArETTriLamulaiyAi—He has Bakti which is difficult to control and hide.
varundEl un vahaittiramE—Don’t have unnecessary worry that your pAratantrya will be lost.
vaLaivAi tiruchchakkarattengaL vAnavanAr muDimEl
taLaivAi narungaNNi taNNanduzhAikku vaNNam payalai |
viLaivAn mihavandu nALtingaLANDoozhi nirakvemmai
uLaivAnpuhundu iduvOrkkangul Ayiram oozhihaLE ||Seventy||
The nAyaki’s duhKa finds no end. The might, which due to His absence, appeared first a days, then like months, years and yugas. This night particularly stretches like a thousand yugas. It has decided to change my mAmai niram to pasalai niram. ‘idukku munbu enadu nirattai mArupaDuttum poruTTu oru nALAyum, oru mAdamAyum oru varuDamAyum oru karpamAyum paDippaDiyAha vaLarndu tOnri varutti vanda iruL inraikku ennai aDiyODu muDikkum poruTTu miha pala karpangaLAha tOnri varuttuhinradu’.
vALai vAi tiruchchakkarattu—It can also be interpreted as the curved SanKa and charka.
swApadESArtha—AzhwAr finds the kAla stretching like yugas because of the delay in BagavadanuBava. He who holds SanKa indicating His SEShitva and charka which indicates sarvESwaratva, which act as His ornaments too, indicate His lordship over the two viBootis. AzhwAr feels the kAla seems to be indefinitely stretching.
oozhihaLAi ulahEzhumuNDAn enrilam pazhangaNDu
AzhihaLAm pazha vaNNam enrErkku aKdE koNDannai |
nAzhivaL O ennum jnAlam uNDAn vaNNan solliTTrennum
tOzhihaLO uraiyeer emmai ammanai soozhhinravE || Seventy One ||
The nAyaki had a secret affair with the nAyaka. Somehow the mother came to know about it, and is angry at her daughter. She says this has cast a black mark on her family honour. So she has put her under house arrest. She does not allow her daughter to see anyone, go out or utter anything connected with Him. The nAyaki is very cautious not to give any hint of her thoughts, and controls her feelings.
Once she sees a street vendor selling kaLAppazham she just unintentionally comments ‘these fruits have the colour of sea’. The mother at once says ‘Girl! you are audacious, adamant and disobedient. How dare you talk like this!’ The nAyaki is surprised at this remark and tells her friends ‘friends! i am very cautious what i speak even in my sleep. My casual comment on the colour of the fruit makes my mother angry. Will you explain about me? Please make her believe me, not angry with me anymore’.
The nAyaka had married this girl in secret. This news has spread in the town. The mother is much concerned about the reputation of the family. She confines her daughter in the house. Now the nAyaki feels it would be proper to marry Him in public. Therefore she seeks the help of her friends to pacify her mother and in marrying Him soon.
oozhihaLAi ulahEzhum uNDAn enrilam—The plural ‘oozhihaLA suggests all the divisions of kAla. In short it means He is the nirvAhaka of all the kAlas. That is the reason He put all the worlds in His tiruvayiru to prevent them from getting ruined by kAla.
enrilam—‘Oh! tOzhihAL! i never mentioned anything even remotely connected with Him. If i had done so it is but proper that she should get angry; She simply blames me without any reason or proof.
‘nangAi! If you did not say ‘oozhihaLAi ulahEzhum uNDAn’ then what did you say to upset your mother? pazhangaNDu AzhihaLum pasha vaNNam enrErku—‘Oh! tOzhihAL! i simply said these kaLAppazham look like the colour of sea. There was absolutely no intention other than this ‘But my mother took it otherwise. ‘ippeNpiLLai en sorkELAdu tan ninaivinpaDi swatantramAi naDakkum srukkuDaiyaLAyinaL’. She thinks i purposely find some pretext to utter something connected with emberumAn will you pacify her and explain my stand?’
nAzh—Sin. ‘nAzhAlamar muyanra’—periya tiruvandAdi. ‘pala pala nAzham solli pazhitta SiSupAlan’—periyAzhwAr tirumozhi.
swApadESArtha—AzhwAr admires emberumAn’s glories ‘He is like the deep sea. But the BAgavatas do not understand AzhwAr’s BAvana; They criticize Him to have adopted upAyAntaras. ‘He wants to meditate on an imaginary form of His. This does not confirm with the prapatti mArga’. AzhwAr explains His BAvana and requests the aDiyArs to explain it to the BAgavatas.
oozhihaLAi ulahEzhum uNDAn enrilam—i did not talk about the form suitable for upAsana, nor did i resort to any sAdhanAntara.
pazham kaNDu Azhi kaLAmpazha vaNNam enrErku—i told them His colour is dark like sea.
aKdE koNDu—The BAgavatas mistook my statement
annai—The jnAnis.
ivaLO nAzh ennum—They say the parAnkuSa nAyaki has renounced her pAratantrya, act and speak as swatantra.
jnAlamuNDAn vaNNam solliTTru ennum—They blame AzhwAr for imagining a form for upAsana.
ammanai emmai soozhhinra—In fact these jnAnis care for me like mother. They are worried about any harm that may come to my swaroopa if i do so and swerve from prapatti mArga.
tOzhihaLO uraiyeer—Oh! My friends! you reveal to them my real intends and convince them of my firm stand in prapatti mArga.
Those who adopt the prapatti mArga do not imagine any form for the purpose of upAsana; They enjoy the beautiful form of emberumAn and think that is the way to mukti; the other ways are inferior.
soozhhinra kangul surungA iruLin karuntiNimbai
pOzhhinra tingaLambiLLaiyum pOzhha tuzhAimalarkkE |
tAzhhinra nenjattoru tamiyATTiyEn mAmaikkinru
vAzhhinravAriduvO vaNDu tOnriTTru vAliyadE || Seventy Two ||
The talaivi’s grief increased as the night came along, in the previous pASura. Now comes the crescent moon to dispel the darkness. The moon increases her agony, as it usually does to the separated couples. ‘Let the moon that splits the darkness split my body too. i could be very glad if He does so i thought the moon would bring me joy by driving away the long night. i thought i would regain my mAmai niram again. But Alas! He happens to increase my duhKa. Oh! What am i to do!’
swApadESArtha—AzhwAr fails to get what he desired i.e. Bagavadanubava. he was immersed in mOhAndhakAra. The tatva jnAna that usually drives away mOhAndhakAra has not brought him the desired effect. Hence both of them vie with each other to bring more duhKa on Him. AzhwAr fears His swaroopa nASa would be the result.
vAlveNNilvu ulahAra surakkum veNtingaLennum
pAlviNsuravi suramudir mAlai padiri vaTTam |
pOlum suDaraDalAzhi pirAn pozhilEzhaLikkum
sAlbin tahaimaikolAm tamiyATTi taLarndaduvE || Seventy Three ||
In the last pASura the talaivi was feeling sad due to the moon tormenting her. The tOzhi tells her ‘nangAi! He who calls Himself as the rakShaka of all the worlds, should cause duhKa in you by neglecting you is very unbecoming and cruel on Him. It is His wickedness alone that makes you sitting here lonely looking at the moon and crying loudly.
viN vAl veNNilavu pAl ulahAra surakkum veN tingaL ennum suravi—The cow (moon gives plently of white milk (moonlight) which flows everywhere. It is specially so in the evenings. ‘arundavan surabiyE AdivAnamA virinda pErudayamE maDi veN tingaLA varundalin mulai kadir vazhangu tAraiyA sorinda pAlottadu nilavin tOTTramE’—kamba rAmAyaNam. Except parAnkuSa nAyaki who is immersed in duhKa and feeling lonely, all the people seem to be rejoicing.
aDalAzhi pirAn Ezh pozhil aLikkum sAlbin tahaimai kOlAm—He who prides Himself as eeSwara, rakSha and so on mercilessly in allowing her to drown in the duhKa sAgara. Is it proper on His part to behave callously?
ulahAra surakkum—The vessel called Boomi is filled with the milk called moonlight.
viN suravi—Divine cow. suraBi in the Sanskrit word.
pozhil—World (or) garden. It is said this world is a beautiful garden for Him.
swApadESArtha—Even the jnAna vikAsa of nammAzhwAr could not bring the BagavadanuBava which He longed for. The BAgavatas feel sorry for Him.
pirAn pozhil Ezh aLikkum sAlbin tahaimai kolAm tamiyATTi taLarndaduvE—How sad He who is sarva rakSha does not do anything to alleviate His sorrow but is keeping quiet.
taLarndum murindum varudiraippAyal tiruneDungaN
vaLarndum arivuTTrum vaiyam vizhungiyum mAlvaraiyai |
kiLarndu maridara keeNDeDuttAnmuDisooDu tuzhAi
aLainduNsiru pasuntenral andO vandulAhinradE || Seventy Four ||
The breeze blows on the nAyaki after it brushes past the tiruttuzhAi mAla worn by Him bringing joy in her. The cool breeze brushed past the tuzhasi worn by Him when He was lying on AdiSESha in the tiruppArkaDal thinking over the rakShaNa of all the jeevas. In kriShNAvatAra He lifted the gOvardhana in order to protect the cattle and men of AyarpADi.
Some commentators say this is a tOzhi pASura. The talaivi was feeling sad on seeing the moon and feeling the breeze blowing on her. The tOzhi says ‘nangAi! you should feel happy that the breeze that brushed past the tuzhais of emberumAn is blowing on you. This augurs His early arrival’.
andO—It is ‘hanta’ in Sanskrit. It indicates joy, duhKa, pity etc. Here it indicates joy. tiruneDungaN vALarndum arivuTTrum—BagavAn’s nidra is called yOga nidra; it is not lie our show are enveloped by tamO guNa totally unaware of our body and surroundings. He lies on AdiSESha thinking about the rakShaNa kArya. It is called yOga nidra, arituyil, vizhituyil, tuyilAttuyil, poyyurakkam. ‘mAlvaraiyai maritara eDuttAn—He lifted gOvardhana upside down so that the cattle can eat the grass.
swApadESArtha—AzhwAr is separated from BagavAn. He consoles himself by thinking over His guNas like kAruNya, aiSwarya etc. If the pASura is taken as tOzhi pASura (as some commentators do) then the swApadESArtha will be—the BAgavatas talk of emberumAn’s guNas and actions to bring happiness in AzhwAr—they talk about His yOga nidra in tiruppArkaDal, His rakShaNa kArya during prahasya and the lifting of gOvardahana to protect His dear ones.
ulAhinra keNDai oLiyambu emmAviyai ooDuruva
kulAhinra venjilai vALmuhatteer kunisangiDari |
pulAhinra vElai puNariyambaLLi ammAn aDiyAr
nilAhinra vaihundamO vaiyamO numnilaiyiDamE || Seventy Five ||
When the nAyaki was with her friend, the nAyaka comes but hesitates to speak to her directly. He finds some excuse to open the conversation. He asks them where do they live—is it paramapada or this BoolOka?
ulAhinra keNDai—The eyes are long up to the ears. They are like the keNDai fish moving up to the ears.
oLi ambu—They are sharp like arrows piercing the hearts of the onlookers.
kulAhinra venjilai—The brows are curved like the bows which discharge the arrows (eyes).
vAN muhatteer—i have seen bows and arrows in the hands of men but i am seeing them in the face of woman for the first time!
numnilaiyiDam vaihundamO—Looking at their extraordinary divine beauty He wonders whether they have come from Sree vaikuNTha.
viayamO—Because they are seen in Boo lOka He wonders how can such beauty exist here in this world.
swApadESArtha—The BAgavatas ask the AzhwAr and His aDiyArs whether they belong to Sree vaikuNTha or Boo lOka. ulAhinra keNDai oLiambu emmAviyai ooDuruva kulAhinra venjilai vAi muhatteer—keNDai—cool jnAna; oLi ambu—sharp intellect that pierces their heart through the teachings.
aDiyAr silAhinra vaihundamO vaiyamO num nilaiyiDam—If one looks at AzhwAr’s jnAna vikAsa he appears as belonging to Sree vaikuNTha (or) because of his dissociation with samsAra he is thought to belong to paramapada; his lack of poorNa BagavadanuBava makes them think he belongs to Boo lOka.
iDam pOi virindivvulahaLandAn ezhilArtaNDuzhAi
vaDampOdinaiyum maDanenjamE nangaL veLvaLaikkE |
viDampOl viridalidu viyappE viyantAmaraiyin
taDampOdoDunga mellAmbal alarvikkum veNtingaLE || Seventy Six ||
The nAyaki tells her mind that it is no wonder the moon makes the lotus close and the Ambal to bloom also makes my bangles loose. ‘Oh! mind! i desire to possess the tuzhasi mAla of emberumAn who measured all the worlds’. The moon was waiting for the sun to go behind the mountain so that He can make the lotus (which is bloomed by the sun) close and the Ambal (which closes when there is sun) to open. He is also waiting for the opportunity to loosen my bangles and remove them from my hand.
maDa nenjamE—Oh! mind! you are a fool! you desire an object which is difficult to get and you feel sad when you don’t get.
viDam pOl viridal—This moon spreads His poisonous rays to kill me.
swApadESArtha—AzhwAr says His vivEka now acts as an enemy in this situation when he is sad about not having Bagavatsambandha.
iDampOi virindu ivvulahaLandAn ezhilAr taN tuzhAi pOdu vaDam inaiyum maDa nenjamE—Oh! mind! you feel sad because you have not had the poorNAnuBava of sarvESwara who is also sarvasulaBa.
viyal tAmaraiyin taDam pOdu oDunga mellAmbal alarvikkum viN tingaL—The vivEka reveals what is non essential and conceals the essence.
nangaL veL vaLaikkE viDam pOl viridal idu viyappE—It spoils even my pAratantrya.
tingaL ambiLLai pulambattan sengOlarasupaTTA
sengaLampaTTri ninru eLhu punmAlai tenpAlilangai |
veNgaLanseida nam viNNOrpirAnAr tuzhAituNaiyA
nangaLai mAmaikoLvAn vandu tOnri nalihinradE || Seventy seven ||
This pASura is similar to the 35th pASura where the nAyaki blames the evening for torturing her.
The evening is a damsel; the sun is her husband; the red rays is the scepter of the king (sun); the sunset is the death of her husband; the west where the sun sets is the battlefield where He lies dead; the red sky in the west is the blood from the wound of the king.
The nAyaki who is separated from the nAyaka feels all the objects as separated form their lovers.
This evening which alone can cause grief, takes the help of tiruttuzhAi to inflict more pain on her.
The rAkShasi tATaka lost her husband. She took the help of sage agastya’s curse to torment the people. Similarly the evening, who has lost her husband, the sun, takes the help of tiruttuzhAi to pain the nAyaki.
pulamba—Alone, wither, cry etc. Here it is interpreted as ‘to alone’. ‘pulambE tanimai’—tolkAppiyam.
The dullness of the crescent moon is due to the loss of her husband; the chirping of the birds is the wailing of women in the battlefield.
ilangia vengaLam seida—Sree rAma killed the whole rAkShasa clan and uprooted the race (or).
vengabam seidu—To make it appear like burial ground. ten pal ilangai vengaLam seida nam viNNor pirAnAr—He took such a trouble to rescue seeta pirATTi, just one woman, and waged war against the powerful rAkShasas. But He does not lift even one finger for my sake. Such callousness’.
viNNOr pirAnAr—He who rose at once form the bed of AdiSESha to help the dEvas, does not care thel east to help the nAyaki.
tuzhAi tuNaiyA—The evening is powerful enough to act against her, is now taking the help of tiruttuzhAi to increase her agony! (or) both of them cause pains individually.
swApadESArtha—The time to enjoy emberumAn is approaching near (evening). This causes more anxiety and tension in AzhwAr. tingaL ambiLLai pulamba sengOl tan arasu paTTa sengaLam paTTri ninru eLhu.
pun mAlai—The jnAna prakASa does not gives him pleasure because the avivEka has veiled him. The Bakti has increased causing more pangs.
tenpAl ilangia vengaLam seida nam viNNOr pirAnAr tuzhAi tunaiyA—The thought of His duShTha nigraha and SiShTha pari pAlana guNa.
nangaLai mAmai koLvAn vaNDu nalhinradE—Causes more pain and takes away His complexions.
naliyum narahanai veeTTiTTrum vANantiNDOL tuNitta
valiyum perumaiyum yAmsollum neerttadalla maivaraipOl |
poliyumuruvirpirAnAr punai poonduzhAi malarkkE
meliyum maDanenjinAr tandupOyina vEdanaiyE || Seventy Eight ||
The talaivi remembers the heroic deeds of the talaivan and narrates them to the tOzhi.
‘i can sustain my life by chewing the end of His atimAnuSha chEShTitas whereas my mind wants His tiruttuzhAi alone. So it has gone in search of it, has not returned to me. i am feeling lonely and sad.
He who married eleven thousand one hundred women imprisoned by BANASura; He who arranged the wedding of His grandson aniruddha with uSha (the daughter of BANAsura) is most disinterested in marrying me, who long for Him alone’.
narakAsuranai konra—In varAhavatAra He lifted Boomi on His tusk. By His sparSa a son was born to Boomi pirATTi. He was narakAsura, a rAkShasa by nature. He troubled all good souls, dEvas etc. He imprisoned many women in order to marry them. He took away the umbrella of varuNa, mandara parvata, aditi’s kuNDalas and planned to take possession of indra’s airAvata. At the request of all the dEvas BagavAn kriShNa accompanied by His wife satyaBAma went to wage war with Him. kriShNa killed His assistants like lmura and finally the asura. He released all the women and married them. He brought the pArijAta tree from indra’s garden and planted it in satyaBAma’s backyard.
bANAsura—uSha, the daughter of bANa had a dread in which she saw aniruddha. She asked her tOzhi to bring Him by her yOgic power. Both of them were enjoying the company of each other. When bANAsura came to know about this affair He bound Him with nAgAstra. kriShNa came to know about this, came with His army to fight. Siva and His guNas ran away not able to stand the war. kriShNa cut off the hands of the asura except two. uSha and aniruddha got married.
swApadESArtha—BagavAn kill the ASrita viOdhis. He defeated bANAsura and killed narakAsura, but does nothing to destroy His pratibandhas (obstacles) which prevent His samSlESha with Him.
His virOdhi nirasana Sakti and paratva are beyond the words, nay beyond the words of even vEdas. AzhwAr desires his sambandha and feels sad when he fails to get it.
vEdanai veNpurinoolanai viNNOr paravaninra
nAdanai jnAlam vizhungum nAdanai jnAlantattum |
pAdanai pArkaDal pAmbaNai mEl paLLikoNDaruLum
seedanaiyE tozhuvAr viNNuLArilum seeriyarE || Seventy Nine ||
The nAyaki eulogizes those who never know any viSlESha with emberumAn.
He is the knower of vEdas, wears pure yajnOpaveeta, is worshipped by dEvas, swallows all the created worlds during praLaya to protect them, is the lord of lords, measured all the worlds with His tiruvaDi, does yOga nidra on AdiSESha in pArkaDal. Those who worship Him are far superior to those living in paramapada. ‘Alas! i am not that fortunate!’
pArkaDal pAmbaNai mEl paLLo koNDaruLum seedanai—He does yOga nidra on tiruppArkaDal receiving kainkarya from both SreedEvi and BoodEvi, who don’t leave Him even for a second.
vEdan—He who knows all the vEdas (or) He who is revealed by all the vEda.
veN puri noolanai—Wearing yajnOpaveeta to show Himself as a vaidika puruSha ‘vEda mudalvan viLangu puri noolan’—periya tirumozhi.
jnAlam tattum pAdan—He who measured the worlds; He whose tiruvaDi is the source of the Boomi. ‘padByAm Boomih’—vEda (puruShasookta)
viNNuLArilum seeriyar—There is no wonders in the nityasooris worshipping Him all the time since they have nothing to distract them whereas those on this earth where people run after good food and clothing are far greater if they are able to worship Him without pause. AzhwAr says he is much better than nityasooris in paramapada.
seerarasANDu tansengOl silanAL seleeikkazhinda
pArarasottu maraindadu jnAyiru pAraLanda |
pErarasE em visumbarasE emmai neetuvanjitta
OrarasE aruLAi iruLAivanduruhinradE || Eighty ||
The talaivi’s duhKa increases as the evening approaches. This pASura is by the nAyaki addressing the nAyaka as if He is present.
sreerarasANDu tan sengOl silanAL seleekazhinda pArarasu ottu maraindadu jnayiru—The almighty ruler rules over his kingdom, commanding justly the people of his country. his authority comes to an end one day when he dies. Similarly the sun reigns supreme in the mornings spreading his rays everywhere. As the day ends, He dies behind a mountains.
Oh! nAyaka! if you don’t come i am going to suffer the fate of the windows in the harem surrounded by cruel enemies. The darkness of the night surrounds me everywhere. It is long and never ending. It tortures me who is aheady weak. Therefore please come at once and save me as you save the worlds from mahAbali (nAraLanda pErarasE)
en visumbarasE—As you consider paramapada as your property, consider me too as yours.
emmai neettu vanjitta OrarasE—At first you said you wont leave me, then said even if you leave you are sure to come back soon. i waited and waited but in vain. you are a cheat! you deceive me; you are a liar! i believed your words meekly ‘ennai upEkShittu unnai kATTAdirukkira enda swabAvattilE muDisooDi irukkiravanE’.
swApadESArtha—AzhwAr says hsis vivEka is veiled by mOhAndhakAra. ‘illAl samsArattil iruppu ajnAnam vaNDu mEliDumpaDi irukkaiyAlE kaDuha ivviruppai kazhittu tara vENumenru aruLichcheihirAr’—nambiLLai eeDu.
uruhinra kanmangaL mElana OrppilarAi ivaLai
peruhinra tAyar mei nondu perArkol tuzhAi kuzhalvAi |
turuhinrilar tollai vEngaDamATTavum soozhhinrilar
iruhinradAl ivaLAham mellAvi erikoLLavE || Eighty One ||
This is a tOzhi pASura. The talaivi is longing to meet the talaivan. When the mother notices the body becoming thinner day by day, the complexion getting changed, they think this condition is due to the possession of muruga on her body. Therefore they try several methods like—vEla to dance to drive away the spirit; performing animal sacrifice, sprinkling of toddy and meat, offering black and red cooked rice to dEvatas etc. The tOzhi, who knows what ails the nAyaki, asks them to stop all these nonsense and wrong treatment to her ‘illness’. The mother is ignorant about the red cause of her illness. She says these acts will further her illness rather than cure her. ‘ doubt whether she is her real mother who has undergone the pains of child birth and whether she is the foster mother who took pains to bring her up. i doubt whether this woman has brought her from someone else! If only they bring the tiruttuzhAi from emberumAn and take her to tirumalai, she would be all right. Now by giving the wrong treatment they may cause her death even. Oh! Dear! Oh! Dear!’—so thinks the tOzhi.
Orppu ilarAi—‘ivaLukku ini AhakkaDavadAna nilaimaihaLai ArAyAdavarhaLAi’.
vEngaDam ATTavum—tiruvEngaDam is a pool. If she takes bath in it her viraha tApa will disappear (or) they haven’t thought of taking her to tirumalai (or) they don’t know she would become all right if only she walks on the street of tirumalai. Instead they resort to means that only increase her illness.
swApadESArtha—Some BAgavatas take pity on AzhwAr who keeps crying over the viSlESha. They try various ways to cure him. The other Sree vaiShNavas tell them to stop all these. They advice, the only way to cure him is to take him to tirumalai or bring a piece of tuzhasi or any object connected with emberumAn.
BagavatprasAda and divyadESa vAsa are the parihAra to his duhKa. All other efforts act only to enhance the problem.
erikoL sennAyiru iraNDuDanE udayam malaivAi
virihinra vaNNatta emperumAn kaghaL meeNDavaTTruL |
erikoL sendee veezhasurarai pOla empOliyarkkum
viriva solleer iduvO vaiyam muTTrum viLariyadE || Eighty Two ||
Since the nAyaki is constantly thinking of him, she sees him in her delirious state. She describes the beauty of His eyes. The form disappears. She is disappointed. She tells her tOzhi how the eyes enchanted her.
The two eyes are like the 2 suns rising simultaneously from the mountain. They are so bright that she is burnt (by her love). It is said the asuras called mAndhAtas fall everyday into the blazing sun. ‘Oh! tOzhi! It is only fair the asuras are burnt. But is it right that i too, his dAsi, should get burnt! He is called sarva rakShaka! What an irony! Look at the way He protects me!
The third line refer to the story found in taittireeya AraNyaka. The asuras living in the island called mAndEhAruNa perform severe tapas and get boons puffed up with pride, they wage war with the soorya. The brAhmaNas who perform sandhyAvandana everyday offer arGya which act like vajrAyudha and push them into the fire of the sun, burning them in the process.
emberumAn’s eyes look like two suns rising simultaneously from the mountain. They not only burn the wicked asuras but me too, His aDiyAL. He who should be killing the wicked to save the good, is killing both. Is this His sarvarakShakatva?
meENDu—Again and again (or) coming back.
viLariyadu—Very much to the liking—‘viLariyE iLamai yAzhilOr narambu yAzh neeL vETkai’—chooDAmaNi nigaNDu.
swApadESArtha—AzhwAr had the darSana of BagavAn to his jnAna kaN. This kaTAkSha instead of bringing joy to him causes more grief in him since he could not have poorNAnuBava. The two bright eyes in His anjana malai-like roopa gives duhKa to His enemies as well as to AzhwAr who is His dAsa. AzhwAr wonders whether this is His rakShakatva. This doubt is because of His not getting His poorNAnuBava.
viLaikkural anril menpeDai mEhinra munrirpeNNai
muLarikkurambai iduviduvAha muhilvaNNan pEr |
kiLirikkiLari pidaTTrum mellAviyum naivumellAm
taLarirkolO ariyEn uyyalAvadu ittaiyalukkE || Eighty Three ||
This is a tOzhi pASura. She feels sad on seeing the nAyaki upset over the absence of her lover. The symptoms of her illness are—agony, pasalai niram, thin body, incoherent speech about him etc. The tOzhi fears if she continues in this state she may even die. Is the nAyaka going to come only after her death?
anril—It is called krouncha in Sanskrit. The birds always live in pains. If one of them goes away even for a second, the other one will cry and even die if the bird does not return in time. Some call this bird as chakravAka which is engaged in mating during the day and separated during nights.
The chirping of anril always enhances the grief of separated lovers. It is said they live on palm trees. ‘kAvar peNNai anril arikuralum’ ‘ peNNai mEr pinnum avvanrir peDaivAi sirukural’—tirumangai AzhwAr.
There are 7 notes in music:--SaDjam, RShaBam, gAndhAram, madhyamam, panchamam, deivatam and niShAdham. They are called kural, tuttam, kaikkiLai, uzhai, iLi, viLari, tAram respectively in tamizh. viLAri is deivata. But in Sanskrit nigaNDu it says—‘krounchah kvaNati madhyamam’—the krouncha chirps in madhyama note. Therefore viLari can be taken to mean either as madhyama or deivata. viLari is also the name of a song.
menpEDAi—The soft natured bird who cannot bear separation.
muLari kurambai—A nest made out of soft lotus leaves and flowers.
iduvidu—All the objects seen as ‘this’ ‘this’.
tirumangai AzhwAr in peirya tirumozhi says—‘munrir peNNei mEl muLari kooTTahattu anrelin kural aDarumennaiyE’ which expresses the same idea as ‘anril menpeDai mEhinra munril peNNei muLari kurambaiyadu of this pASura.
swApadESArtha—The aDiyArs say this AzhwAr is feeling sad. Since He has no BagavadanuBava. The worldly objects around him cause more grief as they remind him. AzhwAr says he sees many yOgis getting the anuBava whereas he alone is not having it. he keeps chanting His names continuously or weeps about His absence. The Baktas feel for this stat and comment ‘is this the way BagavAn should behave towards this AzhwAr who will eventually die if he continues like this’.
taiyanallArhaL kuzhAngaL kuzhiya kuzhuvinuLLum
aiyanallArhaL kuzhiya vizhavinum angangellAm |
kaiyaponnAzhi veN sangoDum kANbAn avAvuvanAn
maiyavaNNA maNiyE muttamE enran mANikkamE || Eighty Four ||
The nAyaki separated from nAyaka wants to meet him. She says ‘i am in love with you. Though i prefer to meet you alone as all the lovers do, i don’t find an opportunity. Hence i will be satisfied even if i can see you among the groups of women or among the gatherings of wise men in festivals.
She address him as if he is present even in his absence. This is due to her intense love for him, and constant thinking of him. (‘maiyavaNNA maNiyE muttamE enran mANikkamE’)
‘taiyanallArhaL kuzhAngaL kuzhiya kuzhuvinuLLum aiyanallArhaL kuzhiya vizhuvinum angengellam kANban avAvuvan nAn’—The kuravai koottu which sometime He performs or will be present when someone else performs. The AyarpADi women gather there to see the feat. ‘pallAyiram perundEvimArODu pouvamEri tuvarai ellArum soozha singAsanattE irundAnai kaNDAruLar’—peiryAzhwAr.
He is seen among the groups of mahApuruShas like in the rAjasooya yAga of dharmaputa. ‘kAndaL muhizh viral seedaikkAhi kaDunjilai senrirukka vEndar talaivan sanakarAsan tan vELviyil kaNDAruLar’—periyAzhwAr.
kuzhiya---is the shortened form of kuzhuviya (gathered) similar expressions are found in plenty in tamizh literature ‘tamizh tazhiya sAyalavar’—seevaha sindAmaNi where tazhuviya becomes tazhiya. ‘tandu mADE tazhiya kAvalarai nOkki’—kanda purANam. ‘kezhiya rAhuvum kEduvum’ kanda purANam where kezhuviya becomes kezhiya. maNiyE muttamE mANikkamE—tirumangai AzhwAr also uses the three adjectives in His pASura ‘muttinai maNiyai maNi mANikka vittinai senru viNNahar kANDumE’.
swApadESArtha—AzhwAr is not satisfied by the vision of emberumAn through his jnAnakkaN. he wants to see Him outside.
taiya nallArhaL kuzhAngaL kuzhiya kuzhu—Among the group of prapanna puruShas whose very nature is pAratantrya.
aiyanallArhaL kuzhu—kainkarya pravrtti seelapuruShas who perform yAgas etc.
‘nAyakiyAnavaL nAyakanAna sarvESwaranai purambE tiraLiDaiyAhilum kANa AsaippaTTu pulambina pASuram ’—azhahiya maNavALa jeeyar.
kuzhAngaL kuzhiya kuzhu—‘maLLar kuzheeya vizhavinAnum mahaLir tazheeya tuNangaiyAnum yANDum kANEn mANDAkkOnai, yAnumO, ADuhaLa mahaLE engai kODeerilanguvaLai jnEhizhtta peeDukezhu kurisilum ADuhaLa mahanE’—kurundohai.
mANikkam koNDu kurangu erivu ottu iruLODumuTTi
ANipponnanna suDarpaDu mAlai ulahaLanda |
mANikkamE en maragadamE maTTru oppArai illA
ANipponnE aDiyEnaDi Avi aDaikkalamE || Eighty Five ||
The evening causes duhKa in the nAyaki. Some say it is tAi pASuram. ‘kAlai arumbi phalellam pOdAhi mAlai malarum innOi’—tirukkuraL. She finds it different even to sustain her life. Hence she says ‘unakkE en uyir tanjam; AdalAl neeyE ennai vaNDu kAttaruLavENum’.
In case of tAi pASura the phrase ‘aDiyEnaDiyAvi’ should be taken as’ my dependent daughter’ Avi here means she is very precious to me as my life.
mANikkam koNDu kurangu erivu ottu—If a person throws a gem to drive away the monkey, it catches and runs away with it. The gem is lost for ever. Similarly the sun falls on the night to drive it away. The night takes away the sun, soorya maNDala—mANikkam; night—monkey; the sun disappeared as the gem is lost (or) the monkey throws it in a bush not knowing its value. Similarly the evening throws the sun on the night. The latter takes it away and throws it behind a mountain. evening-monkey; sun-mANikkam.
anriyE, mANikkattai koNDu kuranga erindArpOlE enrumAm kurangudalAvadu vaLaidalAi, uditta Adittiyan uyara ezhundu vizhundu astamitta kaDumaiyai sonnapaDi’.—azhahiya maNavALa jeeyar.
ANippon—pure gold.
maTTru oppArai illA—He can be compared to Himself alone; He has no companion ‘tanakkuvamai illAdAm’-tirukkuraL. ‘ottAr mikkArai ilaiyAya mAmAya’—tiruvAimozhi.
swApadESArtha—Even though the kAla for samslESha has come BagavAn does not seem to come. AzhwAr loses his vivEka which is enveloped by mOhAndhakAra. he says, you are my swAmi; my Atma is yours. i shall submit my everything to you including my Atma since you are my rakShaka’.
aDaikkalattOngu kamalattu alar ayan senniyennum
muDaikkalattu ooNmun aranukku neekkiyai Azhisangam |
paDaikkalam Endiyai veNNeikku anru Aichchi van tAmbuhaLAl
puDaikka alandAnai emmAnai ensolli pulambuvanE || Eighty Six ||
This is a nAyaki pASura. She is thinking of His roopa, guNa and chEShTitas. He always hastens to help those in danger. He always carries charka and SanKa as weapons in order to save His aDiyars by killing ASrita virOdhis. He is sarva sulaBa to His Baktas (Oh! emberumAn! You have all the guNas to protect your ASritas but none of them has come to help me when i am in distress and cry for You’.
aDaikkalattu Ongu kamalttu alar ayan senni ennum muDaikkalattu ooN mun aranukku neekkiyai—He helped Siva when He was in problem.
Azhi sangam paDaikkalam Endiyai—He carries weapons to kill the Asrita virOdhis.
veNNeikkanru Aichchi vantAmbuhaLAl puDaikka alandAnai—He is sarva sulaBa towards His Baktas and aDiyArs. en solli pulambuvanE—What shall i say?—shall i ask Him to help me and remove my duhKas as He did to Siva? Shall i ask Him to help me by killing my virOdhis? Shall i ask Him to be as sulaBa as He was to Aichchis of AyarpADi who would beat Him or bind Him? Alas! These guNas are helpless in my case because of His indifference to me’.
aDaikkalattOngu kamalam—The tirumEni is green like the lotus leaf. The lotus from His nABi grows up from which brahma is born.
muDaikkalattu ooN aranukku neekiyai—Siva was jealous that brhama too has 5 heads like him. So he cut off one of the heads. The kapAla stuck to his hand which will not leave until it gets filled. Siva begged food in all places but it did not leave him. At last viShNu offered BikSha in his kapala which left his hand at once.
aDaikkalattu—Can be added as an adjective to Siva which would than mean Siva who took refuge in him. It can be taken with brahma to mean he who took refuge in the nABikamalam.
paDaikkalam—Weapons of war. The SanKa and chakra act both as ornaments as well as Ayudhas. The chakrAyudha is Ayudha all right. But how can SanKa become an Ayudha?
It creates terror in the minds of foes when it is bloom by Him.
anru Aichchi van tAmbuhaLAl puDiakka alandAnai—yaSOda beat Him with the rope and bind Him with the mortar since He would always steal butter in all the houses. He is sad (alandAnai) as He could not move out to steal butter and gOpis’ hearts. It is like the police arresting the mischief mongers before any festival so they cannot loot the public.
BaTTar was in tirukkOTTiyoor for some days. Once a viaShNava asked him to explain a pASura in tiruviruttam. Battar answered He would not do so—‘namberumALai pirinda tuyarattinAl enakkonrum solla pOhiradillai; nanjeeyar pakkalilE kETTukkoLLum’. The vaiShNava went to nanjeeyar who explained to him the meaning of this pASura. He was explaining the word ‘alandAnai’ (as feeling sad) BaTTar came and gave the following explanation ‘jeeyar! alandAnai enra pADattir kATTilum ‘alarndAnai’ enru pADam AzhwAr tiruvuLLattiruku miha porundum pOlE inru tOnruhiradu’. It means kaNNan was feeling happy (as He was beaten by Aichchi). He would cut the ropes into small pieces so she wouldn’t bind Him. Even though He is capable of making the long rope not enough to bind Him, He makes it possible for yaSOda to bind Him with joined ropes. This is His soulaByua guNa. As He cannot express this guNa in paramapada He is happy to do so here in AyarpADi. Isn't He kaNNinuN siruttAmbinAl kaTtuNNappaNNiya perumAyan?’ ‘inganE nammuDaiya souseelya soulaBaya guNangaL viLanga peTTrOmE; avatAra prayOjanam nangu niraivEra peTTradanrO’. Thus His face will be beaming with joy (alarndadu)
AzhwAr forgets Hhis vislESha duhKa when he sings His guNa, tirumEni, tirunamas etc.
en solli pulambuvanE—i can't find any defect in Him. So i find all the dOShas in me.
pulambum kanakural pOzhvAya anrilum poongazhipAindu
alambum kanakural soozh tiraiyAzhiyum Angavai nin |
valambuLLadu nalam pADum idu kuTTramAha vaiyam
silambumpaDi seivadE tirumAl ittiruvinaiyE || Eighty Seven ||
This is a tOzhi pASura. She feels sorry on seeing the state of nAyaki. This pASura can be taken as tOzhi addressing the nAyaka narrating her woes (or) the tOzhi addressing the nAyaka as if He is present.
‘nAyaka!This my friend spoke a few words in praise of garuDa, Your vAhana, in order to somehow lessen her duhKa’.
pulambum kanakural pOzhvAya anrilum—The anril birds have decided to enhance her duhKa. They cry in a loud voice when one of the pairs who sleep with locked beaks. Let it slip in her sleep.
poongazhi pAindu alambum kanakural soozh tirai Azhiyum—The sea with His lashing waves make even louder noise when the water gushes into a lake. It seems he is happy to meet his wife (river) and hug her with love.
One is the cry of separation (anril) and the other is the cry of union (sea). Both cause her duhKa since the former reminds of the vislESha and the latter her samslESha.
puLLadu nalam—The greatness of guard lies in His acting as the vAhana for emberumAn at the time of ASrita rakShaNa.
vaiyam silambum—All the people around her—her mother, neighbours, relatives—talk ill of him for neglecting her and of her for pining over him casting to air all her decorum and honour.
ittiruvinai—periya pirATTi never leaves His sides, but follows him like His shadow. So too this nAyaki who is the best of women (tiru).
pOzhvAya onrilum—The anril birds voice splits the body of the listener into two.
Angavai—‘pirindiruppArkkku maTTrum pAdahamAna SEkkaL kazhuttilE maNiyOsai enna, chandirOdayamenna, tenralenna ippaDippaTTa pAdahangaLai solliTTrAdal’---nambillai eeDu.
nin valam puLLadu nalam pADumidu kuTTramAha vaiyam silambumpaDi seivadE---‘garuDa does kainkarya to You by carrying You wherever You want to go. he bears scars on his body by doing so. Similarly i want to have scar on my body which are signs of our samslESha. The sea and the anril make my grief more intense by their noise. The people too enhance my duhKa by gossiping over my behaviour. Oh! nAyaka! Is it proper on your part to keep quiet not doing anything! Will you keep quiet if it is sreedEvi in my place?’
swApadESArtha—The birds cause duhKa because it reminds AzhwAr of His vislESha; the sea causes duhKa too because it reminds him of samslESha. The BAgavatas too feel the duhKa that BagavAn should treat AzhwAr like this. nin valam puLLadu nalam pADumidu.
kaTTramAha—AzhwAr sings in praise of garuDa since it is he who hastens to bring BagavAn to the place where BAgavatas suffer and cry for Him. Such emberumAn keeps quiet and gives a deaf ear to AzhwAr’s cries.
tiru—The aiSwarya (tiru) of AzhwAr is His kainkarya buddhi.
tirumAluruvokkum mEru ammEruvir senjuDarOn
tirumAl tirukkai tiruchchakaramokkum annakaNDum |
tirumAluruvODu avan chinnamE pidaTTrA nirpadOr
tirumAl talaikkoNDa nangaTku engEvarum teevinaiyE || Eighty Eight ||
The talaivi could not have His darSana. Not only that she precious objects that resemble him. She loudly talks incoherently about His tirumEni and Ayudhas. By doing so her grief increases. ‘What sins have i committed that i should suffer like this?’
tirumal uruvokkum mEru—emberumAn’s dark tirumEni appears golden here because of the presence of periya pirATTi. Therefore He appears like the golden coloured mEru mountains.
ammEruvil senjuDarOn tirumAl tirukkai tiruchchakaram okkum—The sun appear behind the mEru. That resembles the chakrAyudha which He holds in His hand annakaNDum tirumAl uruvODu avan chinnamE pidaTTrA nirpadOr—These objects bring to my mind His memory only. i am not fortunate to have the darSan of divyaswaoopa and divyAyudha but i feel the presence of Him in these things. i feel like shouting loudly. i don’t see Him coming. What a mahApApi i am!
mAl talaikoNDa—Standing on the peak of the mountains of desire ‘ninra kunrattinai nOkki neDumAlE! vA enru koovum’ ‘seyyadOr nAyiTTrai kATTi sireedaran moorti eedennum’—tiruvAimozhi.
‘janmAntara sahasrEShu tapO jnAna samAdhiBih narANAm kSheeNapApAnAm kriShNE Baktih prajAyatE’—it is said those whose pApas are destroyed get Bakti. To such men the pApAs do not touch. But how can this become false in my case alone when i am standing on the peak of Bakti mountain. To see Him in all objects in the sign of highest Bakti.
teevinaikku Aru nanjai nalvinaikku innamudattinai
poovinaimEya dEvi maNALanai punmai eLhAdu |
Avinai mEikkum vallAyanai anrulahu eeraDiyAl
tAvina ETTrai emmAnai enjnAnru talaipeivanE || Eighty Nine ||
This is a nAyaki pASura. He is the destroyer of pApas that cause duhKa. He is the nectar who do kainkarya to Him. He is the consort of tirumahaL who lives in a lotus which is the most fitting abode because of the similarities of softness, fragrance, beauty, colour etc. He is the shepherd who was happy to graze the cattle as if He is the real shepherd by birth. He is the lord who measured all the worlds with 2 strides. When am i going to see Him?
nalvinai—prapatti.
punmai eLhAdu Avinai mEikkum—He never thinks ‘why should i be like a shepherd boy. Am i not the dEvAdi dEva?’ But He willingly does the job ‘as if He is a born shepherd.
Eru—means bull, lion. These words suggest the greatness of a man. puruSharShaBah naravyAGrah, rAjasimhah are some such expressions.
talaippeidi yAnun tiruvaDi sooDum tahaimaiyinAl
nilaipeida Akkaikku nOTTra immAyamum mAyam sevvE |
nilaipeidilAda nilaimaiyum kaNDu Or asurarkuzhAm
tolai peida nEmi endAi tollai oozhi surungaladE || Ninety ||
This is a nAyaki pASura who laments over the absence of the nAyaka. ‘i suppose i have performed great tapas in my previous births in order to get this body in this janma that can worship your tiruvaDi by placing them on my head. Still i am sad because i haven’t got you. The kAla also seems to be lengthening not putting a stop to my agony.
surungaladu—This can be interpreted as ‘not shortened’ or ‘shortened’. If it is the former it means—the time seems to lengthen making my suffering a never ending one. In the latter case it means—the time is short and i don’t have any hope of seeing you. My life, i fear is going to end in duhKa alone’.
nOTTra immAyam—When one has done lots of tapas in the earlier janmas one would get a longing to see Him.
‘un tiruvadihaLil aDimaiyAlalladu sellAdapaDiyAna Sareerattai peTTrapaDiyaiyum, appaDi irukka seidE avvaDimaiyai izhandirukkira iruppaiyum anusandikka kAlam pOruhiradillai engirAr—‘appiLLai urai.
This Sareera is a boon given to me, which can desire to seek your tiruvaDi, do prapatti and take Him alone as upAya. Yet i am not getting poorNAnuBava. This delay makes me sad’. mAyam sevvE nilai peidilAda nilaimai—This Sareera is not permanent. It has prakrti sambandha which influences it with its 3 guNas. Hence my desire to do kainkarya is not strong; it oscillates now and then. tiruvaDi—Even though the word lotus-like is not there the word ‘sooDum’ suggests it. ‘kOlamAm en sennikku un kamalamanna kuraikazhalE’—tiruvAimozhi.
Akkaikku nOTTra immAyam—It is said one gets a Sree vaiShNava janma only if He had performed lots of tapas in the earlier janmas.
asurar kuzhAm tolaippeida nEmi endAi—You playfully kill the ausras with your chakrAyudha. Is it difficult for You to kill the enemies that prevent my seeking You?
surungu uri veNNei toDuvuNDa kaLvanai vaiyamuTTrum
orungura uNDa peruvayiTTrALanai mAvalimATTu |
iruguraLAhi isaiya Or moovaDi vENDisenra
perungiriyAnai allAl aDiyEn nenjam pENaladE || Ninety One ||
The talaivi had married Him in secret. The parents ignorant of this arrange a marriage for her. The talaivi through her tOzhi passes the message of her marriage to her parents and other elders. She asks her tOzhi to request them to arrange for the marriage with Him alone (not with anyone else). This is called ‘arattODu niTTral’.
surunguri veNNei toDuvuNDa kaLvan—reveals His soulaBya guNa.
viayam muTTrum orunguravuNDa peruvayiTTrALan—His paratva guNa.
mAvali mATTu irunuraLAhi isaiya Or moovaDi vENDichchenraperungiriyan—Both paratva and soulaBya.
surunguri—The churned butter is kept in ‘uris’ which are hung from the ceiling. The pot will be so tightly tied with ropes that it is difficult to open the lid. Still kaNNan would steal all the butter and eat.
irunguraL—Very short form; the dwarf form which has the potentiality to expand covering the whole world (or) dark short form; (or) great form.
isaiya Or moovaDi vENDichchenra perungiriyAn—When mahAbali agreed to give what He asked. sukrAchArya (his guru) prevented him since he knows who was that came begging. But vAmana made mahAbali give dAna by His enchanting looks and words.
surunguri veNNei toDuvuNDAkaLvan—kaNNan takes out the butter stored in ‘uris’ and enjoys it. Similarly He enjoys the Atma hidden inside the jeevas by bringing them out.
pENamillA arakkar munneera perumpadivAi
neeNahar neeLeri vaittaruLAyenru ninnaiviNNOr |
tANilam tOindu tozhuvar ninmoortti palkooTTrilonru
kANumAngol enrE vaihal mAlaiyum kAlaiyumE || Ninety Two ||
This pASura is called ‘vEndarkkuTTruzhi pirivu’. When a king is defeated by another, the former will seek the help of a more powerful king in order to defeat Him. Similarly the dEvas defeated by the asuras and driven away by then seek the help of Sreeman nArAyaNa to help them regain the positions. The lord too leaves His nAyaki and goes out to fulfill the task.
parAnkuSa nAyaki blames the dEvas for taking Him away from her. The dEvas are selfish jeevas who worship only to pour out their woes and seek His help in order to gain some meager ends. They don’t worship to admire His tirumEni or guNas.
The nAyaki says ‘Oh! swAmi! i seek your tiruvaDi as ananaya prayOjana. But you never look at me whereas you run to helps the dEvas who seek You with some prayOjana.
nin moorti pal kooTTril onru kANalAm kol enrE—‘tOL kaNDAr tOLE kaNDAr toDu kazhar kamalamanna tAL kaNDAr tALE kaNDAr taDakkai kaNArumakdE’—kambarAmAyaNa. If one sees one part of your tirumEni one does not shift the eyes from there since it takes yugas to admire that part alone.
minnai viNNOr kANumAngol enrE tAL nilam tOindu tozhuvar—But the dEvas worship You day and night asking You to kill ravana or to churn the ocean. They don’t say ‘ilangia pAzhALAha paDai porudArkku pallANDu koorudumE’ or ‘senrangu tennilangai seTTrAi tiral pOTTri’. When You churn the pArkaDal they don’t gaze and admire Your tirumEni but gaze at the ocean ‘when will the amruta come? When shall we eat it? When shall we defeat the asuras and regain our kingdom?’ But AzhwAr’s only idea is to admire His beauty ‘mandaram nATTi anru madura kozhunjAnu koNDa sundarattOLuDaiyAn’. ‘apperumAnuDaiya tOLum tOLmAlaiyumAna azhahai oru noDippozhudAhilum kaNNeDuttu pArttilarE pAvihaL; annavarkkEyO nee kAriyam pEN nalamillA arakkar—rAkShasas do not consider other creatures with love and affection. They fixed pleasure in doing harm to weaker ones.
padi—The island of lanka. It is called perumpadi and neeNahar. It is protected not only by the mighty rAkShasas and strong forts but also by the varabala obtained by their kings.
neeLeri vaittaruLAi—When rAvaNa was the king he ordered the agni to cook food and not harm otherwise. The agni dEva obeyed his orders and kept quiet. Thus did all the pancha Bootas during his reign. That is why the dEvas ask emberumAn to burn the city’. agni too burnt the city and took his revenge on the rAkShasa king.
tAL nilam tOindu tozhuvar—The dEvas are very proud and look down on manuShyas like we do the animals. They take their havirBAgas (offerings given to them in the agni) standing at a distance, closing their nose with hands suggesting their superiority and unwillingness to stand here on earth where men walk. Those proud dEvas come to Boo lOka standing on the ground pray to Him and ask His help.
kAlai veiyOrku mun OTTu koDutta kangurkurumbar
mAlai veyyOn paDa vaiyaham pAvuvar annakaNDum |
kAlainan jnAnatturai paDindADi kaNpOdu seidu
mAlainannAvir koLLAr ninaiyAravan maippaDiyE || Ninety Three ||
People see the kAla pass by, the sun sets and rises each time deducting a day in their lives. They see themselves changing from being a child, to a boy and then to a young man. But they never seem to bother about mOkSha. They indulge themselves in worldly pleasures—to earn money and to spend them on mean pleasures. ‘vaihalum vaihal varakkaNDum akduNarAr’—nAlaDiyAr. They spend the precious time in useless pastimes. AzhwAr says ‘pazhudE pala pahalum pOyina’ ‘vALhaLAhi nALhaL sella’ ‘oomanAr kaNDa kanavilum pazhudA’. The samsAris do not regret they haven’t spent the days to travel in the path of BagavadanuBava. AzhwAr’s avatA
ra is to change the worldly men into mumukShus. He is full of compassion for the samsAris. Hence he always thinks of ways of uplifting them.
He speaks of time that erodes the lives of men ‘nandantyudita AdityE nandantyastamitE ravau’ kAlai—in the morning when satva guNa is predominant nal jnAnatturai paDindu—climbing on the steps of Atma jnAna by worshipping the AchAryas.
ADi—diving in the teachings of the gurus.
kaN pOdu seidu—Preventing the indriyas from wandering in the worldly viShayas.
,Alai nal nAvil koLLAr—They don’t chant the name sand sing the glories of BagavAn, the sarvESwara. avan maippaDi ninaiyAr—They don’t meditate and enjoy the dark form of tirumAl.
naljnAnam---It is called jnAnam when it is about emberumAn. All the other jnAna are called ajnana or vipareetajnAna. ‘oN tAmaraiyAL kELvan aruvanaiyE nOkkum uNarum—poihai AzhwAr.
kAlai—is the time for bathing. 'KAlai turai paDindADi’ says AzhwAr.
kaN pODu seidu—‘emberumAn pakkalilE jnAnamennum uTkaN malarndu’. ‘pOdu seidu enru moTTikkaikkum pEr alaruhaikkum pEr. purambuTTra viShayangaLil kaN sembiLittu ennudal; Bagavat viShayattilE vizhittu ennudal’—nambiLLai eeDu. The word pOdu means both to be in a state of bud and to bloom. Here both the meanings apply but in different contexts. pOdu as moTTittu means the jnAna is blind towards the worldly viShayas; pOdu in the sense of bloom means the jnAna is opened to the BagavadviShaya ‘mAlai nannavir koLLAr’ and ‘ninaiyAr avan maippaDiyE’—it is not enough to chant His names. one should meditate on His form too. ‘peyarinaiye pundiyAr sindaiyAdu OdiyuruveNNum andiyAlAm payanangen’—mudal tiruvandAdi.
nalnA—The tongue which chants His names fulfilling the purpose of its creation. ‘nArAyaNa vennA nA enna nAvE’—silappadihAram.
This pASura is called ‘iruL kaNDu anjuhira talaivi tOzhiyaiyum tAyaiyum veruttal idu’. The nAyaki separated from the nAyaka is longing to see Him. The sun has set spreading darkness everywhere enhancing her sorrow since the night reminds their union and dark tirumEni. ‘ulahEzhum uNDAn son mozhi mAlai andaNNanduzhAi koNDu sooTTumin’—tiruviruttam. She feels the nAma sankeertana alone is the remedy for her illness. But her mother, tOzhi and others do not understand this so she blames them for their non-understanding.
She at first blames the darkness, then says it reminds her of His dark tirumEni. She feels if she chants His names her duhKa decreases. But the people around her feel what she does is wrong.
veyyOn—Hot sun; a powerful king who defeats his foes.
kurumbar—Petty chieftains (kurunila mannar)
annakaNDum—Even after witnessing the defeat of the great king (the sunset) and the unjust chieftains taking over the reigns (night setting in) people never think of the ways to mOkSha sAmrAjya.
maipaDi mEniyum sendAmaraikaNNum vaidiharE
meippaDiyAl un tiruvaDi sooDum tahaimaiyinAr |
eppaDi oor A millaikka kuruTTA milaikkum ennum
appaDi yAnum sonnEn aDiyEn maTTrari yAdenbanE ||Ninety Four||
In the last pASura AzhwAr said ‘mAlai nannavir koLLAr ninaiyAr avan meippaDiyE’. emberumAn asks AzhwAr. ‘Oh! AzhwAr! you say You can describe me’ to him He replies ‘emberumAn! Only vaidikas, Your BAgavatas can do so. i simply follow them and repeat what they say’.
They are great men who are well versed in vEdas and follow the injunctions; who are able to see Him directly and feel happy on seeing His dark tirumEni and lotus-like eyes. They are not like me who simply repeat what they say and who lack direct experience. i am like the blind cow which simply moos where the other cows moo when they reach home. i don’t have your sambandha and true Bakti. They are mahApuruShas whereas i am a blind ignorant man. ‘ityuktikaitava SatEna viDambayAmi tAnamba! satya vachasah puruShAm purANAm yadvA na me Bujabalam tava pAda padma lABE’—Sree guNaratna kOSa of BaTTar.
This pASura is called ‘talaiviyai kaNDa pAngan meeNDu talaivanai aDuttu viyandu kooral idu’. The nAyaka had samslESha with her and separated for some reason. He wants to meet her again. He describes her beauty to his tOzhan. The latter says ‘you should not feel depressed just for the sake of a girl. This behaviour does not suit your honour’.
One day the tOzhan sees the nAyaki in a garden. He is simply dumbfounded on seeing such a divine beauty. He feels ‘ittanmaiyuDaiyavaLai kaNDa pin kAma vEdanaiyAl miha varundAdu siridum Ariyirukkiravanai nAn munbu ArAichchiyinri iDitturaittEnE’.I think my friend does not grieve much after separating from such a beautiful girl. Whenever he was feeling sad I used to make fun of him without knowing the truth. This pASura is the tOzhan pASura.
meippaDi mEniyum sendAmarai kaNNum-You are very handsome with dark tirumEni and red eyes You are the best match for her.
vaidikarE meippaDiyAl un tiruvaDi sooDum tahaimaiyinAr--Even the mahApuruShas respect You by placing Your tiruvaDi on thier heads because of Your guNa that You keep Your calmness not disturbed by Your separation.
eppaDi oorA milaikka kuruTTA milaikkum ennum appaDi yAnum sonnEn--Only today, i came to now the great beauty of hers and the undisturbed mind of Yours. All these days i was speaking what others say without knowing the truth.
aDiyEn--i am Your dAsa. Please pardon me for my mistake.
maTTru yAdenbarE--i can just appreciate her beauty and Your guNa. i cannot describe them fully.
yAdAnum OrAkkaiyirpukku angAppuNDum Appavizhndum
moodAviyir taDumArum uyir munnamE adanAl |
yAdAnum paTTri neengum viradattai nalveeDu seyyum
mAtAvinai pituvai tirumAlai vaNanguvanE || Ninety Five ||
AzhwAr reveals in this pASura His stand for prapatti BagavAn is an Apat bAndhava (a friend in need) Aptabandhu )a trusted friend) and sakalavida bandhu (all kinds of relation)—I plead Him to somehow release me from this chain of births and take me to Him.
Atma takes some Sareera or other according to the karma Pala. It is bound in that janma by that particular Sareera. When the Sareera perishes the Atma takes a sookShma Sareera (subtle body), goes to swarga (heaven or naraka to experience the karma Pala. This Sareera sambandha is anAdi. Only emberumAn is capable of cutting off the chains of births and deaths. He can make Him a dAsa, employ Him in His kainkarya. Thus He is like a mother (loving) and father (in leading Him) to Him i surrender.
yAdAnum Or Akkaiyil pukku—‘pukku’ here means the ‘entry’ of Atma in to a Sareera is because of its dEha sambandha and karma sambandha. It is not its natural state.
AppuNDu—The bondage is due to ahamkAra and mamakAra in these janmas.
moodAviyil taDumArum uyir munnamE—To an atma both the samsAra sambandha and Bagavat sambandha are anAdi.
Of these two nArAyaNa sambandha is more ancient that achit sambandha (Sareera sambandha). This fact is revealed by nammAzhwAr in his pASuras. Here He says ‘moodAviyil taDumArum uyir munnamE’; in tiruvAimozhi he says ‘SOrndE puhal koDA suDarai arakkiyai mookkeerndAyai, aDiyEn aDaindEn mudal munnamE’. He uses the word ‘munnamE’ when He speaks of achit sambandha; He uses the word ‘mudal munnamE’ when He talks of Bagavat sambandha. Thus He reveals the latter is more ancient than the former. ‘Etannimittam munnamE mudal munnamEyAna achidayanAnAdi sambandhangaL’—AchArya hrudayam.
yAkkai—Sareera i.e. that which binds the Atma.
Avi—Here means Sareera. The Atma after leaving this sthoola Sareera enters sookShma Sareera to go to swarga or naraka and again enters a sthoola Sareera to enjoy the karma Pala. Even this sookShma Sareera is shed when it attains mukti. To explain it further let us say Atma is a paddy grains; the sthoola Sareera is the husk; the sookShma Sareera is the bran. The paddy is pounded with two pestles (jnAna and anuShThAna) to remove the husk. (sthoola Sareera) Further the bran (sookShma Sareera is removed by washing it in water (by bathing in virajA nadi).
This pASura is called ‘tlaaivi arattODu nira tuNidal’. parAnkuSa nAyaki is feeling sad as she is separated from the nAyaka after having samslESha with Him in secret. ‘If this state continues I shall die very soon. If i get another Sareera in my next janma i shall have Him alone as my husband. But i am not sure whether i will get manuShya janma’.
There are as many as 84 crore types of living beings in this world. ‘Of them i may be born as anything. i don’t know when i will get human birth. Therefore in this birth alone, before i die, i shall try to meet Him. i shall tell my tOzhi eschewing all kinds of bashfulness about this. She, in turn, will carry this message to my parents and convince them about my love. Also i shall ask her to carry my message to the talaivan, ask Him to come fast and marry me’.
neengum viradattai nal veeDu seidu—To marry me in public and never leave me after that.
viradam—The separation is inevitable in all kinds of marriages—iyarkai puNarchchi, pAngar kooTTam, iDandalaippADu, pAngiyirkooTTam, paharkuri, iravukkuri, oru vazhi taNattal, varai poruTpiridal etc.
yAdAnum paTTri—The parents look into several aspects of the groom like education, property, good lineage, character, love, request, giving ornaments to the birds etc. in order to give their daughter in marriage. ‘i shall ask them to consider anyone aspect in Him and get me married’. If yAdAnum paTTri is combined with the word ‘neengum’ then it means the talaivan will leave her for petty reasons like their marriage in secrecy is known to other, the people blaming the eloped couple, going out to earn money for the marriage etc.
vaNangum turaihaL palapalavAkki madiviharpAl
piNangumsamayam palapalavAkki avaiyavaidOr |
aNangum palapalavAkki ninmoortti parappivaittAi
iNangu ninnOraiyillAi nin kaNvETkaiezhuvippanE || Ninety Six ||
AzhwAr tells emberumAn ‘Oh! swAmi! adviteeya! You have created many religious many deities, many philosophies, according to the rajasik and tamasic guNa of the people. Propelled by their guNas they seek different deities and follow different religious they don’t seek You. Those worships do not take thus to you. Fortunately i am aware of your swaroopa which is the antaryAmi in all the dEvatas. i don’t resort to any other paths except praptti. I shall preach them to the samsAris and make them worship Sreeman nArAyaNa alone.
AzhwAr is sent here to correct the people by taking to prapatti mArga. Therefore he is right in saying so.
vaNangum turaihaL palapalavAkki—There are many mArgas like karma yOga, jnAna yOga, Bakti yOga etc. madi vikarpAl piNangum samayam palapalavAkki—‘onrE poruL enin vErenba vErenin anrenba Aru samayattAr’—tiruvaLLuva mAlai. The men who call them ‘wise’ belonging to different schools of thoughts contradict each other and speak what is untruth or twist the truth of vEdas.
avai avai tOru aNangum palapalavAkki—There are several gods like amman, piDAri, sAttAn, kooTTran and so on.
nin moorti parappi vaittAi—You are the antaryAmi in all the gods and goddesses. They are Your Sareera and you are the Sareeri. ‘sa Atma; angAni anyA dEvatAh’ says upaniShad.
iNangu ninnOrai illAi—Who else other than You is there to control this jagat? You are sarvaSaktimAn.
ninkaN vETkai ezhuvippanE—i shall spread the prapatti mArga among the people. i shall ask them through my teachings to refrain from all other mArgas and adopt this alone. ishall tell them how this prapatti is the surest way to mOkSha. i shall prove them how only Sree vaiShNavism is the best of all religious. i shall ask them to worship none else but Sreeman nArAyaNa alone. He alone is the supreme lord, all the other dEvatas are deities with limited powers.
This pASura is ‘talaivi veri vilakkuvikka ninaittal’. On seeing this parAnkuSa nAyaki getting thinner everyday and on observing her odd behaviour the mother and other ladies bring a kaTTuvichchi to know what ails her. On her advice they ask a man to dance (veriyATTu) to drive away the spirit possessing her. The talaivi pretends illness because she does not want people to believe this veriyATTam cured her. She feels it puts a blemish on her chastity if she says this veriyATTam cured her. On the other hand she has to face many more such ‘treatments’ if she says she is not cured, like sprinkling of meat, toddy etc. Also she has to bear the criticisms of people. So she has no option except to reveal the truth about her nAyaka. She says ‘kulamahaTku deivam kozhunanE’. To a chaste woman her husband alone is the god. ‘ayalArkku ikkaLavozhukkam teriyavoNNAdapaDi kaTTuvichchiyin nerukuriyil muruha kaDavuLai kATTiyavanum, vElan vazhipATTukku vazhimuraiyAl uriyanAhuhiravanum mudarperum deivamAhiya neeyEyAyinum addeivattinAl en nOi sidaikkappaDudal muzhumudar kaDavuLAhiya oppaTTra unnai nEril talaivanAha koNDa enadu karpirku kuraivAdalin, yAn adanai uDanpaDEn’.
ezhuvadum meeNDE paDuvadum paTTu enai oozhihaL pOi
kazhivadum kaNDu kaNDu eLhalallAl imaiyOrhaL kuzhAm |
tozhuvadum soozhvadum sei tollaimAlai kaNNArakkaNDu
kazhivadOr kAdaluTTrArkkum uNDOkaNhaL tunjudalE || Ninety Seven ||
To those who want to have direct experience of BagavAn cannot have it. The kAla flies fast into months, years and yugas. Yet they don’t have the satisfaction of having had full experience. Desiring to have the same kind of experience as the nitya sooris, if he gets it, he wont have a mind even to wink his eyes after seeing Him as direct perception.
There is another interpretation to this pASura.
ezhuvadum—to be born; meeNDE paDuvadum—to die again. paTTu—after the birth.
enai oozhihaL pOi kazhivadum—To die after living for some years.
kaNDu kaNDu—Thus directly experiencing the anityatva (transient nature) of the worldly objects.
eLhal allAl—One should feel distaste for them. To those who want BagavadanuBava there is no jnAna sankOcha.
The time flies unceasingly into yugas. ‘vALhaLAhi nALhaL sella’. One feels sad ‘aiyO! kAlamellAm veeNAi kazhindu pOhiradE, Bagavat sAkShAtkAram namakku kiDaikkavillaiyE’. He cannot say ‘emberumanai kaNNAra kaNDAyiTTru; namadu kAdal teernduviTTadu’.
kaNNAra—The purpose of having eyes is to see Him directly ‘kariyavanai kANAda kaNNenna kaNNE kaNNimaittu kANbArtam kaNNenna kaNNE’—silappadihAram.
AzhwAr says ‘kAdaluTTrArkku eLhalallAl kaN tunjudaluNDO’. If your desire is to have BagavadanuBava then you have to sacrifice sleep and food; you will feel your whole body and mind melting.
‘swatantrarAna perumAL uranginAr enru kETkumittanai pOkki avarai anuvarttittuppOna iLaiya perumALukku kaNNurangiTTrO? BagavadviShayattilE kaivaittAril idukku mun kaNNuranginAr uNDenru kETTarivArunDO?’—nambiLLai eeDu.
This pASura is called ‘nAyahanai pirindu tuyil koLLAda nAyahi irangi uraikkum pASuram’.
The nAyaki suffers from viraha tApa; she is not able to sleep. ‘kangulum pahalum kaN tuyilariyAL’. The tOzhi tries to pacify her saying ‘nAyahanai pirinda nilaimaiyil ippaDiyum alaTTruvAruNDE? palavahaipaTTa ulaha poruTkaLai kaNDu koNDu pozhudu pOkki oruvAru AriyirukkalAmE? appaDi Ari tuyil koLLum nAyahihaL ulahattil illaiyO? avarhaLai pOla tuyil koNDirukkalAmE?’ (Oh! nAyaki! I have never seen anyone like you. Why don’t you sleep if nAyaka is not there? Try to divert your attention to something else. Aren’t there plenty of things in this world which can catch your attention? I have seen the other women doing so) The nAyaki replies ‘it is true in case of those who love a man. But my love is towards emberumAn. Isn't He puruShOttama?
imaiyOrhaL kuzhAm tozhuvadum soozhvadum sei-He is not an ordinary man. He is always surrounded by nityasooris who constantly worship Him.
tollai mAl—He is vyAmOha towards jeevAtmas.
tunjAmunivarum allAdavarum toDaraninra
enjAppiravi iDarkaDivAn imaiyOr tamakkum |
tansArvilAda taniperumoortti tanmAyam sevvE
nenjAl ninaipparidAl veNNei ooNennum eenachchollE || Ninety Eight ||
AzhwAr says the enjoyment got out of meditating on His paratva guNa and soulaBya guNa is impossible even for imagination since it has no limitation.
veNNei yooNennum eenachchollE—His soulaBya guNa. The other sentences reveal His paratva guNa.
AzhwAr takes the navaneeta chourya vrttAnta (stealing of butter) as the foremost example for His soulaBya. ‘nenjAl ninaipparidAl veNNeiyooNennum eenachchollE’. One can find the upper limit of His paratva but not that of soulaBya.
veNNeiyooNennum eenachchol nenjAl ninaipparidAl—‘sarvESwaranAi brahmAdihaLukkum kooDa ASrayaNeeyanAi avApta samasta kAmanAi irukkiravan ASrida sparSamuLLa dravyamE tanakku dhArakamAi adudAn nErkoDunEr kiTTapperAdE ippaDi kaLavu kaNDAhilum bujikka vENDi adutAn talaikkaTTapperAdE vAyadu kaiyadAha ahappaTTu kaTTuNDu aDiyuNDu pratikriyai aTTru uDambu veLuttu pEhaNittu ninra nilai silarkku nilamO’—nambiLLai eeDu.
imaiyOr tamakkum sevvE nenjAl ninaipparidAl—The nityasooris who possess the same form as His, the same jnAna and who have unceasing BagavadanuBava find not the limit of His paratva and soulaBya.
‘tunjA munivarum allAdavrum enjA piravi iDar kaDivAn toDara ninra tan sArvillAda tanipperum moortitan’—is the prose order.
tunjA munivarum—sanakAdi yOgins who never think of anything but Him.
allAdavarum—brahmAdi dEvar who have both BagavadBAva and karma BAva.
enjA piravi iDar kaDivAn—In order to liberate themselves from the duhKa of repeated births.
toDara—Worship Him.
ninra—He remains as the supreme Lord.
tan sArvu ilAda—He is the one who is sought by others as refuge; He has to one to seek refuge.
This pASura can be taken as tOzhi pASura ‘nalla en tOzhi. nAhaNai misai namparar, selvar periyar siru mAniDavar nAm seivaden’—nAchchiyAr tirumozhi.
The talaivi wonders whether such a one as He who paratva and soulaBya have no limit, will come and marry her. ‘attanai perumai vaindavan eLiyaLAna ennai kaippaTTri koNDaruLvanO’. To her the tOzhi replies ‘Oh! nAyaki! Don’t worry! He who is the supreme Lord is very very sulaBa towards His Baktas. Therefore He will certainly come to marry you. Didn’t He steal the butter in the houses of AyarpADi?’
eenasollAyinumAha eritirai vaiyamuTTrum
EnatturuvAyiDanda pirAn irugarpaham sEr |
vAnattavarkkum allAdavarkkum maTTrellAyavarkkum
jnAnappirAnai allAl illai nAn kaNDa nalladuvE || Ninety Nine ||
AzhwAr tells His aDiyArs that He trusts emberumAn alone who lifted Boomi pirATTi from the praLaya jala at the end of the kalpa He alone can lift us from the jala of samsAra.
eenachchollAyinumAha—The samsAris are interested in the three puruShArthas alone—dharma, artha and karma. To them i talk about the 4th puruShArtha, mOkSha. They may not like my teachings as they have attachment to the Sareera alone. But that doesn’t desist me from teaching them when a child falls into a ditch without knowing, the mother too falls into it, knowing very well it is a ditch, in order to save the child. BagavAn took varAhavatAra and jumped into the praLaya water to save Boomi. To such mahOpakAraka alone i surrender myself; to no one else.
This happened at the end of pAdura kalpa. Hence the next kalpa i.e. the present kalpa is called varAha kalpa, ellAyavarkkum—Even the birds, animals and all other creatures come under this category. Some commentators interpret ‘allAdavarkkum’ as nityasooris (who never leave Him) and ‘maTTru ellAyavarkkum’ as manuShyas.
This pASura is called ‘talaivan pakkalil tanakkuLLA anburudiyai talaivi tOzhikku uraittal’. The talavi tells her tOzhi the greatness of her nAyaka leaving aside her bashfulness. eenachchollayinumAha—Let people talk low of me since i married Him in secret.
nallAr navilkkuruhoornaharAn tirumAl tiruppEr
vallAraDikkaNNi sooDiya mAran viNNappam seida |
sollAr toDaiyal innoorum vallAr azhundAr pirappAm
pollA aruvinai mAya van sETTraLLar poinnilattE || One Hundred ||
This pASura gives Pala of reading and understanding as well as assimilating these 100 pASuras. One should seek an AchArya who has both jnAna and anuShThana. he will show the way to BagavadanuBava like madhurakavi AzhwAr who sought nammAzhwAr as his guru. AzhwAr’s birth place in tirunahari called tirukkuruhoor. These pASuras are sung by Him who is possessed with Bagavat BAgavata Bakti. They are honoured both by BagavAn and BAgavatas.
Those who read them with BAva will not drown in the samsAra sAgara i.e. they will go to paramapada. tirukkuruhoor is called ‘nallAr navil kuruhoor’ since he feels he is fortunate to be born in this divyadESa and says the dESa mahima alone made him what he is. tirumAl tiruppEr vallAr aDikkaNNi sooDiya—In the tiruvAimozhis ‘payilum suDaroLi’ and ‘neDumArkaDimai’. AzhwAr’s BAgavata Bakti is vividly revealed. Therefore, it is no wonder he calls them a garland of tiruvaDi which is worn on His head.
In the first pASura AzhwAr said ‘aDiyEn seyyum viNNappomE’ and in the last pASura he says ‘mAran viNNappam seida’.
innoorum—‘mahAbAradam pOlE parandiruttal, praNavam pOlE surungi iruttal seyyAdE nooru pATTAi jnATavyAmsam aDaiya uNDAyirukkai’—nambiLLai eeDu.
mAya van sETTraLLal poi nilam—This mire of samsAra can make even jnAnis and mahAvivEkis too to drown. This is called vansEru since this samsAra is too terrible that it can make even emberumAn to drown if he takes birth here.
AzhwAr started the prabandha ‘poi ninra jnAnamum pollA ozhukkum azhukkuDambum inninra neermai iniyAmurAmai aDiyEn seyyum viNNappam’; and ends it with ‘viNNappam seida innoorum vallAr azhundAr poi nilattu’. This shows AzhwAr’s vNNappam is to remove his virOdhis.
nallAr navil—nambiLLai and periyavAchchAn piLLai take this as glorifying no kuruhoor but AzhwAr himself. ‘lOkattil sattukkaLaDaiya AzhwAr ennumattanai!
mAran—nammAzhwAr is called so because He is different from all others who run after ‘uNDiyE uDaiyE’; he runs after BagavAn ‘uNNum sOru paruhum neer tinnum veTTrilai ellAm kaNNan’.
tiruviruttam muTTriTTru
nammAzhwAr tiruvaDihaLE SaraNam
No comments:
Post a Comment