A Tirumalai paasuram

[Guest guest]

Sri Baghavottamas,

 

Thondaradipodialwar as seen from his name is humility personified. The

extent of his voicing his introspection aloud and the amount of abuses he

heaps on himself is something unimaginable.

 

In Tirumalai (paasuram 3) he makes a succinct case for asking for this birth

to be the last. The paasuram is as follows:

 

vedanoor pirayam nooru manidardham puguvarelum

padiyum urangi pogum- ninradir padinaandu

pedai palaganagum, piNi, paSi, moopu, thunbam|

AdalAl piravi venden arangamA nagaruLAne

 

(My apologies for any errors in transliteration)

 

The very first time i recited this pasuram i felt deep stirrings within me

and the more i thought about this, i became convinced that this is a theme

that transcends time and place, wherever one is and whatever he/she is

doing. Seeking the lotus feet of Sri Aranganathar should be the only goal

because the alternative is rebirth which is replete with so much problems.

Even when i am writing this posting, i feel very emotional and passionate

about the fervent manner in which Azhwar asked for liberation.

 

The meaning of this paasuram (as i understand it):

Even if we live to 100 years (as per vedas), half is spent in sleep (more

for some) and of the rest 15 years is lost in the graduation process to

youth. OF the balance, more time is wasted on account of disease, hunger

(and the time to satiate the hunger in whatever form it is), old age and

suffering. So please do not give me another birth, O Lord residing in the

great city of Arangam!!

 

Perhaps Azhwar did not consider pursuit of wealth as an activity at all and

hence did not include in the list of things which consume our time and

therefore deprive us of valuable time to think about the Lord. Or Perhaps

he did, under the classification of Pasi (hunger) which could refer to

hunger for money, bodily comforts, fame or the thousand odd things that most

of us spend our lives chasing and satiating.

 

So where is the time to think about and meditate upon HIM in this

world?

 

Thondaradipodiazhwar thiruvadigaLE saraNam

 

adiYen dasan

 

 

Badrinarayanan V S

[Guest guest]

On Thu, 13 Nov 1997, Badrinarayanan V S wrote:

> The meaning of this paasuram (as i understand it):

> Even if we live to 100 years (as per vedas), half is spent in sleep (more

> for some) and of the rest 15 years is lost in the graduation process to

 

'pathinaiyaaNdu' here means 10x5 = 50 (as per periyavaachchaan piLLai's

commentary). (thiruppaavai, aiaindhum, aindhum = 5x5 + 5)

 

--badri