nAcciyAr tirumozhi VI - vAraNam Ayiram 8

[Guest guest]

SrI:

SrI ANDAL samEta SrI rangamannAr tiruvaDigaLE SaraNam

 

nAcciyAr tirumozhi VI - vAraNam Ayiram

pASuram 6.8 (sixth tirumozhi - pAsuram 8 immaikkum

EzhEzh piRavikkum)

 

A. Translation from SrImAn SaDagOpan's tamizh treatise:

 

godai describes the next part of her dream to her friend:

"nArAyaNan, who is our protector for us in this birth and

all the forthcoming births, and who is filled with kalyANa

guNa-s, held my right foot with His red-hued tiruk-kai

and placed it on the ammi (stone)."

 

immaikkum EzhEzh piRavikkum paRRAvAn

nammai uDaiyavan nArAyaNan nambi

SemmaiyuDaiya tirukkaiyAl tAL paRRi

ammi midikka kanAk kaNDEn tozhI! nAn

 

B. Some additional thoughts (from SrI SaDagOpan):

 

ANDAL declared in tiruppAvai "eRRaikkum EzhEzh piRavikkum

un tannODu uRROmE Avom unakkE nAm At SeyvOm maRRai nam

kAma~ngaL mARRElorempAvAi", thus describing the SaraNAgati

tattvam. In this tirumozhi, she declares the same in a

different form: "emperumAn is having a permanent, indestructible

relation with us in this birth and the next and in all

His avatArams". In tiruppAvai ANDAL declares -

kuRaivonRumillAda govindA! un tannODu uRavEl namakku i~ngu

ozhikka ozhiyAdu". Here she does mangalASasanam to Him

saying "immaikkum EzhEzh piRavikkum paRRAvAn,

nammai uDaiyavan nArAyaNan nambi".

 

For the mantram recited during "ammi midittal", please refer to the

following location:

 

<http://www2.be.com/~mani/bhakti/archives/apr98/0083.html>

 

C. Additional thoughts (from SrI PVP and SrI PBA):

 

immaikkum EzhEzh piRavikkum paRRAvAn: In the previous pASuram,

godai had said that because of their holding hands in front of

agni as the witness, they cannot part with each other.

Here she says: "even if the witness agni tries to make us

leave each other, He will not let go ever, in this birth

and all future births".

 

EzhEzh piRavikkum: There is no void in our lives, no matter

how many times we will be born, as long as we get to enjoy Him.

When yAgams are done for the sake of making it rain etc, the

benefit would be that it will give the right fruit only once.

But this not the case with Him. As seen from rAma carama slokam

("sakr*dEva prapannAya"), it is enough for us to hold on to

Him once as upAyam; that anubhavam will stick to us for as

long as time exists. nammAzhwAr shows us this sentiment in

tiruvAimozhi 9-1-7 "kuRRamil SIr kaRRu vaigal vAzhdal kaNDIr

guNamE".

 

nammai uDaiyavan: He is our sarva-svAmi; we belong to

Him, not to our own selves. Here SrI PVP quotes "coreNa

Atma apahAriNA" (bhAratam udhyoga parva 42-35) - this

AtmA belongs to bhagavAn; whoever thinks it belongs to

himself, is really stealing the AtmA. There is no greater

thievery and sin than this.

 

nambi - refers to He who is full of unlimited kalyANa

guNa-s. This is the equivalent of akhila heyapratyanIka,

asankhyeya kalyANa guNa ganuagha mahArNavam.

 

SemmaiyuDaiya tirukkaiyAl tAL paRRi: Semmai here refers to

two attributes of His tiruk-kai. One is the beautiful red

color of His palms. The other is His ASrita pAratantriyam -

His becoming subservient to those who seek refuge

in Him - or His great desire to hold His bhaktas' feet, 'Semmai".

 

During weddings, normally, the bridegroom's relatives will say

"don't touch the bride's foot". The bride's relatives will say

"you will have to hold her foot"; when the two sides are arguing

like this, He came on His own and held godai's foot with great

desire. Even though He is our svAmi, we don't have

interest in resorting to His Feet; unlike us, He is very eager

to hold the feet of those who resort to Him. This is what is

conveyed by the word "Semmai". Even though He tells us

"mAm ekam SaraNam vraja", which means we should hold His Feet

and surrender to Him, in truth when we go and seek His

Feet, it is He who holds our feet with great zeal.

 

ammi midikka: This is the aSma ArohaNam ceremony -

stepping over the stone - ammi midittal. The bridegroom

says to the bride - "Be strong in your loyalty to me,

like this stone" - "aSmEva tvam sthirA bhava". SrI PVP's

anubhavam is that as He is trying to place godai's foot on

the stone, she is worried about His foot touching the

stone by accident. Why? Because, that stone might turn

into a woman like ahalyai!

 

SrI PBA notes that there is a view that ammi midittal

is done as a way of saying that the bride will not have

infidelity like ahalyA, but will be a great pativratA instead.

 

tozhI nAn - Godai tells her sakhi: Previously I have heard

about His ASrita pAratantriyam from you; now I have myself

experienced it.

 

 

sarvam SrIman nArAyaNAyEti samarpayAmi.

 

adiyEn,

Kalyani Krishnamachari