nAcciyAr tirumozhi VII - karuppUram nARumO 7

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SrI:

SrI ANDAL samEta SrI rangamannAr tiruvaDigaLE SaraNam

 

nAcciyAr tirumozhi VII - karuppUram nARumO

pASuram 7.7 (seventh tirumozhi - pAsuram 7 Se~nkamala

nAN malar mEl)

 

A. Translation from SrImAn SaDagOpan's tamizh treatise:

 

"Oh king of all Sa~nkams! You get to take a nap on the hand of

kaNNapirAn, who has red-hued, lotus-like eyes and dark-hued

tirumEni; this is comparable to the white swan drinking nectar

from the newly-blossomed-red lotus flower. Your wealth is the

greatest of all!"

 

Se~nkamala nAN malar mEl tEn nugarum annam pOl

Se~nkaN karumEni vAsudEvan uDaiya

a~n-kait-talam ERi anna vaSam Seyyum

Sa~ngaraiyA! un Selvam SAla azhagiyadE

 

B. Additional thoughts:

 

SrImad bhAgavatam expresses the same sentiments in first

skandam chapter 11, slokam 1:

 

sa uccakASE dhavaLOdara: darOpi urukramsya adhara-SoNa-SoNimA |

dAdhmAyamAna: karaka~njasampuTe yathA'bjashaNdE kaLahamsa utsvana: ||

 

(Even though the sankham that vAsudEva blows has a

whiteness in the middle, it gets a redness from vAsudEva's

red lips and shines on His lotus-like hand like the

rAja hamsam that hums amidst lotus flowers.)

 

C. Additional thoughts (from SrI PVP ):

 

tEn ugarum annam pOl: The word annam in tamizh means the

annam bird or the beautiful white hamsa pakshi. In

samskr*tam it also means food. Comparison is made between

the beautiful white hamsa pakshi seated on the just-blossomed

beautiful red lotus flower and the beautiful white pA~ncajanyam

seated on the beautiful reddish palm of BhagavAn vAsudeva.

The honey that the hamsa pakshi is enjoying from the fresh

red lotus flower is compared to bhagavAn's adharAmr*tam

from His beautiful reddish lips.

 

SrI PVP gives reference to nammAzhvAr 9.7.3:

"Sek-kamalatt-alar pOlum kaN kai kAl Se~n-kani

vAi ak-kamaltt-ilai pOlum". SrI PVP's anubhavam is that

bhagvAn's tirumEni is like the green lotus leafs; all

the part of His body are like the dense beautiful lotus flowers

that are so dense that they completely hide the water in

the pond; and the beautiful white pA~ncajanyam switches

from one hand to the other is like the beautiful white

hamsa bird that keeps switching its beak from flower to flower

to taste the honey - in the case of pA~ncajanyam it is

the adharAmr*tam from the beautiful reddish lips of bhagvAn.

This beautiful white hue of pA~ncajanyam in the setting

of the heart-rending colors of bhagavAn's tiru-mEni and

tiru-avayava-s is like it is adding to the beauty of the

combination of these different colors (tiru-mEnikku

para-bhAgamAna veNmai).

 

Se~n-kaN: The reddish hue in bhagavAn's eyes expresses

His vAtsalyam or affection to all His devotees. It also

can be because of the satisfaction that bhagavAn is getting

from His contact with pA~ncajanyam who has had the

adharAmr*tam (annam in the meaning of food) to his

heart's content. It also can be because of the

satisfaction of bhagavAn having enjoyed the "food"

(annam here being used in its second meaning of food) -

pA~ncajanyam in this case - to His heart's content.

 

In this context, SrI PVP quotes the tiaittirIya upanishad

"ahm-annam aham-annam aham-annam;

aham-annAdo'ham-ahamannAdo'ham-ahamnnAdah" -

(I am like annam (food) for paramAtmA; I am paramAtmA's annam;

I am paramAtmA's annam; I am the one who consumes annam, which

is pleasing to paramAtmA; I consume annam; I consume annam.)

Just as annam pleases one who is hungry, the sparSam of the

great pAcajanyam is very pleasing to emperumAn and His red

eyes show His vAtsalyam (compassionate love for all).

 

annavaSam Seyyum: people sleeping on a bed normally toss and

turn this side and that side in order for the food to digest.

pAncajanyam also does the same thing. [[ perhaps, SrI PVP

is referring to the Sa~nkam taking food from His adharAm and

then going to sleep! ]]

 

Sa~ngaraiyA: Oh king of all Sa~nkhams! How can ANDAL

assign kingship to Sa~nkham? SrI kr*shNasvAmi aiye~ngAr's

anubhavam is that ANDAL confers this title on pA~ncajanya

AzhvAr because of his closeness and attachment to bhagavAn.

SrI PVP gives the analogy of vAlmIki conferring the title

"vAnara rAjan" on sugrIva long before he is crowned by Lord rAma

for the same reason viz. his attachment and closeness to Lord

rAma. Thus we have in bAlakANDam 1-6:

 

"tatO vAnara rAjEna vairAnugatha nam prati |

rAmAyAvEdi tam sarvam praNayAt du:kitEna ca || "

 

SrI kr*shNasvAmi aiye~ngAr gives the additional example of

jaTAyu being referred to as the "gr*dhra rAja" by sage

vAlmIki based on Lord rAma's own words -

 

"gr*dhra rAjyam parityajya pitru paitAmaham mahat |

mama hetOrayam prANAn mumOca patagESvara: || "

 

D. Additional thoughts from SrI PBA - from SrI varadan of Denver:

 

SrI PBA in his commentary on this pASuram notes the concepts

expressed here are also contained in sundara bAhu-stavam

by kUrattAzhvAn. SrI varadan of Denver, Colorado, was kind

enough to provide the following elaboration on this anubhavam

by SrI PBA based on SrI PBA's commentary on sundarabAhu stavam:

 

pa~nca stavam = srI varadarAja stavam, srI stavam,

srI vaikunTha stavam, atimAnusha stavam and

sundara bAhu stavam. After kUrattAzhvAn's

eyes were gouged by the SOzha king, AzhvAn

went to srIra~ngam. At that time, emperumAnAr

had gone to mElkOttai to escape the persecution

of the SOzha king. AzhvAn did not want to live

in SrIra~ngam since emperumAnAr was not there, and

instead, wanted to live in thirumAlirumSOlai, the

abode of azhagar. On the way to azhagar malai,

AzhvAn did not want all the klESams to disturb his

affection for perumAL - He meditated on the

svarUpa rUpa guNas of perumAL and blessed us with

SrI vaikunTha sthavam and atimANusha stavam. After he

reached thirumAlirum SOlai, after enjoying the soundharyam

of azhagar, he blessed us with sundara

bAhu stavam. azhagar is known as sundara rAjan,

sundarat-tOLuDaiyAn etc.. because of His

indescribable beauty.

 

The Slokam that SrI PBA quotes in his vyAkhyAnam of the

current pASuram of nAcciAr tirumozhi is Slokam 55 of

sundara bAhu stavam:

 

srImad vanAdripati pANi-talAbja yugmam

ArUDhayor-vimala Sa~nkha-ratA~ngayostu

ekobjam_ASrita ivottama rAjahamsa:

padmapriyorka iva tatsamito dvitIya:

 

srImad vanAdripatiipANi talAbja yugmam ArUDhayo:

 

srImad vanAdripati = thirumAlirumSOlai azhagar

paNitalam - palm of the hand

abjam - lotus (abja = born in, usually in water)

yugmam - pair, couple

ArUDha - seated on

 

srI PBA svAmi quotes "UzhiyAn kaittalattu iDaril

kuDiyERi vIRRirundai kOlap perum Sa~ngE" and

"vaDa mathuraiyAr mannan vAsudEvan kaiyil kuDiyERi

vIRRirundai kOlap perum Sa~ngE" from karpUram

nARumO pathikam of nAcciyAr tirumozhi.

Like ANDAL, kUrattAzhvAn also sings about the

sangu and chakram [the word yugmam denotes twins/pair].

 

vimala Sa~nkha rathA~ngayostu

 

vimala - shining like silver

Sa~nkha - pA~ncajanya AzhvAn

raatA~ngah - cakkarattAzhvAn (literally, the wheel of

a carriage)

 

eka: abjam ASrita uttama rAjahamsa iva

 

[One - the conch - is seated on one of bhagavAn's hands

like a faultless rAjahamsam that is seated on a lotus]

 

Here is where srI kUrattAzhvAn utilizes the nAcciyAr

tirumozhi uvamAnam in his stavam-

Se~n_kamala nAN malar mEl tEn nugarum annam pOl -

like a swan that is drinking the honey on a beautiful lotus

flower.

 

dvitIyah tatsamita: padmapriya: arka iva

 

arka = sun

 

the other one [i.e. cakram] is seated on the other hand of

bhagavAn like the sun on a lotus

 

Summary:

The two hands of thirumAlirunchOlai azhagar are like

lotuses. On one of those lotuses, the Sa~nkham is seated

like a rAjahamsam. On the other lotus, sudharsanAshvAn is

seated like the Sun.

 

sarvam SrIman nArAyaNAyEti samarpayAmi.

 

adiyEn,

Kalyani Krishnamachari