nAcciyAr tirumozhi XI – tAm ugakkum 9

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SrI:

SrI ANDAL samEta SrI ra’ngamannAr tiruvaDigaLE

SaraNam

 

nAcciyAr tirumozhi XI – tAm

ugakkum

pASuram 11.9(eleventh tirumozhi - pAsuram 9 kaNNAlam

kODittu )

 

avaradu Ur ara’ngamE!

 

kaNNAlam kODittuk kanni tannaik kaip piDippAn

tiNNArndu irunda SiSupAlan tESu azhindu

aNNandu irukkavE A’ngu avaLaik kaip piDitta

peNNALan pENum Ur pErum ara’ngamE

 

A. Meaning from SrImAn SaDagOpan's tamizh treatise:

 

In this pASUram, ANDAL reminds herself of the incident

where Lord kRshNa saved rukmiNi from SiSupAlan.

SiSupAlan was absolutely sure that he was going to

marry rukmiNi, and had made all the marriage

arrangements. In the meantime, rukmiNi cried out to

Him – SrutvA guNAN bhuvana sundara …tvayi acyuta

AviSati cittam aptrapam me (SrImad bhAgavatam

10.52.37). Even as SiSupAlan was hot-headedly gazing

skyward with certainty of this futile dream of his,

bhagavAn came like a lightning and rescued rukmiNi and

married her even before SiSupAlan could realize what

had happened. Here, ANDAL is praising this Lord of

tiru ara’ngam for His demonstrated Mercy to those who

seek His protection.

 

B. Additional thoughts from SrI PVP:

 

In the first six pASurams of this tirumozhi ANDAL was

referring to His having taken ownership of all that

belongs to her. In the seventh, she referred to the

difficulties He went through for sItA pirATTi earlier,

but now He is enjoying her misery without even being

aware of the miseries He went through. In the eighth,

she said that even if she wanted to forget Him, His

thought haunted her and she could not forget Him. In

the current pASuram, she recalls how He saved rukmiNi

from SiSupAlan, and considers this to be an indication

that He is the savior of all women in distress, and so

still has the hope that He will come to her.

 

SiSupAlan had done all the arrangements to marry

rukmiNi pirATTi, and had no doubt whatsoever about the

marriage taking place as planned. kaNNan came like a

lightning and took her away and married her even as

SiSupAlan was wonder-struck and gazing skyward, not

being able to comprehend what happened. By this act

of His, He is known as One who helps all women who

need help. Being helped by Him without fail, all

women can dance with joy in ara’ngam (the term for the

dance stage). No wonder that the place where that

emperumAN, who is a protector of womenfolk, is living

is also called tiru ara’ngam. So ANDAL consoles

herself that He will definitely come and help her.

 

Even though bhagavAn gave the carama Slokam to arjuna,

we humans fondly trust that His word applies to all us

and so we hold on to our lives with this trust that

ultimately He will protect us. BhagavAn is common to

all, and so if He says something to arjuna, it is like

His saying the same thing to all of us. So also,

ANDAL looks at the instance of His helping rukmiNi,

and fondly hopes that this is sufficient proof that He

will help her as well.

 

kaNNAlam kODittu: SiSupAlan spent all the wealth that

he had earned in the festivities for his proposed

marriage with Sri rukmiNi. [kODittal is a word that is

commonly used to explain elaborate preparations for

anything]

 

kanni tannaik kaip piDippAn: Just like someone going

through a lot of trouble to smell a fresh flower which

has never been smelt by anyone before, SiSupAlan went

through hoops to gain the hand of this kanni, rukmiNi.

 

 

tiNNArndirunda SiSupAlan: tiNNArndiruttal – to be of

the firm belief, to be absolutely certain. Just as we

go around leading our lives with the firm wrong belief

that our AtmA belongs to us even though it truly

belong to emperumAn, SiSupAlan was of the firm belief

that rukmiNi belonged to him, even though she truly

belonged to emperumAn.

 

tESu azhindu aNNandu irukkavE: Two interpretations

are given for this; one before kaNNan came and took

away rukmiNi, and the other after He came and rescued

her.

 

Before kaNNan came, SiSupAlan had lost the luster that

comes with humility (aDakkam) and thinking proudly of

himself as maNavAlap piLLai, never looked down and was

holding his head high looking at the sky.

 

After kaNNan came and took away rukmiNi and disgraced

SiSupAlan, SiSupAlan could not dare look at anyone’s

face, and so was staring at the sky instead filled

with shame (tESu azhindu aNNAndirukkavE).

 

A’ngu avaLaik kaip piDitta: The quickness with which

kaNNan came and took rukmiNi’s hand looked like He

thought it sufficient that all the pUrvA’nga-s for the

marriage have been already completed by SiSupAlan, and

all He had left to do was to take her hand.

 

peNNALan: This action of His (namely rescuing His

devotee who sought His protection) was not meant only

for rukmiNi; ANDAL sees this act as a confirmation

that He will protect all those who are born as women

and who seek His protection.

 

pErum arangamE: just as He is peNNALan, His place is

also called SrIra’ngam – a place that periya

pirATTiyAr enjoys living in (ara’ngam denotes a

dancing place; pirATTi dances in glee in His place,

thus hinting women can live in happiness here).

 

C. Additional thoughts from SrI PBA:

 

The “um” suffix in “Urum ara’ngamE” emphasizes that

not only He is peNNALan, but the place He lives is

also the place where the women can dance with joy.

 

 

D. Additional thoughts from SrI UV:

 

In the last pASuram we saw to what extent bhagavAn

went to protect bhUmidevi. gOdai’s friends point out

that emperumAn took great trouble to save bhUmidevi

because she was His wife, and the whole world knew it,

and so it was His duty to protect her; If He does not

protect her, it will be a dishonor to Him, and so He

had no choice except to protect her. But in gOdai’s

case, all that happened is that gOdai got married to

Him in her dream; no one else in the world will

accept this as proof that gOdai is married to Him.

In this situation, if He doesn’t come and save gOdai,

He is not going to be dishonored. So the friends

advise gOdai that she is wasting her time hoping that

He is going to come and protect her. So gOdai is

defending ara’ngan in this pASuram.

 

peNNALan: rukmiNi is not the only one He saved. He

killed narakAsuran and married several girls. The

AyarpADi girls did nOnbu to get Him as their husband

and He fulfilled their wishes too.

 

ara’ngamE: What is special about ANDAL emphasizing

tiru ara’ngam instead of say pARkkaDal? When He is

lying down in pARkaDal, He is useful only for

bhUmidEvi. Since He married many more girls, He

decided pARkaDal is not the right place for Him and so

He came to tiru ara’ngam. Unlike other mUrti-s who

are in standing or sitting postures and involved in

taking care of the world’s affairs, ara’ngan is lying

down on painnAgaNai, a pose that all girls love to

see. ra’ngam means the dancing stage. Does that sound

like a place for an old man to be lying down? Far

from it. This is the place for all to dance with joy

thinking of this nitya yauvana mUrti.

 

To show that tiru ana’ngan is young at heart, gOdai

uses the word “peNNALan.. How did ANDAL who wanted be

marry kaNNan ended up marrying tiru aran’ngan? This

pASuram is quoted as the support. Just like Him, she

also can assume any form she wants, and all the

rUpam-s He takes are pati rUpam-s for her.

 

Abbreviations:

------------------

PVP= SrI periyavAccAn piLLai

PBA= SrI prativAdi bhayankaram aNNangarAcAriyAr

UV = SrI uttamUr vIrarAghavAcAriyAr

 

sarvam SrIman nArAyaNAyeti samarpayAmi.

 

aDiyEn,

kalyANi kRshNamAcAri

 

 

 

 

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