amalanAthipirAn - 9

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Sri:

Srimathe Ramanujaya Nama:

 

--

 

amalanAthipirAn onbathAm pAsuram

 

AlamAmaraththinilai mElorubAlakanAy

gnyAlamEzhumuNdAn arangaththaravinaNaiyAn

kOlamAmaNiyAramum muththuththAmamum

mudivillathOrezhil

neelamEniaiyo niRaikoNda thennenjinaiyE

 

--

 

Meaning:

 

He who was (lying as) a small child on a leaf of

the giant banyan tree and swallowed all seven

worlds, and who is lying on the sweet bed of

Adisesha, His blue colored (dark) divine body

without par in its beauty and with the beautiful

and special gemmed garlands and pearl necklaces has

alas, stolen the completeness of my heart.

 

--

 

Essence:

 

His divine body and its color has brought every-

thing with it and stolen Azhvar's heart.

Azhvar had said that his mind had been made a fool

by His eyes ("kaNkaLennaip pEthamai seythanavE")

in the previous song. His eyes which are like the

arrows of Sri Rama are showing no mercy on Azhvar

("kadaikkaNennum siRaikkOlAl nenjooduravavEvuNdu

nilaiyunthaLarnthunaivEnai"). Seeing that, His

divine body is showing the beauty coming from the

combination of the different parts and the

ornaments plus its own beauty, to Azhvar.

Azhvar was like a person who wears different

flowers separately and now His body is making a

person who wears a garland made of all kinds of

flowers.

His divine body is gathering all its multiple

beauties and falling on Azhvar like a king who

gathers all his armies and falls on his enemies.

Azhvar is stating that his heart got caught in

that beauty and is now destroyed.

In the fifth song, Azhvar had said that He had

removed his karmAs such that they will not come

back. In the eighth song, he said that He ripped

to shreds the avidhyA that is the source of these

karmAs, like He shredded that Hiranya who was the

physical form of the thamO guNAs. The following

quetion then arose: if one looks at this world, it

is one that covers everyone with the darkness of

ignorance ("iruLtharumAgnyAlam") and would do

that even to Him (who is from "theLivisumbuth

thirunAdu") were He to be born here; if one looks

at time, it eventually destroys one's gnyAnam and

leads to false behaviour; if one looks at the

body, it hides His presence inside and creates

false knowledge; if one looks at AzhvAr's birth,

he was born in a class that prevented him from

learning the Vedanthas from appropriate Acharyas.

Thus, by this world, time, body and birth Azhvar

had no opportunity to be removed of all his

karmas; yet he has proclaimed that He had done

that for him. Would He be able to do that for

Azhvar? Azhvar answers that in this pasuram.

 

--

 

AlamAmaraththinilai:

During the praLayam, He took the form of a

small baby and kept the universe in His stomach

and protected it. As that small child, He was

lying on a very small and tender banyan leaf.

By saying "mAmaram" Azhvar is stating the

opposite; that is, the leaf is very small.

Azhvar is answering the question here, whether

He could have removed Azhvar's karmas in spite

of the fact that he did not have the support of

this world, time, body or birth. Azhvar says

to Him who could become a small child and

swallow the universe, would it be such a big

task to defeat Azhvar's enemies and remove his

agnyAnam. It would be impossible for Azhvar

to have removed the karmas himself; is there

anything that is impossible for Him?

 

ilaimEl:

He was small enough to fit into the small and

tender leaf.

 

orubAlaganAy:

He was a smaller child than even Yasoda's

Krishna.

He was lying on the small leaf as a baby that

has neither father nor mother.

 

gnyAlamEzhumuNdAn:

Just like small babies tend to pick things and

put them in their mouth, so did He as a baby

put the seven worlds, the seven oceans

surrounding them, the seven mountains

supporting the worlds, and everything else in

His mouth.

He kept the entire worlds in His stomach without

losing their order.

 

arangaththaravinaNaiyAn:

Just as He saved the worlds from praLayam while

lying on a leaf, so is He lying in Srirangam to

save everyone that is caught in the samsArap

praLayam.

Just as the worlds would not survive praLayam

unless they reached His stomach, samsAris

would not reach Him unless they see Him here.

He was lying during praLaya on the small leaf

and He is lying in Srirangam for all time on

Adisesha while being worshipped by Brahma and

the Devas, for the protection of His devotees.

 

aravinaNaiyAn:

His devotees would be worried that He is such a

small baby and His stomach would hurt for having

swallowed the universe; in order that they not

be concerned He is lying in a big form as periya

perumAL in periya kOil.

There may be no one to worry about Him when He

is lying on the banyan leaf; here ananthan is

lying as a bed to make sure that nothing comes

against Him ("theemugaththu nAgaNai", "AngAravA-

ramathukEttazhalumizhum poongAraravaNai").

One need not worry about Him lying on a small

leaf in a huge ocean; here He is lying on

thiruvananthAzhvAn.

 

kOlamAmaNiyAramum:

He is wearing a necklace made of great gems and

it is like the SriKowsthubam.

The necklace is an ornament to His divine body.

kOlam refers to Him (azhagiya maNavALan).

The necklace for His chest that is the abode f

Sri.

 

muththuththAmam:

He is wearing a necklace made of great pearls

that cools His body.

The single strand, three strand, five strand

and seven strand pearl necklaces.

 

mudivillathOrezhil:

His beautiful body that is cool to the eyes and

removes all difficulties.

His endless beauty.

His body that is like dark clouds and that is

more beautiful than all these ornaments.

His dark blue body that gives endless beauty to

the ornaments.

 

neelamEni:

His divine body that does not need the beauty of

the ornaments.

His body that gives beauty to the ornaments.

 

niRaikoNdathennenjinaiyE:

Azhvar says that He stole the completeness of his

heart.

He protected the universe from praLayam by keeping

it in His stomach and yet His body has destroyed

Azhvar's mind.

Azhvar's mind had been caught in the beauty of

His different avayams and now His body has shown

its complete beauty (made of all the avayams);

Azhvar's mind which had thought it had obtained

completeness before has lost it now.

 

aiyO:

He showed Azhvar to His heart and then took over

Azhvar's heart. Azhvar's heart is his tool to

enjoy Him and reach Him and Azhvar is crying out

because He has taken that over.

 

--

 

thiruppANAzhvAr thiruvadigaLE saraNam

srI periyavAccAn piLLai, srI azhagiya maNavALap

perumAL nAyanAr, srI vEdAntha dEsikar thiruvadigaLE

saraNam

 

--

 

adiyEn madhurakavi dAsan

T.C.A. Venkatesan

 

 

 

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