nAnmugan thiruvandhAdhi-10

[Guest guest]

In spite of Azhvar explaining the parathvam of emperuman in such

detail with various references the samsAric jeevatmas were not in a

position to accept and cherish the divinity. They still remained in

their own world of confusion. Azhvar got vexed and hence he turned

towards emperuman and said, “Oh my lord! It is so difficult to find

people who realize your supremacy. So there is no use to proceed in

advising these people. Let me tell you the same and you listen”

 

Paasuram-5

 

“thoguththa varaththanAi thOlAdhAn mArvam vagirththa valaiyugirthOl

mAle-vugaththil orunAndru neeyuyarththi vulvAngi neeyE arunAngum AnAi

ari”

 

(thoguththa varaththanAi) the one who had got a collection of boons.

He collected all the boons that one can ask for in this world.

[Hiranyakasipu, asked brahma the following boons: I should not be

killed by a god or man, not in the day or night, not in the sky or on

this earth, not inside the house or outside, not with any type of

weapon, not with those that have wetness or dryness.]

 

(thOlAdhAn) Due to the great boons obtained, he considered himself to

be superior to the brahma himself who granted him the boons and hence

became unbeatable by anyone.

 

(mArvam vagirththa) tore his heart.

 

(valaiyugirthOl) the one who has curved shoulders and nails. This

happened due to the great anger with which emperuman tore open the

heart of hiranya. Considering the word ‘thOl’ to refer to the divine

hands of emperuman, some say that valaiyugirthOl refers to ‘the divine

hands that have curved nails’.

 

(mAle) Even at this time of deep anger emperuman had a special soft

corner for prahladan and hence referred to as mAlE! NAmmazhvar says,

“seetraththOdarul peRRavan”. Can love and hatred be at the same

instant in a person? But don’t we find that ‘Even while an elephant

fights with a lion it feed its cub’?(mAlE) SarvEshvara! Is it not

clear from this act that you are the lord of even the brahma and

others? Then why are these people confused?(mAlE) Can a person who

grants boons and then suffers due to the same be the supreme? Or will

the person who saves them from this difficulty be the supreme? Can

people not analyse even this fact?

But Oh! azhvar don’t we hear that srushti (creation) and

samhAram(destruction) are done by brahma and rudran? Asked some

people. Azhvar keeps this question in mind and responds as follows:

‘Oh! Lord don’t you stay as antharyami inside all the devas and do

the respective jobs’

 

(vul vAngi neeyE vugaththil oru nAndru neeyuyarththi) During the

pralaya kalam (time of complete destruction) you take the entire

existing world into your stomach and during the time of creation you

release them outside. “Athapagatham” ((attracted by the sun) like

the water droplets that hide in the sunrays being given out as rain

during the rainy season.) [it is not known from where this reference

has been taken and the rest of the line is also not known. Achchan

pillai has just given this word as reference and according to the

‘arumpadavurai’ the meaning is given as ‘like the sunrays which

spreads throughout, the antharyAmi spreads everywhere-nAngilum aruvAi

nindrAi’ but this doesn’t suit the context of commentary and hence the

most appropriate meaning has been shown by sudarsanar in his divya

prabhanda sAram that has been given above]In the above said way the

brahmarudras remain as the sunrays and you remain as the sun and do

the act of

creation, sustenance and destruction.

 

(arunAngum AnAi ari) You have only become the devas (gods), manushyas

(human beings), triyak (fauna), stAvaram (flora) and also the

jeevatma which do not have a form. Here the ‘vum’ in ‘nAngum’

indicates that the lord remains as the achit (non-living thing) also.

This is similar to “KshEtrajyam chApi mAm viddhi” [understand that I

am the soul (and the body)]. It can be otherwise said as “nAngum aru

AnAi” here it shows that emperuman exists in all the four forms as

antharyami (“antharAthmAvAi prakAsiththu nindra” reads the vyakhyanam

of periyavAchAn pillai. In another way it can be considered

‘pravEsiththu nindra’ also as stated by the Upanishads,

“vishvAthmAnam parAyanam” “antharbahischa tat sarvam vyApya nArAyana:

sthitha:” “sarvabhoodhAntharAthmA nArAyana:”)

 

(neeyE ari) In this world of ignorance there is no one to understand

these facts in spite of my insistent talk. You alone can understand.

You have only taken all these forms so you understand yourself (neeyE

arunAngumAnai, neeyE ari)

 

Azhvar talks about the story of hiranya to establish the fact that

those who feel jealous while azhvar talks about emperuman’s supremacy

will attain the same fate as hiranya, states appillai in his

commentary.

[“vuyarththi- can indicate avadhariththi also” That is in the previous

paasuram azhvar talked about the supremacy of emperuman. Immediately

some objected saying that ‘how can one who took a lot of births and

suffered so much be the supreme?’ For that azhvar answers in this

paasuram that his avatharams were to wipe out his bhakthas sufferings

that can add only greatness to him and no where prevent his supremacy.

(vugaththil) in each yuga “sambhavAmi yugE yugE” says bhagavan in his

geetha. (oru nAndru) in each time “yadha yadha hi dharmasya glAnir

bhavathi bhAratha, apyuththAnama dharmasya” (nee yuyarthi) You take

birth in the above stated time by yourself. These avatharams credit

his kalyana gunas. “sa vu srEyAn bhavathi jAyamAna” (he attains more

greatness due to his avatharas) “palapirappAi olivaru muzhunalam”

(vuyarththi arunAngumAnAi) and your birth is not restricted. You

take birth in any form. (vulvAngi) the purpose of birth]

 

(To be continued)

 

Alwar EmperumAnAr Jeeyer thiruvadigalE sharanam

 

Adiyen rAmAnuja dAseeSumithra Varadarajan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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