Kanninun Siruththambu - 2

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Sri:

Srimathe Ramanujaya Nama:

 

Kanninun Siruththambu Second Pasura Vyakhyana Saram

Excerpted from Sri Nanjeeyar and Nampillai's Vyakhyanam

 

nAvinAl naviRRu inbameythinEn

mEvinEn avan ponnadi meymmaiyE

theVumaRRaRiyEn kurukUr nambi

pAvininnisai pAdith thirivanE

 

Meaning:

Praising Nammazhvar with my tongue, I gained great happiness,

which is surrender at his golden feet. I know of no lord other

than the Kurukur Nambi (Nammazhvar). And I will wander every-

where singing the sweetness of his pasurams.

 

Vyakhyana Saram:

In this pasuram, Madhurakavi Azhvar says that one can attain

the supreme goal, in this world itself, with this body, by

using the means of Nammazhvar's greatness alone. He says that

Nammazhvar's pasurams alone have become everything to him in

his journeys.

 

naavinaal naviRRu (saying with my tongue):

To reach Him one has to exclusively focus on Him via one's mind,

one's word as well as other parts of one's body ("mana: pUrvo

vAguttara:"). Madhurakavi Azhvar reaches the same goal that is

obtained doing the above, by simply speaking about his acharya.

He says that nothing else is needed, just the use of his tongue

in uttering his acharya's words is sufficient.

Is it not the goal of a person for having obtained a tongue, to

praise his acharya who has done so much for him ("pratyakshe

gurava: stutyA:")? Madhurakavi azhvar says that he has reached

that goal.

It is not only important for all souls to keep praising their

acharya; it is actually their duty. Madhurakavi azhvar says

that he has performed his duty.

In the previous pasuram he had said that his acharya's words

will sweeten his mouth forever. Now he is saying the same, that

his mouth and heart have been sweetened by reciting his

acharya's words.

 

inbameythinEn (attained happiness):

He says that he has now reached that height of happiness. That

is, attachment to his acharya's lotus feet ("kOlamAm en sennikku

un kamalamanna kuraikazhal").

They have now become everything to him. There is no higher truth

than those for him.

The same higher truth that Nammazhvar obtained ("vIvilinbam

migavellai nigazhnthanan mEviyE")was obtained by Madhurakavi

Azhvar just by the recitation of Nammazhvar's pasurams. When it

remains that even a single word uttered creates many karmas and

it takes several births to cleanse those karmas, Madhurakavi

Azhvar says that Nammazhvar's words have removed all his karmas

from all his births and led him to the highest truth.

 

mEvinEn ponnadi (surrendered at his golden feet):

Madhurakavi azhvar surrenders at the divine feet of Nammazhvar

and is attached to that only.

His acharya's feet have become everything to him, including

removing the ignorance in this world and doing purushakaram in

the other world.

 

meimmaiyE (truth):

He says that this is the truth ("vignyapanamidam satyam").

 

maRRaRiyEn (know nothing else):

Since there is nothing to him other than his acharya's feet, he

says he knows nothing else.

Since the rest is nothing to him, he simply declares them as

"maRRu" - other, without naming them (similar to anyatra in

"bhAvo nAnyatra gacchati").

 

thEvumaRRaRiyEn (know no other God):

He says there is no attachment other than to Nammazhvar. Here

other ("maRRu") means not just things of this world but it

includes the other worlds and even Him.

 

kurukoor nambi (pUrna of Kurukoor):

Once he has developed attachment to Namamzhvar's feet, he has

no need to develop attachment to anything else including Him.

Therefore, he talks of Nammazhvar as a pUrna (complete in all

respects).

 

paavininnisai (the sweet music of the verses):

Leaving the wealth of this world as well as the knowledge of

the soul, leaving Him as only the first step and leaving even

Nammazhvar who is the last step in the supreme goal seeked,

leaving Nammazhvar's verses, Madhurakavi Azhvar gets attached

to the music of those verses and states that that music is

sufficient for his journey through all worlds (similar to

"theivaththaNNanthuzhAyth thArAyinum thazhaiyAyinum

thaNkombathAyinum kIzhvErAyinum ninRa maNNAyinum koNdu

vIsuminE").

That music of those verses, the sweetness of that music alone

is sufficient for all his journeys.

 

paavininnisai paadiththirivanE (wander singing that sweetness):

Madhurakavi Azhvar travels speaking Thiruvaymozhi, it's music

and the sweetness of its music and that alone has become

everything for him.

 

I seek refuge at the lotus feet of Madhurakavi Azhvar

I seek refuge at the lotus feet of Nanjeeyar and Nampillai

I seek refuge at the lotus feet of Ramanuja

adiyEn madhurakavi dAsan

T.C.A. Venkatesan