Amalanadipiran - Song Eight

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AMALANATIPIRAN - Song Eight - Translation and notes by Satyamurthi Ayyangar

Swamin

 

Song Eight:

 

Preamble: "Alas ! the Lord's red-lipped mouth has whisked away my mind,

thereby depriving me of the one and only means, hitherto employed by me for

imbibing the exquisite charm of the Lord's person, bit by bit, consistent,

of course, with my all-too-meagre ability" was the Alvar's deep dejection

due to the abrupt halt of the upward march of his mind to the intended

destination, namely, the Lord's majestic crown, the Lord's lovely pair of

eyes accosted him, as follows: "Well, you found the lips displaying, just

one color, namely, red, so charming as to lose your mind, in the bargain.

How indeed will you fare if you look at this pair, displaying a riot of

colors, red, black and white ?" Yes, the voluntary projection of the Lord's

white eyeballs with red streaks stretching along, the black pupil with a

seductive luster and the bluish iris, encircling it, thoroughly unsettled

the Alvar, sweeping him off his feet. Actually, this kind of self-projection

by Lord Ranganatha's limbs, one by one, seems to have been the pattern,

right from Song One (see also the notes under that song). The same pattern

holds good for this song as well as the next. This aspect of self-projection

by the limbs is now emphasized lest the reader should feel puzzled how the

Alvar sans his mind, could look above the Lord's coral lips and envision the

gleaming pair of eyes, throwing up a bewitching spectrum of colors and then

proceed to behold the overall charm of the sapphire complexion of the Lord's

body (see Song Nine). The position is, however, entirely different regarding

the Tenth (concluding) Song, the Alvar having got inside the Sanctum by

then. Against this background, let us now delve into this song and enjoy its

poetic embellishments, as well.

 

Text:

Pariyanaki vanta avunan utal kinta amararkku

Ariya Atipiran Arangattamalan mukattu

Kariyavakip putai parantu milirntu cevvariyati ninda ap

Periyavaya kankal ennaippetaimai ceytanave ! ||8||

 

Translation:

 

Those eyes, long and broad, red streaks running along

Eyeballs white and pupils dark, on the face glistening

Of our Benefactor, first and foremost, unto celestials

rare,

The Lord immaculate at Arangam, who the bowels tore

Of the burly demon, come to bully Prahlad, his young son,

Have by their charm exquisite overwhelmed me, on their

own ||

 

Notes: Pariyanaki vantu avunan utal kinda(van): This refers to Lord

Narasimha slaying the demoniac Hiranya, the fat bully. He was a veritable

mountain of flesh, a stupendous mass of fleshy (corporal) ignorance (tamas),

gathered from all the worlds, as Sri Vedanta Desika puts it. Yes, the demon

had been fattened awfully by boons of all sorts, secured from the

celestials, a grand feast indeed for Lord Narasimha's robust, claw-like

nails, of unimaginable strength. Pointing to a column of pillar, in front,

the irate father threateningly questioned his son, Prahlada, whether that

Hari, on the latter's lips, all the time, was right there or not. The little

one, a staunch, unflinching devotee of Lord Hari (Visnu Bhagavan), affirmed

without the slightest tinge of diffidence or hesitation; "Sire ! Hari is

everywhere, inside the animate beings like You and I as well as the

inanimate things like this pillar". As if to prove the youngster wrong, the

demon slapped the pillar, with frenzied fury. And lo ! there and then Lord

Hari, in the exotic form of 'Man-Lion', stepped out of the ripped- open

pillar, a fully-grown adult (more than a match for that fat ram, Hiranya),

ready for instant combat, His face blazing with fury (righteous

indignation), His tongue drooping down the lip, His looks, fierce and

piercing, clenched fist, ready to land devastating punches on its target and

ominous peals of laughter, terrific and terrifying. The strange Visitor took

the formidable opponent (by now, mentally roasted like a pig) by that very

hand, which slapped the pillar, led him on to the threshold of the palace

and tore open his bowels with His formidable nails like the dry fiber of the

plantain truck and finished him off. Yes, He eliminated him physically as

souls vest in Him and the one inside the physical frame of the opponent

would get lost to Him altogether, if allowed to remain in that foul frame

any longer.

 

But all these pale into insignificance before the achievement of the

immaculate Lord at Arangam. Lord Narasimha responded to the prayer of just

one devotee and put in His apperance between the two vertical halves of a

pillar. But Lord Ranganatha came down here from His transcendental abode, on

His own, took His abode between two rivers, making Himself visible to our

naked (fleshy) eyes in the Sanctum between two pillars (Manttun-amoda

sthamba) and retrieving numberless devotees through His indescribable

beauty, an irresistible charm of unlimited dimensions, unasked, unsolicited

(not prayed for, as Prahlada did). Therefore it is, Pan Perumal has referred

to Him, in this song, as Arangattamalan, the immaculate Lord, possessed of

purity of the highest order. (See also notes under Song One where the

different facets of the Lord's purity, par excellence, have been analysed).

It may be recalled that, in the context of Vibhishana's admission into Lord

Rama's camp, He solemnly affirmed that He would not give up the supplicant,

at the doorstep on any account, whatever be the arguments, for or against

admission. Even so, the immaculate Lord at Arangam would not give us up,

not withstanding the host of infirmities, bedevilling us. It is also

noteworthy that even while reposing on His serpent-bed at Arangam, He is

facing the southerly direction, casting His sweet glances on Vibhisana.

 

Kariyavaki pudai parantu milirntu cevvariyoti: The beautiful setting of

the Lord's eyes is projected in this line. Yes, He is 'Purdarikaksa' - the

one with eyes, resembling lotus, ever fresh and in full bloom. The colour of

the eyeballs is white. The red streaks, running along the surface signify

(i) the 'Mahapurusa laksana', the vestiges of the Great One, the Soverign

Master of the Universe, (ii) He is the spouse of Goddess Laksmi whose red

complexion gets imprinted in His grazing eyes (see IX-4 of Tiruvaymoli) and

(iii) His inordinate love for the devout turning His eyes red (blood-shot)

with delight (see VIII-8 of Tiruvaymoli which opens with a description of

the Lord's exquisite charm, getting enhanced manifold on His mingling with

Nammalvar). The pupils are black and lustrous, glistening, all the more,

against the backdrop of the white eyeballs, interspersed with red streaks.

So charming and graceful the eyes are that they seem to vie with the Lord's

exuberance to redeem His devotees, the eyes themselves wanting to shed all

that benevolence. As a matter of fact, one's benevolence as well as its

opposite number, namely, wrathful displeasure gets reflected in one's eyes.

 

Ninda: As Sri Parasara Bhattar, noted for his unique presentation, would

put it, the Lord's eyes embarked on a grand project, namely, enlarging

themselves so as to occupy His entire body and thereby exhibit His innate

Grace in super-abundance. But then, they got halted by the intrusion of the

ear-lobes on either side and the two extremities of the nose-bridge - a

grand piece of poetic imagery indeed ! Yes, the Lord's eyes are not merely

long but also big (periyavaya), too broad to admit of even the most ardent

devotee enjoying their grandeur, in full, or they are big, with a vengeance,

so as to attract even "the hard-hearted 'me' (Alvar)" and unsettle him, in

this manner. Further, it is a twin operation, the dart from both the eyes

aiming at the same target (Alvar) and destabilizing him completely. See also

Sloka nine of Saint Kulasekhara's Mukundamala (Kantimannetramine - whose

dazzling eyes are like the flashy fishes).

 

'Apperiyavaya kankal', in this song, seems to follow the pattern of

'Appancacanniyam' in the opening song of Periyalvar's 'Tiruppallantu'. The

eyes as well as the Conch, right in front, should have been referred to as

'Ipperiyavaya' and 'Ippancacannyam', respectively. But they were referred

to, as things, far off, because the Alvar, in each case, turned the face in

the opposite direction lest he should cast an evil eye on the glorious

setting of 'white, red and black' in the former case and 'white, red and

blue' (white Conch, red palm and the bluish back of the palm, gripping the

Conch), in the latter.

 

(To be continued)

 

 

 

 

 

 

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