Thiruppavai pasuram4

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Pasuram-4

 

AazimazaikkaNNa onru nee kaikaravel

aaziyul pukku mugarndhu kodaarththeri

oozimudhalvan uruvampOl meikaruththu

paaziyamthOludai padmabnaabhan kaiyil

aazipOl minni valampuripOl ninradhirndhu

thaazaadhe saarngam udhaiththa sara mazai pOl

vaaza ulaginil peydhidai naangalum

maargazi neeraada maggizndhelOrempaavai.

 

Translation

 

Oh rain-bearing cloud, who looks like Krishna to us, be impartial and send showers for the world to flourish . You dip into the sea and draw the water and ascend to the sky looking dark in hue like that of the Lord and shining with lightning like the disc and thundering like the conch in the hands of the Lord of the lotus-navel, discharge the showers like that of the arrows from His bow and enable us to complete our neeraadal with glee.

 

Commentary

 

Andal has called the Lord as OngiulagaLandha Uththaman and so the clouds were afraid that He himself may create rain as He created the Ganges and deprive them of their job. Hence they already appeared in front, ready to do the bidding of Andal and she commands them to give rain. The elements obey the words of the ardent devotees of the Lord.

 

AazimazaikkaNNaa- It may be construed to be addressed to the Lord Himself as He is the indweller of all.

 

Onru nee kai karavel – Do not show partiality but give rain to everybody. Here Andal, being the incarnation of Bhoo devi, entreats the Lord to show mercy to all her children.

 

AaziyuLpukku - Andal gives instruction to the cloud to go deep into the ocean and take as much water as it can so that all will be benefited.

 

Mugarndhukodaarththeri – The cloud should draw water and ascend high in order not to empty it on the way so that the entire humanity will get the rain.

 

Oozi mudhalvan uruvampOl meikaruththu – The body of the Lord will be dark especially at the end of pralaya just before creation due to His daya, mercy, and also because He carried all beings inside Him. The Lord is described as being dark like the rain- bearing cloud only for this reason. The only difference is that while the dark cloud becomes white after it has emptied the water inside the Lord is always dark due to His eternal daya.

 

Padmanaabhan- He sports a lotus rising from His navel on which is seated the four-faced Brahma who creates the world as per His command. So the word Padmanaabha refers to the Lord as the creator.

 

Aazi Ool minni valampuripOl ninradhirndhu – The disc and the conch are to protect the good and to punish the wicked. The disc shines brilliantly to instill fear in the hears of the wrong doers and the conch sounds like thunder to make them shiver. When Krishna sounded His conch, Paanchajanya, at the outset of the Mahabharatha war it tore the hearts of the Kouravas, says Gita, `paanchajanyam hrshikesah------- sa goshah dharthrashtranaam hrdhyaani vyadhaarayath.'

 

Thaazaadhe saarngam udhaiththa saramazai pOl - When the Lord sees his devotees in distress He uses His weapons like the bow called saarngam without a moment's delay which indicates His haste in saving them. When Gajendhra cried He could not even wait to mount His vehicle Garuda but came running with Garuda following Him. Andal implies here that the cloud should pour without delay like the Lord in protecting His devotees.

 

Vaaza ulaginil peydhidaai ---------neeraadamagizndhelorempavai - The cloud is asked to give rain in such away that it will be a source of joy to the world and not like the rain Indra sent at the time of Govardhanodhdhaarana.

 

The acharya is the rain-bearing cloud who out of his mercy imparts his teaching to the sishyas. The similarities and difference between the two are as follows.

 

1.The cloud takes salt water from the sea and gives out sweet water as rain. So too the acharya absorbs the profound truths which are unpalatable to all because they are difficult to understand and he gives it out in a simple form for the world to understand.

 

2.If the rains fail the world will suffer. Similarly the acharyas who appear from time to time to save the world from adharma and calamity.

 

3.The cloud does not expect anything in return like a good acharya who gives his upadesa without the expectation of any reward.

 

4.The clouds do not stay in one place but wander all over the sky giving rain to everybody. So also the acharyas travel everywhere to enlighten the people.

 

5. The rain of the acharyas is the grace of the Lord creating the flow of joy that cools the others who contact them.

 

6. Unlike the cloud the acharya does not lose his rain of wisdom, jnanavarsha, by giving to others.

 

..7. The lightning of the cloud is the brilliance of jnana of the acharya and the thunder is his roar in order to establish the vaishnavasiddhaantha as in the case of Desika who was known as kavaithaarkika kesari for that reason.

 

It is beautifully expressed in a metaphor that the cloud, Nammazvar took the water of mercy from the sea, Lakshmikantha, the Lord, and showered it on the mountain, Nadhamuni from which the water was sent down through the two mountain streams , Uyyakkondar and Ramamisra and reached the river, Alavandar and through the canal, Perianambi ,finally rested in the lake, Ramanuja, from which all are benefited.