Thiruppavai 4 AzimazaikkaNNaa

[Guest guest]

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.

Audio version in Tamil

 

http://www.sendspace.com/file/wnqc5a

 

 

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 well as the pearls and other treasures of the ocean 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

pol 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 a way 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.