Thiruvaomozi1-4-5

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1.4.5

 

nalgitthaan kaatthaLikkum pozhil Ezhum vinaiyERke

nalgatthaan aagaadhO naaraNanaikkandakkaal

malguneer punal padappai iRai ther vaN siRukurugE

malguneerkaNNERku Or vaachakam koNdaruLaayE

 

You small saarasa bird (kurugu in Tamil),who search for food for your young ones in the fields full of water, when you see my Lord Narayana please bring me, whose eyes are full of tears, a word of comfort from Him. Why should He , who protects the whole world by His own will, not show mercy on me who is suffering due to my past sins?

 

Azvar in this verse refers to the immense mercy of the Lord who not only protects His devotees but also those who are not, because unless He protects no one could survive.

 

The name Narayana itself means that He is the abode of all beings and vice versa. naaraaNaam ayanam yaH and naraaH ayanam yasya. and So azvar as nayaki asks whether herself is not included in the word naraaH.

 

The idea is that the Lord is waiting to redeem even the worst sinners as He Himself made out in the Gita, `api cheth sudhuraachaaro bhajathe maam ananyabhaak saaDhureve cha manthavyah,' which means , even the worst sinner if he turns towards the Lord, is to be treated as a good soul. The Lord had given every opportunity to all who fought against Him, like Ravana, Hiranya etc to repent till the last moment before he killed them. So the nayaki asks whether her sins are worse than these people, for the Lord to forsake her.

 

The bird called kurugu, is very small and it used to search in the fields full of water for insects and small fish for its young ones. So they are considered by the nayaki to be more sympathetic than the birds like the crane and cuckoo which are selfish and look after their own needs.

 

Pozhil Ezhum nalgi thaan kaatthaLikkum- the Lord by His own will looks after the welfare of the world

 

vinaiyErkku nalgatthaan aagaadhO- Could He not show mercy on me who is suffering due to past sins?

 

Malgu neer punal padappai- in the fields or gardens which are full of water.

 

vaN siRu kuruge- refers to the small bird saarasa or kurugu. vaN means beautiful.

 

Naarananai kandakkaal- when you see Lord Narayana during your travel searching for food.

 

Malgu neer maNnERkku- to me who has eyes filled with tears on being separated from Him.

 

Or vaachakam koNdu arLaayE- bring me some words of comfort from Him

 

With respect to the acharyas, they go into the sasthras and choose whatever is suitable for the disciple according to his ability to understand, like the kurugu bird searching for food for its young ones, out of their infinite mercy and here they are entreated to say a few words that will free the disciple from the suffering from the ills of the world such as the ashtakshara manthra or Dhvaya manthra etc. which will show them the Lord.