Thiruppavai pasuram 9

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thoomaNimAdatthu suttrum viLakkeriya

dhoopamkamaZa thuyilaNai mEl kaNvaLarum

maAmanmagalE maNIkkadhavam thAl thiravai

mAmeer avaLai ezuppeerO nummagaLthAn

oomaiyO anri sevidO ananthalO

EmApperunthuyil mandhirappattALO

mAmAyan mAdhavan vaikunthan enrenrum

nAmam palavum navinrElOrempAvai

 

Oh my uncle's daughter, who is sleeping in a couch in a mansion lighted by lamps all around,with fragrant incense around please open your door.Oh my aunt, wake her up. is your daughter dumb or deaf or proud ? Is she under the influence of long sleep? Come and say with us the names of Madhava, Vaikunta and the great enchanter of all.

 

In this world, some come forward to do good things voluntarily.Some will join at the end. Others will only come when called and some others will not come even when called. This girl is of the third category.

 

suttrum vilakkeriya- All the mansions in Gokula are embedded with jewels and it is bright always with the light of the gems but still they light lamps for the sake of tradition.So it looks as though there are lamps all around,

 

mAman magale- Andal imagines herself to be the resident of Gokula where everyone is related to the others.

 

manikkadhavm thAl thirvai- the doors are full of gems and the girls outside were not able to make out where the opening is and asks the girl inside to come and open it.

 

Ummagal thAn oomaiyo----The elders came out hearing the call but the girl did not and hence they call her dumb, deaf etc.

 

ananthalo- pride due to wealth, beauty etc.

 

Emapperumthuyil mandhirappattALO- A long sleep perhaps induced by the chanting of some manthra.

 

mAmAyan mAdhavan vaikunthan enrenru -namam palavum- tells the elders to wake the girl up by repeating the sahahranama of the Lord.

 

The reason of putting the term 'mAman magal 'is to indicate that the real realtives are those who are the devotees of the Lord.

 

The Lord is called mAmAyan which denotes His soulabhya,easy accessibility, and also may mean ma+Ayan, associated with Lakshmi, mAdhavan to indicate His assciation with Sri, hence He is full of mercy, and vaikunthan which implies His swamithva, being the Lord of the universe.

 

The maya of the Lord conceals Him to the world but does not conceal us from Him like those inside the dark glass window. Viradha says to Rama the 'cows know their calves and vice versa but you know us but we do not know you.' Ramanuja calls the maya 'bhagavatsvrupa thirO DHAna karee,' the one that conceals the svarupa of the Lord.Yamunacharya terms the maya as 'yavanikA jaganmohinee,' the veil that deludes the world.

 

Indra and others eventhough aware of the identity of Krishna were deluded into believing that he was a cowherd lad, which shows the power of His maya.NammAzvAr says, 'amaivudai nAraNan mAyaiyai arivAr yAre,' who can understand the maya of the Lord! Desika says in his yadhavAbhyudhaya 'yadhgarbhE jagadhakhilam sa Eva garbhO dhEvakyAh samajani dhEvadhEva vandhyah,' The one who has the whole universe in Him and who is worshipped by the devensdhra, was born from the womb of Dhevaki.

 

In Varahavathara the ocean was said to cover only the ankle of the Lord while in Krishnavathara Yasodha was able to bathe him with handful of water! that is the maya of the Lord! Not only that. The one who told all to bow down to His feet in the charam sloka, 'mAmEkam saranam vraja,' grasped both the feet of Yasodha while she bathed Him!

 

The central idea of the pasuram is that one should not be deluded into believing that the house and other possessions, indicated by thoomaNi mAdam etc., are real and should acquire knowledge about the Lord who is the only reality behind all.

 

Chith, achith and Isvara are the three reals of which achith is everchanging, chith does not change in form but only in nature and Isvara is changeless and the real of the reals, 'sathyasya sathyam.' Therefore He is the 'thoomaNi,' pure gem. The upanishad tells about this 'thoomaNi' and the veda which houses it is the 'mAdam,' the mansion.The lamps that show the meaning of veda are the purANam, smrthi and brahmasuthram. One who has the knowledge of these is said to sleep in the 'thuliaNai,' bed which is the Lord. He is our bed because every night we are sleeping in Him but we do not know it because of our ignorance.

 

The lock of the door ,'manikkadhavam thAL,' is our karma which has to be opened in order to get the knowledge for which we need the favour of Acharya and the Lord who is the paramAchArya..If one succeeds in acquiring all this he joins the group of bhAgavathas when the dumbness, deafness and pride ,meaning that one becomes deaf and dumb to all talk except of Him,and becomes proud of doing His kainkarya,. opens his mouth only to sing the glory of the Lord thus engage all his senses in the service of the Lord.

 

This pasuram is supposed to refer to Thirumazisai azvAr to whom the terms 'mAmAyan, mAdhavan and vakunthan are favourite expressions and he used to sing about the Lord in reclining position 'ThulaNai---' The word 'suttrum vilakkeriya' refers to his profound knowledge of the vedas and he was dumb and deaf when he was insulted on receiving agrapuja in a yaga by brahmins. He was under the influence of Peyazvar 'mandhirappattALO' and sleep for a paramaikanthin is to turn away from worldly pleasures