Periya Thirumozhi 6.1.2

2.  aNNal seydhu alai kadal kadaindhu * adhanuL kaNNudhal nanjchuNNak kaNdavanE! *
     viNNavar amudhuNa amudhil varum * peNNamudhu uNda emperumAnE! **
     ANdAy! unaik kANbadhOr * aruL enakku aruLudhiyEl *
     vENdEn manai vAzhkkaiyai * viNNagar mEyavanE!

Thirumangai Azhvar re-iterates his position throughout this decade to emphasize on his distaste for this material life.

aNNal seydhu – (i)  The Lord performed an act of benevolence

(ii) The Lord asserted His mastery

alai kadal kadaindhu – He churned the tumultuous ocean

adhanuL kaNNudhal nanjchuNNak kaNdavanE – He made the poison to be swallowed by Siva and protected the Devas

viNNavar amudhuNa – He let the celestials drink the elixir

amudhil varum peNNamudhu uNda emperumAnE! – He, Himself, obtained Periya Piratti ( Divine Mother Mahalakshmi ) who made the elixir consumed by the celestials look like dust in comparison.  Srimannarayana performed a great favour to His devotees through this act!  After all, doesn’t the favour done to the mother extend to the children as well!

ANdAy!  …  viNNagar mEyavanE! – Unlike the celestials who used Thee to further their material existence, I request Thy grace to obtain the vision of the divine couple – Thyself and Mother Mahalakshmi forever.

O Lord of Thiruvinnagar!  Thou benevolently protected the celestials from poison and gifted them with elixir.  Thou consumed Periya Piratti who makes even elixir look like dust.  Unlike the celestials who petition Thee to extend their material existence, I have no use of it.  I seek only the vision of the divine couple of Thyself and Thy consort forever.

Notes:

The Srivaishnava tradition advocates that the worship of the Lord be always done when He is together with His consort Mahalakshmi.  She is ever united with Him and plays the role of a mediator in rescuing the souls of this world.

The hymn discusses the incarnation of the Lord as Kurma or the tortoise.  During this incarnation, as the Lord bore the hill on His back, the celestials and the demons churned the milk ocean to obtain its riches.  However, in the beginning, deadly poison emerged from the ocean.  The Lord made Siva drink the poison and protected the celestials who had surrendered to Him.  Elixir that was supposed to confer immortality emerged out of the ocean, next.  The Lord ensured that the celestials were able to consume this elixir.  The climax of the churning was reached when the divine consort of the Lord, Herself, emerged out of the ocean.  In comparison to Her, all the previously churned out riches including elixir looked like useless dust.  The Lord Himself accepted Her and performed a great favour to His devotees.  While it can only be said that the Lord favoured Periya Piratti, the commentator reasons that the favour done to the mother extends to her children.  As They are our Father and Mother, their togetherness ensures our own well-being.

The celestials consume elixir to prolong their material existence.  Azhvar, on the contrary, expresses his distaste for this life.  His only desire is to obtain eternal vision of the divine couple.

Periya Thirumozhi 6.1.1

1.  vaNduNu naRumalar iNdai koNdu * paNdai nam vinai keda enRu * adi mEl
thoNdarum amararum paNiya ninRu * angku aNdamOdu agalidam –
aLandhavanE! ** ANdAy! unaik kANbadhOr * aruL enakku aruLudhiyEl *
vENdEn manai vAzhkkaiyai * viNNagar mEyavanE!

vaNdu uNu naRumalar iNdai koNdu – With garlands of fresh and fragrant flowers that are sought by bees

paNdai nam vinai keda – “May our old sins be destroyed”

enRu adimEl thoNdarum amararum paNiya – so prayed the Devas (celestials ) and other good men, surrendering to the Lord’s lotus feet

ninRu (i) –  They stood praying

ninRu(ii) aNdamOdu agalidam aLandhavanE – Standing as He was, He measured the upper worlds and the vast earth.

ANdAy – Even as I sought sensual pleasures and wandered through this world completely ignoring Thee, Thou have always been concerned about protecting my well being and have nourished me to my current position.

unnaik kANbadhOr aruL enakku aruLudhiyEl – Grace me for Thy own success in my redemption.

vENdEn manaivAzhkaiyai – Please consider my distaste towards this world.  Remain not that he is still entrapped by material lures.

viNNagar mEyavanE – O Lord of Thiruvinnagar!

O Lord of Thiruvinnagar! Thou measured the earth and the upper worlds by only standing, even as the celestials and other good men surrendered unto Thy lotus feet offering fresh and fragrant flowers and praying “May our old sins be washed”.

Thou protected me all these days even as I roamed in the search of sensual pleasures completely ignoring Thee.  For all of Thy efforts towards my redemption, it is in Thy own interest to grace me for succeeding in Thy task.  Please remain not that I am still subject to material lures.  Consider my utter distaste for this life and grace me with Thy eternal vision.

Notes:

The incarnation of Lord Mahavishnu as Trivikrama is mentioned in this hymn.  This incarnation is famous for the act of measuring the worlds with His lotus feet.  The Lord defied the norms of measurement during this act.  He did not move a single step.  One foot remained on the earth and the other extended to the skies.  Hence, Azhwar says that He measured the worlds by just standing.

Though the soul assumes that he makes efforts to attain the Lord, in reality, it is the Lord who constantly tries to redeem the soul.  The redemption of the soul is the fruit of the Lord’s efforts.  This is discussed in the later half of this hymn.

Periya Thirumozhi Introduction

PERIYA THIRUMOZHI 6.1

Introduction to this decade:

Thirumangai Azhvar was revealed the esoteric meaning of the eight-lettered chant Thirumanthram by the Lord Himself.  Following the revelation, Azhvar realized that the most resplendent form of the Lord is His image form worshiped famously in temples as Archavatharam.  He spent his time, thereon, engaging in the spiritual experience of several such shrines where the Lord is manifest ranging from Thiruppirithi and Badrikasramam in the North to Srirangam and Thiruvellarai in the South.  The Lord allowed Azhvar to stay in this world in line with his interest in enjoying His image forms.

As much as His image forms are enjoyable, the lures of sensual pleasures persist in this material world.  Being habituated to this world through several births, it is very easy to slip back into the vagaries of material life,  a return to which implies prolonged suffering.

In this decade of hymns, Azhvar repeatedly petitions the Lord not to prolong his existence in this world.  He reveals his position that neither permits him to survive without the complete experience of the Lord nor tolerate the association with material life.

The soul has suffered since times immemorial because of the sole association with matter(achith).  Hence, it is imperative that this material life must be given up.

Three decades from the current one onwards are directed towards the Lord of Thiruvinnagar, Oppiliappan.