Thirumaalai(66)

Sri Parthasarathi thunai,
Srimathe Ramanujaya Namaha

“ Mattrondrum vEinda Maname Madhilarangar
  Kattrinum meitha kazhalinai keezh- uttra
  Thirumaalai paadum seer Thondaradipodi Emperumaanai
  Eppozhudum peesu”

“ Srimat Krishna samahvaya Namo yaamuna soonave
  yetkadAkshai kalakshyAnAm sulabha: Sridara: sadaa”

Pranams,

Paasuram-44

“pennulAm sadaiyinAnum piramanum vunnai kAnbhAn
  ennilA oozhi oozhi thavam seidhAr velgi nirpa
  vinnulAr viyappa vandhu Anaikku andru arulai eendha
  kannarA* vunnai ennO? KalaikanA karudhumArE”

After talking about the bhAgavata magimai in the previous paasurams,
now in this paasuram alwar proceeds to say how emperuman is pleased by
the love of bhAgavatas and how he comes running to their call without any
differentiation.  In this paasuram, alwar talks about the gajendra
Moksha vriththAntham, where emperuman came running to help the elephant
from the clutches of the crocodile.  A pandiya king by the name
Indradumnan was a great bhakthan but he lacked politeness(vinayam) and was full
of pride.  So when agastiyar came to visit him he ignored the great
rishi and continued with his grand pooja.  Do to this illtreatment
agastiyar got angry and cursed him to become an elephant (only elephants have
matham so the rishi made him into the same).  In a similar manner a
gandarvan by the name hoohoo attained the curse of devalar, a deva rishi
and became a crocodile.  The rishis who were kind at heart actually gave
both of them only a boon in disguise.  They then told them that
emperuman would come to release them out of this misery.  In this paasuram,
alwar admires the krupai of emperuman who came in very great speeds to
save his bhakthan.

pennulAm sadaiyinAnum piramanum vunnai kAnbhAn:  Siva perumAn is
referred to as pennulAm sadaiyan here because he has the ganges on his head. 
Alwar says, even the sivan and brahma are trying to see you,

ennilA oozhi oozhi thavam seidhAr velgi nirpa:  they have been doing
tapas(penance) for many many years(Ozhi kAlam) but unable to do the same. 
But as soon as gajendran called “AdhimoolamE” emperuman forgetting even
to get dressed up, ran to save the elephant.  Seeing the speed brahma,
sivan and others who were doing tapas for so many years were ashamed. 
Sri PVP in his vyakhyanam says, “nAmmellAm mudalaiyin vAyil vizhAmal
thavaththin vAyil vizhunthOmE endru velgi nirpa”(we are all not fortunate
enough to have fallen into the crocodile’s mouth instead we fell into
the mouth of penance and hence perumal didn’t turn up, felt sivan and
brahma).

  vinnulAr viyappa vandhu Anaikku andru arulai eendha:  The devas got
the amrudhan from the pArkadal but they were not blessed with the
bhagavat amrudham(darshan of emperuman-sAkshAtkAram) that is why they are
still in svargam and haven’t reached the moksha mandalam of emperumAn.  So
the bhagavan is beyond the reach of the devas.  So when gajendran
called emperuman, the devas were eagerly waiting to see who comes to his
rescue and who is the reason behind everything (Adhimoolam).  Our acharyas
say, the status of the devas is like a man on the top most floor of a
building.  One child asked its mother to fetch him the moon.  The mother
replied, “Since we are down here and the moon is on the top at a great
distance from us we cannot catch the moon”.  The child looked up saw
his father standing upstairs. Immediately he asked, “If we are down we
cannot catch but won’t father be able to catch it for me since he is on
the top floor?”  No one can catch the moon even if we are on top of the
tallest building in this world.  The devas are on the top most building
still they will never be able to see emperuman or understand his
greatness.   When the dEvas were waiting with their eyes wide open to see the
emperuman,

We will see what happened in the next posting.

(To Be Continued)

AzhwAr emberumAnAr jeeyar thiruvadigaLE saraNam
Adiyen Ramanuja Dasyai
Sumithra Varadarajan