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nAcciyAr tirumozhi IX - Sindurac cempoDi 1

From the Bhakti List Archives

Kalyani Krishnamachari • July 11, 1999 


			SrI:
      SrI ANDAL samEta SrI rangamannAr tiruvaDigaLE SaraNam
             nAcciyAr tirumozhi IX - Sindurac cempoDi  
      pASuram 9.1 (ninth tirumozhi - pAsuram 1 Sindurac cempoDi)
                       nAn uyvEnO?

Sindurac cempoDip pOl tirumAlirum SOlai e~ngum
 indira kOba~ngaLE ezhundum parandiTTanavAl
mandaram nATTi anRu madurak kozhum SAru koNDa
 sundarat tOL uDaiyAn Suzhalaiyil ninRu uydum kolO

A. Meaning from SrImAn SaDagOpan's tamizh treatise:

Butterflies are spread all over tirumAlirum SOlai mountain like 
the red sinduram powder applied on an elephant's forehead. The 
Hills remind godai of emperumAn who is huge like an elephant. 
She laments that this Lord, who long ago at the request of 
the devas who wanted the amRtam, made a mattu out of the 
mandara mountain, churned the ocean and obtained the 
sweetest amRtam, namely pirATTi, will neither appear in 
front of her not let her forget Him.  She wonders if she 
will ever be able to escape the mAya net spread by sundarabAhu,
the Lord of tirumAl irum Solai.

B. Additional thoughts from SrImAn Sadagopan:

tirumAl irum SOlai nAthan has another name - sundarabAhu; 
ANDAL calls this tirunAmam "sundarat tOLuDaiyAn". 
godai's father periyAzhvAr had described the beauty of 
tirumAlirum SOlai mountain thus:" .......  appan malai
indira kObangaL emperumAn kani vAi oppAn
Sindum puRavil ten tirumAlirum SOlaiyE"  (where he 
talks about the red color of the dense cloud of butterflies 
competing with the red hue of kaNNan's lips).  The clouds 
with which godai conversed in the earlier pASuram have rained 
already; as soon as the rains stopped, the butterflies arise 
and cover the mountain; it looks like the mountain is clothed 
with red-hued cloth. Following her father's footsteps, godai
starts painting the beauty of tirumAlirum SOlai.  Thinking 
that if she uses her father's way of comparing the red flies 
to kaNNan's red lips, she would be tormented even more 
in viraha tApam, godai compares them to the red sindurap 
poDi. Even this clever way of avoiding kaNNan's beauty does 
not help her; She then heaves a long breath and reminds 
herself of how much this tirumAlirum SOlai nambi is tormenting her. 
Just as tirumangai mannan said "aNNal Seydu, alai kaDal 
kaDaindu viNNavar amudil varum peNNamudu uNDa em perumAnE", 
godai describes how emperumAn supported the mandara malai 
in the form of a tortoise (kUrmam), churned the pARkaDal 
and took mahAlashmi, who came out of the ocean and thus 
does mangaLAsAsanam to Him.  With the words "mandaram nATTi", 
ANDAL is referring to kUrmAvatAram.  The following passage 
from bhAgavatam describes kUrmAvatAram: 
"madhyamAnerNave sodriranAdhArohyapoviSat  
  dhriyamANopi balibhir gouravAt pANDunandana     
  krtvA vapuh  kAcchapam adbhutam mahat   praviSyatOyam girimujjahAra "
(Even though the mandara malai was being supported by 
the most powerful devas and aSuras, it started drowning in 
the ocean, because of it own weight. At that time, baghavAn 
took a huge form of a tortoise, got into the ocean, carried 
the mandara malai on His back and brought it up above
the ocean level (so that the devas and aSuras could continue 
to churn).  The mandara mountain, which now had as a foundation 
emperumAn's back, was trying to test the strength of 
emperumAn's tortoise shell, and started growing and growing 
till it reached the skies.  He vanquished the mountain's
ego by appearing with thousands of hands and by pressing 
the mountain with just one of His hands. bAghavatam speaks of this
beauty:
uparyagEndram girirADivAnya Akramya hastEna sahasrabAhuh  |
tasthou divi brahma bhavnndramukhyaih abhiShTuvadbhih  
sumanObhivrshTah ||

C. Additional thoughts (from SrI PVP ):

Sindurac cempoDi... parandiTTanavAl: godai is hoping to 
hold on to life at least by having the darSanam of His 
abode, tirumAlirum SOlai malai; now that hope is also 
destroyed.  Alas! All these butterflies are covering the hills. 

Sindurac cempoDi pOl:  tirumalai looks like a huge 
elephant. The red butterflies covering the mountain make 
it look like the sindurap poDi applied on the elephant's 
forehead.  sinduram here refers to the red color, and 
Semmai refers to its beauty. periyAzhvAr also talks 
about "Sinduram ilanga tan tiru neRRi mEl" (periyAzhvArtirumozhi
3-4-6). 
This red color also reminds ANDAL of His beautiful red 
lips.  periAzhvAr refers to this in his tirumozhi 4.2.9 - 
"indira kObangaL emperumAn kani vAi oppAn Sindum puRavil". 

tirumAl irum Solai engum parandiTTanavAl: The butterflies  
appear after a rain are all over the world; why does 
godai talk about tirumAl irum Solai as if this is the 
phenomenon that occurs only here?   It is because for her 
thriumAl irum Solai is the world;  all she can see is tirumalai.

indira kObangaLe:  ANDAL does not see these butterflies 
which have enveloped tirumAl irum Solai as analogous to 
the bhAkta vAnara-s which had covered SrI lankA's walls 
all around;  she was seeing them as analogous to the cruel 
rAkshasa-s who had enveloped the whole of SrI lankA.     

ezhundum parandiTTanavAl: rAmAyaNam yuddha kANDam 
(26-20,22) talks about how naLan is being followed by 
monkeys who raise their bodies, sound like lions, rise 
up and down with anger; just like the vAnara troops, 
some of  these butterflies appear on the ground, some 
keep rising up, some are flying.

mandaram nATTI anRu madurak kozhum SaRu koNDa:  He can 
agitate even the great tattva-s such as the ocean 
and extract everything out of it without leaving anything 
behind.  Why is ANDAL referring to this here?  She is 
pointing out that there is nothing that is not possible 
for Him.  Even though she thought that He cannot take 
control of her and make her suffer for Him like this, He 
completely invaded her mind and is making her suffer the 
separation to the point that she is so weak that her 
bangles are slipping out of her hands. 

madurak kozhum SaRu koNDa: When He thus churned the 
ocean, He kept the real sweet essence of the amRtam, 
peria pirATTi, for Himself, and gave only what was left 
behind, which by comparison is like the salty extract of 
the ocean.   In this context, tirumangai AzhvAr's peria 
tirumozhi 6.1.2 - viNNavar amudu uNNa amudil varum peN amuduNDa
emperumAnE.
(SrI PBA observes that the usage here by ANDAL is not 
just madurac cARu - the sweet nectar, but madurak kozhum 
SARu - peria pirATTi Herself).

sundarat tOLuDaiyAn: even though He tortures godai, 
she cannot leave Him, because of His beauty as reflected by
His beautiful shoulders etc.
 
SuzhalaiyininRu uydum kolO : He is the creator of the 
clouds, the waves in the ocean, the lightning, the movement 
in the winds, the moon's kalaigaL, sun's movement etc. 
These are all His mAyai or leelA.   If He has spread His 
net in the form of clouds to ensure we don't escape from 
Him, there is no way we are going to escape Him.

D. Additional thoughts from SrI PBA:

SrI PBA's anubhavam of the use of the word Suzhalai here 
by ANDAL is a reference to His cunning nature.  Instead of 
coming in person, emperumAn makes the clouds resembling
His hue appear before godai; He makes the indira kObangaL 
(butterflies) to spread all over and reminds her of His 
beautiful red lips.  When such a great Magician is trying to 
catch godai, how can she escape?

E. Additional thoughts from SrI Sampath rangarAjan:

Please refer to the bhakti archives (from October 1996 to
February 1997) for a detailed description of tirumAlirum
cOlai and related experiences and for additional anubhavamson this
pASuram.

sarvam SrIman nArAyaNAyEti samarpayAmi.
adiyEn,
Kalyani Krishnamachari

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