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nAcciyAr tirumozhi XI tAm ugakkum 9

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Kalyani Krishnamachari • November 14, 2000 


                                                      
                          SrI:
      SrI ANDAL samEta SrI raÂ’ngamannAr tiruvaDigaLE
SaraNam

                           nAcciyAr tirumozhi XI – tAm
ugakkum
pASuram 11.9(eleventh tirumozhi - pAsuram 9 kaNNAlam
kODittu )

avaradu Ur araÂ’ngamE!

kaNNAlam kODittuk kanni tannaik kaip piDippAn
 tiNNArndu irunda SiSupAlan tESu azhindu
aNNandu irukkavE AÂ’ngu avaLaik kaip piDitta
 peNNALan pENum Ur pErum araÂ’ngamE

A. Meaning from SrImAn SaDagOpan's tamizh treatise:

In this pASUram, ANDAL reminds herself of the incident
where Lord kRshNa saved rukmiNi from SiSupAlan. 
SiSupAlan was absolutely sure that he was going to
marry rukmiNi, and had made all the marriage
arrangements.  In the meantime, rukmiNi cried out to
Him – SrutvA guNAN bhuvana sundara …tvayi acyuta
AviSati cittam aptrapam me (SrImad bhAgavatam
10.52.37).   Even as SiSupAlan was hot-headedly gazing
skyward with certainty of this futile dream of his,
bhagavAn came like a lightning and rescued rukmiNi and
married her even before SiSupAlan could realize what
had happened.  Here, ANDAL is praising this Lord of
tiru araÂ’ngam for His demonstrated Mercy to those who
seek His protection.

B. Additional thoughts from SrI PVP: 

In the first six pASurams of this tirumozhi ANDAL was
referring to His having taken ownership of all that
belongs to her.  In the seventh, she referred to the
difficulties He went through for sItA pirATTi earlier,
but now He is enjoying her misery without even being
aware of the miseries He went through.  In the eighth,
she said that even if she wanted to forget Him, His
thought haunted her and she could not forget Him.  In
the current pASuram, she recalls how He saved rukmiNi
from SiSupAlan, and considers this to be an indication
that He is the savior of all women in distress, and so
still has the hope that He will come to her.  

SiSupAlan had done all the arrangements to marry
rukmiNi pirATTi, and had no doubt whatsoever about the
marriage taking place as planned.  kaNNan came like a
lightning and took her away and married her even as
SiSupAlan was wonder-struck and gazing skyward, not
being able to comprehend what happened.  By this act
of His, He is known as One who helps all women who
need help.  Being helped by Him without fail, all
women can dance with joy in araÂ’ngam (the term for the
dance stage).  No wonder that the place where that
emperumAN, who is a protector of womenfolk, is living
is also called tiru araÂ’ngam.  So ANDAL consoles
herself that He will definitely come and help her.

Even though bhagavAn gave the carama Slokam to arjuna,
we humans fondly trust that His word applies to all us
and so we hold on to our lives with this trust that
ultimately He will protect us.  BhagavAn is common to
all, and so if He says something to arjuna, it is like
His saying the same thing to all of us.  So also,
ANDAL looks at the instance of His helping rukmiNi,
and fondly hopes that this is sufficient proof that He
will help her as well. 

kaNNAlam kODittu:  SiSupAlan spent all the wealth that
he had earned in the festivities for his proposed
marriage with Sri rukmiNi. [kODittal is a word that is
commonly used to explain elaborate preparations for
anything]  

kanni tannaik kaip piDippAn: Just like someone going
through a lot of trouble to smell a fresh flower which
has never been smelt by anyone before, SiSupAlan  went
through hoops to gain the hand of this kanni, rukmiNi.


tiNNArndirunda SiSupAlan:  tiNNArndiruttal – to be of
the firm belief, to be absolutely certain.  Just as we
go around leading our lives with the firm wrong belief
that our AtmA belongs to us even though it truly
belong to emperumAn, SiSupAlan was of the firm belief
that rukmiNi belonged to him, even though she truly
belonged to emperumAn. 

tESu azhindu aNNandu irukkavE:  Two interpretations
are given for this;  one before kaNNan came and took
away rukmiNi, and the other after He came and rescued
her.  

Before kaNNan came, SiSupAlan had lost the luster that
comes with humility (aDakkam) and thinking proudly of
himself as maNavAlap piLLai, never looked down and was
holding his head high looking at the sky.  

After kaNNan came and took away rukmiNi and disgraced
SiSupAlan, SiSupAlan could not dare look at anyoneÂ’s
face, and so was staring at the sky instead filled
with shame (tESu azhindu aNNAndirukkavE).

AÂ’ngu avaLaik kaip piDitta: The quickness with which
kaNNan came and took rukmiNiÂ’s hand looked like He
thought it sufficient that all the pUrvAÂ’nga-s for the
marriage have been already completed by SiSupAlan, and
all He had left to do was to take her hand. 

peNNALan: This action of His (namely rescuing His
devotee who sought His protection) was not meant only
for rukmiNi;  ANDAL sees this act as a confirmation
that He will protect all those who are born as women
and who seek His protection.

pErum arangamE: just as He is peNNALan, His place is
also called SrIra’ngam – a place that periya
pirATTiyAr enjoys living in (araÂ’ngam denotes a
dancing place; pirATTi dances in glee in His place,
thus hinting women can live in happiness here).

C. Additional thoughts from SrI PBA:

The “um” suffix in “Urum ara’ngamE” emphasizes that
not only He is peNNALan, but the place He lives is
also the place where the women can dance with joy.  


D. Additional thoughts from SrI UV:
 
In the last pASuram we saw to what extent bhagavAn
went to protect bhUmidevi.  gOdaiÂ’s friends point out
that emperumAn took great trouble to save bhUmidevi
because she was His wife, and the whole world knew it,
and so it was His duty to protect her;  If He does not
protect her, it will be a dishonor to Him, and so He
had no choice except to protect her.  But in gOdaiÂ’s
case, all that happened is that gOdai got married to
Him in her dream;  no one else in the world will
accept this as proof that gOdai is married to Him.  
In this situation, if He doesnÂ’t come and save gOdai,
He is not going to be dishonored. So the friends
advise gOdai that she is wasting her time hoping that
He is going to come and protect her.  So gOdai is
defending araÂ’ngan in this pASuram.

peNNALan:  rukmiNi is not the only one He saved. He
killed narakAsuran and married several girls.  The
AyarpADi girls did nOnbu to get Him as their husband
and He fulfilled their wishes too.  

araÂ’ngamE:  What is special about ANDAL emphasizing
tiru araÂ’ngam instead of say pARkkaDal?  When He is
lying down in pARkaDal, He is useful only for
bhUmidEvi. Since He married many more girls, He
decided pARkaDal is not the right place for Him and so
He came to tiru araÂ’ngam.  Unlike other mUrti-s who
are in standing or sitting postures and involved in
taking  care of the worldÂ’s affairs, araÂ’ngan is lying
down on painnAgaNai, a pose that all girls love to
see. raÂ’ngam means the dancing stage. Does that sound
like a place for an old man to be lying down?  Far
from it.  This is the place for all to dance with joy
thinking of this nitya yauvana mUrti. 

To show that tiru anaÂ’ngan is young at heart, gOdai
uses the word “peNNALan..  How did ANDAL who wanted be
marry kaNNan ended up marrying tiru aranÂ’ngan?  This
pASuram is quoted as the support.  Just like Him, she
also can assume any form she wants, and all the
rUpam-s He takes are pati rUpam-s for her. 

Abbreviations:
------------------
PVP= SrI periyavAccAn piLLai
PBA= SrI prativAdi bhayankaram aNNangarAcAriyAr
UV  = SrI uttamUr vIrarAghavAcAriyAr

sarvam SrIman nArAyaNAyeti samarpayAmi.

aDiyEn,
kalyANi kRshNamAcAri


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