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nAcciyAr tirumozhi VI - vAraNam Ayiram 8

From the Bhakti List Archives

Kalyani Krishnamachari • February 11, 1999 


			SrI:
      SrI ANDAL samEta SrI rangamannAr tiruvaDigaLE SaraNam

             nAcciyAr tirumozhi VI - vAraNam Ayiram
      pASuram 6.8 (sixth tirumozhi - pAsuram 8 immaikkum 
                                     EzhEzh piRavikkum)

A. Translation from SrImAn SaDagOpan's tamizh treatise:

godai describes the next part of her dream to her friend: 
"nArAyaNan, who is our protector for us in this birth and 
all the forthcoming births, and who is filled with kalyANa 
guNa-s, held my right foot with His red-hued tiruk-kai
and placed it on the ammi (stone)."

immaikkum EzhEzh piRavikkum paRRAvAn
 nammai uDaiyavan nArAyaNan nambi
SemmaiyuDaiya tirukkaiyAl tAL paRRi
 ammi midikka kanAk kaNDEn tozhI! nAn

B. Some additional thoughts (from SrI SaDagOpan):

ANDAL declared in tiruppAvai "eRRaikkum EzhEzh piRavikkum 
un tannODu uRROmE Avom unakkE nAm At SeyvOm maRRai nam 
kAma~ngaL mARRElorempAvAi", thus describing the SaraNAgati
tattvam. In this tirumozhi, she declares the same in a 
different form: "emperumAn is having a permanent, indestructible 
relation with us in this birth and the next and in all 
His avatArams".  In tiruppAvai ANDAL declares - 
kuRaivonRumillAda govindA! un tannODu uRavEl namakku i~ngu 
ozhikka ozhiyAdu".  Here she does mangalASasanam to Him 
saying "immaikkum EzhEzh piRavikkum paRRAvAn, 
nammai uDaiyavan nArAyaNan nambi". 

For the mantram recited during "ammi midittal", please refer to the 
following location:

<http://www2.be.com/~mani/bhakti/archives/apr98/0083.html> 

C. Additional thoughts (from SrI PVP and SrI PBA):

immaikkum EzhEzh piRavikkum paRRAvAn: In the previous pASuram, 
godai had said that because of their holding hands in front of 
agni as the witness, they cannot part with each other.  
Here she says: "even if the witness agni tries to make us 
leave each other, He will not let go ever, in this birth
and all future births".

EzhEzh piRavikkum:  There is no void in our lives, no matter 
how many times we will be born, as long as we get to enjoy Him.  
When yAgams are done for the sake of making it rain etc, the 
benefit would be that it will give the right fruit only once.  
But this not the case with Him.  As seen from rAma carama slokam 
("sakr*dEva prapannAya"), it is enough for us to hold on to
Him once as upAyam; that anubhavam will stick to us for as 
long as time exists.  nammAzhwAr shows us this sentiment in 
tiruvAimozhi 9-1-7 "kuRRamil SIr kaRRu vaigal vAzhdal kaNDIr 
guNamE".

nammai uDaiyavan:  He is our sarva-svAmi; we belong to 
Him, not to our own selves. Here SrI PVP quotes "coreNa 
Atma apahAriNA" (bhAratam udhyoga parva 42-35) - this 
AtmA belongs to bhagavAn; whoever thinks it belongs to
himself, is really stealing the AtmA.  There is no greater 
thievery and sin than this.    

nambi - refers to He who is full of unlimited kalyANa 
guNa-s.  This is the equivalent of akhila heyapratyanIka, 
asankhyeya kalyANa guNa ganuagha mahArNavam.  

SemmaiyuDaiya tirukkaiyAl tAL paRRi: Semmai here refers to 
two attributes of His tiruk-kai.  One is the beautiful red 
color of His palms.   The other is His ASrita pAratantriyam - 
His becoming subservient to those who seek refuge
in Him - or His great desire to hold His bhaktas' feet, 'Semmai".  

During weddings, normally, the bridegroom's relatives will say 
"don't touch the bride's foot". The bride's relatives will say 
"you will have to hold her foot"; when the two sides are arguing 
like this, He came on His own and held godai's foot with great 
desire. Even though He is our svAmi, we don't have
interest in resorting to His Feet; unlike us, He is very eager 
to hold the feet of those who resort to Him.  This is what is 
conveyed by the word "Semmai".  Even though He tells us 
"mAm ekam SaraNam vraja", which means we should hold His Feet 
and surrender to Him, in truth when we go and seek His
Feet, it is He who holds our feet with great zeal.

ammi midikka:   This is the aSma ArohaNam ceremony - 
stepping over the stone - ammi midittal.  The bridegroom 
says to the bride - "Be strong in your loyalty to me, 
like this stone" - "aSmEva tvam sthirA bhava".   SrI PVP's
anubhavam is that as He is trying to place godai's foot on 
the stone, she is worried about His foot touching the 
stone by accident.  Why?  Because, that stone might turn
into a woman like ahalyai!  

SrI PBA notes that there is a view that ammi midittal 
is done as a way of saying that the bride will not have 
infidelity like ahalyA, but will be a great pativratA instead.

tozhI nAn - Godai tells her sakhi:  Previously I have heard 
about His ASrita pAratantriyam from you;  now I have myself 
experienced it.


sarvam SrIman nArAyaNAyEti samarpayAmi.

adiyEn,
Kalyani Krishnamachari