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Re: meimmai peruvaarththai//kiZI aRuttAn

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Visu9 • July 18, 2002 


Sri rAmAnujasya caraNau SaraNam prapadhyE ||

/namastE Shri Vasudevan tiruvarE.

Just a note on the quote from Shri /paTTar pirAn' s /taniyan.

//vENTiya vEtaGkaL/Oti viRaintu kiZi aRuttAn

The translation you have used: "He hastily tore the cash bag hung after uttering the required /vedAs". It seems to me that the translation does not bring out the full effect of the line.

/kiZi is a fabric: A cloth, but cut out of a full piece. That is it is a piece of cloth not small as a cash bag would be. You take a woven fabric at its source. It has four to 8 dhOtIs or sArIs. Whn it is torn each is a /kiZi. A single dhOtI is a /kiZi. In general it is a fabric. 

Here is a line from /JAna/campantar: /veN/kiZiyiR pavLam puRai pUntarAy. Addressing, the Lord of /tirup/pUntarai, he says: Sure, you are the Lord of the grounds full of holy flowers (punnai flower: pUkkaLaik koNTa tarai). See "the grounds are like a white fabric on which are laden pearls". The previous line addresses what the pearls are. The pearls are /cen/nel: Brown rice with the husk still on, which is even redder than the rice proper. The full lines that are relevant: "cen/nel aG/kaZani paZanatt/ayal Or/ceZum || punnai veN/kiZiyiR pavaLam purai pUntarAy || Lord of tirup/pUntarai, (I know why you are called /pUn/tarAy!) The red rice has been cultivated in well-irrigated rich soil. Those fields are bordered by /punnai trees which are shedding their white flowers. When I look at it from a distance as I approach /tirup/pUntarai, I see a white fabric overflowing with red pearls.

/aRuttal: To cut. But used just as in English. He cut a prize! He cut a big profit! How to cut the problem to size? So one meaning of /aRuttal is to shape, to gain, to win, etc. Here is a song from /JnAna/campantar on the /nava/grahAs! /JAyiRu tiGkaL . . . veLLI | cani pAmp/iraNtum/uTanE || /AcaRum! 

That is the nine planets will confer or bestow blessings on this person (who has captured Lord civA in His heart). The great saint says: "The nine planets will cut a Blessing on this" fellow! Just like an American teenager would say! 

So /kiZi aRuttAn means to cut a fabric in the sense of winning a prize, as you would cut a ribbon when the race is won or when they cut a ribbon when starting a new building etc. 

Translation tips: Cut a ribbon: /kiZi aRuttal! Unless you want to say /vAlaip/palam instead of /vAZaip/paZam! And call it tUya/tamiZ. 

Compare, "/avan kiZiccAn! :-) Or /civanA, avan ennattaik  kiZiccAn! :-)

That means he can hardly deliver! :-) Or an argument between brothers: /nI ennattaik kiZiccE? Or, /vAy kiZiyaratE, aZaku pO! 

/Otutal: To teach. Our people could not teach without /Otutal. 

So a translation with full effect: He (the /AZvAr) took scriptures to the people, , and acted as a minister (of perumAL). And doing so cut a fabric of his own! That is he preached about perumAL to people and had a large following! 

I do not think that you want to hear after these notes about why /viRaintu is translated as a minister or a preacher! I hope Shri /vaishNavAs are not offended by my translation. 

/naH svI/kurvaka asmAt krupAm: Wherefore, cause us to have Your Grace. 
/vantanam.

Visu











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