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Re: Thirumaalai-12/Comment on the word, "AchchuthA"

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Visu9 • June 4, 2002 


Shri RAmAnujasya CaraNou Sharnam PraPadhyE

VaNakkam Shri Mani and Smt. Mani.

I enjoyed Smt. Mani's word-by-word commentary on the famous PAcuram, 
"PaccaiMAmalai POL . . . AchchuthA AmararERE . . ." of Shri Thondaradip 
PodiAazvAr. Its simplicity elevates SriRangam both metaphorically and 
literally to VaiKundam. So if someone asks why SriRangam is a VaiKuntam, all 
one has to do is to reproduce the song! 

There is a beautiful collection with meaning of 140 Thamiz PAdalkaL published 
under the title, "EzuNAL IRai VaNakkap PAdalKal". It has seven PAcurams from 
the Dhivya PraBandham (one for each day of the week) and one song on KaNNan 
and RAman by Shri RAmaLinga VaLLalAr. The latter happens to be the last song 
of the book. It is a magical song: "KArAya VaNNa MaNIVaNNa KaNNa": KaNNa, You 
are of the color of the rainy cloud, and so you are of the color of the 
rainbow [at times having several colors]. In the present song of AzvAr also 
there are four colors that are explicit and I do not know the  colors of 
Achchudhan, and of the elephant IrAvathi. Of course, following RAmaLinga 
VaLLAlAr or AanDaL or NammAzvAr, or  PeriyAzvAr, AyarTham Kozundhu is 
MaNiVaNNan and so has all the colors of the rainbow. The present poem also 
renders a partial meaning of the seven colors of the rainbow, matching colors 
with parts of the body both literally and figuratively. 

The PAcuram of ThondaradipPodi AazvAr that you were discussing is song No. 62 
in the book. It gives the meaning of the name "AchchuthA as one without 
Kschayam: End. AchchuthA is one who has no end: Akschayam Ena Anavan: 
Achchayan = Achchuthan.  "Azivu IllAdha dhEvan" as given in the book.  This 
is a second rendering of the meaning of the word, "AchchuthA". 

Of course, A + Chyutha = One who cannot be cut off and so cannot be separated 
[from his devotees] as you have interpreted. 

Of the two meanings, it is interesting to speculate who will choose what! A 
person who is enjoying the vision of Shri RangaNAthan may prefer the meaning 
you have given. What is the point otherwise of staying in SriRangam? If the 
Lord is going to go away, one may as well follow Him and go to IndhraLokam. 
So Achchuthan should mean the inseparable, this person would argue. 

On the other hand, a person who has the choice may argue that if it is not 
guaranteed that the Lord has no ending, he/she  might have stayed in 
SriRangam in vain. Since in IndraLokam, he/she might argue, the Lord is 
likely to be for ever because of Amruth, he/she would have made a poor choice 
in staying in VaiKuntam instead of the real Kuntam. The Lord being Amarar 
ERu, He will be there in the Real Indrakuntam. This is guaranteed, according 
to this person. 

So my questions to the BhAgavathAs and their children are, "What is your 
choice? And why?"  How do we resolve this apparent conflict? Is there a 
conflict to begin with? It appears that the poem resolves this issue. It 
seems that each one can be derived from the other in the context of the poem. 
The question is not irrelevant: because the poem makes a comparison between 
DhEvAs and the Blessed mortals. Aridhu Aridhu MAnidarAy PiRappadhu Aridhu. 
"It is worthy, worthy indeed to be born as a human". I do not know whose 
(ThiruMUlar??) words are these. But ThAyumAnvar has the following: ENNariya 
PiRaviThanil Manudap PiRaviThAn YAdhinum Aridhu KAN. . . . VEnduvEn 
Umadhadimai NAn: You [God] are an eyewitness for the experience that being 
born as a human is the most worthy among the innumerable worthy forms of 
beings. [So because of this experience I have] I want to be your servant. 

Vandhanam.

May He endow us with Grace. 

Visu 



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