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amalanAthipirAn - 9

From the Bhakti List Archives

Venkatesan Ananth • November 26, 2000 


Sri:
Srimathe Ramanujaya Nama:

--

amalanAthipirAn onbathAm pAsuram

AlamAmaraththinilai mElorubAlakanAy
gnyAlamEzhumuNdAn arangaththaravinaNaiyAn
kOlamAmaNiyAramum muththuththAmamum
 mudivillathOrezhil
neelamEniaiyo niRaikoNda thennenjinaiyE

--

Meaning:

He who was (lying as) a small child on a leaf of
the giant banyan tree and swallowed all seven 
worlds, and who is lying on the sweet bed of 
Adisesha, His blue colored (dark) divine body 
without par in its beauty and with the beautiful 
and special gemmed garlands and pearl necklaces has 
alas, stolen the completeness of my heart.

--

Essence: 

His divine body and its color has brought every-
thing with it and stolen Azhvar's heart.
Azhvar had said that his mind had been made a fool 
by His eyes ("kaNkaLennaip pEthamai seythanavE") 
in the previous song. His eyes which are like the 
arrows of Sri Rama are showing no mercy on Azhvar 
("kadaikkaNennum siRaikkOlAl nenjooduravavEvuNdu 
nilaiyunthaLarnthunaivEnai"). Seeing that, His 
divine body is showing the beauty coming from the 
combination of the different parts and the 
ornaments plus its own beauty, to Azhvar. 
Azhvar was like a person who wears different 
flowers separately and now His body is making a 
person who wears a garland made of all kinds of
flowers. 
His divine body is gathering all its multiple 
beauties and falling on Azhvar like a king who 
gathers all his armies and falls on his enemies. 
Azhvar is stating that his heart got caught in 
that beauty and is now destroyed.
In the fifth song, Azhvar had said that He had 
removed his karmAs such that they will not come 
back. In the eighth song, he said that He ripped 
to shreds the avidhyA that is the source of these 
karmAs, like He shredded that Hiranya who was the 
physical form of the thamO guNAs. The following 
quetion then arose: if one looks at this world, it
is one that covers everyone with the darkness of 
ignorance ("iruLtharumAgnyAlam") and would do 
that even to Him (who is from "theLivisumbuth 
thirunAdu") were He to be born here; if one looks 
at time, it eventually destroys one's gnyAnam and 
leads to false behaviour; if one looks at the
body, it hides His presence inside and creates
false knowledge; if one looks at AzhvAr's birth,
he was born in a class that prevented him from
learning the Vedanthas from appropriate Acharyas.
Thus, by this world, time, body and birth Azhvar
had no opportunity to be removed of all his 
karmas; yet he has proclaimed that He had done 
that for him. Would He be able to do that for
Azhvar? Azhvar answers that in this pasuram.

--

AlamAmaraththinilai:
During the praLayam, He took the form of a 
small baby and kept the universe in His stomach
and protected it. As that small child, He was 
lying on a very small and tender banyan leaf.
By saying "mAmaram" Azhvar is stating the
opposite; that is, the leaf is very small.
Azhvar is answering the question here, whether
He could have removed Azhvar's karmas in spite 
of the fact that he did not have the support of
this world, time, body or birth. Azhvar says
to Him who could become a small child and 
swallow the universe, would it be such a big
task to defeat Azhvar's enemies and remove his
agnyAnam. It would be impossible for Azhvar
to have removed the karmas himself; is there
anything that is impossible for Him?

ilaimEl:
He was small enough to fit into the small and
tender leaf.

orubAlaganAy:
He was a smaller child than even Yasoda's 
Krishna.
He was lying on the small leaf as a baby that 
has neither father nor mother.

gnyAlamEzhumuNdAn:
Just like small babies tend to pick things and 
put them in their mouth, so did He as a baby 
put the seven worlds, the seven oceans 
surrounding them, the seven mountains 
supporting the worlds, and everything else in
His mouth.
He kept the entire worlds in His stomach without
losing their order.

arangaththaravinaNaiyAn:
Just as He saved the worlds from praLayam while 
lying on a leaf, so is He lying in Srirangam to
save everyone that is caught in the samsArap 
praLayam.
Just as the worlds would not survive praLayam
unless they reached His stomach, samsAris
would not reach Him unless they see Him here.
He was lying during praLaya on the small leaf
and He is lying in Srirangam for all time on 
Adisesha while being worshipped by Brahma and 
the Devas, for the protection of His devotees.

aravinaNaiyAn:
His devotees would be worried that He is such a
small baby and His stomach would hurt for having
swallowed the universe; in order that they not
be concerned He is lying in a big form as periya
perumAL in periya kOil.
There may be no one to worry about Him when He
is lying on the banyan leaf; here ananthan is
lying as a bed to make sure that nothing comes
against Him ("theemugaththu nAgaNai", "AngAravA-
ramathukEttazhalumizhum poongAraravaNai").
One need not worry about Him lying on a small
leaf in a huge ocean; here He is lying on
thiruvananthAzhvAn.

kOlamAmaNiyAramum:
He is wearing a necklace made of great gems and
it is like the SriKowsthubam.
The necklace is an ornament to His divine body.
kOlam refers to Him (azhagiya maNavALan).
The necklace for His chest that is the abode f
Sri.

muththuththAmam:
He is wearing a necklace made of great pearls
that cools His body.
The single strand, three strand, five strand 
and seven strand pearl necklaces.

mudivillathOrezhil:
His beautiful body that is cool to the eyes and
removes all difficulties.
His endless beauty.
His body that is like dark clouds and that is 
more beautiful than all these ornaments.
His dark blue body that gives endless beauty to
the ornaments.

neelamEni:
His divine body that does not need the beauty of
the ornaments.
His body that gives beauty to the ornaments.

niRaikoNdathennenjinaiyE:
Azhvar says that He stole the completeness of his 
heart.
He protected the universe from praLayam by keeping
it in His stomach and yet His body has destroyed
Azhvar's mind.
Azhvar's mind had been caught in the beauty of
His different avayams and now His body has shown
its complete beauty (made of all the avayams);
Azhvar's mind which had thought it had obtained
completeness before has lost it now.

aiyO:
He showed Azhvar to His heart and then took over 
Azhvar's heart. Azhvar's heart is his tool to 
enjoy Him and reach Him and Azhvar is crying out
because He has taken that over.

--

thiruppANAzhvAr thiruvadigaLE saraNam
srI periyavAccAn piLLai, srI azhagiya maNavALap 
perumAL nAyanAr, srI vEdAntha dEsikar thiruvadigaLE
saraNam

--

adiyEn madhurakavi dAsan
T.C.A. Venkatesan

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