MoondrAm thiruvandhAdhi-Paasuram-18

Sri Parthasarathi thunai

Srimathe ramanujaya Namaha

Srimad Vara Vara MunayE Namaha

Sri vAnAchala mahA munayE Namaha

 

Paasuram-18

“vAi mozhindhu vAmananAi mAvalipAl moovadimaN

  neeyaLandhu konda nedumAlE – tAviyanin

  enjA eNaiyadikkE yEzhpirappum ALAgi

  anjA thirukka varul”

" வாய்மொழிந்து வாமனனாய் மாவலிபால் மூவடிமண் 

  நீயளந்து கொண்ட நெடுமாலே -தாவியநின் 

  எஞ்சா  விணையடிக்கே யேழ்பிறப்பு மாளாகி 

  அஞ்சா திருக்க வருள் "

Sri Vanamamalai deivanayaka perumal as vamana moorthy

 vAmanan Ai – In the form of Vamana;
mAvalai pAl – In front of mahabali;
vAi mozhindhu – (childish) uttered some words;
moo adi maN – 3 foot steps of land (begged for);
aLandhu kOnda – measured and got;
nedumAlE – sarvEshvara, Oh! Supreme lord;
enjA – (In beauty) no shrinking;
tAviya – leaped;
nin eNai adikkE – for your 2 divine feet;
yEzh pirappum – In all the 7 births;
Al Agi – becoming the servant;
anjAdhu erukka -  be without fear;
nee aRul – you please grace me; 

Introduction 

(vAi mozhindhu) you who do not allow your property to go astray should take control of me and grant me your divine service and remove all the fear in my mind that arises due to the hurdles in this samsara says azhvar 

Commentary 

(vAmananAi vAi mozhindhu) Oh! Supreme Lord you hid your true nature and posed to be a small vAmana and stood in front of mahabali begging for 3 feet of land. 

(mAvalipAl moovadimaN nee aLandhu koNda nedumAlE!) You begged for 3 feet of land as a small boy and once it was granted stretched yourself as Trivikrama to measure all the 3 worlds; 

(nedumAlE) You are sarvEshvaran (Master of all) as you placed your divine feet on everyone's head.  Though you could have easily killed mahabali and granted Indra his property due to your bhakthavatsalyam, you subdued yourself and stood like a beggar in front of mahabali.

 (tAviya nin enjA enaiaddikE) to that 2 divine feet which measured the worlds effortlessly, that which belongs to the  remarkable master, that which has an everlasting ultimate beauty and those 2 that match only each other; 

 The "Ekaram" refers to anaryArhasEshatvam – surrendering only to those divine feet; 

Since only those divine feet touched all our heads; and since it alone belongs to the vaguththa sEshi (unchangeable master) and due to its mesmerizing divine beauty there is no chance that one will leave these and surrender to any other feet; Like the toddler admiring the breast of the mother more than any other part of her body a devotee/prapanna cherishes only the divine feet of the lord more than any other part of His divine body; 

(yEzh pirappum ALAi) Doing divine service for all the births to come; 

Swamy nammazhvar reiterates the same, "ozhivil kAlamellAm vudanAi manni vazhuvilA adimai seyya vEndum nAm" [Thiruvaimozhi 3-3-1]

JitantE stotra declares"In all my births I aspire only for vaishnavatva"

Sri Andal says, "ERRaikkum yEzh yEzh piravikkum vundannOdu vuRROmE AvOm vunakkE nAmAt seyvOm" 

(anjAdirukka aRul) Please allow me to live devoid of fear. 

What is azhvar's fear?  Stirred by the distractions in the samsara there is always a fear of loosing the divine service.  So peyazhvar here prays to Sri Vamana bhagavan to remove his fear and grant him uninterrupted divine service.  If the Lord does that azhvar is ready for any number of births.  But why atall azhvar wants to take more births?  We are all afraid of snakes because it is poisonous but a person immunized and treated and capable of getting over the effect of the poison doesn't mind the snake bitting him and demonstrate it like a fun game to the spectators.  Similarly Life in this world is filled with hindrances and hurdles but for those who have been treated with divine grace of the lord taking birth is never a problem and it is like enjoying in the divine abode of the Lord.

Interesting points from DivyArthdeepikai of kanchi swamy

In this paasuram azhvar quotes vamana avatara since that was when the lord went begging to uphold His property.  Azhvar is one another property of the Lord now azhvar begs the Lord to take Him under His possession.  Is it not a known fact that the Lord is the master and azhvar His servant?  The fear of azhvar here is due to the hurdles (tapathrayam) in the samsara he may loose his thirst for the divine service to the supreme Lord.   Thereby azhvar prays to the Lord to grace him to remove his fear and keep him ever in His service.

 

Azhvar emperumAnAr Jeeyer thiruvadigalE sharaNam

Jeeyar thiruvadigalE sharNam