MoondrAm thiruvandhAdhi-Paasuram-19

Sri Parthasarathi thunai

Srimathe ramanujaya Namaha

Srimad Vara Vara MunayE Namaha

Sri vAnAchala mahA munayE Namaha

 

Paasuram-19

“aruLA thozhiyumE AlilaimEl andRu

teruLAdha piLLaiyAi sErindhAn – eruLAdha

sindhayarAi sEvadikkE semmalarthooi kaithozhudhu

mundhayarAi niRpArkku mun”

"அருளா தொழியுமே யாலிலைமேல் அன்று 

 தெருளாத பிள்ளையாய்ச் சேர்ந்தான் -இருளாத 

 சிந்தையராய்ச் சேவடிக்கே செம்மலர்தூய்க் கைதொழுது 

 முந்தையராய் நிற்பார்க்கு முன்."

 

eruLAdha sindhayarAi – with the mind that is not mixed with the darkness of ignorance;

sE adikkE – reddish divine feet;

sem malar thooi – submit red coloured flowers;

kai thozhudhu – pay respect with folded hands (anjali);

mundhayarAi nirpArkku – (in bhagavat vishaya) bhakthas who stand first;

andRu – once upon a time;

teruLAdha piLLaiyAi – ignorant small child;

AlilaimEl sErindhAn – The Lord who reclined on the banyan leaf;

mun arulAdhozhiyumE – will he stop without gracing us?

Introduction

If we force Him saying “anjAdirukka arul” [grace me to live without fear] will He really do the same? Is it not possible for Him to neglect us due to our ineligibility or even He might not be powerful enough to forgive and nullify our enormous amount of sins.  Azhvar in this paasurams says to his mind, “Don’t worry.  He is both powerful and also filled with mercy to protect us.  So He will not leave us to suffer”

Commentary

(aruLAthozhiyumE)  Will He be without gracing us?

But our sins are standing like mountains will He still grace us?

(AlilaimEl andRu terulAdha piLLaiyAi sErindhAn) Once upon a time when the pralayam was going to destroy the world, He reclined on a fresh banyan leaf like an ignorant small child and protected all the worlds in his small stomach;  when He can do such a unimaginable act (agadithagatanA sAmarthiyam) cant he protect us inspite of  scores of sins in our account?

(teruLAdha piLLai) Looking outwardly He took the form of a small child not capable of protecting itself.  Whereas He protected the whole world.  Similarly though when we look at our sins they seem to be powerful He is surely capable of breaking them to pieces.

But what if he neglects us due to our ineligibility?  He will protect taking into account only what we have and will not neglect due to what we don’t possess.

(eruLAdha sindhayarAi)  We have a mind without any darkness (about bhagavat vishaya).  That is enough for Him to shower His divine grace on us.

But what if we spend our time in other matters inspite of having knowledge.  Will He not ignore us? No problem since our timepass is always encircled around Him.

(sEvaidikkE semmalarthooi kaithozhudhu mundhayarAi niRpArkku) With love we submit red flowers to His divine red-colouredfeet and prostrate Him with respect with folded hands and keep us away from other matters and stand in front for bhagavat vishayam.  Why will He not grace us?

But wont those who practice karma, jnana, bhakthi yogas get the first preference?

(mun aruLA thozhiyumE) A mother takes care of a handicapped child more than a normal child.  Similarly the Lord’s vision falls on us before gracing those who are filled with jnana and sakthi (knowledge and power to practice karma, jnana, bhakthi yogas).  So Oh Mind! Don’t worry. 

Azhvar assures his mind like Sri Krishna did to Arjuna (geetha 18-66).  If we stand first for bhagavat vishayam won’t he rush to protect us?

Interesting points from DivyArthdeepikai of kanchi swamy

Just by requesting the Lord to grace us to live without fear will it happen? Yes since the Lord is ever waiting to grace each one of us.  But in order to avoid sarvamukthi prasangam (granting moksha to one and all) and thereby leading to the destruction of the leela vibhuthi He waits for some proper reason to grant His vision on us.  Since now we have reduced our rajo tamo gunas and increased our satva guna and hence standing in front to do divine service to the Lord’s lotus feet with beautiful flowers and prostrating Him with folded hands He who is all powerful and filled with sympathy towards us will surely protect us. 

 

Azhvar emperumAnAr Jeeyer thiruvadigalE sharaNam

Jeeyar thiruvadigalE sharNam