vandhunadhu

Periya Thirumozhi

vandhunadhu

(thiruvAli 1)

vandunadu aDiyEn manam puhundAi
puhundadarpin vaNangum en
Sindanaikku iniyAi tiruvE ennAruyirE
andaLir aNiyAr aSOkin iLam
taLirhaL kalandu avai engum
Sendazhal puraiyum tiruvAli ammAnE ||

AzhwAr says—‘Oh! en sindaikku iniyAi! Oh! tiruvE! Oh! ennAruyirE! You have entered my mind and is sweet to my worshipping mind! You reside in tiruvAli—where there are plenty of aSOka trees whose soft red tender leaves makes the tree look like it is on fire—which is the place You like more than paramapada, pArkaDal, Sreerangam, tirumalai. etc.

‘sindaikku iniyan’ is the name of the AzhwAr’s tiruvArAdhana moorti which is seen even now in tiruvAli.

neela taDavarai mAmaNi nihazha
kiDandadu pOl aravaNai
vElai talai kiDandAi aDiyEn manattu irundAi |
SOlaittalai kaNa mAmayil naDamADa
mazhaimuhil pOnru ezhundu engum
Alai puhai kamazhum aNiyAli ammAnE ||

aNiyAli ammAnE! You lie on tiruppArkaDal like a sapphire mountain and You are in my mind too. How wonderful! You reside in tiruvAli—where the smoke from the sugar factories send their aroma everywhere deluding the peacocks that they are clouds of rain and hence they start dancing.

The first line is interpreted as following—He is lying in tiruppArkaDal like a blue mountain wearing the koustuBa gem in His neck which appears as if a blue sapphire is embedded on a blue mountain.

nennel pOi varum inru enru eNNi
irAmai en manattE puhundadu
immaikku enru irundEn eri neer vaLam Seruvil
Senner koozhai varamboreee arivAr
muhattezhu vALai pOi karumbu
annal kADaNaiyum aNiyAli ammAnE ||

tiruvaAli ammAn has come and entered my mind to stay there for ever. He is not like a lover who leaves his sweetheart and gives her hope—‘Oh! He is gone just yesterday. He will come today. Certainly He will come to me’ so saying she will wait for Him in vain. He is a true lover who never leaves His Bakta. He will be in my heart till I die. He resides in tiruvAli—where the red paddy grows very high that the farmers have to bend them to cut. When they cut the crops the fish hiding in the cobs jump out of fear, leave the paddy field to to to the neighbouring sugarcane field to live.

minnin mannu nuDangiDai maDavAr tam
Sindai marandu vandu nin
mannu SEvaDikkE maravAmai vaittAyAl
punnai mannu Serundi vaN pozhil
vAyahan paNaihaL kalandu engum
annam mannum vayal aNiyAli ammAnE ||

Oh! swAmi! You made me forget the slender waisted women (behind when I was running before this time) but made my mind fix on Your tiruvaDi alone. How wonderful! Oh! aNiyAli ammAnE! You live in tiruvAli—where there are plenty of forests full of punnai and surapunnai trees; plenty of lotus ponds where swans live in pains in the fields.

neeDu panmalar mAlai iTTu nin
iNaiyaDi tozhudu Ettum en manam
vADa nee ninaiyEl maram eida mA munivA
pADal innoli Sangin OSai
parandu pal paNaiyAl malindu engum
ADalOSai arA aNiyAli ammAnE ||

Oh! Sree rAma!—do not think of ever causing agony in me who served You by placing garlands of different flowers and worshipping Your tiruvaDi—You pierced the seven trees with a single arrow to instill confidence in sugreeva. You reside in tiruvAli—where the sound of singing hymns, blowing conches and playing of instruments is always heard accompanied by dance of ecstasy.

mAmaram eida mA munivA—Oh! rAma! You had to strive hard like piercing the trees, kicking the heap of bones etc to instill confidence in sugreeva. But in my case all You have to do is to make a sankalpa not to abandon me. That is all!

kanda mA malar eTTum iTTu nin
kAmar SEvaDi kaitozhudezhum
pundiyEn manattE puhundAyai pOhaloTTEn
Sandi vELvi SaDangu nAnmarai
Odi Oduvittu AdiyAi varum
andaNALar arA aNiyAli ammAnE ||

In tiruvAli there are vaidikas who perform nityakarma like sandhyAvandana etc. naimittika karmas like yAga and yajna; kAmya karmas like putrakAmEShTi etc; who chant vEdas and teach them to others. Here resides BagavAn to whom I had been doing kainkarya by offering garlands made of eight kinds of flowers to His beautiful tiruvaDi. I shall not let Him leave my mind where He had come to live for ever.

malar eTTum iTTu—The eight kinds of flowers are—karumuhai, karpagam, nAzhal, mandAram, sugandhi, sengazhuneer, tAmarai and tAzhai.

Eight kinds of flowers may mean—tiru aShTAkShara—‘Om namO nArAyanAya’—the eight syllabled mantra, where each letter is a flower. It means ‘I shall meditate on His tiruvaDi with aShTAkShara mantra.

There is another interpretation—‘ahimsa prathamam puShpam; puShpama indriya nigraha; satva Boota dayA puShpam; kShamA puShpam viSEShatah; jnAnam puShpam; tapah puShpam; dhyAnam puShpam; tathaiva cha satyam aShTavidham puShpam viShnOh preetikaram BavEt!—nonviolence, control of senses, compassion towards all creatures, patience, jnAnam, austerity, meditation and truthfulness are the eight flowers (AchArya hrudaya).

kAmar SevaDi—‘When I did not ask You to cover yourself in to my mind. Shall I ever say ‘no’ and ask You to get out? Will anyone throw the wealth that has come to him without asking?’

ulavu tirai kaDal paLLi koNDu vandu
un aDiyEn manam puhundu ap
pulava puNNiyanE puhundAyai pOhaloTTEn
nilavu malar punnai nAzhal neezhal taN
tAmarai malarin miSai mali
alavan kaN paDukkum aNiyAli ammAnE ||

Oh! sarvajna! puNNiya! You have come down from pArkaDal into my mind. I shall never let You go from here. Oh! emberumAn who—lives in tiruvAli where there are punnai and jnAzhal trees on the banks of a lotus pond where the male cub sleeps on big lotus flower—lives in tiruppArkaDal not because He likes it very much but because He awaits a suitable time to enter a Bakta’s mind.

This idea is expressed in Sree vachana BooShaNa too. puNNiya—You are puNya incarnate where as i have no puNya in my account.

The reference to a male cub lying on a lotus in a pond under the trees has a special meaning—BagavAn lying on tiruppArkaDal (pond) on tiruanandAzhwAn (lotus) under the hoods (punnai trees etc)

Sangu tangu taDangaDal kaDan mallai
uL kiDandAiaruL purindu
ingu ennuL puhundAi inippOiyinAl araiyO
kongu SeNbaha mallihai malar pulhi
inniLa vaNDu pOi iLan
tengin tAdaLaiyum tiruvAli ammAnE ||

Oh! tiruvAli ammAnE! You reside in this divya dESa—where the bees first sit on the kongu, SheNbagam and mallihai flowers. They seek the cool flower bunches of coconut trees like a person tormented by heat dips his hands in sandal paste. Oh! emberumAn! You have left Your abodes tiruppArkaDal and tirukkaDan mallai to enter my mind to do nityavAsa there. He does this because of His unbound compassion.

sangutangu taDangaDal—Can mean both tiruppArkaDal and kaDan mallai.

inippOyinAl araiyO—‘araiyO’ is a expression used by the victorious army against the defeated. Here AzhwAr uses the expression when there is no war, no one victorious and no one defeated. The inner meaning is—Oh! BagavAn! I have decided to keep You in my heart permanently even if You want to leave You cannot. Why? because Your coming to my mind is done out of extreme compassion, a guNa which is ever present in You. When this guNa leaves You can leave me! But You and Your guNas are never separated. Hence You are bound to stay there. Now who is the winner? It is me! (Hence the expression ‘araiyO arai’)

Odi Ayira nAmamum paNindu Etti
ninnaDaindErku oru poruL
vEdiyA araiyA uraiyAi oru mATTram endAi
neediyAhiya vEda mA muniyALar
tOTTram uraittu maTTravarku
AdiyAi irundAi aNiyAli ammAnE ||

Oh! dEvAdi dEva! Oh! araiyA! endAi! Why don’t You answer me—who chant thousand names of Yours, think of You alone? You are the one who revealed the mantras to the maharShis who are the ‘mantra seers’ and it is You who is revealed by vEdas and who is the ‘AdikAraNa’; it is You who is residing in tiruvAli.

In the previous pASuras AzhwAr was telling ‘puhundAyai pOhaloTTEn’ with SESha BAva he said ‘un manattAl en ninaindirundAi’ ‘ini en tirukkurippE’. Now he asks Him ‘to utter just one word of answer to me. Don’t You say ‘na tyajEyam kathanchana’ (Sree rAma) and ‘mA suchah’ (Sree kriShNa)? Since You are swatantra You may say ‘I have come on my own and go as I please’. But Oh! BagavAn! Please say ‘don’t worry! I shall never never leave You!’. neediyAhiya vEdam—The vEdas show us the right path by saying ‘dharmam chara’ ‘satyam vada’ etc.

pulli vaNDaraiyum pozhil puDai Soozh
tennAli irunda mAyanai
kallin mannu tiNDOL kaliyan oli Seida
nalla inniSai mAlai nAlumOr
aindum onrum navinru tAmuDan
vallarAi uraippArku iDamAhum vAnulahE ||

tirumangai AzhwAr—who has mountain—like strong shoulders—has sung these ten tamizh pASuras—a garland of beautiful words—on the emberumAn residing at tiruvAli—a divya dESa where there are plenty of forests with flowers where bees hover round singing often drinking honey. Those who read, meditate, sing and tell these pASuras will certainly reach paramapada and do nityakainkarya to BagavAn.