mARRamuLa

mARRamuLa

Azhvar requests Him to cut his association with the mortal body

tirumangai AzhwAr in this last tirumozhi says the births are very cruel. The Sareera should be got rid of. Oneself cannot do it. He seeks His tiruvaDi and prays Him to remove his dEha sambandha. He addresses emberumAn directly and says this body is an obstacle to enjoy His anuBava incessantly. He falls at His tiruvaDi and prays.

1. mATTram uLa Ahilum Solluvan makkaL
tOTTrakkuzhi tOTTruvippAi kol enru innam |
ATTrangaraivAzh marampOl anjuhinrEn
nATTrachchuvai ooroliyAhiya nambee || One ||

Oh! emberumAn! You are the controller of all the senses like smell etc., When i say something You are always ready with a reply that i don’t know how to argue further. Still i want to say something. i am always afraid of falling of this body like a tree standing on the banks of a river may fall anytime when the sand gets eroded. i am not afraid of death but am afraid of another birth in a womb.

There is a dialogue between jeevAtma and paramAtma.

jeeva—All the jeevas are entitled to go to paramapada and enjoy the kainkarya like the nityasooris. Why should he experience repeated births and deaths, suKa and duhKa in this samsAra?

paramAtma—The jeevas turn their senses away from me towards the worldly enjoyment. Hence they do karmas both good and bad. These karmas make them enjoy suKa or duhKa in this world. Therefore they are born (to enjoy fruits of karma). They repeatedly do this because of their ignorance. If only they know the way out of it i.e., to surrender themselves to me, they come out of this cycle. The fruits go to the doer in the last. What can i do about it?

jeeva—When all the indriyas are under Your control You cannot blame the jeeva and say he is responsible for all the actions. As for karma, it is an act and the act is over as soon as it is performed. If You say it gives Pala, it is because You keep their actions in Your mind, do the sankalpa that they should enjoy the fruits for their respective actions. If only You don’t do any sankalpa the actions perish and have no power to produce any fruit. Since You are swatantra no one is there to control You. Since we are aswatantras You are our swAmi. Isn’t it the duty of the swAmi to safeguard the property (jeevas)? Therefore i say, Your indifference towards the jeevas alone is the cause of this samsAra.

paramAtma—you blame me for no reason at all. I have given you chEtana for you to decide whether to go to paramapada or be in samsAra. If such is the case why should you blame me?

Thus AzhwAr and BagavAn discuss as above. (AzhwAr who was given jnAna by BagavAn and BagavAn who is jnAna swaroopa discuss this matter is the idea). The discussion on karma, jeevAtma and paramAtma as explained in the SAstra will not provide any final conclusion as such non ending discussion are futile. They don’t give mOkSha. Therefore AzhwAr says ‘listen to me’.

ATTrangarai vAzh maram pOla—When the river flows it gradually erodes the soil under the tree. So there is the danger of falling any time. Since the tree is insentient it cannot avoid the situation, cannot move to any safer place, cannot cry for help. It certainly has to yield to its fate. Similarly AzhwAr says he is unable to avoid the danger and like the tree is fraught with danger.

But AzhwAr continued the tree is in a much better position than him because the insentience makes the tree not feel the danger where as AzhwAr being sentient feels the danger but cannot avoid it. Therefore he says ‘anjuhinrEn’. (the tree cannot say anjuhinrEn)

AzhwAr has taken birth in this Boomi at the request of BagavAn who asked him to do so in order to lift the people fallen in the ditch of samsAra. He was given the upadESa by nArAyaNa Himself and got the jnAna because of His blessings. Therefore there is no need for him to fear births. Yet he feels so since BagavAn ask him to remain in Boomi. AzhwAr fears the very word birth; Though it is harmless the eel looks like a snake and is feared by everyone. Isn’t it wise to fear what should be feared as vaLLuvar says ‘anjuvadu anjAmai pEdaimai anjuvadu anjal arivar tozhil’.

nATTram Suvai ooru oLi Ahiya nambee—As it is in viShNu sahasranAma ‘Bayakrid BayanASana:’ He Himself has given the indriyas with which He makes me immersed in samsAra or come out of it.

2. SeeTTram uLa Ahilum Seppuvan makkaL
tOttrakkuzhi tOTTruvippAi kol enru anji |
kATTrattiDai paTTa kalavar manam pOl
ATTra tuLangAnirpan AzhivalavA || Two ||

In the last pASura AzhwAr said ‘maTTrum uLa Ahilum Solluvan’ and he expressed his idea to Him. BagavAn got angry and says ‘AzhwAr! you talk as if you are very pure even though you are a great sinner. you ask me ‘tOTtrakkuzhi tOTTruvippAi kol’ and blame me for that. Therefore AzhwAr says ‘SeeTTramuLa Ahilum Seppuvan’. Oh! BagavAn! i know i have committed many sins and Your anger is fully justified. Still i venture to say more for i find no one to tell my woes.

What are the types of sins BagavAn, the very abode of kAruNya refer to here? They should be very severe for Him to get angry. They are BagavadapachAra—to think my Atma is swatantra when in fact it is paratantra to BagavAn; to think His ‘births’ (avatAras) like matsya, koorma, etc., as our births (which are due to karmas). To think His ‘births’ are only to protect dharma and destroy adharma is jnAna. To think otherwise is ajnAna; to think His archa moorti as stone, metal etc.,

What is BAgavata apachAra?—To insult or laugh at him who is His very devotee.

What are other apachAras (included in ‘etc’)—to do harm to other creatures; not to act according to vEdic injunctions which are His commandments; to involve the indriyas in worldly matters.

AzhwAr thinks he has committed all these sins like an ordinary man. He says BagavAn is angry at him. ‘Yet i don’t have anyone to seek shelter. Hence i come to You even though You are angry at me’.

SeeTTramuLadAhilum Seppuvan-- In Sree vachana BooShaNa it is interpreted as—AzhwAr says ‘makkaL tOTTral kuzhi tOTTruvippAi kol’. BagavAn gets angry. Hence in the second pASura AzhwAr says ‘SeeTTramuyLavAhilum Seppuvan’.

If BagavAn is angry shouldn’t AzhwAr keep quiet? Why should he say ‘Ahilum Seppuvan’? AzhwAr knows He is krupA sAgara. His anger is short lived. Moreover AzhwAr’s suKa is overflowing that he cannot keep quiet anymore. And there is no one whom he can talk freely (ananya gatitvam). So he has to say even if He gets angry.

periyavAchchAn piLLai’s interpretation—even if You are angry because of my sins------.

piLLailOkAchArya’s interpretation—even if You get angry at what i am going to say---.

Sree vachana BooShaNam— aruLum Artiyum ananyagatitvamum SollappaNNum. sreenAlum kAlai kaTTikkoLLalAmbaDi iruppAn oruvanai peTTrAl ellAm SollalAmirE.

makkaL tOTTrakkuzhi tOTTruvippAi kol—when i do karma You get angry for my sins. This results in my taking various repeated births? But will You permit me to do them? Will You not prevent me from doing them? ‘not preventing’ results in repeated births. ‘to be abandoned by Him’ causes samsAra duhKa. When a mother does not care to lift the child which has accidentally fallen into a well certainly means she is killing the child.

In the last pASura AzhwAr compared himself to a tree on the banks of a river. Now he compares himself to a passenger in the ship tossed by a wind in the middle of a sea. The passengers are in danger but they don’t know how to come out of it. Their minds are as agitated as the ship itself. Similarly AzhwAr fears the samsAra. He finds no way to come out of it. ‘anji tuLangA nirpan’. He uses the plural word ‘kalavar’ to mean his duhKa in the sum total of all the duhKas of all the people in the ship. They are worried about their lives, whereas AzhwAr is worried about his Atma. Therefore he says ‘ATTra tuLangA nirpan’.

‘vandadE Azhkalattannahaluzh’ ‘paNNAr kaLirE pOl pAyOngu uyar nAvAi kaNNAr kaDan maNDi kATTril kavizhungAl maNNAr maNi pooNEi makkaL urum tunbam naNNA narahattin nAngAm aDiyanrE’—these lives speak of the trouble faced by the people in the drowning ship.

3. toongAr piravikkaN innam puhappeidu
vAngAi enru SindittunAn adarkanji |
pAmbODu orukooraiyilE payinrArpOl
tAngAdu uLLam taLLum en tAmaraikaNNA || Three ||

In the last two pASuras AzhwAr confessed he had committed many sins. He was blaming Him for his duhKa. At the same time he cannot live without Him. BagavAn takes pity on Him, appears before him and says ‘AzhwAr! you confess your sins. you are angry with me. Why don’t you put all the BAra (weight) on me? Why don’t you feel the light of happiness after doing so? Won't I bear your worries?’ ‘Oh! tAmarai kaNNa! my mind is always unsteady. What can i do about it? i am much worried whether You will save me or not. i feel my living in this body is as detestable as living with a venomous snake under one roof. Therefore i am worried (uLLam taLLum).

4. uruvAr piravikkaN innam puhappeidu
tirivAi enru Sinditti enru adarkanji |
irupADeri koLLiyinuL erumbE pOl
uruhAnirkum enuLLam oozhimudalvA || Four ||

AzhwAr calls Him ‘oozhi mudalvA’. He is the protector of all created beings during praLaya when He puts them all in His tiruvayiru till the praLaya lasts. Similarly AzhwAr feels He will protect him from the dangers of samsAra sAgara and help him out of it. i don’t know what is in Your mind. Are You thinking of giving me many births? i fear both deaths and births. Like an ant caught between two burning ends (births and deaths) of a log i am caught in this duhKa samsAra. The ant faces danger wherever he moves. i am in a similar plight’.

uruvAr piravi—When i take a janma my dEhABimAna (attachment to the body sense) suppresses my Atma guNas. i don’t find a way out.

tiridal—Moving from one janma to the other endlessly tirunAvukkarasar, a saivait sain says in dEvAram ‘irudalai minnuhinra koLLimEl orerumbu ennuLLam’.

5. koLLakkuraiyAda iDumbai kuzhiyil
taLLippuhappeidi kol enru adarkanji |
veLLattiDaippaTTa nariyinam pOlE
uLLam tuLangA nirpan oozhimudalvA || Five ||

i am like a pack of jackals caught in the flood when i think You may push me into the samsAra flood again and again. If You set a time limit for my suffering, i may somehow hopefully wait for the time to be over and bear the duhKa till that period. But my samsAra duhKa seems to be for ever and ever not decreasing with time (koLLakkuraiyAda).

You may say my karma alone is the cause of my births. But can't You nullify it? Hence AzhwAr says ‘taLLi puha peidi kol’ (didn’t You push me). periyavAchchAn piLLai— kiNaTTrilE vizhuhinra prajaiyai (child) vAngAda tAyai tAnE taLLinAL ennakkaDavadirE’. ‘neruppilE ahappaTTu erihinravanai tiriya adukkuLLE taLLi onrai iTTu amukkinAraippOlE’---it is as if a person is pushing a man already in the fire (who tries to come out) and press him with something to make his escape impossible.

veLLattiDaippaTTa nariyinam pOlE—The plural usage of the fox (nariyinam) indicates his plight compared to not one fox but all of them put together.

oozhi mudalvA—The danger of praLaya is nothing compared to my samsAra duhKa. During praLaya You protected them but fail to do so for me even when i ask, plead and beg!

6. paDai ninra paindAmaraiyODu aNineelam
maDaininralarum vayalAlimaNALA |
iDaiyan erinda maramE ottirAmE
aDaiya aruLAi enakku un tan aruLE || Six ||

AzhwAr is very fond of vayalAli emberumAn. In the earlier pASuras he said ‘aDiyEn pirandEn pirandapinnai vaTTrA neer vayal Soozh vayalAli ammAnai peTTrEn peTTraduvum piravAmai peTTrEnE’ and ‘aNiyAli kai tozhudu munnam SEr valvinaihaL pOha muhil vaNNan ponnam SEr SEvaDi mEl pOdaNiya peTTrOmE! Now here in this pASura he says ‘enakku undan aruL aruLE’.

When the lands are ploughed with the help of oxen, the center portion will be left untouched. This portion is called ‘paDai’. Here the neelOtpala and lotuses will not be disturbed. But when the farmers pluck out the weeds they will throw these flowers aside where they would grow abundantly.

‘maNi kezhuneer marungalarum vayalAli’ ‘maiyilangu karunguvaLai vayalAli’ ‘vambAr poo vayalAli’ thus AzhwAr describes his favourite place in several pASuras.

maNavALan— Literally means a bridegroom. This tiruvAli emberumAn came with His pirATTi as bridegroom and bride, made him His dAsa, did mantrOpadESa. In another tirumozhi he as parakAla nayki wants to marry this tiruvAli emberumAn.

iDaiyan erinda maram—The shepherds would cut the branches on one side of the tree to feed the leaves to the cattle. The tree by such repeated cutting would become dry in that portions only. The other part will be green with leaves and flowers. AzhwAr says by His anugraha he has jnAna Ananda but not His anuBava since he has still the prAkrita Sareera.

‘neeDu pan malar mAlai iTTu nin iNaiyaDi tozhudu Ettum en manam vADa nee ninaiyEl ------- aNiyAli ammAnE’—You should give poorNAnanda by giving paramapda now. ‘This is not difficult for You’. You can easily make the whole tree fresh and young with leaves, buds and flowers. You should, similarly give poorNAnanda, i am not satisfied with doing kainkarya to You with this prAkrita Sareera.’

‘iDaiyan erinda maram’ ‘ATTrangarai maram’ ‘kATTrattiDaippaTTa kalavan manam’ ‘veLLattiDaipaTTa nariyinam’—are all old adages.

7. vEmbinpuzhu vEmbanri uNNAdu aDiyEn
nAn pinnum un SEvaDiyanri nayavEn |
tEmbal iLandingaL SiraiviDuttu aivAi
pAmbinaNai paLLikoNDAi paranjOdee || Seven ||

A wife born of a good kula will look upon her husband only for her protection whether he is good or bad. She will not seek the shelter of anyone else except him. Similarly AzhwAr says he will not seek the tiruvaDi of anyone else except Him even if He is bitter like the neem leaf. He says he is like the insect living in the neem tree (vEmbin puzhu) eats nothing but the bitter products of that tree (vEmbanri uNNAdu).

In previous pASuras AzhwAr called Him ‘toNDar tangaL sindaiyuLLE muLaittu ezhunda teengarumbE’ ‘amudam podiyin suvai karumbu’ ‘kannalai karumbiniDai tEralai’ etc., praising Him sweet honey, sugarcane etc., Now he calls Him ‘vEmbu’—a bitter neem tree. How is lit possible to call Him so? But the idea is—You are nectar no doubt. i like You not because You are a nectar but even if You are a neem. My Atma’s SEShatva is not because You are nectar but because of its necessarily so being by its very nature. But the argument is if Atma is essentially SESha then AzhwAr can take sugarcane or nectar as simile. Why should he say ‘neem’ ? The commentators say the ‘vEmbu’ is a bitter comparison. ‘mihudalum, kuraidalum tAzhdalum uyardalum pAn mArupaDudalum pAhupADuDaiya’— taNDiyalangAram. In the case of comparison if the higher is compared to a lower or the lower is compared to a higher, wise men take only the ‘guNa’ and leave the ‘dOSha’ (kuTTram tingaL Sirai viDutta)—the moon god married 27 daughters (stars) of dakSha muni. Of them he was very fond of rOhiNi. The other wives were jealous and complained to their father. The muni cursed him to wane. He started waning from that day. Fearing his complete disappearance he surrendered to Sree ranganAtha and performed penance, with His blessings He started to grow again. The puNya teertha where he took bath during penance is even now called chandra puShkaraNi.

BaTTar says ‘yasyAi aByAsatO param aGamarShaNeenAm chandrah Suddha deedidhitAm avApa’ ‘kOLvAi madiyam neDiyAn viDuttAngu’—Seevaha sindAmaNi.

aDiyEn nAn—My swaroopa is SEShatva hence to say ‘nAn’ is ahankAra. Hence it is always ‘aDiyEn nAn’.

pinnum—My SEShatva is natural guNa. Even if it changes (pinnum) i shall not leave You.

tEmbal iLandingaL Sirai viDuttu aivAi pAmbin aNai paLLikoNDAi—refer to Sree ranganAtha. The next pASura too refers to Him alone. ‘tuNDa veN piraiyin tuyar teerttavan anjiraiya vaNDum vAzh pozhil Soozh aranga nahar mEyavappan’—tiruppaNAzhwAr.

You who removed the duhKa of the moon god shall surely remove my duhKa—is the idea expressed in this pASura.

aivAi pAmbinaNai paLLi koNDAnai— You are never separated from AdiSESha. You are never separated from me who is Your SESha.

8. aNiyAr pozhil Soozh aranganagar appA
tuNiyEn ini nin aruLalladu enakku |
maNiyE maNimANikkamE madusoodA
paNiyAi enakku uyyum vahai paranjOdee || Eight ||

Oh! aranganaharappa! You are my dear bandhu who saves me when i am in danger. You reside here in tiruvarangam which is cool with plenty of forests to remove my tApa. Therefore i don’t seek anyone else except You.

You are beautiful like sapphire, precious like diamond. You are the only rakShaka who killed madhu to protect the dEvas. Similarly You should kill my enemy, the samsAra, and give me paramapada.

You should tell me some nice words (paNiyAi) as You did to arjuna in the battlefield. You gave upadESa ‘sarva dharmAn parityajya mAm Ekam SaraNam vraja aham tvAm sarva pApEByO mOkShayiShyAmi mA suchah’—place all Your problem on me; take me as Your refuge; I destroy all Your enemies; don’t worry.

uyyum vahai paNiyAi—Just a few words will do to make my mind peaceful.

When BagavAn hears this prayer He becomes very pleased and His face brightens (paranjOdee).

9. nandAnarahattu azhundAvahai nALum
endAi toNDarAnavarkku innaruL SeivAi |
SandOgA talaivanE tAmaraikaNNA
andO aDiyErku aruLAi un aruLE || Nine ||

naraka—hell is the abode of all sinners. They experience all kinds of tortures there. Once the pApas get exhausted they come out of it. But the ‘nandA naraka’—permanent hell, called samsAra will not end by experiencing it. It is the anugraha of emberumAn which can alone put an end to it. Hence AzhwAr says ‘azhundA vahai nALum innaruL SeivAi’. To get His anugraha one should worship His tiruvaDi (toNDarAnavarku).

andO— When the father is the supreme monarch of all the worlds, should His son be roaming in the streets like a beggar?

SandOgan—chandas means vEdas. It is interpreted in both ways—He who knows all the vEdas and He who is known by all the vEdas. He is the subject matter of all the upaniShads.

10. kunram eDuttu Anirai kAttavan tannai
manril puhazh mangaiman kalikanri Sol |
onruninraonbadum vallavar tammEl
enrum vinaiyAyina SArahillAvE || Ten ||

In kriShNAvatAra He protected all the men and animals of AyarpADi from the heavy rain caused by angry indra. He did not discriminate His Baktas whether they are men, women or animals. He is sarvarakShaka.

manril— is a place where people gather. Here it means the people wherever they gather talk about tirumangai AzhwAr about how he was a normal samsari and how he had the upadESa form BagavAn Himself and how he become His Bakta, how he renounced everything and did prapatti to Him and finally how He got the samslESha of BagavAn.

He has sung these pASuras praising His guNas and speaking his dOShas. Those who read these pASuras will get rid of the pApas and puNyas and finally reach paramapada to enjoy His kainkarya forever. The valvinaihaL will be burnt like bales of cotton by a spark of fire or run away like darkness in front of light.

periya tirumozhi muTTriTTru

tirumangai AzhwAr tiruvaDihaLE SaraNam