thiruvukkum

thiruvukkum

thiruvazhundhUr 3

In the last tirumozhi AzhwAr cried with joy ‘kaNDu koNDu irundEnE’ ‘kaNDu koNDu kaLittEnE’. Now He doubts whether this joy will last long. His indriyas wander as they please in the worldly matters. They are not under his control. So he pleads Him that He should bless Him and seeks His help.

1. tiruvukkum tiruvAhiya SelvA
deivattukkaraSE SeyyakaNNA
uruvaSenjuDarAzhivallAnE
ulahuNDa oruvA tirumArbA |
oruvarkATTri uikum vahai inrAl
uDan ninru aivar ennuL puhundu ozhiyAdu
aruvittinriDa anji ninnaDaindEn
azhundoor mEltiSaininra ammAnE ||

Oh! tiruvukkum tiruvAhiya Selva! Oh! deivattukkarasE! Oh! puNDareekAkSha! Oh! AzhivallAnE! Oh! ulahuNDavA! Oh! tirumArbA! Save me! Save me! These five indriyas torture me. Even one i cannot tolerate. How about the five of them joining together to torment me! They do it incessantly. Oh! kaNNa! i plead You. i have sought Your tiruvaDi fearing them. Please protect me!

tiruvukkutiruvE—One who gives pleasure. He gives pleasure to periya pirATTi and she gives pleasure to Him. The same idea is expressed by BaTTar in Sree guNaratnakOSa, by ALavandAr in stOtra ratna, by AzhwAr in Sree vaikuNTha stava and also by vAlmiki in Sreemad rAmAyaNa.

oruvarkuATTri uyyum vahai anru—It is difficult to satisfy even one indriyas. AzhwAr says imagine, all the five indriyas each of which says ‘me first’ ‘care for me’ ‘attend to me’ and so on. They torture me. How can i ever live in this condition? They seem to plan to torture me in many more ways. i seek Your tiruvaDi. Since You are the Lord of that world where they cannot enter. Oh! emberumAn! Can’t You take me there? Can’t You kill them with Your sharp chakrAyudha? Didn’t You swallow all the worlds out of compassion for jeevas! Can't You show the same compassion on me? You are tirumArban. Can't You bless me who is the servant of Sree?

aivar—AzhwAr calls the five indriyas as if they are sentient beings—perhaps out of fear or perhaps out of their act of cruelty.

2. pandArmel viral nalvaLaittOLi
pAvai poomahaL tannoDum uDanE
vandAi en manattE mannininrAi
mAlvaNNA mazhaipOl oLivaNNA |
SandOgApouzhiyA taittireeyA
sAmavEdiyanE neDumAlE
andO ninaDiyanri maTTrariyEn
azhundoor mEltiSaininra ammAnE ||

emberumAn! You have entered my mind along with periya pirATTi who has soft fingers holding a ball who has beautiful arms wearing bangles, and who is very pretty like a doll. You are dark and beautiful like rain cloud. You are the maker of vEdas and upaniShads—chAndOgya, sAmavEda, kouSheetaki brAhmaNa, taittireeya etc. and You are revealed by them too. You reside in tiruvazhundoor for my sake.

poomahaL tannODum—periyAzhwAr says—‘aravattamaLiyinODum azhahiya pArkaDalODum aravinda pAvaiyum tAnum ahampaDi vandu puhundu’

azhundoor ammAnE—Oh! emberumAn! You are standing in this divya dESa to save me from these five indriyas.

3. neyyAr Azhiyum Sangamum Endum
neeNDa tOLuDaiyAi aDiyEnai
SeiyyAda ulahattiDai SeidAi
Sirumaikkum perumaikkum uLpuhundu |
poyyAl aivar en mei kuDiyEri
pOTTri vAzhvadarkanji ninnaDaindEn
aiyA ninaDiyanri maTTrariyEn
azhundoor mEltiSaininra ammAnE ||

Oh! emberumAn! You have long arms carrying SanKa and chakra. You haven’t behaved as You should to Your dAsa. (because) You have given these five indriyas which are very cruel in their nature. BagavAn says ‘AzhwAr! These indriyas have been given to You to go to my divya dESa (limbs), to worship Me (Sareera), to see My archA moorti (eyes), to hear pASuras, itihAsas and purANas (ears), to speak My guNas and chEShTitas (mouth). Aren’t they helpful to You?’ AzhwAr says ‘emberumAn! They are useful both for ‘Sirumai’ and ‘perumai’ (worldly and paramapada) The problem is they don’t listen to my advice. They keep demanding for their fulfillment of worldly desires. Hence i am seeking Your tiruvaDi to protect me from them’.

4. paranE panjavan pouzhiyan SOzhan
pArmannar mannartAm paNindEttum
varanE mAdavanE madusoodA
maTTrOr naltuNai ninalAl ilEn kAN |
naranE nAraNanE tirunaraiyoor
nambee emberumAn umbarALum
aranE AdivarAham mun AnAi
azhundoor mEltiSaininra ammAnE ||

AzhwAr cries—Oh! paramapuruSha! Oh! varanE! Oh! mAdhava! madusoodA! You are worshipped by all the kings and king of kings. Oh! tirunaraiyoor nambi! You have taken both nara and nArAyaNa avatAra in order to teach the world the characteristics of a perfect SiShya and perfect guru and did upadESa of aShTAkShara mantra. Oh! emberumAn! dEvAdi dEva! Adi varAha! tiruvazhundoor ammA! i don’t know any other rakShaka except You.

5. viNDAn viNpuha venjamattariyAi
pariyOn mArvaham paTTripiLandu
paNDAnuyya Or mAlvarai Endum
paNbALA paranE pavittiranE |
kaNDEn nAn kaliyugattadan tanmai
karumamAvadum en tanakku arindEn
aNDA ninaDiyanri maTTrariyEn
azhundoor mEltiSaininra ammAnE ||

Oh! azhundoor ammAnE! You took narasimha avatAra where You split open the chest of hiraNya. Oh! paNbALA! You lifted gOvardhana mountain in order to protect the cattle from being destroyed by rain (sent by indra). Oh! parama! i understand the ways of kaliyuga where people are averse to BagavAn but attracted to worldly pleasures. After much deliberation i have decided to seek Your tiruvaDi (instead of going by the ways of my indriyas). Oh! pavitra! aNDA! i don’t know anything but Your tiruvaDi which gives me divine bliss.

6. tOyAvin tayir neyyamuduNNa
SonnAr Sollinahum pariSE peTTra
tAyAl AppuNDirundu azhudu Engum
tADALA taraiyOrkkum viNNOrkkum |
SEyAi krEta trEta dwApara
kaliyugam ivai nAngum mun AnAi
AyA ninaDiyanri maTTraiyEn
azhundoor mEltiSaininra ammAnE ||

Oh! kaNNa! You are already a laughing stock of AyarpADi folks. By Your act of stealing pure ghee, butter etc. You made them laugh to their hearts content. yaSOda, highly vexed at all this bound You with a cord to a mortar (that made them laugh still more and made You cry bitterly). Perhaps You wanted to show Your soulaBya to her. Though You are such a sulaBa to AyarpADi men and women, You are far to other people of this world and also dEvas of the other worlds. i know Your real greatness that You are the controller of kAla—of the four yugas—and hence i seek Your tiruvaDi alone, nothing else.

7. karuttukkanjanai anja munindAi
kArvaNNA kaDal pOl oLivaNNA
iruttiTTAn viDaiyEzhum mun venrAi
endAi andaramEzhum mun AnAi |
poruttu koNDirundAl porukkoNNA
bOhamE nuharvAn puhundu aivar
aruttuttinriDa anji nin aDaindEn
azhundoor mEltiSaininra ammAnE ||

Oh! mEGa vaNNa! kaNNa! You killed kamsa because He tried to kill You. You subdued the seven bulls since they had to be in order to marry nappinnai pirATTi. Oh! endAi! You are the swAmi of all the seven worlds—Boo lOka , Buvar lOka, suvar lOka, mahat lOka, jAna lOka, tapO lOka, and satya lOka. In fact not only these lOkas but to all the worlds created by You, You are the controller.

Oh! kaDal vaNNa! i try to control my five indriyas but they torture me awfully. Well! i try to bear with it patiently but not able to do so. They are beyond my endurance.

Hence i seek Your tiruvaDi to protect me from those wicked fellows (indriyas). i seek the shelter of Your tiruvaDi.

8. neDiyAnE kaDiyAr kali nambee
ninnaiyE ninaindu ingiruppEnai
kaDiyAr kALaiyar aivar puhundu
kAvalseida akkAvalai pizhaittu|
kuDipOndu unaDikkeezh vandu puhundEn
koorai SOrivai tandu enakkaruLi
aDiyEnai paNiyANDukoL endAi
azhundoor mEltiSaininra ammAnE ||

Oh! sarvasmAt paranE! poorNa! You lie on tiruppArkaDal in order to hear the woes of dEvas and do the needful. Here i have come to tell You my woes. My cruel indriyas torment me beyond endurance. They imprison me and enslave me ordering me to do kainkarya to them. They are young and powerful. Somehow i have escaped from that ‘prison’ and fell at Your tiruvaDi. Oh! emberumAn! kaDiyAr kali nambee! Protect me. i shall not go back again to be caught by them. i shall lie here for ever. You should provide me with food, clothing and shelter. Bid me to do nitya kainkarya to You. i shall be Your slave.

aDiyEnai paNi koNDaruL—My very nature is to be Your dAsa. Hence i request You to keep me so. Didn’t You stay on the shore of the ocean in order to do anugraha to viBeeShaNa? Similarly You are in this diyva dESa to do anugraha to me who have sought Your tiruvaDi. Should i be a loser when You are a rakShaka?

koorai SOrivai tandu—AzhwAr says His tiruvaDi alone His food, clothing and shelter.

9. kOvAi aivar en mei kuDiyEri
kooraiSOrivai tAvenru kumaittu
pOhAr nAnavarai porukkahillEn
punidA puTkoDiyAi neDumAlE |
teevAi nAhaNaiyil tuyilvAnE
tirumAlE iniSeivadonrariyEn
AvAvenru aDiyErkku irai irangAi
azhundoor mEltiSaininra ammAnE ||

azhundoor ammAnE! The five wicked indriyas have entered my body and demand food and clothing. They never leaves this body. i cannot tolerate them any more. Oh! punidA! (because You punish the enemies of Your Baktas and feel happy about it). Oh! garuDawaja! (in order to proclaim Your rakShakatva You have a garuDa flag flying high) Oh! nAhaNaiyil tuyilvanE! (You lie on tiruanandAzhwAn to reveal Your nitya sambandha with Your dAsas) tirumAlE (You have periya pirATTi in Your tirumArbu who does puruShakAra to her children). You are in this divya dESa exhibiting Your glories, guNas, anugraha to people like me who seek Your protection.

In the last pASura AzhwAr said he has escaped from the clutches of the five indriyas. Now he says ‘they cause angry in me’. It is interpreted as—AzhwAr is still in this world. Hence he cannot totally avoid them. They order him to get this and this and this. AzhwAr says though they order me they are not my swAmi, only You are. AzhwAr says ‘emberumAn! You need not worry yourself to protect me. Just feel in Your mind. Oh! This poor fellow!’ ‘Ah! Alas!’ and so on. This is all i need.

teevAi nAhanai—tiruanandAzhwAn emits fire from his thousand mouths when enemies of BagavAn and BAgavatas approaches Him.

10. anna mannu paimbozhil Soozhnda
azhundoor mEltiSai ninra ammAnai
kannimannu tiNtOL kalikanri
AlinADan mangaikkulavEndan |
Sonna in tamizh nanmaNikkOvai
tooyamAlai ivaipattumvallAr
manni mannavarAi ulahANDu
mAnaveN kuDaikkeezh mahizhvArE ||

tirumangai AzhwAr has sung these ten beautiful pASuras—a garland of nine gems in the form of words on emberumAn residing in tiruvazhundoor. It is a beautiful city with ponds, girds, flowering trees and forests. Those who read these pASuras and meditate on the contents will live long as lords in this world under the royal white umbrella and enjoy the pleasures.