nAcciyAr tirumozhi X - kArkkoDal pUkkAL - Introduction

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SrI:

SrI ANDAL samEta SrI rangamannAr tiruvaDigaLE SaraNam

 

nAcciyAr tirumozhi X - kArkkoDal pUkkAL - Introduction

 

 

A. Translation from SrImAn SaDagOpan's tamizh treatise

 

Frustrated and despondent that she had not succeeded in

her desire to be united with emperumAn, godai falls at the

feet of the flowers, cuckoos, peacocks, the rain and the

dark-blue ocean. She appeals to them to convey to her nAthan,

nAraNan, how in her distress and solitude she is constantly

saying His several names "mAmAyan, mAdhavan, vaikuNthan,

mAyan, mannu vaDa mathurai maindan, tUya perunIr yamunait

turaivan, tAyaik-kuDal viLakkam Seida dAmOdaran" etc even

though He totally ignored her and disappeared from her eyes.

Her "nARRattuzhAi muDi nArAyaNan, SangODu cakkaram Endum

taDakkaiyan" has vanished from her sight, instead of turning

His "pangayakkaN" (lotus-eyes) towards her. She cannot bear

this atrocity any more and pleads with all of them individually

to please unite her with her Selva maNALan. These ten

pASurams that fall under "kArkkODal pUkkAL" are full of beauty.

 

B. Some additional thoughts (from SrI PVP):

 

Because she longed to live the life of union with emperumAn,

ANDAL appealed to the bees etc. in the previous tirumozhi

(Sindurac cempoDi) in the pASuram "enakkOr SaraN SARRuminE",

and fell at the feet of the clouds in the viNNIla mElAppu

tirumozhi, all in vain. The intensity of her longing for Him

kept growing to such an extent that she felt she would live

only if He presents Himself right in front of her, or at least

shows some signs that He is going to come to her. The kAr

kAlam (rainy season) in which He had promised to come has come

and gone. The flowers that appeared during this season and

other characteristics of the season reminded her of His

beautiful tirumEni, color and His other attributes and made

her come to life and faint alternately. Even though all

these were torturing her, she still had two reasons to

continue to live:

 

The first was His repeated declarations that He will never

give up any one who is devoted to Him.

 

- mitrabhAvEna samprAptam na tyajeyam kata`ncana |

dosho yadyapi tasya syAt satAm etat agarhitam || "

(yuddha. 18.3)

 

"I will never forsake him (vibhishaNan) since he came to

me seeking my friendship. Even if he has any dOsham - fault,

it is not inappropriate for noble people to accept him".

 

- dyou: patet prthivI SIryet himavAn SakalI bhavet |

Sushyet toyanidhih kRshNe! na me mogham vaco bhavet ||

(bhAratam uttara kANDam 70-48)

 

"kRshNe! The sky might fall down, the Earth might shatter

into pieces, the himAcala mountain might disintegrate, the ocean

might dry out, but my words will never become vain".

 

- sakRdeva prapannAya tavAsmIti ca yAcate |

abhayam sarva bhUtebhyo dadAmyetat vratam mama ||

(yuddha. 18.33)

 

"It is My vow to protect unconditionally from every living being,

anyone that surrenders to Me even once, or seeks my protection

saying "I am your servant".

 

All the above declarations ensure that He will definitely take

care of godai, and so she can continue to live in the definite

confidence that He will fulfil her wish.

 

The second reason that godai feels justified to continue to

hold on to her life is: she is confident that He will fulfil

her wish because she is none other than the daughter of the

great periAzhvAr, and if not based on her prayers, but because

of her association with periAzhvAr, there is no other course

except for her to be taken to His Feet ultimately. Even though

He is a svatantran and thus there is no one who can question

Him if He fails to keep His word to her, yet the link between

her and emperumAn is periAzhvAr. Since periAzhvAr is too dear to

Him, this relationship will change His svAtantriyatvam if needed,

and He will have no choice except to accept those who have

association with periAzhvAr at His Feet for kaimkaryam to Him.

This is what godai is conveying to us all in this tirumozhi.

 

The point brought about here is that even with bhagavAn's

assurance that He will not fail in His words that He will

save those who surrender to Him, there is the need for

purushakAratvam or the intermediary in the form of an AcArya.

The example that SrI PVP gives is bhagavAn's own word:

 

Anayainam hariSreshTha: dattamasya abhayam mayA |

vibhIshaNO vA sugrIva! yadi vA rAvaNa svayam || - yuddha. 18.34.

 

"Oh sugrIva! Bring him to me; whether it is vibhIshaNan or

rAvaNan himself who has sought My protection, I have

already assured him My protection".

 

The key word here is "Bring him to Me". Thus, even after

bhagavAn has assured His protection, there is the purushakAratvam

or intermediary involved.

 

Here SrI PVP quotes another incidence of the importance

of purushakAratvam in attaining Him. When SrI parASara bhaTTar

once was visiting a king named vANavadaraiyan, he stayed in

a village called "SrIdEvimangaLam", all the SrI vaishNava-s in

that village flocked to him and performed kaimkaryam to him

with intense devotion. Some people asked him "why do these

SrI vaishNavas come to you with such great devotion when they

are supposed to seek perumAL instead with this kind of devotion".

SrI bhaTTar's aruLicceyal was: "His aDiyAr-s are the facilitators

or ghaTaka-s in bringing about the union between Him and His seekers.

People are approaching me because of my association with AzhvAn,

who they pray will be the ghaTaka who will help them attain Him".

[The reference to AzhvAn here is to kUrattAzhvAn, the father

of SrI parASara bhaTTar].

 

[The importance of purushakAratvam is emphasized repeatedly by

our pUrvAcArya-s in many places. In the vyAkhyAnam for

kaNNiNuN SiruttAmbu pASuram 3, we find the analogy of an

elephant and a person trying to mount on top of it. If the person

tries to get on the back of the elephant with the mahout assisting

in the process, the elephant willingly accepts the person on its

back and carries him. But if the person tries to get on

the elephant's back in the absence of the mahout, we all know

the consequence. The role of the purushakAratvam by the AcArya

is similar to that of the mahout in this analogy.]

 

sarvam SrIman nArAyaNAyEti samarpayAmi.

 

adiyEn,

kalyANi kRshNamAcAri

 

 

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