SrimatE Raamaanujaaya Namaha //
SrimatE Nigamaanta Mahaa Desikaaya Namaha //
SrIman! SrI Ranga Sriyam anupadravam anudhinam Samvardhaya/
SrIman! SrI Ranga Sriyam anupadravam anudhinam Samvardhaya//
KAvEri VardhathAm kAlE, kAlE varshathu vAsava: /
SrI RanganAthO jayathu Sri Ranga Sri cha VardhathAm//
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SRI RANGA SRI VOL.07 / ISSUE # 23 dated 1st January 2006
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IN THIS ISSUE:
1. TIRUPPAVAI PASURAM # 17
AMPARAME THANNIRE
(ANBIL RAMASWAMY)
2. TIRUPPAVAI PASURAM # 17
AMPARAME THANNIRE
ENGLISH VERSE TRANSLATION
(MS. SHOBA RAMASWAMY)
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ISSUES RELEASED
So far, 199 Regular issues of SRS have been released apart from Special
Issues:
27 Issues of Vol. 1
15 Issues of Vol. 2
42 Issues of Vol. 3
35 Issues of Vol. 4
28 Issues of Vol. 5
30 Issues of Vol. 6 and
22 Issues of Vol. 7
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1. TIRUPPAVAI PASURAM # 17
AMPARAME THANNIRE
(ANBIL RAMASWAMY)
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TIRUPPAVAI 17
AMPARAME THANNIRE
amparamE thaNNIrE cORE aRaNYceyyum *
emperumaan nan^thakOpaalaa ezhun^thiraay *
kompanaarkku ellaam kozhun^thE kulaviLakkE *
emperumaatti yacOthaay aRivuRaay *
amparam UtaRuththu ONGki uLaku aLan^tha *
umpar kOmaanE uRaNGkaathu ezhun^thiraay *
cem poR kazhalatic celvaa palathEvaa *
umpiyum nIyum uRaNGkEl Or empaavaay. 17.
=============================================================
? In this Paasuram, from lines 1 through 8, they wake up Nanda
(in 1-2), YasOda (in 3-4), KrishNa (in 5-6) and Balaraama (in 7-8)
? This is the order in which they were lying.
? Why Nanda first?
? Lest someone should abduct KrishNa like ChitralEkha, friend of Bana?s
daughter, Usha who abducted Aniruddha.
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amparamE
? ?am? means beautiful and ?param? means ?narayanan?
? ?amparam? also means ?vastram? (clothing)
? A slOkam says:
vastrENa vapushaa vaachaa vidyayaa vinayEna cha/
vakaarE panchabhi : heenO narO na yaati gouravam//
Meaning:
?One who does not possess the following five attributes commencing with the
letter ?va? gets no respect?
What are those five attributes?
Vastram = Decent clothing
Vapu: = Handsome physical features (Samudrikaa LakshaNam)
Vaacha = Pleasing words
vidyaa = Knowledge earned by learning and
vinaya = Humility
It will be seen that ?vastram? is mentioned foremost.
? The importance of dress in society is best illustrated by the following
story. A person shabbily dressed went to a party only to be turned away
because the hosts honored only those invitees who were decently dressed. The
man went home and returned with decent apparel. He was heartily welcomed. He
did not eat the delicacies placed before him but started feeding his
clothing. When queried about his strange behavior, he described what
happened and explained that the hosts were honoring only the dress and not
the person!
? ?amparam? also means that which envelops the skies.
thaNNIrE
? The foremost ?upachaarams? expected to be extended to guests is the
offer
of water: ?arghyam? for washing hands, ?Paadhyam? for washing feet,
?aachamaneeyam? for sipping water and ?snaaneeyam? for bathing. This is the
order that we follow during Tiruvaradanai to PerumaaL.
? Cleanliness is a built-in custom in Hinduism. We wash our hands (palms)
before and after taking food. Feeding with spoons, forks and knives is not
very hygienic, though practiced worldwide in the modern times (as a mark of
appearing to be civilized!)
? It may not be out of place to quote Ross Nancy Wilson, a foreign author
in
?Three ways of Asian wisdom? (p24), about this aspect of cleanliness:
?Although he (a Hindu) may be seen with a green leaf as his plate, eating
food with fingers, the rules about the uses to which the right and left hand
may be put, and the washing of hands before and after meals are all
prescribed with a strictness unknown to the ?sanitary? West. More than this,
the daily care of the mouth, teeth and tongue usually with the help of twigs
of the medicinal neem tree goes on long with such assiduity, that it might
well shame any Television Toothpaste commercial?
? We see the importance of offering water in Mahaabhaarata.. KrishNa did
not
consider it ?infra dig? to wash the feet of guests by offering ?paadhyam?
during Dharmaputra?s Raajasooya yaagam.
? During the KurukshEtra war, KrishNa pierced a rock with an arrow to
retrieve water and gave showers (Snaaneeyam) and water to drink (paaneeyam)
to the horses.
? In Kerala, they would offer water (or watery tea?) first and then
enquire
if any snacks were needed (kaDitchukka)!
cORE
? After water, comes ?sOru? or ?annam?.
? We know the story of how Sage Durvaasa and his huge retinue were made
to
feel ?fed up? as if they had taken more than a ?full meal? when Lord KrishNa
ate just one leaf of spinach sticking to the cooking vessel even after its
being washed!
aRaNceyyum *
? Nanda was renowned for giving water, food and clothing to the needy
when
they were scarce. Hence, he is called ?aram seyyum nandagOpaala?
? Any Daanam would be effective only if what is given matches what is
needed
by the recipient.
? A person who had lost the train ticket would welcome an offer of a
train
ticket that he needs badly than any amount of food or water that he may not
need!
? Nanda gave everything out of compassion not expecting any return.
? When a mother breastfeeds her child, does she expect any return from
the
baby? This is the spirit in which Nanda gave his subjects profusely what
exactly they needed.
? When the party is over and the guests leave, you might have noticed the
hosts thanking them. The thanks uttered when the guests leave, would
tantamount to thanking them for ?leaving? (not for coming)! A lesson in
?Athiti satkaaram?, this?
emperumaan nan^thakOpaalaa
? Because, he gave not only food etc but also gave off KrishNa, the
Emperumaan himself, they call Nanda himself ?Emperumaan?
ezhun^thiraay * Get up
kompanaarkku ellaam kozhun^thE
Why kozhunthE?
? kozhunthu is the tender shoot at the tip of the branches of creepers.
? YasOda was like this for more than one reason
? It is the tender shoot of a creeper that would get affected first,
whenever any harm befalls the creeper itself. Even if one among the five
lakhs of gOpis were to feel any discomfort, YasOda would feel empathy and
sorry.
? YasOda was like a creeper in the sense that she had a slim frame.
?Samudrikaa lakshaNam? is that ladies should have slender midriff (Like the
hourglass)
? RaavaNa describes Sri Sita as one without midriff.
? Sri Rama while furnishing Sri Sita?s ID to Hanumaan says that one
cannot
see her midriff but can only imagine that it were there.
kulaviLakkE *
? The entire cowherd community brightened because of YasOda.
? She is ?aNi viLakku? because she brought forth KrishNa as her son.
emperumaatti
? If Nanda is ?Emperumaan?, Can YasOda be described as anything other
than
?EmperumaaTTI??
yacOthaay
? ?yasas? is another name for Emperumaan.
?tasya naama mahat yasa:? (Upanishad)
?yasO Brahma? says Vedam
Sri Mahaa Lakshmi shines with fame. ?yasasaa jwalantee?
YasOda is so called because she also shines with fame.
What is the fame in her case?
As explained already, she is quick to empathize with the grief of others
like the gOpis of gOkulam. It is this that made her famous.
aRivuRaay * Realize this!
? What do they want YasOda to realize?
? Mantram holds Emperumaan; YasOda bore KrishNa. They seem to remind her
of
this fact.
amparam UtaRuththu ONGki uLaku aLan^tha *
? Why reference to Trivikrama again?
? Because, he blessed all without exception by offering his feet to one
and
all. ?Why not us?? they seem to ask.
? What is the significance of reference to water ?amparam? here again?
? The Paadhyam of Brahma from his KamaNDalam was not enough to wash the
ever
growing feet of Trivikrama. So, he marshaled ?Dharma devata? to flow like
water. The feet pierced through ?aNDa kaDaaham? (the shell enveloping
space). Water flowing from there proved sufficient.
? Ambu = water. ?Aram? means ?sluices?. It is these sluices or doors that
prevent anDa kaDaaham waters from deluging the universe.
? Oodu aruthu Ongi: This suggests a vivid description of the sudden and
stunning growth of dwarf Vaamana into a colossal Trivikrama. When he started
to grow, the galaxy of stars first appeared as gems decorating his crown;
when he grew further, they appeared as pearl necklace around his neck; when
he grew still further, they appeared as the ?waist girdle? (ODDiyaaNam)
around his waist and finally as anklet (silambu = noopuram) around his feet!
? In Svapadesam,
Vaamana represents PraNavam (short in stature)
Trivikrama represents NaaraayaNa and
Quelling Mahaabali represents nama:
umpar kOmaanE
? The one who made himself broad enough to give room for Trivikrama
himself!
Hence, Umbar kOmaan
uRaNGkaathu ezhun^thiraay * ?Don?t sleep?
? ?Can a protector fall asleep??
? ?In the case of Draupati, because you did not rush succor to her in the
fist place at her time of need, you regretted saying ?RuNa pravriddam iva?
that you were deeply burdened with an unbearable debt that grew day by day
with usurious interest. Do you wish a repeat performance now with us?? they
seem to remind him.
? ?You did so much for PaaNDavas without food or sleep. Why not for us??
? ?Will you help only the ungrateful dEvas and not us??
cem poR kazhalatic
? ?Sempon kazhal aDI? Some say that Balaraama wore red and golden colored
footwear.
? ?Kazhal? also means ?Veera kaDagam? the band denoting valor.
celvaa palathEvaa *
? ?selvam? means ?wealth?. What is the wealth that they speak of with
reference to Balaraama?
? It is the wealth of service to the Lord - ?Kainkarya Sri?. Did not
Vaalmiki describe him as ?LakshmaNO Lakshmi sampanna:??
? ?It is because you cleaned up Devaki?s womb first that the fate of the
six
earlier children did not befall KrishNa. So, Your feet are indeed ?Sempon
kazhal aDI?
? Bala - dEva: has several interpretations.
He was Bala-dEva- ?strong dEva? because he drew River Yamuna and
Hastinaapura with the tip of his plough.
?Sa ajuhaava yamunaam jala kreeDaartham eeswara:?
? In Tamil the letter ?Pa? is pronounced as ?Ba? and ?Pa?
?Pala dEva?
Taking it as ?Pa?, ?Pala? means many. Some interpret this as his doing
multi- tasks of service to the Lord as umbrella, as the royal throne, as
footwear, as the soft mattress on the high seas, as the backrest pillow and
what not.
?senraal kuDaiyaam irunthaal singaasanamaam
ninraal maravaDiyaam neeL kaDaluL enrum
puNaiyaam maNi viLakkaam poom paTTaam
pulgum aNaiyaam Tirumaarkku aravu" (1st Tiruvantadi 53)
? ?dEva? When a couple is childless or when they go through loss of
children, they do ?naaga pratishTai? to ward off the evil spell. DEvaki who
lost six children probably installed Balaraama (AdisEsha) for this purpose!
? Another interpretation of ?dEva? is that he is the one who recommends
us
to the grace of the Lord. Whom did he recommend?
He recommended Guhan, AnjanEya and later VibheeshaNa to the Lord in
Raamavataara.
umpiyum nIyum uRaNGkEl
? After praising KrishNa, they say ?You are superior to KrishNa. They
seem
to say ?Trivikrama was a colossus; But you are elder to him?
? Someone advertised that his shop was the biggest in the whole country.
Another who opened a shop next to this advertised that his was the biggest
in the whole town; another one opened his shop on the same street and
claimed that his was the biggest shop in the whole street!
? So, by hyperbole they tried to inspire Balaraama to do the needful.
? Rama and LakshmaNa used to sleep together in the cradle. When they were
separated, it forebode some misfortune:
- Without LakshmaNa, Sri Sita got abducted
- Without LakshmaNa, Rama?s sojourn on earth came to an end
- Without Balaraama, KrishNa had to contend with KaaLiyan
Or empaavaay. The usual refrain
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General
? Ambaram = Nanda, the father and Achaarya
Kozhundu: YasOda, the mother and Mantram
? Achaarya secures for us ParipoorNa Brahma anubhavam and protects Veda
mantras true to the saying:
?Achaaryan kai puguntavaarE mantram kai pugum
Mantram kai puguntavaarE Eeswaran kai pugum?
? Ambaram: Atma swaroopam = PraNavam,
ThaNNeer: mind that nourishes this = Nama:
sOru: kainkaryams = NarayaNaaya
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To Continue
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2. TIRUPPAVAI PASURAM # 17
AMPARAME THANNIRE
ENGLISH VERSE TRANSLATION
(MS. SHOBA RAMASWAMY)
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?Shelter, water, Sustenance,
Doer of right,
My Lord Nandagopala, arise!
Flame of the cowherds,
Light of their clan,
My Lady Yasoda, awake!
He who pierced the sky
And measured the world,
Our own king- Awake and arise!
Dear BaladEva of the golden thongs,
Are you and your younger brother
Asleep still?
Oh! My Maidens!?
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To Continue
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