Thirumaalai - Part 29

based on the vyakhyanam of Sri Periyavaccan Pillai
by Smt Sumithra Varadarajan

Paasuram-15
"meiyerkkE meiyanAgum vidhiyilA ennai pOla
poiyerkkE poiyanAgum putkodiyudayakOmAn
uyyapOmunArvinArgatkku oruvanendru vunarintha pinnai
iyappAdu aruththu thOndrum azhaganoor arangamandrE"

meiyerkkE meiyanAgum vidhiyilA ennai pOla: Emperuman's originial abode is the SriVaikundan. But due to his apAra kArunyam he came down to lift us all up to his nithya vibhoothi and thereby settled in Srirangam and other divya desams. But we are all so attached to the leela vibhoothi that we refuse to even go near bhagavan and get lifted from this samsAra sAgaram. So it has been long since emperuman descended down that now when we ask him to which place he belongs to, he says I belong to Srirangam forgetting his original abode. Like many of us, though our grandparents belonged to some remote village we call ourself to belong to chennai or whichever city we have been born and brought up. Alwar in this paasuram shows how emperuman acts according to our belief. If we think him to be true he remains true and if we think he doesn't exist then he acts the same. That is why when a robber robs a vigraham in a temple thinking it to be simply a stone, emperuman remains like a stone and hence doesn't do anything to save himself. "yA drishi yA drishi shraddha siddhir vinthathi mAnavaha:" whatever result is obtained depends on our dedication. If we have 100% bhakthi then emperuman comes to our call 100%, if we have only 50% faith in him then he turns up to be 50%. Sri Krishna in bhagavat geetha says, I give you darshan in whatever form or color you wish for. Like a mirror which reflects whatever is got in front of it, bhagavan also reflects our feelings. That's why alwar says "meiyerkkE meiyanAgum" he is true to those who are true. A nAstikan considers the idols in the temples to be mere stones so emperuman never shows his magimai's to them. But prahladan considered bhagavan to be everywhere even in the pillar so the bhagavan Sri hari appeared immediately from the pillar. "angu appozhudhe thOndriya en singa piran".

Sri Ramanuja went in search of thirunArAyanapuram rAma priyan till Delhi. There in the bhAtsha's place rAma priyan was enjoying the love of the bhAtshA's daughter. When Sri rAmAnuja requested the girl to give him his lord the princess refused. So the king ordered that if his lord came along with him he can take him. Ethirajar called, "vArAi chella pillai" and the emperuman came and sat in the hands of udaiyavar. Everyone was surprised to hear the sound of the chalangai and to see the idol in the hands of udaiyavar. Others thought it to be a idol so emperuman didn't do anything when they carried him to Delhi, the princess thought him to be his lover so the emperuman did all leelas with her and ethirAjar thought him to be his chella pillai(beloved son) and hence he ran to the call of his father and sat in his lap. So however we think of him, emperuman transforms to the same. Here Sri PVP's vyakhyAnam goes as follows:
"meiyerkku- than svaroopaththai kAttikkoduppan
poiyyerkku- thannai kAttikkodukkAmal poiyanAi erruppAn"

poiyerkkE poiyanAgum putkodiyudayakOmAn: The above words 'vidhiyilA ennai pOla can be either joined with the first part or the proceeding part. If we join with the second part, like vidhiyilA ennai pOla poiyerkkE poiyanAgum then it shows the naichiyAnusandhAnam of thondaradipodi alwar. It is a greatest quality of a srivaishnava to consider himself to be the lowest of the lowest. A true srivaishnava accepts the mistakes, even if it was not his mistake at all. As andal says, 'nAnEthan Ayiduga' and like bharatha in ramanyanam who accepted that, he was only responsible to send Sri Rama to forest though he was no way responsible. Similarly alwar considers himself to be a cheat, a poiyen, who has cheated bhagavan and stolen the kArunyam of bhagavan. But can we consider alwar to be a cheat, so for us it will be better to combine 'meiyerkkE meiyanAgum vidhiyilA ennai pOla' where we say that alwar is meiyen and emperuman is also true to alwar. Alwar said meyyerkkE meiyanAgum and poiyerkkE poiyanAgum, then we will ask who will become true for those who are true? And who will become false for those who cheat? Alwar answers, he who has the garudan in his flag will become the above. Pul in tamil means bird and the king of birds is garudan and the lord who has garuda kodi is Sriman Narayanan.

uyyapOmunArvinArgatkku oruvanendru vunarintha pinnai: Our sastras say 'Udhisyathe! JAkarathe'. It wakes up the jeevatmas whose eyes are closed by agyanam. It says if you wake up and believe me I will show you bhagavan. But it never forces anyway to accept what it says blindly. If you have the bhakyam you will realize the truth. On the first day, a child is given some sugar to taste and at the last a hand full of rice is put in our mouth. That is life. Still inbetween we run to obtain wealth and enjoy the lowkika pleasures. We lag to think about the lord who is capable of dissolving all our miseries in this world and take us to the eternal bliss where there is no miseries and from where we will never return. But if we really have faith in him and understand he is our only protector then,

iyappAdu aruththu thOndrum azhaganoor arangamandrE : he clears all our doubts and comes in front of us and makes us enjoy his divine beauty. Astonished by his beauty when we ask him who he is? He says I belong to thiruvarangam and disappears. If he has said I was rama or Krishna then we cannot see him today since the avataram is over. If he says I am vaikundapathi or sheerapthinAdan, then we can never approach his place. But then he said that he belonged to srirangam which is in this same leela vibhoothi, in the same time of our life tenure and he is highly accessible by each one of us. Then why should we hesitate and miss his sevai and kainkaryam?