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

Paasuram-30
"manaththilOre thooimai ellai vAyilOre ensol ellai
sinaththinAl settram nOkki theevilivilivan vAlA
punaththuzhAi mAlai yAnE ponni soozh thiruvarangA!
Enakku eni gadhi en sollAi? Ennai Aludaiya kOvE!"

manaththilOre thooimai ellai vAyilOre ensol ellai: The beauty of this prabhandam is that here alwar not only advices what is right and what is wrong with necessary proof he also gives us everything simplified. He doesn't stop with saying, do strotra to the lord thinking of your incapabilities but gives us the paasuram itself. In these paasurams, alwar declares to have the mistakes on his part though alwar is pure in mind, speech and action. It is due to alwar's naichyam. It is a great apachAram to think that alwar himself was like that since he said so. We all possess these characters but alwar takes it as his. We can cheat others who are outside but can we cheat the antaryami who is within us? Alwar says I am not pure in heart nor do my mouth utters any sweet words. In Bhagavatam, kardhama prajapathi did tapas for many years and when bhagavan gave darshan and asked what he wanted he replied that since his father wanted him to be in samsAram he now did tapas to seek for a good partner. Though itseems like kardhamar asked for a lowkika vishayam after so much tapas, emperuman very well knew the jnana paripAgam and vairakhyam of kardhamar. So he granted him a good wife and accepted to come as a son himself. Here alwar says he has nothing good in him but emperuman knows alwars heart. We people boast ourselves to be great bhakthas and highly knowledgable even in front of the lord. But emperuman very well knows how ignorant and selfish we are. We act to be very good satvikas but inside we all have lot of dirt which emperuman knows very well. That is what alwar says 'ManaththilOre thooimai ellai'. When we talk our words should never hurt others. We should neither lie nor should we talk the truth in a hurting manner. It is better to keep quiet if the truth we talk will put others to difficulty. Even thiruvalluvar says, "TheeyinAl sutta pun ArumE ArAdhe nAvinAl sutta vadu"(An injury caused due to some fire burn will be cured in sometime but the injury caused by tough words from once mouth will never suffice). Alwar says he doesn't have sweet words probably he didn't know how soothing his paasurams are there to our mind and thought.

sinaththinAl settram nOkki theevilivilivan vAlA: I get angry quiet often. AvyAjamana kObham. I get angry just for the sake of getting angry without any specific reason. If someone says 4 words to me then I scold him with 8 bad words. Even if one goes simply(vAlA) I still pull him to fight with me. Such is my behaviour, unnecessarily wanting to fight with one and all.

punaththuzhAi mAlai yAnE ponni soozh thiruvarangA: Whenever a king went to war there was a tradition to garland him and send him wishing to return back with victory before the garland withers. Here emperuman is fighting war of rakshanam. So Sri PVP says, "rakshana dharmaththilE deekshiththu thani mAlai ettandrO devareer veettriruppadhu". Emperuman has taken a vow to win the battle of Asritha rakshanam and hence he is wearing a garland of tulasi which he will wear till he wins. Emperuman likes tulasi garland the most. Tulasi gives the sweet fragrance as it grows not waiting for blossoming. Tulasi is considered like a mother and hence has to be treated with due respect. While alwar started talking about the tulasi garland of emperuman he is immediately reminded of the other garland. The kaveri thAi(mother, as she is referred in Srirangam) surrounding rangantha like a garland on both sides and hence he says pooni soozh thiruvarangA.

Enakku eni gadhi en sollAi? Ennai Aludaiya kOvE!: I donot have talent to save me from the samsaric miseries nor do I have anyone to save me. My only refuge is you, who is the protector of all. "edu yArudaiya vastuvAi nOvu paduvadhu"(whose property am I to suffer?). When I have a master who can do anything and everything why should I suffer? If a father has three sons, 2 of them are very intelligent and they have started earning their living individually but the third son is incapable of sustaining himself. Will the father just ignore the 3rd son and say he is not his son? No the father considers all three to be equal and infact he is more worried about the incapable son than the other two. Similarly oh! Ranganatha you are my father, my master I am incapable to do any sadhanas to reach you and hence I have surrendered in your lotus feet to save me. What can I do when I am incapable to do anything Oh my master, cries alwar.