Ongi ulagaLandha

SrI:

SrImatE rAmAunjAya nama:

SrImath varavara munayE nama:

In her third pAsuram, AndAL draws light to an important guNa of emperumAn, which is nicely implied by the word “uththaman”- emperumAn humbles Himself for the sake of His devotees and jeevAtmAs. Below are glimpses of thiruppAvai vyAkyAnam for select words of the third pAsuram that are relevant to the context.

Degrees of eminence

இவர்களுக்கு ஒரு உபகாரம் பண்ணினானாகவன்றிகே, தன்பேறாக நினைத்திருக்கும்படி;

பிறரை ஹிம்ஸித்துத் தன்வயிற்றை வளர்க்கவேணுமென்று இருக்குமவன்- அதமன்;

பிறரும் ஜீவிக்கவேணும்,நாமும் ஜீவிக்கவேணும் இருக்குமவன்-மத்யமன்;

தன்னை அழியமாறியாகிலும் பிறர் ஜீவிக்கவேணும் என்னும் இருக்கும் அவன்-உத்தமன்;

There are three classes of people according to their degree of concern for others. In descending order, the first class constitutes the “athavan”- one who thinks he must be prosperous but wishes ill for others. The second class constitutes the “madhyavan”- one who thinks he must prosper/flourish and wishes the same for others. The third class constitutes the “uththaman”- one who wishes well for others in all circumstances and wishes so irrespective of his own downfall/belittlement. In her third pAsuram, AndAL refers to emperumAn as “uththaman” in the context of emperumAn’s thrivikramAvatAram.

emperumAn agrees to beg

SrI thrivikrama avatAram

mahAbali grew to be strong and powerful by way of bringing the three worlds under his control. Having conquered the heavenly planets, the dEvatAs began to fear of the situation. Intimidated by mahAbali’s conquering of his territory, indrA fled to emperumAn to seek His help. Upon approaching emperumAn for help, empeurmAn instructed indrA that mahAbali was performing a special yAga, in which he held a principle, which was important to the successful completion of his yAga; his principle was to not refuse anyone of charity that they asked for. He advised indrA to capitalize on this and request from mahAbali his kingdom, which bali would not refuse owing to his promised code of conduct. However, to indrA, the act of asking for his kingdom from mahAbali implied begging, which he did not want to do owing to his pride and ego. So, he requested emperumAn to ask mahAbali for his lost kingdom. The merciful emperumAn, thus, agreed to take avatAram as vAmanan and beg charity from mahAbali. The divine hands that always give now took to asking for something- such is the greatness of emperumAn- empeurmAn is ready to belittle himself for the sake of his jeevAtmAs, best representing his soulabhyam and karuNai. Since emperumAn begged on behalf of the conceited indrA for indrA’s lost kingdom, empeurmAn is called “uththaman”- one who wishes well for others despite his downgrading.

emperumAn never lets down his devotees

அப்யஹம் ஜீவிதம் ஜஹ்யாம் த்வாம் வா ஷீதே ஸலக்ஷ்மணாம்|

ந து பிரதிஜ்ஞாம் ஸ்மஸ்ருத்ய பிராஹ்மனோப்யோ விஷேஷத:||

The AraNya kAnDam of SrI rAmAyaNam commences with the riShIs of the forest taking the shelter of SrI rAma; they seek emperumAn’s help to protect them from the rAkshasAs who have physically harmed and distressed them. On hearing this, SrI rAma promised to protect the riShIs. Upon hearing this, SrI sItA pirATTiyAr later questioned SrI rAma as to why He would kill the rAkshasAs when they did not harm Him in any way. pirATTiyAr’s intention was to test whether SrI rAma would protect the word promised to the riShIs, His aDiyArs. SrI rAma’s reply to this was, “apyaham jIvitam jahyAm tvam vA sItE cha lakshmaNAm | na tu pratijnAm samshrutya brAhmanNEShu vishEaShata: iti ||”- SrI rAma says that he would be ready give up His life but, at any cost, would not be ready to step back from the words promised to his aDiyArs. This is a beautiful manifestation of emperumAn going to any extent of belittling himself for the sake of his devotees.

TRANSLATED from mūāyirappadi of vyAkhyAna chakravarti, swAmi periyavāchchān piļļai.  

  

 AndAL thiruvadiklaey sharanam | emperumAnAr thiruvadikaley sharanam