thiruvAsiriyam

~ Sree NammAzhwAr

All the AzhwArs are ‘madinalam mayarvara aruLapeTTravar’, i.e. They are given jnAna by BagavAn Himself through His nirhEtuka kaTAkSha. Of them nammAzhwAr is called prapanna jana kooTastha. He has written four prabandhas—tiruviruttam, tiruvASiriyam, periya tiruvandAdi and tiruvAimozhi. All these are called four vEdas of tamizh mozhi. Of them tiruvASiriyam is the yajurvEda. This is the 6th prabandha in the moonrAm Ayiram (3rd Ayiram) called iyarpA.

In the first prabandha AzhwAr requested emberumAn to cut his dEha sambandha which is an obstacle to Bagavad anuBava. But His wish was different. He wanted AzhwAr to stay in this world for some more time to correct the people and show them the right path to mOkSha. Therefore when AzhwAr prayed ‘poi ninra jnAnamum pollA ozhukkum azhukkuDambum inninra neermai iniyAmurAmai’ He thought ‘ivvAzhwAr inda samsArattai viTTu vilahi oru nalamandamilladOr nATTilE pOi sEravENumenru pArippadu nammuDaiya guNangaLai anuBavippadarkAhavE anri vEronrukkAhavanrE; anda guNAnuBavattai ivarkku nAm ivviDattilEyE vAikkachcheivOm; ingE tAnE ivar guNAnuBavam paNNi kaLLittArAi, avvanuBavam uLLaDangAmal pura veLLamiTTu prabandangaLAha peruhi lOkOpakAramum seidAnAhaTTum’. This AzhwAr wants to come to paramapada since he desires to enjoy my guNa. He can experience them in this world itself which serves two purposes—One the enjoyment of my guNas and the other to correct the samsAris. The second one is achieved through his prabandhas which are the outpourings of his experiences. He revealed his roopa, guNa, viBooti etc. to AzhwAr. His experiences expressions are these prabandhas.

This prabandha tiruvASiriyam is in the prosody called ASiriyappa. Hence it is called tiruvASiriyam. The ASiriyappa is of 4 types—nErisai ASiriyappa, nilamaNDila ASiriyappa, etc. pASuras 1,2,3,6 are in nErisai Asirappa and the rest 4,5,7 are in nilamaNDila ASiriyappA. The style is andAdi.

taniyan

aruLALa perumAL emberumAnAr.
kAsiniyOr tAmvAzha kaliyuhattE vandudittu
AsiriyappAvadanAl arumarainool virittAnai |
tEsihanai parAnkuSanai tihazh vakuLattArAnai
mASaDaiyA manattuvaittu maravAmal vazhttudumE ||

In this kaliyuga nammAzhwAr has taken birth to lift us all from the mire of samsAra. For that purpose he has sung this prabandha called tiruvASiriyam through which he reveals all the vEdArthas. He is our prathamAchArya (foremost AchArya) ‘Adyasya nah kulapatEh vakuLABirAmam’ (Sree ALavandAr stOtra). He is also called Sree vaiShNava kula kooTastha.

He is called parAnkuSa as he has subdued the other religious dogmas like an elephant is controlled by a goad (ankuSa). Let us meditate him in our minds. He is prAnkuSa in another sense too; para- paramapuruSha ankuSa—the goad. AzhwAr captivated emberumAn through his nectar-like prabandhas. ‘valakkaiyAzhi iDakkai sangam ivaiyuDai mAl vaNNanai malakka nAvuDaiyErkku’ --- AzhwAr himself says so.

Some kudruShTi matasthas propagated the idea that He has no paratva. Many attracted by their intelligent argument started believing in this theory. BagavAn Himself started to doubt His paratva. nammAzhwAr convinced Him of His swaroopa and disproved their theories. There fore he is called parAnkuSa as he established His paratva again (onrum dEvum ulahum pASura of tiruvAimozhi). Thus he did paratvasthApana.

thiruvAsiriyam [2578-2584]

sekkar mA muhil uDuttu mikka senjuDar
paridi sooDi anjuDar madiyam pooNDu
pala suDar punaindu pavaLachchevvAi
tihazh pasunjOdi marahada kunram
kaDalOn kaimisai kaN vaLarvadu pOl
peetahavADai muDi pooN mudalA
mEdahu pal kalanaNindu sOdi
vAyavum kaNNavum sivappa meediTTu |
pachchai mEni mihappahaippa
nachchuvinai kavar talai aravin amaLi Eri
erikaDal naDavuL arituyilamarndu
sivan ayan indiran ivar mudal anaittOr
deiva kuzhAngaL kai tozha kiDanda
tAmarai undi tanipperum nAyaha
moovulahaLanda sEvaDiyOyE || One ||

sekkar mAmuhil—In the last prabandha tiruviruttam AzhwAr said ‘azhukkuDambum’ and said how manuShya Sareera is full of mala. Now he speaks about the greatness of His divya mangaLa vigraha. His Sareera is aprAkruta (divine). Actually no comparison can be found in this world; and it is quite inappropriate to compare His tirumEni with anything since all the things are perishable and changeable. ‘oTTuraittu ivvulahunnai puhazhvellAm perumbAlum, paTTuraiyAi purkenrE kATTumAl paranjOdee’—tiruvAimozhi. But He can be glorified by comparing Him with something wordly and vEdas too do the same. Therefore AzhwAr too does the same in this pASura.

There are 2 kinds of similes poets use—prasiddhOpama and aBootOpama. ‘The face is like the moon’, ‘the tiruvaDi is like red lotus’—these are prasiddhOpama. In the other type the poets do not find any object worth comparing. Hence they use an imaginary for comparison. Here too AzhwAr uses aBootOpama which is called ilporuLuvamai.

AzhwAr describes the kSheerAbdinAtha (lying on tiruvanandAzhwAn in tiruppArkaDal). There is an emerald mountain (His tirumEni—green and huge) wearing a red cloud as raiment (peetAmaBra) wearing the bright sun as crown (His crown); wearing the moon round its neck (chanrdahAra) and a beautiful bright hAra of stars (garland) has bright corals too (His eyes and lips) This mountain is in the midst of a sea (tiruppArkaDal).

sekkar—Red colour or red cloud. The red colour refers to the peetAmbara. The ‘green mountain’ looks very beautiful with ‘red clouds’ round it.

mikka senjuDar paridi sooDi—‘kadir Ayiram iravi kalanderittAl otta neeL muDiyan’— peiyAzhwAr tirumozhi. The bright sun is the brilliant crown of emberumAN. His crown cannot be compared with anything mundane. Therefore AzhwAr calls it ‘mikka senjuDar paridi’ paridi contextually means sun. The mountain is so tall that its peak touches the sun.

anjuDar madiyam pooNDu—BagavAn wears an ornament called chandrahAra. AzhwAr says the tall peak touches the sun and the portion below it touches the moon. There the sun is like a crown and the moon is like a hAra.

pal suDar punainda—BagavAn wears another hAra called nakShatra hAra. The mountains appears to wear a hAra made up of several glittering stars.

pavaLa sevvAi—‘kai vaNNam tAmarai vAi kamalam pOlum kaNNiNaiyum aravindam aDiyumakdE’— tiruneDundANDaham. ‘pavaLavAi kamalachchengaN’—‘tirumAlai. It is believed there are corals in a mountain. They form the lips and eyes.

tihazh paranjOdi marahada kunram—He is not an ordinary mountain. It is a marahada mountains. It brings pleasure to the minds of those who perceive it. It removes samsAra bandha too. It is a beautiful object of meditation. Therefore AzhwAr calls the ‘mountains’ as ‘tihazh paranjOdi marahada kunram’. There is no such mountain either on land or in sea.

Staying from sekkar mA --- kaN vaLarvadu pOl—is the upamAna (smile); from peedahavADai it is the beauty of BagavAn described.

sekkar muhil—peedahavADai

mikka senjuDar paridi—kireeTa (crown)

anjuDar madi and pal suDar—His ornaments

mEdahu—very appropriate

meediTTu pachchai mEni mihappahaippa—the tiruvaBiShEka (crown) is of one colour; the divya BooShaNa (ornaments) are of different colours. Thus the multicoloured highly effulgent objects vie with the colour of His tirumEni and are defeated in the end.

mEni means both Sareera and complexion

meediDudal—to win

emberumAn! You are worshipped by even brahma, rudra and indra. They come to tiruppArkaDal to have Your darSan. You have a lotus sprung from Your tirunABi which makes You a sarvESwara. You are vAmana, Who begged from mahAbali 3 feet of land and measured as trivikrama. Long live You! pallANDu! pallANDu!

nachchuvinai—tiruvanandAzhwAn spits venom on the enemies of emberumAn.

kavar talai—spread out hoods

arituyil—yOganidra.

ulahu paDaittu uNDa endai araikazhal
suDar poondtAmarai sooDudarku avAvu
Aruyir uruhi ukka nEriya kAdal
anbil inbeen tEral amuda
veLLattAnAm sirappu viTTu oru poruTku |
asaivOr asaiha tiruvODu maruviya
iyarkai mAyA peruviral ulaham
moonrinODu nal veeDu perinum
koLvadeNNumO teLLiyOr kurippE || Two ||

AzhwAr described His divya mangaLa vigraha in the last pASura. He says to wear His tiruvaDi on his head alone is the puruShArtha. But the samsAris have many other desires and ends; they cry ‘i want money’, ‘i want children’, ‘i want job’ etc. They run after there not knowing they are alpa and asthira. Alas! Alas! What a pity! AzhwAr feels sorry for them. Then he thinks ‘what use of my feeling so? Let them seek what they want. Let them run where they want. Why should i bother about them? There are people who still care for BagavAn. Let me think of them and be happy. In this pASura he is happy to talk about the Bagavatas.

‘kEDil seer varattanAn keDum varattayan aran nADinODu nATTamAyirattinODu naNNinum veeDadAna bOgameidi veeTTrirunda pOdilum, kooDum Asai alladonru koLvanO kurippilE’— tiruchchanda viruttam of tirumazhisai AzhwAr. Here too nammAzhwAr expresses the same idea. The longing to have BagavadanuBava is more precious than the actual experience of it. This is the siddhAnta of Bagavat Baktas. Even if i get brahmalOka sAmrAjya the rudralOka Adhipatyam or indra lOka anuBava i don’t desire them. Even if i get paramapada i say no. i only like to have this longing for You. It is sweeter and ever lasting than actual BagavadanuBava. emberumAnODu kooDavENum; emberumAnODu kooDavENum’ enru manOradam koNDiruppaduNDE, adudAn enakku parama BOgyam’. If we want to enjoy the wearing of new dress, the longing keeps us thinking about it, whereas the actual experience puts an end to its constant thinking.

Azhwar desires to place His tiruvaDi on his head. This desire melts his body and mind resulting in para Bakti, parajnAna and parama Bakti. Therefore the desire itself is very enjoyable. ‘ivai namakku vAikkavENum engira Aval onru mAttiram anavaradam nenjil naDaiyAdumEl pOdumAnadu’. People should desire as kulasEkara AzhwAr did ‘en kaNNiNahaL enru kolO kaLikkum nALE’ ‘mAyOnai maNattooNE paTTri ninru en vAyAra enru kolO vAzhttu nALE’ ‘angu aDiyavarODu enru kolO aNuhu nALE’ ‘koi malar tooi enrukolO kooppu nALE’ ‘en malar senni enru kolO vaNangu nALE’ ‘aNiyarangantirumuTTrattu aDiyAr tangaL inbamihu nerunguzhuvu kaNDu yAnum iSaindu uDanE enru kolO irukku nALE’. Let them cry like this. i shall like to stay here crying like this. Oh! samsAris! Do not cry for food and shelter and clothes. Let them cry for His darSana and kainkarya. But all my teachings and pleadings fall on deaf ears. AzhwAr feels very disappointed. Why should i try to correct them who never look at me or listen to me? ‘oru poruTku asaivOr asaiha’ ‘tiruvoDu maruviya iyarkai perinum mAya peruviral perinum, ulaham moonru perinum, nal veeDu perinum teLLiyOr kurippu (ivaTTrai) koLvadeNNAdu’. The teLLiyAr will have only one desire i.e. to have BagavadanuBava. ‘kooDumAsai alladonru koLvanO kurippilE’.

teLLiyAr—People like tirumazhisai AzhwAr.

avAvAruyir uruhi ukka—AzhwAr uses so many synonyms like avA, kaDal, anbu, inbu, tEral and amudam which reveals his great thirst for wearing His tiruvaDi on his head.

oru poruTku—AzhwAr doesn’t even wish to utter the names of the things which the samsAris desire since he detests them so much. Therefore he says ‘oru poruTku’.

tiruvoDu maruviya iyarkai—Even if i get imperishable and divine aiSwarya

mAyA peru viral—Even if one has aiSwarya he should have Sakti to enjoy it. AzhwAr says even if i have aiSwarya and Sakti i don’t want it.

mAyA—imperishable (mAyA—to perish)

ulaham moonrinODu—Even if i get the aiSwaryas of all the 3 worlds put together.

nal veeDu perinum—When i am ready to say no to paramapada what to talk of all the above said aiSwarya! emmA veeTTu tiramum seppam’—tiruvAimozhi. ‘ichchuvai tavira yAn pOi indira lOkamALum achchuvai perinum vENDEn arangamA naharuLAnE’—toNDaraDippoDi AzhwAr. ‘BavO nAnyatra gachchati’—hanumAn in Sreemad rAmAyaNa. ‘vaikuNTha vAsEpi na mE aBilAShah’—Sree vEdAnta dESikar Sree sookti.

Azhwar in this pASura says he likes to have desire for BagavadanuBava, not to have desires for worldly objects like the samsAris have.

kurippil koNDu neripaDa ulaham
moonruDan vaNangu tOnru puhazh ANai
meipera naDAya deivam moovaril
mudalvanAhi suDar viLanga ahalattu
varaipurai tiraiporu peruvarai veruvara |
urumuraloli mali naLirkaDarpaDavara
arasu uDaltaDavarai suzhaTTriya tanimA
deivattaDiyavarkkini nAmALAhavE
isaiyungol oozhidOroozhiyOvAdE || Three ||

In the last pASura AzhwAr desired Bagavad Bakti. It is but natural that Bagavad Bakti cultivates in BAgavata Bakti. In this pASura AzhwAr desires to have nitya sambandha with BAgavatas.

From ‘kurippil koNDu -- tanimA deivam’ AzhwAr describes swaroopa and swaBAva.

ulaham moonrum nerippaDa kurippil koNDu uDan vaNangu tOnru puhazh—He created this jagat. He wants the people to follow the path of dharma. They do so and worship Him.

ANai meippera naDAya—ANai—commandments. His commandments are the SAstras. ‘Sruti: Smrutir mamaivAjnA yastAm ullanGya vastatE AjnAchchEdee mama dhrOhee madBaktOpi na vaiShNava:’ There who transgress my commandments are not vaiShNavas even though they are Baktas. emberumAn Himself values His Srutis and Smrutis and rules the jagat as per vEdic injunctions. ‘kalaihaLum vEdamum needinoolum karpamum sorporuL tAnum maTTrai nilaihaLum vAnavarkkum pirakkum neermaiyinAl aruL seidAn’---periya tirumozhi.

deivam moovaril mudalvanAhi--He is the chief of the 3 dEvas--ari (hari) aran (Siva) ayan (brahma) or brahma, Siva, indra. ANai meipaDa naDAya--He is the controller of the three who follow His injunctions.

moovaril—moovarkkum

SuDar viLangu ahalattu—SuDar—tEjas, ahalam tirumArbu. The jewels worn by Him on His tirumArbu make His tirumArbu shine.

varai purai tirai poru—Sage durvAsa cursed the dEvas that they would be deprived of all their aiSwariyas which lie hidden under the sea. The asuras defeated the dEvas and drove them away from their posts and places. They requested BagavAn to save them getting the amruta in the pArkaDal. So did BagavAn with the help of vAsuki and mandara mountain. The dEvas were happy to regain their lost splendour; When He churned the waves rose up like huge mountains.

uramural olimali—The sea was so much agitated by the churning that here was roaring noise like thunder. The noise terrorized even the mountains that they remained where they were.

purai—mountain like waves

poru-- dash against

naLin kaDal –The cool sea; the natural chillness of the water. Though the sea was much agitated by churning, it stayed cool because of His kaTAkSha.

tani mA deivam—To this mA deivam who churned the pArkaDal with mandara mountain and vAsuki serpent i become a dAsa of His aDiyArs. Will this desire get fulfilled?

oozhitOroozhi—At all times; always; for ever.

OvAdu—without interval.

oozhidOroozhi OvAdu vAzhiya
enru yAn tozha isaiyungol?
yAvahai ulahamum yAvarumillA
mElvarum perumpAzh kAlattu irumporuTku
ellAm arum peral tanivittu oru |
tAnAhi deiva nAnmuha kozhu muLai
eenru mukkaNeesanODu dEvupala nudali
moovulahan viLaitta undi
mAya kaDavuL mAmudalaDiyE || Four ||

In the last pASura AzhwAr asked ‘tani mA deivattu aDiyavarkku ini nAmALAhavE isaiyum kol’—whether he will get BAgavata SEShatva. He approached some BAgavatas. They were always singing mangaLASAsana ‘pallANDu pallANDu pallAyirattANDu pala kODi noorAyiram mallANDa tiNtOL maNivaNNA un sEvaDi sevvi tirukkAppu’. After seeing them he too wants to follow their foot steps and thinks of doing kainkarya alone. ‘Will i be so fortunate to get this?’ ‘ivarhaLuDaiya kAlakShEpamEyanrO namakku uttESyam. ivarhaLO iDaiviDAdu emberumAn tiruvaDihaLukku mangaLASAsanamE paNNikkoNDirA ninrArhaL; idu miha azhahAyirA ninradu; ippaDipaTTa pOdupOkku namakkum kiDaikkumAhil nalamAyirukkumE’.s

yAvahai ulahamum ----- mAyakkaDavuL-AzhwAr glorifies Him who is the sarvakAraNa ‘panmai paDar poruLAdumil pAzh neDungAlattu nanmai punal paNNi nAn muhanai paNNi tannuLLE tanmai mayakkiya tOTTriya soozhalhaL sindittE’—tiruvAimozhi.

During praLaya the jeevas lie as motionless as the insentient objects in His tiruvayiru.

tanivittu oru tAnAhi—‘oru tani vittAhi—is the prose order. AzhwAr uses the phrase oru tani vittAhi rather than ‘vittAhi’ or ‘tanivittAhi’, because He is the 3 kinds of kAraNas—nimitta kAraNa, upAdAna kAraNa and sahakAri kAraNa. If a pot is to be made these kAraNas should be present; nimitta kAraNa—the pot maker; upAdAna kAraNa—the mud; sahakAri kAraNa—daNDa; chakra etc (all instruments) For creation of this world too these 3 kAraNas are necessary. He is all the three.

mEl varum—In the past ‘mElenradu paNDenrapaDi; varum enradu pOnavenrapaDi’—vyAKyAna Sree sookti.

arum peral—Cannot be obtained through self effort. This vilakShaNa kAraNa vastu (this extraordinary cause) comes voluntarily to help the jeevas (nirhEtuka kaTakSha) diva nAn muhan kozhu muLai eenru—There are two types of creations—advAraka SriShTi and sadvAraka SriShTi. The creation made by Him without the presence of brahma like the creation of mahat, ahankAra etc are called advAraka SruShTi; The creation through brahma like the pancheekaraNa and all the objectified jagat is called sadvAraka SruShTi. brahma is called kozhumuLai—a great sprout—since He further creates the tree with all the branches, leaves, flowers, and fruits. ‘nAn muhanai nArAyaNan paDaittAn, nAn muhanum tAn muhamAi sangaranaittAn paDaittAn’—nAn muhan tiruvandAdi of tirumazhisai AzhwAr.

mukkaN eeSanODu—brahma created rudra, the three eyed Lord.

dEvu pala nudali—Then he created other dEvatas.

moovulaham viLaittu undi—He created brahma from His tirunABi; brahma created other jeevas and objects. Therefore AzhwAr calls it moovulahum viLaitta undi,

mAyakkaDavuL—He whose tirunABi is the seat of all creation is the mAyappirAn who has wonderful jnAna, Bakti, bala etc.

Let us worship that tiruvaDi always. Let us sing pallANDu and glorify Him with Bakti. Let us not worship Him with any personal motive.

mA mudal aDippOdonru kavizhttu alartti
maN muzhudumahappaDuttu oNsuDaraDippOdu
onru viNselee nAn muha puttEL
nADu viyanduvappa vAnavar muraimurai
vazhipaDa niree tAmaraikkADu |
malaikkaNNoDu kanivAyuDaiyadu
mAi irunAyirAyiram malarndanna
karpahakkAvu parpalavanna
muDitOLAyiram tazhaitta
neDiyOikkalladum aDiyadO ulahE || Five ||

AzhwAr thinks of His upakAra (help ) by placing His tiruvaDi on all alike in trivikrama avatAra. Ah! What soulaBya! and What souSeelya! AzhwAr wonders at His kAruNya when indra wanted his help to get back his kingdom, He readily agreed, takes a dwarf form, begs a piece of land from an asura (mahAbali). To Him i become a dAsa and do mangaLASAsana. He is glorified not only by me but by all. Can anyone praise other dEvas who are crushed by His tiruvaDi? Can anyone say jaya vijayeeBava to these fellow?

prahlAda became old and wanted to do tapas in a forest. He asked His grandson to be the king as his son virOchana had died. King mahAblai ruled justly and honoured the viShNu Baktas everywhere. Once he asked his minister to look after his kingdom as he has decided to perform tapas. brahma gave a boon that he will always be a viShNu Bakta and do dharma paripAlana. mahAbali asked brahma that he should give him a boon that he will be king of 3 worlds. Subsequently he sent SukrAchArya, his guru, to indra asking him to renounce the throne. If he refuses He has to fight with mahAbali. indra ran away and mahAbali occupied the throne. He declared himself the king of 3 worlds. indra went to brahma and then to rudra asking for help. But they could not help Him. So He went to viShNu who agreed to restore his land. He took vAmana roopa, went to the yAgaSAla of bali begged three steps of land and measured the whole of earth and upper worlds with two feet of trivikrama. The third foot He placed on mahAblai and sent him to pAtALa lOka.

mAmudal—First tiruvaDi (or) the first cause of all the creations.

pOdu—flower i.e. lotus.

aDippOdu—pAdAravindam. When He measured the earth it appeared as if a lotus was placed upside down on the earth.

vAnavar murai murai vazhipaDa neree—vAnavar—dEvas; muria murai—dhArmic way; vazhipaDa—to worship

nAn muhapputtEL—puttEL—dEva; i.e brahmadEva

nADu viyandu uvappa—The people of the brahma lOka were surprised and happy to see a lotus-like tiruvaDi coming to their lOka.

Who else deserves the worship and kainkarya than Him who wears a bright crown.

O O ulahinadu iyalvE eenrOLirukka
maNaineerATTi paDaittiDanduNDumizhndu
aLandu tEnrndu ulahaLikkum mudarperum
kaDavuL nirpa puDaipala tAnari
deivam pENudal tanAdu |
pullarivANmai porundakkATTi
kolvanamudalA vallana muyalum
inaiya seihai inbu tunbaLi
tonmAmAya piraviyuL neengA
panmA mAyattu azhundumA naLirndE || Six ||

In the last pASura AzhwAr said ‘muDi tOLAyiram tazhaitta neDiyOikkalladu maDiyadO ulahE’. Who will not worship Him? Then he looked around to see who are there who worship Him. He sees no one doing so. They were worshipping kShudra dEvatas (lower gods) for kShudra Pala (meager gains) He could not bear to see it He beats his chest and cries loudly ‘Alas! Alas! This world is seeking its own death!’ As AzhwAr cries loudly, it reached the regions which one of His tiruvaDi’s reached (as he says in the last pASura).

What is it that these people do that upset him so much? These jeevas have no gratitude towards Him who gave them the indriyas and Sareera to make use of for the attainment of mOkSha. He lifted the Boomi taking the form of a pig (varAha); He begs the earth from an asura taking a dwarf roopa. He places all the worlds in His tiruvayiru and puts them out—for the sake of jeevas. But what do they do in turn? They don’t understand His paratva and rakShaNatva. They worship kShudra dEvatas thinking these dEvatas are powerful to grant all their wishes. They offer them hens, goats as food. When they go their wishes fulfilled they think they have suKa. They don’t know this suKa is the sugar coating of the bitter pill, called duhKa.

eenroL irukka mania neerATTi—‘pEyirakku naDu veLLam peru visumbin meedODi peruhu kAlam, tAyirukkum vaNNamE ummai tan vayiTTrirutti uyyakkoNDAn, pOyirukka maTTringOr pudu deivam koNDADum toNDeer, peTTra tAyirukka mania venneerATTudirO mATTAda tahavaTTreerE’—tirumangai AzhwAr.

maNai neerATTi--maNai is upalakShaNa for all achEtana vastu (insentient objects); neerATTi—upalakShaNa for all kinds of upachAra. There is no difference between maNai neerATTu and dEvatAntara Bajana (to worship kShudra dEvatas)

Some commentators say, in the olden days it was the practice among some tribals to give bath to the new born babe as well as the mother. Since it is difficult and hazardous to give bath to the mother as soon as the child is born they used to substitute her with a wooden plank and give it a bath after decorating it. This practice is still in usage in some parts of our country.

puDaippalatAnari deivam pENudal—puDai—in some remote corner i.e. in some remote part of the vEda there will be a mentioning of other dEvats like rudra, hiraNyagarBa etc. people, who lack discriminations, call them eeSwaras and worship them (tAnari deivam).

pala deivam pENudla—There is a dEvata for everything like giving a child, wealth, job, health and so on.

pullarivALan—avivEkis.

kolvana mudalA allana—‘teerppArai yAmini’ is the tiruvAimozhi where in AzhwAr says ‘neer eduvAnum seidu angOr kaLLum iraichchiyum toovElmin’ ‘neer karunjOrum maTTrai senjOrum kaLanizhaittu en payan’ ‘aNangukku arumarundu enrangOr Adum kaLLum parAi’ ‘Edam paraindu alla seidu kaLLooDu kalAi tooi, keedamuzhaviTTu neeraNangADudal keezhmaiyE’— tiruvAimozhi.

inbu tunbu aLi—aLi—to give; inbu-suKa; tunbu—duhKa; These gods give whatever we ask like wealth, children, etc which appear like suKa but in fact are duhKa. So too with all kinds of suKas of this world.

ton mAmAya piraviyuL neengA pan mA mAyattu azhundumA naLirndE—The dEvatAntara Bajana gives the fruit of samsAra nothing else.

naLir madi saDaiyanum nAnmuhakkaDavuLum
taLiroLi imaiyavar talaivanum mudalA
yAvahaiyulahamum yAvarumahappaDa
nilaneer teekAl suDariru visumbum
malarsuDarpiravum siriduDan mayanga |
oruporuL purappADinri muzhuvadum
ahappaDa karandu OrAlilai sErndavem
perumAmAyanaiyalladu
orumAdeivam maTTruDaiyamO yAmE || Seven ||

In the last pASura AzhwAr was much concerned about the jeevAtmas who worship dEvatAntaras instead of Sreeman nArAyaNa. They don’t know that the dEvatas whom they worship are only SEShaBootas of emberumAn alone. They don’t know that He alone is the SEShee and mOkShaprada. i pity them!

Even after so much of preaching the samsAris have not changed their ways. They are ignorant about their ignorance. Therefore he concludes—let the stupid people seek whatever they like. Let them stay immersed in the sea of ignorance if they like; let me not bother about them. Let me spend my time and effort in seeking Him, glorifying Him and doing kainkarya to Him. i am happy BagavAn has made my mind this way.

These samsAris not only worship dEvatAntaras but they think they are the Supreme Lord. They don’t know that these dEvas like Siva, brahma and indra themselves face many threats and seek Him alone for help. During praLaya even these gods enter the tiruvayiru of emberumAn and stay along with sentient and insentient things. Therefore these dEvatas are not rakShakas for they are being protected by Him. AzhwAr says he prides himself to call himself a dAsa to Him, not to anyone else.

naLirmadi SaDaiyanum—‘sAdaha vESham tOTTra jaDaiyai darittukkoNDirukka seidEyum durmAnattAlE sukapradAnan enru tOTTrumpaDi tAzhai maDalai keeri talaiyilE vaippAraippOlE kuLirnda chadiranai jaDaiyilE daritta ruddiranum’—periyavAchchAn piLLai.

tAzhai maDalaikkeeri—There are some very poor people who do menial jobs. They don’t like to show their poverty. So they wear tAzhampoo and walk briskly as of they are enjoying a life of luxury. Similarly Siva wears a moon and poses himself as an eeSwara who need not do any sAdhana. He does not like to show others he is a samhArakarta. therefore He pretends to be doing a very honourable job by wearing a bright moon on his head.

taLiroLi—indra always prides himself as the king of the 3 worlds; always grand dress and glittering ornaments in order to make himself very attractive to oorvaSi, ramBa and other divine damsels.

nila neer tee kAl suDar iru visumbum malar suDar—AzhwAr likes to say the names of each panchaBootas since he can think of Him as the rakShaka of each item as he mentions each one of them.

siriduDan mayanga—siridu—inside the small tiruvayiru of His who lies a banyan leaf as a baby; uDan—at the same time; mayanga—the chEtanas and achEtanas lie in Him (or) uDan mayanga is split as uDal+mayanga i.e. siridu uDal—in the small form; mayanga—to lie inside. ‘bAlan tanaduruvAi EzhulahuNDu Alilaiyin mElanru nee vaLarnda meyyenbar’— mudal tiruvandAdi. Such is the Sakti of Sreeman nArAyaNa who is my rakShaka. ‘neTTri mEr kaNNAnum nirai mozhivAi nAn muhanum neeNDa nAlvAi oTTraikkai veNpahaTTiloruvanaiyum uLLiTTA amararODum, veTTri pOr kaDalaraiyan vizhungAmal tAn vizhungi uyakkoNDa koTTrappOrAzhiyAn puNam paravA siruttoNDar koDiyavarE’—tirumangai AzhwAr. ‘anru ellArum ariyArO emberumAn uNDu umizhnda echchil dEvar, allAdAr tAmaruLE’—tirumangai AzhwAr. ‘mangai pAhan saDaiyil vaitta gangai yAr padattu neer?-------------angaN jnAlam uNDapOdu veLLi verpu ahanradO? AdalAl arangan anri vEru deivamillaiyE’—piLLai perumAL aiyangAr.

It is said this prabandha speaks mainly of His paratva.

In tiruviruttam and tiruvAimozhi AzhwAr says, in the last pASura these pASuras are sung by nammAzhwAr. In this prabandha, tiruvAsiriyam, AzhwAr doesn’t say so i.e. the last pASura does not contain his name. Hence commentators say there must have been some more pASuras which are lost due to time. But others says it is not so. They give the reason that in perya tiruvandAdi too there is omission of his name in the last pASura.Yet all the commentators agree the prabandha is complete. Similarly here too he has not mentioned his name but the prabandha is not incomplete.

There is another argument that AzhwAr does not end the prabandha in the andAdi style though throughout the style is maintained. This is also one of the reasons for saying some pASuras are lost. The others say this rule holds good only in maNDalittal style. Otherwise there is nothing wrong in not ending the pASura with the first word of the first pASura. Hence they argue the prabandha is complete.