Peria Thiru Andaadi

SWAMI NAMMAZHWAR ?Snippets - Part 3
(Anbil Ramaswamy)
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PERIYA TIRUVANTADI

Seeraal pirantu sirappaal vaLarndu
pEr vaamn aakakkaal pEraaLaa!- maarbaarap
pulginee UNDu umizhnda Boomi neer ErpariithE?
sollu nee yaam ariya Soozhndu

?How come? he asks ?without living up to your numerous glorious names and
being known as ?well born? and ?well bred?- you took the Avatar as a dwarf
with the name of Vaamana ? a despicable dwarf who cannot boast of any merit
of birth or upbringing? Perhaps, you thought that only by assuming such a
ridiculous form could you go abegging for a gift of earth.
And, what earth?

YOUR earth that you embraced; YOUR earth that you gulped: YOUR earth that
you released at the time of a new Kalpa. Even though such an earth was YOUR
VERY OWN, why on earth did you beg of Bali to ?gift? it to you with the
symbolic pouring of water?

I really need an explanation for this queer act of yours.
Pulgi: Embraced (Obviously a reference to Bhoodevi)
PEraaLan: Renowned with glorious names.

In Verse 75, he refers to ?CONTAINER BEING CONTAINED?
Puviyum iru visumbum ninakaththa nee yen
Seviyin vazhi pugunthu enn uLLaaai- avivinRi
Yaan periyan nee periyaai enpadanai yaar arivaar
Oonparukku UNmaiyeY! uLLu.

?Oh! Lord! You hold a discus which is capable of devouring all flesh; this
world and Paramapada are contained in you; thus, you are the Lord of both
the worlds (Ubhaya vibhuti Nathan). How come, while this being so, you chose
to enter me through my auditory faculty and you became contained in me and
that too permanently? Now that you are contained in me irretrievably, who
can say which one is greater than the other? You OR Me? If you know, you may
yourself explain this conundrum (and admit your defeat!)

In Verse 86, the Azhwar wonders how people could save themselves when they
have absolutely no thought of salvation which Lord Narayana alone can grant.

Kaar kalantha mEniyaan kai kalantha aazhiyaan
Paar kalantha valvayitraan paambaNaiyaan ?
seer kalantha solninainthu pOkkaarEl soozh vinaiyin aazh thuyarai
en ninianthu pOkkuvaar ippOtu?

?People of the world are wasting their time without experiencing the bliss
of the Lord?s names; The Lord is of the color of the azure skies; He has the
divine discus in his hand; at the time of deluge, he keeps the worlds in
?safe custody? in his stomach and protects them; He reclines on the serpent
couch. If only people should talk of these facts, they can free themselves
from all sins. Without doing this, why are they wasting their lifetime? I
wonder how they are able to do this and how else could they ever hope to rid
themselves of sins.?