SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavaramunayE nama:
avathArikai (Introduction)
piLLai lOkAchAryar explains about how pirAtti revealed her three qualities viz krupai, pArathanthryam and ananyArhathvam through the three separations which are attributed to her, in these 3 sentences.
sUthram 8
pirAtti muRpadap pirindhadhu, thannudaiya krupaiyai veLiyidugaikkAga; naduvil pirindhadhu, pArathanthryaththai veLiyidugaikkAga; anantharam pirindhadhu ananyArhathvaththai veLiyidugaikkAga.
Simple Explanation
pirAtti separated (from SrI rAma) at first to reveal her krupai; she separated in the middle to reveal her pArathanthryam; she subsequently separated to reveal her ananyArhathvam.
vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
pirAtti muRpadap pirindhadhu …
That is – as said in SrIvishNu purANam 1.9.145 “dhEvathvE dhEva dhEhEyam manushyathvEcha mAnushI | viNOr dhEhAnurUpamvai karOthyEshAthmanas thanum ||” (When he incarnates as a dhEva, this pirAtti assumes a dhEva form and when he incarnates as a human; in this manner she manifests in a form that matches his divine form), since she assumes a form matching the divine form of bhagavAn, as said in SrIvishNu purANam 1.9.14 “rAghavathvE abhavath sIthA” (She incarnated as sIthA when he incarnated as SrI rAmA), when he incarnated as the divine son of emperor dhaSaratha, she incarnated as the divine daughter of king janaka. When she was mercifully staying in dhaNdakAraNya (dhaNdaka forest) with SrI rAma, having rAvaNa as a reason, she separated from perumAL (SrI rAma) and mercifully went to lankA, to reveal her great mercy where she is identified as an embodiment of mercy due to abundantly having that quality as said in lakshmI thanthram “dhEvyA kAruNya rUpayA” (With periya pirAtti who is an embodiment of mercy). How is that? This is because:
- She went into imprisonment on her own, to relieve the celestial women from the prison.
- While being imprisoned, she was tormented day and night by cruel demoniac ladies; when thrijadA saw a dream where rAvaNa was vanquished and perumAL became victorious, those ladies became scared and started shivering in fear; pirAtti said “I will be there for you when you will be tormented, you don’t fear” and provided refuge as said in SrI rAmAyaNam sundhara kANdam 58.93 “bhavEyam SaraNam hiva:” (I will be your refuge).
- To not let it remain just in words, after rAvaNa was vanquished, thiruvadi (hanuman) who came to her to announce the good news, wanted to torment them fully and requested her permission for that; at that time, a) she pleaded with him and highlighted their bad qualities as good qualities as said in SrI rAmAyaNam yudhdha kANdam 116.38 “rAja samSraya vaSyAnAm” (they are being [good] servitors for their king), b) highlighted her lack of strength to tolerate the sufferings of others as said in SrI rAmAyaNam yudhdha kANdam 116.40 “marshAyAmIha dhurbalA” (I forgive these demoniac women) and c) instructed him in a manner that he cannot refuse her words as said in SrI rAmAyaNam yudhdha kANdam “kAryam karuNam AryENa na kaSchin nAparAdhyathi” (Your highness should show mercy; who does not commit mistakes?)
In this manner, remaining firm on her commitment, as she protected the demoniac women who tormented her until then, she revealed her krupai.
naduvil pirindhadhu …
The separation in the middle is – as she returned to SrI ayOdhyA along with perumAL and mercifully stayed there,and became pregnant, SrI rAma asked her if she had any desire as in SrI rAmAyaNam yudhdha kANdam 42.32 “apadhyA lAbhO vaidhEhi mamAyam samupasthitha: | kimichchasi sakAmathvam bhrUhi sarvam varAnanE ||” (Oh vaidhEhi! I got blessed with this child [in your womb]; oh one who is having the most beautiful face! What are you eagerly desiring for? Reveal them all to me). sIthAp pirAtti humbly highlighted her desire to reside in forest as said in SrI rAmAyaNam uththara kANdam 42.33 “thapOvanAni puNyAni dhrasthumichchAmi rAghava | gangAthIra nivishtAni rishINAm puNya karmaNAm || pala mUIASinAm vIra pAdhamUlEshu varthithum | EshamE parama:kAmO yanmUla pala bhOgishu | apyEka rAthram kAkuthstha vasEyam puNya kIrthishu ||” (Oh descendant of raghu dynasty! I desire to see the sacred forests where penances are done. Oh the valorous descendant of kakuthstha! Even if I can reside at the lotus feet of the great sages who have very pious deeds, who sustain themselves by eating fruits and roots, who have sacred fame, for one night, that will be nice. This is my great desire). SrI rAma sent her to the forest as if he is sending her based on this reason, while he did it to avoid the accusations of the citizens.
The purpose of this separation is to reveal her pArathanthryam which is based on being his pathni (wife) where she should fully follow his thoughts whether he places her within the boundary of his palace or he sends her to the forest. After crossing over to the other side of gangA, iLaiya perumAL (lakshmaNa) with a heavy heart, humbly informed the reason why perumAL sent her to the forest. Hearing that, she greatly lamented and said as in SrI rAmAyaNam uththara kANdam 48.8 “nakalvadhayaiva saumithrE jIvitham jAhnavIjalE | thyajEyam rAghavam vamSE barthurmA parihAsyathi ||” (Oh lakshmaNa who is son of sumithrA! The progeny I got from perumAL who is my husband, cannot cease to exist in raghuvamSam. I did not jump into gangA who is known as jAhnavi and give up my life. Did I?) With this, while she desired to survive by killing herself due to the overwhelming sorrow, instead of doing that, she followed perumAL’s divine heart and saved herself – such pArathanthryam is revealed here. For those who are parathanthra (totally dependent), they have to live for others and cannot kill oneself even if that is desired. nammAzhwAr too said in thiruvAimozhi 5.4.3 “mAyum vagaiyaRiyEn valvinaiyEn peN piRandhE” (I who am having great sins, having been born as a woman, don’t know the ways to finish myself). After going through great separation in the ten months in the first separation, as she herself mercifully said in SrI rAmAyaNam uththara kANdam 48.17 “pathirhi dhaivatham nAryA: pathirbandhu: pathirgathi: | prANairapi priyam thasmAth barthu: kAryam viSEshatha: ||” (For women, the husband is god, the husband is all types of relationship, the husband is the refuge, and as he is to be loved more than her life, his tasks are of utmost importance), due to considering that following the thoughts of the husband is natural quality for oneself, she remained in sorrow for many years [with that thought]. In this manner, she revealed her pArathanthryam in this separation.
anantharam pirindhadhu …
The subsequent separation is – after arriving in front of perumAL, separating and reaching her mother’s place. The purpose of this separation is – as said in SrI rAmAyaNam sundhara kANdam 21.15 “ananyA rAghavENAham bhAskarENaprabhAyathA” (I am inseparable from SrI rAma like the rays are inseparable from the sun) and in SrI rAmAyaNam yudhdha kANdam 122.19 “ananyAhi mayA sIthA” (Does sIthA not remain united with me always?), her ananyArhathvam (existing for bhagavAn only) is based on her non-existence for anyone else and is accepted by both perumAL and herself and to reveal that to be accepted by everyone. How is that done?
perumAL mercifully performed aSvamEdha yAgam. At that time, based on the orders of SrI vAlmeeki bhagavAn kuSa and lava were going around singing SrI rAmAyaNam. perumAL heard about it and summoned them in his assembly and heard them along with many wise people. At that time, on coming to know that they are the children of pirAtti [and self], his divine heart sought pirAtti and he sent a messenger to the maharishi and pirAtti saying “If she is pure, let her immediately come to this assembly and reveal her purity by making a vow”. As pirAtti arrived there with SrI vAlmeeki bhagavAn in the great assembly, in the presence of perumAL, SrI vAlmeeki bhagavAn announced in many ways that she is pure, perumAL mercifully revealed his divine heart saying “I know that she is pure; the words of maharishi’s word are also sufficient; still to eliminate the accusation of the citizens, she should make a vow in this assembly”. She remained with joined palms and her head lowered as said in SrI rAmAyaNam uththara kANdam 97.14 “sarvAn samAgathAn dhrushtvA sIthA kAshAya vAsinI | abhravIth prAnjalir vAkyam adhOdhrushtir avAngmukhi ||” (sIthAp pirAtti who was wearing saffron clothes looked at everyone who had arrived from various places, with lowered eyes, head and joined palms, started speaking” and vowed as said in SrI rAmAyaNam uththara kANdam 97.15 “yathAham rAghavAdhanyam manasApi na chinthayE | thathAmE mAdhavI dhEvI vivaram dhAthumarhathi || manasA karmaNA vAchA yathArAmam samarthayE | thathA mE mAdhavI dhEvI vivaram dhAthumarhathi || yathaithath sathyam ukthammE vEdhmi rAmAth paramnacha | thathAmE mAdhavI dhEvI vivaram dhAthumarhathi ||” (If it is true that I have not thought about anyone else in my mind other than rAghava, let mother earth give me a place in her; if it is true that I am only holding on to SrI rAma with my mind, speech and actions, let mother earth give me a place in her; if my words of me not knowing anyone other than SrI rAma is true, let mother earth give me a place in her). At that time, a divine throne appeared from the earth, SrI bhUmip pirAtti who was on the throne, welcomed sIthAp pirAtti, lifted her with both hands, carried her and made her sit on the throne and left to rasAthaLam (a beautiful, lower region, in the universe), and divine flowers rained on her [highlighting auspiciousness] as said in SrI rAmAyaNam uththara kANdam 97.18 “thathA SapanthyAm vaidhEhyAm prAdhurAsIn mahAdhbutham | bhUthalAth udhdhitham dhivyam simhAsanm anuththamam || thriyamANam SirObhisthu nAgair amithavikramai: | dhivyam dhivyEna vapushA sarvarathna vibhUshitham || thasminsthu dharaNI dhEvI bhAhubyAm gruhya maithileem | svAgathE nAbhinandhayainAm AsanE SOpavESayath || thAmAsana gathAm dhrushtvA praviSanthIm rasAthaLam | pushpavrushtir avichchinnA dhivyA sIthAmavAkirath ||” [Meaning already summarised by mAmunigaL] – from this we can understand that she revealed her ananyArhathvam through this separation.
Thus, the reason for the three separations, which are highlighted in this avathAram, is to reveal these qualities in this manner. If it is not so, for SrI mahAlakshmi, who is anapAyini (inseparable from bhagavAn) and akarmavaSyA (one who is not bound by karma), there is no reason to have such separation like those who are bound by karma. She incarnated in this manner to fully reveal the qualities which help in her purushakArathvam and the purushakArathvam itself; this is why parASara bhattar too mercifully explained in SrIguNarathna kOSam 57 “yadhuthAn yadhudhA haranthi sIthAvathAramukamEtha dhamushya yOgyam” (Oh mother SrIranganAyaki! Your incarnations such as sIthA are glorified for the great qualities which are aptly present in you and those incarnations are said to be your practicing arena for this incarnation as thAyAr [mother] here). In this manner, she revealed the krupai which is shown towards chEthanas to bless them and the pArathanthryam and ananyArhathvam which are shown towards bhagavAn to attract him, to develop the faith in those who hold her as purushakAram, by making them see these qualities practically instead of just hearing about them from SAsthram.
adiyen sarathy ramanuja dasan
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