SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavaramunayE nama:
avathArikai (Introduction)
In this context, piLLai lOkAchAryar is reminding us of two incidents.
sUthram 203
ivvidaththilE, vainathEya vruththAnthaththaiyum, piLLaip piLLai AzhwAnukku AzhwAn paNiththa vArththaiyaiyum smarippadhu.
Simple Explanation
Here, remember the incident involving garudAzhwAr and the words of kUraththAzhwAn to piLLaip piLLai AzhwAn.
vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
ivvidaththilE …
vainathEya vruththAntham
A brAhmaNa named gAlavan who gained all knowledge by studying under viSvAmithran, thought that if he did not offer guru dhakshiNA (service to guru), the gained knowledge will not remain with him; he went and asked viSvAmithran “What can I offer to you in a fitting manner?” viSvAmithran repeatedly said “You need not do anything for me; we are pleased with your service and devotion; now you can go and live as you please”; gAlavan did not heed to his guru’s words and kept insisting forcefully “you should accept some offering from me”; viSvAmithran became angry as said in mahAbhAratham udhyOga parvam “kinchidhAgatha samrambhO viSvAmithrObravIdhidham | Ekatha: SyAmakarNAnAm SathAnyashtauthu dhEhi mE | hayAnAm chandhra SabhrANAm gachcha gAlava mAchiram |” – he saw gAlavan and said to him “You bring eight hundred horses which have body with whitish complexion similar to that of the moon and have a greenish ear”; hearing that gAlavan became very worried and thought in many ways “what can I do now?” and set out to do penance towads sarvESvaran who grants all wishes; at that time, periya thiruvadi nAyanAr (garudAzhwAr) who was his friend, appeared in front of him; gAlavan praised him and asked “what can I do for this?” garudAzhwAr said “I will carry you all over the earth and let us try to search”; after saying this, garudAzhwAr carried gAlavan and roamed around the earth and became tired; on reaching the mountain named rishabam in western ocean, they thought “let us rest here for sometime and then continue our search” and went to a bhAgavathA [a word which indicates a female devotee, bhAgavatha means a male devotee] named SANdili who is greatly knowledgeable and who was living there; they offered respects to her and she welcomed them eagerly and honoured them; subsequently, while they were resting, garudAzhwAr thought “such a great bhAgavathA is not living in distinguished abodes of bhagavAn!” and was resting thinking “let us carry her from here and place her in a dhivyadhESam”; but because of the offence of thinking lowly about the abode of that bhAgavathA, his wings got burnt and he became action-less; the brAhmaNa who went along with garudAzhwAr saw that and said as in mahAbhAratham udhyOga parvam “kinthu thE manasA dhyAtham aSubham padhathAmvara | nahyayam bhavatha: svalpO vyabhichArO bhavishyathi ||” – “Did you think anything inauspicious in your heart? Your highness do not have any scope to even have a small evil aspect”; garudAzhwAr replied “Yes. I had an evil thought” and mercifully explained his thoughts towards that bhAgavathA; subsequently garudAzhwAr went to her and prayed for forgiveness and by her grace, got his offence eliminated and regained his original form.
Since this is seen in udhyOga parvam as instructed by SrI nAradha bhagavAn towards dhritharAshtra along with many other incidents, to make him follow krishNa’s divine heart, in front of many great sages who were present, when krishNa was there as the divine messenger, this is established in vEdha upabruhmaNam (explanatory scriptures for vEdham).
piLLaip piLLai AzhwAnukku AzhwAn paNiththa vArththai
kUraththAzhwAn, on the day of accepting piLLaip piLLai AzhwAn as his disciple, observed that being born in high family heritage etc, he is living without any humility towards bhAgavathas, and thought in his divine heart “since this bhAgavatha apachAram which is done by him will subdue his knowledge and good conduct, and will lead to disaster; we should somehow control him”; on a sacred day of ayanam (commencement of six month period) when piLLaip piLLai AzhwAn took bath in the river and climbed on the bank, AzhwAn saw him and told him “as everyone is giving charity, would you also give something in charity to me?” piLLaip piLLai AzhwAn said “What is there for me to offer to you? Everything already belongs to you”; AzhwAn responded “The meaning conveyed by your words is nice; but that is not enough; you should promise me saying ‘I will not offend bhAgavathas through my three faculties, with offering water from your hand to me”; piLLaip piLLai AzhwAn promised to do so by offering water to AzhwAn; but subsequently due to his past impressions, thought about the defect of a bhAgavatha and thought “we are finished” and stayed inside his thirumALigai and slept inside of stepping out; AzhwAn was wondering why piLLaip piLLai AzhwAn did not turn up at the usual time and went to his thirumALigai and asked him “What happened? Why are you upset?” piLLaip piLLai AzhwAn presented to AzhwAn about his offence in the mind about a bhAgavatha and said “It is difficult to live with this body without committing offence with all three faculties”, held on to AzhwAn’s divine feet and cried; being pleased, AzhwAn mercifully said “You are having so much atonement! Offence committed in mind will be forgiven by ISvara, when one atones for it; one should not offend anyone physically since that will lead to immediate visible punishment; thus, I have ensured that you won’t do either of those anymore; now, you carefully watch your speech and live accordingly”.
adiyen sarathy ramanuja dasan
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