aRivadhariyAn

aRivadhariyAn

thiru-p-puLLambUthankudi

arivadariyAn anaittulahamuDaiyAn ennaiyALuDaiyAn
kuriyamANuruvAhiya koottan manni amarumiDam |
nariya malarmEl SurumbArka ezhilAr majnainaDamADa
porikoL Sirai vaNDu iSaipADum puLLambootanguDitAnE ||

arivadariyAn—He is not understood. What does it mean? Is He not understood by anyone? In that case doesn’t He become a non-existent entity like rabbit’s horn or sky flower? No. He is not understood here means, He is not understood by those who feel they can understand and know Him by such efforts as yOga, meditation etc. He is understood by those whom He has chosen. ‘divyam dadAmi tE chakShuh paSya mE yOgam aiSwaram’—I shall give you the divine eyes by which you can see me and my glories)—Bagavat geeta.

He is the sarvaswAmi and my swAmi too. He is the one who took the vAmana avatAra to beg three feet of land from mahA bali in His yAgaSAla. He is the emberumAn who resides in tirupuLLamboodanguDi where bees sing, Surumbu buzz and peacocks dance.

kaLLakkuraLAi mAvaliyaivanjittu ulahamkaippaDuttu
poLLaikkaratta pOdahattin tunbamtavirtta punidaniDam |
paLLaSeruvil kayaluhaLa pazhavakkazhaniyadanuLpOi
puLLuppiLLaikkirai tEDum puLLamboodanguDitAnE ||

emberumAn took the vAmana avatAra in order to beg three feet of land from mahAbali. Once He got the land, He measured it with huge feet of trivikrama. Thus He took possession of not three feet of land but the whole world. He is the one who removed the agony of gajEndra by killing the crocodile that had caused him trouble. He resides in tirupuLLamboodanguDi where there are low lying wet fields full of fish. The birds, however, go to the wet fields in search of small fish for their young ones.

Once ALavAyuDaiyAn asked BaTTar this question—when it is said in the third line that there are plenty of fish, why should the fourth line speak of the birds searching it elsewhere. BaTTar replied—the answer is in this pASura itself—The birds search food not for themselves but for the young ones (piLLaikku). The fields have fish, which are quite fat and big, are not suitable for their young ones. So they go in search of small ones in the other fields.

mEvAvarakkar tennilangai vEndan veeyaSarandurandu
mAvAipiLandu mallaDarttu marudamSAitta mAladiDam |
kAvArtengin pazhamveezhakkayalhaLpAya kuruhiriyum
poovAr kazhani ezhilArum puLLamboodanguDitAnE ||

Sree rAma discharged terrible arrows to kill the rAkShasas who are the natural enemies of dEvas and riShis. He destroyed the whole army of rAkShasas along with its king and city. Sree kriShNa defeated the two huge wrestlers, split open the mouth of kESi and felled the two maruda trees. He resides in tirupuLLamboodanguDi where there are coconut trees along the banks of rivers where fat fish live. When the fruits fall, the fish jump out of fear causing fear in the minds of cranes that suddenly scatter.

Some interpret the last line thus—When the fruits fall it causes the fear in both the fish (that jump) and cranes (that scatter and run away).

verpAl mAripazhudAkki viralvALarakkar talaivantan
varpAr tiraLtOL ainnAngum tuNittavalvil rAmaniDam |
karpAr puriSaiSeikunram kavinArkooDam mALihaihaL
porpAr mADam ezhilArum puLLamboodanguDitAnE ||

In kriShNAvatAra He protected His subjects and cattle by lifting the gOvardhana mountains and subdued the pride of indra. In rAmAvatAra He killed the chief of lankApuri rAvaNa and subdued his pride by cutting off his twenty strong arms, thus protecting the Baktas and riShis. He resides in tirupuLLamboodanguDi where there are huge city halls, mansions, houses, forts with carvings and manTapas, etc.

maiyAr taDangaN karungoondal Aichchi maraiyavaitta tayir
neyyAr pAlODamuduSeida nEmiyangai mAyaniDam |
SeyyAr Araliraikarudi SengAlnArai SenraNaiyum
poyyAnAvir maraiyALar puLLum pootanguDitAnE ||

Aichchi yaSOda who is beautiful with dark long eyes and dark hair would keep butter, ghee etc out of reach of kaNNan. But He would somehow steal them and eat up the whole. This nEmiyangai mAyan resides in tirupuLLamboodanguDi where the SengAl nArai (red legged heron) seek the fields where Aral fish are found in plenty. This divya dESa is famous for the presence of brAhmaNas who always chant vEdas and who never utter a false word.

minnin anna nuNmarungul vEyEitaDandOL melliyarkA
mannuSinatta mazhaviDaihaL EzhanraDartta mAladiDam |
mannumuduneer aravinda malarmEl varivaNDiSaipADa
punnaiponnEi tAdudirkum puLLamboodanguDitAnE ||

emberumAn -- who defeated the extremely angry wild bulls for the sake of nappinnai pirATTi who is very beautiful with lightning like slender waist and bamboo-like round shapely arms—resides in tirupuLLamboodanguDi where there are punnai trees which shed golden coloured pollens and where there are lotus ponds the honey of which is drunk is ‘vari vaNDu’ that sing out of intoxication.

viDaihaL EzhaDarttu mAl—tirumAl defeated the seven wild angry bulls for nappinnai pirATTi. Her beauty is so intoxicating that He did not mind to take any amount of effort to get her. periyavAchchAn piLLai in his Sree sookti says—in those days in kAncheepuram, there used to be a practice of diving in to a deep lake in which two spears would be planted with their pointed ends upwards. If the person comes out alive he will marry the girl that he liked. The persons would willingly stake his life for the sake of the beauty of that girl. The object was more valuable than life.

punnai ponnEi tAdu udirkkum puLLamboodanguDi— tirumazhisai AzhwAr says in tiruchchandaviruttam ‘karaNDa mADu pihaiyuL karumbnai perum pazham puraNDu veezha vALai pAi kurunguDi neDundahAi’.

Even today in tirukkurunguDi there is a palm tree planted on the bank of a river. Similarly here AzhwAr talks of a punnai tree in tirupuLLamboodanguDi. It is said there is a punnai tree in the temple of this divya dESa.

kuDaiyAvilangal koNDEndi mAripazhudAniraikAttu
SaDaiyAnODavaDal vANan taDandOL tuNitta talaivaniDam |
kuDiyAvaNDu kaLLuNNa kOlaneelam maTTuhukkum
puDaiyAr kazhani ezhilArum puLLamboodanguDitAnE ||

Sree kriShNa protected the men folk and cattle by lifting gOvardhana mountain to ward off the heavy rains caused by indra. He chopped off the thousand arms of bANAsura, a friend of Siva, in the battle when Siva who had promised to help his friend ran away from the battlefield. He resides in tirupuLLamboodanguDi where there are lotus ponds that shed profuse honey, which the bees drink happily. The fertile lands on all sides add to the beauty and wealth of the divya dESa.

karaiyAr neDuvEl maramannar veeya viSayan tErkaDavi
iraiyAn kaiyil niriaiyAda muNDam niraitta endaiyiDam |
maraiyAl mutteeyavai vaLarkum mannupuhazhAL vaNmaiyAl
poraiyAl mikkavandaNar vAzh puLLampooanguDitAnE ||

Sree kriShNa drove the chariot of arjuna to cause the death of the enemy kings like duyOdhana and others in the BArata yuddha. He caused the kapAla to get filled and removed the curse of Siva. He resides in tirupuLLamboodanguDi where brAhmaNas live who are reputed because of their agnihOtra, their forbearance, benevolence etc.

tunnimaNNum viNNADum tOnrAdiruLAi mooDiyanAL
annamAhi arumaraihaL aruLichcheida amalaniDam |
minnuSOdi navamaNiyum vEyin muTTrum SAmaraiyum
ponnum ponni koNarndalaikkum puLLamboodanguDitAnE ||

Our emberumAn, the amala, brought back the great vEdas when they were stolen away by asuras by taking a divine swan roopa and made the worlds bright again by removing the thick darkness that covered them (when the vEdas were not there). He resides in tirupuLLamboodanguDi where the river kAvEri brings along with her current the gold, pearls of bamboo trees, nine precious gems and chAmaras to offer them at the feet of the Lord in this divya dESa. The repetition of gold and pearl—which are among the ‘navamaNi’ is to show their abundance in the water.

kaTTrAmarittu kALiyantan SenninaDunganaDampayinra
poTTrAmaraiyAL tankELvan puLLamboodanguDi tanmEl |
kaTTrAr paravum mangaiyarkOn kArAr puyarkaikkalikanri
SoTTrAn eeraindivai pADa SOranillA tuyar tAmE ||

tirumangai AzhwAr—the chief of tirumangai-has sung these ten pASuras on emberumAn—who grazed the cattle, who defeated kALiya and danced on his hoods, who is the consort of periya pirATTi — residing in tirupuLLamboodanguDi. Those who read and sing with emotion these pASuras will get rid them of their sufferings.