Gyana Saram in English

gyAna sAram
gyAna sAram
aruLALa perumAL emperumAnAr – srIvillipuththUr
maNavALa mAmunigaL – vAnamAmalai
http://divyaprabandham.koyil.org 1 http://koyil.org
gyAna sAram
dhivya prabandham – translations project

srI:
srImathE satakOpAya nama:
srImathE rAmAnujAya nama:
srImadh varavaramunayE nama:
dhivya prabandhams are the most essential aspect of srIvaishNava sampradhAyam.

AzhwArs who were blessed by srIman nArAyaNan’s causeless mercy, sung many
prabandhams in the ancient thamizh language which became to be known as dhivya
prabandham. The importance of dhivya prabandham is greatly highlighted by azhagiya
maNavALa perumAL nAyanAr in AchArya hrudhayam. AchArya hrudhayam fully reveals
the divine heart and emotions of nammAzhwAr. nAyanAr explains that one becomes
established in srIvaishNava principles by first learning the thiruvAimozhi text, then
understanding the meanings and finally living by the same. Here, thiruvAimozhi is
explained as upalakshaNam (example) for all dhivya prabandhams.
These dhivya prabandhams were greatly appreciated by our AchAryas and especially
srI rAmAnuja ushered in a new era of our sampradhAyam which fully focussed on
gyAna sAram
understanding the meanings of the dhivya prabandhams and living by it. srI rAmAnuja’s
1000th birth anniversary is approaching us soon in May 2017. To commemorate this
most glorious and auspicious occasion, we are providing simple translation of the
dhivya prabandhams in our http://divyaprabandham.koyil.org website. These
translations are done fully based on pUrvAchArya vyAkyAnams.
We pray to srIman nArAyaNan, AzhwArs and AchAryas to guide us in this effort and
make this kainkaryam a successful one which will benefit srIvaishNavas of different
regions (who are familiar with different languages, etc).
adiyen sarathy ramanuja dasan
on behalf of http://divyaprabandham.koyil.org team
pramEyam (goal) – http://koyil.org

pramANam (scriptures) – http://srivaishnavagranthams.wordpress.com
pramAthA (preceptors) – http://guruparamparai.wordpress.com
srIvaishNava education/kids portal – http://pillai.koyil.org.
gyAna sAram
Preface
srI:
srImathE satakOpAya nama:
srImathE rAmAnujAya nama:
srImadh varavaramunayE nama:
aruLALa perumAL emperumAnAr – srIvillipuththUr
maNavALa mAmunigaL – vAnamAmalai
gyAna sAram
This is an English translation of the thamizh prose given for “srI aruLALamAmunigAL’s
gyAna sAram – pramEya sAram based on srI maNavALA mAmunigaL’s vyAkyAnam’,
as written due to his nirhEthuka krupai by srI U.Ve. Vidwan V.K. Srinivasachariar swamy of
sri aruLALaperumAL emperumAnAr thiruvamsam at srIvilliputhUr.
kIrthi mUrthy Swami Srinivasachariar is a kumArar (son) of 31st pattam srImadh

ubhayavEdhAntha vidwan thirumalai vinjimUr kuppan iyengAr (kuppuswAmy
thAthAchAr) swamy.
The thamizh prose by vidwan V.K. Srinivasachariar was published in 2003 panguni-
uthrattAdhi, as part of 100th year celebration of Sri U.Ve.kuppuswAmy thAthAchAr.
Text from the original thamizh book, and this translation in English and other languages,
are being propagated with permission and blessings of the srI U.Ve. V.K.
Srinivasachariar’s kumArar, vidwan srI U.Ve. V.S. Venkatachariar swamy who is
decorating 33rd pattam residing at srIvilliputhur thirumALigai, and doing continuous
kainkaryams at srinivAsar sannidhi and aruLaLa perumAL EmperumAnAr
(aruLALAmAmungaL) sannidhi that are at srI kuppan iyengAr maNdapam in
srIvilliputhur.
adiyen santhAnam rAjagOpAlan rAmAnuja dhAsan.
gyAna sAram
Web: http://koyil.org , http://ponnadi.blogspot.com,

http://guruparamparai.wordpress.com, http://pillai.koyil.org
manmatha – chithrai 4 (emperumAnAr uthsavam day 3) – uthrattAdhi (April 17th, 2015)
– 4( 3 )–
gyAna sAram
Topic of Contents
thaniyan .................................................................................................................... 9
avathArikai .............................................................................................................. 11
pAsuram 1 – Una Udal ........................................................................................... 12
pAsuram 2 - naragum suvargamum ..................................................................... 22
pAsuram 3 – Anai idar ........................................................................................... 27
pAsuram 4 – matRondRai eNNAdhE .................................................................... 32
pAsuram 5 - thIrtha muyandRAduvadhum .......................................................... 37
pAsuram 6 - pundarIgai kElvan ............................................................................. 42
pAsuram 7 - thOLAr sudarth ................................................................................. 47
pAsuram 8 - muRRap buvanam ............................................................................ 52
pAsuram 9 - Asil aruLAl ......................................................................................... 56
pAsuram 10 - nALum ulagai .................................................................................. 60
pAsuram 11 - than ponnadi ................................................................................... 65
pAsuram 12 - mARAy iNaindha............................................................................. 69
pAsuram 13 - paNdE uyir anaiththum .................................................................. 73
pAsuram 14 - bUthangkaL aindhum ..................................................................... 77
pAsuram 15 - kudiyum kulamum .......................................................................... 81
pAsuram 16 - dhEvar manisar ............................................................................... 85
pAsuram 17 - onRiduga viNNavar......................................................................... 88
pAsuram 18 - InamilA anbar .................................................................................. 91
pAsuram 19 - nalla pudhalvar ............................................................................... 94
pAsuram 20 - viruppuRinum thoNdarkku ............................................................ 97
pAsuram 21 - Arap perunthuyarE ....................................................................... 101
pAsuram 22 - udaimai nAn .................................................................................. 104
pAsuram 23 - Uzhi vinaik kuRumbar .................................................................. 107
pAsuram 24 - vaNdu padi thuLaba ..................................................................... 110
pAsuram 25 - aRRam uraikkil .............................................................................. 114
pAsuram 26 - thappil guru aruLAl....................................................................... 118
gyAna sAram
pAsuram 27 - neRi aRiyAdhArum ....................................................................... 122

pAsuram 28 - sharanAgathi maRROr ................................................................. 125
pAsuram 29 – mandhiramum Indha .................................................................... 129
pAsuram 30 - mAdum manayum......................................................................... 132
pAsuram 31 - vEdham oru nAngin...................................................................... 137
pAsuram 32 - mAnidavan ennum........................................................................ 142
pAsuram 33 - etta irundha guruvai ..................................................................... 146
pAsuram 34 - paRRu guruvai .............................................................................. 149
pAsuram 35 - enRum anaithuyiRkum ................................................................. 152
pAsuram 36 - villAr maNikozhikkum .................................................................. 157
pAsuram 37 - poruLum uyirum ........................................................................... 162
pAsuram 38 - thenAr kamala thirumAmagaL ..................................................... 165
pAsuram 39 - alagai mulai suvaithArkku ........................................................... 170
pAsuram 40 – alli malar pAvaikku ...................................................................... 176
gyAna sAram
thaniyan
In English, based on the thamizh prose mentioned above, which is based on srI
maNavALa mAmunigaL’s vyAkyAnam .
thaniyan of aruLALa perumAL emperumAnAr
“kArthikE bharaNI jAtham yathIndhrAshrayam AshrayE|
gyaAnapramEya sArAbhi vakthAram varadham munim”||
Explanation: The one whose avathAram is in the month of kArthikai and in bharaNi
star, onewho surrendered to srI rAmAnujar the head of saints, who in his gyAnasAram
pramEyasAramspoke about the greatness of AchAryan, adiyen surrender to that
aruLALa mAmuni(aruLALaperumAL emperumAnAr).
“rAmAnuja sachchishyam vEdha sAsthrArtha sampatham|
chathurthAshrama sampannam dhEvarAja munim bhajE” ||
I bow to aruLALa mAmuni who is – a good sishyA or ramAnujAchariar, who is – an

expert in vedhAs and other sAshthras, and the one who took up the fourth Ashramam
that is sainthood.
(rAmAnuja sachchishyam) – Recall the incident explained in guruparampara, when with

the original name of yagya mUrthy he debated with emperumAnAr for eighteen days
about vEdhAntha based on tharkam etc., and made emperumanAr very concerned
about saving the sampradhyAm, pEraruLALr athigiri varadharAja perumAL came in
emperumAnAr’s dream and said ‘O emperumanAr! Please do not be discouraged. I am
giving you a talented sishya that I created. You shall win him over”.
(vEdha sAsthrArtha sampatham) – We can understand well about his deep knowledge
in sAsthras when we see how he debated with emperumAnAr for eighteen days, and
how he provided us the essence of sAsthrAs through his gyAnasAram pramEyasAram
by beautiful and easy to understand pAsurams which are based on thamizh veNpa (a
type of poem defined In thamizh grammar).
(dhEvarAja munim) – Based on his greatness of having the blessings of dhEvarAjan,

that is pEraruLALan. to became a sishya of emperumAnAr, and based on the greatness
of his being equal to emperumAnar in gyAna, bhakthi, and vyrAkyam, we understand
that he got an apt thirunAmam of ‘aruLALamuni’.
gyAna sAram
gyAna sAra thaniyan:
suruLAr karungkuzhal thOgaiyar vEl vizhiyil thuvaLum
maruLAm vinai kedum mArkkam peRREn marai nAngum – sonna
poruL gyAna sAraththaip pundhiyil thandhavan pongoLisEr
aruLALa mamuni-am porkazhalgaL adaindha pinnE.
Explanation: adiyEn obtained the way to destroy the ever-accumulated karmas, after
surrendering to the beautiful and divine feet of the one who through his gyAnasAram
pramEyasAram fed the knowledge of deep meanings of the four vEdhas and true
meanings of thirumanthiram, who is a bright light of knowledge, who is named as
aruLALamAmuni.
The meaning of the thaniyan is: Because of ever-accumulated karmas, clarity of truth
diminishes in us. Because it diminishes, one’s affinity to be attracted to women
increases. Because of this, our mind starts dwelling on their curly dark hair and shapely
and sharp eyes. But after surrendering to the divine feet of aruLALamAmuni, I
understood the ways in which I could get out of such kAmam and related mistakes.
To explain further, this thaniyan says: After surrendering to my AchAryan

aruLALaperumAL emperumAnAr, I got clarity in my mind after learning his gyAnasAram
and pramEyasAram. Because of that, I understood the ways in which I could destroy
the bad karmas of being disturbed in my heart by looking at women’s beautiful hair, and
eyes that are shaped and sharp like a spear.
The destruction of attraction towards women may be extended to destruction of other

mistakes like anger, greed, lack of knowledge of truth, ego, jealousy, etc. The thirukuraL
also conveys the same meaning in the verse: “kAmam, veguLi, mayakkam immUndran
nAmam keda-k kedum nOi”, which implies that those mistakes that destroy human
culture would be solved by AchArya kaTAksham.
So AchAryan’s greatness was highlighted by this thaniyan.
Source: http://divyaprabandham.koyil.org/?p=145
gyAna sAram
avathArikai
srI aruLALa perumAL emperumAnAr was a sishya of emperumAnAr and he surrendered to
the divine feet of that Acharyan. He learned and understood all the vEdhas and other
sAsthras from his AchAryan. So he had understood very well about the fundamental
truth of reaching the Supreme Lord and attaining the ultimate happiness. He always
stayed with emperumAnAr, near his divine feet, and doing all kainkaryams for his
AchAryan’s happiness. srI aruLALa perumAL emperumAnAr, one with such a guru bhakthi,
due to his huge kindness wanted all the people to achieve religious benefit by
understanding all the thathva discourses that he had heard from his AchAryan.
So based on emperumAnAr’s instructions, he writes ‘gyAna sAram’ in simple clear

thamizh language using veNpA (grammar of a type of thamizh poem) that could be
understood by everyone, and gives us all, the essence of what he had heard about
the Supreme Lord’s true nature, about the ways to reach Him, and about the ultimate
happiness one gets after reaching Him.
gyAna sAram
pAsuram 1 – Una Udal

What gives ultimate happiness to a soul (jIvAthmA) is the liberation (mOksham). In
order to get liberated, one should know the inner meanings and deeper purports of (i)
thirumanthram (ii) dwaya mahAmanthram and (iii) charamaslOkam from his own
guru (AchAryan). These three manthrAs are termed as “rahasyam” (secrets). Our
shAstrAs proscribe that these can be shared only with ardent seekers who have the
insatiable desire to learn them and not with others. Since they are preserved with
utmost care, they are called as “rahasyam”. These three that are collectively known
as “rahasya thrayam”, are the crux of vedAnta as expressed by our srIvaishNava
sampradhAyam. They also specify the Supreme Lord’s true nature as is. They elaborate
the path to reach that Absolute Supreme, the subsequent enjoyment of a jIvAthmA after
reaching Him (paramAthmA). All the three rahasyams were uttered by the Supreme
God himself, in order to exalt the down-trodden people of this universe who are
suffering in this place for eons together from the never ending cycle of birth and death
and the associated ups The rahasya thrayam was enunciated thus. Bhagawan srIman
nArAyaNA took the incarnation of NArAyaNA (AchAryan) and elaborated the first
rahasyam – Thirumanthram, to Nara (sishyan) at badarikAshramam. Bhagawan told
the “Dwaya mahAmanthiram” to His divine consort Sri mahAlakshmi (periya pirAtti) in
Srivaikuntam. Finally, Bhagawan incarnated as Krishna and steered the chariot and
served as the charioteer for HIS friend arjunA during the battlefield of kurukshEtra (the
battle of Mahabharatha). It is during this time that He enunciated the “Charama
SlOkam” towards the end of “Bhagavath Geetha”. These three rahasyAs are
being passed along the srIvaishNava Guruparampara lineage. The ancestors of
SrIvaishNava lineage who have realized the Supreme and have adeptly pointed out the
infallible yet easy path to reach the Supreme, have treasured these three rahasyams
with utmost care. (These three are not similar to any earthly treasure that is kept in a
locker without any usage. It is as usable as it is treasured). Our ancestors have always
used them in every walk of their lives. Such is the greatness of these rahasyams.
Out of the three rahasyams, the first is the “Thirumanthram”. It is called as

the “First Rahasyam”that has 3 parts to it. They are (a) Om (b) Namaha and (c)
nArAyaNAya. The first part (Om) is referred to as “praNavam”. The second part
(namaha) and the third part (nArAyaNAya) elaborate the praNavam. (They explain
about the qualities of paramAthmA and jIvAthmA, the master-servant relationship, the
time this relationship started, the time up to which it will last, and if there are any other
persons to which the jIvAthmA serves as a servant.)
gyAna sAram
The “Dwaya Mahamanthram”, celebrated as the “jewel of all manthrams”, has two lines
in it. The first line elaborates the inner meanings of the “namaha” part of thirumanthram,
and the second line clarifies and details out the “NArAyaNAya” part of thirumanthram.
Since it has two lines in it, it is being referred as “Dwayam”. The first line in Dwayam
talks about the different ways to take refuge at the Lotus Feet of Bhagawan. When a
person catches hold of Bhagawan’s feet, he should do so by renouncing all other
means that he had earlier undertaken, in order to reach Him. The person should do so
in such a way that there should not be any iota of earlier paths’s thoughts left in him.
Moreover, he should also renounce the lingering fact in his mind that “I have
caught the Lotus feet of Bhagavan, and this act of mine will definitely take me to
HIS Protective Lotus Feet”. (The reason he is expected to leave that thought as well,
is because if he does not, then it appears that something apart from Bhagawan’s Feet,
i.e., one’s own effort of submission, can fetch mOksham. It cannot fetch mOksham at
any cost and so should be completely gotten rid of.) Hence, the only refuge is
Bhagawan’s Lotus feet and nothing else and one should be very determined in this
basic principle. The second line in Dwayam talks about the benefit to such a person
who had renounced all his own efforts. The benefit is the golden opportunity to do
eternal service to the Lord together with HIS consort (pirAtti) (and to HIS devotees).
This is like the service that lakshmanA rendered to Lord rAmA and sIta in
srIrAmayaNam. However, this kind of an opportunity (doing eternal service to the
Divine consort and their devotees) comes only after all the sins, that have been accrued
due to karma, have been annihilated. Dwayam that comprises of two lines is being
expounded in detail by the third rahasyam known as the CharamaslOkam. Thus
CharamaslOkam is based off of Dwayam.
Dwayam is juxtaposed between Thirumanthram and CharamaslOkam. (Dwayam

explains in detail the “namaha” and “NArAyaNAya” part of Thirumanthram. It also
creates a platform upon which CharamslOkam thrives by answering certain implied
meanings of Dwayam. Even though Thirumanthiram and CharamaslOkam have
connections with “srI”, (srI sambandham), Dwayam is the only “rahasyam“ that
has “Sri” spelt out explicitly. Thus, of all these three rahasyams, it is the Dwayam that
our ancestors have regarded as the most important and significant. As stated earlier,
the first line of Dwayam talks about a jIvAthmA that renounces all his efforts, and
recognizes and takes Bhagawan’s Lotus Feet as his last and only frontier. This is
essentially known as “saraNAgathi”. The saraNAgathi is of two types. The first type is
that doing it with an urgency like “I can no longer be in this world, not even for a split
second more. I have realized about the “Supreme You” and would like to reach You
gyAna sAram
right away without any delay”. The second type is doing it with the thought that “Oh! My
Supreme Lord! You bestow upon me mOksham whenever You deem is the right
moment”. Out of these two types of prapathi, the former is always greater than the
latter. (The former is known as “Aartha prapathi”and the latter “Druptha praparthi”) The
first pAsuram of Gyana Saram talks in detail about“Aartha prapathi”, the ‘urgent’ type.
thamizh:
“ஊன உடல் சிறை நீத்து ஒண் கமறை ககள்வனடித்
கேன் நுகரும் ஆறச மிகு சிந்றேயராய்த் – ோகன
பழுத்ோல் விழும் கனி கபால் பற்ைற்று வழும்

ீ
விழுக்காகட ோன் அருளும் வடு

ீ ”
English:
“Una udal sirai neethu oN kamalai kELvanadi
thEn nugarum Asai migu sindhaiyarAy thAnE
pazhuththAl vizhum kani pOl patratru vIzhum
gyAna sAram
vizhukAdE thAn aruLum vIdu”
Phrasal Meaning:
aasai migu sindhayaraay = When people, with a deep desire in their hearts
neethu = to get rid of
udal = the body that is
sirai = a prison
Oona = made of flesh, and
nugarum = to enjoy
adi thEn = the sweetness of the Lotus feet (literally, “thEn” is nectar and “adi” is feet)
kelvan = of the consort of
onn = the beautiful
kamalai = pirAtti who sits on the beautiful lotus,
patrartru = without any hold to other desires or ways
veezhum = perform sarangathi
kani pol = like how a fruit
pazhuthaal = which if ripens
thaane vizhum = would fall automatically,
vizhukaade thaane = that very saraNAgathi
veedu arulum = will liberate and grant mOksham.
Explanation:
This body of ours is made of flesh. It is made of impure stuff like skin, nerves,
muscles, bones, excreta, so on and so forth. It is been regarded as “PuNNAr Akkai”.
gyAna sAram
That is, if the skin is torn and even if a small amount the size of a small bee’s wing is
exposed, then various flies, insects, ants, crows, etc., would surround it to eat the flesh,
etc. (Taken from nAladiyAr’s thuravaraviyal,(regarding sainthood), first poem
namely “thUythanmai”). If the inner parts of the body are exposed, then one would not
find enough time to ward off the crows trying to eat them. Those who realize this would
develop a natural grudge on this body and would always see the soul inside the body
than the body per se. On top of it, the stay of the soul inside the body is perceived just
as a prisoner held captive in a jail. The soul, by itself, is resplendent with knowledge but
it is being clouded by a layer of ignorance when it is kept inside the body. This is similar
to how a sparkling piece of diamond is kept inside a pot that inhibits the diamond from
showing its radiance as long as it is under its wraps. The very fact that the soul is so
immersed and invisible in the body is its greatest punishment / sentence given by the
Supreme Lord. The acts of those who do not realize that it is a jail and continue to enjoy
the mundane stuff are akin to one of a mentally challenged. Those that have the
cognizance (gyAnis) will try to break these shackles of the prison and would want to
escape from it forever. They (gyAnis) know that doing saraNAgathi towards the
Supreme Lord is the only way to get out of such prison and that nothing else can
salvage them. Krishna in His Bhagavath gIthai has told that it is HE who can make a
person come out of the bonded prison. The reason a soul is being held captive in the
body is due to its karmic effects. Nothing other than saraNAgathi can nullify these
karmic effects. Krishna has told time and again that “If a person surrenders at MY feet, I
will ensure that the AthmA is freed from such a prison”.
A common man’s power is not much – he cannot even untie the locks of a
sparrow’s nest. With this being the case, can he ever untie his body from the locks of
karma, that has been cast upon him by the Supreme? A wealthy person who has been
imprisoned would want to get relieved from the jail first than enjoying the luxuries of the
outside world. Similarly, the first thing to do for the soul is to get rid of this jail
called “body”. Since the jail is such an inferior place, the only way out is saraNAgathi.
The way to do saraNAgathi is to completely surrender unto the Lotus feet of Sriman
NArAyaNan through His consort periya pirAtti as specified in dwayam. The act of giving
oneself up completely and falling under HIS feet is as sweet as having a sweet honey.
Those who got an opportunity to taste it will always think about HIM and HIS sweetness
forever. He will always want to enjoy that experience. Like how a hungry child yearns for
his / her mother’s milk, the one who does saraNAgathi (saranAgathan) would always
yearn for the sweet nectar of the Supreme Lord’s Lotus feet. When he surrenders to the
Lord, it is a complete surrender, meaning the person relinquishes all other ways that he
thought would take him to the Supreme, and all his interests in other worldly things.
gyAna sAram
Those ways and things that he liked earlier to saraNAgathi will automatically vanish into
thin air, once he sets in for surrender. This is the essence of this pAsuram.
To give an example to it, Swami aruLALa perumAL emperumAnAr says that just
like how a fully ripened fruit falls automatically from the tree thereby breaking all
the connections it had with the tree before, a saraNAgathan, when he does
saraNAgathi, is assured that all his previous practices, norms and ways go away and
bear no connection in the relationship between him and the Lord. This act of breaking
the previously established connections happen automatically when the
saraNAgathan performs total surrender. When the person does saraNAgathi and yearns
to experience and enjoy the sweet nectar of the Lord’s feet from the very next second, it
pleases the Lord immensely. He grants him his wish immediately. On the other hand,
he who do surrenders but is willing to wait for the Lord to grant mOksham as per HIS
wish, will also be liberated and assured of enjoying Lord’s sweet nectar, after his body
falls down at the time of his death.
When one realizes that this body is a prison, and yearns for the divine enjoyment
with the Lord forever, and performs saraNAgathi to HIM with the help of Periya Pirati,
after breaking the shackles that he had with the external world, when he performs such
a saraNAgathi, bhagawan would be kind to that person and give mOksham.
So, saraNAgathi done with urgency to go to mOksham would immediately give
him mOksham is the significance of this pAsuram.
Getting liberated (mOksham) is like crossing a big ocean of worldly sufferings

andreaching Bhagawan at the other side of the shore. Periyazhwar says “akkarai
ennum anatha-k kadaluL azhundhi ikkarai yEri iLaithirundhEn” – (Periyazhwar
Thirumozhi 5-3-7).
A philosophical question is raised at this instance. If it is said that Bhagawan Himself

will grant mOksham, then is it not contradictory to believe that saraNAgathi will
grant mOksham? Moreover, saraNAgathi is just an act and it does not have
consciousness by itself. If such an act has the power to grant mOksham, is it not
contradicting the obvious truth that only Bhagawan has the knowledge and the power to
grant mOksham? These are some typical questions that may arise at this point. The
answers to it are as follows. Whatever action a devotee performs, including
saraNAgathi, bhakthi, penance and the like, will only make him “qualified” to get
mOksham. It never has the ability to grant mOksham but will just make a person
eligible/ready to receive mOksham. Our scriptures term this as “adhikAri
vishEshaNam”. Only bhagavan can give mOksham after becoming compassionate
gyAna sAram
seeing this saraNAgathi. There is a beautiful illustration for this. People construct a big
lake by digging out a vast area of land and creating a very big space to hold water. The
motive behind this is that when it rains, the rain water could be accumulated in a central
reservoir. But, just because a large block of lake has been created, there is no
guarantee that it would rain. However, if one fine day, it rains, then if there is no space
to store the rain water, then all the rain will not be stored and hence the very objective of
storing rain water will be defeated. Similarly, even though a soul does saraNAgathi, that
will not grant mOksham by itself; rather it will just make him ready to receive the Lord’s
untainted compassionate love. The Lord’s compassion is independent; it does not
depend on anything to trigger it. There is no reason needed for the Lord to shower His
love on us. So, when the Lord’s compassion is all set to flow, we should be qualified
and be ready to receive it. This act of preparing oneself and be ready to be a recipient
of Lord’s mercy is known as saraNAgathi, bhakti etc. The qualification can never be a
reason. This point has been clarified by bhUdhathAzhvAr in “vanathiDarai eri Am
vaNNam iyatrum idhuvallAl mAri yAr peygirpAr? matru”. So, we do realize the truth that
only the Lord can give mOksham and that our acts can only make us qualify when the
Lord actually showers his independent and unconditional mercy. One should know that
this body that is made of flesh is a real time prison and hence should quickly develop
the desire to escape from it. He should be eager to experience the sweet nectar
emanating from the Lord’s feet. This is known as saraNAgathi that is being done when
all the connections from the earlier desires and ways have been cut off forever and
falling at the Lotus feet of the Lord, just like a fully ripened fruit is cut off from its tree and
falls on the ground.
The body is an enemy in getting mOksham. To win over this enemy, saraNAgathi is
the weapon available to us. To illustrate this point, we can look at the saraNAgathis
that Bharatha and Vibishana did under the Lotus feet of Rama. Bharatha suffered
only because of his mother, and Vibishana suffered due to his arrogant brother rAvana.
Both of them are not able to suffer anymore.
“thozhudhu uyar kaiyinan, thuvaNda mEniyan,

azhudhu azhi kaNNinan, “avalam eedhu” ena
ezhudhiya padivam oththu eidhuvAn
‘bharathanum thozhudhu thOndrinAn’ malar adi vandhu vIzhndhanan”
— (kamba rAmAyaNam, ayOdhyA kANdam, Thiruvadi choottu padalam – 49)
gyAna sAram
This is Bharatha’s saraNAgathi. This is known as “Adhikari Visheshanam” or

the “qualifications of the surrendered” upon which the Lord shows HIS unfathomable
mercy. Now let us take a look at Vibishana’s position:
“karangaL mIchchumandhu sellum kadhir maNi mudiyan, kallum

marangaLum uruga nOkkum kAdhalan, karuNai vaLLal
iranginan nOkkum thOlum, irunilathu irainjugindrAn
varangaLin vAri anna.thAL iNaivandhu vIzhndhAn”
— (Kamba rAmAyaNam, yudhdha kANdam, vIDaNan adaikala padalam – 137)
The above two are about the sufferings of the soul inside a body and its need to
quickly get out of it by falling at the Lord’s feet. Hence these two are saraNAgathis.
Whether it is Bharatha’s suffering because of his mother or VibishaNa’s suffering from
his brother, or soul’s suffering from its body, the only path to salvation is saraNAgathi to
Lord’s feet. Both Bharatha and VibishaNa have performed the first type of saraNAgathi
described above, which is to yearn for the divine experience of enjoying Bhagawan’s
Lotus feet immediately with urgency. In the same way Athma also yearns to leave this
body and performs saraNAgathi.
uNdu kol uyir?” ena odunginAn urukkaNdanan, nindranan

kaNNan kaN enum puNdarIkam pozhi punal
avan sadA maNdalam niraindhu pOi vazhindhu sOravE.
We shall now see the compassion that Rama showed on Bharatha and Vibishana.
First let us take Bharatha’s case:
“ayAvuyirthu, azhugaNIr aruvi mArbidai

uyarvura, thiruvuLam uruga, pullinAn
niyAyam aththanaikkum Or nilai Ayinan
dhayA mudhal arathinai thazhI iyadhu ennavE”
— (kamba rAmAyaNam, ayOdhyA kANdam, Thiruvadi Chootu Padalam – 55)
Now, let us see the compassion that Rama showed to Vibishana:
“guganOdum aivar AnOm munbu pin kundru sUzhvAn

maganodum aruvar AnOm, em muzhai anbu vandha
gyAna sAram
agan amar kAdhal ayya! ninnodum ezhuvar AnOm

pugal arungAnam thandhu pudhalvarAl polindhAn – nundhai”
— (kamba rAmAyaNam, yudhdha kANdam , vIDaNan adaikkala padalam – 143)
“thiruvadi mudiyin sUdi, sengadhir uchi sErndha

aruvarai enna, nindra arakar-tham arasai nOkki
iruvarum uvagai kUrndhAr, yAvarum inbam utrAr
poru arum amarar vAzhthi, pUmazhai pozhivadhAnAr”
— (kamba rAmAyaNam, Yudhdha kANdam, vIdaNan adaikkala padalam – 145)
“thEduvAr thEdanindra sEvadi, thAnum thEdi

nAduvAn andru kaNda nAnmugan kazhI iya nalnIr
AduvAr pAvam aindhum nIngi, mEl amarar AvAr
chUduvAr yeidhum thammai solvAr yAvar? sollIr”
— (kamba rAmAyaNam, yudhdha kaNdam, vIdaNan adaikkala padalam – 150)
So with a lot of angst when a soul does saraNAgathi, the Lord would show his
mercy and grant mOksham is the meaning. (“upAyam” is the way or means to attain
and “upEyam” is the object that is being attained) – Our ancestors call this “irakkam
upAyam, inimai upEyam”. That is, His compassion/mercy is the means, and what is
attained is the sweetness (of serving Him).
In Bharatha and VibIshana saraNAgathis, we do see that Vibishana saraNAgathi

was successful whereas Bharatha saraNAgathi was not. (This is a separate topic by
itself as to why Bharatha’ saraNAgathi was not successful whereas Vibishana’s was.
The bottom line here is that for Bharatha, Rama did not deem it to be the right time to
yield to his requests because He had a plan to be in exile for 14 years, protect the rishis
in the forest, meet Vibishanan and get him to HIS troop and accept him and kill Ravana
and so on. He had a detailed plan and in came Bharatha. His saraNAgathi was not
successful at that point since he had to wait for 14 years. It goes ahead to bolster the
point that it is the Lord’s independent nature and it is He who chooses when to fructify
the acts of a saranagathan. In the rain example that we saw earlier, Bharatha’s case
was like the lake was created but it was not the right time for rain”.) In
srIvachanabUshanam, swAmi piLLailOkAchAryar says “Bharathanukku nanmai
thAnE thImai Ayitru”. Hence, the acts of saraNAgathas can only be a qualifier
(adhikAri visEshaNam) and cannot be a granter of mOksham. So when this pAsuram
says that saraNAgathi would give mOksham it is explaining about how saraNAgathi
gyAna sAram
would avoid delays in giving mOksham (if the person wants it immediately), and it does
not say that saraNAgathi itself would give mOksham. It should be understood that all
these truths about saraNAgathi are being elaborated by swAmi maNavALa mAmunigaL
in his explanation of this pAsuram.
gyAna sAram
pAsuram 2 - naragum suvargamum
thamizh:
“நரகும் சுவர்க்கமும் நாண் மைராள் ககாறனப்
பிரிவும் பிரியாறமயுமாய்த் – துரிசற்றுச்
சாேகம் கபால் நாேன் ேனேருகே பார்த்ேிருத்ேல்
ககாேிைடியார் குணம் “
English:
“naragum suvargamum nAN malarAL kOnai
piruvum piryAmaiyumAy – thurisatRu
sAdhagam pOl nAdhan thanadharuLE pArthiruthal
kOdhiladiyAr guNam”
gyAna sAram
Phrasal Meaning:
Naragum – sufferings (literal meaning is ‘hell’)

suvargamum – and happiness (literal meaning is
heaven)
pirivum – (are respectively when) separated
from and
piriyAmaiyumAi – united with
nANmalarAL kOnai – the consort (husband) of srI
mahAlakshmI (nAN
malarAL – one who sits on Lotus flower and
her kOn is her ruler).
pol – like / similar to
thurisatRu – the unblemished(thurisu is

blemish/mistake and
atru is without it)
sAdhagam – “sAdhagam” bird that just looks out
for rain water
and drinks it directly when the rain pours,(If there is
no rain, it does not drink any other water and
dies off.)
gunam – the character/nature of
kodhiladiyar – unblemished devotees
paarthuiruthal – is to expect
arulE – compassion (karunai) of ONLY the
naadhan thanadhu – emperumAn.
Explanation :
Naragum Suvargamum: The phrase “naragum suvargamum” refers to pain/sadness and

happiness/pleasure. In thiruvAimozhi 3.10.7 (thunbamum inbamum) too, swAmi
nammAzhwAr says “inbamil ven naragAgi iniya nalvAn suvarkkangaLumAi”.Here the
vyAkyAnam explains narakam(hell) and suvarkkam (heaven) to mean thunbam
(sufferings), and inbam (happiness) in the context of the pAsuram.
With that being said, what constitutes happiness and sadness for those having
parabhakthi? This (and the meaning of ‘parabhakthi’) is explained as follows.It is like
hell when when such a personis separated from the Lord who is the divine consort of
the one who is seated on the lotus flower (sri mahA Lakshmi – periya pirAttiAr). When
gyAna sAram
he is not separated, then that is happiness for such a person. The very substance of
parabhakthi is that when one is not able to survive when he is away from emperumAn.
When he is in unison with the Lord, he is able to survive. There is an example given to
this condition of such a person.
In srIrAmAyaNam, when perumAL (rAma)was leaving the kingdom to go to forest,pirAtti

(wife, sIta) wanted to accompany him in the forest. He tried to convince her by
explaining about the dangers of the forest and the comforts here,and so he made his
point that the going with Him to the forest would be suffering, and staying back in the
kingdom would be pleasure/happiness. After listening to such a definition, pirAtti
corrected emperumAn. She replied “Happiness and sadness are not defined in the way
you explained. It would be different from the perspective of different people.(For me)
being with you is happiness, and being separated from you in the palace is sadness; if
devareer do not know this true definition please learn it from adiyen; it is not wrong to
learn from others about what we do not know; unlike you whose love is limited and
measured, adiyen have unlimited love for you”. After carefully listening to her retort,
Rama asked her “Ok. You said that you have got an infinite amount of love towards me.
What should I do now?” Sita was quick to add “I shall lead, and all You have got to do is
just follow me”. This is periyavAchAn piLLai’s vyAkyAnam (explanation/exposition).
There is a Vedanthic question that may be raised here. Sita said that it is happiness
when she is with Rama and it is sadness when she is not. This may be acceptable for
her situation. But can other people feel the same about the Lord, that is, can somebody
go to the Lord (only) and say “If I am being separated from You, it is hell and if I am not,
only then it is heaven? The answer is “No” because there is a difference between pirAtti
(who incarnated as Sita) and other souls like us. For us, the state of heaven and hell is
when we think we are separated from BOTH the Lord and His divine consort pirAtti
whereas for pirAtti, the separation limits only to the Lord. She is being referred
as “EkAyaNai” and we jIvAthmAs are termed as “midhunAyars”. “EkAyaNai is the one
who has only One as her sustainer, whereas “midhunAyars” have both “pirAtti and the
Lord” as their sustainer. “Mithunam” refers to perumAn and pirAtti’s togetherness,
duality.
naaN malarAL kOnai pirivum piriyAmaiyumAi: The state of mind when one is separated
from Perumal and Pirati, is being referred to as sadness; and when one is not separated
from them, then it is happiness for him.iLaiya perumAL (Lakshamana)also said, making
himself equal to sItAjust only in the context of not being able to bear the separation, that
“Just like how Sita cannot live without You, I cannot also live without You”.
gyAna sAram
This should not be understood as iLaiya perumAL (Lakshmana)is being similar to Sita
whose happiness is to be Only with Rama. It should be understood that for iLaiya
perumAL, happiness is being with the togetherness of “Rama and Sita”.That is why
when leaving for the forest, iLaiya perumAL (Lakshmana) said “I want to do all the
services to You and Sita when you both roam in the valleys of the forest, near the
mountains, when you both sleep, and when you both are awake. Please take me
with you for this reason only”. So for jIvAthmAs too it is acceptable to do service only
to bothpirAtti and emperumAn together, the divine couple.
thurisatRu:Here thurisu -mistake. atRu – not having that (mistake).
Mistake is to use bhakthi as a means of attaining him.The bhakthi here is about

suffering when separated from emperumAn and pirAtti, and being happy when being
together with them. One should consider this bhakthi as adhikAri visEshaNam – that is,
consider bhakthi as making them ready/eligible to receive and enjoy emperumAn’s
union. Like how it is important to be hungry in order to eat food, one should have
bhakthi in order to enjoy the lord. This bhakthi would not become a means/upAyam.
Only bhakthi upaskAs would consider it as a means; saraNagathas would not consider
it as a means to attain Him. To consider bhakthi as a means is a mistake/blemish in a
person. Thurisu-atRu – refers to those who are Not having the mistake of thinking of
their bhakthi as a means.
sAdhagam pOl nAdhan thanadharuLe pArthiruthal: “chAtaka” is a bird that drinks no

water other than the rain water; even if its mouth goes very dry it would keep looking for
rain water. Similarly, it is the nature of pure (blemishless) adiyArs to keep looking for His
grace/krupai as the means for attaining Him. We can see the same meanings in
thirumangai AzhvAr’s: “thuNiyEn ini ninaruL alladhu(periya thirumozhi 11-8-8)”,and in
periyAzhvAr’s chenniyOngu padhigam: “nin aruLE purindhirundhEn (periyAzhvAr
thirumozhi 5-4-1)”.
kOdhiladiyAr guNam: adiyAr (devotees) are those who do not have the blemish of
using other means and seeking other benefits. A devotee is a true servant who lives
with the thought “prApthAvum prApakanum prApthikkugapAnum avanE”(Note:
“prApthA” is the One who is to be attained (ultimate objective), “prApakan” is the
way/means to attain that ultimate destination; and this act of attaining the desired is
known as “prapAthi”. So the srI vachana bhUshaNam phrase says that such a devotee
performs with the thought that “My prApathA, prApakan both are same, that is Him, and
it is He who would be happy when He gets us”. Since the prapannan is a property (note
this english word rhymes with prapathi) of the owner (perumAL), when the Lord’s
gyAna sAram
property reaches Him eventually by way of prapathi, it is the Lord who becomes happy
and not vice-versa. As the only Owner of all souls, it is the Lord who enjoys when a
prapannan reaches Him. Seeing the happiness on the Lord’s face, a soul can feel
happy and there is nothing called a happiness of the soul for itself for us). As we reach
Him it is the truth that he is the head/owner of all ofu s. Thus, in the first half of this
pAsuram, swAmi aruLALa perumAl emperumAnAr talked that “benefit is none other
than perumAL” and in the latter half, he described that “the means is none other than
perumaLHimself”. One should realize that this is the nature/state of “kOdhiladiyAr
(devotees without blemishes)”.
gyAna sAram
pAsuram 3 – Anai idar
thamizh:
“ஆறன யிடர் கடிந்ே ஆழி அங்றக அம்புயத்ோள்

ககாறன விடில் நீரில் குேித்தேழுந்ே மீன் எனகவ
ஆக்றக முடியும்படி பிைத்ேல் அன்னவன்ோள்
நீக்க மில்ைா அன்பர் நிறை”
English:
“Anai iDar kaDindha Azhiyankai ambuyaththAL

kOnai vidil neeril kuthithezhundha meen enavE
Akkai mudiyum padi pirathal annavan thAL
nIkkamilA anbar nilai”
gyAna sAram
Phrasal Meanings:
vidil = If one gets separated from
ambuyathAL kOn-ai = the king of the one who sits on the Lotus (emperumAn, the king
of pirAtti)
Anai iDar kadindha = (who) removed the suffering of the elephant (gajendhrAhvan)
Azhiyangai (Azhi-am-kai) = (and who) holds Azhi (discus) in his beautiful (am) hand
(kai),
meen enavE = (they would), like the state of a fish
kudhithezhundha = that jumped and came out
neeril = of water
Akkai mudiyum padi pirathal = they would reach the state of destruction of the body
(die);
nilai = such is the state of
Anbar – the bhakthas
nIkkamilA = who never want to get separated
annavan thAL – from Sriman NArAyanAn’s lotus feet
Preface:
In the last pAsuram, swAmi aruLALa perumAL emperumAnAr talked about a state of
bhakthi known as “para bhakthi”, where one suffers much when he gets the thought that
he is separated from Sriman NArAyanAn, and he is at home when he is in unison with
Him. In this pAsuram, swAmi talks about “parama bhakthi” that is an even advanced
stage. In this case when one is separated from Sriman NArAyanAn, then it is now not a
question of suffering; the person would reach the stage of dying soon. SwAmi explains
this with an example in this pAsuram.
Explanation:
The story of gajEndrAzhvAn is mentioned quite often in puraNAs and AzhvArs’

pAsurams. GajEndrA the elephant wished to place lotus flowers at the feet of
emperumAn, retrieved them from a pond and got to the shore. A crocodile which was
gyAna sAram
looking for an elephant that would get rid of a sin that had been cast upon it, caught
hold of gajEndhrAzhvAN’s leg. Gajendra pulled its leg towards the land and the
crocodile pulled it towards the water. This continued for 1000 deva years (360,000
human years). Crocodile grew stronger and stronger since it was his home turf and
because it was going to get its wishes satisfied; the elephant grew weaker and weaker
because it was not his home turf and since it was not getting his wishes satisfied.
GajendrazhvAn was losing all his hope as only his trunk was above the water then. He
quickly realized that there cannot be more danger than this and he thought “One whose
nature it is to remove the obstacles of devotees is our protector” and so
cried “nArAyaNA!!! O!!! maNivaNNa!!! nAgaNaiyAi !!! vArAi en AriDarai nIkkAi” (phrase
from thirumangai AzhVar’s siriya thirumadal). Lord nArAyaNan rushed immediately and
removed the sadness of gajEndrA. gajEndra did not fear for his body getting destroyed
in the crocodile’s mouth, his fear was about keeping the beautiful lotus flower intact
when he presented it to emprumAn’s thiruvadi. It was this fear of the devout gajEndra
that nArAyaNA got rid of by showing up quickly. This is mentioned in the pAsuram in
‘yAnai iDar kaDindha’.
Aazhi am kai: ‘The beautiful hand holding the holy discus (chakra)’ is the meaning of
this phrase. When going to save gajEndhrAvan to kill his enemy the crocodile,
emperumAn held the holy discus in his beautiful hand at that time – is the meaning
expressed in this phrase.
Swami nammAzhvAr, in his Thiruvaimozhi 3,1,9, says:
“mazhungAdha vainnudhiya chakkara nal valathaiyAy-th
thozhum kAdhal kaLiraLippAn puL Urndhu thOndrinaiyE”
It is clear that perumAL rushed with the discus to save the elephant. SwAmi parAsara
bhattar salutes to His speed. PerumAL took off from His celestial abode and He did not
even pay attention to the fact that He always holds His discus in His right hand. Had He
remembered it, He would have cast it right from where He was and the discus would
have done its work. Or, even if He had known that He holds the discus in His hands
forever, He chose to rush to the elephant and used the discus, is another meaning. The
reason is, as we saw in nammAzhvAr’s pAsuram, gajEndrA is being celebrated
as “kAdhal kaLiru” because of his untainted love for perumAL. GajEndrA wanted to
enjoy the beauty of emperumAn with the discus in His beautiful hand; he wished to offer
the flowers to bhagavAn’s thiruvadi. So, perumAL, instead of doing the work from His
place, went to the lotus pond. The inner meaning of this is that perumAL is ready to give
Himself the way His devotees wish to see Him. SwAmi pEyAzhvAr, in 99th pAsuram of
gyAna sAram
his mUndrAm thiruvandhAdhi, also sang about it – “kuttaththu kOL mudhalai thunja
kuriththerindha chakkaraththAn”.
ambuyaththAL kOnai: It refers to emperumAn who is the hero of periya pirAttiar who
was born on a Lotus flower. PurANa says that when emperumAn was lying down on
Adhi sEshan in thiru pArkadal (milky ocean), with bhUdevi and nILAdevi massaging His
divine feet, and Him hugging srIdevi thAyAr in His divine chest, He heard the call of
gajEndra. PerumAL then took His feet very gently from the thAyars doing service, He
sat up on His divine serpent bed, opened the petals of His divine eyes, looked
everywhere around Him, and tactfully moved his chest from srIdEvi whom he was
hugging. Only after that, to everyone’s awe, did He immediately spring upon His divine
carrier garuDa and rushed to gajEndra and saved him from his sorrow. Like how a
mother would be happy if a king protects the people well, it is periyA pirAtti who would
be happy to see emperumAn save the bhakthas from their sorrows. This is why
PerumAL is being referenced with respect to pirAtti and described as “ambuyathAL
kOn” in this pAsuram. So, this pAsuram says that ‘emperumAn would go to the place of
a devotee who has surrendered to Him, for saving the devotee’, that He would not think
that He did it for such devotees and instead would think that He did it to satisfy Himself,
and, such a perumAn is the husband of periya pirAttiAr.
vidil: If a person happens to be separated from such a loving emperumAn,
neeril kuthithezhundha meen enavE: It would be like a fish that jumped and came out of
the water;
Akkai mudiyumpadi pirathal: such a devotee would reach the stage of having this body
destroyed (die). Happy when in union with, sorrow when separated from emperumAn is
the state of those having ‘parabhakthi’. The state of ‘parama bhakthi’ is even higher –
that is if separated from emperumAn they would reach the stage of dying. That is the
greatness of such a bhakthi as quoted in this pAsuram. It is explained with the example
of the state of a fish that gets separated from the water.
annavan: means ‘that perumAN’ (in general it means ‘that person’ referring to someone
mentioned earlier). Earlier the pAsuram said ‘ambuyaththAL kOn’ (pirAttiar’s king). Here
it says,‘that perumAn’. Or, it can refer to the perumAn who is the life line of such a
devotee like how water is the life line of a fish.
thAL nIkkamilA anbar nilai: “thAL” is the Lotus feet and “nIkkamilA” is ‘without
separation’. Love that does not tolerate separation from His lotus feet; Devotees who
are so attached to Him that if they get separated from Him, then they are not able to live
gyAna sAram
any more just like a fish could not live without water. This pAsuram explains that it is the
state of parama bhakthi.
gyAna sAram
pAsuram 4 – matRondRai eNNAdhE
thamizh:
“மற்தைான்றை எண்ணாகே மாேவனுக்கு ஆட்தசயகை

உற்ைது இது என்று உேம் தேேிந்து – தபற்ை
தபரும் கபற்ைின் கமலுேகோ கபர் என்று இருப்பார்
அரும் கபறு வானத்ேவர்க்கு”
English:
“matRondRai eNNAdhE mAdhavanukku AtcheyalE
utradhu idhuvendru uLam theLindhu – petra
perum pEtRin mEluLadhO pEru endru iruppAr
gyAna sAram
arum pEru vAnaththavarkku”
Phrasal Meaning:
eNNAdhe – (One who)does not pay attention

to / does not consider
matrondrai – benefits like wealth, etc., (and such
earthly desires)
(matRu – other(s) and ondru = one(s))
endruuLamtheLindhu – and gets clear thought
endruiruppaar – and lives with the determined mind
that
AtcheyalE – to serve
mAdhavanukku – mAdhavan (implies pirAtti)
idhuutradhu – is the apt thing (utradhu)
perumEluladho – and that there is no better benefit
than
petraperumpetrin – having gotten that great benefit (of
serving Him)
arumperu – (such people would be considered
as) the most
precious and rareadiyAr
vAnaththavarkku – by the nithyasUris.
Preface:
Short meanings of the earlier three pAsurams: In the first pAsuram (Unaudal), the
significance of saraNAgathi that is referred in the first line of dwayamahAmanthram,
was explained. The reason one performssaraNAgathi is because of his incessant
sufferings from the wrath of this worldly ties. That the state of such suffering would arise
based on parabhakthi is explained in the 2 ndpAsuram (naragumsuvarkkamum). The third
pAsuram explained about the state of “paramabhakthi”,which is the state of losing one’s
life if separated from emperumAn (AnaiiDarkaDindha). (gajEndra). Now, in this fourth
pAsuram, swAmiaruLALaperumALemperumAnAr expounds on the greatness of
thosewho have understood the greatness of ultimate goal that is service (to Him, PirAtti,
and Their Devotees) as specified insecond line of dwayamahAmanthram, and sowho
completely shred off their ties with the ways of other benefits, and who have firmly
decided to involve themselves in the kainkaryams that are according to the subservient
nature of the soul.
gyAna sAram
Explanation:
matrondraieNNAdhE: That is, kainkaryam is doing things that brings happiness to

perumAL’s heart. This is one’s ultimate objective. There is nothing greater than this. Not
paying any attention toother things that are other than such a kainkaryamis the meaning
of this phrase. Those other things are: indulgence in these worldly things, heaven and
such similar things out there, kaivalyam that is enjoying just the jIvAthmA are the three
that are not related to doing kainkaryam. The nature of AthmA is when not in this body
would bein the state of bliss. Some say that this is mOksham. But since it would not
help in doing bhagavath (and bhAgavatha) kainkaryams, it is referred by
swAmiaruLALaperumALemperumAnAr as ‘matrondru’ (other things). SwAmi did not
want to even utter the names of all these obstacles for kainkaryam and so he dismissed
these by saying “matru”. On top of it, he does not use the term “virumbAdhE” (without
having a desire for other things), but he uses the word “eNNadhE” (without
(even)thinking about those other things).This is because such a person would not even
think about those other things let alone not desire them. So since the person does not
consider it as worthy, he does not even think about it. Those who do not know the
sweetness of doing service to perumAL and His devotees (bhagavath /
bhAgavathakainkaryam) are those who are always immersed in the other
aforementioned benefits and happiness. People who know the true value of kainkaryam
will treat all the other stuff as if drinking the salt water and treat it very much inferior, if
not as a non-existent entity in their lives.
mADhavanukkuATcheyalE: Serving them both is what one has to attain as the top
level of their goal. (Serving including pirAttiis conveyed by this name “mAdhavan”). This
is being referred in ‘srImathE’ that is the first word of the second line of
DwayaMahamanthram.In Thirumanthram(OmnamOnArAyaNAya), in the third
part “NArAyanAaya”, it is implicit that the kainkaryam that one does is for both perumAL
and pirAtti. What was said implicitly in thirumanthram, is explained well inDwayam. This
fact is being spelled by swAmipiLLailOkAchAryar in his
mumukshupadi“InguthirumanthrathilsonnaprApyathaivisathamAgaanusandhikiradhu
(mumukshupadi, dwayaprakaraNam, chUrnikai 168)”. Thus, in both thirumanthram and
dvayamahAmanthram, the key point is that kainkaryam is the only objective for any
jIvAthmA. Swami nammAzhvArtoo said “ozhivilkAlamellAmuDanAimanni” in his
thiruvAimozhi (3,3,1).
utradhuidhuvendru: This phrase means “That this is what is the ultimate

destination/goal”.azhvArhimself said “neeLkudakkUthanukkuATcheyvadhE”. “utradhu” is
about what is the most appropriate (for a jIvAthma). That means other things are not
gyAna sAram
appropriate for the definition of sEshathvam of a jIvAthma. So they were concluded as

not fit for the Athma. So, through the words ‘mAdhavanukku’ and ‘ATcheyalE’ we
understand the meaning as concluded by vEdhantha that AthmA is subservient to both
pirAtti and perumAn, and doing kainkaryams to the divine couple is the ultimate
objective and benefit. Swami periyAzhvAr
sings“thirumAlEnAnumunakkupazhavadiyEn” (Thirupallandu,11) saying that this
jIvAthmA is a servant to both pirAtti and perumAL. Thus, a jIvAthmA is a servant to both
pirAtti and perumAL as evinced by “adimaiseyvArthirumalukkE” and “sendrAlkudaiyAm,
irundhAlsingAsanamAm, nindrAlmaravadiyAm, neeLkadaluL,endrumpuNaiyAm,
maNiviLakkAm, pUmpattAmpulgumaNaiyAm”.By this since it talked about AthmA’s
definition/nature and the related kainkaryam, it talked about AthmA’s greatness (of
being able to serve).
uLamtheLindhu: “theLindhu” is to get rid of any doubts and be clear about something.
Here, Swami says that one should be clear that the ultimate destination iskainkaryam as
shown above. (One should) remove the thoughts of (doing kainkaryams for) “me” and
“for myself” (yaan,enadhu) which would lead to wishing for other unwanted things.
Kainkaryams should be done for His happiness. Swami nammAzhvAr
says “thanakkEAga enaikkoLLumeedhE” in his thiruvAimozhi and
AndALsays “unakkEnAmATcheyvOm”. Thus kainkaryam is to be done with the clarity in
mind that only that (kainkaryam) is the ultimate destination. With this it refers
to“namaha” in the second part of dwayamahAmanthram
(srImathEnArAyaNAyanamaha) to mean that this jIvAthmA will do eternal service for the
DIVINE couple’s enjoyment only, and not for the jIvAthmA’s personal satisfaction. When
the DIVINE couple becomes happy, seeing the happiness on THEIR face, a
jIvAthmAwould derive happiness.
petraperumpEtrinmEluLadhOpERendruiruppAr: It is about those people who if they get

the opportunity to do kainkaryams, then they would understand that there cannot be
anything greater than this ultimate opportunity of doing kainkaryams. Paramapadham is
an eternal place, never changes, and is of pure sathvaguNam, the celestial abode of
srimannArAyaNA. It is the source of knowledge and happiness. Hence, one can do
kainkaryam here without any interruptions. So such gyAnis wish for this kind of
uninterrupted kainkaryam. So it is no wonder they say that there is nothing greater than
this kainkaryam. It implies that they are steadfast in getting such a great level of
kainkaryam.
arumpEruvAnaththavarkku: The aforementioned group of people are by nature those

that consider themselves as servants of emperumAn. They are always deeply involved
gyAna sAram
in bhagavath kainkaryams. They consider bhagavAn as the ultimate happiness. Such

people are rare to find in this world. When they go to Paramapadham, the nithyasUris
and others there would celebrate these people as a rare find. Swami
aruLALaperumALemperumAnAr says that even to those nithyasUris, who enjoy the
ArAvamudhan forever, the enjoyment of such a group of adiyArs is considered a hard-
earned kainkaryam compared even to the serviceof emperumAn.
gyAna sAram
pAsuram 5 - thIrtha
muyandRAduvadhum
thamizh:
“ேீர்த்ே முயன்ைாடுவதும் தசய்ேவங்கள் தசய்வனவும்

பார்த்ேறன முன் காத்ே பிரான் பார்ப்பேன் முன் – சீர்த்துவறர
மன்னன் அடிகயா தமன்னும் வாழ்வு நமக்கீ ந்ேேற்பின்
என்ன குறை கவண்டு மினி”
English:
“thIrtha muyandRAduvadhum seithavangaL seivanavum
pArththanai mun kAththa pirAn pArppadhan mun – sIrthuvarai
mannan adiyO mennum vAzhvu namkIndhadharpin
enna kuRai vENdu mini”
gyAna sAram
Preface:
The important message in first line of dwayamahAmanthram is to surrender to

bhagawAn’sholy feet. This is known as “sidhdhOpAyavaraNam”.
“siddhOpAyam” means the upAyam (perumAn) that is always in a ready state. Since
bhagawAn is always ready (to accept our saraNAgathi), He is understood
as “siddhOpAyam”. When we do saraNAgathi saying “You are the means/upAyam” to
such a sidhOpAyam (perumaL), we should not be attached to any other
means/upAyam. Only after completely discarding anything else as upAyam, should we
surrendertoperumAL’s feet. So it is required that one who surrenders to Him as upAyam
should discard other things as upAyam. So discarding other upAyams(means) is
considered as a part of doing saraNagathi. These are clearly specified in
gIthacharamaslOkam.When one deeply understands charamaslOkam and surrenders
to His lotus feet, he or she would not have interest in taking to other
upAyam/means. They would act according to their sEshathvam (sub-servience to
perumAL), and so would rest all their deeds on His shoulders and would be at peace
with everything.It would bring extreme peace to the mind of such a person who
thinks: “for all our well-being it is emperumAn who is responsible, we don’t have
anything to do with it”. Swami aruLALaperumALemperumAnAr says that he is also one
such person and in this pAsuramhe shares the state of mind of such a person, including
himself.
Phrasal Meaning:
thIrthammuyandruaaduvadhum – (we were doing these before): Take big efforts

to bathe in rivers like Ganga, cauvery, etc., to cleanse ourselves from sins,
seithavangal – penances that are done with a lot of strain on

one’s
body,
seyvanavum – do other good deeds (for getting good karma),
paarpadhanmun – (the above were) before the Lord’s grace was

understood by us (before He saw us),
pArthanaimunkaathapiraan – (that is, before) lord Krishna protected Arjuna

in kurukshEthra war by giving him and us, the bhagavadgItha.
gyAna sAram
sIrthuvaraimannan – (After) the ruler of the great Dwaraka, The

Supreme Lord Krishna
namakku – has given to the devotees like us
adiyomennumvaazhvu – the most prized title of “eternal servants to the

Lord”,
eendhadharpin – after He has given such a life,
ennakuraivendumini – why would there be any worries after that about

ways
to reach Him (upAyam), and about the kainkaryam
(benefit/upEyam)? (we don’t have to worry about
anything is the meaning)
Explanation:
thIrtha(m)muyandRAduvadhum: People make efforts to go and take full-fledged dip in

the holy waters of rivers such as Ganga, Yamuna, Saraswathi, Cauvery etc., in order to
get cleansed of their sins.
seithavangaLseyvanavum: People undergo a lot of strain in their body by doing tough

penances.“oonvAdauNNAdhuporuppidaiyEnindrumpunalkuLithumaindhuneruppidaiyEni
ndrumvIzhkaniyumoozhilaiyumennumivaiyEnugarndhuudalamthAnvarundhi” are some
of the phrases that azhvars use to describe the high level of strain that people undergo
in some penances inorder to get rid of their sins. Since Swami
aruLALaperumALemperumANAr has said “thavangal” in plural, it includes charity,
yAgam and other activities that are deemed good as well (which are done as a
means/upAyam).
pArththanaimunkAththapirAnpArppadhanmun: Lord Krishna did advise Arjuna about

other ways of reaching HIM including karma yOgam, gyAnayOgam, bhakti yOgam and
the like. After listening to them Arjuna realized that there is a significant effort that a
person needs to put in forfollowing those other means of reaching Him, and that it is
against the nature or eligibility of a sEshan (servant/subservient) to use other means to
reach Him. Seeing Arjuna in such a confused and sad state, Lord Krishna
replied “Arjuna! You do not have to do any upAyams such as karma yOgam,
gyAnayOgam, or bhakti yOgam that I described earlier. Forget about all those
completely without any trace. I am an ocean full of virtuous qualities, and at the same
time I am easily accessible to those who believe Me and only Me. I would not punish My
gyAna sAram
devotees for their sins. I shall gladly forget those. I am the Intellect and also valorous.
Hence, please take refuge under Mewho hasall these divine qualities. While doing so,
please think: “kaNNan would not expect anything from us; we do not Have to give
anything to Him” and surrender to me by considering me as complete in all divine
qualities. If you can do this, I, who is the source of qualities such as strength, power,
valour as well as ease of accessibility, simplicity etc., will think about your ignorance,
lack of strength, lack of power to get things accomplished, so on and so forth. I will also
think about your helpless state upon which you have surrendered everything toMe. In
this hapless situation of yours, I will never leave you and will always be by your side to
protect you at all times. Inorder for you to surrender to me, there may be many sins that
may obstruct the way to reach Me. I will make sure that all those sins are removed, and
thus the path to surrender is very clear for you. So, you do Not worry.” Thus, by His
words, Krishna removed the confusion and sorrow that engulfed Arjuna’s mind. Swami
aruLALaperumALemperumAnAr says “pArppadhanmun” (before He saw us) to refer to
the time before such a Supreme God Krishna sees and utters that statement (that he
told Arjuna) to us (and to imply that it is before our hearts understood its meaning).
seerthuvaraimannan: Azhwars
say“padhinArAmAyiravardevimArpaNiseyyathuvaraiennumadhilnAyagarAgiveetRirundh
amaNavALar”.Krishna was not only the King of Dwaraka, but also the King of wives who
did not want anything apart from Krishna.
adiyOmennumvAzvhu: A jIvAthmA should realize that he is an eternal servant to his

master. After realizing this, he should relinquish all those other ways of saving himself
and be assured that perumAL is the only ONE who can save him after all. When a
jIvAthmA get this knowledge, only then he would possess real wealth. When PerumAL
had given a jIavAthma this sort of wealth, then there is no reason for jIvAthmato worry.
A jIvAthmA is characterized by a lot of qualities like happiness personified, knowledge
personified, sEshathvam(servant) personified etc. Out of all these, he should realize
that being a servant to his Master is the most important and significant character
(identifying factor) for which he should be proud of. When he realizes that he is an
eternal servant to his Lord Krishna, then he does not take any step to protect himself,
nor does he do anything for his own personal satisfaction. When these kinds of
realizations happen for a jIvAthmA, only then he is said to be “living” (vAzhvu).
namakkueendhadharpin: The character of being a servant to the Master is not

something that is created new. All the 9 different relationships between jIvAthmA and
paramAthmAare there forever. The phrase of the pAsuram refers to the time when a
jIvAthmA acknowledges and accepts it (he had lost and forgotten about this
gyAna sAram
relationship). It is understood that the reason for this knowledge to be born again is
completely due to perumAL’s causeless grace. So, in essence, Perumal has chosen a
time to bestow the knowledge that “a jIvAthma is always a servant to Him”.
ennakuraivENdumini: When He Himself has granted such a knowledge, then why

should one worry anymore about other means/upAyams? Since perumAL has said to
Arjuna“maasuchaha”,we too don’t have to be worried about anything, and so do live in
peace without any worries about having to do any efforts or taking any responsibilities
(for reaching Him).
gyAna sAram
pAsuram 6 - pundarIgai kElvan
thamizh:
“புண்டரிறக ககள்வன் அடியார் அப்பூமிறசகயான்

அண்டதமாரு தபாருோ ஆேரியார் – மண்டி
மைங்க ஒரு மீ ன் புரண்ட மாத்ேிரத்ோல் ஆர்த்துக்
கைங்கிடுகமா முந்நீர்க்கடல்? “
English:
“pundarIgai kElvan adiyAr apUmisaiyOn

andam oru porulA AdhariyAr – mandi
malanga oru mIn puranda mAthirathAl Arthu
kalangiduO munIr kadal”
Verbatim Meanings:
adiyAr – devotees of
pundarIgai – pirAtti, the one born in a Lotus
flower and
gyAna sAram
kElvan – Sriyapathi/PerumAL,the
bridegroom of Pirati
AdhariyAr – will not accept or pay heed to
Andam – the entire universe including the 14

worlds
apUmisayOn – created by Brahma, who was born

from the
navel of Sriman Narayana,
oru poruLA – as worthy.
oru mIn – (just like the action of) a fish
mandi – with all its strength
puranda mAthirathAl – shaking and swaying left and right

(will not)
malanga – transform,
Arthu – destroy,
kalangidumO – or shake
munnIr kadal – the ocean with three types of water
(a) AatRu nIr – from rivers
(b) UtRu nIr – Underground water and
(c) vEtRu nIr – Rain water,
Preface :
There are several ways to reach PerumAL. Some of them include Karma yOgam, bhakti
yOgam and gyana yOgam etc. These are not practical and extremely difficult paths.
More importantly, they are in stark contrast to jIvAthma’s basic nature of being a servant
to his Master. Since there are a lot of pain points in these methods, they are to be
discarded by all means. These pain points and flaws will never take a jIvAthma unto his
gyAna sAram
paramAthmA and thus taking refuge under the Lotus Feet of the Lord is not only the
only way available to him but also the end destination. But this jIvAthma, who has been
under the clutches of the five senses for innumerable eons together, and who has
realized and performed saranAgathi, will he be seduced by worldly wealth that has been
condemned by our scriptures?. Will those wealth not entice him? If these are the
questions raised by a person, then the answer lies in this pAsuram. The key message
is that those who have done kainkaryam to perumAL and know the value of it, will
dismiss all other wealth even if that wealth included the likes of the highest possible
wealth that is available in universe – BrahmalOkam. The BrahmalOkam will be totally
insignificant to them is what Swami AruLaLa PerumAL emperumAnAr conveys here. A
case in point is the story of sarabangha muni in srirAmAyanam.
Lord rAmA went to the hermitage of sarabangha muni in the dhAndaka forest. indirA
was talking with sarabanga muni then. After indirA took leave, Lord rAmA was about to
enter the hermitage along with his brother lakshmanA. Even before Lord rAmA could
enter, sarabangha muni expected HIS arrival through his divine powers. Then,
sarabangha muni actually saw Lord rAmA infront of him and was on cloud nine and
said “indhiran arulinAn irudhi sei pagala vandhanan, maruvudhi malar ayan ulagam
thandhanan”, en, uravoy! andhamil uyarpadham adaidhalai muyalven”. The meaning of
this is that sarabangha said “Oh! My Dear rAmA with beautiful eyes!!! BrahmA had sent
IndirA to get me there and enjoy the benefits of BrahmalOkam. I said I would not
come”. Muni continues “nI ivan varudhi” enum ninaivu udaiyEn, ini oru vinai ilai,
viralOy. sarabangha says “ I have been waiting and has been expecting for the arrival of
Lord rAmA in his hermitage for a long time. I am yearning for this wealth – Lord rAmA’s
arrival and to bless my hermitage with YOUR divine feet. With such a wealth in mind,
will any other worldy pleasures such as being a king of all worlds or for that matter even
BrahmalOkam, can that distract me and take me away from my destination that is You
my dear rAmA?. I told IndirA, No. I do not want any of those so-called benefits or
enjoyments. I am in for the greatest of all wealth that is nothing but being a servant to
the Supreme Lord rAmA”. Thus for a saranAgathan (one who does saranAgathi)
nothing can affect his sternness in reaching PerumAL is the crux of this pAsuram.
Explanation:
Swami nammAzhwAr says ““pandai nAlalE nindriruvarulum pankayathAL thiruvarulum

kondu”(ThiruvAimozhi 9,2,1). AzhwAr, as jIvAthma’s representative, had accrued a lot
of sins before getting blessed by the causeless cause PerumAL along with HIS consort
PirAti. After being blessed, all his sins had been burnt like cotton in a fire, AzhwAr
began to sing “yAne ennai ariyagilAdhE, yAnE endhenadhE endrirundhEn, yAne nI en
gyAna sAram
udaimayum nIye”. Loosely translated it means that AzhwAr was oblivious for his own
self, the true nature of jIvAthma, he was always behind the two “I” and “Mine”. This is all
mattered to AzhwAr the most before the DIVINE couple blessed AzhwAr. But after
being blessed, AzhwAr was able to realize his true self and acknowledged the fact that
he and his so called possessions if any are not for himself but only for the DIVINE
couple. Thus, saranAgathas like AzhwArs will value the wealth that they have got which
is nothing but the wealth of doing kainkaryam. They will value this immensely more than
anything else in this world and will be proud to be a sevant and do kainkaryam with
extreme happiness, not for a moment, but forever. They will be immersed in this
enjoyment only and will not come out of it at any cost.
apUmisaiyOn andam oru porulA AdhariyAr: We need to understand what kind of wealth
are these saranAgathas dismissing as non-entity or non-existent. In order to
understand, let us think of the maximum desire for a person in this world. Let us for a
moment be creative and say Rs. 10000 Trillion. Add on top of this other luxuries like
house, other properties and whatever we are able to think. These pool of luxuries that
we can think of let say it can yield us 1 unit of happiness. The happiness that devas get
is 1000 times bigger than that of humans. Similarly, this scale of 1:1,000 grows
exponentially as devAs are compared with superior demi-gods like Rudran etc. At the
pinnacle of all these happiness rests the BrahmalOkam that is like 1 million unit of
happiness. If someone takes this and offers it to a saranAgathan, like in the case of
sarabangha muni, he will dismiss it as insignificant because what he is going to get is
not measurable in the first place. All these pleasures can be measured. But doing
kainkaryam to PerumAL, PirAti and THEIR devotees, can there be a measure. In
addition to that, the other pleasures are constrained by time, whereas the wealth of
kainkaryam is forever. The concept of time does not exist in Srivaikuntam.
The vast majority of people today are of the opinion that there is no difference between
body and soul. They regard their body as everything and do things based on what they
think is right. If they dont even realize the difference between body and soul, they can’t
even elevate to a higher platform whereby they are able to accept that they are servants
to the Supreme. They think that on just the two basic dimensions “I” and “Mine” and
think they are independent and control their actions. To fools like these people, these
aforementioned wealth would definitely entice and will be their ultimate goal in life since
they do not know to value the ultimate gift of being a servant to the Master.
saranAgathas, who realize the true nature of soul, will have a condescend these wealth
and would look at these with hatred. They will never ever get enticed by it. To illustrate
this point, Swami AruLaLa perumAL EmperumAnAr gives an analogy. A fish that lives in
gyAna sAram
a mighty ocean, how much ever it sways left and right with all its might cannot distort or
transform a sea. The ocean will continue to remain as ocean no matter how much great
the efforts of that tiny little fish is. The efforts of the fish is like the wealth of BrahmalOka
and sea is the ultimate wealth of being a servant and doing kainkaryam to PerumAL,
PirAti and THEIR adiyArs.
gyAna sAram
pAsuram 7 - thOLAr sudarth
thamizh:
“கோோர் சுடர்த் ேிகிரி சங்குறடய சுந்ேரனுக்கு

ஆோனார் மற்தைான்ைில் அன்பு தசய்யார் – மீ ோப்
தபாருவரிய விண்ணாட்டில் கபாகம் நுகர்வார்க்கு
நரகன்கைா இந்ேிரன் ேன் நாடு?”
English:
“thOLAr sudarth thigiri sangkudaiya sundharanukku

ALAnAr maRRonRil anbu seyyAr – mILAp
poruvariya viNNAttil bOgam nugarvArkku
naraganRO indhiran than nAdu?”
gyAna sAram
Verbatim Meanings:
ALAnAr – those who have become servants

to
thOLAr – the one with powerful shoulders

that have
sudarththigiri – the resplendent discus
sangkudaiya sundharanukku – and the very beautiful conch
maRRonRil – are not interested
anbu seyyAr – or have any attachment towards

anything
apart from perumAL
viNNAttil – (will be happy only) in Srivaikuntam
mILAp – which is a place of no return
poruvariya – and is the one and only place
bOgam – where there is utmost happiness
nugarvArkku – for experiencing, (such that)
indhiran than nAdu – Heaven, Indira’s land
naraganRO – will be hell
Preface:
In the last pAsuram, swAmi AruLaLa PerumAL EmperumAnAr discussed about the
state of those people who knew the essence of being a slave to his master. They will
never resort to worldly wealth, even if it was to include the highest of worldly wealth
namely the worlds of BrahmA. In this pAsuram, swAmi goes ahead and says that those
who are deeply immersed in PerumAL’s beauty, they will not even see other things that
are claimed to be beautiful or object of enjoyment. This forms the crux of this pAsuram.
gyAna sAram
Explanation:
thOLAr sudarth thigiri sangkudaiya sundharanukku: PerumAL holds HIS divine discus
in HIS right hand and the divine conch in HIS left hand. perumAL, when seen with these
two, appear more beautiful than when HE is not holding them. These two can be
thought of as weapons that instill fear in the minds of the enemies and annihilate them.
However, for HIS devotees they do appear more as objects of decoration. So He is
being described as “azhagan”. swAmi bhUdathAzhwAr in his irandAm thiruvandAdhi
says “manaipAr pirandhAr pirandheydhum perinbamellAm thurandhAr thozhudhArath
thol”. This means that those who see perumAL’s shoulders and get lost in its beauty,
they will relinquish whatever objects of enjoyment and happiness that they had adhered
to hitherto. In srirAmAyanam, those who saw the shoulders of Lord rAmA did not want
to see any other thing. kambanAtAzhwAr in his kambarAmAyanam exclaims “thOl
kandAr thOlE kandAr”. In the same kambarAmAyanam, kambar describes Lord rAmA
through vishwAmitrA’s words “Adavar penmayayi avavum thOlinAi”. This says that
those men who had seen the shoulders of Lord rAmA would be yearning and wish to
have been born as a female. Swami nammAzhwAr said “thOlumor nAngudai
kAlamegathai andri matrondru ilam” to say that there is nothing more than the
kAalamegha perumAL at ThirumOghUr who gives darshan with HIS beautiful shoulders.
We should take “hArathi” for perumAL who is just stunningly beautiful with the discus
and conch. People who have seen this beautiful form of PerumAL, will never ever get
resort to any other things/persons/objects that were celebrated as beautiful earlier.
perumAL’s shoulders’ beauty alone shall cut asunder all their high esteem that these
people had on worldly beauties and enjoyments. AzhwAr said “aniyAr Azhiyum
sangamum yEndhum avar kAnmin”. When perumAL holds both such wonderful discus
and conch over HIS shoulders, HIS beauty gets doubled automatically. Such was the
shoulder’s beauty. periyAzhwAr was describing perumAL’s beauty one by one. Firstly,
he sang glories to perumAL, then went on to sing glories to perumAL and pirAti who
lives in HIS divine chest. After this, he sang about the beauty of the divine couple when
perumAL holds HIS discuss. All these have been described by periyAzhwAr in the first
three lines of second pAsuram in Thirupallandu. These first three lines, have been sung
in direct speech, meaning periyAzhwAr is facing perumAL and says “Long live, You,
Long live You and Your consort pirAti, Long live You and the resplendent discus that
You hold on Your right hand”. At this point, the conch entered the scene and perumAL
showed his form with pirAti in His chest, discuss in HIS right hand and conch in HIS left
hand. He was at his very best and strikingly beautiful. periyAzhwAr could not take any
more of HIS beauty that he literally began to turn his face away from perumAL who was
standing right in front of him. Since he turned away, he now started to sing “appAnja
gyAna sAram
sanniyamum pallandE” or “let that conch that blows the divine sound during times of
war, also live long”. He did not say it in direct speech facing perumAL and which is why
he said “let that conch also live long”. He just could not face and see the extreme
beauty of perumAL when HE appears with the conch on HIS left shoulders. Such is the
beauty of perumAL. Can anyone who has seen this resort to wordily pleasures?
AlanAr: This refers to the group of people who were bowled over just by HIS beauty
alone. There are two way perumAL attracts us. The first type is when He manifests
HIMSELF as the sustainer, a leader and shows HIS heroic qualities and makes sure
that we, jIvAthmas, are under HIS Lotus Feet. In addition to this HE shows his
unparalleled superior characters starting with HIS beauty, ease of accesibility, ability to
mix freely without any inhibitions of caste, creed, color and species. In the previous
pAsuram, “pundarIgai kElvan adiyAr” refers to the first type, where HE is described as
the ONE who is the consort of pirAti. “sundaranuku AlanAr” is used in this pAsuram to
refer to the second type whereby perumAL make us crave for HIM with his qualities
starting from HIS outstanding beauty that is one of the easiest quality to see and
appreciate even for jIvAthmas like us. perumAL uses these two methods to make
jIvAthma realize that he is a servant to HIM, be it for the beauty or any of HIS other
qualities. Swami aruLaLa perumAL emperumAnAr describes and praises those
devotees that are completely awestuck by HIS beauty that they hand it in writing that
“perumAL is my eternal master forever”.
Matrondril anbu seyyAr: People who have realized the true nature of the soul and the
divine qualities of perumAL will never develop any sort of attachment to worldily stuffs.
Srivaikuntam is a place that is made of sutha sathvam (heights of purity) qualities. It is
being referred to as“aprAkrutham” or “without the bounds of nature”. On the contrary the
universe in which we live is termed as “prAkrutham” or “within the bounds of nature”. All
objects in this universe are constrained by space and time and so are subjected to
transformation from one form to other at some point of time. But in Srivaikuntam, it is
not so as time does not exist there. On top of it, objects / persons over there attract our
mind easily. Hence, those people, who can analyze the differences between the inferior
nature of objects in this universe and the superior and the most ultimate nature of those
in Srivakuntam, accept the fact that nothing in this universe can bowl over them, after
knowing Srivaikuntam. Can they ever desire of worldy pleasures anymore? Certainly
not and the reason is that these worldly stuff and their so called pleasures appears good
only from outside while it is not. As they say beauty is skin deep, passage of time
deteriorates anything in this world, whereas it is never a concern in Srivaikuntam, which
gyAna sAram
is there forever. The worldly objects not only deteriorate over time but they are also
objects that needs to be condescended.
Someone may have a question as to people say Srivaikuntam as superior because it is

being compared to this universe. If the same Srivaikuntam is being compared to
heaven, can Srivaikuntam still reign supreme? Will saranAgathas be totally enticed by
heaven, the enjoyment over there, the angels who do anything for us? The answer to
this question is being answered in the subsequent lines.
mILAp poruvariya viNNAttil bOgam nugarvArkku: Srivaikuntam, as discussed earlier, is

describe as a place of no return, a resplendent place where time does not exist and the
enjoyment is forever, an unparalleled place where there is nothing
called “construction” and “destruction” of it, a place beyond nature and laws of this
universe, a place like nothing else literally. This is the place where saranAgathas yearn
to go for and enjoy being a servant of his master sriman nArAyanan, Pirati and THEIR
devotees.
naraganRO indhiran than nAdu?: Heaven is a place which a jIvAthamA goes to, by
virtue of his good karma. He enjoys there in measures equal to that of his saved karma.
After all the good karma’s benefits have been reaped by the jIvAthamA in heaven, he
will be thrown upside down from there to this earth again. The same is true for hell as
well, where after one suffers pain to the extent he has bad sins, he is being born again
in this earth in a cycle of birth and death. Indira is the chief of heaven and other such
celestial worlds, where dEvAs who are as well bound by karma , go there, live and
enjoy for very much longer time than an ordinary jIvAthamA like us. They will also be
destroyed at one point of time but the time when they exist, they feast on the
enjoyments available to them there. This enjoyment is also not forever and more
importantly, the enjoyment is not towards serving the Supreme Lord. They enjoy for
their own happiness which is fundamentally opposite to the basic nature of
a jIvAthamA who had realized his own self of doing kainkaryam to PerumAL for HIS
happiness is the ultimate wish for him. So, a saranAgathan would treat heaven and hell
as one and the same time and regard them as a place of suffering for him. As described
in the second pAsuram, whenever saranAgathas are separated from perumAL and
pirAti, that is hell for them.They care least for the heaven , its enjoyment and whatever it
has to offer. They absolutely loathe it for they are interetsted in the ultimate enjoyment
of sriman nArAyanan.
gyAna sAram
pAsuram 8 - muRRap buvanam
thamizh:
“முற்ைப் புவனம் எல்ைாம் உண்ட முகில் வண்ணன்

கற்றை துழாய் கசர் கழல் அன்ைி – மற்தைான்றை
இச்சியா அன்பர் ேனக்கு எங்ககன தசய்ேிடினும்
உச்சியால் ஏற்கும் உகந்து.”
English:
“muRRap buvanam ellAm uNda mugil vaNNan

kaRRaith thuzhAy sEr kazhal anRi – maRRonRai
ichchiyA anbar thanakku engnganE seydhidinum
uchchiyAl ERkum ugandhu.”
Verbatim Meanings:
muRRa buvanam ellAm uNda = the one how swallowed all worlds without any trace and
keep them in HIS stomach
mugil vaNNan = is the one who has the colour of dark rain bearing clouds
gyAna sAram
kaRRaith thuzhAy sEr = and collection of beautiful bunch of thulasi
kazhal anRi maRRonRai ichchiyA anbar = The devotees of Emperumaan, who do not
like anything apart from Lord’s Holy Feet and do not ask for any other benefits excluding
those divine Feet
thanakku engnganE seydhidinum = However the Kainkaryams done to Perumal
uchchiyAl ERkum ugandhu = will be very gladly accepted, that too with HIS head!
Preface:
People who do not have any interest or stakes apart from Lord’s divine Feet (thiruvadi)
do kainkaryam all the time to HIM. The Supreme Lord sriman nArAyaNaN does not
mind mistakes, mishaps or any type of disorders in their kainkaryam. HE will gladly
accept without any qualms and will be extremely pleased to see that HIS devotee is
doing kainkaryam to HIM. HE will hold their kainkaryam in HIS head. Lord krishnA, in
bhagavad gIthA told arjunA “Hey arjunA!!! I take whatever MY devotee gives me with
pure and untainted bhakti. Let that be a leaf, flower, fruit, water or whatever. I love
whatever he gives with pure heart and I drink them immediately”. Since leaves and
flowers are also included here, all it conveys is that what one gives does not matter at
all. It is how he gives that would make Krishna’s heart happy. This is the essence of this
pAsuram.
Explanation:
muRRap buvanam ellAm uNda mugil vaNNan: During the times of cosmic deluge
(praLayam), Lord sriman nArAyaNaN swallowed all the worlds in HIS stomach
and protected them. Thus it is not destruction but only protection. Often times, we
construe that to be destruction because it is not there in the place it was used to be.
Since Lord had destroyed it from its immediate place, we try to see it as destruction.
While in actuality, it is not destruction, as HE just protects them safely from where those
worlds were born in the first place. He does it keeping in mind that it is HIS duty to do so
and that HE does not expect anything in return, nor does HE does it for any other
benefit. This nature of Lord is often times being compared with a dark rain bearing cloud
that pours down heavily for prosperity. The clouds’s duty is to pour and it does not
expect anything for doing so. The darker the clouds, the more rain it can give. Perumal
is also dark hued in colour. This is a point of similarity. However, we should also note
that clouds stop giving rain once all the darkness (impregnated water) is gone. But
Perumal never does that and so we should remember this dissimilarity as well and take
the spirit of the metaphor that is being referenced here. AzhvAr says “thAi irukkum
gyAna sAram
vaNNamE ummai than vayitru iruthi uyya kondAn”, that means that perumAL was like a
mother in saving and protecting. While the mother would protect her child, perumAL
protects this whole universe which is HIS creation. The universe did not even know
about this protection but even then perumAL did protect it because of the very
connection that HE has on the universe. Does HE need any other reason to protect it? If
a child is going near a well, the mother will automatically go and drag the child because
the child is her creation and so it is her duty to protect the child by all means. Similarly,
we are all HIS children and thus this very basic relationship is enough, if not any, for
HIM to protect us during the times of cosmic deluge. By having this whole universe and
its inhabitants including living and non-living things in HIS stomach, HE is the one who
gets utmost satisfaction because HE is the owner of all of them and so HE feels
immensely happy when everything is protected. There is no other benefit for HIM in
doing this. Similarly, when a prapannan is doing kainkaryam, perumAL just relishes the
fact that he is doing kainkaryam and ignores whatever mistakes he commits while doing
it.
kaRRaith thuzhAy sEr kazhal anRi: perumAL’s divine feet’s sweetness is being
explored here. “thuzhAi” refers to tulasi plant. There is a difference between the tulasi
that grows on the land and the one that went up to decorate perumAL. The latter is
naturally way more fragrant than the former because of the contact it makes with
perumAL’s body. Since it has got to its ultimate destination, there is nothing more left for
it to do. It is serving under perumAL and so it attains height of happiness which is visible
in its fragrance. So, prapannas, who go and surrender unto perumAL’s lotus feet that is
being adorned with beautiful tulasi plant, will first of all be attracted by its sheer beauty,
leave alone other characteristics of perumAL. HE is not only going to bowl over by HIS
characteristics like sowlabhyam (ease of access), sowseelyam (ability of the HIGHEST
to mix with the lowest like us) etc. Even before going to such qualities, beauty is the first
thing that is visibly explicit and perumAL does not miss any opportunity to take our
hearts away. He adorns HIMSELF with beautiful and fragrant tulasi. He shows his dark
hued colour that is HIS best and natural colour that signifies “generosity”. He also
shows HIMSELF with His Piraati. Swami madhuraKavi AzhvAr describes this as “kariya
kOla thiru uru kANban nAn” in his kaNiNun siruthAmbu. “katrai thuzhAi sEr kazhal
andRi” specifically refers to enjoyable nature of HIS divine feet.
maRRonRai ichchiyA anbar: prapannas who do not desire anything apart from the
lotus feet of sriman nArAyaNaN is what is being referred by this phrase. Majority of
people today are those who ask perumAL for worldly benefits and enjoyments. In order
to get them, they might do something that they think would please the heart of
gyAna sAram
perumAL. They even make it a business where in they strike a deal with perumAL to get
this thing done and they shall cut out a percentage to perumAL. Though this may look
very funny, this is the state of affairs apparently today. But this is exactly the way one
should not be in. It behoves us to remember AndaL’s who told perumAL, “Oh! My
beloved Lord! “I have cooked akkAra adisil for you. If You come and eat this fully, you
will get a gift. The gift is nothing but another 100 containers of akkAra adisil. I am giving
the gift because You have come unto me and fulfilled my desire of eating the akkAra
adisil cooked by me”. AzhvArs and AchAryAs sing glories to perumAL not because
HE has killed the demons or evil kings and destroyed them. It is because they were
afraid something might happen to perumAL during the fight and since HE emerged
victorious and thus protected HIMSELF, they sing glories to perumAL and not because
HE killed the demons who were threatening the very face of civilians in the country.
thanakku engnganE seydhidinum To these type of bhaktAs (prapannas), perumAL is

full of grace and HE does not even care for the mistakes they might do in their process
of doing kainkaryam. All HE looks for is the heart with which he did and everything else
is a non-entity to HIM.
uchchiyAl ERkum ugandhu He will accept such a prapanna’s kainkaryam with much
pleasure. Even if a prappannan had kicked out an object during kainkaryam, HE shall
gladly take it and place it on top of HIS head. AndAL had adorned herself with a
beautiful garland that her father periyAzhvAr had meticulously made for vatapathrasAyI
perumAL. She wanted to decorate herself not for her own happiness but just to make
sure that she is a suitable match for her darling krishnA. She stood before a mirror and
saw herself when periyAzhvAr entered and caught her red handed. periyAzhvAr was
very upset that AndAL had taken the garland and because of it , AndAL’s hair got onto
the garland. Seeing this periyAzhvAr asked her to keep the garland aside and started to
make a fresh garland from the scratch. He took this to vatapathrasAyI and offered HIM.
When perumAL saw this new garland, HE became very sad that HE could not get the
garland that was adorned by HIS devotee AndAL. So HE ordered periyAzhvAr to get
him that particular garland that AndAL had worn because it had her hair on it and He
wanted to enjoy only that. periyAzhvAr was pleasantly shocked and was very happy for
his daughter. He went back and told the story to AndAL who become ecstatic on
hearing it. Thus, we can see that even perumAL wants bhAgavatha sambandham. He
wants only those that have the touch of a prapannan in some way or the other. He
absolutely rejoices it and does not look for any demerits in them.
gyAna sAram
pAsuram 9 - Asil aruLAl
thamizh:
“ஆசில் அருோல் அறனத்துைகும் காத்ேேிக்கும்

வாச மைராள் மணவாேன் – கேசு தபாைி
வின்னாட்டில் சாை விரும்புகம கவதைான்றை
எண்ணாோர் தநஞ்சத்து இருப்பு”
English:
“Asil aruLAl anaiththulagum kAththaLikkum

vAsa malarAL maNavALan – thEsu poli
viNNAttil sAla virumbumE vERonRai
eNNAdhAr nenjchaththu iruppu”
Verbatim Meanings:
Asil = The faultless one (the fault that a person makes when he expects something in
return of something he does to a person).
aruLAl = out of compassion
gyAna sAram
anaiththulagum kAththu = protects all of the worlds
aLikkum = to yield to requests or to grant wishes,
vAsa malarAL maNavALan = is the consort of pirAtti, who was born in a Lotus flower
and it is this Emperuman
thEsu poli viNNAttil = who is resplendent in srIvaikuntam
nenjchaththu iruppu = and stays in the heart of the people
sAla virumbum = who very much like
vERonRai eNNAdhAR = to keep nothing apart from sriman nArAyaNaN and ask for
nothing other than HIM
Preface:
In the previous pAsuram, swami aruLALa perumAL emberumAnAr talked about the
happiness that perumAL gets when HIS devotee does not yearn for a thing apart from
being a servant to his Master forever. In this pAsuram, swami aruLALa perumAL
emberumAnAr goes one step further and describes an even more happy state of
perumAL who lives in the hearts of HIS devotees. However, before entering his heart,
perumAL looks at the heart of HIS devotee first. He looks to see if the heart thinks only
about HIM or other things as well. HE checks for HIMSELF “Does this heart think about
ME for some material benefits or does it want to enjoy ME completely and nothing
else”?. If perumAL is convinced that the heart does not think about anything else apart
from only HIMSELF, then HE happily stays there forever and enjoys being there.
Asil aruLAl : When someone does something expecting a favor in return, the very act
of doing (even if it is a help) becomes faulty. aruL, in this pAsuram denotes the
compassion of the Lord, blessing someone without expecting something in return.
parimeElazhagar, when explaining the basics of “aruL” (blessing out of compassion),
described that a person should have compassion on all beings not for any particular
reason. He should have it just for its very basic existence. We usually love our children,
parents, wife, siblings and relatives because they are related. We do not share the
same love with some passerby. There is a vast difference in the love that we show
between these two people. In case of our family, relatives and friend, the love is born
out of the relationship that we share with them. It is the lack of the same relationship
with a passerby that we do not show love towards them. However, for perumAL and HIS
true devotees, the ability of showing unbiased love and compassion towards one and all
gyAna sAram
is a very important quality. They do not find anything good in a person to show love or
find some fault to show hatred against that same person. If they find good / bad credits,
then that act of showing love or compassion itself becomes faulty. This kind of faulty
love or compassion is what we jIvAthamAs can show and not the real one that our
perumAL shows on us. He does not expect anything in return from us.
anaiththulagum: There are 14 worlds, seven above, including the earth and seven
below earth. The seven worlds above us are: bhur lOkam (earth), bhuvar lOkam, suvar
lOkam, mahar lOkam, jana lOkam, tapO lOkam and sathya lOkam. The seven worlds
below us includes atala lOkam, suthala lOkam, vithala lOkam, talAtala lOkam, mahAtala
lOkam, rasAtala lOkam and pAthAla lOkam. The collection of these 14 lOkas are
known as “aNdam”. perumAL shows HIS unbiased love towards everyone in all these
14 worlds. If perumAL shows HIS love based on a reason, then there might be disparity
in the love itself. However, perumaAL is common for all of us and HE does not
discriminate among us.
kAththaLikkum: perumAL protects us. We should be very careful what is meant by

protection because this is normally misconstrued. It is not giving all that we want and all
that we love irrespective of knowing if it is really good for us. Protection is giving what is
really needed and destroying what is not needed totally. The thing one may need is not
the one that he may like and vice versa. This is very common. We try to see Perumal
as “non-protective” as HE does not yield to our requests. However, we do not look in the
longer scheme of things in which all that we wished may not really be what we need.
This is why our ancestors say that we should be happy for whatever Perumal has given
us right now and should be thankful for giving it. He knows how to protect us more than
anyone else.
vAsa malarAL maNavALan: swAmi nammAzhvAr says “VEri mArAadha pU mEl

iruppAL”.perumAL is the consort of pirAati who sits on a cool, beautiful and fragrant
lotus that does not fade in beauty even for a spilt second. When perumAL protects us,
pirAti is also involved. To go a step further, it is fair to say only if pirAti is with perumAL,
HE protects us, else does not. So, pirAti plays an equally important role of protecting the
jIvAthmAs as much as perumAL does. She serves as a catalyst and triggers perumAL’s
quality known as “compassion” towards us. In addition to doing this, she is the first
person to be happy when perumAL protects us.
thEsu poli viNNAttil This place refers to “paramapadham” or “srivaikuNtam”. All souls
who are liberated go there. People who are there forever continue to enjoy their stay,
that is destined to be forever. There is nothing called time, no one becomes old, sick.
gyAna sAram
Everyone can do whatever they desire to do as kainkaryam. There will not be any
obstacle to any task from whatever means. To put it short, it is the quintessence of
everything.
sAla virumbumE*: perumAL likes very much a place and place it at a even higher
pedestal than HIS paramapadham that was described above. He relishes HIS stay in
this place more than paramapadham. There is an “EkAram” attached to the
phrase “virumbumE”. Please see footnote for grammatical details of it.
The “EkAram” here finds context in the following lines “vERonRai eNNAdhAR
nenjchaththu iruppu”.
ERonRai eNNAdhAR nenjchaththu iruppu The place that was referred by “sAla
virumbumE”above, is the heart of HIS devotees, namely prapannas who does not
think/ask about anything apart from the Lord HIMSELF. As swAmi
nammAzhvAr put “uNNum sORu, parugum nIr, thinnum vetRilai ellAm
kaNNan”. Translated loosely it means that Krishna is AzhvAr’s food, his water, his
beetal leaves (to denote other luxuries). In the heart of such a person, perumAL
absolutely rejoices being here ,even more than being in HIS own celestial srivaikuntam.
perumAL, who does not expect anything from HIS devotees, if HE finds a person who
does not expect anything other than perumAL, becomes extremely joyful and ecstatic to
stay in his heart.
Footnote (*) – There are two types of “ekAram” in thamizh grammar. The first one
is “thEtrathuekAram”. This signifies “urudhi” or “certainty” or “unanimousness”. Example
– thirupAvai 1st pAsuram where AndAL nails it beautifully than any other AzhvArs or
perumAL. In “nArAyaNaNE”,andAL uses “EkAram” to mean that only nArAyaNaN can
give parai and no body else. This is used to mean certainty about who can give
mOksham and the fact that no one else can give it. This is “thEtrathu EkAram”. The
second type is “pirinilai EkAram”. This means something like “even it”. That is in this
example “namakE”, andAL uses to mean that nArAyaNaN will give parai to people like
even us. Who are we? We are the ordinary (alpa) humans who go after food and other
worldly pleasures thinking that is the highest form of pleasure. We are the most
dumbest and stupidest people and to even people like us (namakE), nArAyaNaN will
give. This connotation is known as “piri nilai EkAram”.In the phrase “sAla
virumbumE”, the “thEtrathu EkAram” is being used.
gyAna sAram
pAsuram 10 - nALum ulagai
thamizh:
“நாளும் உைறக நைிகின்ை வாேரக்கன்

கோளும் ேறையும் துணித்ேவன் ேன் – ோேில்
தபாருந்ோோர் உள்ேத்துப் பூ மடந்றே ககள்வன்
இருந்ோலும் முள் கமல் இருப்பு”
English:
“nALum ulagai naliginRa vALarakkan

thOLum thalayum thuNiththavan than – thALil
porundhAdhAr uLLaththup pU madandhai kELvan
irundhAlum muL mEl iruppu”
Verbatim Meanings:
nALum ulagai naliginRa vALarakkan – there is a person who tortures

everyone in the
gyAna sAram
world daily, has a sword called

“chandrahAsam”
thuNiththavan thOLum thalayum – and this arakkan (rAvaNan’s) 10

heads and
20 shoulders were severed
pU madandhai kELvan than – by rAman, who is the husband of

the periya
pirAtti.
thALil porundhAdhAr uLLaththu – Even though people do not hold the

feet of
rAmA in their heart
irundhAlum muL mEl iruppu – rAmA stays in their hearts though

HE is
residing on top of a prickly thorn
Preface:
perumAL does not live quite happily in the hearts of those who seek and yearn for
anything apart from HIM. This forms the message in this pAsuram. In the previous
pAsuram, swami aruLALa perumAL emberumAnAr described how happy perumAL is in
the hearts of HIS pure devotees. He is indeed happier than being in srivaikuNtam.
However, in this pAsuram, he says that even though perumAL lives in the heart of a
person who goes after anything other than perumAL, HE will not enjoy it but will
continue to stay there just for the sake of it.
Explanation:
nALum ulagai naliginRa: rAvaNan, the ruler of LankA, was a personification of evil.
The phrase “nALum ulagai” describes how bad he was. He was a person who tortured
not for just a day or just for some period of time. His bad deeds continued daily. It is not
just a few people who were tortured. He tortured the whole world. Thus, the mighty
rAvaNan not just tortured a few people just for a short period of time. He cast his wrath
upon everybody continuously.
vALarakkan: rAvaNan did penance upon sivan and got a sword

called “chandrahAsam” from him. He was able to defeat his enemies with considerable
gyAna sAram
ease with the sword. kambar says“sankaran kodutha vALum” in his kambarAmAyaNam
to describe this.
thOLum thalayum thuNiththavan: rAman cut asunder the 10 heads and 20 shoulders of
evil rAvaNan. Swami nammAzhvAr exclaims “nIl kadal sOOzh ilangai kOn thoLgaL
thalai thuni seydhAn thaaLgaL thalayil vAngi nAL kadalai kaLimin”. Whenever a fight
erupts between two people, if one of them grows weaker and weaker by every passing
minute, the stronger person at one point of time, would realize his hold on him and at
some point of time would kill him or defeat him totally with the thought that he should not
let the weaker person to come up and fight back. The stronger person would want to
annihilate him or his forces completely. However, the omnipotent, valorous rAman did
not want to do the war this way. He wanted to give rAvaNan as many chances as
possible for him to realize his mistake and fall under the lotus feet of rAman. This is why
he cut his 20 shoulders one by one and then 10 heads one by one. He also let him
away by saying “Go now today and come back tomorrow”. rAman was full of grace but
rAvaNan did not surrender to HIM at all. All these acts of rAman were extolled by
AzhvArs.
Swami Thirumangai AzhvAr says “
“thAn polum yEndru ezhundAn tharaNiyALan
adhu kaNdu tharithu irupAn arakar thangaL
kOn polum yendrezhundhAn kundra manna
irupadhu thoLudan thunindha oruvan kaNdEr”
–Periya Thirumozhi (4,4,5)
“thaLaigal pathayum vetti thaLLi

pozhudhu poga viLayAdinAr pOL kondravan” –(Not sure of author)
“sarangaLai thurandhu vil vaLaithu ilangai mannan

sirangaL pathu aruthu thIrtha selvar maN ponnidam” — (Thiruchandhavirutham, 51)
pU madandhai kELvan: perumAL is the consort of pirAtti who resides on the beautiful,
young, fresh and ever-radiating lotus flower. rAvaNan was destroyed not only because
he was torturing all the people in this world but also because he was the villain who
separated perumAL and pirAtti. This was the most important reason why he and his
gyAna sAram
army was annihilated by rAman. Swami Thirumangai AzhvAr corroborates this in his
Periya Thirumozhi pAsuram below.
“suri kuzhal kanivAi thiruvinai piritha kodumayil kaduvisai arakan

eri vizhithilanga mani mudi podi seydhu ilangai pAzhpadupadharku eNNi”
—(Periya thirumozhi 5,5,7)
At this juncture, one may get a thought that rAman was selfish and hence HE destroyed
rAvaNan, when the latter took away the former’s wife. This may look selfish if it is not
being looked at the right perspective. One needs to understand the broadness of
thought rAman had. If pirAtti was not there, then it is not only perumAL’s loss. More than
perumAL, the people of the world can never live without her. It is because of her that
perumAL gets the qualities of compassion, grace and forgives our sins. If not for her,
then all the jivAthmAs like us cannot do saranAgathi at all. perumAL cannot protect us if
pirAtti is not by HIS side. This can be seen in many instances. All the killings in
sriramayaNam happened when piratti was not with perumAL. vAli, kara, dhOOshaNaN,
rAvaNan, kumban, nikumban etc., all were killed when pirAtti was not with perumAL. At
the same time, a demon known as “kAkAsuran”, who was in a crow form, stung pirAtti’s
breasts with its beaks. Blood started to ooze out at that time when perumAL was lying in
her lap. She did not want to disturb perumAL’s sleep. But when perumAL woke up and
understood what happened, the demon ran for help. No one, no demi-gods, no rishis
could come to its rescue. Even perumAL did not want to help. But it was pirAtti who
intervened and out of her sheer compassion for her child (everyone is a child to her),
she made her rAmA forgive it. Thus, it is only because of the thought that “people needs
to be saved and to be saved I need pirAtti”, rAman had to kill rAvaNan, who apparently
separated the Divine couple.
than – thALil porundhAdhAr uLLaththu: Swami aruLALa perumALemberumAnAr talks

about people who catch hold of perumAL’s Lotus feet. But even after that, these people
start to wander and look for other material benefits forgetting where they
are. “porundhudhal” refers to “match”. If one were to completely surrender unto the
Lotus feet of perumAL, then how could it be possible that they can desire for other stuffs
apart from perumAL? This apparently contradicts each other and so is looked upon as
a “mis-match”. This is because the person did not do complete surrender or is looking
for some other worldly benefits and not perumAL.
irundhAlum: Everyone and everything has connection with perumAL. There cannot be
any object or any person in any universe without HIS connection. HE is present in us,
inside the jIvAthmA which is extremely tiny. He is present in all animals, birds, all
gyAna sAram
species in this universe. He is present as fire, earth, sky, water and wind. He is present
in the letters that we speak, write and think. He gives meanings to these words and
becomes the One who is being described by the words. HE is beyond them as well. He
exists as the very thought, action, cause, problem, solution and what not. Everybody is
a vasihnavan in this aspect. He is there, even inside rAvaNaN whom we saw earlier.
But, in the heart of those persons described as “porundhAdhAr”, HE resides just for the
sake of it. However, in the case of HIS true devotees, HE enjoys it being there, much
more than what HE enjoys at this ever-lasting, celestial abode of srivaikunNam.
muL mEl iruppu: In the vast majority of people who think about anything and
everything other than HIM, he stays just for the sake of it. He is living as if HE is on top
of a prickly thorn. He does not like and love to live there but continues to stay for the
heck of it.
gyAna sAram
pAsuram 11 - than ponnadi
thamizh:
“ேன் தபான்னடி அன்ைி மற்தைான்ைில் ோழ்வு தசய்யா

அன்பர் உகந்ேிட்டது அணு எனினும் – தபான் பிைழும்
கமருவாய்க் தகாள்ளும் விறரயார் துழாய் அைங்கல்
மாைி மாக் தகாண்டால் நிகர் மால்”
English:
“than ponnadi anRi maaRRonRil thAzhvu seyyA

anbar ugandhittadhu aNu eninum – pon piRazhum
mEruvAyk koLLum viraiyAr thuzhAy alangkal
mAri mAk koNdal nigar mAl”
Verbatim Meanings:
than ponnadi anRi maaRRonRil - The people with great bhakti, who seek for
thAzhvu seyyA anbar nothing except the beautiful feet of sriman
nArAyANan, without being concerned about other
benefits,
gyAna sAram
ugandhittadhu aNu eninum – when offering anything to sriman

nArAyANan, be
it even as small as an atom
viraiyAr thuzhAy alangkal mAri – thirumAl sriman nArAyANan, who has the
fragrant
mAk koNdal nigar mAl thuLasi garland and is like the color of dark
rain
bearing clouds
pon piRazhum mEruvAy koLLum – accepts it like sparkling with gems, similar
to
“mEru” mountain that is a huge mountain with
umpteen number of precious gems
Preface:
In the 9th pAsuram, “Asil aruLAL”, swami aruLALa perumAL emberumAnAr explained
how sriman nArAyANan resides in the hearts of those who wish nothing but HIM and
HER. In the 10th pAsuram, “nAlum ulagai”, swami explained how sriman nArAyANan
resides in the hearts of those who never leaves attachment with material world and still
catches hold of sriman nArAyANan. In this pAsuram, swami goes ahead and explains
how sriman nArAyANan accepts and treats even the miniscule thing that a true devotee
of HIM offers with untainted love towards HIM. Swamy explains how greatly sriman
nArAyANan treats even a small item that HIS devotee offer. Even PoyyAmozhi
reiterates this fact in”thinai thuNai nanRi seyinum panai thuNayAga koLvAr payan
therivAr”.KambanAtaAhvAr when describing the lotus feet of the ONE who measured
this whole universe, says “uyarndhavarku udhaviyoppave”.
Explanation:
than ponnadi anRi: “than” refers to the condition where sriman nArAyANan is present
naturally in all the souls without any cause. “ponnadi anRi” refers to all that except the
beautiful and the most desirable lotus feet of sriman nArAyANan. Here, “than
ponnadi” hence means that each and every soul in this universe has the same and
equal right on the lotus feet of sriman nArAyANan. “ponnadi” refers to the feet that is
supreme in terms of beauty as well as enjoyment.
gyAna sAram
maaRRonRil thAzhvu seyyA anbar: sriman nArAyANan’s lotus feet , as seen above ,is
both supremely beautiful and every one of the infinite jIvAthmAs has a right on them.
Hence,“maaRRonRil thAzhvu seyaar anbar” refers to those people who does not
divulge themselves in anything apart from those diving lotus feet of sriman nArAyANan.
The word “maaRRonRu”refers to worldly wealth, the pleasure of a soul enjoying itself
(kaivalyam) etc. The word“thAzhvu” is used in a derogatory manner and
means “anything low” that would point to all other things apart from the lotus feet of
sriman nArAyANan.
Here, it is appropriate to refer to thiruvAimozhi pAsuram “sadhiriLa madavAr

thAzhichiyai madhiyAdhu” (thiruvAimozhi 2.10.2). The word “thAzhchi” in this
thiruvAimozhi pAsuram and “thAzvhu” in this pAsuram both mean the same thing. The
same thought is conveyed in “thAzchi maRRu engum thavirthu” where AzhvAr
describes the lowliness of indulging in anything and everything apart from sriman
nArAyANan. Hence, we can infer that there is a special group of bhAgavathAs who
does not immerse themselves in anything apart from the lotus feet of sriman
nArAyANan.
ugandhittadhu: The word “ugapu” means happiness and “ittadhu” would mean “to
give”.Hence, this word totally would mean “that which was offered with lot of
happiness”. There are two types of being a servant. The first type is where one is a
servant in accordance with the sAsthrAm’s order. He is being a servant just because he
is asked to be. The second type is where one is a servant because of outpouring of
love. For example, all the things that a wife does to her husband is in accordance with
the rules of “sAsthram” in how a wife should behave to her husband. thiruvaLLuvar
says “tharkAthu tharkondAn peni”. This is when a husband does all the things for his
wife that is a because of the excessive love that he has towards her. Similarly, devotees
should be a servant not out of compulsion enforced by sAsthrams. It should be done out
of pure love that he or she has towards sriman nArAyANan. This is what swamy
nammAzhvAr refers as “ugandhu pani seydhu” in his thiruvAimozhi.
“uRRen ugandhu paNi seydhu unapAdham

peRRen, eedhe innam veNduvadhendhaai
kaRRAr maRai vAnargal vaazh thirupeRArku
aRRAr adiyAr thamaku allal nillAve” – ThiruvAimozhi
10.8.10
Hence, such devotees who give out of their excessive love towards sriman nArAyANan,
how much ever little it may be, HE relishes it nothing else.
gyAna sAram
pon piRazhum mEruvAy koLLum: sriman nArAyANan will regard the tiniest thing that
HIS true devotee gives HIM as a huge “mEru” mountain that sparkles like and is full of
precious jewels and ornaments. Had HE be ONE that needs something in order to be
rich, HE would have grown more complete by taking the offering that a devotee gives.
So, HE would have yearned for those little thing in order to grow richer. However, this
would have been termed as “alpathanam” or “one who yearns for silly and petty things”.
But the fact of the matter is that HE is not like that. HE is one who is without any
defects, without any holes that needs to be filled. Hence, there is absolutely no need for
HIM to get anything from somebody and so subsequently erase that defect or grow
richer. Hence, how much ever small HIS devotee gives, HE accepts it with utmost
satisfaction and regards that thing as equivalent of mEru Mountain. This type of sriman
nArAyANan is being described in the next paragraph.
viraiyAr thuzhAy alangkal mAri mAk koNdal nigar mAl: sriman nArAyANan is ONE
who stands with a beautiful and fragrant thuLasi garland. HIS body resembles the hue
of dark rain bearing clouds. “virai” is fragrant, “alangkal” – garland, mAri – rain , mA- big,
koNdal – clouds.
Essence: Since HE is being described as ONE who is complete with everything, to

those pure bhAgavathAs who does not keep their heart and mind in anything apart from
HIS lotus feet, HE shows more and more of HIS beauty of HIS body with all those
beautiful ornaments. Thus, HE makes sure that they are always glued to HIM and their
bhakti is increased more and more. So, finally, with these meanings explained, we can
re-word the phrase in the pAsuram to “viraiyAr thuzhAy alangkal mAri mAk koNdal nigar
mAl than ponnadi anRi maaRRonRil thAzhvu seyyA anbar ugandhittadhu aNu eninum
pon piRazhum mEruvAyk koLLum” which gives the essence of the pAsuram.
gyAna sAram
pAsuram 12 - mARAy iNaindha
thamizh:
“மாைாய் இறணந்ே மறுேம் இரத்ே ேவழ்ந்ே

கசைார் அரவிந்ேச் கசவடிறய – கவைாக
உள்ோோர் ஒண்ணிேிறய ேந்ேிடினும் ோன் உவந்து
தகாள்ோன் மைர் மடந்றே ககான்”
English:
“mARAy iNaindha maRudham iRath thavazhndha

sERAr aravindhach sEvadiyai – vERAga
uLLAdhAr oN nidhiyai thanthidinum thAn uvandhu
koLLAn malar madandhai kOn.”
gyAna sAram
Verbatim Meanings:
malar madandhai kOn – sriman nArAyaNA, who is the King

of the one
living in the lotus flower (sri mahAlakshmi)
mArAy iNaindha maRudham – is the sole enemy of the twin

asuras, who were
joined together to become a “marudha” tree
due to a curse.
iRath thavazhndha – These asuras in the marudha tree,

fell by being
broken completely, when sriman nArAyaNA
crawled between them.
vErAga uLLAdhAr oN nidhiyai Indhidhinum – The people who do not regard it in

their heads
that if, they offer a great deal of wealth
instead of seeking HIS
sERAr aravindham sEvadiyai – feet, which are like the red lotus
which
blossoms in the mud,
thAN uvandhu koLLAn – sriman nArAyaNa will not accept it

with HIS
heart’s content
Preface:
People who look for other material (rather immaterial) benefits from sriman
nArAyaNan without yearning for HIS lotus feet, whatever big wealth they may offer HIM,
HE will not accept them gladly with full heart’s contention
Explanation:
mARAy iNaindha maRudham iRath thavazhndha: The inseparable,

twin “yamalArchanam” trees that regarded krishNa as its enemy, was made to fall down
in the ground by krishNa who crawled in between them.
gyAna sAram
YashodhA went to take bath in Yamuna river after leaving krishNa in HIS bed. krishNa
was crying out of hunger at that time. His mother who used to feed HIM with her breast
milk was not there in the vicinity at that time. krishNa was very upset that HE did not get
any food when HE was hungry. So, HE kicked out HIS legs. When HE kicked, HE
kicked a wheel nearby. There was an asurA who was inside that wheel. The asurA was
destroyed by the mere little kick of krishNa. This happened earlier. Similarly, the twin
“yamalArchanam” trees who became such trees in the first place due to
a “sAbam”, were destroyed completely due to krishNa’s actions. krishNa had
stolen butter from others’ homes and had eaten them fully. Not able to listen to others’
complaints of krishNa’s mischief, YashodhA tied HIM up to a mortar and went on to do
her chores. krishNa was still a small kid and hence did not know what to do. HE went
ahead and crawled with the mortar as well. He was stuck in between the twin trees as
HE could not go through them. The mortar could not penetrate through it as it was too
wide. krishNa forcefully tried to enter. HIS divine thighs rubbed against the
trees because of which the twin trees broke down completely and fell to the ground. The
asurAs who were inside the tree were killed. YamalArchams tried to kill krishNa and
help kamsA by residing in the tree. However, they were destroyed by krishNa
HIMSELF. Hence, even though one opposes krishNa for the sake of others, they would
eventually need to succumb to krishNa. Whoever be the enemy, krishNa will destroy all
of them.
sERAr aravindhach sEvadiyai – HIS lotus feet has the hue of a fresh lotus that has just
blossomed in a pond midst a natural settings. “sEvadi“ generally refers to “red hued”
color of HIS feet. However, it is not just the red coloredness. It also means the
associated characteristic beauty of HIS feet that includes beauty, coolness, fragrant etc
(as per the thamizh grammar “yaerpuli kodal”). Swamy parAsara muni (author of
srIvishnu purANam) describes this event and when he did that, he glorified the beauty
of krishNa’s red eyes, when HE turned HIMSELF back with the mortar to look at the tree
that had just fallen on the ground. However, swami aruLALa mAmuni, instead of
describing the red hued eyes, here described the red hued LOTUS feet of krishNa,
explains swami Manavaala mAmunigaL in his commentary for this pAsuram.
“porundhiya mAmarudhin idai pOya vem

perunthagAi, un kazhal kANiye pEdhutru
varundhi naan vAsaga mAlai kondu unnayE
irundhu irundhu eththanai kAlam pulambuvanE”
–Thiruvaimozhi 3-8-10
gyAna sAram
Even azhvAr wanted to enjoy the LOTUS feet with which HE crawled between the twin
trees(“ponnAy maa marudhin naduvE en pollAmaNiyE”).
vERAga uLLAdhAr – this refers to those people who regard these two divine LOTUS
feet as the ultimate enjoyment and do not pay any heed to other stuff. When krishNa
killed the asuras in yamalArchanam trees, HIS true devotees will feel delighted because
HE saved HIMSELF from the clutches of those demons. Not only that, by saving
HIMSELF, HE gave HIS lotus feet to HIS devotees for their enjoyment. Hence, true
devotees will always think about those LOUTS feet that had saved HIMSELF. They will
never turn their attention to any other mundane stuff. However, not all people are HIS
true devotees. There are many people who are involved in mundane material benefits.
These people are being referred to as “vERAga uLLAdhaR”.
oN nidhiyai thanthidinum – even if those aforementioned people offer the greatest

wealth
thAn uvandhu koLLAn malar madandhai kOn- krishNa, who is verily sriman
nArAyaNan, is known as “Thiruvukum thiruvAgiya selvan”, i.e., “HE gives “Thiru” to
even the periyapirAtti”.Hence, HE is replete with everything and does not need anything
from anyone to make HIMSELF complete in any aspect. Hence, these people who
indulge themselves in materialistic pursuits, even if they offer the highest of the highest
wealth, HE will not take it with full heart. Had HE been an “incomplete” person in the first
place, HE would have gladly accepted with highest satisfaction those enormous wealth
that those people offer. Since HE is “complete in every sense”, we cannot say that HE
will accept those wealth with HIS heart content. Moreover, HE accepts with full heart
based on with what thought a devotee offers. Since it is being described as “HE accepts
those wealthy offerings of other people but not with full satisfaction”, we can infer from
this that “HE accepts it still but will treat it just for the sake of it to accept it and no real
happiness behind it”. God is ONE who everyone is dependent on. Hence, HE has to
take all that anyone offers. However, if one gives it with full heart’s content, HE accepts
it with an even more full heart’s content irrespective of what is being offered to HIM.
This is similar to how parents accepts everything that one of their good natured child
gives and at the same time accepts anything that their other children with not so good
nature offers.
gyAna sAram
pAsuram 13 - paNdE uyir anaiththum
thamizh:
“பண்கட உயிர் அறனத்தும் பங்கயத் ோள் நாயகற்கக

தோண்டாம் எனத் தேேிந்ே தூமனத்ோர்க்கு – உண்கடா?
பை கற்றும் ேம் உடம்றபப் பார்த்து அபிமாநிக்கும்
உைகத்ேவகராடு உைவு”
English:
“paNdE uyir anaiththum pangkayath thAL nAyagaRkE

thoNdAm enath theLindha thUmanaththArkku – uNdO?
pala kaRRum tham udambaip pArththu abimAnikkum
ulagaththavarOdu uRavu”
gyAna sAram
Verbatim Meanings:
paNdE uyir anaiththum – Do the conscientious objects who forever

pangkayath thAL nAyagaRkE - have been a happy servant to the lakshmi
nAthan,
thoNdAm enath theLindha with their clean hearts and having realized
the truth,
uRavu uNdO? - ever have a relationship/contact?
tham udambaip pArththu - with the worldly people who are proud of
the
abimAnikkum abimAnikkum caste that they are born in (due to the
association of
their body)
pala kaRRum - and appear to be learned
Preface:
There are some people who have developed the urge to do kainkaryam to HIS divine
lotus feet only and nothing else. However, if these people have contacts/relationships
with their friends and relatives who does not have any inclination in sampradhAyam,
who are all after eating, clothing and roaming, will there be a impediment in bhagavadh
kainkaryam for first group of people (devotees)? This question might arise.
This pAsuram answers the question. It says that if one truly understands the true nature
of a soul (jIvAthma), then there will not be any contact or relationship with those other
people who are after material pursuits
Explanation:
paNdE - The word “paNdE” should be added with “uyir” and “thoNdAm” to get “paNdE
uyir thoNdAm”. This would mean that the soul’s inherent nature is to be a servant to its
master, i.e., sriman nArAyaNan. More importantly, this inherent nature of the soul is not
something that sprung just now. It has been there forever. There is no start time to that
and no end time for this unbreakable nature of soul and its master.
uyir anaiththum - The word “uyir anaithuthum” means everyone. Since it is being said as
“everyone”, each and every soul is a servant to its one and only master sriman
nArAyaNan. Hence, it disproves the fact that only some souls are subservient to its
Master and the rest of the souls are not.
gyAna sAram
pangkayath thAL nAyagaRkE - The aforementioned phrases talks about being servant
to someone. However, that someone is being explicitly stated in this phrase of
the pAsuram, namely “the ONE who is the hero of the one who sits on the lotus flower”.
Since it is being mentioned as” pangkayath thAl nAyagaRkE”, it is implied that all the
souls are not subservient to just perumAL alone. They are all servants to both perumAL
and HIS wife (pirAtti) alike. The case ending in “nAyagaRkE“ is “E” that denotes “only to
perumAL andpirAtti, and to no one else. This is 4th level case ending in thamizh
grammar and this clears up any question that might arise like “are the souls servants to
these two namely perumAL and pirAtti in addition to someone else”? The answer is “no”
as explained by the fourth level case ending “E” in nAyagaRkE”.
thoNdAm enath theLindha thUmanaththArkku: In this phrase, swami aruLALa mAmuni

talks about certain group of people whom he calls as “thUmanaththAr”. They are those
people who know the meaning of thirumanthiram completely and thereby understand
and appreciate the fact that “a soul is subservient to its eternal master sriman
nArAyaNan and no one else”. This thought which is a condensed thought of all Vedas is
what is contained in thirumanthiram.
uNdO? - There is not. Swami asks a question “is there” (uNdO?). The context to this
question is mentioned in the latter part of the pAsuram in the word “uravu” (relationship).
So, the words “uravu” and “uNdO” needs to be joined to ask the question that is being
put forth is “is there a relationship”? The answer is no.
pala kaRRum tham udambaip pArththu abimAnikkum - “pala kaRRal” is learning a lot
about different things sAsthrams that includes the likes of vEdAs, manu smirthi,
tharkam, vyAkaraNam etc. “tham udambu” refers to “one’s body”. It is the place where
the condition such as “brahmachari” (bachelorhood) for varNam like brAhmaNan
resides. The reason swamy aruLALa mAmuni used “tham udambu” is to point out the
fact that people look at their bodies and take great pride in them when they say “I am
from such and such caste, such and such creed”. They think so high of themselves
thinking about the condition in which their body is currently in like “brAhmachari” etc.
ulagaththavarOdu uRavu - This refers to the bunch of mundane people who regard
themselves as “high” based on just the caste / creed in which they were born.
thUmanaththArkku - We need to join the phrase “thUmanaththArku”, “uNdo” and

“uravu” to mean “For those people who are regarded as “thUmanaththAr”, will there be
any relationship to these other group of people who regard themselves as “high” based
on their birth / religion. Swami aruLALa mAmuni answers this question by saying that
there will never be any relationship.
gyAna sAram
Inner Meaning: “Aum” that is also called as “pranavam” revealed the fact that all souls
are subservient to the ONE who is being referred by “A” (sriman nArAyaNan). The souls
are being referred by “Ma” component of “m”. These souls that are being appalled by
“m” can be defined as that which has conscience and thus is different from non-living
objects that do not have any conscience. These souls are knowledge and happiness
personified and is always a servant to its master sriman nArAyaNan. Those who know
this definition of “m” are considered to be “thUmanaththAr”. To these “thUmanaththAr”,
will there be any relationship ever with those who does not know the definition of “m”.
Never. Those who do not realize this true definition of “m” will always regard their body
as everything and will not differentiate between it and the soul. They would take utmost
pride in being born in a high caste. So, there can never be any kind of relationship
between these two sets of people ever. One may get a question here as to what would
the “thUmanaththAr” tell the other kind of people when they happen to meet each other.
In order to illustrate this, there is a story.
“Thiruvahindirapuram” is a place near Cuddalore, South India. There lived a person by

name“Villiputhoor pagavar” in that place. He was a famous sanyasi who had renounced
everything with the thought that they will never be the means but only perumAL’s lotus
feet is the only means and end. He used to go to river to take bath and while doing so,
he would never go to near the same shore as brAhmanas go and take their bath. This
happened for quite some time. One day, these brAhmanas gathered together and
asked “villiputhOr pagavar”, “Hey! Why are you not taking bath in the same shore as
us? Why do you keep yourself aloof and stay away from us all the time”. villiputhOr
pagavar replied, “Hey brAhmanas!!! We are servants of Vishnu but you are those
brAhmanas who follow dharma based on your caste. There is no relationship
whatsoever between us. We are servants of sriman nArAyaNan. There is no way for us
to have any kind of contacts/relationship/friendship. Swami manavALa mAmunigaL,
who writes commentary for this gyAna sAram talks about this story in this pAsuram’s
explanation.
gyAna sAram
pAsuram 14 - bUthangkaL aindhum
thamizh:
“பூேங்கள் ஐந்தும் தபாருந்துடைினார் பிைந்ே

சாேங்கள் நான்கிகனாடும் சங்கேமாம் – கபேங்தகாண்டு
என்ன பயன் தபறுவர்ீ எவ்வுயிர்க்கும் இந்ேிறர ககான்
ேன்னடிகய காணும் சரண்”
English:
“bUthangkaL aindhum porundhudalinAR piRandha

sAdhangkaL nAnkinOdum sangkathamAm – pEthangkoNdu
enna payan peRuvIr evvuyirkkum indhirai kOn
thannadiyE kANum saraN”
gyAna sAram
Phrasal Meanings:
bUthangkaL aindhum porundhum udalinAR piRandha – The bodies of all the people
born here are made up of the five entities – land, water, fire, air and ether
sAdhangkaL nAnkinOdum sangkathamAm – and are split in to four types of varNams

– brAhmaNar, King, Businessmen, agriculturist (referring to the fourth sect) and
everyone is expected to follow these in unison.
bEthangkoNdu enna payan peRuvIr – However, these differences are not useful and
are worthless because
evvuyirkkum indhirai kOn thannadiyE kANum saraN -- all the jIvAthmAs have to take
refuge at the feet of the hero of thirumAmagaL, sriman nArAyaNAn.
Synopsis:
There arouse a question: “Till the time that one is alive, he or she is going to be
impacted by the differences in varNam. No one can be spared from that and would
continue to follow anyone until the time he lives here”. svAmi aruLALa perumAL
emberumAnAr answers that in this pAsuram by saying that “there is no use of those
varNam” and then goes ahead and says that all jIvAthmAs have to take refuge under
the lotus feet of the ONE who is the hero of thirumagaL .
Meaning:
bUthangkaL aindhum porundhudalinAR piRandha: swami thirumangai AzhvAr

says “manju sEr vAn eri nIr nilam kAlivai mayaki nindra anju sEr Akai”. thiruvaLLuvar
says “suvai oLi ooRu Osai nAtRam ivvaindhin vagai therivAn katE ulagu”. The above
two excerpts means that entities like land, water, fire, air and ether combine together to
form bodies. With this, we can infer that there is no connection between a body and a
soul as the latter is made of the five entities. In addition, the body is one that undergoes
a lot of transformations constantly as seen in newly born, young, adult and old stages of
life in a man. On top of it, it is temporary and one that needs to be loathed. Hence, it is
clear that this body is just a temporary place for the soul.
sAdhangkaL nAnkinOdum: There are four varNams that includes brAhmaNar, king,
businessmen, agriculturist. “sAdhangkaL” would mean varNam. These four varNams
was born out based on the body that originated through the combination of five
aforementioned entities.
gyAna sAram
nAnkinOdum sangkathamAm – pEthangkoNdu: Within these four varNams, there are

umpteen number of sub-divisions that gives birth to the conception of “higher and
lower” among them. In the case of “brAhmaNar”, there are stages
like “brahmacharyam”,“illaRam”, “vAnaprastham” and “thuRavaRam”. These differences
are not just limited to just“brAhmaNar” but extend to other varNams as well. There are
differences that originates with body as the genesis of these very differences. parimEl
azhagar captures this by the phrase“nAlvagai nilaithAi varNam thORum
vERupAtudamayin”
enna payan peRuvIr: svAmi aruLALa perumAL emberumAnAr asks the worldly people
as to what do they derive out of such differences. The answer that is implicit in his
question is that there is no benefit derived from these differences. The thing that stands
out of all these is that these varNam differences creates and propagates the concept of
“yAn” (I) and “yanadhu” (mine) that are eventually detrimental to a soul.
There is an alternate phrase instead of “enna payan peRuvIr“, because of “pAta

bEdham”. The other phrase is “enna payan keduvIr” that is also been practiced by
some. In this school of learning, “keduvI” is a viLi chol (sambOdhanam) that points out
at the people standing nearby swami aruLALa perumAL emberumAnAr. It is to be
construed that svAmi aruLALa perumAL emberumAnAr is talking to the people and
addressing them as “keduvIr”
evvuyirkkum indhirai kOn thannadiyE kANum saraN: The

phrase “evvuyirkkum” would mean that it is for everyone. As they say “vENdudhal
vENdAmai ilAn”, “innAr inaiyAr endRa vERupAdu illAmal”, the lotus feet of sriman
nArAyANan, who is the hero of thirumagaL, is for everyone one and the like. It is the
refuge for all souls and all the souls take shelter at HIS. It implies that since all souls are
under HIS lotus feet, there is no difference between these souls in that they all have one
destination. There is no difference in that and so the differences arousing from body
does not mean anything. All souls are servants of their eternal master sriman
nArAyANan. svAmi bhUdathAzvAr says:
“adhu nanRu idhu thIdhu enRu iyapadAdE

madhu ninRa than thuzhAi mArvan
podhu ninRa ponnangazhalE thozhumin muzhu vinaigaL
munnagazhalum thozhumin”
-mUndrAm thiruvandhAdhi (88)
gyAna sAram
The phrase “podhu nindRa ponnangazhal” means that sriman nArAyANan’s lotus feet is
common for everyone. This is the reason why they keep satAri at the head of all those
who come to the temple. The “satAri” is supposed to be svAmi nammAzvAr who
represents the lotus feet of sriman nArAyANan.
gyAna sAram
pAsuram 15 - kudiyum kulamum
thamizh:
“குடியும் குைமும் எல்ைாம் ககாகனறகக் ககள்வன்

அடியார்க்கு அவன் அடிகய ஆகும் – படியின் கமல்
நீர் தகாழுவுமாறுகேின் கபரும் நிைமும் எல்ைாம்
ஆர் கைிறயச் கசர்ந்ேிட மாய்ந்ேற்று”
English:
“kudiyum kulamum ellAm kOkanagaik kELvan

adiyArkku avan adiyE Agum – padiyin mEl
nIr kozhuvumARugaLin pErum niRamum ellAm
Ar kaliyaich sErndhida mAyndhaRRu”
gyAna sAram
Phrasal Meanings:
kudiyum kulamum ellAm — The birth place, gender, gOthram and all other
identifications at birth are rendered useless after reaching the
kOkanagai kELvan adiyArkky avan adiyE Agum — feet of the husband of pirAtti and
becoming HIS devotees and get the svarUpam of being treated as one, with no
differences.
padiyin mEl nIr kozhuvum ARugaLin — The state of these devotees is the same as the
rivers flowing on this earth, filled with water
pErum niRamum ellAm – and going by different names, colors like red, white, black,
etc., seemingly with many differences
Ar kali serndhida mAyndhaRRu – but when it mixes with the ocean, all these differences
are destroyed and they become one
Synopsis:
In the last pAsuram, svAmi aruLALa perumAL emberumAnAr told “evvuyirkkum indhirai
kOn thannadiyE kANum saraN”. In this pAsuram, he gives an example to bolster that
thought that it is sriman nArAyANan’s lotus feet that is the refuge for everyone one and
the like. The devotees of sriman nArAyANan are called as “thirumagaL maNALanukku
adiyAr” (devotees of perumAL who is the husband of pirAtti). These devotees before
realizing their true svarUpam, have some kind of identification that includes a name in
conjunction with their associated town, a name that is in conjunction with their
associated varNam and many such associations. However, after they realize their true
svarUpam (through the causeless cause of the divine couple and AchAryan), there is no
identification of those town,varNam or whatsoever anymore. Their only identification
that they have is sriman nArAyANan’s lotus feet and nothing else.
Meanings:
kudiyum kulamum ellAm: The following three excerpts are to be noted that would
explain the meaning of the phrase “kudiyum kulamum ellAm”. They are:
gyAna sAram
“sONNAttu pUnjAtRUr pArpAn gauNiyan viNNathAyan”
– puranAnOru
“veNgaNmA kaLirundhi viNNiyEtra

viRal mannar thiral azhiya vemmAvuytha
cheNgaNAn kOchOzhan”
– periya thirumozhi (6.6.4)
“irukilangu thirumozhi vAi endOl Isarku

ezhil mAdam ezhubadhu seydhu ulagamANda thirukulathu vaLachOzhan”
- periya thirumozhi (6.6.8)
In these three, we can note that the authors have mentioned about one’s place of birth
(kudi), varNam (kulam), gOthram and other birth identifications (ellAm).
kOkanagaik kELvan adiyArkku: “kOkanakam” refers to lotus and so “kOkanagai” refers

to the one who is seated atop a lotus. Thus it refers to pirAtti. “kELvan” refers to a hero
and so the phrase “kOkanagaik kELvan” points to “sriman nArAyANan” who is the hero
of pirAtti (sri mAhAlakshmi). The word “adiyAr” refers to those devotees who are under
the lotus feet of such a perumAL who is the hero of pirAtti. This act of being under
THEIR lotus feet itself is the identification for them.
avan adiyE Agum - This means that these aforementioned devotees who have been
identified with their place of birth, varNam, gOthram etc, they would no longer be
associated with any of their earlier identifications once they become a devotee of sriman
nArAyANan. All those earlier identifications get destroyed and the only identification that
stands out for them from that moment on is that they are devotees of sriman
nArAyANan. Their relationship with sriman nArAyANan’s lotus feet establishes an
identification for them. This is why they are being called as “thirumAl adiyAr”. svAmi
aruLALa perumAL emberumAnAr explains this with an example in the second half of
the pAsuram.
padiyin mEl - on top of the earth
nIr kezhuvumARugaLin pErum niRamum ellAm: Rivers have lot of water in them.
Rivers have different names for them like Ganges, Yamuna etc and come in many
colors as well like red, black, white etc.
Ar kaliyaich sErndhu - Once these rivers go and meet the ocean
gyAna sAram
mAyndhidum aRRu: It is as similar in destruction (in the way rivers lose their unique
identity after mingling up in the sea)
Conclusion: One’s earlier, historic identifications gets destroyed when one becomes a
devotee. This destruction is similar to the destruction that individual rivers encounters
upon mixing up in the ocean. Rivers lose their name, color etc. Hence, we should not
give any importance to all those temporal and impermanent factors like varNam etc but
should focus only on the only permanent thing that is called as “adiyarAm thanmai”.
This is nothing but being a servant (devotee) of perumAL and pirAtti forever. This quality
of being a servant of perumAL and pirAtti is not just for one or two selected souls.
Instead it is for all souls one and the like. This would remove all differences arising out
of temporal factors and unite all souls under one common umbrella known as “thirumAl
adiyAr”.
gyAna sAram
pAsuram 16 - dhEvar manisar
thamizh:
“கேவர் மனிசர் ேிரியக்குத் ோவரமாம்

யாறவயும் அல்ைன் இைகும் உயிர் – பூவின் மிறச
ஆரணங்கின் ககள்வன் அமைன் அைிகவ வடிவாம்
நாரணன் ோட்கக அடிறம நான்”
English:
“dhEvar manisar thiriyakkuth thAvaramAm

yAvaiyum allan ilagum uyir – pUvin misai
AraNangkin kELvan amalan aRivE vadivAm
nAraNan thAtkE adimai nAn”
Synopsis: svAmi aruLALa perumAL emberumAnAr explains how those realized souls,
who happened to know the true nature of a soul, would think about their permanent
state of nature. All souls are subservient to sriman nArAyANan and this subservience is
the very nature of these souls. This is being explained in this pAsuram
gyAna sAram
Phrasal Meanings:
dhEvar manisar thiriyakku thAvaramAm = dhEvAs including the likes of indhiran, people
like brAhmaNar or Kings, cows, birds, trees, herbs or shrubs
yAvaiyum allan ilagum uyir = or any other things in this world cannot have a name that
is forever and cannot be identified with any such name.
pUvin misai AraNangin kELvan = Instead, every thing and everyone is the servant of
the husband of srI mahA lakshmi, sitting on the lotus flower
amalan = without any blemishes and
aRivE vadivAm nAraNan thAtkE adimai nAn = the realized souls have this knowledge
about being subservient to sriman nArAyaNA
Meanings:
dhEvar manisar thiriyakkuth thAvaramAm: The soul does not have any particular name
like dhEvan, man, animals, herbs, shrubs, trees etc. The soul is not of any of these
types. A soul goes into a body that takes birth as a man, animal, bird, tree etc based on
the good and bad deeds accrued over innumerable births earlier. This can be found in
thirukural etc. They are as follows:
“Urva padhinonRAm, Onbadhu mAnidam, nIr, paRavai nAlkAl, Or pappathu, sIriya

bandhamAndhEvar padhinAlu, ayan padaitha andhamil sIr thAvaram nAlaidhu. makkal,
vilangu paRavai, Oorvana, nIrunthirivana, parupadhama enavivai yezhu
piRapAgumenba”. The births of bodies in which soul go into based on the deeds is
being explained. It is because soul manifests itself in countless bodies for eons, when
that soul is present in a particular body at a particular time, the soul thinks that “I am a
dhEvan”, “i am a man, “i am an animal”, “i am a plant”. It gets a pride associated
with “I” prefix above.However, this condition of a soul is only before it realizes its true
nature. To realize the true nature of a soul is to realize that for sriman nArAyANan, the
soul is neither a tree, nor a plant nor an animal nor a dhEvan and for that anything else.
The soul would only think that it is a servant of sriman nArAyANan alone and to no one
else.
ilagum uyir nAn: The “nAn” at the end of the pAsuram should be associated here. This
“nAn” means the soul which is always living and never can be destroyed. The preceding
adjective “ilagum” for “uyir” behooves us to understand the characteristics of it as laid
out by sAshthrAs.“uyir” (soul) is knowledge personified, happiness personified and
gyAna sAram
resplendence personified. This also differentiates a soul from non-living entities

because it possess knowledge that the non- living entities does not possess at any time.
We should take note of what svAmi piLLai lOkAchAriyAr told in his “thathva
thrayam” (chith prakaraNam). “Athma svarOpam senRu senRu paramparamAi
engiRapadiyE dhEhEndRiya manaha prAna budhdhi vilakshaNamAi, ajadamAi,
Aanandha rUpamAi, nithyamAi, aNuvAi, avyakthamAi, achinthyamAi, niravayamAi,
nirvikAramAi, gyAnAshrayamAi, Ishwaranuku niyAmyamAi,
dhAryamAi,seshamAyirukum”.
pUvin misai: As per svAmi nammAzhvAr’s thiruvAimozhi 4.5.2, “malar mEl uRaivAL”, it
means that ONE who is the husband of the beautiful one who sits on top of a beautiful
lotus flower. aNangu refers to periya pirAttiyAr who is full of godly characters including
one who has the highest form of beauty. “kELvan” refers to husband and in this context
refers to perumAL sriman nArAyANan.
amalan: ONE who is the exact opposite of all bad characters.
aRivE vadivAm nAraNan: sriman nArAyANan who is characterized by “knowledge

personified” and “happiness personified”.
thAtkE adimai : The jivAthmA is subservient to those divine feet of sriman nArAyANan
only and to no one else.
The name “nArAyANan” means ONE who has everything other than HIMSELF as
his body and ONE who is the place for all these parts to live in. Such a
“nArAyANan” is the life (uyir) for everything except HIM. These other things are
the body parts of HIM who houses them in HIS body.
Message:
The “jIvAthmA” who is defined as one who is full of knowledge, full of happiness, is
neither a dhEvan, nor a human, nor an animal, nor a herb, nor a shrub, nor a plant.
jIvAthmA can be defined as one who is subservient to sriman nArAyANan, the husband
of beautiful periya pirAttiyAr who sits on top of a beautiful lotus flower. Such a sriman
nArAyANan is diametrically opposite to all bad characters, is the life line of all living and
non-living things in the universe.
gyAna sAram
pAsuram 17 - onRiduga viNNavar
thamizh:
“ஒன்ைிடுக விண்ணவர் ககாண் தசைவதமாழிந்ேிடுக

என்றும் இரவாேிருந்ேிடுக – இன்கை
இைக்கக் கேிப்பும் கவர்வும் இவற்ைால்
பிைக்குகமா? ேற்று எேிந்ே பின்”
English:
“onRiduga viNNavar kOn selva mozhinthiduga

enRum iRavAdhirunthiduga – inRE
iRakkak kaLippum kavarvum ivaRRAl
piRakkumO? thaRReLindha pin”
gyAna sAram
Synopsis: In the last pAsuram, svAmi aruLaLa perumAL emberumAnAr talked about a
person who realized the true nature of a soul (jivAthma). He described him as one who
knew the true nature of a soul as “always subservient to paramAthma sriman
nArAyANan and no one else”. svAmi aruLaLa perumAL emberumAnAr went ahead and
described the way in which a surrendered soul thinks about its true nature by giving an
example as well. In this pAsruam, he describes a person who does not realize the true
nature of soul. For these people, the copious influx of wealth, its decrease thereupon,
ability to live a longer life or the inability to live a longer life, are all set to bring about
happiness and sadness. However, for a person who has truly surrendered to
paramAthma sriman nArAyANan only and no one else, there is no such fluctuations in
emotions in terms of temporal happiness and sadness because of influx, outflux, longer
and shorter lives. This high thought is what is being explained in this pAsuram.
Phrasal Meanings:
onRiduga viNNavar kOn selvam ozhinthiduga - There is a lot of wealth in this world, like
that of the devas (Indiran, etc), which keep coming and going at any point in time and is
not
the same always
enRum iRavAdhirunthiduga inRE iRakka - and life is similar, as it is not forever and one
may die suddenly.
kaLippum kavarvum ivaRRAl piRakkumO thaRReLindha pin – But, after realizing the
true nature of a soul and knowing
To a prapannan who has realized the true nature of jivAthma, there will not be any
happiness or sadness associated with wealth coming to him or leaving him, or longevity
come unto him or does not come to him
onRiduga viNNavar kOn selvam “selvam” refers to the copious wealth of indiran, the
leader of all devAs. The wealth with which one can rule over the entire three worlds
including bhU lOkam, bhuvar lOkam and suvar lOkam. Such wealth, even when a
person does not want it, can come unto him.
ozhinthiduga Such wealth can get destroyed from that person in such a way that it
would never be possible to earn it or get it by luck.
gyAna sAram
enRum iRavAdhirunthiduga Let that person live forever without death at any point of
time.
inRE iRakka Let that person die instantly without having such a longevity described
earlier
kaLippum kavarvum ivaRRAl piRakkumO? Worldly people experience happiness

because they either get wealth or long life. They experience sadness by the subsequent
loss of wealth or lack of long life that manifests itself in sudden death.
thaRReLindha pin This refers to the condition whereby one know himself, meaning, the
true nature of his soul which is nothing but that the soul is eternally subservient to its
eternal master sriman nArAyANan and no one else.
gyAna sAram
pAsuram 18 - InamilA anbar
thamizh:
“ஈனமிைா அன்பர் என்ைாலும் எய்ேிைா

மானிடறர எல்ைா வண்ணத்ோலும் – ோன் அைிய
விட்டார்க்கு எேியன் விடாோர்க்கு அைிவரியான்
மாட்டார் துழாய் அைங்கல் மால்”
English:
“InamilA anbar enRAlum eydhilA

mAnidarai ellAvaNNaththAlum – thAn aRiya
vittArkku eLiyan vidAdhArkku aRivariyan
mattAr thuzhAy alangkal mAl”
gyAna sAram
Phrasal Meanings:
InamilA anbar enRAlum eydhilA - The impeccable devotees at the lotus feet of sriman
nArAyaNan, with a lot of bhakthi, should be such that
mAnidarai ellAvaNNaththAlum – they do not interact in any way or continue the

association, including speaking with mundane, worldly people,
thAn aRiya – with perumAL knowing about the fact that they no longer associate.
vittArkku eLiyan vidAdhArkku aRivariyan mattAr thuzhAy alangkal mAl – To such

people who have renounced worldly associations, the one with the holy thiruthuzhAi
leaves that is oozing with honey, is easily accessible, but difficult to access for those
who have not renounced.
Explanation:
InamilA anbar enRAlum: “Inam” refers to wickedness (pollAthanmai). This is usually

connotated with the likes of rAvaNan when they say “pollA arakanai”. svAmi thirumangai
AzhvAr uses the phrase “munpolA rAvaNan”. svAmi periyAzhvAr refers to kamsan as
“theeya pundhi kanjan” while describing kamsan’s wickedness.Hence, the acts of
people like rAvaNan and kamsan are described as acts of “pollAngu”. So, “Inam il”
would be “without such wickednes”. Such people are characterized by untainted bhakti
towards the lotus feet of sriman nArAyaNan. In bhagavad geethai, krishNa says that HE
is the ultimate goal for all those who has nothing else apart from HIM. Hence, those
devotees who has such a bhakti are being described as “InamilA anbar”.
eydhilA mAnidarai: People who had never had an inclination towards sriman
nArAyaNan. Human birth is something where the sole purpose is to realize spiritual path
and be in spiritual company with sriman nArAyaNan always. People who does not do
this are just walking animals as per “vilangodu makkaL anayar”. This point is being told
by few azhwars. svAmi thirumangai AzhvAr says ” An vidaiyEzh anRu adarthArku
ALAnAr allAdhAr mAnidavar allar”. svAmi bhUdathAzhvAr says “cheNgaN mAl nAmam
maRandhArai mAnidamAvayEn”. The point that evolves out of this is that those who
forget the supreme lord “sriman nArAyaNan” are not at all humans in the first place.
AzhvArs who had been bestowed with highest intelligence and bhakti by sriman
nArAyaNan HIMSELF, even they criticize these kind of people and shun away from
them. Such people disrespect sriman nArAyaNan and go away from HIM. These kind
of people is what is being referred here in “eydhilA mAnidar”. They are so low, sinful
and hapless people.
gyAna sAram
svAmi nammAzhvAr says “yAdhAnum paRRi nIngum viradhamudayAr” towards the

foolish people. If we were to use the word “eydhilarAm” instead of “eydhilA” based on
two different schools of learning, it would mean those people who are enemies
of sriman nArAyaNan. thiruvaLLuvar says about this in his “yEdhilAr kuRRam pOla”.
“yEdhilAr” are enemies.
ellAvaNNaththAlum: This means all forms of relationships including living / staying with
them, exchanging things, talking with them and other worldly habbits.
thAn aRiya vittArkku eLiyan: One should leave all of the aforementioned relationships
with those people who are being referred as “yEdhilA mAnidar”. One should leave in
such a manner that not just he knows about it or the people around him knows about it.
He should leave it in such a manner that perumAL inside him knows that he has truly
left all forms of relationships with them. For such a person who had renounced such a
relationship, perumAL would be easily accessible. HE is one who is being described as
“uLLuvAr uLLithellAm udanirundhu”, i.e., “HE is the one who is within each and
everyone of us, not only just that but HE is inside even in the deepest of the thoughts
that is present within us. So, this act of renouncing should be known till that perumAL
acknowledges it as “truly left”. At this juncture, svAmi maNavALa mAmunigaL says that
srivaishnavam is one that is not confined to just what a person knows, nor what the
world knows. What matters is what sriman nArAyaNan knows. svAmi AchchAn piLLAi
would say this in thamizh “thAn aRindha vaiNavathvamum vaiNavathvam alla,
nAdaRindha vaiNavathvamum vaiNavathvam alla, nArAyaNan
aRindha vaiNavathvamE vaiNavathvam”
vidAdhArkku aRivariyan: To those who had not left such “yEdhilA mAnidar”, perumAL
would never be reachable and attainable. svAmi nammAzhvAr says “adiyArku eLiyavan,
piRargaLuku aRiya vithagan”. So, bhaktas are not supposed to have any kind of
relationship with mundane people who fall under the category of “yEdhilA mAnidar”.
mattAr thuzhAy alangkal mAl: bhagavAn sriman nArAyaNan is ONE who is adorned
with tulasi garland on HIS shoulders and on HIS head. Since the tulasi garland rubs
against HIS divine body, it gets beauty and oozes out honey. “mAl” refers to perumAL
who has such a tulasi garland on HIM. Tulasi garland is something that is being used to
describe HIS superiority. Overall, in terms of meanings, the pAsuram should be read as
“mattAr thuzhAy alangkal mAl , InamilA anbar enRAlum eydhilA mAnidarai
ellAvaNNaththAlum” – thAn aRiya vittArkku eLiyan vidAdhArkku aRivariyan.
Soruce: http://divyaprabandham.koyil.org/?p=1474
gyAna sAram
pAsuram 19 - nalla pudhalvar
thamizh:
“நல்ை புேல்வர் மறனயாள் நறவயில் கிறே

இல்ைம் நிைம் மாடு இறவ அறனத்தும் – அல்ைல் எனத்
கோற்ைி எரி ேீயிற் சுடு கமல் அவர்க்கு எேிோம்
ஏற்ைரும் றவகுந்ேத்து இருப்பு”
English:
“nalla pudhalvar manaiyAL navaiyil kiLai

illam nilam mAdu ivai anaiththum – allal enath
thORRi eri thIyiR sudu mEl avarkku eLidhAm
ERRarum vaigunthaththu iruppu”
Synopsis: svAmi aruLALa perumaAL emberumAnAr says in this pAsuram that for
those who feel good children, wife, relatives, house, land are akin to a burning
sensation, they will find it easy to attain the highest abode of paramapadham.
Verbatim Meanings:
nalla pudhalvar - One who has a great son
manaiyAL navaiyil kiLai - wife, faultless relatives,
illam – a perfect home,
nilam – land that is rich and fertile,
gyAna sAram
mAdu – cows that yield copious amounts of milk
ivai anaiththum allal enath thORRi – but has no ego or attachment with all these things
and understands that they are a source of pain and sufferings, from the innermost parts
of his heart
eri thIyiR sudu mEl avarkku eLidhAm – and discards all of these in the blazing fire,
ERRarum vaigunthaththu iruppu - is the one suited for attaining the timeless
paramapadham, to be with other devotees of sriman nArAyaNA, very easily, as this is a
task that is impossible to achieve by one’s own efforts.
Meanings:
nalla pudhalvar: There are some children who are being praised by everybody because
they are full of good qualities. They are in stark contrast to children who are respite with
bad habits and serve as continuous source of trouble for their parents at all times. Here,
“nalla pudhalvar” refer to the former group of children with faultless qualities in them.
manaiyAL: The adjective “nalla” is to be added to this word “manaiyAL” here. This
would point to a wife with good qualities. thiruvaLLuvar says “manaithakka
mANbudayaLAgi thaRkondAn vaLathakkAL vAzhkaithuNai”. silapadhigAram says
“aRavOrku aLithalum, andhaNar Ombalum, thuRandhOrku edhirthalum, tholvOr marabil
virundhedhir kOdalum” It talks about some of the good qualities a woman should
possess that includes the likes of respecting the noble souls, being a good host for all,
helping and offering the needy. In addition to these, a woman should know to find what
is good for leading a good life. It does not stop there but to follow what she learnt, in
addition to culinary skills, offering alms to the needy people and to behave knowing the
purport of her husband’s mind and speech.
navaiyil kiLai: “navai” refers to faults. “il” would be lack of. “kilai” refers to relations.
Hence “navaiyil kiLai” would mean all those relations that we have who are impeccable
and without any faults. These relatives are not like regular relatives who are relatives
just for the sake of it but in reality they behave like enemies. svAmi aruLALa perumaAL
emberumAnAr uses “navayil kiLai” to refer to those relatives with whom everyone wants
to mingle and wants to be in touch and behave well forever.
illam: As mentioned above, the adjective “nalla” has to be added before all the nouns
and so“nalla illam” would mean a house that is very good. A house that is not a
dilapidated and an uninabitable house. Instead it would mean a beautiful home that has
lot of levels , many layers and balconies etc.
gyAna sAram
nilam: There are some land that has lot of weeds. They are infertile and no vegetation
could grow there. “nalla nilam” would mean the opposite of it and so would refer to land
in which crops grow even without any fertilizer. Crops grow in such quantities that the
yield is 10 times higher than what was fed into it. If one were to sow a seed in the
morning, when that person returns in the evening, he would have to holds his hands
together towards his eye and look up to see the tall plants. One batch of plants would
grow and prosper in such a fashion that it would grow and occupy the entire field. Such
fields can be a “nansei” or a “punsei” fields in which the paddy fields grow as tall as a
sugarcane.
mAdu: “nalla mAdu” would mean really good cows. They are unlike the cows that are
cruel, cannot be held nor controlled. These bad cows wreck havoc in the neighboring
homes and fields by destroying anything that comes in their way. svAmi aruLALa
perumaAL emberumAnAr does not mean these types of cows but refers to really good
cows that even a bunch of small kids can tie them. The cow would yield itself to these
kids and would be obedient and behave nicely to even the kids. They yield copious
amounts of milk.
ivai anaiththum: All the aforementioned, just by themselves yield lot of happiness to
everyone. Even if atleast one of them is present in someone, he gets a lot of happiness.
allal enath thORRi: svAmi aruLALa perumaAL emberumAnAr now says that all of these
aforementioned luxuries should be regarded as something that would bring pain or
sorrows. Though the word “allal” would typically mean pain or sorrow, in this context it is
to be construed as something that is not painful by itself but would bring about pain /
sorrow. They are an indirect source of them.
eri thIyiR sudu mEl: A blazing fire that burns splendidly. If these luxuries makes a
person so hot as if he is experiencing the pangs of heat caused in a blazing fire, then
that person is eligible for something that is described in the ensuing paragraph.
avarkku eLidhAm ERRarum vaigunthaththu iruppu: If a person is able to feel these

luxuries of a world as painfully hot, then he is a well matured person. For such a person,
perumAL offers something that cannot be gotten by one’s own effort. perumAL offers
this person HIS paramapadham wherein he can mingle with the rest of perumAL’s
devotees and continue to serve them forever.
gyAna sAram
pAsuram 20 - viruppuRinum thoNdarkku
thamizh:
“விருப்புைினும் தோண்டர்க்கு கவண்டும் இேம் அல்ைால்

ேிருப்தபாைிந்ே மார்பன் அருள் தசய்யான் – தநருப்றப
விடாகே குழவி விழ வருந்ேினாலும்
ேடாகே ஒழியுகமா ோய்?”
English:
“viruppuRinum thoNdarkku vENdum idham allAl

thiruppolindha mArban aruL seyyAn – neruppai
vidAdhE kuzhavi vizha varundhinAlum
thadAdhE ozhiyumO thAy?”
gyAna sAram
Verbatim Meanings:
viruppuRinum thoNdarkku vENdum idham allAl – Even though a devotee desires non
meaningful things, in the lieu of their well-being,
thiruppolindha mArban – the one who has the shining periya pirAtti on HIS chest
aruL seyyAn – will not grant these unnecessary things similar to
neruppai vidAdhE kuzhavi vizha varundhinAlum – a child that wants to touch the fire
due to its brightness, not knowing the bad effects of touching fire and cries that it is
unable to touch the fire, because
thadAdhE ozhiyumO thAy?- a mother (similar to emperumAn) would only push the child
away from the fire, wouldn’t she?
Synopsis: In this pAsuram, svAmi aruLALa perumAL emberumAnAr illustrates a fact
with an example. He says that sriman nArAyaNan would not give all the things that HIS
devotees ask for. HE would never give those things to HIS devotees who does not know
then that it would be harmful for them. They would develop desire on those things and
think that it is good. However, sriman nArAyaNan, who knows the real impact of those
things to HIS devotees, would not give those things to them. This fact is supported with
an example in this pAsuram.
Meanings:
viruppuRinum: The devotees of sriman nArAyaNan, desire to have a few things in life
that are regarded as silly / trivial. They ask perumAL those things with a lot of effort,
knowing that if HE does not give those, then it would be very painful for them. The word
“viruppuRinum” describes the maximum extent to which HIS devotees might go in
pleading HIM.
thoNdarkku: The group of people who are true devotees of sriman nArAyaNan. The
word“thoNdu” can mean both “servant” and “interest to serve”. Here it refers to those
who have the interest to serve. Those who have the interest to serve are said to be
“bhaktas”. Hence, those who have the interest to serve sriman nArAyaNan are called as
“thoNDar”
vENdum idham allAl: “idham” is the thamizh equivalent of the sanskrit word “hitham”.
This means all that is necessary for the devotees mentioned above. The likes of
devotees can be classified into two types namely all that they like and all that are
necessary. “idham” refers to the latter. Hence the phrase “vENdum idham allAl” would
gyAna sAram
refer to all those that is not necessary for their good living. “allAl” is a negation and
hence it would point to all those that is not needed for the better living of devotees.
thiruppolindha mArban: This refers to the One who has a resplendent and shining chest
because periya pirAtti sits there. HIS chest gets the brightness / shine because of
association with pirAtti. AzhvArs say “karumANikka kundRathu thAmarai pOl
thirumArbu, kAl, kan, kai, chevAi undhiyAne” and “karumANikka malai mEl, maNi
thadanthAmarai kAdugal pOl, thirumArbu vAi kaN kai undhi kAl udayAdaigal
seyyapirAn”. In these pAsurams, it can be seen that like other parts of perumAL’s body,
HIS chest is also bright and shiny. It is good to note that HIS chest (thirumArbu) was
mentioned first in that list. svAmi nammAzhvAr says “alar mEl mangai uRayum mArbu” ,
i.e., since periya pirAtti seats on HIS chest, her divine resplendence is spread
throughout HIS chest and so it looks beautiful and shining.
“maiyAr karungaNNI kamala malar mEl

cheyyAl, thirumArvinil sEr thirumAle
veyyAr chudarAzhi suri sangamEndhum
kaiyya! unnai kANa karudhum en kaNNe!!!” -
(thiruvAimozhi 9,4,1)
In this pAsuram, HIS chest is being described as one that gets the source of its
brightness from pirAtti’s association. Hence, “thiruvAl polindha mArban” describes HIS
chest’s beauty. It also describes the association of pirAtti. Hence, the underlying fact
that is being implied here is that they both (perumAl and pirAtti) are together always and
so they would be ready to bless their devotees always.
aruL seyyAn: The devotees how much ever they plead certain things to HIM, HE will not
give those things to them. The reason is that HE knows that these things will not do any
good to them. However, the devotees because of their limited capabilities does not the
long term impacts of those and would ask certain things that they think is good for them.
It is perumAL who because of HIS truly wishful thinking that HE rejects their requests at
that time and consequentially denies them the things that they asked for.
aruLudhal: This means to give. HIS devotees how much ever request HIM to give
something, HE will not yield to their request as HE knows the real impact. This fact is
being supported by an example in the following paragraph:
neruppai vidAdhE kuzhavi vizha varundhinAlum thadAdhE ozhiyumO thAy?: There is a

child that is playing. It sees a fire at some distance and is amazed by the fire’s super
shine and effulgence. It does not know that the fire would hurt its body. However,
gyAna sAram
attracted by the fire’s brightness, it goes towards it and wants to have it in his hands and
play with it. The child’s mother is nearby and is keeping a watchful eye at the child. Will
the mother allow the child to go near the fire and play with it, even though the child
makes steps to go near the fire? She would certainly prevent the child from going to the
fire. Similarly, perumAL who knows the real impact of everything would not yield
something that HIS devotees ask HIM without knowing the ramifications of their request.
How much ever they plead and turn upside down, the answer from HIM would be an
strong “no”.

gyAna sAram
pAsuram 21 - Arap perunthuyarE
thamizh:
“ஆரப்தபருந்துயகர தசய்ேிடினும் அன்பர்கள் பால்

கவரிச்சகராருறக ககான் கமய்ந்நைமாம் – கேரில்
தபாறுத்ேற்கு அரிது எனினும் றமந்ேன் உடற் புண்றண
அறுத்ேற்கு இறச ோறே அற்று.”
English:
“Arap perunthuyarE seythidinum anbargaL pAl

vErichcharOrugai kOn meynnalamAm – thEril
poRuththaRku aridhu eninum maindhan udaR puNNai
aRuththaRku isai thAdhai aRRu.”
Synopsis: sriman nArAyaNan, the consort of periya pirAtti may give a lot of sufferings
to HIS devotees. However, “the real reason for HIM to give those sufferings to HIS
devotees is out of pure love.” This is being illustrated with an example in this pAsuram.

gyAna sAram
Verbatim Meanings:
Arap perunthuyarE seythidinum anbargaL pAl – It may seem like a devotee is being
given lots of great suffering by
vErichcharOrugai kOn– sriman nArAyaNan, the husband of periya pirAtti
meynnalamAm thEril poRuththaRku aridhu eninum – but on further reasoning, it would

be clear that these sufferings are due to emperumAn’s immense love, just like a
maindhan udaR puNNai isai thAdhai aRRu – a father approves a painful surgery for his
son, as a means of treatment for his injury
Arap perunthuyar: “thuyar” is suffering or sorrow; perunthuyar – greater suffering; “Arap

perunthuyar” – greatest suffering. svAmi aruLALa perumAL emberumAnAr used “E”
(evakAram) in the word “thuyar” to mean that this suffering is made up of only pain. It
does not have an iota of happiness in it and it would mean “pain and pain only”.
seythidinum: The word “seythidinum” would refer to the condition that even if perumAL
gives the greatest suffering. perumAL gives the phalan of all the karmas a soul
accumulates over time immemorial. Karmas cab classified into three types based on
time. The past karma known as “pOya pizhai”, the future karma known as
“pugutharuVAn” and the present karma that is being accrued when a soul is being
present in the body currently. All these three karmas can be destroyed only by
perumAL. Hence it is not impossible for HIM to destroy any greatest suffering that a soul
has to undergo. If HE wishes, HE can do that as well. However, for the greater benefit
of HIS true devotees, HE ensures that they undergo the phalam of their karmas, i.e., by
means of greatest sufferings that they undergo. The reason is that HE wants his
devotees to be cut off from this wordly mundane ties.This fact is being reflected in
“kittadhAyin vettena maRa”.
The following is one of thirukuRaL:
“iyalbAgavum nOnbiRku onRu inmai udamai

mayalAgam maRRUM peyarthu”
The meaning of the aforementioned thirukuRaL is that one should leave everything that
he originally clung on to as material ties, if he needs grow in his spiritualistic pursuit in
attaining the lotus feet of sriman nArAyaNan. If a person relinquishes almost everything
but for one small thing, then that can be very dangerous because that one small thing
could slowly and gradually bring on all the other things that person had left inorder to

gyAna sAram
focus. So, it behooves one to leave everything. This explanation is being told by parimEl
azhagar.
vErichcharOrugai kOn: vEri would mean fragrance and “charOrugam” is a lotus. So the
phrase “vErichcharOrugam” would refer to a lotus that is full of fragrance in it. Hence,
the phrase “vErichcharOrugai” would mean the one who sits on such a fragrant lotus.
“charOrugai kOn”: “kOn” means king generally. Here it would mean “consort”. It rides
with “charOrugai” and so refers to sriman nArayaNan who is the consort of periya
pirAtti. The reason pirAtti is also being mentioned here is that when perumAL gives the
greatest suffering to HIS devotees, it is not that HE does it alone. pirAtti is also
cognizant of this and is a part of it. Since we saw that what perumAL gives as suffering
is only going to prove beneficial with time, anything beneficial cannot happen without
pirAtti’s presence. Hence, pirAtti is also present when perumAl gives greatest suffering
to a devotee.
meynnalamAm - This means true love / true concern
thEril - This refers to the act of investigating the reason why perumAL gave sorrows to
a person in the first place.
anbargaL pAl. So the ordering of words in the pAsuram should be vErichcharOrugai

kOn anbargaL pAl Arap perunthuyarE seythidinum thEril
meynnalamAm”. This is being illustrated using an example.
poRuththaRku aridhu eninum maindhan udaR puNNai aRuththaRku isai thAdhai

aRRu: A child had suffered a wound in his body. His father admits him in a hospital
where doctors are going to operate on the boy. This would involve a lot of pain for the
child as they are going to do some cutting probably. His father gladly accepts for the
operation because the end result of operation is good. Father in this example is like
perumAL who gives greatest sufferings to devotees to burn of their karma. This is an act
of true love on the part of perumAL. In this act, HIS consort periya pirAtti also abides by
to create overall good for THEIR devotee in the long run.

gyAna sAram
pAsuram 22 - udaimai nAn
thamizh:
“உறடறம நான் என்றும் உறடயான் உயிறர

வடமதுறர வந்துேித்ோன் என்றும் – ேிடமாக
அைிந்ேவன் ேன் ோேில் அறடந்ேவர்க்கும் உண்கடா?
பிைந்து படு நீள் துயரம் பின்.”
English:
“udaimai nAn enRum udaiyAn uyirai

vadamadhurai vandhuthiththAn enRum – thidamAga
aRindhavan than thALil adaindhavarkkum uNdO?
piRandhu padu nIL thuyaram pin.”
Synopsis:
One should undergo the effects of karma, be it good or bad. No one can escape
it. nIdhi nUl said, “uraRpAla nIkkal uRuvarkum AgA”. This means that devAs as well
cannot stop bad karmas. Similarly, the good karma also cannot be stopped. If there is
no rain, no one can give rain. Similarly, if it rains excessively, no one can stop the rain

gyAna sAram
from pouring. Hence one can understand the karmic effects of a person, be it good or
bad, has to be suffered / enjoyed by the person. This is an universal rule that sriman
nArAyaNan had established us always. Actions done in previous births may reap risks
and rewards in the current birth. Actions done in this birth may reap risk and reward in
future births. This keeps on going like a swirl. Is there a liberaton for this jIvAthma who
is constantly caught up in this swirl of karmic actions? This particular pAsuram answers
this question. If there is no karma anymore , can there be subsequent births and will
there be a need to go through any risk and reward of any karma anymore? No. All these
aforementioned karma will be destroyed like a cotton ball being destroyed by a fire,
says thamizh vEdham. There will not be subsequent births.
Verbatim Meanings:
udaimai nAn enRum udaiyAn uyirai – sriman nArAyaNA, is the owner of the soul
vadamadhurai vandhuthiththAn enRum – and incarnated in the northern Madurai.
thidamAga aRindhavan – One who knows for sure
than thALil adaindhavarkkum uNdO? – about sriman nArAyaNa being the owner and fall
at HIS lotus feet as their sole refuge would not have any concerns at all about the risks
and rewards of karmA
piRandhu padu nIL thuyaram pin – as their karmA will be destroyed in this birth, like a
cotton ball in fire
Explanation:
udaimai nAn enRum: One should know that the soul is a property of sriman nArayaNan.
Scriptures like vEdAs clearly tell that soul is a property of sriman nArayaNan. All of us
are supposed to realize this from scriptures. It does not stop once a person realizes. He
has to live by that.
udaiyAn uyirai vadamadhurai vandhuthiththAn enRum: We should know that such a

sriman nArayaNan,who is the owner of our soul with which we identify ourselves as us.
We should know HIM as one who incarnated as Krishna at vatamathurai. We should
know that HE, Krishna who gave bhagavad gItha to us told that HE is the Supreme
being, He is the owner of everything in the entire universe. We should know that
Krishna was the person who told that there is no rebirth for a person and consequently
no sufferings from karmic effects, if that person takes refuge at HIS lotus feet. HE will
free him from eternal bondage.

gyAna sAram
thidamAga aRindhu: This phrase would mean “to know it very clearly / concretely”. If
we dwell upon sAsthras, we can see for ourselves that the ability of being a property is
reserved for all the souls and the ability of being an owner is reserved only for sriman
nArayaNan. Hence in this pAsuram, the name “udamai” is the name give to the soul and
“udaiyAn” is the name given to sriman nArayaNan, as per the sAsthram. So, the owner
will come to the place where HIS property is and would subsequently take it unto
HIMSELF. HE is the one who comes and reaches the soul, serves as the means to
reach HIM, and upon reaching, HE is the ONE who gets enjoyment out of the fact that
HE has got his property. This relationship, i.e, “owner-owned” has to be understood by
us very clearly in our mind (thidamAga) without scope for an iota of confusion in it.
avan than thALil adaindhavarkkum: This phrase includes all those who realize that they
are the owned and fall at the lotus feet of their owner, sriman nArayaNan, via HIS
consort “pirAtti”. In other words, they are the people who does saraNAgathi as per how
it is described in the first half of “dwaya” manthram.
uNdO? piRandhu padu nIL thuyaram pin: “nIL thuyaram” includes all those karmas
that have been following us for eons together. The karmas are the reasons for future
births. However, if one does saraNAgathi, will there be any more births? There will not
be any births because there will not be any karmas in the first place. They will be
destroyed completely.
svAmi nammAzvAr says in his periya thiruvaNdhAdhi (54)
“vAnO marikadalO mArudhamO, thIyagamO,

kAno orungiRRum kaNdilamAl – AninRa
kanRuyara thAmeRindhu kAyudhithAr thAL paNinNdhOm
vanthuyarai avA marungu”
This would mean that these karmas would just get lost in such a fashion that one would
not even recognize where did they go all of a sudden. Hence, if a person had done
saraNAgathi, will there be any subsequent birth filled with the need to undergo the
effects of our karmic actions? Those who want to be liberated at once after doing
saraNAgathi, will be liberated at once. However, there are a lot of people who wants to
liberated at the end of their life in which they did saraNAgathi. Their wish will also be
true. Hence it goes to prove that there is no birth anyways after sharanaAgathi. This is
not a possibility. This is an absolute certainty, says svAmi“aruLALa perumAL
emberumAnAr.”

gyAna sAram
pAsuram 23 - Uzhi vinaik kuRumbar
thamizh:
“ஊழி விறனக் குறும்பர் ஓட்டருவர் என்ைஞ்சி

ஏறழ மனகம! இனித் ேேகரள் – ஆழி வண்ணன்
ேன்னடிக் கீ ழ் வழ்ந்து
ீ சரண் என்று இைந்தோருகால்
தசான்னேர் பின் உண்கடா? துயர்”
English:
“Uzhi vinaik kuRumbar Ottaruvar enRanjchi

Ezhai manamE! inith thaLarEl – Azhi vaNNan
thannadik kIzh vIzhndhu saraN enRu iranthorukAl
sonnadhaR pin uNdO? thuyar”
Synopsis:
This pAsuram consoles all those who are afraid with the thought that their karmic
actions would continue to follow them and haunt them forever. This pAsuram stresses
the fact that after total surrender (saraNAgathi), there is no sufferings due to our karma
in the past. This is the crux of this pAsuram.

gyAna sAram
Verbatim Meanings:
Uzhi vinaik kuRumbar Ottaruvar enRanjchi – Past karmA will haunt and scare you
Ezhai manamE! inith thaLarEl -– but, the heart without knowledge, do not fret
Azhi vaNNan thannadik kIzh vIzhndhu saraN enRu iranthorukAl – because you can fall
at the feet of the one with the color of the ocean and tell HIM that HE alone is your
savior.
sonnadhaR pin uNdO? Thuyar – After saying that HE is your savior, can you really
worry about karmA or any associated suffering? No!
Explanation:
Uzhi vinaik kuRumbar: Past karma is being given a form and shape here. It is being
personified as a wicked person and called “kuRumbar”.
“Uzh” refers to old and so “Uzh vina” is old (past) karma. The reason past karmas is
personified here is because of the level of bad influence it exerts on a person, like how
they say “azhukARu ena oru pAvi”. They say “kayamai ennum paNbuchol” where the
atrocities of material things is being personified into a living person. The atrocities are
so high that it can be compared to a group of person. Likewise, there are a group of
people (kayavar) who are very strong. Using their strength, they would make a whole
country slave of themselves and rule them as per their whims and fancies. Similarly, this
person called “kurubmbar” who are big group of past karmas take a person according to
however they want. There is also one more evidence to this personification application
in “kangul kuRumbar”. Here kangul (night) plays the role of kuRumbar. Yet another
phrase would be “aivar” where the five sense is being personified.
Ottaruvar enRanjchi: kuRumbar would keep running behind one’s back to haunt them.
The use of the word “Ottaruvar” is to signify that these past karmas come back faster
than one would think.
Ezhai manamE!: Oh my foolish heart!!! svAmi aruLALa perumAL emberumAnAr says

the heart is foolish because it does not know that a) perumAL is the ONE who
never relinquishes those who had done total surrender to HIS lotus feet (HE shows
through HIS hand that “let you don’t fear”) b) the greatness of the wonderful path of
saraNAgathi that leads to the impeccable srivaikuntam c) the benefits to the person who
had done saraNAgathi. Looking at this foolish and pitiable heart, some consolation is
being offered in the subsequent lines of this pAsuram.

gyAna sAram
inith thaLarEl: Even one has a lot of jitters before doing saraNAgathi, there is absolutely
no need of any such jitters or fear after saraNAgathi. Since the greatness of
sharanaAgathi is such that, svAmi aruLALa perumAL emberumAnAr consols his heart.
This is similar to how krishna consoled arjuna by saying “do not fear. I am there for
you”. The word “ini” that means here afterwards refers to the time after saraNAgathi was
performed.
Azhi vaNNan: The ONE who is like an ocean. HE is like an ocean with greater depths
of character. HE is the ONE who is like an blue hued ocean that removes any sorrows
of those who look at it.
thannadik kIzh vIzhndhu: This phrase would mean “to fall at the lotus feet of the ocean
hued perumAL”, akin to how thirumangai AzhvAr exclaimed “Azhi vaNNan nin adiyiNai
adaindhEn”.
saraN enRu iranthu orukAl sonnadhaR pin: After saraNAgathi is performed by saying,
“YOU should be the sole refuge”, there is no fear. This statement should be said only
once. There is absolutely no need to do saraNAgathi more than once. It defeats its very
purpose and theme. Hence it behooves oneself to be cognizant of the fact that
saraNAgathi needs to be performed once and exactly once wherein the person request
perumAL that let HIS lotus feet be the sole refuge for him.
uNdO? thuyar: Hence, after saraNAgathi is done, will there be any way for the past
karmas to follow and haunt us? Never. Right when the person falls at the lotus feet ot
perumAL, all his past karmas and his future karmas would be destroyed as described
in the shAsthrams (Andal says “pOya pizhayum pugudharuvAn nindRanavum). Thus
the essence of the pAsuram is that for all those who had performed saraNAgathi, all the
past karmas get destroyed like how cotton is destroyed in fire. Hence, the past karmas
would not cease to exist in order to haunt that person. So there is no need to fear of
one’s past karmas anymore after saraNAgathi.

gyAna sAram
pAsuram 24 - vaNdu padi thuLaba
thamizh:
“வண்டு படி துேப மார்பினிறடச் தசய்ே பிறழ

உண்டு பை என்று உேம் ேேகரல் – தோண்டர் தசய்யும்
பல்ைாயிரம் பிறழகள் பார்த்ேிருந்தும் காணும் கண்
இல்ைாேவன் கான் இறை.”
English:
“vaNdu padi thuLaba mArbinidaich seydha pizhai

uNdu pala enRu uLam thaLarEl – thoNdar seyum
pallAyiram pizhaigaL pArththirundhum kANum kaN
illAdhavan kAN iRai”
Synopsis:
When sAsthras talk about the types of karmas, it classifies them into three types
namely; past karmas, present karmas and future karmas. In the previous pAsuram
(#23), svAmi aruLALa perumAL emberumAnAr focused on past karmas. In this
pAsuram though,he talks about the present karmas. He tries to console the heart that is
saddened due to the thought of committing a lot of karmas. He goes ahead and says

gyAna sAram
that srIman nArAyaNan would not pay any heed to the karmas that HIS true devotees
perform without their conscience. He will see those karmas of them but would just
dismiss as if HE did not see anything.
Phrasal Meanings:
vaNdu padi thuLaba mArbinidai – The karmas we do against, perumAL who has a
thiruthuzhAi garland adorned in his chest, which is full of honey bees that are crowding
the thiruthuzhAi buds,
cheydha pizhai uNdu pala enRu uLam thaLarEl – are innumerable and we may be
frightened of the same, but fear not
thoNdar seyum pallAyiram pizhaigaL pArththirundhum – as srIman nArAyaNa does not

pay heed to the karmas that HIS true devotees perform unknowingly
kANum kaN illAdhavan kAN iRai – and ignores them as if He saw nothing, similar to a
person who cannot see
vaNdu padi thuLaba mArbinidaich seydha pizhai: The bad karmas that are done
towards perumAL srIman nArAyaNan who adorns a beautiful thiruthuzhAi garland that
attracts a number of honeybees that come to drink the nectar in it. We may get a
question here as to why does svAmi aruLALa perumAL emberumAnAr describe
perumAL as the ONE who has the beautiful thiruthuzhAi garland. The reason is that HE
always shows HIMSELF as beautiful to those who had taken refuge at HIS lotus feet.
They will want to be immersed in HIS beauty always. Once they have surrendered unto
HIM, they will never commit anything that is deemed“bad”. Even if they had committed
them unknowingly, HE would not pay any heed to them. HE would want them to enjoy
HIS beauty once they have surrendered unto HIM. It is to illustrate this fact that HE
adorns HIMSELF beautifully with a thiruthuzhAi garland.
uNdu pala enRu - Even when one had done total surrender unto srIman nArAyaNan,
because of his body that is being controlled by the five senses, there are umpteen
chances to commit mistakes. It is said in thirukuRaL that “uran endRum thOtiyAl Or
aindhum kAppAn”. This is a comparison wherein the five senses are compared to an
elephant and the mind as the controlling stick. It is extremely difficult to control the
senses. svAmi thirumangai AzhvAr says, “aivar aRuthu thindRida anji nin adaindhEn”.
svAmi nammAzhvAr says “uNNilAviya aivarAl kumaithItRi”. Hence we can understand
that because of these five senses thare are innumerable opportunities for one to commit
mistakes even after performing saraNAgathi, due to the association of those senses

gyAna sAram
with the body. When this happens, the person’s mind starts to tremble at the grave
mistakes he had committed.
uLam thaLarEl: To such a mind, this phrase offers consolation in the form of “Hey mind!
Do not worry and do not tremble!!! The word “uLam” is a shrunken version of “uLLamE”
as per thamizh grammatical format of “makara Iru viLi vEtRumai”.
thoNdar seyum: thoNdar refers to srIman nArAyaNan’s devotees. Here it also means
those who are controlled and triggered by senses yet who are always are at the lotus
feet of srIman nArAyaNan. It can also mean those who are servants of srIman
nArAyaNan. Hence, the phrase “thoNdar seyum” would point to all those devotees
of srIman nArAyaNan who consider themselves as servants to their eternal
master srIman nArAyaNan.
pallAyiram pizhaigaL: This would mean “innumerable mistakes”. If we were to identify

the reason for these mistakes, we can see that it is due to the body that is always
constrained by three types of guNams viz., “sathva guNam”, “rajO guNam” and “thamO
guNam”. These three trigger pure, anger/activities and sleep characters in a person.
Due to the influence and interaction of these one commits innumerable mistakes daily
without his conscience. “pizhai” would mean “pApam” or mistake. When a person
commits a mistake within a split second, it would take thousands and thousands of
brahmA years to wipe out the sin. It may be good to recall that 1 brahmA year is several
trillion human years. Thus we can see that it is almost impossible to wipe out the effect
of any small mistake of ours. The mistakes that are being referred here are : doing
things that are condemned by sAsthras that includes torturing others, praising others,
desiring someone else’s wife, usurping someone else’s wealth, telling lies and eating
that are not supposed to be eaten. The other category of mistakes are not doing things
that are prescribed by sAsthras that includes commiting apachAram (sins) towards
perumAL which is comparing perumAL srIman nArAyaNan to inferior demi gods, finding
unfounded faults in HIS incarnations, researching upon the items with which perumAL’s
deity statue is being made, incomplete worships, stealing the items required for worship,
either deliberately or stealthily, assisting someone who is stealing, getting those stolen
products via either begging or by authoritativeness etc. When a person develops hatred
towards fellow devotees because of materialistic pursuits, it is also counted towards
these sins.
iRai pArththirundhum kANum kaN: srIman nArAyaNan is the ONE who is present in
everything and thus knows what is happening always. Such a supreme god srIman
nArAyaNan, even though He does see these innumerable sins commited by HIS true

gyAna sAram
devotees after their complete saraNAgathi, HE will act as if HE did not see anything.
Here “kaN” would metaphorically mean knowledge.
illAdhavan kAN: As we saw earlier that “kaN” denote knowledge, this would mean “ONE
who does not have knowledge”. So perumAL srIman nArAyaNan would be in-cognizant
of HIS devotee’s actions. The word “iRai” in the previous paragraph can also mean “a
small amount”. So, when it is used in such a usage, it would mean that HE would not
even know HIS devotees action not even a small amount or a single bit. This goes
ahead to establish that HE will ignore their unconscious mistakes completely. This is
also being reinforced in srI vishNu sahasra nAma sthOthram as “avigyAtha”.
Hence the overall meaning of this pAsuram is that one does not have to fear for his
actions, after saraNAgathi. The eternal master srIman nArAyaNan would not take
cognizance of these actions/mistake as He would just ignore them.

gyAna sAram
pAsuram 25 - aRRam uraikkil
thamizh:
“அற்ைம் உறரக்கில் அறடந்ேவர் பால் அம்புறயதகான்

குற்ைம் உணர்ந்ேிகழும் தகாள்றகயகனா? – எற்கை ேன்
கன்ைின் உடம்பின் வழுவன்கைா? காேைிப்பது
அன்ைேறன ஈன்றுகந்ே ஆ”
English:
“aRRam uraikkil adaindhavar pAl ambuyaikOn

kuRRam uNarndhigazhum koLgaiyanO? – eRRE than
kanRin udambin vazhuvanRO? kAdhalippadhu
anRadhanai InRugandha A”
Synopsis:
In the previous pAsuram, svAmi aruLALa perumAL emberumAnAr described how

perumAL would not pay any heed to the mistakes done by HIS devotees. Even if

gyAna sAram
someone points at the mistakes of a person, HE would never treat them as blemishes.
Instead HE would treasure them as a thing of enjoyment. The reason behind this is
because HE has a very important quality known as “vAthsalyam”. HE is known as
“vathsalan” because of this quality. This is the quality by which HE treats the blemishes
as blessings. HE would treat the past mistakes / blemishes of a person and would
treasure them as something that is so enjoyable to HIM. So, even if someone were to
argue against perumAL that there still remains some mistakes that HE need to take
care of, since HE does not treat them as blemishes and instead treat them
as “blessings”, there is absolutely no need for anyone to be afraid of their past karmas.
This is what is illustrated in this pAsuram.
Phrasal Meanings:
aRRam uraikkil adaindhavar pAl ambuyaikOn - If one were to tell certainly, to the ones
who have taken refuge at the feet of perumAL who is the husband of the one who sits
on the lotus flower,
kuRRam uNarndhu igazhum koLgaiyanO? – notices the mistakes of His devotees and
would dislike them, would this be true?
eRRE than kanRin udambin vazhuvanRO? kAdhalippadhu – No! Just like the mother
cow happily cleans out and licks the impurities from the body of its calf
anRadhanai InRugandha A - soon after delivering the calfaRRam uraikkil: This phrase
would mean “if one were to tell with certainty”, i.e., if one were to ascertain something
as final and concrete, here it is.
adaindhavar pAl: svAmi aruLALa perumAL emberumAnAr refers to devotees of srIman

nArAyaNan towards whom the latter behaves in a particular manner that is being
detailed in the ensuing phrases.
ambuyaikOn: perumAL srIman nArAyaNan is being referred by many adjectives like

husband of thiru, elder brother of lakshmaNan etc.
The word “pAl” is a case ending in thamizh that means “towards”. Hence, in this context,
the name “ambuyaikOn” would imply that the devotees go through via pirAtti and so
perumAL would definitely accept them. Since perumAL had accepted HIS devotees
because he had come to HIM via HIS consort namely pirAtti, HE would never pay any
heed to the sins. This is because it is her inherent character. After accepting a person,
pirAtti would want to test the resolve of perumAL as in if HE had accepted
wholeheartedly or just for the sake of it. She would talk about all the sins of this persons

gyAna sAram
so as to see if perumAL rejects the person because of sins. However, perumAL would
not do that ever. He would reply to pirAtti, “en adiyAr adhu seyyAr” (MY devotee will
commit those sins). Thus, it only strengthens the point that HE will accept a person
wholeheartedly and would never leave him for he has come unto HIM through pirAtti.
HE would even go one step further than pirAtti would tell her, “Even if it is true that MY
devotee had committed sins as described by you, it will be for a bigger and a larger
cause. Hence I would not treat them as sins in the first place because it has ended up
as good later”. This is the conversation between perumAL and pirAtti as told by
periyAzvAr thirumozhi pAsuram 4.10.2.
kuRRam uNarndhigazhum koLgaiyanO?: svAmi aruLALa perumAL emberumAnAr

ascertains something by means of asking a question. He asks if perumAL is that type of
a person who would hate HIS devotee because the latter had committed innumerable
sins? The reason this question was raised in the first place is to let the readers know
that by asking it, there is an obvious negation as the answer that would reinforce the
underlying point. “koLgai” is own’s nature which is nothing but accepting a devotee just
because he has been recommended by HIS consort. HE would never know the sins of
HIS devotees. Even if pirAtti counter argues to check HIS steadfastness, HE would treat
those sins as an object of enjoyment. HE would never develop hatred towards that
person in lieu of the sins. This is HIS inherent nature and hence HE is being known as
“vasthsalan” because of this character that is known as “vAthsalyam”.“vAthsalyam” is
treating blemishes as blessings. “vathsam” is a cow that is just born and the love its
mother has on itself is known as “vAthsalyam”. perumAL is known as “vathsalan”
because of HIM having this particular character that will be illustrated with an example
in the next paragraph. Here, svAmi aruLALa perumAL emberumAnAr answers to the
question as in where did he see this display of character in the real world.
eRRE than kanRin udambin vazhuvanRO? kAdhalippadhu anRadhanai InRugandha

A: “eRRE” is an exclamation. One who does know about this quality called “vAthsalyam”
will be the ones who would think that perumAL would have hatred towards those who
commit sins. svAmi aruLALa perumAL emberumAnAr lets out an exclamation here to
ask does people do exist like this in the first place who does know about HIS
vAthsalyam? The quality of “vAthsalyam” is being illustrated now with an example. A
cow would never eat impure grass, i.e. a grass that someone had stepped upon.
However, when it delivers its baby, it licks and relished all the impurities in its baby’s
body. As they say “InRa pozhudin peridhuvakkum”, the mother cow showers its
complete love on its calf’s body that is just born. Likewise, perumAL would treat all
those innumerable accrued sins over eons of a devotee as an object of enjoyment. HE

gyAna sAram
would never hate him just like how a cow would never hate its calf. Whenever, our
pUrvAcharyas illustrate the quality of “vAthsalyam”, they talk about this example.
“vathsam” is calf and as seen earlier the love that its mother has is known as
“vAthsalyam”. This quality can be seen only in perumAL forever and no one else. So,
this quality is often times referred as “godly”. svAmi aruLALa perumAL emberumAnAr is
awestruck by this particular quality of perumAL and that is why lets out an exclamation
“eRRE”.

gyAna sAram
pAsuram 26 - thappil guru aruLAl
thamizh:
“ேப்பில் குரு அருோல் ோமறரயாள் நாயகன் ேன்

ஒப்பில் அடிகள் நமக்கு உள்ேத்து – றவப்தபன்று
கேைி இருப்பார்கள் கேசு தபாைி றவகுந்ேத்து
ஏைி இருப்பார் பணிகட்கக ஏய்ந்து”
English:
“thappil guru aruLAl thAmaraiyAL nAyagan than

oppil adigaL namakku uLLaththu – vaippenRu
thERi iruppArgaL thEsu poli vaigunthaththu
ERi iruppAr paNigatkE Eyndhu”

gyAna sAram
Synopsis:
The path of total surrender unto the lotus feet of sriman nArAyaNan (also known as
sharanAgathi) is a path that was told by perumAL sriman nArAyaNan Himself. Tamil
poet thiruvaLLuvar says, “poRi vAyil aiyndhaviththAn poydhIr ozhukka neRi”. Here the
words have to be understood as in “aiyndhaviththAn Agira iraivanAl sollapatta
uNmayAna neRi ozhukka neRi” that means that it is God Who told about the path that is
flawless and impeccable. thiruvaLLuvar in an another poem that starts with
“paRRaRRAn paRRinai”, where he says “iraivan odhiya vIttu neRi”. This neRi is nothing
but the path of total surrender (sharanAgathi). This act of totally surrendering oneself
unto the lotus feet of sriman nArAyaNan has always to be done with the aid of one’s
guru. One should learn the deeper meanings of sharanAgathi from one’s guru. Those
who do so and gain undisputed belief in it, would reach the eternal abode of
paramapadham and do uninterrupted kainkaryam there.
Phrasal Meanings:
aruLAl With the divine blessings of
guru a guru who has
no imperfections in knowledge and practical implementation of the

thappil knowledge
thERi iruppArgaL those who sternly believe in the fact that the
oppil matchless
adigaL lotus feet of
thAmaraiyAL nAyagan than husband of pirAtti, aka perumAL’s is the only
vaippenRu deposit at
uLLaththu the heart at the heart of us who

gyAna sAram
namakku does not have any knowledge at all; Such persons will be
ERi on the right track on the path towards paramapadham
paNigatku subsequently do kainkaryam at paramapadham
and will be more than befitting to the role that will be performed
Eyndhu iruppAr there at paramapadham which is described as
thEsu poli resplendent
vaigunthaththu eternal abode known as “srivaikuntam” or “paramapadham”.
thappil guru aruLAl: “thappil guru” would refer to a guru who does not do anything wrong
ever. As per the thirukuRaL phrase “kaRka adhaRku thaga niRka”, the fact that the guru
does not do anything wrong is a result of the knowledge he had gained earlier.
thAmaraiyAL nAyagan than: It refers to the husband of “thiru (piRatti)”, who is none
other than sriman nArAyaNan HIMSELF. The phrase would point meanings revealed in
two places: (1) “sriman” and (2) nArAyaNa. Both these are in the first half of dwaya
mahA manthram. “thAmaraiyAL nAyagan” would point to the fact that perumAL never
gets separated from her. This is reflected in “sriman” in dwaya mahA manthram.
“nAyagan than” would reveal the meanings of “nArayaNan” in “sriman nArayaNan” in
dwayam. These two are needed to uplift a devotee. HIS qualities like vAthsalyam,
svAmithvam, sausElyam, saulabhyam are needed just right when HIS devotee
surrenders himself to HIM. After surrendering, HIS qualities like gyAnam
(knowledge/wisdom) and shakthi (power to do things) are needed in addition to other
qualities like prApthi and pUrthi. The phrase “nAyagan than” specifically covers these
qualities of perumAL as covered in the “nArayaNan” in dwaya mahA manthram
oppil adigaL: This refers to the “incomparable lotus feet” of sriman nArayaNan, that
covers the meanings impregnated with the word “charanau” in dwaya mahA manthram.
The reason HIS lotus feet is often described as “incomparable” is because of the ability
to protect any devotee without seeking the help of something else.
namakku uLLaththu -vaippenRu: This refers to devotees like us. In order to be the
recipient of HIS grace, there is no other refuge for anyone. As per the universal truth,
there is indeed no other way except HIMSELF. Thus, “us” includes all of us who have

gyAna sAram
realized this truth and this group of people is what is being described by the phrase
“namakku”. Such devotees who have HIS lotus feet in their heart, consider it to be their
“savings deposit” / “treasure”. Thus, the phrases in “charanau” and “prapadhyE” in
dwaya mahA manthram is being referred by this. The reasons is as follows: If a person
has a treasure, he can do anything that he wants. Likewise, if a person has in himself,
the divine lotus feet of sriman nArayaNan, he can accomplish anything that he wants
because he can meditate upon the Lord by thinking “HIS lotus feet alone is my sole
refuge”. Hence, the comparison of HIS lotus feet to a treasure is perfectly fine.
Moreover, when we say to catch hold of HIS lotus feet, it is a mental act and not a
physical act. This is often times being called as “mAnasa swIkAram” and so is an act of
mind rather than a physical act.
thERi iruppArgaL: Those who are unshakable in their belief about HIS lotus feet in their
hearts. It is interesting to note that even though one may seek HIS lotus feet as their
sole refuge and worship in their hearts. However, in order to have an unshakable belief
in it is not an easy task. Thus, “thERi iruppArgal” includes those group of people who
are steadfast in this belief. To a person who has done sharanAgathi, this belief is of
utmost interest. If ever there is a lapse in this belief, then he cannot go to
paramapadham. To such persons who has this certain belief, the gain of such a belief is
being described in the ensuing lines.
thEsu poli vaigunthaththu: They would reach the final destination of ever
resplendent“paramapadham” that is being described as “azhivil vIdu“. In
paramapadham, one can experience the highest bliss and can do service forever that
would please sriman nArayaNan.
ERi iruppAr paNigatkE Eyndhu: These devotees would be suited and be ready to do
service at paramapadham. “paNigal” refers to services done to sriman nArayaNan.
“Eyndhu iruppAr” is being ready / qualified to do such a service to the highest sriman
nArayaNan. There is yet another meaning if we take the second meaning of “paNi”.
“paNi” can refer to “AdhisEsha” and so would mean here that these devotees would be
comparable to Aadisesha. This means that just like how AdhisEsha does eternal service
to sriman nArayaNan, the devotees will also be able to do it. The services that
Aadisesha does are being beautifully described in “senRAl kudayAm, irundhAl
singAsanamAm, ninRAl maravadiyAm, nIL kadaluL enRum punaiyAm maNi viLakkAm,
pUmpattAm, pulgum aNaiyAm thirumArkku aravu”.

gyAna sAram
pAsuram 27 - neRi aRiyAdhArum
thamizh:
“தநைி அைியாோரும் அைிந்ேவர் பாற் தசன்று

தசைிேல் தசய்யாத் ேீ மனத்ேர் ோமும்- இறை உறரறயத்
கேைாேவரும் ேிருமடந்றே ககான் உைகத்து
ஏைார் இடர் அழுந்துவார்”
English:
“neRi aRiyAdhArum aRindhavar pAR senRu

seRidhal seyyAth thI manaththar thAmum – iRai uraiyaith
thERAdhavarum thirumadandhai kOn ulagaththu
ERAr idar azhundhuvAr”
Synopsis:
In this pAsuram, svAmi aruLALa perumAL emberumAnAr talks about three types of
people. He says that those three types of people would never the eternal abode of

gyAna sAram
sriman nArAyaNan namely ‘paramapadham’ but would keep themselves in the midst of
troubles that the worldly births and death cause.
Phrasal Meanings:
aRiyAdhArum Those who don’t know
neRi means
aRindhavar pAR senRu Those who go to a guru who knows the means already yet
does not make his guru happy by not obeying him and doing
seRidhal seyyA service unto him and
thI manaththar thAmum those who possess a ill heart and
those who does not have belief in “sharanAgathi” shAsthram as

iRai uraiyaith thERAdhavarum told by krishnA in HIS bhagavad gIthai; Such people will
ERAr will not reach
ulagaththu paramapadham where is the King is none other than the
thirumadandhai kOn One who is the King of srimahAlakshmi; Such people
azhundhuvAr will get immersed in
idar the samsaric ocean that is the source of all troubles.
neRi aRiyAdhArum: There are some people who does not know the path/means to
break the shackles of birth and death that happens again and again. They just can’t
seem to figure out the way to get out of this loop and are struck in it forever. Such
people are being referred to here.
aRindhavar pAR senRu seRidhal seyyAth thI manaththar thAmum: These refer to those
people who does not go to a guru (Acharyan) who knows the means to break free from
the samsAric (worldly) bondage of births and deaths as shown by the phrase “mARi

gyAna sAram
mARi pala piRappum piRandhu”. These people do not fall under the lotus feet of a guru.
Even if they do reach their respective gurus, they do not have a proper conduct towards
HIM. Even though the guru is ready to tell the means to break the bondage of births and
deaths, the very behaviour of these people would prohibit the guru to tell the secret to
them. The reason is that they do not oblige their guru and do services that would please
them. They do not request politely with the guru the means to break the bondage. They
do not do any kind of work that their guru asks them to do ever. They do not interact
closely with guru at all. However, they regard their guru as just another human being
and find numerous imperfections in the guru just like how one would find innumerable
faults with other normal person. Such people are being describe in this paragraph.
iRai uraiyaith thERAdhavarum: There are yet another group of people who does not
have a strong belief in sharanAgathi (total surrender unto the lotus feet of sriman
nArAyaNan) shAsthram. The sharanAgathi shAsthram was given by Lord krishna to
arjunA in the 18th chapter of HIS “bhagavad gIthai”. Though HE spoke to arjunA, He
just used him as a means. HIS ultimate audience was laymen like us and so he just
used arjunA as a representative for us.
thirumadandhai kOn ulagaththu ERAr: These people would never go

to “srivaikuntam” or“paramapadham” that is being described as the eternal abode of
perumAL who is the husband of pirAtti.
idar azhundhuvAr: These people would forever be immersed in this woeful world of
sorrows and be born again and again. They experience all the pain and would never be
able to reach HIS eternal abode of paramapadham. svAmi aruLALa perumAL
emberumAnAr says that they will suffer immensely forever.

gyAna sAram
pAsuram 28 - sharanAgathi maRROr

Synopsis:
In the earlier pAsuram of “thappil guruvarulAl”, sVami aruLALa perumAL emberumAnAr

talked about how those who had understood the purport of “sharanAgathi” that was told
to them by their achAryan. He said that these people are sure to reach paramapadham.
In the next pAsuram of “neRi aRiyAdhArum”, he talked about those who did not
understand the meaning of sharanAgathi through their achAryan, those who do not
have any belief in sharanAgathi as preached by Lord Krishna HIMSELF. He concluded
that these two sets of people will never attain paramapdham. In this pAsuram, some
truths about sharanAgathi are being dealt. sharanAgathi is nothing but surrendering
unto the lotus feet of sriman nArAyaNan and saying “YOUR lotus feet is my sole refuge.
I do not have no other go anywhere else”. Please do recollect the meanings of
sharanAgathi as revealed in 23rd pAsuram (Oozhi vinai kuRumbar). After having
surrendered unto the lotus feet of sriman nArAyaNan, if one has wavering thoughts in
his or her mind as to whether just falling at the lotus feet would be enough to get
moksham and as a result perform some good deeds on his own effort, then sriman
nArAyaNan would not honor the sharanAgathi that he did ealier. HE will definitely make
that sharanAgathi go futile. This wonderful point of sharanAgathi is what is being
explored in this pAsuram.

gyAna sAram
thamizh:
“சரணாகேி மற்கைார் சாேனத்றே பற்ைில்

அரணாகாது அஞ்சறன ேன் கசறய
முரண் அழியக்கட்டிய கவகைார் கயிறு தகாண்டார்பேன்முன்
விட்ட பறடகபால் விடும்”
English:
“sharanAgathi maRROr sAdhanathai paRRil

aRanAgAdhu anjanai than sEyai
muRan azhiya kattiyadhu vErOr kayiRu kondu Arpadhan mun
vitta padai pOl vidum”
Verbatim Meanings:
sharanAgathi: sharanAgathi (total surrender) that is being done at the lotus feet of
sriman nArAyaNan. One of the salient points of it are that
maRROr sAdhanathai: if a person indulge himself in other activities after losing

confidence in his sharanAgathi
paRRil: and if he considers it as an action that would yield good karma
aRanAgAdhu: then, the surrender (sharanAgathi) that this person did earlier, would not
rescue him rather would make him and his sharanAgathi act, a failure
anjanai than sEyai: This is similar to how, hanuman, who is the son of anjanA devi
muRan azhiya: was destroyed his mighty valor
kattiyadhu: and was being tied by a weapon called brahmAsthram by the demon
indhirajit (son of rAvana).
vErOr kayiRu kondu: indhirajith did not rely on brahmAsthram and tried to tie him more
by petty ropes after losing confidence in the power of brahmAsthram
Arpadhan mun: that made the brahmAsthram to untie itself at the very moment
vitta padai pOl: Similarly, like the brahmAstharam that relieved hanuman
vidum: sharanAgathi would not come to a person’s rescue, rather fail him completely

gyAna sAram
Meanings:
sharanAgathi: In order to reach sriman nArAyanan, shAsthrAs have prescribed a lot of

good ways and deeds. Amongst these, sharanAgathi is the most right way. The reason
is that other ways / karmas get created only when somebody does it in the first place. If
a person does not do those karmAs, that way simply does not exist for him.
sharanAgathi is unlike other good ways, in that it does not exist at one point of time and
do not exist at another point of time. sharanAgathi always exists forever and ready to be
followed by whoever wants to follow that path. shranAgathi or the path of surrendering
is nothing but sriman nArAyanan HIMSELF. HE verily manifests as this great path
called “total surrender”. HE is someone that is characterized by infinite cognizance,
ability to execute whatever HE thinks. This particular feature is not a defining
characteristic in other ways (karmAs). Since this sharnAgathi is defined by infinite good
deeds / karmas (also known as punniyam), this is known as “shAsthram”. To those who
fall at the lotus feet of sriman nArAyaNan (who is also known verily as sharanAgathi),
HE serves as good deeds and blesses them. Hence, sharanAgathi is nothing but falling
unto sriman nArAyaNan’s lotus feet and saying “YOU are my only protection. I do not
have any one or any other place to go”. For this way called “sharanAgathi”, the most
important and most crucial thing needed is complete faith that has appellations
like “mahA visvAsam” or “adhyAvasAyam” as per shAsthrAs. If one were to lose this
complete faith, then sriman nArAyaNan, a.k.a “sharanAgathi” would never yield any
positive results. In addition to it, the person who surrenders should never have an iota of
thought within himself that it was he who did the sharanAgathi. He should never have
the “ahankAram” (characterized by I, me etc) and mamakAram (mine). He should be as
a person who has no other place to go apart from sriman nArAyaNan’s lotus feet. Such
a person is a person who has the requirement to do sharanAgathi. This thought is being
reflected by AzhvAr’s “pugal onRilA adiyEn”. If a person were to hate this materialistic
life and absolutely yearn to reach the lotus feet of the LORD immediately, HE would
make sure that the person reaches HIM instantly. This has been explained in the
literature about sharanAgathi.
maRROr sAdhanathai paRRil: One should know the meaning and complete purport of
sharanAgathi. After surrendering to the lotus feet of sriman nArAyaNan, one should not
don’t himself about this path called “sharanAgathi” and start doing things on his own as
a secondary act of saving himself. If for some reason he does that, then sharanAgathi
would never stand as the refuge for that person. The sharanAgathi that he did, will not
come to his help, rather leave him forever. Hence, it behooves a person to hold on to
his faith with utmost steadfastness and not doubt the sharanAgathi and start doing

gyAna sAram
things on his own as an act of saving himself. If he does, then sharanAgathi will fail
miserably. This fact is being illustrated by means of a story
anjanai than sEyai: Hanuman, the son of Anjana
muRan azhiya kattiyadhu: muRan refers to strength or might/valor and thus this phrase
would mean “to nullify that strength by means of brahmAsthram
vErOr kayiRu kondu Arpadhan mun: The moment when one loses hopes on
brahmAsthram and starts to use other petty ropes to tie hanuman (Arthal would mean
the act of tying)
vitta padai pOl: sharanAgathi would fail just like how brahmAsthram would fail if it used
in conjunction with other petty ropes
Remarks: In srirAmayaNam, when hanuman went as messenger to sri lankA, he

destroyed the entire ashOka vanam. Indhirajith, who was the son of the king rAvana,
fought with hanuman and tied him using brahmAsthram. However, after recollecting the
wrath that hanuman incurred on sri lankA and his rakshasas, indhirajith tried to tie him
for the second time using all petty ropes possible thinking that it would bolster
brahmAsthram. He thought to himself, “would this brahmAsthram suffice to tie a warrior
like hanuman” and doubted the power of brahmAsthram. Hence, he went ahead and
brought all petty ropes and tied hanuman one more time. Looking at this foolish act of
indhirajith, brahmAsthram untied itself and relieved hanuman of all the knots. Similarly,
if one were to indulge in other acts apart from sharanAgathi, then sharanAgathi would
not yield any result and would leave the person forever in unending trouble. While
sharanAgathi is compared to brahmAsAsthram, other good deeds and karmAs that a
person does are compared to these petty ropes.

gyAna sAram
pAsuram 29 – mandhiramum Indha

Synopsis:
This pAsuram explains that there is a group of people with certain characteristics and
these people would be liberated from the bondages of this samsAric world The
characteristics of these people are that they have undisputed belief in the eight lettered
thirumanthiram, have complete faith in the grace of the guru who told them and has
belief in the object that thirumanthiram describes namely “perumAL sriman nArAyaNan”
thamizh:
“மந்ேிரமும் ஈந்ே குருவும் அம் மந்ேிரத்ோல்

சிந்ேறன தசய்கின்ை ேிருமாலும் – நந்ேைிைாது
என்றும் அருள் புரிவர் யாவர், அவர் இடறர
தவன்று கடிேறடவர் வடு
ீ ”

gyAna sAram
English:
“mandhiramum Indha guruvum

am mandhirathAl sindhanai seiginRa thirumAlum
nadhalilAdhu enRum aruL purivar yAvar avar idarai
venRu kadidhu adaivar vIdu”
Synopsis:
Mandhiramum: Thirumanthiram,
Indha guruvum: the guru who gave the thirumathiram to a person and
am mandhirathAl: the object / cynosure of thirumanthiram
sindhanai seiginRa: that is being medidated upon
nadhalilAdhu: incessantly
thirumAlum: who is none other than sriman nArAyaNan
enRum: People who think about these three, will forever
aruL purivar: be the target of the grace;
yAvar: Such persons
avar: and only such persons
idarai venRu: will win over the samsAric battles and
kadidhu: quickly and
adaivar vIdu: reach the eternal abode of sriman nArAyaNan namely paramapadham
Synopsis:
Mandhiramum: manthiram is something that protects the person who tells it not only
regularly but also with same undwindled interest towards it. Here “mathiram” refers to
the eight syllabled “thirumanthiram”. Thirumazhisai pirAn says “ettezhuthum
OdhuvArgal vallAr vAnam aLavE”.
Indha guruvum: The Acharyan who gave and taught the thirumanthiram.

gyAna sAram
am mandhirathAl sindhanai seiginRa thirumAlum: The person who is being told in

thirumanthiram namely sriman nArAyaNan.
nadhalilAdhu: “nandhudhal” refers to a stop/ break due to anything. Hence

“nandhalilAdhu” would mean “incessantly”.
enRum aruL purivar yAvar: The person who is the recipient of the grace of those
aforementioned three namely “thirumanthiram”, the acharyan who taught it and the
object of thirumanthiram that is none other than sriman nArAyaNan
avar idarai venRu kadidhu adaivar vIdu: That person will be liberated from the
bondages of this samsAric world and would reach the place of ever lasting happiness
which is the nothing but the eternal abode of sriman nArAyaNan. At this juncture, it is
good to note the mumukshupadi sUthram “manthirathilum manthirathukku uLLEdAna
vasthuvilum manthira pradhanAna Acharyan pakkalilum prEmam gaNakka undAnAl
kArya karamAvadhu”.

gyAna sAram
pAsuram 30 - mAdum manayum

Synopsis:
In this pAsuram, svAmi aruLALa perumAL emberumAnAr describes a point in

shAsthram that decrees us to have any kind of relationship with certain type of people.
These people are those that do not regard that the wealth they have accumulated for
this life, their future lives, is none other than their guru (AchAryan) who told the eight
syllabled ashtAkshara mahA manthram (thirumanthram).
thamizh:
“மாடும் மறனயும் கிறேயும் மறை முனிவர்

கேடும் உயர் வடும்
ீ தசன்தனைியும்- பீடுறடய
எட்தடழுத்தும் ேந்ேவகன என்று இராேருைறவ
விட்டிடுறக கண்டீர் விேி”

gyAna sAram
English:
“mAdum manayum kiLayum maRai munivar

thEdum uyar vIdum sen neRiyum
pIdudaya ettezhuthum thandhavanE enRu irAdhAr uRavai
vitidugai kandEr vidhi”
Verbatim Meanings:
mAdum: Cows that yield milk,
manayum: House that breeds happiness,
kiLayum: relatives
maRai munivar thEdum: that which the sages seek which is nothing but
uyar vIdum: the one and the only paramapadham and finally
sen neRiyum: the divine path (archirAdhi) that leads to such a wonderful
paramapadham, These aforementioned things are nothing but
thandhavanE: one’s guru (AchAryan) who revealed the meanings of the
pIdudaya: great
ettezhuthum: ashtAkshara mahA manthram namely “thirumanthram”
enRu irAdhAr: People who do not regard that the aforementioned things are nothing but
their guru
uRavai: our relationship with them in any form should be

gyAna sAram
vitidugai: renounced without any trace.
vidhi: This is an order from the shAsthrAs
kandEr: Please look at this order and understand its significance.
Meanings:
mAdum: “mAdu” refers to cows. Here svAmi aruLALa perumAL emberumAnAr

describes the cows as those that gives copious amounts of delicious milk, curd and
other nutritional items. Since it gives such worthy products the cows are treasured and
so considered as a wealth by itself. Having lots of cows would be directly related to
wealth.
Manayum: A house that acts as a base / source for all happiness in one’s life.
kiLayum: This includes the relatives that think on the lines that to be united together
itself is blissful and blessed. The three things including cows, houses and relatives that
are all needed for the sustenance and happiness of the present life.
maRai munivar: Sages that are authority in vEdam. They are those who think about
bhagavAn sriman nArAyaNan incessantly in their minds and hearts
thEdum uyar vIdum: “thEdu” refers to the act of finding and so “thEdum uyar
vIdu” would mean the paramapadham that has been searched and researched and
found as the ultimate place one can be. Since “uyar” would mean “high”, “uyar
vIdu” would suggest that there is another thing as “low”. This is nothing but
the “kaivalyam” which is nothing but enjoying one’s own soul forever and refusing to be
for the enjoyment of paramAthama. Our pUrvAchAryars would regards
this “kaivalyam” as very inferior. Since it is something that needs to be discarded, in
order to contrast paramapadham with the kaivalyam, svAmi aruLALa perumAL

gyAna sAram
emberumAnAr uses the adjective “uyar” (high) before “vIdu” and refers to
paramapadham (vaigundha vAn bhOgam). Since “siru vIdu” means kaivalyam, in order
to clear any room for uncertainities, the adjective “uyar” is added before “vIdu”.
sen neRiyum: When a soul reaches the great paramapadham, it is said to have been
liberated or attained moksham. The way or the path to reach paramapadham
is “archirAdhi”. The way is also equally great as the destination. In other words, “sen
neRi” could also include all the other means to reach sriman nArAyaNan HIMSELF. In
case of a prapannan (one who had done sharanAgathi), the means is nothing but
sriman nArAyaNan HIMSELF.
pIdudaya ettezhuthum thandhavanE enRu irAdhAr uRavai: “uRavu” is a relationship.

Here svAmi aruLALa perumAL emberumAnAr talks about the relationship with certain
type of people. These people do not realize that their guru, who told the ashtAkshara
mahA manthram, is everything for them. Cows, houses and relatives actually
exacerbate the worldly pain suffered a person at the context of giving pleasures. The
panacea for all those pain is nothing but the eight syllabled ashtAkshara mahA
manthram known as “thirumanthram” which would teach us that all those
aforementioned material benefits are temporal and ethereal. Thirumanthram would also
pave way to reach the highest and the ultimate abode of sriman nArayaNan. Such a
thirumanthram was taught by one’s guru. So if a person has relationship with other
people who does not realize that everything is guru who preached them the
thirumathram, then such a relationship should be renounced immediately as per the
order of shAsthras.
vitidugai: That which needs to be renounced without a trace of doubt / question.
Vidhi: This is an order of shAsthras

gyAna sAram
kandEr: Let you be known!!! Let you see this fact!!! Let you get this and understand it!!!
Hence one should not have any relationship with people who does not have Acharya
samabndham. They should at once leave any kind of bondage with these people.

gyAna sAram
pAsuram 31 - vEdham oru nAngin

Synopsis:
This pAsuram explains the point that one’s Acharyan is everything. The essence of all
meanings conveyed in all vEdhAs and other scriptures is nothing but the path of total
surrender (sharanAgathi). The meaning of such a path known as sharanAgathi was
explained to a person by his Acharyan. Hence, one’s Acharayn’s lotus feet has to be
deemed as everything by a person. This point is being described in this pAsuram.
thamizh:
“கவேம் ஒரு நான்கின் உட்தபாேிந்ே தமய்ப்தபாருளும்

ககாேில் மனுமுேநூல் கூறுவதும் – ேீேில்
சரணாகேி ேந்ே ேன் இறைவன் ோகே
அரணாகும் என்னும் அது”

gyAna sAram
English:
“vEdham oru nAngin utpodhindha mei poruLum

kOdhil manu mudhal nUl kUruvadhum
thIdhil sharaNAgathi thandha than iraivan thALE
araNAgum ennum adhu”
Verbatim Meanings:
thIdhil – The faultless
sharaNAgathi – path of total surrender unto sriman nArAyaNan;
thandha – The one who showed it who is none other than
than iraivan – one’s AchAryan, who showed the path of sharanAgathi. He is one’s god.
Such an AchAryan’s
thALE: lotus feet
araNAgum: is the refuge for a person.
ennum adhu: The sharanAgathi shAsthra that says so and
oru nAngu vEdham: the incomparable vEdhAs that include rig, yajur, sAma and
atharvana
utpodhindha: the stuff that is impregnated with these vEdhAs
mei poruLum: The true and inner meaning of
kOdhil: impeccable
manu mudhal nUl: shAsthras such as “manu shAsthram” etc.,
kUruvadhum: the thoughts that is being told in such shAsthram such as “manu
shAsthram”
aduvE: is nothing but to seek refuge under the lotus feet of one’s AchAryan.
Explanation:
vEdham oru nAngin utpodhindha mei poruLum: The word “oru” in this phrase describes
the incomparable nature of vEdhAs, i.e., they are not being created by man. They are

gyAna sAram
not written and they are without any doubts, ambiguity and confusing nature. They are
the ones that describe something based on the face value. They do not contort anything
to make it saleable etc.
The word “nAngu” in the above phrase means four and so represents the four vEdhAs
namely rig, yajur, sAma and atharvana vEdA. In order to keep an object fast and
secure, there is a practice to tie it with a rope that has 8 smaller threads in it. Likewise,
the thirumanthiram that has eight syllables in it, keep the ultimate sriman nArAyaNan
very fast and secure in it. This“ashtAksha mahA manthiram” is implicit in all the vEdhAs
and is invisible (It is good to note the thiruchandha viruththam says “ettinOdum
iraNdenum kayiRinAl ananthanai katti”). The word vEdhA (that which measures
everything) is superior to all other scriptures and work that talk about this
ultimate god sriman nArAyaNan that is being held as “secret”. Since it is quantified
as “four” vEdhAs, it goes to prove that it is not something that is being mentioned in a
remote corner of vEdhAs put together. It shows that the overall purport of all vEdhAs,
that has branched into innumerable sub-divisions, is nothing but the meaning of the
ashtAkshara manthram. Moreover, that treasured meaning is not just kept superficially
for anyone to glean. It is treasured very much because it is the ultimate sriman
nArAyaNan. The phrase “mei porul”would mean the “true stuff”. This goes ahead to say
that the vEdhAs does not boast about the ultimate thing but would tell the true nature of
the supreme sriman nArAyaNan.
kOdhil manu mudhal nUl kUruvadhum: ‘kOdhu” is fault and hence “kOdhil” would mean
that which is there without any fault. The fault that is referred here is the fault that arises
when a particular thing is being interpreted in a different manner compared to the
original by concocting whims and fancies to the original. For example, if one were to see
a sea shell, he should say that he saw a sea shell. However, if he says that he saw
silver, just so to attract attention, then that statement is said to be a faulty statement.
Manu shAsthram is one such shAshtram that is devoid of any faults like this. The
adjective “kOdhil” was used for “manu shAsthram” would imply that whatever manu
says is a medicine. Thus, the greatness of manu shAsthram could be inferred. So, one
need not do any kind of research in manu shAsthram as to if we can take it literally
and/or apply them for our lives. This adjective “kOdhil” when it is used to qualify other
scriptures, the greatness of those scriptures being referenced can be known and
eventually the credibility of those is bolstered. That is to say the these scriptures do not
tell anything in a confusing manner nor in a concocted manner. Such scriptures include
ithihAsas like “sAthvIka smrithis, srivishnu purANam, srimad bhAgavatham,
mahAbhAratham and AgamAs like pAncharAthram etc. The aforementioned scriptures

gyAna sAram
unanimously tell the meaning that is treasured in the “ashtAkshara mahA

manthram” which forms the heart of the vEdhAs itself. The meaning that is treasured is
nothing but the path of sharanAgathi and the duty of these scriptures like manu etc is to
tell that meaning explicitly and clearly. The bottom line is that the path of total surrender
(sharanAgathi) is what comes out of the crux of vEdhAs and other above mentioned
scriptures like manu shAsthram etc.
thIdhil sharaNAgathi thandha:- “thIdhu” would mean fault and hence “thIdhil” is without
any fault. The path of total surrender (sharanAgathi) is without any fault. In the same
scriptures that showed us what sharanAgathi is, there are chapters that talks about the
defects found in other paths apart from sharanAgathi, such as karma yOgam, gyAna
yOgam, bhakthi yOgam etc. These other paths cannot be done by everybody. Only
certain people are qualified to do it. Even those who are qualified to do cannot do all
that which is prescribed in these other paths. If one does not do what is prescribed in
these other paths, then it would lead them to nowhere. Since we have the easiest path
called “sharanAgathi”, there is absolutely no need to follow other paths. One cannot find
any fault with this sharanAgathi approach, where there is direct contact with sriman
nArAyaNan. This is its highest merit as the word “prapathi” itself would
mean “Iswaran” (sriman nArAyaNan) as per bhagavad vishayam. This easiest path of
sharanAgathi is being given to us by AcharyAn just like how a poor person is being
given a copious amount of wealth to enjoy forever. Such a sharanAgathi path is being
given to us by our AchAryan.
than iraivan: In the 30th pAsuram, one’s Acharyan was described as the one who gave
the eight syllabled ashtAkshara mahA manthram (ettezhuthum thandhavanE). In this
pAsuram, he is being described as the one who gave the sharanAgathi (sharanAgathi
thandhavan). From this, we can understand that there is difference between giving
away the meanings of ashtAkshara mahA manthram and the meanings of
sharanAgathi. In this pAsuram, it is secretively described as “sharanAgathi” whereas in
the earlier pAsuram, it was explicitly mentioned as “eightsyllabled” manthram. There are
three main manthram that includes thirumanthram, dvayam and charama slokam. In
thirumanthram and charama shloka, the practice of our ancestors is to hide the
meanings secretively and tell the manthram per se explicitly. In case of dwayam that
talks about sharanAgathi, they would not only hide the meanings but also the manthram
as well by not uttering it vocally. They would only utter it in their mind. By this, we can
know that there is something of utmost value in that most secretive manthram known as
dvaya mahA manthram. Speaking of this, swamy nanjIyar would remark that in dvayam,
one can learn about perumAL’s beautiful and divine body, ITS divine qualities, the

gyAna sAram
characteristics of paramAthma, HIS innumerable qualities, the ever happy state of

nithyAthmas, mukthAthmas etc., However, for a person who follows the sharanAgathi
path and want to reach the eternal abode of sriman nArAyaNan, the dvaya mahA
manthram would manifest itself as a beautiful form and would be pleasing to the person.
All these directly point the extreme greatness of sharanAgathi manthram which is inside
dvayam. Such dvaya mahA manthram is what one’s AchAryan preaches to his student.
Hence, one’s Acharyan, who preached the dvaya mahA manthram, is the highest god
for a person. The prefix “than” before “iraivan” would mean that unlike perumal sriman
nArAyaNan, who is the god for everyone, “AchAryan” is the god for us. He is the god to
a particular individual or a few people. The point of exclusive god is hidden in this usage
of “than”.
thALE: The lotus feet of such an AchAryan who is the god to a person. If we just look at
the word“thALE”, we can understand that for those who caught hold of perumAL and for
those who caught hold of his AchArya, their lotus feet is the refuge. There is
an “EkAram” in the word“thALE” that means that the AchAryAn’s lotus feet does not
need the help of anyone else. It would get the job done on its own.
araNAgum ennum adhu: “araN” is refuge; AchAryan’s lotus feet is the only refuge for a
person. There are three common / generic meaning for the word ‘iRaivan” i.e.,
leadership, path and benefit. “iRaivan” is one who has these three in HIM. But in the
case of “than iRaivan” , it means that one’s AchAryan’s feet is the leader for a person.
The same lotus feet is the path to a person and the same lotus feet serves as the
benefit for a person.

gyAna sAram
pAsuram 32 - mAnidavan ennum

Synopsis:
In the 30th pAsuram (mAdum manayum), svAmi aruLALa perumAL emberumAnAr talked
about a decree of shAsthram that prescribed not to mingle with people who does not
regard their AchAryan, who taught and explained the eight syllaballed thirumanthram,
as everything to them. In the 31st pAsuram (vEdham oru nAngin) it was being told that
one’s AchAryan, who told the dwaya mahA manthiram that has the sharanAgathi
shAsthram in it, his lotus feet is the sole refuge for a person. AchAryan’s greatness was
being dealt like this in these two pAsurams. Such an AchAryan, should be perceived as
a reincarnation of bhagavAn’s other reincarnations like rAmAvathAram,
krishnAvatharam etc. One should enjoy AchAryavathAram as a special reincarnation of
sriman nArAyaNan and enjoy it. If a person would not treat his AchAryan as a
reincarnation of sriman nArAyaNan and would just see him as just another human
being, the impacts of such thoughts is being described in this pAsuram. In addition to
this, if a person were to involve in exploring and researching the type and material with
which perumAL’s dhivya mangala vigraham (the mUrthy form where perumAL is
present in temples), then the impacts of such a research / thoughts are being described
in this pAsuram.
thamizh:
“மானிடவன் என்னும் குருறவ மைர் மகள் ககான்

ோனுகந்ே ககாைம் உகைாக தமன்றும் – ஈனமோ
எண்ணுகின்ை நீசர் இருவருகம எக்காலும்
நண்ணிடுவர் கீ ழாம் நரகு.”
English:
“mAnidavan ennum guruvai malar magaL kOn

thAnugandha kOlam ulOgam ennum InamadhA
eNNuginRa nIsar iruvarumE ekkAlum
naNiduvar kIzhAm naragu”

gyAna sAram
Verbatim Meanings:
If a person were to think of his AchAryan, who taught and explained the
guruvai manthram,
mAnidavan ennum as just another human being
malar magaL kOn If a person were to think of perumAL sriman nArAyaNan’s
thAnugandha kOlam idol form in which HE gladly manifests,
ulOgam ennum as an idol made of a metal like “panchalOkam” etc
and treat / dismiss them (AchAryan and perumAL’s idol form) as cheap and
InamadhA unworthy
eNNuginRa Such persons who think that way
nIsar they are the lowest of the lowest people
These two sets of people (one who disrespect AchAryan and the one who
iruvarum disrespects perumAL)
ekkAlum will forever
naNiduvar will reach
kIzhAm naragu hell and forever be there
Meanings:
mAnidavan ennum guruvai: One should believe in the fact that perumAL sriman
nArAyaNan reincarnated in this world as “AchAryan” to uplift the people who are
suffering from the ocean of sorrows resulting from continuous births and deaths.
Scriptures talk elaborately about nArAyaNan who took a human form (that of an
AchAryan). Hence an AchAryan is none other than sriman nArAyaNan HIMSELF. Our

gyAna sAram
shAsthrAs say that if one were to treat his AchAryan as just another human, whatever
knowledge he had gained is regarded useless
malar magaL kOn thAnugandha kOlam ulOgam ennum: bhagavAn sriman nArAyaNan,
the consort of periya pirAtti, happily dwells in the idol form in temples. HE is very much
present in those. However, if a person were to indulge in research about the material
and composition of the idol like panchalOkam, wood etc., that by itself is a very sinful
act. svAmy nammAzhvAr had described these idol form of sriman nArAyaNan as “umar
ugandha uruvam ninuruvam” in thiruvAimozhi 8-1-4. This means that whatever form a
devotee wants to worship sriman nArAyaNan, the latter yields to his requests and
happily comes and resides in that idol form. In that idol form, HE manifests HIMSELF in
the exact true divine form as any of HIS other forms like one in paramapadham,
thirupArkadal etc. This form is nothing but a form that HIS devotee desired HIM to be
and so this form becomes divine. In such an idol form which HIS devotee desired HIM
to be, HE does come and settle happily with all HIS divine qualities in it. So, the idol
becomes divine instantly. In addition to that, whatever ornaments is being adorned by
perumAL in that idol form, gets divinity due to the connection with perumAL, contrary to
popular worldly beliefs and associations. This would be termed as “aprAkrutham” as per
shAsthrAs. The same shAsthrAs severly condemn those who just look on the exterior of
the idol and start to research about the material and composition of the idol with which it
is made. They treat it as just a metal / wood and do not believe HE actually resides
there. This is a sin very cruel. To give an example of how cruel this sin, shAsthrAs say
that this research is equal to researching the womb of one’s mother from where a
person was born in the first place.
InamadhA eNNuginRa nIsar - to regard it as something very low / cheap. This would
include the two groups of people who regard their AchAryan as just another human and
those who regard the idol form of perumAL is made of panchalOkam metal etc. The
word “nIsar” would describe them as persons below which there are no more inferior
persons anywhere. They both are called as acute sinners and so aptly called as “karma
chandAlargal” because they have wrongly regarded their AchAryan as human and idol
form as just another metal. These two people (nIsar) are regarded as the ultimate low
because of their extremely shallow thoughts. It is approrirate to recollect the thamizh
phrase “uLLuvadhellAm uyar vaLLal” here. When one should think of greatness, if he
thinks of something opposite of greatness, it is to be regarded as a sin.
iruvarumE: The aforementioned two groups of people are clubbed together into one
category as “sinners” because of their act. While one disrespect their AchAryan as
human being, the other simply dwells on questioning and researching the metal with

gyAna sAram
which the idol is made and ignoring who resides in that very idol form. These two
sinners are going to face the same negative consequences that will be discussed in the
next paragraph.
ekkAlum naNiduvar kIzhAm naragu: These two sinners will go to hell and will be there
forever. Here forever would mean whenever the concept of time exists (i.e. forever).
The sort of hell that is being referenced here is very cruel. It is so cruel that there is no
other hell that is crueler than this. Hell is a place where there is only suffering, i.e., there
is not even an iota of moment where a person experiences happiness or a pause in
suffering. Hell is a place where a person suffers continuously without any break in that.
These sinners will be there in such a hell not for a fixed amount of time but forever.
They would be born in such a hell, be there in such a hell and die there. This cycle
would go on and on. There is no break in this cycle ever. They are persons who cannot
cross the eternal sufferings of samsAric ocean and reach the other shore. They are
such fools that they remain in the ocean of sufferings forever by eternal births and
deaths. Hence, for these two sinners, there is no escape route available whatsoever.
The concept of associating these two sinners, i.e., those who disregard AchAryan as
human and those who disrespect the idol form of perumAL by examining its materials,
follow the thamizh grammar known as “udan naviRchi poruL”

gyAna sAram
pAsuram 33 - etta irundha guruvai

Synopsis:
This pAsuram explains how foolish a person can be when he disregards his AchAryan
as human. In addition to this, he goes ahead and reaches out to perumAL sriman
nArAyaNan who is somewhere so far, and thinks that HE will come to help HIM when in
need. This person is doing something foolish and this is being illustrated with an
analogy.
thamizh:
“எட்ட இருந்ே குருறவ இறையன்று என்று

விட்டு ஓர் பரறன விருப்புறுேல் – தபாட்டனத்ேன்
கண் தசம்பேித்ேிருந்து றகத்துருத்ேி நீர் தூவி
அம்புேத்றேப் பார்த்ேிருப்பான் அற்று”
English:
“etta irundha guruvai iRai anRenRu

vittu Or paranai virupuRudhal – pottenathan
kaN sembaLithirundhu kaithuruthi nIr thUvi
ambudathai pArthirupAn aRRu”
Verbatim Meanings:
etta irundha (If a person disregards the) one who is very close
guruvai i.e., AchAryan
iRai anRenRu and thinks that he is not his master
vittu and dismisses him
and goes out to someone who is very far and not easily reachable (sriman
Or paranai nArAyaNan)

gyAna sAram
virupuRudhal and desires to reach HIM. This act is similar to the act of a person who
pottena instantly
sembaLithirundhu closes (without knowing what is going to happen soon)
than kaN his eyes
thUvi and pours out in the ground
kaithuruthi nIr the water that is stored in a handy jar and
ambudathai looks out for the water in the clouds
pArthirupAn aRRu and tries to find a way to get to it. (It is as foolish as this)
Explanation:
etta irundha guruvai: The word “ettudhal” would mean to catch hold off and thus
connotes with“adjacent” or “nearby”. In this context it would describe the AchAryan who
is so near to a person. In addition to geographical proximity, the nearness would also
describe the AchAryan as someone who can be seen with our naked eye (unlike
perumAL), someone who protects us when we need protection, someone who is very
sweet, someone who is always helping out for the betterment of the soul and finally
someone with whom we can talk and mingle. He is so close to a person.
iRai anRenRu vittu: This is to discard or dismiss one’s AchAryan as just another person.
svAmi aruLALa perumAL emberumAnAr describes that a person would dismiss his
AchAryan and not take him as his master. Instead of adhering to “charnAgathi thandha
than iRaivan thALE (31stpAsuram)”, i.e., to treat one’s AchAryan’s lotus feet as
everything, a person may disregard his AchAryan completely and regard him as just like
one among the innumerable persons that he meets every day. Thus, he would not treat
him as his master.
Or paranai virupuRudhal: The person, who disrespects his AchAryan would look out for
perumAL sriman nArAyaNan, who is beyond anyone and is somewhere out of his
reach. This perumAL is someone whom even the shAsthrAs do not completely, ONE

gyAna sAram
who is somewhere distant and ONE who is very difficult to reach. The person would
yearn out to reach such a perumAL, with the thought that HE is the protector and is very
sweet to him. svAmi aruLALa perumAL emberumAnAr describes a beautiful analogy to
compare the actions.
Pottena: This means “instantly”, i.e., to act without thinking about the consequences
thankaN sembaLithirundhu: This would mean to close the eyes like a person who is
sleeping, without knowing the impacts of it.
kaithuruthi nIr thUvi: When in thirst, a person would drink water from the can he has. He
would have already filled it with water. However, if in thirst, a person throws away this
water away into the ground.
ambudathai pArthirupAn aRRu: After having spilt the water in his can, the person now
looks up and yearns for the water in the clouds in the form of rain. He thinks that rain
water in the clouds would be an easy target to reach to satisfy his thirst which he is
experiencing currently. This is similar to the act of a person who looks out for perumal
sriman nArAyaNan thinking that HE is easily reachable and thereby ignoring the
AchAryan who is readily available to him. This act of comparison is known as “thozhil
uvamam” (comparing by acts)
The fact illustrated in this pAsuram is being reflected in srivachanabhUshanam in the

choornikai“vidAi piRandhapOdhu karasthamAna udhagathai upEkshithu jImUtha
jalathayum, sAgara salilathayum, sarith salilathayum vApI kUpa payasukalayum
vAnjikka kadavan allan”(srivachabhUshanam #449).

gyAna sAram
pAsuram 34 - paRRu guruvai

Synopsis:
One’s AchAryan is very much accessible and easily approachable to his sishyAs.
However, if a person were to disregard such an AchAryan with a pretext that he is still a
human and would go ahead and perform the most difficult yOgam etc. in order to see
perumAL, thinking that HE will be of help when he needs HIM, this act is nothing but
ignorance. This point is being illustrated in this pAsuram as well with an example.
thamizh:
“பற்று குருறவப் பரன் அன்று என்று இகழ்ந்து

மற்தைார் பரறன வழிப்படுேல் – என்கை ேன்
றகப்தபாருள் விட்டாகரனும் காசினியில் ோம் புறேத்ே
அப்தபாருள் கேடித் ேிரிவான் அற்று.”
English:
“paRRu guruvai paran anRu enRu igazhndhu

maRROr paranai vazhippadudhal – eRRe than
kaiporuL vittu ArEnum kAsiniyil thAm pudaitha
apporuL thEdi thirivAn aRRu”
Verbatim Meanings:
paRRu guruvai If a person disregards his AchAryan, who is the person to surrender to
paran anRu enRu as a person who is not perumAL
igazhndhu and disregards his AchAryan and
would go ahead towards another god (who is none other than perumAL
maRROr paranai HIMSELF here)

gyAna sAram
and treat perumAL as his lone refuge. This act is similar to the act of a
vazhippadudhal person who dismisses the
than kaiporuL money in hand
vittu as small amount and
ArEnum thAm goes to see if anyone
Pudaitha has buried / kept some “treasure” under
kAsiniyil the earth
and goes behing crazily behind that treasure (without knowing if and
apporuL where it exists in the first place)
thEdi thirivAn aRRu Such is the act of these two persons that are similar
eRRe what a foolish / ignorant act!!!
Meanings:
paRRu guruvai: This describes the qualities of an AchAryan to whose lotus feet a
person surrenders. AchAryan is someone who is very easily approachable, one who
mixes and mingles with us very amicably, one who is very pleasant to interact and one
who protects us.
paran anRu enRu igazhndhu: AchAryan is none other than sriman nArAyaNan
HIMSELF in human form. If a person were to dismiss such an AchAryan as just another
human being and disregard him as not a manifestation of god, the impact of such a
foolish behavior is being elaborated in this pAsuram.
maRROr paranai vazhippadudhal: To worship another one apart from one’s own
AchAryan. The one that is reference here is none other than perumAL sriman
nArAyaNan HIMSELF. HE is very difficult to reach by one’s own efforts. HE is not to be
seen by one’s naked eyes. HE is not so easily attainable through yOgams etc. If a
person goes behind such a perumAL as the ONE who protects him forever and one

gyAna sAram
who will be pleasant to interact with, disregarding his own AchAryan, it is very foolish
says svAmi aruLALa perumAL emberumAnAr.
eRRe! : This is an exclamatory remark. svAmi aruLALa perumAL emberumAnAr weighs

out both AchAryan that a person had ostracized and perumAL and lets out a sigh,
looking at the pitiable and foolish state of this particular person who had disregarded
his AchAryan. He says “eRRe” with a lot of pain and loss of hope towards this person.
Then he goes ahead and gives an analogy to this situation.
than kaiporuL vittu: A person throws away his money that he has in his pockets. He has
saved that money in his pocket in order to use it when the need arises.
ArEnum kAsiniyil thAm pudaitha: This person goes ahead and hunts for a treasure that
he believes would be there underground. He believes that someone some time ago
might have buried some treasure here and goes to dig it up in order to use that a source
of funds to meet his timely needs.
apporuL thEdi thirivAn aRRu: Hence, the act of such a person that is being reference
above in the “treasure” example above is being compared to the act of a person who
disregards his own AchAryan and goes ahead to find perumAL sriman nArAyaNan
somewhere. “thirivAn” strictly would mean the person but in this context it points to the
act of such a person rather than the person himself. It is called “thozhil uvamam” in
thamizh grammar.
Hence, we can see that if a person disregards his AchAryan and goes to seek perumAL
sriman nArAyaNan on his own efforts, it is as foolish as digging up the ground to seek
treasure when in fact, he has ready cash in his hand to meet a timely need. This point
could be found in srivachanabhUshanam, “kaipatta poruLai kaivittu pudaitha poruLai
kaNisikka kadavan allan” (#448)

gyAna sAram
pAsuram 35 - enRum anaithuyiRkum

Synopsis:
In the last two pAsurams, svAmi aruLALa perumAL emberumAnAr explained the foolish
acts of people who disregard their own AchAryan and indulge in their own pursuits to
reach perumAL who is there in unseen, distance place, with the hopes of having HIM as
the refuge. pAsurams 33 and 34 (paRRU guruvai and etta irundha) dealt with this with
specific analogies to it. In this pAsuram, svAmi aruLALa perumAL emberumAnAr
explains the fact that to such a person who does not have any affection to his
AchAryan, even perumAL would not do anything helpful, rather would punish him for his
foolish acts.
thamizh:
“என்றும் அறனத்து உயிர்க்கும் ஈரஞ்தசய் நாரணனும்

அன்றும் ேன்னாரியன்பால் அன்பு ஒழியில்- நின்ை

gyAna sAram
புனல் பிரிந்ே பங்கயத்றேப் தபாங்கு சுடர் தவய்கயான்

அனல் உமிழ்ந்து ோன் உைர்த்ேியற்று.”
English:
“enRum anaithuyiRkum Iram sei nAraNanum

anRum than Ariyan pAl anbozhiyil ninRa
punal pirindha pangayathai pongu sudar veiyOn
anal umizhndhu thAn ularthiyaRu”
Verbatim Meanings:
Pangayathai A lotus flower, if it
pirindha gets separated from
ninRa punal its dwelling water, which is its’ very sustenance, then
veiyOn the sun with
pongu sudar its scorching bright rays
thAn the very same sun that once helped the lotus to bloom, would now
anal umizhndhu spit balls of fire
ularthiyaRu and destroy the life of lotus. Similarly the ONE who is
enRum always
Iram sei the one who shows infinite compassion forever
anaithuyiRkum towards all lives
nAraNanum and who is also known as sriman nArAyaNan

gyAna sAram
if HE sees that a person has no attachement / affection towards his

than Ariyan pAl AchAryan,
anbozhiyil and lose all bhakti towards the AchAryan
anRum then HE (sriman nArAyaNan) will get angry and destroy the person.
Explanation:
enRum: The phrase means “always” / “forever” that includes past, present and future.
anaithuyiRkum: all souls (jIvAthmAs)
Iram sei nAraNanum: nArAyaNan is ever compassionate to all souls at all times. The
word“nAraNanum” signifies the inseparable nature of existence between the soul
(jIvAthmA) and perumAL. The word “nAram” would include all jIvAthmAs that can
encompass both living and non-living beings. The word “ayanam” in nArAyaNan would
mean that HE (nArAyaNan) stands as the life of all jIvAthmAs. Without HIM, there is no
question of existence of anything. HE is the sustaining force as well as driving force
behind everything. This meaning is one of the important meanings conveyed in the
word “nArAyaNan” that is to be split as “nAra” and “ayana”. This point was told in
“undhanOdu uravEl namakku ingu ozhikka ozhiyAdhu” by sri AndAl in thirupAvai
pAsuram #28. svAmi thirumazhisai azhwar also described this in his pAsuram “nAn
unnai anRi ilEn kandAi nAraNanE!!! nI ennai anRI ilai”. Hence, we can see that it is HE
(nArAyaNan) who is inside both conscientious and non-conscientious entities and HE is
the one who stands as the driving force behind them. So, because HE pervades in
every little thing, HE sees the innumerable mistakes that they comitt yet still HE treats
them as blessing rather than a blemish. This quality is known as vAsthsalyam which can
be inferred by the etymological evaluation of the name “nArAyaNan”. So, it is HE who
does shower on HIS infinite mercy and compassion to all living and non-living things at
all times/forever.
anRum: The verb “anRudhal” would mean to get angry. In this context, it would mean
that sriman nArAyaNan would get angry. The act of HIM getting angry is itself a
punishment whereas the act of HIM being pleased is a blessing. The same word can be
seen in periya thirumozhi pAsuram prhase “anRiya vANan” which carries the same
meaning as this one. The second half of the pAsuram goes ahead and explains on what
circumstances would such an ever compassionate sriman nArAyaNan gets angry.

gyAna sAram
than Ariyan pAl anbozhiyil: The circumstance that is being referred in the previous
paragraph is when a person has no bhakti at all towards his AchAryan. As explained in
the last two pAsurams(“etta irundha guruvai” and “paRRU guruvai”), if a person
dismisses his AchAryan as just another human being and disregards him as a mortal
with the thought that he is not the supreme god, then that is an act of utmost
foolishness. Continuing on the same thought, if a person were to disregard and dismiss
his AchAryan as a human and have no bhakti towards him, then even sriman
nArAyaNan HIMSELF gets angry at such a person. This point is being explained
through an exceptional analogy that is dealt subsequently.
ninRa punal pirindha pangayathai: The analogy given is of a beautiful lotus flower that
dwells on water such a pond or a lake etc. If such a lotus were to be seen outside the
water, then the ensuing events happening to it are described.
pongu sudar veiyOn: Sun, as we know is something that is flaming hot, bright and
dazzles with brightness. As kulasEkharAzhvAr puts it “sengamalam andharam sEr
vengadhirOrkku allAl”, a lotus flower would not blossom to anyone apart from the sun. If
one were to create an artificial light in order to make the lotus blossom, he would fail
miserably as the lotus would not blossom to any light except the natural sun light. When
the lotus is inside the water, the sun would keep on helping in its blossom.
anal umizhndhu thAn ularthiyaRu: If the sun were to emit balls of fire, it would take the
life out of the lotus that is outside water. Hence we can see that the very same sun
which was super instrumental in blossoming a lotus when it was in water, can wreak
havoc to the same lotus when it is out of water. Similarly, when a person has AchArya
bhakti, love and affection, perumAL sriman nArAyaNan graces / blesses him. However,
if the same person were to disregard his AchAryan as “nobody” and has no bhakti
towards him, HE destroy the person with anger. At this context, we should understand
what is meant by “grace” and “destruction”. A blessing would mean that sriman
nArAyaNan would make prosper the knowledge of the person who has AchArya bhakti.
HE would make sure that his knowledge grows in the right direction. On the contrary,
punishment / destruction in this context would be to quell the knowledge of the person
and make him ignorant. So, if a person disrespects his AchAryan who advised him
about “manthram”, even the most compassionate sriman nArAyaNan would get angry
and agitated. This is similar to sun, that used to blossom a lotus in water, destroying a
lotus when the latter is out of water. sriman nArAyaNan HIMSELF, who is responsible
for a person to understand the crucial and life philosophy, would destroy a person if his
AchArya bhakti derogates. HE would eclipse the good knowledge of the person which
would pave way for eternal doom. This means to say that the person would still have

gyAna sAram
knowledge but that knowledge would not be radiant but latent. As thiruvaLLUvar
says “uLareninum illArOdoppar”, it behooves us to not disrespect our AchAryan. This
concept is what is being explained in the srivachanabhUshana choornikai “thAmaraiyai
alartha kadava Adithyan thAne, nIraip pirindhAl aththai ularthumApOlE, svarUpa
vikAsathai paNNUm Ishwaran thAne AchArya sambandham kulaindhAl aththai vAdap
paNNum (srivachanabhushanam chUrnikai #439)

gyAna sAram
pAsuram 36 - villAr maNikozhikkum
thamizh:
“வில்ைார் மணி தகாழிக்கும் கவங்கடப் தபாற்குன்று முேல்

தசல்ைார் தபாழில் சூழ் ேிருப்பேிக -தேல்ைாம்
மருோம் இருகோட மத்ேகத்துத் ேன் ோள்
அருோகை றவத்ேவவர்.”
English:
“villAr maNikozhikkum vEnkata poR kunRu mudhal

sellAr pozhil sUzh thiruppadhigaL ellAm

gyAna sAram
maruLAm iruLOda mathagathu than thAL

aruLAlE vaiththa avar”
Synopsis:
For a sishya who has taken refuge under his great AchAryan, his AchAryan’s lotus feet
is itself the 108 divya desam. This point is being stated in this pAsuram.
Verbatim Meanings:
avar AchAryan out of
aruLAlE compassion
Vaithu places
than thAL His divine lotus feet on
Mathagathu top of his disciple (sishyan) head that
Oda dispels
darkness due to ignorance; Hence, this disciple does not have to go

maruLAm iruL to
any of the 108 divya desams (divine abodes of sriman nArAyaNan in

thiruppadhigaL ellAm this earth)
poR kunRu mudhal including the likes of the beautiful thirumalA hill which is in
vEnkatam in ThiruvEnkatam that
kozhikkum pours in
villAr bright, resplendent and

gyAna sAram
maNi highly valuable jewel and is a
sellAr place where clouds congregate
sUzh and are surrounded by
pozhil beautiful gardens
Explanation:
villAr manikozhikkum: “vil” would mean bright and “Ar” represents excess. Thus “villAr”
collectively means excessively bright. The “excessively bright” is used as an adjective
for the jewels.
nanmaNi vaNNanUr Aviyum kOLariyum

pon maNiyum muthamum pUmaramum – panmaNi
nIrOdu porudhugaLum kAnamum vAnaramum
vEdumudai vEngadam (nAnmugan thiruvandhAdhi #48)
In this pAsuram by thirumazhisai AzhvAr, we can see the description of thiruvEnkatam.

It is a place where yAzhis (a breed between lion and elephant), lions, jewels, pearls,
precious metals can be found in copious amounts. In addition to it, the waterfalls in this
place bring with them enormous quantities of jewels and trees with flowers. The
waterfalls are in forests where there are lot of jungle animals and hunters. The similarity
in description of thiruvEnkatam between these two pAsurams is to be noted.
vEnkata poR kunRu mudhal: Divyadesam including the likes of thiruvEnkatam which is
in the beautiful thirumala hills surrounded by gorgeous nature.
sellAr pozhil sUzh: This place called “thiruvEnkatam” is surrounded by garden where
the clouds hover over them. This goes ahead to mean that the hills are so lofty that the
clouds are within touchable distance.

gyAna sAram
thirupadhigaL ellAm: All the 108 divya desams of perumAL are places where HE happily
manifests HIMSELF.
maruLAm iruLOda mathagathu than thAL: This phrase means that the darkness
characterizedby ignorance quickly runs off.
aruLAlE vaiththa avar: A guru is a person who, out of his extreme compassion for his
disciple, keeps his divine lotus feet on the head of the latter. The word “aruLAlE” would
mean that the guru has kept his lotus feet without any cause. One may question if the
work done by the disciple towards guru, can be taken as a precursor for the guru to
keep his lotus feet on him. However, that is not the case as he does not expect
anything. He keeps his lotus feet just out of compassion and so does not need anything
form the disciple. Rather he does it for protecting him. “thiruveEnkatam” is used as a
representative in this pAsuram and hence the likes of paramapadham, thirupArkadal
etc. It is not just that but would also includes the vibhava forms of perumAL like rAmA,
krishnA, antharyAmi form wherein HE resides insides each one of us. Thus, to a sishya,
all the five places where perumAL manifests HIMSELF (para, vyOha, vibhava,
antharyAmi and archai) are nothing but Acharyan’ lotus feet. This point was what
explained in srivachanabhUshanam that talks about the qualities of a disciple. The
choornikai of interest is “pAttu kEtkum idamum, kUppidu kEtkum idamum, kudhitha
idamum, vaLaitha idamum, Uttum idamum ellAm vagutha idamE enRu irukka kadavan”
(chUrnikai #450). The meaning of this is as follows:
pAttu kEtkum idamum = paramapadham

kUppidu kEtkum idamum = thirupArkadal
kudhitha idamum = incarnations including the likes of rAma, kaNNa etc.,
vaLaitha idamum = antharyAmithvam (the quality by which HE manifests inside all
soulds inside us)
Uttum idamum = temples where HE manifests himself through the idol form

gyAna sAram
ivai ellAm enRu irukka kadavan = these five are to be treated as

vagutha idamE = AchAryan’s lotus feet.
The qualities of a good disciple is nothing but to treat his guru’s feet as everything
including these aforementioned five manifestations of perumAL. So, one should regard
his guru as the place where perumAL manifests HIMSELF.
This point can also be found in irAmAnusa nUtRRandhAdhi pAsuram #105:
iruppidam vaikuntham vEnkatam mAlirunchOlai enRum

porupudam mAyanukku enbar nallOr avai thannodum vandhu
iruppidam mAyan irAmAnusan manathinRavan vandhu
iruppidam enRan idhayathuLLE thanaku inbuRavE

gyAna sAram
pAsuram 37 - poruLum uyirum
In this pAsuram, svAmi aruLALa perumAL emberumAnAr says that perumAL sriman
nArAyaNan resides in the heart of those who regard their wealth, soul, body etc., as
their AchAryan’s.
thamizh:
“தபாருளும் உயிரும் உடம்பும் புகலும்

தேருளும் குணமும் தசயலும் – அருள்புரிந்ே
ேன்னாரியன் தபாருட்டாச் சங்கற்பம் தசய்பவர் தநஞ்சு
எந்நாளும் மாலுக்கிடம்.”
English:
“poruLum uyirum udambum pugalum

theruLum guNamum seyalum aruL purindha
thanAriyan poruttA changaRpam seybavar nenju
ennALum mAlukku idam”

gyAna sAram
Verbatim Meanings:
mAlukku perumAL sriman nArAyaNan
ennALum always
idam resides
nenju in the heart of
changaRpam seybavar who regard
poruLum their wealth
uyirum their life (i.e., one’s soul)
udambum their body
pugalum their place of dwelling
theruLum their knowledge
guNamum their good qualities and
seyalum their deeds as
thanAriyan poruttA none other than his AchAryan’s, who
aruL purindha accepted this disciple out of extreme compassion
Explanation:
poruLum: All the material wealth of a disciple

gyAna sAram
uyirum: A disciple’s life
udambum: A disciple’s body
pugalum A disciple’s place of dwelling (house etc.,)
theruLum A disciple’s knowledge
guNamum A disciple’s good characters like humility and the like.
Seyalum A disciple’s entire gamut of activities
aruL purindha thanAriyan poruttA: Here, AchAryan is being described. He is a person

who does not ask anything in return for an action, does not look out for anything to be
done as a requirement. Without demanding anything, out of sheer compassion, he
showers his causeless grace on his disciple.
changaRpam seybavar nenju: With respect to such an AchAryan, if a disciple regards

his everything including the likes of wealth, body, home, knowledge, good character and
deeds, then such a person becomes the place of residence for perumAL.
ennALum mAlukku idam: perumAL resides in the heart of such a person

aforementioned. HE does not resides momentarily but forever.
If a disciple were to regards his everything as AchAryan’s, then this pure thought makes
perumAL extremely happy that HE resides there permanently. madhurakavi AzvAr was
an AzhVar who did not know anyone except his AchAryan, namely svAmi nammAzhvAr.
This could be seen from his own phrase “thevu maRRaRiyEn”, which means that he
knew no god apart from his AchAryan. Going by his own phrase “annaiyAi aththanAi
ennai Andidum thanmayAn satakOpan en nambiyE”, he regarded nammAzhvar as
everything. kaNNan relishes being in the heart of such a devotee who has a pure heart .
The heart of such an AzhvAr who knew no god apart from sriman nArAyaNan become
the permanent place of dwelling for kaNNAn. svAmi aruLALa perumAL emberumAnAr,
who is the author of this grantham called gyAna sAram, is being celebrated as
“theruLArum madhurakavi nilai theLindhOn vAzhiye”. Hence, we could see his love and
regards for his AchArya, namely svAmi emberumAnAr. sri Andal also was of this same
elite league. We can infer this from her nAchiyAr thirumozhi pAsuram, “villupudhuvai
vittuchithar thangaL thevarai valla parisu varuviparEL adhu kAndumE (nAchiyAr
thirumozhi 10-10).

gyAna sAram
pAsuram 38 - thenAr kamala

thirumAmagaL
The concept of “AchAryan’s glories and significance” was dealt in detail from pAsuram
26 (thappil guruvaruLAl) through 37 (poruLum uyirum). In the 26 th pAsuram, svAmi
aruLALa perumAL emberumAnAr described the condition of a person who had done
sharanAgathi to the lotus feet of sriman nArAyaNan, with the help of his AchAryan. This
person goes to paramapadham and serves the LORD and his devotees forever. In the
next pAsuram (27th), svAmi aruLALa perumAL emberumAnAr talked about those who
does not do sharanAgathi and described their state as miserable as they would dwell in
this materialistic world forever. In the 29 th pAsuram, he talked about a person who has
got the grace of his AchAryan, would cross this ocean of miseries, break the shackles of
birth and death and would reach paramapadham eventually. In the 30 th pAsuram, he
discussed about how our scriptures (shAshtrAs) prohibits us to have any form of
relationship with persons who does not respect his AchAryan. The 31stpAsuram talks
about how vEdhAs talk about one’s AchAryan’s lotus feet is the sole refuge for a
person. In the 32nd pAsuram, he described the pitiable state of a person who goes to
hell, i.e., a person who regards his AchAryan as just another human being. In the
subsequent 33rd and 34thpAsuram, he described the act of a person as “ignorant/foolish”,
when a person disregards/ignores his AchAryan who is very near and goes in search of
perumAL’s help that is far from reachable. In the 35 th pAsuram, he explained how
perumAL HIMSELF would burn a person if he gets away from his AchAryA’s
relationships. In the 36th pAsuram, he explained that how a sishyAs should be.
Specifically, he described how the 108 dhivya dEsa perumAL resides at the feet of
one’s AchAryan and so why there is no need for a person to wander from place to place
seeking perumAL. In the 37th pAsuram, another character of a good sishyAs was
explained when a sishyAs regards his everything as his AchAryan. The “everything” that
is being referenced above includes the likes of wealth, soul and body etc. Whatever a
person may want, including wealth, long life, wealthy body, house, good qualities, and
their good deeds, will be given to him by his AchAryan.
“kulam tharum selvam thandhidum

adiyAr padu thuyarAyinavellAm
nilam tharum seyyum nIL visumbaruLum
aruLodu perunilam alikkum
valam tharum maRRum thandhidum
peRRa thAyinumAyina seyyum

gyAna sAram
nalam tharum sollai nAn kaNdu koNdEn

nArAyaNA ennum nAmam” (periya thirumozhi 1-1-9)
In this pAsuram, it is explained that sriman nArAyaNan grants anything to a person who
chants HIS name called “nArAyaNA”. Likewise, a guru would grant anything and
everything to his sishyA. Hence it can be seen that an AchAryan is none other than
sriman nArAyaNan HIMSELF. So it behooves all of us to think about the lotus feet of
our AchAryA. With this thought, svAmi aruLALa perumAL emberumAnAr finishes the
crux of the entire work.
thamizh:
“கேனார் கமைத் ேிருமாமகள் தகாழுநன்

ோகன குருவாகித் ேன்னருோல் – மானிடர்க்கா
இந்நிைத்கே கோன்றுேைால் யார்க்கும் அவன் ோேிறணறய
உண்ணுவகே சாை வுறும்”
English:
“thenAr kamala thirumAmagaL kozhunan

thAnE guruvAgi than aruLAL – mAnidarkA
inilathE thonrudhalAl yArkum avan thALiNayai
uNNuvadhE sAla urum”

gyAna sAram
Verbatim Meanings:
sAla urum – The most appropriate thing to do for

yArkum – people in all walks of life is to
uNNuvadhE – think about it incessantly about
avan thALiNayai – the lotus feet of their AchAryan (leader)
thonrudhalAl – incarnated as human
inilathE – in this earth
thanaruLAL – out of His infinite compassion
mAnidarkA – to rectify the human beings who are to be corrected
thAnE – such a great
kozhunan – AchAryan is verily sriman nArAyaNan HIMSELF, the husband of
the one
kamalam – one who sits on top of a lotus flower
thenAr – that oozes honey
thirumAmagaL – and is known as periya pirAttiyAr
Explanation:
thenAr kamala thirumAmagaL kozhunan: Since pirAtti resides in the heart of sriman
nArAyaNan, due to her constant touch, HIS heart became so beautiful. Moreover,
because honey oozes incessantly from the lotus where she sits, HIS heart becomes
even more beautiful. Hence bhagavAn is being described as the ONE who is the
husband of the one who gives beauty to a lotus. She is also known by “thiru”, that is the
equivalent of the Sanskrit word “sri”. In thiruppAvai, sri AndAl described HIM as “thiruvE
thuyil yezhAi”. Since HE is the husband of such a “sri”, there is no one who is equal to
HIM nor greater than HIM as could be seen in the following poem:
thiruvudayAr thEvarenil thEvarkum thEvan

maruvu Thirumangai magizh nan kozhunan – oruvanE
allOr thalaivarenal, anbinAl mei maRandhu
pullOrai nallarenal pOm
madurai thamizh change pulavar thiru na. appanayannagAr
thAnE guruvAgi: sriman nArAyaNan has a reason for HIMSELF to conceal his identity
and appear as an AchAryan in human form. The reason is explained in the subsequent
section of the pAsuram.

gyAna sAram
than aruLAL: The reason is none other than HIS infinite compassion that arouses out of
his causeless cause. So there is no need to investigate any more cause for HIS
appearance as AchAryan. On whom does HE shower HIS compassion?
mAnidarkA: The aforementioned compassion is entirely directed towards all the human
beings who are born in this world, who try to abide by the shAshthrAs and would want
them to be liberated from eternal bondage.
inilathE thonrudhalAl: If a child falls into a well, its mother falls into the well as well to
rescue it. Likewise, the eternal mother and the one and the only mother for all of us,
namel sriman nArAyaNan comes into this world where we have fell, to rescue us.
yArkum: HE resuces us not just a section of people. HE rescues us across all cast
including brAhmanAs, shathriyAs, vaishyAs, sudrAs etc. HE rescues people at all
stages of like including brAhmacharyam, gruhasthshAshramam, vAnaprastham and
sanyAsam. HE rescues both male and the female alike. Essentially, HE rescues
everyone.
avan thALiNayai uNNuvadhE: The pronoun “avan” here summarizes all the glories of
sriman nArAyaNan. HE is the sole leader, sole refuge and the sole benefit for all
jIvAthmAs. HIS divine lotus feet is the target, object of attainment for all jIvAthmAs and
more importantly the means to attain them in the first place. It behooves all the
jIvAthmAs to think about this glorious attribute of sriman nArAyaNan. The exclusiveness
(EkAram) in the phrase “uNNuvadhE” means that there is no need of anything else
apart from this.
sAla urum: This means very apt. “sAla” would mean very much and “urum” is
appropriate. This phrase would mean that if a jIvAthmA thinks about sriman nArAyaNan
as mentioned in the phrase “avan thALiNayai uNNuvadhE”, it is the perfect thing / most
appropriate thing to do.
“sriman nArAyaNan, the husband of thirumAmagaL (periya pirAttiyAr), appears as

AchAryan in human form, out of HIS extreme compassion, to uplift the downtrodden
people in this world. HE is the sole leader, refuge and target for all jIvAthmAs one and
the like. Such a perumAL’s lotus feet is not only the object of attainment for all souls, but
deservedly so. In addition to it, the lotus feet is the only means of attaining it. A
jIvAthmA should always think about these facts in the mind. This would be the most
appropriate thing for a jIvAthmA to do. Not thinking about this and doing any other thing
is useless. Hence, a guru (AchAryan) is a representative of sriman nArAyaNan who
appeared for the sake of human beings. To think incessantly about such an AchAryan is

gyAna sAram
the most appropriate thing for a soul to do. This is illustrated by the phrase “ezhuthu
aRivithavan iRaivanAgum”, in olden thamizh literature.

gyAna sAram
pAsuram 39 - alagai mulai suvaithArkku

An AchAryan (guru)’s glories were discussed in detail in the previous pAsurams. A
person catches hold of his AchAryan’s lotus feet and treats it as everything in his life,
after realizing his significance. If a person is able to understand the stature of such a
person (sishyAs) who had caught his AchAryan’s feet, he must be really intelligent.
People who does not understand the glories of a person who treats his AchAryan as
everything, would say, “Well, why would he go after his AchAryan as everything. Why
does he consider him greater than even sriman nArAyaNan? Why does he wander after
all behind his AchAryan?” Whatever may be the complaints that these people say, this
pAsuram answers those questions. In the very questions that these people pose, there
is an implicit point imbibed in it. There is a group of people who are behind sriman
nArAyaNan after listening to HIS glories, form, divine qualities, reincarnations, stories
etc., If these people who go after perumAL ask those other set of people who go after
their AchAryan as everything as to, “Why do you folks not go after the supreme lord and
go behind just a mortal human being called as “AchAryan”? This pAsuram answers
these probable questions from these devotees of perumAL HIMSELF. Any blasphemy
on the part of worldly people about these guru bhakthAs and the questions imposed by
the perumAL devotees are in fact to be treated as glories rather than
complaints/scolding. This particular grammatical structure is known as “vanja pugazhchi
aNi” in thamizh.
We can look at an example to this. Once upon a time, during the times of svAmi
rAmAnujA, there were lots of people standing near the punnai tree in srirangam. svAmi
rAmAnujA was also standing there with other people, waiting for perumAL’s procession
to start. svAmi rAmAnujA was standing near perumAL. Lots of devotees came towards
svAmi rAmAnujA and prostrated before svAmi rAmAnujA and went. There was a cholA
poet who served as poet in the kingdom. His name was “udayAr subramanya bhattar”.
He was watching this with curiosity. With a willingness to know the reason for this, the
poet went towards svAmi rAmAnujA and asked, “Hey! jIyarE! I want to know something
from you”. svAmi rAmAnujA replied, “yes. Please go ahead with what you wanted to
ask”. The poet replied, “I do see that there are lots of people who come towards you
and prostrate before you. They seem to relish doing this and you, who is standing right
besides perumAL, do not oppose them and seem to gladly accept their prostration. You
never seem to hold them off from prostrating. Why is it that you do not say anything
against them when they prostrate before you”. svAmi rAmAnujA replied, “Well, this is a
question that needs to be asked. It is a very good question. But I am astonished by the

gyAna sAram
fact that this is coming from you”. The poet was little perplexed and said, “What is so
great about me”? svAmi rAmAnujA answered, “well, you are doing royal service. There
are lots of people who come to your king. If there is something that a person wants from
the king, he would take the king’s sandals and keep them on his own head and would
honor him. The king would knew that the other person is keeping the sandals on his
head to honor him and is an act of pleasing the king on his part. Knowing this, the king
would ensure that the person is guaranteed of his wish, whatsoever it may be. Does this
mean that it was the sandals that did the job for that person? It is only the king that does
the job for the person and not the sandals. You have seen this incidents a lot of times
when you were in the kingdom. Similarly, here, perumAL is the king. Adiyen is like
perumAL’s sandals. People who want anything from perumAL, try to please perumAL
by prostrating before me who is serving like sandals to HIM. perumAL ensure that HE
does the job of those who express their love and affection towards me. That is why they
prostrate befoe me. The poet “udayAr subramanya bhattar” was flabbergasted to learn
such a treasurable meaning from svAmi rAmAnujA himself.
Thus, it can be seen that there is a possibility that those who are bhagavath devotees
(devotees of sriman nArAyaNan) may condescend those people who have AchArya
bhakti. The former group of people need to understand about the greatness of devotees
of AchAryA. Even if they fail to understand and start condescending the AchAryA
devotees, it will only go ahead and prove the greatness of AchAryA devotees.
thamizh:
“அைறக முறை சுறவத்ோர்க்கு அன்பரடிக்கன்பர்

ேிைே தமனத் ேிரிவர் ேம்றம – உைகர் பழி

gyAna sAram
தூற்ைில் துேியாகும் தூற்ைாது அவர் இவறரப்

கபாற்ைில் அது புன்றமகயயாம்”
English:
“alagai mulai suvaithArkku anbar adiku anbar

thiladhamena thirivAr thammai – ulagar pazhi
thURRil thudhiyAgum thURRAdhu avar ivarai
pORRil adhu punmayEyAm”
Verbatim Meanings:
anbar – devotees who are

anbar adiku – at the lotus feet of devotees of the
suvaithArkku – ONE who drank
alagai mulai – the demoness pUthanA’s breastmilk
thiladhamena – The characteristics of these devotees is that they consider the
devotees of krishnA as holy as the thilakam that is smeared
on one’s forehead
thirivAr thammai – and these great AchArya devotees wander everywhere. To such
persons, if at all
ulagar – the worldly people
pazhi thURRil – were to say that these people go after a human instead of going
after perumAL
thudhiyAgum – it will only be deemed as a praise because it exhibits their
AchArya bhakti even more
avar – However, those very same worldly people
thURRAdhu – if they do not degrade / condescend
ivarai – AchArya’s devotees and
pORRil – if they were euphemize them
adhu –those praises
punmayEyAm – are not praises but only an insult
Explanation:
alagai mulai suvaithArkku: The word “alagai” refers to a demoness. Even thiruvaLLuvar
says “vayyathul alagayyA vaikkapadum”. “alagai” refers to pUthana, the demoness who
came under the guile of yashOdha. She was been sent by kamsa inorder to kill krishnA
who was growing at thiruvAipAdi. pUthana tried to kill krishnA by feeding HIM with

gyAna sAram
poisonous milk in her breast. krishnA not only sucked the milk but also sucked her life
along with HIM. This story is illustrated in a lot of places. For example, thirumangai
azhwar uses the phrases, “peRRA thAi pOl vandha pEychi peru mulaiyUdu uyirai
vaRRa vAngi unda vAyAn” and “kaNN sOra vengurudhi vandhizhiya vendhazhal pOl
kUndhalALai maNsOra mulaiyuNda mAmadhalAi”. svAmi nammAzhvAr says “vidapAl
amudhAga amudhu seydhitta mAyan”. This story is taken here to say that the devotees
immerse themselves in the glorious feet of krishnA.
anbar adiku anbar: The devotees who gets immersed in these stories of krishnA.
pUthana came to kill krishnA. HE killed her. Those who think of this story, think about
HIS special quality. krishnA killed pUthanA, and thereby not only killed her but also
saved HIMSELF who is the causeless cause and root of this world. Had HE not killed
her, would krishnA be there for us? What is this great quality of krishnA whereby HE
always makes HIMSELF available for HIS devotees. In order to do that, he kills all the
demons. The devotees think of HIS quality and deeply immerse themselves in it
thiladhamena thirivAr thammai: Thus, those people who are devotees of their “AchArya”
and other bhAgavathAs, who are devotees of perumAL HIMSELF, are actually revered
as “the greatest”. All the greatest ancestors have celebrated the people who wander
about everywhere praising the glories of other bhAgavathAs and their AchAryas.
“thilakam” is the forehead impression that the ladies keep. It denotes auspiciousness
and hence, these people who are devotees’s devotees are being praised and
celebrated as the most auspicious.
This particular stature of being a devotee’s devotee (adiyArkku adiyAr) is being relished
by many AzhvAras in many pAsurams. Specifically, svAmi nammAzhvAr enjoys this in
his “payilum sudaroLi” and “nedumArkku adimai” padhigams in thiruvAimozhi. svAmi
thirumangai azhvAr enjoys it in “kaNN sOra venkurudhi” and “naNNAdha vAL avuNar
idaipukku” padhigam of periya thirumozhi. svAmi kulasEkarAzhvAr enjoys it in
“thEtarum thiral thEnilum” padhigam of peumAL thirumozhi. svAmi thondardipodi
AzhvAr relishes this in ensuing pAsurams of “mEm poruL pOga vittu”. In addition to this,
we can find umpteen number of instances in ithihAsas and purAnAs.
srivachanabhUshanam states these very succinctly in the 226 th chUrnikai
ulagar pazhi thURRil thudhiyAgum: When a layman comments on a person who is a

devotee’s devotee as “Look at this person. He is going behind another person (devotee
of perumAL) without knowing the roots of that person. He does not know his caste, his
current situation etc. He is simply following this person and treats him as the object of
attainment and thereby ignoring perumAL”. If this was the negative comment, then this

gyAna sAram
infact is not a negative comment / complaint or a blasphemy, rather, it goes ahead to

prove the diving qualities of that person who regards his AchAryan and other
bhAgavathAs as his everything. Hence, these are not bad comments and complaints,
instead they are noteworthy praises.
thURRAdhu avar ivarai pORRil adhu punmayEyAm: Now let us consider the flipside of
the coin. There is a possibility that these laymen may heap loads of praises on these
devotee’s devotees. Does it really mean a praise in the first place? If not, what does it
mean? These laymen does not do any kind of things that they are supposed to do in the
first place. They do it superficially or not do it at all. On top of it, they comment on those
people (devotee’s devotee) after observing a few of their routine tasks superficially and
comment as in “These people do abide by the shAsthrAs”. They utter these comments
based on superficial observations and so does not mean anything. They say these just
because they think that other people should think about them that they are also people
with compassion towards others and show respect on others. However, the fact of the
matter is that, people with such superficiality how much ever they praise, it would never
match the glories of those devotee’s devotees. Rather it would only back fire and
considering their stature, it would be just an insult.
adiyArkku adiyAr: The entire group of devotee’s devotees are the peak of glory for the
entire world. They can also be termed as “thilakam” for devotees themselves. If the
worldly people were to complain about them that they do not go behind perumAL and
instead go after a human being, then that is not a complaint. It is just a praise. Thus, we
saw the significance of being a devotee’s devotee.
Detailed Explanation: “In srirAmAyaNam, rAma, lakshmanA, bharathA and

shathruganA stood by good virtues and served as an example for others to follow.
Among the four, it was shathruganA who was being celebrated by our ancestors. The
reason is because shathruganA served as the devotee of his brother bharathA, who
was inturn a great devotee of his brother rAmA. shathruganA did all kainkaryam to his
brother bharathA and served as an exemplar of this stature namely “devotee’s
devotee”. It would be good to note the following excerpts of svAmi nammAzhvAr here:
“thondar thondar thondar thondan satakOpan”, and “adiyAr adiyAr adiyAr enkOkaL”.
svAmi thirupAnAzhvAr says “adiyArkku ennai Atpadutha vimalan”. svAmi
thondaradipodiAzhvAr says “adiyArkku ennai AtpaduthAi”. svAmi periyAzhvAr says
“adiyArgal em thammai virkavum peruvArgaLe”. svAmi kulasEkarAzvAr says “thondar
thondargaLAnavar”. All these reinforce the fact that these AzhvArs wanted to be in the
same state of being “adiyArkku adiyAr” (devotee’s devotee). The author of this very
book namely svAmi aruLALa perumAL emberumAnAr, regarded his AchAryan svAmi

gyAna sAram
rAmAnujar as everything and served him. He is a person who is described by the

phrase “anbar adikku anbar” and “thiladham ena thirivAr”. This is the reason why svAmi
aruLALa perumAL emberumAnAr is celebrated as “theruLArum madhurakavi nilai
theLindhOn vAzhiyE”.
We can see more example to this. svAmi thiruvarangathu amudhanAr served the
devotees of svAmi rAmAnujA and wrote the book “rAmAnuja nURRandAdhi”. Likewise,
similar instances could be seen in svAmi parAsara bhattar and nanjIyar’s live history.
svAmi maNavALa mAmunigal served as svAmi rAmAnujA’s devotee and sang

“yathirAja vimshathi”. svAmi eRumbiyappA served as svAmi maNavALa mAmunigal’s
devotee and sang “pUrva dhinachari”, “uthara dhinachari”, “varavaramuni shathakam”,
“varavara muni kAvyam”,”varavaramuni champu” etc. In one of these, he says
“serukillAdhavargaLum AchArya nishtaigaLil irupavarum, shAsthira sArArthangaLai
aRindhavarum paNathAsai, peNNAsai mudhaliya AsaiyaRRavargaLum,
perumayaRRavargaLum, anaithu uyirgaL idathil anbu udayavargaLum, kObam, ulObam
mudhaliya kuRRangaLai kadindhavagalumAna maNavALa mAmunigalin adiyArgaLodu
adiyEnukku enRum uRavu undAga vENdum”. This means that svAmi eRumbiyappA
wishes to have eternal relationship with those devotees of svAmi maNavALa
mAmunigal who are characterized by these good deeds: lack of pride and haughtiness,
immense AchArya bhakti, knowledge of shAsthras and its esoteric purports, lack of
materialistic desires including wealth and women, lack of need to be famous and to be
noted, love towards all living beings including birds and animals, disgust towards bad
characters like anger, lust etc. Hence it can be thoroughly seen that all “AzhvArs and
AchAryas desired and relished only to be a devotee’s devotee. This in itself is the cream
of the cream of all acquired knowledge by whatsoever means.” Hence, this particular
point is being told towards the end of this book.

gyAna sAram
pAsuram 40 – alli malar pAvaikku
The concept of “AchArya bhakti” and “devotee’s devotee” was dealt in detail in many pAsurams
earlier. Even after that, the importance and significance of devotees (bhAgavathAs), need to be
stressed more to the worldly people. These bhAgavathas always talk about AchAryan and other
devotees. Their actions are kainkaryams towards their AchAryan and other devotees. Hence,
their words and action always have AchAryan and devotees as their target. This is entirely
contradictory to the views of mundane people,
We can look at the story of vaduga nambi as an example for this point. Once upon a time, it was
the periya thirunAL uthsavam in srirangam, where perumAL was coming in procession in
streets. svAmi rAmAnuja had a great sishya called “Vaduga nambi” who knew no one else apart
from his AchAryan (svAmi rAmAnuja). svAmi rAmAnuja went to the street to worship
perumAL. He could not find vaduga nambi with him and so he shouted “hey! vadugA! Come
here to worship perumAL”. vaduga nambi was boiling milk for svAmi rAmAnuja. When he
heard the call from svAmi rAmAnuja, he replied, “If adiyen comes to worship your perumAL by
losing focus on my milk preparing kainkaryam, there will be no milk for my perumAL (who is
none other than svAmi rAmAnuja)”.
If a layman looks at this story and observes the nature of vaduga nambi, it will definitely seem
contrasting to the regular worldly activities. Hence a layman would say something derogatory on
such person’s and their activities. This may not just stop with layman. This may be even true for
people who are devotees of perumAL. Even those people might say comment bad/negative on
people like vaduga nambi and the like. They might say, “Look at these people and their
obedience to perumAL. They have abandoned HIM completely and are going behind AchAryan
and other humans (bhAgavathas). It is only perumAL who would eventually grace anyone and if
so why do these people go beyond other people”. So the question arises as to what happens if
this appears to be the complaint on persons who are devotees of devotees. This pAsuram answers
these questions and complaints posed by worldly people and perumAL devotees. In addition to
answering it, svAmi aruLALa perumAL emperumAnAr describes the speeches, activities and the
perceptions of such great souls as something that is contrastingly different from worldly people.
This by itself is one of the glories.

gyAna sAram
English:
“alli malar pAvaikku anbar adikku anbar

sollum avidu surudhiyAm
nalla padiyAm manu nUrkavar saridhai pArvai
sediyAr vinai thogaikkuth thI”
Phrasal Meanings:
avidu sollum those funny speeches of
adikku anbar devotees, who are at the feet of
anbar Perumal, who is the lover of
alli malar pAvaikku periya pirAtti,
surudhiyAm is equivalent to vEdhas themselves.

gyAna sAram
avar saridhai Their activities
will serve as standing examples of manu dharma

manu nUrku nalla padiyAm
shAsthrams.
pArvai Their vision serve as
thI fire to
vinai thogaikku to destroy the sinful karmAs that
sediyAr mugs a person
Explanation:
alli malar pAvaikku anbar adikku anbar: bhagavAn sriman nArAyaNan is always loving towards
HIS consort periya pirAtti who came out of a lotus flower. There is a reason why perumAL is
being referenced with HIS consort. In order for us to understand perumAL Himself, we need to
have her blessings in the first place. Her blessings and grace marks the identification that we can
know HIM. It also shows that HE expresses an insatiable love towards HIS consort. Thus, those
who are at the lotus feet of perumAL, who is always loves HIS consort, are called as “alli malar
pAvaiku anbar adikku anbar”. The very love that these devotees exhibit towards HIS lotus feet
identifies these people
sollum avidu surudhiyAm: Such devotees may tell something funny and different. However it
may be, whatever they say can be said to have the same credibility as vEdhAs themselves. We
can see such words in guruparamparai. Examples include “udyavar vArthai”, “bhattar vArthai”,
“AzhvAn vArthai”, “nampiLLai vArthai”, “thirukkOLUr penpiLLai vArthai”. These are spoken
by these great pUrvAchAryas. They convey a very great esoteric meaning in a very jovial and
easy manner. kambanAtAzvAr uses “vAi thandhana kUrudhiyO maRai thandha vAyAl” to refer
to the statement that sri rAmA uttered to HIS brother sri lakshmaNA. “pEdayaip pidiththu
thannai pidikka vandhadaindha pEdhai vEdavanukku udhavi seydhu, viRagidai vendhI mUtti
pAduRu pasiyai nOkki than udal kodutha paimpuL vIdu peRRu uyarndha vArthai vEdhathin
vizhumidhu anRO?”. This is a poem from kamba rAmAyaNam that talks about the sharanAgathi
shAsthram using a story of a hunter and a pigeon. The speeches about sharanAgathi uttered by
the pigeon is in fact greater than that of vEdhas themselves.
nalla padiyAm manu nUrkavar saridhai pArvai: The history of such devotees are nothing but
their activities. The daily routine and obedience that needs to be adhered by people is
documented in manu shAsthram. The activities of such aforementioned devotees serve as
standing examples of manu shAsthram. These shAsthrams have documented the dos and donts

gyAna sAram
based on the caste in which a person is born. Those who had learnt it and know those
shAshtrams would abide by it. However, it is not easy for laymen to learn and understand the
obedience that is being mentioned in such shAshtrAs. However, these same laymen can follow
the daily rituals and activities of the devoteers of perumALs and can follow them just like that.
The conduct of such devotees are leading examples of others to follow. In fact, it can also be said
that the shAshtrAs themselves knew only based on how such great devotees behave. Hence, it
can be seen that the conduct of these devotees are original and the shAsthAs themselves are a
duplicate image of such devotee’s conduct. Such is the confidence placed on the conduct of these
devotees. Going back to srirAmAyaNam again,
“yenaithu uLamaRai avai iyambaRp pAlana

panaithiraL karakari bharadhan seygayE
anaithiRam allana alla; annadhu
ninaithilai, yenvayin nEya nenjinAl”
(kamba rAmAyaNam, ayodhyA kANdam, thiruvadi chUttu
padalam – 44)
vEdhas are that which prescribes do’s and don’t’s for the whole universe. Whatever bharatha did
was what is being mentioned in vEdhAs. Even though, there are some things that are mentioned
in the vEdhAs but cannot be see in bharatha, even those things in vEdhas are not accepted.
Whatever bharatha does is what is being accepted and celebrated. This point was illustrated by
sri rAma towards sri lakshmaNa. These activites of bharatha and similar is what is being referred
as “manu nUrkku nalla padiyAm”.
sediyAr vinai thogaikkuth thI: The vision of such great devotees will be such that it destroys the
sinful karmas that one might have accumulated and gets clogged. Since, their vision destroy
these sinful, clogged karmas within a person, it automatically paves way for realization of the
soul from within.
Overall gist: The words and speeches of devotees of perumAL, who always loves HIS consort
periya pirAtti, though it may sound funny, will always be deemed equivalent to vEdhAs. Their
activities stand as the base footprint from which shAsthras like manu shAshtrAs that prescribe
the dos and donts to human civilization, have evolved. That is, their activities stand as original
and the shAsthras stand as duplicate to the original. The vision of these very same devotees, act
as fire and destroy the clogged, muddy and sinful karmAs of a person and subsequently pave
way for self-realization.

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gyAna sAram

aruLALa perumAL emperumAnAr – srIvillipuththUr

maNavALa mAmunigaL – vAnamAmalai

dhivya prabandham – translations project

dhivya prabandhams are the most essential aspect of srIvaishNava sampradhAyam.

adiyen sarathy ramanuja dasan

on behalf of http://divyaprabandham.koyil.org team

pramEyam (goal) – http://koyil.org

aruLALa perumAL emperumAnAr – srIvillipuththUr

maNavALa mAmunigaL – vAnamAmalai

kIrthi mUrthy Swami Srinivasachariar is a kumArar (son) of 31st pattam srImadh

adiyen santhAnam rAjagOpAlan rAmAnuja dhAsan.

Web: http://koyil.org , http://ponnadi.blogspot.com,

manmatha – chithrai 4 (emperumAnAr uthsavam day 3) – uthrattAdhi (April 17th, 2015)

pAsuram 27 - neRi aRiyAdhArum ....................................................................... 122

thaniyan of aruLALa perumAL emperumAnAr

“kArthikE bharaNI jAtham yathIndhrAshrayam AshrayE|

gyaAnapramEya sArAbhi vakthAram varadham munim”||

“rAmAnuja sachchishyam vEdha sAsthrArtha sampatham|

chathurthAshrama sampannam dhEvarAja munim bhajE” ||

I bow to aruLALa mAmuni who is – a good sishyA or ramAnujAchariar, who is – an

(rAmAnuja sachchishyam) – Recall the incident explained in guruparampara, when with

(dhEvarAja munim) – Based on his greatness of having the blessings of dhEvarAjan,

gyAna sAra thaniyan:

suruLAr karungkuzhal thOgaiyar vEl vizhiyil thuvaLum

maruLAm vinai kedum mArkkam peRREn marai nAngum – sonna

poruL gyAna sAraththaip pundhiyil thandhavan pongoLisEr

aruLALa mamuni-am porkazhalgaL adaindha pinnE.

To explain further, this thaniyan says: After surrendering to my AchAryan

The destruction of attraction towards women may be extended to destruction of other

So AchAryan’s greatness was highlighted by this thaniyan.

So based on emperumAnAr’s instructions, he writes ‘gyAna sAram’ in simple clear

pAsuram 1 – Una Udal

Out of the three rahasyams, the first is the “Thirumanthram”. It is called as

Dwayam is juxtaposed between Thirumanthram and CharamaslOkam. (Dwayam

“ஊன உடல் சிறை நீத்து ஒண் கமறை ககள்வனடித்

கேன் நுகரும் ஆறச மிகு சிந்றேயராய்த் – ோகன

பழுத்ோல் விழும் கனி கபால் பற்ைற்று வழும்

விழுக்காகட ோன் அருளும் வடு

“Una udal sirai neethu oN kamalai kELvanadi

thEn nugarum Asai migu sindhaiyarAy thAnE

pazhuththAl vizhum kani pOl patratru vIzhum

vizhukAdE thAn aruLum vIdu”

neethu = to get rid of

udal = the body that is

Oona = made of flesh, and

kelvan = of the consort of

onn = the beautiful

kamalai = pirAtti who sits on the beautiful lotus,

patrartru = without any hold to other desires or ways

veezhum = perform sarangathi

kani pol = like how a fruit

pazhuthaal = which if ripens

thaane vizhum = would fall automatically,

vizhukaade thaane = that very saraNAgathi

veedu arulum = will liberate and grant mOksham.

Getting liberated (mOksham) is like crossing a big ocean of worldly sufferings