PAsuram 4.2.1 - kambamAkaDal

 

kamba mAkaDal aDaittu ilangaikku man kadir muDi avai pattum
ambinAl aRuttu arasavan tambikku aLittavan uRai kOil
Sembal Anirai Sembagam mAdhavi cUtakam vAzhaigaL SUzh
vambulAnkamugOngiya nAngUr vaN puruDottamamE.

 

A. SrImad tirukkuDandai ANDavan:

A big ocean; an ocean with waves that will sink any object dropped in the ocean; emperumAn built a bridge on this ocean. He cut off the ten heads of rAvaNan who was boasting himself as the king of ilangai with its three forts, the ocean being one of them. Those heads were wearing crowns and had been to several places for conquests of other territories. EmpeurmAn severed the heads strengthened from rAvaNan's boons with His khsatriya arrow. Not giving a chance for anyone to say, "He vanquished the demon and ruled over his kingdom", He gave that kingdom to rAvaNa's brother. The temple where that puruDOttamma emperumAn lives is vaNpuruDOttamam.

In the second half of the verse, AzhvAr sings about the natural beauty of the place - there are lines and lines of red, palA (jack) trees, cembaga (champak/ Michelia champaca) trees, kurukkatti (flowering creeper) trees, mango trees, banana trees and areca palm trees that have grown in all the four directions and spreading a nice fragrance.

 

B. SrI PVP:

rAmapirAn went to ilangai and vanquished rAvaNa in the battle. Displaying this grand splendor, He is staying permanently in tirunAngUr – vaNpuruDOttamam so that future generations can worship Him.

kamba mAkaDal aDaittu –

He built a bridge over the huge ocean that contains perilous waves. rAvaNa was extremely proud about his ilangai with its secure forts. rAma broke the sea fort by building a bridge over it.

 

SrI PurushOttama PerumAL

 

ilangaikku man kadir muDi avai pattum ambinAl aRuttu -

He severed ilangai king’s ten heads adorned by brilliantly shining crowns. rAvaNa’s heads were strengthened by the boon that even brahmAStram cannot sever them; but, rAma cut them off with His kshatriya arrow.

arasavan tambikku aLittavan –

rAmapirAn bestowed the kingdom of ilangai to his brother (vibhIshaNan); He was extremely happy that vibhIshaNa who was so close to Him was the most appropriate person to receive the wealth of the rAkshasa kingdom.

uRai kOil -

He lives (with great happiness) in the temple

Sembal Anirai Sembagam mAdhavi cUtakam vAzhaigaL Suzh vambulAnkamugOngiya nAngUr –

tirunAngur with its natural beauty of red, palA trees, cembaga trees, kurukkatti trees, mango trees, banana trees and fragrant areca trees.

vaN puruDottamamE –

It is the divyadEsam called tiruvaNpuruDOttamam.

 

C. SrI UV:

SrI vAlmIki calls SrIrAmapirAn "purushottama" as he has the most important, opulent six divya guNams showing saulabhyam (ease of attainment).

AnRSamsyamanukroSaH Srutam SIlam damaH SamaH |
rAghavam Sobhayantyete shaDguNAH purushottamam ||

 — ayodhyA kANDam:33.12

This does not in way reduce His paratva guNam. Look at the setubandham that He did so that future generations will benefit. Who else can achieve this? The monkeys handed over lots of mountain pieces to naLa, who built the bridge over the ocean. We cannot ask what rAma’s part in this is. That ocean is a kambamAkaDal – How did the monkeys enter the dangerous ocean with furious waves to build a bridge? When the ocean waves keep coming continuously, can any one go near? First, perumAL, as per His soft nature, tried to get the help of samudra rAjan for three nights and only when the adamant rAjan did not show up, He got ready to aim His arrow at the ocean and subdued it. samudra rAjan surrendered to rAma; perumAL explained how He wanted to cross the ocean and reach lankA. The ocean stayed calm so that He could build the bridge. This incident proves that He is purushottaman.

rAvaNa’s heads kept reappearing; in order to stop that, perumAL aimed His vaishNava arrow at the secret life source in his heart and killed him. Because of that also, He is purushottaman.

 

SrI PurushOttama PerumAL with ubhaya nAccimAr

 

He acquired rAvaNa’s kingdom by killing him. But, just as He gave vAli’s kishkindai to sugrIvan, He did not keep that kingdom and presented it to vibhIshaNan. Even though He had promised rAvaNa’s kingdom to vibhIshaNa before He severed the ten heads with gleaming crowns, the actual reality of vibhIshaNa getting that kingdom happened only after rAvaNa samhAram. It is not proper to think he got it until he actually got it; hence the phrase, "aRuttu aLittAn" [severed (the heads) and gave (the kingdom)].

vaNpurDottamam is the tiruppati that contains various kinds of trees to feed Him and the monkey forces that helped Him.

 

D. SrI PBA:

The coronation that rAma did for vibhIshaNa before ravaNa samhAram became fruitful only after the samhAram. PeriyAzhvAr also sings –

tennilangai mannan sirantOL tuNi seydu
minnilangupUN vibhIDa nambkikku
ennilangu nAmataLavum arasenRa — periAzhvAr tirumozhi:2.6.9

"muDi" refers to both crown and head. "kadirmuDiyavai pattum" should be taken as having a double meaning and construed as "the ten heads that were wearing shining crowns".

Since the extremely generous purushOttaman/puruDOttaman lives here, it has come to be known as vaNpuruDOttamam.

mAdhavi (a flowering creeper) and cUtaka (mango tree) are saMskrtam terms.

 

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