Meaning- Thodayamangalam

bindurajendren · Post by **bindurajendren** » 30 Apr 2007, 06:01

Hello,

I have a Thodayamangalam used for dance. I dont know the meaning of the lyrics; I would appreciate if someone could translate them for me. Following are the lyrics:

Mangayar Karashi, vallarvagom pawai
Kari/Wari (?) wala kai nada maadi

Pangayar shelvi, pandima devi
Panni saitha naal thorum, parava

Pongaddal urubham, Bhootha nayaganal
Vedavum porulgalum arulwi

Angayar Kanni, Thanodu amarnda
Alawa yawadhum idhuway

Mangayar Karashi......
Thanks Heaps
Bindu

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 30 Apr 2007, 06:48

There are typos in what you have here.
The beginning of the song is mangaiyaRkkarasi (mangaiyaRku+ arasi)=queen among women.
It is about mInAkshi of madurai. pANDI mA dEvi= goddess of pANDyA kingdom;
pAvai=woman (not pawai)
Since the second line speaks of naDamADi (having danced) I think it is kAl=leg) mARRI, perhaps, since sundarESwarA, the diety at madurai changed his left leg posture to right for the king. I bet others would know why.
paNNisaiththa nALthORum=every day that she is sung about (paN=song; iSaiththa=sing)

I am sure others would help more...

mahakavi · Post by **mahakavi** » 30 Apr 2007, 07:52

Sorry to say that it is a torture to decipher the lyrics the way they are written. If the lyrics were copied by transcription from an audio clip, it would be useful if the reference is given so that others can hear and transcribe it with due fidelity.

Angayar Kanni, Thanodu amarnda
Alawa yawadhum idhuway

A rough rewrite of the above verse would be:

angayaRkaNNI tannoDu amarnda
AlavAy Avadum iduvE

This refers to Lord SundarEswarar who is seated with mInAkshi {angayaRkaNNI = one who has the wide beautiful eyes of the fish(kayal)}. This verse may refer to both goddess mInAkshi and sundarEswarar becoming one.
AlavAy refers to the city of madurai.

pANDimAdEvi is perhaps derived from ( goddess mInAkshi) being born to the pANDiya king malayadwajan.

"kAl maRi ADiya kanaka sabEsA unmEl kAdal koNDEn ayyanE" is a line in another song. In the rajata sabhai (silver hall) in madurai sivA is seen with his right foot raised (instead of the usual left) acceding to the request of the king.

I guess it will take a few more rounds before the song gets its real shape which will enable us to give the meaning.

bindurajendren · Post by **bindurajendren** » 01 May 2007, 05:26

Thanks heaps for your translations. I apologise for the cruelty I have imposed on the lyrics of the song...Unfortunately this the best I could do from the audio tape I had!

Thanks heaps once again...

Bindu

mahakavi · Post by **mahakavi** » 01 May 2007, 07:52

bindurajendran:
Is it possible for you to upload the song? If it is a tape you may need to digitally convert it in order to upload to one of the servers available for such purpose. I am not sure if you have the proper equipment or help for that. If you do please upload it. Some of us will help you get the lyrics in good order and the meaning too in its entirety.

Rajani · Post by **Rajani** » 01 May 2007, 09:51

Bindu, this is actually the tEvAram of gnAnasambandhar. The Mangayarkarasi referred here is the Pandya queen (her maiden name was mAnI) who invited him to Madurai to convert her husband back to Saivism.
The lyrics can be found at shaivam.org, I guess.

mahakavi · Post by **mahakavi** » 01 May 2007, 20:43

I knew Rajani would come up with the right answer. It took me a while to scan tirugnAnasambhandar's tEvAram (all the three tirumuRais). Finally I found it at 3.120.1.
This set of ten songs (padigam) is on the temple at Madurai (aka tiru AlavAy). There are many other tens of such songs on tiru AlavAy in the first 3 tirumuRais.

Here is the transliterated text.

mangaiyarkkarasi vaLavarkOn pAvai varivaLaik kaimmaDa mAni
pangayac celvi pANDimAdEvi paNi seydu nADoRum paravap
pongazhaluruvan bhUdanAyaganAl vEdamum poruLgaLum aruLi
angayaRkaNNi tannoDum amarnda AlavAyAvadum iduvE

Perhaps Rajani's excellent skills could be requested here for the translation as well as the story behind it.

mahakavi · Post by **mahakavi** » 01 May 2007, 21:15

There are some words and context I stumble on in this verse and hence I dare not give a half-baked translation.

But, to correct my previous post, pANDimAdEvi here refers to the pANDya queen (whose given name was mAni) who is hailed as mangayarkkarasi and who (as mentioned by Rajani) invited tirugnAnasambhandar to Madurai to convert the king from Jainism to Hinduism(saivism)

Another correction: Because of the jumbled words in the lyrics the question of "raised right foot" came up. There is no reference here in this song for that episode.

Rajani · Post by **Rajani** » 01 May 2007, 21:22

Mr S - thankyou for the kind words, as well as taking all the trouble to get the correct text. I have read this story along with the tEvarams in Kripanandavariar's lovely take on the Peria puranam - "SivanaruT selvar".

This incident is one of the most important ones in gNanasambandha's life. The Pandya king has converted to Jainism and his wife as well as his minister Kulaccirai, were very distressed, both being staunch devotees of Siva. Having heard of the boy-saint , the queen sent the minister to fetch him and he did so. By Siva's grace, the king was given "veppu nOi" ( high fever) and the saint cured him with His "vibhUti" ( this is when the famous "mandiramAvadu nIRu" was composed) and for good measure defeated the Jain scholars in various contests, converting the king and therefore the whole country back to Saivism. The king(ninRa sIr nedumARan) and queen and minister all find a place among the 63 nAyanmArs.

AlavAyAvadum iduvE - This indeed is the AlavAi city (wherein)
pongazhaluruvan bhUdanAyagan - The Lord of the 5 elements, with a form like flaming fire
nAl vEdamum poruLgaLum aruLi - having blessed the rishis with the knowledge of the 4 vEdas and their meanings (this is one of the 64 tiruviLaiyAdal-s of the lord in Madurai)
angayaRkaNNi tannoDum amarnda - has taken seat along with the fish-eyed goddess
(while)
mangaiyarkkarasi vaLavarkOn pAvai - Mangayarkkarasi, the daughter of the Chola king
varivaLaik kaimmaDa mAni - she of hands with beautiful bangles, the modest mAni
pangayac celvi pANDimAdEvi - the Pandya Queen , who is verily like Goddess Lakshmi
paNi seydu nADoRum paravap - serves Him and praises Him daily (nAL+toRum)

Hope I have got it right. Corrections/questions welcome

mahakavi · Post by **mahakavi** » 01 May 2007, 21:54

Fantastic, Rajani! Very crisp and succinct translation. I am sure bindurajendran would be thrilled.

I found another delectable one on mangayarkkarasi in the nAyanmAr page which profiled mangayarkkarasi (not sure if this one is also by tirugnAnasambhandar).

mangayarkkut taniyarasi engaL deyvam vaLavar tirukkulakkozhundu vaLaikkai mAni
sengamalat tirumaDandai kanni nADAL tennarkulap pazhitIrtta deyvappAvai
engaLpirAn saNbayarkOn aruLinAlE iru^ntamizh nADuRRa iDarnIkkit tangaL
pongoLi veNDirunIRu parappinAraip pORRuvAr kazhalemmAl pORRalAmE!

mahakavi · Post by **mahakavi** » 02 May 2007, 02:24

Having quoted the verse in the previous post let me finish with its meaning.

It is from sEkkizhAr's periya purANam (#4189). Here is the meaning. sEkkizhar uses 3 stanzas to sing the praise of mangayarkkarasi nAyanAr (one of the three women in the Hall of Fame of Shiva's devotees).

mangaiyarkkut taniyarasi= unique queen among women
engaL deyvam= our goddess
vaLavar tirukkozhundu = a sensitive offspring of the noble clan of the sOzha king
vaLaikkai mAni = with bangles in her arms
sengamalat tirumaDandai kanni = a holy dame on the red lotus (like Lakshmi)
nADAL tennar kulap pazhi tIrtta deyvap pAvai= she, a divine dame, eliminated the shame on the southern dynasty (the shame was the conversion of the Pandyan king to Jainism)
engaL pirAn saNbayar kOn aruLinAlE= with the grace of our Lord (the prince of SeNbai (?)
iruntamizh nADuRRa iDar nIkki = quelled the misfortune (the king's religious conversion) which befell the Thamizh country
tangaL pongoLi veNDirunIRu parappinArai = those who propagated the use of the resplendent, white sacred ash (vibhUti)
pORRuvOr kazhal emmAl pORRalAmE = we (I) shall worship the feet of those who sing her (mangayarkkarasi's) praise

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 02 May 2007, 07:33

Rajani,
Thanks for your great translation and story. Good to see you back in the fold.

Rajani · Post by **Rajani** » 02 May 2007, 21:02

Thanks a lot, Dr Sub and Arasi, your words mean a lot to me.

It is amazing to note how closely Sekkizhar follows the words of the tEvAram in describing the divine queen. As a mark of respect, no doubt.

Interestingly this incident is referred to quite often in Tiruppugazh songs too, as Arunagirinathar clearly states that gnAnasambandha is Lord Muruga himself ( 2 such songs are "neitta surikuzhal" and "vanchaka lObha mUDar")

mahakavi · Post by **mahakavi** » 02 May 2007, 21:30

>>It is amazing to note how closely Sekkizhar follows the words of the tEvAram in describing the divine queen. As a mark of respect, no doubt.<<

It appears SivapprakAsa SwamigaL who sang "nAlvar nAnmaNi mAlai" outdid even sEkkizhAr in paying a tribute to mangayarkkarasi. I am quoting from a book "periya purANam" in English by one G. Vanmikanathan below. The SwamigaL poses the following question to tirugnAnasambhandar thus:

Is the Mother of the Universe
Who drew milk from her breast
into a gold cup in order to feed the child
on seeing it crying on the bank
of the tank crowded with lotus leaves
or
the gracious Royal Dame
from whose breast milk spurted
on hearing your plight---
tell me O Sambandhar,
who among these two is the greater?

This is a case of equating the humble devotee with the Lord or dEvi!

Even appar in his famous "sanga nidi paduma nidi.." song mentions that he will not consider the riches in the world or sovereignty over the earth if the gifts are not from veritable devotees of mahAdEvan. On the other hand if somebody is a leper (with their limbs rotting) or pulaiyars (who do the menial job of processing the carcasses of cows) he (appar) will worship them provided they are His devotees.

So mangayarkkarasi, as a true devotee of the Lord, above all, deserves her place in the Sun!

bindurajendren · Post by **bindurajendren** » 15 Jun 2007, 05:24

Hi all,

Sorry I have not been able to reply as I have been unable to access this forum for sometime. Thanks heaps for all of your kind assistance. In addition to the meaning I have also been able to get the right pronounciations due to all of your kind efforts.

Unfortunately the music is on an audio tape and I am intending to get it resung and re-recorded when I go back to India next; hence will not be able to upload it.

Regards
Bindu