Having said how much He went through for SrIdEvi in the previous Slokam, now she is referring to how much He went through for bhUdEvi. One time, when bhUmidEvi was submerged in deep waters and accumulating moss all over Her body (due to hiraNyAkshan?s kidnapping), this great tiru ara?ngac celvan took the form of a varAha (pig). Dripping with dirty waters all over His body, without even being ashamed of the form that He took which naturally revels in dirty waters, He immediately came to Her rescue. I cannot get over the words that He has given before in the form of the varAha carama Slokam - that if anyone remembered Him during his/her lifetime, He will remember that soul at the final moment and give moksham to that soul. (Alternate meaning: I cannot forget the words He spoke to me when we were together - ?I will not be separated from you, and I won?t live if I am separated from you?).

tiruara?ngac celvanAr, who has great tEjas, took a ?mAnamillAp paNRi? rUpam that is covered with dust, just to embrace bhUmidEvi and rescue her from the ocean. The varAha carama slokam, the great philosophy that was expounded to bhUmidEvi from varAha mUrti states the following: when at the end of life, His bhaktas lie flat like stone or wood without any smaraNai, He creates in them a thought about Himself and takes them to His abode [?mama dhAmA?- gitai ] through the arcirAdi mArgam.

Since varAha mUrti has gone back on His words, ANDAL is taking the liberty to declare a chiding mangaLAsAsanam on Him as ?mAnam ilAp panRi?.

pAsi tUrttuk kiDanda pAr magatku: During praLaya kAlam, the bhUmi was under the ocean waters for a long time and thus was covered with green moss. It was only the bhUmi or the world that got covered with moss; how can it be said that bhUmi pirATTi was covered with moss? The world or bhUmi is considered bhUmi pirATTi?s body.; thus, the moss that covered the bhUmi is covering bhUmi pirATTi. Just as loving husbands will not worry about the appearance of their bodies when their beloved wives were not able to beautify themselves for whatever reason, when bhUmi pirATTi was covered with moss, emperumAn took the form of a pig that does not care about moss and mud.

paNDu oru nAL: That was the day, the day of His embrace; today, when I am separated from Him, is this a day?

mASuDambil nIr vArA mAnam ilAp panRiyAm: The body He assumed in His varAha incarnation is worse than anything one can imagine. The mumumkshu-s consider this human body as ?azhukku uDambu? (nammAzhvAr in tiruviruttam 1), that is worth shedding. The body He assumed in the varAha incarnation was certainly inferior to this azhukku uDambu of the mumukshu-s. Then there are the samsAri-s who love this azhukku uDambu and keep purifying and decorating this worthless body. The form He assumed was even less than this low level body. He assumed a form that revels in dirt and was not even ashamed that the body was full of dirt and filth. He took the form of a mAnam illAp panRi.

mAnam ilA: He completely forgets His greatness, and takes the form of a human being, nay, even worse, the form of a pig, and declares shamelessly: ?I am not a dEva; nor a gandharva; nor an yaksha, nor an asura. I am born as your relative. You cannot think of me of any other way.?

He stooped so low that He took to lowly foods like bulbs (?kOraik kizhangu?) that are the staple foods of pigs and became identified with them. When mArican came as the magic deer, the other deer smelled him and realized that he was not their kind and ran away with fear. But, when He came as a pig, He came shamelessly just like any other pig, and when other forest pigs smelled Him, they thought He was one of them and came closer. He did not even distinguish Himself from them in any way.

'mAnam illA' can also mean 'without abhimAnam' - without the pride and self-respect that He is ISvaran.

panRiyAm tEsuDaiya dEvar: The luster that came because of His lowering Himself for His aDiyArgaL. It is not because of His karma that He took that form (?tanakku vENDu uruk koNDu? - tiruvAimozhi 6-4-7); He did that to protect what belonged to Him, and so the luster of rakshakatvam is associated with this form.

tiru ara?ngac celvanAr: We could not serve Him when He came as varAham; in order to remove that void in us, He came to tiru ara?ngam and is resting there so that we can serve Him.

SelvanAr pESi iruppanagaL: those who are rich do not care about what they say. Without even thinking what effects their words would cause, they will keep saying whatever comes to their minds. He has made declarations of His vow to protect His devotees through SrI varAha carama slokam, SrI rAma carama slokam and SrI kRshNa carama slokam. I trusted all His words, and I am now suffering. (It can also mean that godai is talking about what He had told her earlier: ? I shall not leave you; and if I am separated from you, I cannot continue to hold on to my life?).

pErkkavum pErAvE: I am trying to forget all those words of Him, but I am not able to remove them from my heart. Even though He does not remember all the suffering He went through when He fell in love with the body of a woman - sItA pirATTi, and even though He now chooses to forget me and thinks of His own welfare, I am not able to forget Him and continue to live - (?koDiya en ne?njam avan enRE kiDakkum? - tiruvAimozhi 6-4-7).

Just because He wanted to be seated next to bhUmidevi, He had to inherit a body. But did He have to inherit the body that even the likes of us who have ?azhukku uDambu? feel a revulsion for - that of a dirty pig, which does not even seem to feel shame that it has a dirty body?

panRiyAm teSuDaiya devar: No matter what form He takes, His powers are not diminished in any way. Even though He took the form of a pig, it is not the form that resulted out of any karma, and so the tejas that is natural to Him is still exhibiting itself in His varAha form [[svAmi deSikan lists this as one of the 6 avatAra rahasya-s in SrI SaraNAgati dIpikA 17 - nAnAvidahih akapaTaih ajahat-svabhAvaih aprAkRtaih nija-vihAravaSena-siddhaih AtmIya-rakshaNa-vipaksha-vinASanArthaih]].

Out of her intense praNaya rOsham, ANDAL chides emperumAn as ?mAnam illap paNRi?; but, lest those who don?t know His greatness misuse her words, she immediately reminds them that He is ?tESu uDaiya dEvar

mASu uDambil: All that He wanted to make sure was to avoid the mASu that He could not protect His wife - He did not care that He had to assume the mASu uDambu in order to retrieve her from the depths of the ocean moss.

pESi iruppanagaL: Soon after He retrieved bhUdevi from the depths of the ocean, she complemented Him on all the efforts He took on her behalf, and He told her how deeply He was in love with her etc. How can He be so different and uncaring now to her? If all those words He uttered to her at that time are coming to be lies, then His words through the varAha caram Slokam where He said that He will protect His devotees and take them to His abode can also be false in her case.

F. SrI vEllukkuDi varadAcAriyAr in one of his upanyasams, states that svAmi dEsikan explains the phrase ?mAnamillAp panRi? as ?uvamAna illAp panRi? (pig that has no equal) and SrI PVP explains the same as ?abhimAnam illAp panRi? (He totally forgot His own former greatness).

In this pASUram, ANDAL reminds herself of the incident where Lord kRshNa saved rukmiNi from SiSupAlan. SiSupAlan was absolutely sure that he was going to marry rukmiNi, and had made all the marriage arrangements. In the meantime, rukmiNi cried out to Him - SrutvA guNAN bhuvana sundara ?tvayi acyuta AviSati cittam aptrapam me (SrImad bhAgavatam 10.52.37). Even as SiSupAlan was hot-headedly gazing skyward with certainty of this futile dream of his, bhagavAn came like a lightning and rescued rukmiNi and married her even before SiSupAlan could realize what had happened. Here, ANDAL is praising this Lord of tiru ara?ngam for His demonstrated Mercy to those who seek His protection.

In the first six pASurams of this tirumozhi ANDAL was referring to His having taken ownership of all that belongs to her. In the seventh, she referred to the difficulties He went through for sItA pirATTi earlier, but now He is enjoying her misery without even being aware of the miseries He went through. In the eighth, she said that even if she wanted to forget Him, His thought haunted her and she could not forget Him. In the current pASuram, she recalls how He saved rukmiNi from SiSupAlan, and considers this to be an indication that He is the savior of all women in distress, and so still has the hope that He will come to her.

SiSupAlan had done all the arrangements to marry rukmiNi pirATTi, and had no doubt whatsoever about the marriage taking place as planned. kaNNan came like a lightning and took her away and married her even as SiSupAlan was wonder-struck and gazing skyward, not being able to comprehend what happened. By this act of His, He is known as One who helps all women who need help. Being helped by Him without fail, all women can dance with joy in ara?ngam (the term for the dance stage). No wonder that the place where that emperumAN, who is a protector of womenfolk, is living is also called tiru ara?ngam. So ANDAL consoles herself that He will definitely come and help her.

Even though bhagavAn gave the carama Slokam to arjuna, we humans fondly trust that His word applies to all us and so we hold on to our lives with this trust that ultimately He will protect us. BhagavAn is common to all, and so if He says something to arjuna, it is like His saying the same thing to all of us. So also, ANDAL looks at the instance of His helping rukmiNi, and fondly hopes that this is sufficient proof that He will help her as well.

kaNNAlam kODittu: SiSupAlan spent all the wealth that he had earned in the festivities for his proposed marriage with Sri rukmiNi. [kODittal is a word that is commonly used to explain elaborate preparations for anything]

kanni tannaik kaip piDippAn: Just like someone going through a lot of trouble to smell a fresh flower which has never been smelt by anyone before, SiSupAlan went through hoops to gain the hand of this kanni, rukmiNi.

tiNNArndirunda SiSupAlan: tiNNArndiruttal - to be of the firm belief, to be absolutely certain. Just as we go around leading our lives with the firm wrong belief that our AtmA belongs to us even though it truly belong to emperumAn, SiSupAlan was of the firm belief that rukmiNi belonged to him, even though she truly belonged to emperumAn.

tESu azhindu aNNandu irukkavE: Two interpretations are given for this; one before kaNNan came and took away rukmiNi, and the other after He came and rescued her.

Before kaNNan came, SiSupAlan had lost the luster that comes with humility (aDakkam) and thinking proudly of himself as maNavAlap piLLai, never looked down and was holding his head high looking at the sky.

A~ngu avaLaik kaip piDitta: The quickness with which kaNNan came and took rukmiNi?s hand looked like He thought it sufficient that all the pUrvA?nga-s for the marriage have been already completed by SiSupAlan, and all He had left to do was to take her hand.

peNNALan: This action of His (namely rescuing His devotee who sought His protection) was not meant only for rukmiNi; ANDAL sees this act as a confirmation that He will protect all those who are born as women and who seek His protection.

pErum arangamE: just as He is peNNALan, His place is also called SrIra?ngam - a place that periya pirATTiyAr enjoys living in (ara~ngam denotes a dancing place; pirATTi dances in glee in His place, thus hinting women can live in happiness here).

The "um" suffix in "Urum ara~ngamE" emphasizes that not only He is peNNALan, but the place He lives is also the place where the women can dance with joy.

In the last pASuram we saw to what extent bhagavAn went to protect bhUmidevi. gOdai?s friends point out that emperumAn took great trouble to save bhUmidevi because she was His wife, and the whole world knew it, and so it was His duty to protect her; If He does not protect her, it will be a dishonor to Him, and so He had no choice except to protect her. But in gOdai?s case, all that happened is that gOdai got married to Him in her dream; no one else in the world will accept this as proof that gOdai is married to Him. In this situation, if He doesn?t come and save gOdai, He is not going to be dishonored. So the friends advise gOdai that she is wasting her time hoping that He is going to come and protect her. So gOdai is defending ara?ngan in this pASuram.

peNNALan: rukmiNi is not the only one He saved. He killed narakAsuran and married several girls. The AyarpADi girls did nOnbu to get Him as their husband and He fulfilled their wishes too.

ara~ngamE: What is special about ANDAL emphasizing tiru ara?ngam instead of say pARkkaDal? When He is lying down in pARkaDal, He is useful only for bhUmidEvi. Since He married many more girls, He decided pARkaDal is not the right place for Him and so He came to tiru ara?ngam. Unlike other mUrti-s who are in standing or sitting postures and involved in taking care of the world?s affairs, ara?ngan is lying down on painnAgaNai, a pose that all girls love to see. ra?ngam means the dancing stage. Does that sound like a place for an old man to be lying down? Far from it. This is the place for all to dance with joy thinking of this nitya yauvana mUrti.

To show that tiru ana?ngan is young at heart, gOdai uses the word ?peNNALan.. How did ANDAL who wanted be marry kaNNan ended up marrying tiru aran?ngan? This pASuram is quoted as the support. Just like Him, she also can assume any form she wants, and all the rUpam-s He takes are pati rUpam-s for her.

A. Meaning from SrImAn SaDagOpan's tamizh treatise:

That tiru ara?nganAr, who says what He thinks and does what He says, has declared before that He will not give up anyone who has approached Him in a spirit of friendship, under any circumstance, even if that person has flaws in character. My father, periyAzhvAr, has absolute faith in His word, and so has absolutely no concern whatever and leads his life in peace. I, being his daughter, follow his footsteps. If this emperumAn does not keep up His word and makes a lie of the well-known ancient declaration ?He is in deep love with anyone who is in deep love with Him?, who is there who has the authority to go and correct Him? (All we can do on our part is to love Him and live without any worry and the complete belief and trust that He will take care of us).
B. Additional thoughts from SrI PVP:

Semmai uDaiya tiru ara?ngar: Semmai means ?nErmai?. The cEtana-s exhibit inconsistency in thought, word and deed (?manasyanyat vacasyanyat karmaNyanyat durAtmanAm? - SrI kRshNasvAmi aiye?ngAr). In order to redeem these types of cEtana-s, He exhibits identity and consistency in His thought, word, and deed. This is the Semmai referred to here.

As gitAcAryan claims in gItai 5-29, ?suhr*dam sarbhUtAnAm?, He wishes only good for every one in His heart. He is lying down in tiru ara?ngam carrying out His own words that He shall save even those who commit sins. He Himself said ?na tyajEyam? when He took the incarnation as rAma - the declaration that He will not forsake anyone who seeks refuge in Him.

tAm paNitta: It is this great emperumAn who Himself has declared.

meimmaip peru vArttai: His words are true meimmai), they are great, unique, special, easy to follow for anyone (peru vArttai) - The SrI kRshNa carama Slokam.

viTTucittar kETTiruppar: My father, viTTUcittar would have heard (from his AcAryar) kaNNan's words to arjunan "I will take care of all your duties; do not worry about anything; leave all your burdens to Me and be devoid of any worry". And having listened to that, he lived his life accordingly.

tammai ugappArait tAm ugappar ennum Sol: It is common in the world for one to say ?I am a good person to all good people? if one is asked ?who will you be good to??. It is also stated in another way: ?nallavarukku tIyavan uNDO?? - ?will good people have any enemies??

If tiru ara~ngan starts making these statements false (SrI T.S. rAjagopAlan - what if the fence which is supposed to protect the field starts destroying the same field?), is there anyone who can question Him and tell Him that He is not supposed to act like that, or force Him to like all those who like Him by saying to Him: ?ummai ugandavaLai nIrum ugakka vENum??

C. Additional thoughts from SrI PBA:

Just as viTTucittar lived his life by following the words of bhagavAn kRshNa in the gItA, gOdai declares that she will live her life the same way, with the full confidence that He will not forsake her.

D. Additional thoughts from SrI UV:

In the previous pASuram, gOdai tells the folks around her that emperumAn is a savior of all women who need His help, and gives the examples of His acts in His vibhava incarnation. They counter by saying that may be He could do all that help because He was in His vibhava avatAram, in flesh and blood among the people who needed His help. It is futile for ANDAL to expect the same kind of help when He is lying down without uttering a word or even moving, in His arcAvatAram. gOdai?s reply is: ?Far from it. Don?t you all remember my father periyAzhvAr?s declaration - eyiRRiDai maN kONDa endai irAp pagal Oduvittu ennaip payiRRip paNi Seyyak koNDAn (periAzhvAr tirumozhi 5.2.3)? My father declares that pArmagaL kELvan is keeping him at His service day and night. He told my father that He wants to wear everyday the flower garland that I wear first. Is this happening in vibhava incarnation or arcA incarnation? He is true to His words always, and He is the one who has declared through the varAha carama slokam and gItA carama slokam that He will always protect those who surrender to Him. That is why He is Semmai uDaiyavar. My father is a witness to all these.

My father also believes in the statement ?tammai ugappArai tAm ugappar tiru ara?ngar?. emperumAn reciprocates the love that one exhibits towards Him any time, in any birth or anywhere?.

priyO hi jn~AninOtyartham aham sa ca mama priyah (gItA 7.17)
yE yathA mAm prapadyantE tAmstathaiva bhajAmyaham?(gItA 4.11)
yE bhajanti tu mAm bhaktyA mayi tE tEshu cApyaham? (gItA 9.29)

If He finds us not believing in them and not loving Him, then, He can say ?you didn?t love me; so, I don?t love you?, and so, all the above statements will still be true. But, we are all love for Him and if He still falsifies these, what can we do? It will just show that there is no guarantee that those who love Him will get back His love.

If I share with you folks all the promises He has to me, you would brush them off saying these are the typical promises made by men to women. That is why I am sharing with you what He has told my father, viTTu cittar. If you don?t believe that also, how can I prove beyond this? Unless He comes and proves His love to me in person, I have no way of proving to you.

sAdippAr yAr iniyE: who can punish Him (sAdippAr yAr iniyE), or who can advise Him (if He acts in such a way falsifying the statement that He will love those who love Him)?

Abbreviations:
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PVP= SrI periyavAccAn piLLai
PBA= SrI prativAdi bhayankaram aNNangarAcAriyAr
UV = SrI uttamUr vIrarAghavAcAriyAr