Thiruppavai-Pasuram 16to 20

Pasuram16- nAyakanAi ninra

nAyakanAi ninra nandagOpanudaiya

kOilkAppAnE koditthOnrum thOraNa

vAyilkAppAne maNikkadhavamthAL thiravAi

Ayar sirumiyarOmiukkaraiparai

mAyan maNivaNNam nennalE vAi nErndhAn

thooyOmAi vandhOm thuyilezappduvAn

vayAl munnammunnam mAttradhE ammAnee

nEyanilaikkadhavam neekkElorempAvai

You , the guard of the palace and the festooned gateway of Nandhagopa,our master, open the jewelled door.The enchanting and lustrous Lord Krishna has promised to grace us, the cowherd girls, who have come pure, to awaken Him.with our singing.Please open the main door without saying anything to the contrary.

Before getting the darsana of the Lord the dvarapalakas have to be entreated for granting permission to go in. It is called thadheeyapurskAra in vaishnavasampradhaya, which means that the bhagavathArAdhana will be fruitful only through bhAgavathArAdhana.

nayakana---vAyilkAppAne- It may mean that the guard at the palace and the one at the door are appeased or it may be that there is one guard who is referred to as both 'koil kAppAn and vAyil kAppAn.

The palace is called Koil because it is the abode of the Lord. The gate keeper is called by his occupation to please him like calling a minister by his position.The word nayakanai ninra may also be combined with koilkAppAn extolling him as the nayakan or prime factor in enabling the darsan of the Lord like the acharya who makes it easy for the disciple to approach the Lord.

koditthOnrum thOraNavayil-The flag flutters and the palace gate is decorated with festoons only when the king is there. The flag on the mansion of Nandhagopa indicated the presence of the Lord. It is interesting to note here what VlliputthoorAr ,who wrote Mahabharatha in Tamil, says about the flag moving on the top of the palace of Krishna when DuryOdhana was coming to ask his help in the war.

'eendu nee varinum engaL eziludai ezuvivaNNan pAndavarthangatkallAl padaitthuNai AgamAttAn;meendu nee pOga------kaigaLAl thaduppappOnru.'

It looked as though the flags waved its hands as if telling Duryodhana that Krishna will be helping only Pandavas and signing him to go back.

Kamban gives even a more beautiful picture about the flag that fluttered on the palace of Janaka as though calling Rama telling him that ho is wife is there.

maiyarumalarinneengi yAn sei mAthavatthin vandhu

seyyavaL irundhAL enru sezumaNikkodigaL ennum

kaigalai neetti andhakkadinaga rkamalacchengaN

ayyanai ollai vA enru azaippadhanpOnradhammA

It looked as though the flags extended their hands and invited the lotus eyed Rama to the city saying, "Sridevi leaving her abode of lotus has come here due to our penance and so you also come here."

kAppAnE-These guards protect Him who protects the whole world. Andal is the daughter of Periazvar who sang pallAndu to the Lord to protect Him from evil eyes and hence says that the guards are protecting the Lord.

Ayarsirumiyar-we are only cowherd girls and harmless and so you need not hesitate to let us in.

maNikkadhavam- the doors are imbedded with gems. Even the mansions of others in Ayarpadi are described as thoomaNimAdam and it is obvious that the palace of Nandhagopa should be even more rich in appearance.The attention is diverted to the external decor as long as one has not seen the deity inside the temple.But once we stand in front of the Lord we notice nothing except his form. Likewise till they go in, the appearance of the mansion, flag etc. are mentioned but once they stand in front of Him they could talk about nothing else but His glory.

Mayan-the word is used in three pasurams before this.

1. Mayanai mannu vadamadurai maindhanai-Pasuram no.5.-The wonder of his avathara is expressed here.

2.MAmAyan mAdhavan- in the pasuram 'thoomaNimAdatthu,' pasuram no.9-This is supposed to refer to the story of Muchukundha, who was sleeping inside a cave and Krishna led Kalayavana into the cave as though he is fleeing from him out of fear and Kalyavana attacked Muchukundha thinking that he was Krishna and was burnt by his look.I t was one of the mayaleela of the Lord.

3.MayanaippadelorempAvai-in the preceding pasuram 'elle ilamkiliye.. This has reference to the glory of Bhagavathas. The mayam of the Lord in enchanting even Narada, who became proud once that the worldly desires could not touch him and Krishna asked him to fetch a cup of water and when Narada went to the river, by the maya of the Lord he saw a beautiful damsel and married her and lived happily. When she and the sons he had from her died he sat on the bank and cried when Bhagavan approcached him and asked him that what ever happened to the cup of water he was supposed to fetch.Then only Narada realised that all was the maya of the Lord.

In this pasuram it is mentioned 'mAyan maNivaNnan nennal vAinErndhAn,' which refers to the episode of the hunchbacked whose hunch Krishna straightened and went to her house later as promised earlier 'nennalE vAi nErndhAn..' Also He promised Droupadhi that he will come to her resque when needed. Rama will promise easily and keep His promise at any cast but Krishna will not promise unless He is sure that He will fulfil it. He says to Droupadhi that the sky may fall down and the Himalayas may be reduced to pieces but His word will not be untrue.The same promise He gives in Gita ' kounthEya prathjaaneehi na mE bhakthah praNasyathi, that His devotee will never come to harm..

These are the explanations given by the great scholars and devotees.

ThooyOmAi vandhom- They have come with thrikaraNasuddhi, that is purity of body, mind and intellect.

ThuyilezappaduvAn-They want to sing inorde to awaken Him so that His glance will fall on them first as mentioned in a later pasuram.

vAyAl munnam----amma- As the tamil saying goes, 'sAmi varam kodutthAlum poojari varam kodudukkaNum,' the great personages may be quite accessible but the people around them may prove to be difficult.So the girls are requesting the door keeper to allow them in, telling him not to say anything on the contrary.

This pasuram contains all the three manthras of vaishnava tradition namely, he ashtakshara, Om namO nArAyanAya., the dvayamanthra, SreemannArAyanacharanou Saranamprapadhye;Sreemathe nArAyanAyanamah, the charamasloka, sarvadharmAn parithyajaya mAmEkam Saranam vraja ;aham thvaa sarvapApEbhyO mOkshayishyAmi mA Suchah.

NAyakanAi---koilkAppAnE-denotes the moolamanthra. Nayakan is the Lord who is the nayaka of the world.His koil is praNava,Om. Nandhagopan means the one who gives bliss ,Anandha and who is the protector, gOpa.As the bliss is given only through surrender the nama sabdha is included in this. The word ninra refers to Narayana and hence the moolamanthra is implied by this sentence.

koditthOnrum thOraNavayilkAppAnE- is the dvayamanthra. KoditthOnrum thoraNavasal meaning Vaikunta and the word kAppAn means the Lord.He gives mOksha to those who surrender to His feet.

Ayarsirumiyar -----nErndhaAn refers to the promise of the Lord in the Gita that He will redeem the ose who surrender to Him, which is the only qualification whether the prpanna is learned or low born.

Thuyileza-----amma- To wake up from the sleep of samsara the acharya is entreated to instruct the three manthras without reserve and the word ammA refers to the acharya.

neya nilaikkadhavam- the doors are two in each manthra , Om and namOnArAyanAya, in themoola manthra and the two parts of the dvaya and the two lines of the charamasloka.

They should be opened in the sense that the secret of the meaning should be opened by the acharya.

Pasuram 17-ambaramE thaNNeerE

ambarame thaNNeerE sorE aram seyyum

emperumAn nandagopAlA ezundhirAi

kombanArkkellAm l kozyundhE kulaviLakkE

emperumAtti yasOdhAi arivurAi

ambaram oodarutthu Ongi ulagalandha

umbarkOmAnE urangAdhezundhirAi

semporkazqladichelvA baladhEva

umbiyum neeyum urangElorempAvai.

Lord Nandhagopala, who gives clothes, water and food to all, wake up. Yasodha, the best among beautiful slender women, the light of the clan, wake up.Oh Lord, who is the God of gods, and who pierced the sky and measured the whole world, do not sleep, wake up.Balarama, with golden anklet do not be sleeping with your brother.

Nandhagopa is known for giving ambaram,clothes, thaNNeer,water and annam food to all.Likewise he is asked to give them Krishna also because as Nammazvar has said, uNNumsoru, parugumneer, thinnum vettrilai ellaAm Kannan for these girls.

aramseyyum-aram is charity done with righteous attitude, dharmabuddhi. That is why it is called aram, which means dharma in Tamil. To expect something in return is only a business. To do it as one's duty is dharmam.Of all the dhAnas annadhAna is supposed to be the best because one who gets it goes away satisfied.

YasOdha means giver of yasas which normally means fame and in the vedas it means Brahman. Since she gave us the Brahmam in form of Krishna she is called Yasodha.

The word ambaram has many meanings such as clothes, sky etc. The first ambaram means the clothes while the second denotes the sky. But the scholars take it that to translate ambaram in 'ambaramE thaNNeerE, sOre' as akasa, the word may be taken to refer to the Lord Himself.The basis for this is the upanishadic statement that Brahman, who was one and only without a second willed to become many and created the elements. Akasa being the first and later followed fire, air, water and earth. As the earth is denoted by the word annam the same order given here refers to the Lord from whom everything origiinated. Also ambaram meaning clothes is mentioned first as it is essential for human beings only, among all the creatures and only after wearing clothes after bath one eats food or drinks water. Lord Krishna was also the donor of ambara , garment to Droupadi and water to the horses in the battle by piercing the rock by his staff, used to tend cattle.

Ambaramoodarutthu refers to the piercing of the cosmic shell to bring water from the outer region as mentioned in the upanishad as 'thripAdhasyAmrtham dhivi,' that is the whole cosmos pervaded by the Lord is only a quarter of His form and the remaining three quarters are outside.It is said that Brahma wanted to wash the feet of the Lord when it reached his loka by the water of his kamandalu but found that it was not enough when Thrivikrama pierced the cosmic shell by His foot and brought the water which became the akasaganga, celestial Ganges which was later brought to earth by Bhagiratha.

selva baladeva- his semporkazal is a veerakkazal.as he killed asuras and dragged the whole Hasthinapura into the Gangesby his plough when Duryodhana insulted him and diverted Yamuna to where he was for his jalakreeda. Being the incarnation of adhisesha he cleaned the womb of Devaki to make it divine for Krishna, his Lord. As Devaki lost her six children Sesha entered her womb to clear the sarpa dosha, causing death of sons of Devaki and he stepped into the world to guard Krishna from evil forces. Sesha follows the Lord wherever He goes.as azvar says, 'senral kudaiyam,' he serves the Lord in all His states.Sesha and the seshi, bhagavan are not two but one.

umbiyum neeyum urangelorempavai- Sesha being the couch they entreat him to wake up as when he moves the Lord will be awakened.They call Krishna his younger brother implying that Krishna will listen to him if he takes mercy on them and recommend their case.

In the pasurams 16,17 and 18 Nandhagopa is mentioned as being the master (nayakanAi) charitable, (aram seyyum) valourous (undhumadhakalittran OdAdhathOlvaliyan).Desika in his Yadhavabhyudhaya says that Nandhagopa excelled the wish-giving jewel, chinthamani and the celestial wish- fulfilling tree, kalpatharu and the rainbearing clouds in his generosity at the birth of Krishna.

The ashtakshar manthra is referred to by this pasuram. Ambaram=pranavam,sOru =narayana sabdha and thaNNeer=namah

Ambaram meaning AkAsa denotes the pranava in which all sabdhas are included as everything exists in AkAsa.

Upanishad says 'annam brhmEthi vijAnAth' therefore soru=Narayanasabdha, the Brahman of visishtadvaitha

thaN neer - cool water is namah sabdha since it is the means of life eternal.Through prapatthi, surrender, the devotion attains its culmination and like the cool water the jiva is refreshed from the heat caused by samsara.

aram seyyum- The acharya gives BhagavAn, the seshi to the sesha , the jiva and vicevesa which is the aram .

kombanSrkkellAm kozundhu is the ashtakshara which is the best of manthras as it shows the Lord. It is like Yasodha who has Krishna and the manthra is the source of jnana(arivurAi)

Ambaram oodarutthu indicates the all- pervasiveness of the Lord.

umbiyumneeyum urangelorempAvAi-Bhagavtseshatnvam and bhAgavathaseshathvam. It is equally important to worship the bhagavathas as it is to worship BhagavAn, who will be pleased more by the propitiation of His devotees as a father will be more pleased by fondling of his son rather than honouring himself. The sleep here is the lack of awareness of this fact.

Pasuram18-undhumadhakaLittran

UndhumadhakaLittran OdAdhathOLvaliyan

nandhagopAlan marumagalE nappinnAI

gandham kamazum kuzalee kadai thiravAi

vandhengum kOzi azaithana kAN mAdhavi

pandhalmEl palkAl kuyilinangaLkoovina kAN

pandhAr virali un maitthunan pEr pAda

senthAmaraikkaiyAl seerAr vaLai olippa

vandhu thiravAi magizndhElOrempAvai

NappinnA, of fragrant hair, the daughter- in- law of the valiant elephant -like Nandhagopa, who never flees from battle,come and open the door. See the cocks are crowing and the cuckoos are singing on the madhavi creeper. You who has ball in your fingers come and open the door with your lotus hand with jingling bangles when we sing the glory of your Lord.

To get the favour of the Lord one needs the grace of Lakshmi. So here she is awakened. With the glance of Sitadevi while she passed by the rsyamooka hill Sugreeva attained his kingdom.Hanuman went as Ramadhootha and after being graced by the glance of Sitadevi became Ramadasa and had the great fortune of being hugged by Rama.It is significant that she never looked at Ravana while talking to him. On the other hand the Kakasura whose offense to her was even worse than that of Ravana escaped death because of her glance.The word nappinnAi is also explained as nal=pinnAi, meaning Sita devi, the good one who followed (pin thodarndhaval) Rama to the forest.

The word marumagal, normally means daughter- in -law, is also explained to mean Lakshmi herself as she abides in the chest of the Lord in the form of a maru, mark in which case the Lord himself is the undhumadah-----nandhagopalan. Marumagal is also explained as maruvum magal, the one who is embraced by the Lord. Nappinnai is not only the daughter-in-law but also marumagal, niece of Nandhagopa, since she is the daughter of his sister.

vandhengum-----koovina kAN- he cocks are everywhere but the cuckoo is only found on the madhavicreeper.The sweet sounds and words are rare to find.

pandhAr virali- she was playing with Krishna with ball and slept with it in her hands.This signifies that all the beings are the leela kandhuka, play-balls for the Lord and Devi.

This pasuram is the 18th. The number 18 is very significant. Gita has 18 chapters, Mahabhartha war went on for 18 days, Bhagavatha purana has 18000 slokas etc.The sum of 1=8 is 9 a changeless number which when added or subtracted or multiplied by , the sum is 9 only.and this denotes Lakshmi who never changes her form while the Lord took a female form as Mohini. She always remained her merciful self in all avatharas.

kadai thiravAi, vandhu thiravAi-she is requested to come and remove the lock, that is , our sins ,which are the barrier between us and the Lord.

Vandhengum kOzi azatthanakAN-Like the cock which examines the garbage and takes what it wants we are also taking the essence of bhakthi by following you everywhere.

madhavi----Kuyilinangal koovina- kuyilinam, cuckoos may refer to the sages like Valmiki and Sukha who gave out the sweet song of the Lord taking the essence of the vedas.

PandAr virali-To Him we are only play- things but due to the grace of the divine mother we will become objects of His enjoyment.

Pasuram19-kutthuvilakkeriya

kutthuviLakkeriya kOttukkAl kattil mEl

metthenrapancha sayanatthinmElEri

kotthalar poonguzal nappinnai kongai mEl

vaitthukkidandha malarmarba vai thiravai

maitthadamkaNNinAi nee un maNAlanai

etthanai podhum thilezavottAi kAn

itthanai Agilum pirivAtrakillAyAl

thatthuvam anru thagavElOrempAvai

Oh Lord, speak to us. You are lying on a couch, which has got all the quaities of being the best like softness, and supported by the tusks of elephants, lit around with lamp, your chest resting on Nappinnai, who is wearing bunch of flowers on her tresses.Oh Nappinnai, with eyes decorated with collirium, you will not allow him to get up any time as you do not want to part with him, which is not right, and is against your nature.

Before approaching the Lord the divine mother has to be entreated as she is the one who advocates the case of the devotee to Him, which is called purushakaram in vaishnavism. The mother will give her grace to the devotee without consulting the Lord but will not punish wihout His approval. Sita saved Hanuman from the fire praying to the firegod to be cool 'SeethO bhava hanoomathah,' and saved the rakshasis from the wrath of Hanuman saying 'na kaSchit naoarAd\DHyathi?' , "who is without fault?" But she did not curse Ravana because, she said, she did not have the permission of Rama. This fact is very beautifully explained by Thyagaraja who says in his krthi 'mA jAnaki,' that Sita had all the powers to kill Ravana with her anger but desisted because she wanted to give the credit to Rama.

Kutthuvilakkeriya- the lamp will illuminate itself and the other things.. Likewise the divine mother shows the Lord to the devotees and vice versa.

kOttukkAl-The feet of the couch are made of ivory.

panchasayanam- an ideal couch must have five qualities. Softness.,whiteness, fragrance, coolness and beauty. Thus it is called panchasayanam.

etthanai pOdhum -----kAN- reference here is to Sita who did not wake up Rama even when Kakasura attacked her.

etthanai yAgilum pirivAtrakillAy- Sridevi is never separated from her Lord .Azvar calls him 'agalakillEn iraiyum ena alarmEl mangai urai mArbA.' This is the real meaning of 'nappinnai konhaimEl vaitthukkidandha malarlArba.'

Thatthuvam anru, thagavEl- thathvam is svarupam, nature, thagavu is svabhAva, character.. Not to show mercy on the devotees is neither suited to the nature or character of the divine mother.

thath denotes Brahman, that is, bhagavan, thvam refers to Lakshmi. Anru means 'not.' She is not Him as she is full of mercy and will not punish like the Lord.

The previous pasuram mentioned with reference to Ramanuja who was fond of it as it refers to ThAyar, the divine mother. It seems that he was so involved with this pasuram when he went on the streets singing it and when AtthuzAi, the daughter of Perianambi, his guru came out to give him biksha, he saw the ThAyAr herself in her and prostrated before her. Since then this pasuram is mentioned in connection with him.

The present one is supposed to be the favourite of Parasarabhattar.

The pasuram ambaramE begins with akAra and the next undhu madha begins with ukAra of the PraNava. The 20th one starts with makAra, 'muppatthumoovar' and this one is said to be inserted in between as the praNva should not be uttered direct except by vedic scholars .

KutthuviLakku denotes the light of jnana. which not only destroys the external darkness but also the internal darkness of ignorance.KutthuviLakku has five faces which denote here the five states of Bhagavan, namely, Para, vyuha, vibhava, archA and antharyami.Para is the state in vaikunta, as the supreme purusha, vyuha comprises of the four forms, Vasudeva, SankarshaNa, Pradhyumna and Aniruddha, all are one only though but distinguished according to the attributes that go with the bhagavathsabda.Vibhava are the incarnations, archa are the forms worshipped in temples and abtharyami is the indweller of all as their inner self.

The four legs of the couch denote the concepts that form the basis of the world, causing samsara. The four Purusharathas, dharma, artha, kama and moksha, the four asramas, brhmacharya, grhastha, vanaprastha and sannyasa,the four varnas, brahma,kshathriya vaisya and sudra, four yugas, sathya, thretha, dvapara and kali, and, papa, sin, puNya, merit, papapunya, the sin which appears as merit and vice versa, puNyapApa.These are the legs of samsara and the Lord is above 'mEl.' The pancha sayanam denotes the five kinds of life, deva, manushya, thiryang and sthAvara and aprAni, divine, human, animal, plant and inert. the lord is above the couch , that is beyond all beings . He is malarmArban of flower like chest, soft hearted.

kotthalar----mEl the bunch of flowers are the jnana on which the bhagavan is resting.

maitthadam-----pirivAtrakillai- when the devotee is applying the collirium of devotion the Lord is his maNAlan, the dear one . He does not want to part with the Lord ah gain and plapse back into the sleep of samsara. This is the thatthuvam the truth. And this will not happen without the thagavu, the grace of the Lord.

Pasuram20-muppatthumoovar

muppatthumoovar amararkkum mun senru

kappam thavirkkum kaliyE thuyil ezAi

cheppam udaiyAi thiraludaiyAi chettrArkku

veppam kodukkum vimalA thuyil ezAi

cheppenna menmulai sevvAi sirumarungul

nappinnai nangAi thiruvE thuyilezAi

ukkamum thattoLiyum thandhunmaNAlanai

ippOdhE emmai neerAttElOrempavai

O Lord, who goes in front to help the thirtythreecrores of devas,awake.You who is pure and perfect , with Lakshmi and burn your foes, get up. Nappinnai of slender and beautiful form , the incarnation of Lakshmi, awake. Give the fan and the mirror necessary for our vratha and unite us with the Lord and enable us to take the holybath.

muppatthumoovar- eight vasus, eleven rudras, twelve Adhithyas, Indra and Prajapathi, all told thirtythree and their vibhoothi, power is thirtythree crores.

amarakkumunsenru-He is the agresara, the first and foremost of all, 'ayarvarum amararga adhipathi,' as He is described by NammAZvar.He goes in front and protects them.

kappam thavirkkum- He removes their fear, kappam meaning kampam or shaking with fright.

kaliyE-glorious.

cheppam - Arjavam, thrikaraNaSuddhi, truthful in thhought word and deed. and thiral is strength or power.

chettrAr- there are no enemies for the Lord as he says 'samoham sarva bhoothEshu, I am impartial to all. The term refers to those who harm the good.

Cheppenna ----sirumarungul- denotes the young age of Nappinnai

ThiruvE- The divine mother is even higher than the Lord Himself. She is full of mercy and forgiveness. As Sita, she says to Anjaneya, 'SubhAnAm vA vaDHArhANA plavangaama kAryam karuNamAryENa na kaschith nAparAdhyathi.' Whether they are sinners or good people , even if they deserve to be killed a noble person should show mercy. Who is without fault? That is why she is first awakened even before the Lord.

The words ukkam and thattoLi mean the removal of ahamkara and mamakara and granting of svarupa jnana.The grace of the divine mother is required to fan away the ego, the cause of ahamkara and mamakara and to mirror the real nature of the self.