Thiruppavai-Part-5-Pasurams-21 to 25

Pasuram-21-EttrakalangaL

EttrakalangaL edhirpongi meedhaLippa

mAttrAdhE pAlsoriyum vaLLal perum pasukkaL

AttrappadaitthAn maganE arivurAi

oottram udaiyAi periyAy ulagellAm

thOttramAi ninra sudarE thuyil eZai

MAttrAr unakkE vali tholaindhunvAsarj kaN

AttrAdhE vandhun adi paniyumAppolE

pOttriyAm vandhu ninrOm pugazndhElOrempAvai

• The son of Nanda, who has abundant cows which give out milk in plenty making the pots overflow, awake.You are great, with valour, and you pervade the whole world as the supreme light, awake from your sleep.We have come to your doorstep like those whom you vanquish come and serve at your feet but we have come praising you with devotion.

After approaching the divine mother to show mercy and to recommend their case to the Lord, now they wake up the Lord Himself.

EttrakalngaL-------vaLLal perum pasukkal- When the cows are generous and give in plenty it is left to the one who milks them to take as much or as little he wants. Similarly the Lord is there to give all but we get only as much according to the vessel we take to Him. To ask for paltry things of the world when He is prepared to give the infinite bliss is like asking a millionaire for a few coins.

mAttrAdhe-without distinction the cows give milk to all like the Lord.

VaLLal is the one who gives what is needed without asking.

AttrappadaitthAn magan- The commentatators explain this as follows:

This epithet AttrappadaitthAn applies to Sri Ramanuja who had sishya paprampara like a large herd of cows who gave the milk of jnana and the Lord Himself is like the magan of the acharya who called Him selvappillai, on retrieving the idol from the princess of a muslim ruler and established it back in Melkote and the uthsavamurthi there is called sampatkumaran or selvappillai in Tamil. One may object to this by saying that Andal lived long before Ramanuja and would not have meant this by her words. It is true but the explanation is not irrelevant because the words of the saint composers have a foresight and also there can be no denying the fact that the words can be construed to mean someone or something in later period if it is suitable.

ootram udaiyAy -The Lord has both power to protect and also mercy which is a rare combination to find like fragrance in a gold flower.

periyAy- He is called so because He gives without expecting anything in return. He protects even those who abuse Him. 'vaidhAraiyum vAzavaikkum dheivam.'

oottram udaiyAi -----sudarE -the whole phrase denote that Krishna is none other than Brahman the primal cause of the universe from whom everything rise, by whom they are sustained and into whom they merge back. 'yathO vA imani bhoothAni jAynthE Ena jAthAni jeevanthi yasmin abhisamvisanthi.'

The upanishad declares that Brahman alone existed in the beginning, one only without a second. 'sadheva soumya idhamagra Aseeth, EkamEva adhvitheeyam.'

Then it willed to become many. 'Thadhaikshatha bahusyAm prajAyEya.' Thus the creation came about. This is the implication of ootram udaiyAy.

periyAy-refers to the creation of mahadhAdhi, that is the mahat or buddhi, ahamkara( not ego but he three kinds of ahamkara, sAtvik,rajasic and thamasic) and subtle elements, the thanmathras , subtle indhriyas, and manas.

ulagellAm thOtramAi ninra means the gross world all being the manifestations of the Lord.

sudarE-He is the life or light of all.

The vaishnava saints also see the reference to the five forms of Lord Narayana in this line, ootram udaiyai denoting the parathva or paravasudeva, periyai the vyuha rupa , ulagelam thOtramai referring to the incarnations or vibhavas, the word ninra denoting the archavathara and sudarE is the antharyami.Of these, paravasudeva is inaccessible like the avaranajala, cosmic waters as He is in vaikunta in that state, the vyuhas are like the milky ocean which can be made accessible through inspired meditation, as He has been seen by the devotees like akrura amd sages like visvamithra. The vibhavas or incarnation are like monsoon floods as they happen once in a while whereas the archavatharas, the idols worshipped in temples and other places are like reservoirs of water always available. Antharyami state of bhagavan is like water in the earth, ever existing but invisible found only through proper digging

mAttrar----vandhuninrom- As your opponents are vanquished by your valour we have been vanquished by your infinitely auspicious qualities and giving up all attachments ,valitholaindhu, we have come to your door step praising your gunas.

Pasuram-22-angaNma jnAlatthu

AngaNmAjnAlatthu arasar abhimAna

bhangamAi vandhu nin paLLikkattirkeezE

sangamirupparpOla vandhu thalai ppeydhO

kinkiNi vai keenda thAmaraippooppOla

sengaN sirucchiridhe emmEl viziyavo

thingalum Adhithiyaunum ezundhArpOl

angaN irandum kondu engaL mel nOkkudhiyEl

engaLmEl shApam izindhElOrempavai

O Lord, We have resorted to you like the rulers of the world, shedding their ego, gather around you seeking your favour. Will your eyes like lotuses open towards us slowly like half open ankle bells.If you look at us with your eyes as if the sun and the moon have risen, all our sins will be destroyed.

angaNmAjnAlam- This beautiful world. It is the maya of the Lord which creates abhimana or attachment to the wordly objects which appear beautful and desirable to the mind covered with ignorance.To get rid of the abimana is abhimanabhanga, when one gets the knowledge that all this belong to the Lord and we are here to do His work.

arasar ----sangam iruppAr-this refers to the kings who were imprisoned by Jarasandha and were released by Krishna. They said that they wanted to leave their kingdoms and be with Krishna in His service.(Bhagavatham.10-73-10to15)

kinkiNi----thAmaraippoo-The lotus flower half opened resembles the ankle bells . the reason for this is that the sun and the moon rise simultaneously.The two eyes of the Lord are compared to sun and the moon, thingalum Adhitthiyanum ezundhArpOl, implying that they should grace the devotees with the cool glance like the moon and should burn their ignorance like the sun dispels the darkness.They are half closed in order not to see the faults of those who surrender to Him and half open to grant protection.

sengaN----viziyavO-They want the first glance to fall on them when He wakes up. When the eyes open up slowly the glance falls on the object in front. Vedntadesika says in his yadhavabhyudhaya that the reason Lakshmi and Bhoodevi are sitting at the feet of the Lord is that they want His first glance to fall on them The purpose of this is to plead the cause of the devotees.

engaL mElshApam izindhelOrempAvAi- PApa or sin can be removed by acts of expiation but shApa, curse has to be endured. But the glance and the grace of the Lord can destroy even that.

'After many lives due to some merit done in some early life we have been blessed with the thought of approaching you and have come to serve you and you have to look at us with mercy and save us.' This is the purport of the pasuram.

There are two words employed to denote the eyes of the Lord. SengaN and angaN, to denote the external and internal sight.

It is said that by learning and reciting this pasuram one can remove all obstacles that stand between him and his desired object.

pasuram-23-mArimalaimuzainjil

marimalaimuzainjil mannikkidandhurangum

seeriya singam arivutru thee vizitthu

vErimayirponga eppAdum pErtthudhari

moori nimirndhu muzangi purappattu

pOdharumappOlE nee poovaippoovaNNA un

koil ninringanE pOndharuli kOppudaitya

seeriya singAsanatthirundhu yAm vandha

kAriyam ArAindhu arulElOrempAvai

O Lord, who is of blue hue like the kayambu flower, like a mighty lion which wakes up from its slumber in the mountain caves during the rainy season and comes out of it with its fiery mane flying. shaking its limbs and standing straight , you come out of your mansion and seated on your throne, hear us and fulfil our wishes for which we have come to you.

This pasuram is about Narasimha and to write about it itself is a difficult task as the Naraimhavathara is beyond description. Narayana Bhattadri expresses his inability to describe the scene where the Lord manifested out of the pillar as Narasimha, but somehow managed to do it out of devotion and desire to talk about His glory. Similarly I will try to explain to the best of my ability.

mari malai muzainjil is the pillar in the mountainlike palace of Hiranayakasipu, which is compared to the cave as the Lord remained there,mannikkidandhurangum, invisible like the lion inside the cave., waiting for the time to manifest. Here Vedantadesika says in his Varadarajapanchasath that the Lord occupied the whole universe in the form of Narasimha because it was not sure where Hiraynyakasipu was going to point. He came out of one pillar where Hiranyakasipu struck and the rest of the places still contain the form of Narasimha.' stambhaikavarjam aDHunAapi kareeSa noonam thrailOkyam Ethadhakhilam nrsimhagarbham.'(varadarajapanchasath23)

seeriyasingam----purappattu-describes the Narasimhavavthara.

seeriya singam- Even when the lion is sleeping it stikes fear in the mind of others.

arivutru - hearing the cry of the devotees, theevizitthu - looking fierce.

muzangi- like the roar of the lion. When Narsimha came out of the pillar the sound was like thousand thunders and created tremor all over the universe and in the mind of Hiranyakasipu.

vErimayir ----purappattu- The manifestation of Narasimha is described by various saint composers and devotees like Narayana Bhattadhri and Desika in magnificent terms. It was athyadhbhutha roopam says, Bhagavatham.It has to be imagined and is beyond description.

poovaippoo vaNNA- Krishnavathara rahsyam is denoted by this pasuram. The phrase mArimalai muzainjil is explained as follows:

mAri is the waters of ksheerAbdDHi and the malai, mountain is the mountain like Adhisesha and inside his coils like the cave of the mountain the Lord is sleeping. He is Naryana who manifested as Narasimha and hence it is only Narasimha who is there. On being entreated by Bhoodevi He assumed beautiful form as Krishna, poovaippoo vaNNan, and sent adhisesha before Him.sankara has said that all the thousand names are of Narsimha,' nArasimhavapuh' and sarvapraharaNAyuDHah, the last nama denotes only Narasimha as it means that all things are His weapons, which includes the nakha, nails which He used in Nrsimhavathara.

But the sahasranama says NarasimhavapuH sreemAn meaning that He was beautiful even as Narsimha. In this pasuram Andal says theevizitthu and in the previous one she said thingalum Adhithiyanum ezundharpOl angaN. His eyes are fierce only to the wicked but the same eyes are cool like the moon to the devotees. Vedanta desika in his KamAsikashtakam on Nrsimha describes His eyes as 'saroja sadhrSa diSA' lotus-like eyes which indicate His krpa and calls Him kapatakEsari deceptive in His appearance in the Lion -man form.Hence Andal describing Him as theevizitthu and veri mayirponga etc., calls Him poovaippoo vaNNA with the same breath.

seeriya singAsanam- the seat of justice. If he sits there He cannot go back on His words.This is also the reason in referring Him as Nrsimha because He manifested Himself with so much trouble to make true the words of His devotees, the words of Prahlada that the Lord is everywhere and of Brahma who gave the boons to Horanyakasipu which necessitated the Lord to fulfil so many conditions in appearance as well as the manner of killing Hiranyakasipu.Nrsimha is the family deity of Andal. She says arimugan achythan in her verses describing her dream 'vAraNamAyiram,' whcih implies that the ariugan, lion- faced one is achutha one who never forsakes. He protected Prahlada at each and every step from the attempts of his father to kill him. Rukmini also in her letter to Krishna calls him only as Achyutha and Nrsimha. On the other hand Anadal refers to Krishna as 'ElAppoygaL uraippAn,'one who tells numerous lies, in Nacchiar thirumozi.

kOppudaia seeriya singAsanam- To the Lord Adisesha is the couch when reclining, umbrella when standing and simhAsana when sitting. The simhasana has eight legs which denote dharma, adharma, jnana, ajnana, vairagya, avairagya,aisvarya and anaisvarya, that is the pairs of opposites. So one cannot tell a lie from it.

Nrsimha is the deity worshipped by all the three acharyas and the 'Nrsimhakaravalamba sthothra' of Sankara and the context of it is very well -known. Also according to Agama sasthra the sculpture of a temple tower always have a form of Nrsimha. One can see it even in the saivite temples like Vaiddheesvaran kovil.

mAri malai muzainjil refers to the vedas which are the mountain in which the caves are the upanishads that contain the secret of the vedas, mannikkidandhurangum seeriya singam , meaning Brahman,synonymous with Lord Narayana of visishtadvaita, who is vedavedhya. One who fathoms the meaning of the upanishads, arivuttru, shines with the intellect ,theevizitthu and goes out in the world, pOdharmAppOle to spread the message of the Lord, vErimayirponga eppAdum pErtthudhri, by thought word and deed and gets involved in doing His work.

Pasuram24-anru ivvulagam

anru ivvulagam aLandhAi adi pOttri

chenranguthennilangai chettrAi thiral pOttri

ponracchagaam udhaitthai pugazpottri

kanru kuNila erindhai kazal pOttri

kunrukudaiyai edutthAi guNam pOttri

venru pagai kedukkum nin kayil vel pOttri

enrenrum un sEvagamE EtthipparaikoLvAn

inru yAm vandhOm irangElorempavai

Glory to your feet ! You measured this world once.You went and conquered Lanka, we praise your valour. You kicked the cartwheel, glory to you. You killed the asura who came as a calf by using him as a catapult.Praise to your feet! We praise your mercy in holding the hill as an umbrella. The spear in your hand be praised for its vanquishing the enemies.We have come today to serve you ever and obtain your grace Have mercy on us.

When the Lord arrived and is seated on his throne, offered by the devotion of Andal, she forgot to talk about 'vandha kAriyam,' for which she entreated Him to listen in the prevoius pasuram and started praising Him offering mangalASAsanam, saying pOtri,pOtri. After all she is the daughter of Periazvar who sang PallAndu for the Lord. The episodes mentioned here praise the glory of His feet and the mangalASAsana seems to be the talisman for the trouble His feet underwent.

1. anru ivvulagam aLandhAi- The episode of Mahabali is mentioned here.The Lord had promised that He will not kill any descendant of Prahlada and hence punished Mahabali by sending Him to pAthAla.Moreover Bali was not wicked but only arrogant with power. He was pious and a devotee as well. That is why he got what was not given to anyone, namely the touch of the feet of the Lord.

2.senrangu thennilangai chettrai- If Rama wanted to kill RavaNa he could have done it from AyodhyA itself and need not have taken the trouble of going to the forest at all. But He went to dhandakaraNya in order to give refuge to the rshis there.So the feet which walked all the way to DhandakAraNya are praised here. Thennilangai chettrai does not mean that Rama destroyed Lanka because he did not. He has given Lanka to VibheeshaNa already and would not harm it.The word means, then=beautiful , nilam = country, kai= kaikkonda , one who had it in his hands, that is, Ravana. So the phrase means ' praise be to you who destroyed Ravana.'

3. ponracchgadam udhaitthai-Another feat of the feet, kicking the wheel of the cart, to kill the asura who was disguised therein.Srimadbhagavatham says that YasOdha did not believe the words of the boys who said that the cart went to pieces because Krishna kicked it and she felt his feet to ensure that it was not hurt.

4. kanru kunilA erindhAi-It was the arms which threw the asura who came in the form of a calf but Andal praises his feet, kazal pOttri, because when he threw up the calf, the posture he was standing in drew the attention to his graceful and lotus-like feet.

5. kunru kudaiyai edutthai- Here also his feet are to be praised because it is the feet the gopas surrendered when oppressed by deluge-like rain.Krishna held the mountain as an umbrella which means that he grasped it with all his fingers and inverted it like an umbrella. The words in Bhagavatha 'cchathraakam iva ' like an umbrella has been taken to imply that He inverted the mountain, by Desika and Azvar. Krishna tells 'yathopajosham visatha girigartham sagodhanaah,' meaning , enter into these hollows or caves of the mountain along with the cattlae etc. and live there. So the beings of gokula were not standing under the mountain but lived comfortably in the caves as in their houses.Unless the mountain was upturned this is not possible as they could not have climbed up the top which was under the rain. So there is ample evidence apart from the azvar and Desika sukthis that Krishna indeed upturned the mountain and He held it with one hand and not with little finger.

In srimadbhagavatha the lifting of the mountain is described thus. 'Ithyukthvaa ekena hasthenakrthvaa govardhanaachalam dhadhaara leelayaa krishnah cchathraakamiva baalakah' Krishna lifted the mountain by one hand playfully like an umbrella. The same is described by Vedanta Desika beautifully thus. 'Sa leelayaa merumiva dvitheeyam govardhanam gopakula pradheepah navaprroodam nihithaika hastho naago nalasthambham iva ujjahaara.' The light of the Yadavas,(krishna) lifted playfully the govardhana mountain like a second Meru ,placing it in one hand like an elephant lifting a lotus stalk. He upturned the mountain 'adhomukhaavasthitham' and held it with its bottom up, 'udhanchayath sathvaram oordhvamoolam.' Periazvar describing this incident by 10 verses says that the hand of Krishna looked like adhisesha holding the earth.'padangal palavumudai paambaraiyan padarbhoomiyai thaanga kidappavan pol' as the fingers resembled the hoods of the sesha with his hand opened wide, 'thadangai viraindhum malara vaitthu.' Desika further describes the hand thus: His hands red like lotus were like the base of the opened umbrella, 'abugnarakthaanguli panjaram' and the rays of the rings on His fingers forming the rods 'ratnormikaarasmi salaakamanthah,' it looked like a huge cchathra, umbrella supported by the staff of His arm. Let us also enjoy the words of Periazvar- seppaadudaiya thirumaalavan than senthaamarai kaiviral aindhinaiyum kuppaaga edutthu mani neduntholl kaambaaga kodutthu kavittha malai.' The Lord upturned the mountain 'kavitthu,' holding it withy His five fingers of His lotus-like hand, with His arm as the supporting stick of the umbrella,aninedum tholl kaambaaga.'The streams of water falling around looked like the pearl strings round the umbrella,'parandhizi the llaruvi muthuvadam.', All these show without doubt that the Lord held the mountain with His hand and not His little finger, which must have been the modification for the sake of dramatic element.

The word pOttri repeated six times denotes that Krishna is none other that Narayana who has six gunas that define the word BhagavAn, namely, jnana, bala, aisvarya,shakthi, thEjas and veeryam.

According to vaishanva sampradhaya this word pOtri repeated six times denote the six angas, constituents of saranagathi. These will be elaborated in the commentary of the pasuram 'malE maNivaNNa.'

anru----alandhai- the whole world has the stamp of His foot to which the devotee do parapatthi, that is, saranagathi.

Senrangu thennilangai chettrai-then=beautiful, nilam- field, khethram which means the body, as mentioned in the Gita, 'idham sariram kounthEya kshEthramithyabhidheeyathE, this sarira is called kshethram.' kai denotes the mind which has sarira in its control. The Lord subdues the mind and leads it along the right path which is meant by chettrai.

ponracchagadam udhaitthAi- The wheel of karma which He destroys (ponra)

kanru kuNila erindhai-He throws away the sins which come is succession like calving.

kunrum kudaiyai edutthai-He protects with His grace like an umbrella from the shower of sins .

Nin kaiyil vEl- his will is like the spear removes the obstacles to His service.

All this is achieved by surrendering to His feet.

Pasuram25-orutthimaganAippirandhu

OrutthimaganAippirandhu Oriravil

orutthimaganAi oLitthhu vaLara

tharikkilAnAgi thAn theengu ninaindha

karutthaippizaippitthu kanjan vayittril

neruppennaninranedumAle unnai

arundhitthu vamdhOm paraitharudhiyAgil

thirutthakkaselvamum sevagamum yAm pAdi

varutthamum theerndhu magizndhElO rempAvai

Oh Lord of massive form, being born to Devaki and being brought secretly to Gokula and brought up byYasodha you were like fire in the stomach of Kamsa, we have come to entreat you for te fulfilment of our wishes. If you grant our wish we will sing your glory and of the divine mother . We extoll the merits of our service to you and will be free of all miseries.

The avathara rahayam, the secret behind the incarnation is mentioned in this pasuram. Krishna says in the Gita, 'janma karam cha mE dhivyam Evam yO vEtthi thathvathah;thyakthvA dhEham punarjanma naithi mAmEthi sO Arjuna,one who knows the truth behind my incarnation and my actions, O Arjuna, never ricerts back to brth once he leaves his body.'

What is the truth of His janma? The upanishad says, 'ajAyamAnO bahudhA vijAyathe,' the one who has no birth is born many times.' This statement, though looks as self contradicting ,is not really so.The Lord is never born liek an ordinary mortal as he has no karma and hence need not undergo the garbhavasa. He only manifests Himself and the mothers like Devaki, Kousalya and even Adhithi feel as though they were giving bitrth to Him through HIs mAya.And the truth that He was Lord Narayana was a secret known only to a chosen few and His actions which seemed to be baffling to a common mind were all explicable to them.

orutthi maganAi pirandhu-

Vedanta Desika says in his Yadhavabhyudhaya Devaki produced the LOrd like the eastern direction prodoces the moon. Theimplication is that justas the eastern direction never really produced the moon but the moon appeared in the east.Similarly Krishna simply appearedor manifeste himself in Devaki.

Pirandhu the birth of man separates him from God whereas the birth of the Lord is to bring us near to Him.

Vasudeva and Devaki were prSni and suthapqa. kaSyapa and adhithi in their previous births and Lord Narayana incarnated as their son in the previous births as prSnigara,VAmana respectivlly according to their request repeated threetimes in the first birth to have a son liek the Lord and since thereis no one like Him He Himself came as their son.

orutthi maganai olitthu vaLara - He was ot hiding from the fear of Kamsa but hid Himself under the mortal form to protect the world.He went to gokula for showering his grace on the Ayarkyulam, which represents the simple folk denoting His soulabhya and vathsalya.He concealed Himself inside the pillar to protect Prahlada, disguised Himself as vamana to protect the devas appeared as Rama to protect the rshis of dandakaranya and here he came as Gopala to protect the yadhavakula.

tharil kkilAmnagi-----neruppenne ninranedumAlE-Kamsa was seeing Krishna everywhere and thought about him all the time and attained the Lord through hate.

arundhitthu vandhOm - One must have done some poorapunya to get devotion to the Lord.

parai tardhiyAgil- He has to give the necessary equipment for His worship.Heis both the upAya, the maeans and upEya, the end.

thiruthakka selvam - the best weaith one can get on this earth is the service of the Lord. when the king of vijayanagaram, Krishna devaraya sent for Desika, prompted by his friend Vidyranya, who held honoured position in the court, Desika replied through his vairagya panchakam, 'asthi mEhasthisailAgrE vasthu pauthAmaham dhanam,I aleady have my ancestral wealth on the Hasthisaila,' meaning Lord Varadaraja. and refused to go to the court of Krishnadevaraya. This shows that when one is blessed with the bhakthisamrajya , kingdom of God, all the others appear to be worthless.

varutthamumtheerndhu magizndhWElorempAvAi- The sorow is due to samsara and that will go away by the grace of the Lord and what remains is only unalloyed joy.

There are two mothers for the seeker. One is the gayathri manthra through which one becomes dhvija, meaning twice-born and the other is the ashtakshara manthra through which he becomes qualified for moksha.Oriravu is the samsara in which the jeeva is hidin behind the dhehathama buddhi forgetting the real nature of the self. To the evil impulses that stand between the jeeva and his redemption, the Lord is like the fire inside and burns them when one surrenders to him. He then gives the thirutthakka selvam in the form of devotional service and leads the jeeva to infinite bliss