Thiruppavai
By Dr. Saroja Ramanujam, M.A.,Ph.D
Part-1 Pasurams 1to5
Andal of SouthIndia was like Meera of the North, great devotee
of Lord Narayana from her childhood. She was found among the bushes of Tulsi plant by Vishnuchiththa, who was
later known as Periyazvar due to his
hymns about the Lord to guard Him from evil eye. His story will follow later.
Andal wanted to marry only the Lord and unlike Meera her father did not force
her. She observed the vow of Pavai nonbu in the month of Margazi collecting the girls in Srivillipuththur where she lived and
sang the verses which are famous today as Thiruppavai.
The work is steeped in Bhakthi and extolled as being capable of destroying
sins, showing the path to attain the feet of the Lord and it is said to contain
the essence of the vedas because it describes the Lord and the means of
attaining Him.
The story goes that Bhoodevi on being rescued from the depth of
the ocean asked Lord Varaha to tell her by which easy way can her children on
earth attain Him. Varahamurthi bade her to take birth as Godha to teach the
humanity the path of devotion. Thus Sookaramurthi has shown the sukara, easy to
do upaya.
Pasuram1.
MargaziththingLl madhi niraindha nannaaLal
NeeraadappOdhuveer pOdhumino nerizaiyeer
Seer malgum aaippaadi selvasirumeergaaL
Koorvel kodunthozilan nandagopan kumaran
EraandhakaNNi yasodhai iLam singam
KaarmenichchengaNN kadhirmadhiyam pOl mugaththaan
NarayaNane namakke parai tharuvaan
PaarOr pugaza padindhelOrempaavai
Margazi Thingal- month of Margazi.. .
In the month of Margazi
the austerity of pavai nonbu is observed.
Mathiniraindha nannaaL- full-moon day.
On the full-moon day in Margazi the star of Mrgasirsha
is very near the Moon. Hence the name Margaseersha
which is known as margazi in Tamil.
Among the twelve names
of the Lord that which
dominates the month is Kesava.
Neeraada pOdhuveer pOdhuminO- Come
let us go and bathe in the river.
Neeraadal means taking bath in ordinary
language. But in this context it implies the union with
Nerizaiyeer- Those with lustrous face and ornaments. As soon as they were
called to approach Krishna. Their faces
lighted with love and expectation.
Seer malgum aaipaadi.- The gokula which is rich and beautiful.
Gokula ,the residence of the
cowherds became prosperous after Krishna’s arrival.
SelvachchirumeergaaL – Oh , the affluent cowherd girls.,
The wealth of these girls is their devotion towards
Koorvel kodumthozilan nandagopan kumaran- The son of Nandagopa, who is terrible wielding his ‘vel.’ The implication here is that Nanda
even though soft by nature became terrible ready to attack those who wanted to
harm Krishna.
Eraarndha kaNNi yasodhai iLam singam- The epithet erarndha
kanni
used with reference to Yasodha
means that she has lovely wide eyes on account of looking at Krishna all
the time and when used as one word it refers to Krishna Himself when erarndha kanni means the vyjayanthi mala worn by Him. The lion cub of Yasodha who is wearing the vyjayanthimala, will be the meaning of the phrase then. He is called a
lion cub here whereas he was termed as kumaran,
young boy in the previous line to
indicate that he was obedient and docile to his father while he asserts himself
like a lion cub when he was with his mother through her indulgence.
Kaarmeni- His dark body is compared to kaar, the rain bearing cloud because His shower of mercy towards
His devotees is like the life giving rain to the world.
ChengaNN- Eyes red like lotus.
Kadhimadhiyam pol mugaththaan- His face is like both the
Sun and the Moon, scorching to His enemies and cool to His devotees.
NarayaNane – Narayanane who has
been described above
will Himself give us the boon of His service.
PaarOrpugaza padindhelOrempavaai. – The word pavaai at
the end of each verse denotes the paavai
nonbu they are observing. Andal here says that the vratha which is usually observed for rain in the world will fetch
the desired result also and get them the praise of the society even though it
was only a pretext and their real purpose is to unite with the Lord.
This world is the aayarpadi
or aaippaadi. Andal represents the Acharya
who is instructing the devotees, who are endowed with the virtues of kshama, ,patience, ahimsa, nonviolence, indriyanigraham,
control of the semses, dhayaa, mercy,
jnanam, wisdom, tapas, austerity, dhyaanam,
contemplation and satyam, truth, to
do service to the Lord.
This service or kainkarya is the neeraadal
or bathing and the nerizai or
ornaments are the above-said virtues. These are the riches, ‘seer’ and the selvachchirumeer refers to the devotees
blessed with the wealth of devotion.
Madhi
niraindha nannaaL
is the day on which one starts thinking about resorting to the Lord when it becomes nannaaL or good day, filled, niraindha,
with the thoughts mathi, of Him, Margazi or Margasirsha in Sanskrit means the way, marga, which is sirsha, the first and foremost and refers to the
path of surrender, Prapaththimarga.
The words nandagopan and kumaran
may both be taken to denote Krishna himself, nanda meaning one who gives joy and kumaran may refer to His eternal youth, Nithya yuva as He is
called by Desika in Godhasthuthi.
Then the word kodunthozilan implies
that He is merciless towards the wicked.
Parithraanaaya saadhoonaam vinaasaya cha dush krthaam as He says in the
Gita. Not only the enemies outside but also the internal foes like kamakrodhaadhi flee from the heart, once He is established
in it. In that sense also He is kodunthozilan
and ilam singam
NarayaNane
namakke parai tharuvan- The ‘ekaara’ in Narayanane is to emphasize that Lord Narayana alone, is capable of
giving parai, Moksha.
Andal says podhuveer podhumino to imply that whoever is so inclined can join the group
of devotees. It is always commendable to go in groups for activities pertaining
to God.
It is said in Srimathbhagavatham that the rshis of Dandakaaranya were born as the gopis to enjoy the company of the
Lord which was denied to them in Ramavathara. They were steeped in bhakthi and vairagya and hence termed as selvachirumeergaal,
who have had the wealth of His company and kainkarya.
Pasuram2.
Vaiyaththu vaazveergaaL naangaL
nampaavaikku
seyyum
kirisaigaL keleero paarkadlull
paiyyatthuyinra paramanadi paadi
neyyuNNOm
paaluNNOm naatkaale neeraadi
maiyittezudhOm
malarittu naam mudiyOm
seyyaadhanaseyyOm theekkuraLai senrOdhom
aiyamum picchchaiyum aamthanaiyum kaikaatti
uyyumaareNNi ugandhelorempaavaai.
Andal addresses everyone as ‘vaiyaththyu vaazveergaal’-
those who live on earth. The bhooloka is the most important of all the realms
of being, because here only, one can attain the Lord through bhakthi. The
samsara is like a fire and the bhakthi is compared to a lotus grown on fire.
That is, it protects the devotee from the fire of samsara like a lotus under
his feet. Hanuman said when he was asked to ascend to Vaikunta with Rama that
he prefers the earth where one can hear Ramanama to Vaikunta or any other
place. Parasara Bhatta expressed his wish to remain on earth and continue to do
service to Ranganatha rather than leaving Him and go to Paramapadha.
NaangaL
nampavaikku seyyum kirisaigaL – Andal enumerates the rites to be observed for the
pavai nonbu. Kirisai is same as kiriyai or acts . Seyyum kirisai, actions to be
done includes those to be avoided also as both are mentioned here.
KeLeero- ‘ will you hear’ – The ears are only for hearing about the
Lord. The word keleero in Tamil can be construed to mean asking, hearing and
following what you hear. Parikshit did all the three and attained Moksha in a
short span of seven days.
The rules to be
followed in observing the Pavai nonbu are listed by Andal, which are common to
all aspirants or devotees. Kirisai can be physical, kaayika, verbal,
vaachika and mental, maanasika. They are again classified as what should
be and what should not be done. Paraman
adi paadi , naatkaale neeraadi , aiyamum pichchaiyum aamthanaiyum
kaikaatti and uyyumaarenni are the deeds
to be done and neyyunnom paalunnom maiyittezudhom malarittu naam mudiyom,
seyyaadhana seyyom and theekkuralai senrodhom are to be avoided.
Paraman adi paadi- to
sing the glory of the Lord. This is vaachika or verbal service.
Naatkaale neeradi is taking bath in the early morning which denotes kaayika,
physical purity while aiymum--------kaikaatti is the act of charity and
offering which is again physical. Uyyumaarenni is the thinking of the Lord for
salvation and it is maanasika, mental.
NeyyuNN0m paaluNNOm,
means giving up ghee and milk which represents rich food and maiyittezudOom malarittu naam
mudiyOm, meaning ‘ we will not decorate
ourselves with eye liner or flowers’
both denote physical abstinence and simplicity of appearance. Seyyaadhana
seyyom, ‘we will not do anything which is prohibited’ implies control of
mind and theekkuralai senrodhom which means ‘
we will not carry tales’ refers to the control of the tongue.
NeyyuNNom
etc is not something of a great sacrifice for a bhaktha because he is all the
time drinking the nectar of the namasankeerthana of the Lord and never has any
hunger or thirst for anything else Similarly He finds pleasure in decorating
the Lord and not himself.
What are seyyaadhana , not to be done? The two things to be avoided by a bhaktha.
They are akrthyakaranam , doing what should not
be done and krthya akaranam, not doing what is to be done. Not
showing reverence to bhaagavathas, holy men, and the Lord Himself in any form,
violence to other beings, coveting property or women of others, saying evil
things and so on belong to the former class of what should not be done. Krithya akaranam
is avoiding what should be done such as varnasramadharma worship and service to the Lord and
His followers.
TheekkuraLai
is talking bad about others and Andal says senrodhom. Odhal is repeating and odhom means ‘we will not repeat what we
hear about others which is theekkurLlai
malicious words. Senrodhom ‘ we will not
go and tell others. Usually the gossip mongers take the trouble of approaching
people to tell something malicious about others like Manthara of Ramayana.
AiyamumPichchaiyum-
Aiyam is what we give as an offering to guru and what is given as
dhakshina to priests or biksha to sannyasis or brahmacharis without
their asking for it. Pichchai is alms or what is given as charity.
Aamthanaiyum
kaikaatti- We should give to the best of our ability. A poor man giving
few rupees to a needy is a greater charity than a rich man giving hundreds
while he can very well afford much more.
UyyumaareNNi – to experience the joy of thinking about the
attributes of the Lord. To think of
Uyyum aaru eNNi also
means according to the vaishanava acharyas the six limbs of prapaththi or saranagathi,
total surrender. These ideas recur in later pasurams amd will be explained
there.
Paarkadalilpayya
tthuyinra - He
is lying on the milky ocean as though
sleeping . If He really sleeps the world will be destroyed without His
protection. Desika compares Him to a farmer who puts a shed in his field and come and stays there for the night to
protect his crop. Having created the
world He feels that it is His
responsibility to look after it. The crop here is the good souls who believe in
Him and look up to Him for protection. ’Parithranaaya
saadhoonaam vinaasaaya cha dhushkrthaam.’
Paraman- He is the supreme
self. Upanishad says, ‘na thathsamaschaabhyadhikascha vidhyathe,’
there is none equal or superior. The same idea is expressed by Nammazvar in the opening verse of Thiruvaimozi ‘ uyarvaravuyarnalam
udaiyavan yavanavan.’ Arjuna says, witnessing the cosmic form of the Lord, ‘ na
thvathsamo asthi abhyadhikah kutho anyo.’
Adipaadi - Of all the limbs of
the Lord the feet are the most sought after because when one catches the
feet of a person he cannot escape!
Narayana Bhattadri says of th feet of the Lord ‘yogeendhraanaam
thvadhangeshvadhika sumadhuram mukthibhaajaam nivasah, bhakthaanaam
kaamavarshadyutharukisalayam naatha the paadhamoolam,’.
The whole thiruppavai speaks of saranagathi or surrender and hence the
importance to the feet.
The first
thiruppavai refers to the ashtaakshara manthra ‘
om namo narayanaya’ as denoted by the words ‘narayanane
namakke parai tharuvaan.’ This pasuram tells about the
glory of the dvaya manthra, namely, shrimannaraayanacharanou
saranam prapadhye shreemathe naaraayanaaya namah’
Hence the reference to the thiruvadi, ‘charanou.’ The next
pasuram ‘ongi ulagalandha’ refers to the charamasloka
of the Gita’ sarvadharmaan
parithyajyu’ . Thus the first three verses extol the three sacred
manthras of vaishnava prapaththimarga. Hence the three manthras are called
rahasyathraya. Rahasya here does not mean secret not to be told to anyone as
otherwise Ramanuja would not have shouted the moola manthra from the temple
tower but it means that in order to make it effective one has to learn it from
the acharya with faith and devotion. That is the secret, the rahasya.
;
Pasuram 3.- Ongiulagalandha
Ongi ulagaLandha uththaman
perpaadi
naangaL nampaavaikku saattri
neeraadinaal
theenginri naadellaam thingaL
mummaari peydhu
Ongu perumsennel oodu
kaylugaLa
poonkuvaLaippOdhil porivaNdu
kaNpaduppa
thengaadhe pukkirundhu
seerththa mulai patri
vaangakkudam niraikkum vaLLaL perum pasukkaL
neengaadha selvam
niraindhelOrempaavai
Translation
When we sing the glory of the Lord who measured the whole
universe with one foot, and proceed to do our ritual by bathing in His grace
the whole country will be blessed with rains three times a month and the paddy
crop will grow tall and the fish will swim in the water that surrounds it and
the bees will sleep inside the kuvalai
flowers that grow in the water. The aayppadi
will become prosperous with the cows filling the pots by mere touch of the
udder.
commentary
The Lord is
referred to as Utthaman. The particle
‘thama’ is added to words to show the
superlative degree. ‘ Uth’ denotes mukthas the realized souls, uththara the nityasuris, the ever-free souls like Garuda, Ananta etc. and uththama
the Lord.
Ongi ulagaLandha Uththaman
–Ongi means rising high and ulagalandha means measuring the world. This has reference to the
Vamanaavathaara when the Lord came as a midget Brahmin youth and asked
Mahabali three feet of ground as dhaana.
When Mahabali started to give it the Lord grew in size and covered the whole
earth with His foot and the heavens with the second and challenged Mahabali to
give him the ground for the third foot and when Mahabali offered his head for
the Lord to put His third foot He sent Mahabali to Paathaalaloka and being
pleased with his devotion the Lord also positioned Himself as his guard. He is Uththama because He destroyed only the
pride of Mahabali but gave him in return
His bhakthi samrajya. When He covered the earth with His foot He placed it on
all irrespective of their merit to deserve it. He will give rain, which stands
for His grace,
unasked and hence He is Uththama.
Mahabali acquired
the post of Devendra for a short duration due to his merit and he gave away all
the riches of Indra to the saptarshis and as a consequence was born as
Mahabali and became arrogant of his
power and confiscated the heaven from Indra . When Aditi the mother of devas prayed
to the Lord , He came down as her son Vamana and punished Mahabali.
When the Lord
raised His foot to heavens Brahma washed His feet with the water from his
kamandala, holy pot but it was not sufficient and then the Lord tore open the
cosmic shell and the waters beyond the universe, aavaraNajala poured through and washed His feet and that was
Aakaasaganga, the heavenly Ganges which later Bhagiratha brought to earth.
The whole
creation belongs to the Lord as He is the seshi
and all the rest are seshas. Mahabali
thought that the world belonged to him and performed the sacrifice feeling
proud that all his wealth and thought that he is capable of bestowing anything
to anybody. The Lord killed only this arrogance but otherwise showered His
grace on Mahabali. Similar to Mahabali we also think that our soul, atman, belongs to us whereas not only our soul
but nothing else belongs to us. Even our
children are born through us into this world but not born to us. The story
of Mahabali illustrates only this .
Nammazvar asks, ‘
When the Lord covered the whole earth with his first foot where was the space
for His second foot?’ So Mahabali gave on enough land for only one foot !
Perpadi – Singing His name is enough to secure His grace. The nama is
even greater than the nami. It was the nama that came to the rescue of
Draupadi. So Andal here praises the name which is enough to give them rain.
NangaL nampavaikku saatri neeraadinaal -
Neeraadal or taking bath implies
engrossed devotion. We bathe for cleansing ourselves of impurity . Here the inner
and the outer purity is intended as Purandaradasa said, ‘manasu kuliyabeku krishnaanadhiyalu
thirthamaadi,’ the mind should be cleansed, and not the mere body, by bathing
in
Theenginri naadellaam thingLl
mummaari peydhu -
theenginri means without obstacles. The rain should come
three times a month, maadham mummaari, to the whole country naadellaam. In ancient days when people
lived adhering to dharma, there were three showers a month, nine days of sun
and one day of rain. This ensured that there were no excessive rain, athivrishti, or anaavrishti, draught. When for instance the reading of virata parva of Mahabharatha was going on, not only that region but the
whole country got rain.
The word mummaari, according to the commentators,
implies the three streams of water, the water poured by Mahabali in the hand of
the Lord giving dhaana, the water
from the kamandalu of Brahma to wash
His feet and the water of the Ganges created by Him by tearing open the cosmic
shell and bringing down the Avaranajalam.
Ongu perum sennel – The
paddy crop, sennel, grew high and big
giving bountiful harvest after the birth of
Oodu kayalugaLa - The water level was
high likewise and the fish were seen
running through it. Commentators see a reference to Matsyavathara and take the
word kayal, fish to refer to the Lord
Himself.
PoonguvaLaippodhil porivaNdu
kanpaduppa – The beautiful black bee, porivandu, which has entered the kuvalai flower to
drink the honey became drowsy and slept inside as in a cradle rocked by the
fish going to and fro. The Lord Himself , who enters the heart of a devotee and rests there rocked by the loving hand of
devotion could be imagined as the bee
here.
Thengaadhe pukkirundhu seertha
mulai patri
vangakkudam niraikkum vaLLal
perum pasukkal – The cows of aayarpadi were big, perumpasukkal, bountiful, vallal
generous and do not withhold their milk, thengaadhe
, and fill the pot, kudam niraikkum, when the cowherds touched
their udder pukkirundhu seertha mulaipatri vanga. When
the cow is ready to give all she has if one is not able to milk her fully, it
is not the fault of the cow but due to the inefficiency of the cowherd or
insufficiency of the pot. Similarly the Lord is like a generous cow, ready to
give everything if we ask him for trifles it is our fault.
The acharyas are likened to vaLLalperum pasukkal as
they are ready to impart all their wisdom to the disciples. But how much the
disciple is able to grasp depends on the vessel
he carries, namely the amount of faith, his thirst for knowledge and his
intellectual capacity, more than anything else his karma and the grace of the Lord.
In this context the mummaari, the three showers are, the resolve of the
devotee who surrenders to the Lord to accept Him alone as his master, to desist from seeking any other means of
salvation except the devotion to the Lord and
not to look for any other end than to attain Him. The word is also taken
to refer to the three types of serving Him, namely, to write about Him, to tell
others about His glory and to serve Him in the form of Archavathara , idol to be worshipped.
Onguperum sennel , the tall crop of paddy is the growth in the number of devotees who surrender to Him
which makes Him sleep peacefully in their hearts like a Porivandu, a black bee
with spots. The spots described here could be His ornaments as Azvar said’ palappalave aabharanam, His ornaments are numerous or by a stretch of
imagination one can be reminded of the sloka
of Kulasekhara, ‘ ‘Ksheerasaagaratharngasheekaraasaarathaarakilachaaru
moorthaye’ the body of the Lord is speckled with the drops
from the milky ocean like the sky shining with stars.
To the devotee
whatever he sees will remind him of the Lord. The gopis thought only of
Pasuram-4
AazimazaikkaNNa onru nee
kaikaravel
aaziyul pukku mugarndhu
kodaarththeri
oozimudhalvan uruvampOl
meikaruththu
paaziyamthOludai padmabnaabhan
kaiyil
aazipOl minni valampuripOl
ninradhirndhu
thaazaadhe saarngam udhaiththa
sara mazai pOl
vaaza ulaginil peydhidai
naangalum
maargazi neeraada
maggizndhelOrempaavai.
Translation
Oh rain-bearing cloud, who looks like
Commentary
Andal has called the Lord as OngiulagaLandha Uththaman
and so the clouds were afraid that He himself may create rain as He created the
AazimazaikkaNNaa- It may be construed to be addressed to the Lord Himself as He is
the indweller
of all.
Onru nee kai karavel – Do not show partiality but give rain to everybody. Here Andal,
being the incarnation of Bhoo devi, entreats the Lord to show mercy to all her
children.
AaziyuLpukku - Andal gives instruction to the cloud to go deep into the ocean and take as
much water as it can so that all will be benefited.
Mugarndhukodaarththeri – The cloud should draw water and ascend high in order not to
empty it on the way so that the entire humanity will get the rain.
Oozi mudhalvan uruvampOl
meikaruththu – The body of the Lord will be
dark especially at the end of pralaya just before creation due to His daya,
mercy, and also because He carried all beings inside Him. The Lord is described
as being dark like the rain- bearing cloud only for this reason. The only difference is that while the
dark cloud becomes white after it has emptied the water inside the Lord is always dark due to His eternal daya.
Padmanaabhan- He sports a lotus rising from His navel on which is seated the
four-faced Brahma who creates the world as per His command. So the word
Padmanaabha refers to the Lord as the
creator.
Aazi Ool minni valampuripOl
ninradhirndhu – The disc and the conch are
to protect the good and to punish the wicked. The disc shines brilliantly to
instill fear in the hears of the wrong doers and the conch sounds like thunder
to make them shiver. When
Thaazaadhe saarngam udhaiththa
saramazai pOl - When the Lord sees
his devotees in distress He uses His weapons like the bow called saarngam
without a moment’s delay which indicates His haste in saving them. When
Gajendhra cried He could not even wait
to mount His vehicle Garuda but came running with Garuda following Him. Andal
implies here that the cloud should pour without delay like the Lord in
protecting His devotees.
Vaaza ulaginil peydhidaai
---------neeraadamagizndhelorempavai - The cloud is asked to give rain in such away that it will be a
source of joy to the world and not like the rain Indra sent at the time of
Govardhanodhdhaarana.
The acharya is
the rain-bearing cloud who out of his mercy imparts his teaching to the
sishyas. The similarities and difference between the two are as follows.
1.The cloud takes salt water from the sea and gives out sweet
water as rain. So too the acharya
absorbs the profound truths which are unpalatable to all because they
are difficult to understand and he gives it out in a simple form for the world
to understand.
2.If the rains fail the world will suffer. Similarly the acharyas
who appear from time to time to save the world from adharma and calamity.
3.The cloud does not expect anything in return like a good
acharya who gives his upadesa without the expectation of any reward.
4.The clouds do not stay in one place but wander all over the
sky giving rain to everybody. So also the acharyas travel everywhere to
enlighten the people.
5. The rain of the acharyas
is the grace of the Lord creating the flow of joy that cools the others
who contact them.
6. Unlike the cloud the acharya
does not lose his rain of wisdom,
jnanavarsha, by giving to others.
.7. The lightning of the cloud is the brilliance of jnana of the
acharya and the thunder is his roar in order to establish the
vaishnavasiddhaantha as in the case of Desika who was known as kavaithaarkika
kesari for that reason.
It is beautifully expressed in a metaphor that the cloud,
Nammazvar took the water of mercy from the sea, Lakshmikantha, the Lord, and
showered it on the mountain, Nadhamuni from
which the water was sent down through the two mountain streams , Uyyakkondar and Ramamisra and
reached the river, Alavandar and through the canal, Perianambi ,finally rested in the lake, Ramanuja, from which all
are benefited.
Pasuram5- Maayanai mannu
vada..
Maayanai mannu vadamadhuraimaindhanai
thooya peruneer yamunaitthuraivanai
aayarkulatthinil thOnrum aNiviLakkai
thaayaikkudal viLakkam saidha dhaamodharanai
thooyOmai vandhu naam thoomalar thoovitthozudhu
vaayinaarpaadi manadhinaal sindhikka
pOya pzaiyum pugutharuvaan ninranavum
theeyinil thoosaagum cheppElorempaavai
Translation
Pure we come and worship Him, who is enchanting, the prince of
Commentary.
After referring to the Lord by names paiyir thuyinra paraman,Ongiulagalandha
utthaman etc. Andal says here that He is none other than Krishna, who is
madhuraimaindhan, aayar kulatthu aNi vilakku and yamunaitthuraivan. She invokes His
blessing for the fulfilment of their vrata. We need God's grace only for good
deeds because the obstacles will occur only for good actions and not for evil ones.The coronation of Rama
was stopped but not the abduction of Sita.
The Lord is called 'Maayan'
because the events from His birth till He went back to
Thhooya peruneer yamunai tthuraivan- refers to the exploits
of Krishna on the banks of Yamuna.The river is pure, thooya yamuna, due to
being associated with Him.Yamuna is also termed as pure because she was not
afraid of Kamsa and parted to allow Vasudeva when he carried Krishna to Gokula,
unlike Godavari who was afraid of Ravana and did not reply when Rama asked her
the wherabouts of Sita.Yamuna also has another name Kaalindhi since the river
originated from the mountain Kalinga, named so becaause it destroys the faults
of Kaliyuga.
Aayar kulatthinil thonrum - Krishna
manifested in the aayarkula , the clan of Yadhavas but not born, as He has no
birth and manifests Himself through his maya, sambhavaamiaathmamaayayaa, as
He says in the Gita.
ANivilakkai - During His incarnations the
Lord shows His guNas to the world.Therefore He is compared to a light . He
lights the whole aayarpaadi by His attributes and actions.
Thaayai kudalviLakkam seidha damodaran- dhaama means rope udara
is belly.
Bhagavatapurana
describes Yasodha as being desperate because whichever rope she brought was
found to be short by two inches and finally seeing her dishevelled and
perspirihg, Krishna willed to become bound.Nammazavar mentioning His karuna in
doing so, lost his consciousness for six months saying 'etthiram, '
implying the wonder of His leela.
Desika in his
Yadhavabhyudhaya mentioning this episode says that those who think of Krishna
as being bound thus will become free from
bondage and refers to the mortar
to which He was bound, as 'aatthapunya,'
that which has done
some punya to get the contact with
Leelasuka in
Krishna karnaamritha says that the upanishad artha, the essence of the
upanishads is tied to the mortor, upanishadhartham ulookhalE baddham,'
while Naryanabhattadri in Narayaneeyam wonders that Yasodha was trying to tie, bandhumichchathee, Him, who is the bandhu of the good,
with pun in the word bandha.
ThooyO mai vandhOm - We have come
pure which means inner purity. The word 'vandhOm,' 'we have come'
implies that they have come to their rightful place.
Thoomalar thooviththozudhu -
offering fragrant flowers, Physical worship, KaayEna.
Vaayinaarpaadi - singing His
glory, Vaachaa.
Manadhinaal sindhikka -
contemplating on Him, Manasaa.
Poyapizaiyum - the karma which has not
started to take effect, sanchithakarma.
Pugutharuvaan - the karma which is going to
take effect, aagaami karma.
Ninrnavum - the present karma which has
already started giving result, praarabdha karma.
Theeyinil thoosaagum - All the
threekinds of karma will be burnt like dust particles in the fire.
CheppElOrempaavai - This is in
connection with the first three lines and
enjoins the smarana of Kriihna.
The five forms of
manifestation of the Lord, namely,para,vyuha,vibhava, archa and antharyami are referred to in
this pasuram. The word maayan refers to the pararupa as
Paravasudeva, the ultimate reality.Maduraimaindan stands for
vibhavarupa, that of incarnations. The word thuraivan implies the four
forms of vyuha as Vasudeva,Sankarshana, Pradyumna and Anirudhdha,
all the four forms appearing in Krishnavathara. The term 'viLakku'
denotes the antharyamin or , the light within and the word Damodara
refers to the archavathara , the form visible to all for worship as idol.
He is called 'Maayan'
as He has the maaya in His control which can be dispelled only through His
grace. Krisna says in the Gita ' dhaiveehyEshaa gunamayeeHYeSHaa mamamaayaa
dhutarathyayaa maamEva yE prapadhyanthE maayaamEthaam tharanthithE,'meaning
that the maayaa consisting of the three gunas, the constituent of prakrthi, is
difficult to break through by all but
those who resort to Him . .Vedantadesika in his Hayagreevasthothra,
calls the maayaa of the Lord as mohanapinchikaa, the enchanting bunch of peacock feathers. Hence krishna is
seen sporting the mayurapinchika on His head as He is Maayan MaNivaNNan.
Vadamadhurai
can be taken to mean Vaikunta as 'vada,' north also means utthara
or high and madhura can be derived as 'madhu raathi ithi,' that which
gives honey, the honey here being the Lord as the Upanishad calls Him 'raso vai sah, He is the
rasa.
'Kudal viLakkam
' may mean that the Lord through His avathaara illuminated,viLakkam, the
purport of the Gayathri manthra and the ashtaakshara, both of which are likened
to the mother. So He is Damodara, who can be bound only through the rope of
bhakthi as HE himself has said in Gita ' bhakthyaathvananyayaa labhyah.'