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periya thirumozhi >> Second centum >> Tenth decad
Highlights from avathArikai (Introduction)
No specific introduction.
pAsuram
uRiyArndha naRuveNNey oLiyAl senRu
angu uNdAnaik kaNdu Aychchi uralOdu Arkka
thaRiyArndha karungaLiRE pOla ninRu
thadangaNgaL pani malgum thanmaiyAnai
veRiyArndha malarmagaL nAmangaiyOdu
viyan kalai eNthOLinAL viLangu selvach
cheRiyArndha maNimAdam thigazhndhu thOnRum
thirukkOvalUr adhanuL kaNdEn nAnE
Word-by-Word meanings
uRi – pot in the ropes, hanging down from the ceiling
Arndha – safely placed
naRu – fresh
veNNey – butter
oLiyAl – by the light (emitting from his teeth when he smiles)
angu senRu – reaching there
uNdAnai – one who mercifully ate
Aychchi – mother yaSOdhA
kaNdu – seeing his theft
uralOdu – with the mortar
Arkka – as he was tied
thaRi Arndha – tied to a pole
karum kaLiRu pOla – like a black elephant
ninRu – being bound
thadam kaNgaL – vast divine eyes
pani malgum – to have tears
thanmaiyAnai – one who has such nature
veRi Arndha – fragrant
malar magaL – with periya pirAttiyAr who is born in lotus flower
nAmangaiyOdu – with sarasvathi
viyan – amazing
kalai – having deer as vehicle
eN thOLinAL – with dhurgA who has eight shoulders
viLangu – shining
selvam – wealth
seRi Arndha – very dense
maNi mAdam – mansions studded with gems
thigazhndhu – shine
thOnRum – appearing to be having wealth
thirukkOvalUr adhanuL – in thirukkOvalUr
nAn kaNdEn – I got to see.
Simple translation
By the light from his teeth, reaching the place where fresh butter was safely placed in the pot in the ropes hanging down from the ceiling, emperumAn mercifully ate it. Seeing his theft, mother yaSOdhA tied him to a mortar, just like a black elephant was tied to a pole; I got to see the one who has such nature to be bound and thus have tears in his vast eyes in thirukkOvalUr where the wealth which is shining with periya pirAttiyAr who is born in fragrant lotus flower, sarasvathi and eight shouldered dhurgA who is having amazing deer as her vehicle, and radiantly appearing with great wealth of gem studded mansions.
Highlights from vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
uRi … – Placed in a pot in the rope which will reveal the theft, hanging down from the ceiling, the butter was well secured and remained fresh as it was while being churned; krishNa will trace the path of the butter from the churning spot up to where it was safely placed.
oLiyAl senRu angu uNdAnai … – oLi – theft, light. oLiyAl – by theft; alternatively – as said in thiruvAimozhi 3.8.3 “nAL iLam thingaLaik …” (consuming the butter placed inside bamboo hut with the light generated by the pleasing radiance of the young rising moon which is fresh everyday [here fresh young rising moon is an example for krishNa’s shining teeth]). He ate the butter to be said by others as “This could not have been stolen by humans; this must have been taken away by a celestial person”.
kaNdu – emperumAn considers the items touched by the favourable ones to be those which sustain him and when he does not get those, he will perish; similarly these devotees (yaSOdhAp pirAtti, AzhwArs) will seek his acts since such acts sustain them; hence they follow him and catch him.
Aychchi – Since she has overwhelming love and care towards krishNa, she tied him to the mortar without realising the outcome.
uralOdu Arkka – She tied him to a mortar which was found near by since had she gone in search of a good pole or mortar to bind him, he may escape in the meantime.
thaRiyArndha … – Just as when an intoxicated elephant which was roaming around freely in the town, gets caught accidentally and will stand being bound to a pole, krishNa who roamed around freely got bound and stood without any other way to react, with tears in his vast eyes.
thanmaiyAnai – Supremacy is artificial decoration for him; this simplicity is his inherent nature. yaSOdhAp pirAtti said as in SrIvishNu purANam 5.6.15 “yadhiSaknOshi” (free yourself up, if you can).
karum kaLiRE pOla – The way he stood without realising about himself. Had he been bound by unfavourable persons like dhuryOdhana et al, he would have easily escaped from it. But when he was bound by favourable persons, he cannot release that.
veRi Arndha malar magaL … – AzhwAr is speaking about the one who can control such elephant from independent roaming. By her presence, she will engage emperumAn so that he does not see others’ mistakes. periya pirAttiyAr who is the purushakAra bhUthai (one who performs recommendation) for those who surrender to emperumAn; sarasvathi who lives in the tongue of brAhmaNas and is subservient to periya pirAttiyAr; she assists periya pirAttiyAr and helps in praising emperumAn.
viyan kalai … – dhurgA who has an amazing deer as her vehicle and who has eight shoulders; she is the guard for thirukkOvalUr. To compensate for her sadness of revealing krishNa’s identity during his birth, she carefully guards the town.
seRi … – I got to see in thirukkOvalUr where gem studded mansions are densely present in a radiant manner.
nAn – I who had not realised the presence of such benefit, got to see him in this well protected dhivyadhESam.
In the next article we will enjoy the next pAsuram.
adiyen sarathy ramanuja dasan
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