SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavara munayE nama:
avathArikai (Introduction) – in this pAsuram, the girls in thiruvAppAdi (SrI gOkulam) talk about how they united with kaNNan.
muRRaththUdu pugundhu ninmugam kAttip punmuRuval seydhu
siRRilOdu engaL sindhaiyum sidhaikkak kadavaiyO gOvindhA
muRRa maNNidam thAvi viNNuRa nINdu aLandhu koNdAy emmaip
paRRi meyppiNakkittakkAl indhap pakkam ninRavar en sollAr?
Word-by-Word Meanings
gOvindhA – Oh, kaNNapirAnE!
muRRa maN idam thAvi – (with one divine foot) measuring the entire leelA vibhUthi (materialistic realm), by leaping
viN uRa nINdu – stretching until paramapadham [SrI vaikuNtam]
aLandhu koNdAy – (with the other divine foot, all the worlds above) oh, one who measured!
muRRaththUdu – in the courtyard (where we play in seclusion)
pugundhu – entering
nin mugam kAtti – showed your divine face (to us)
pun muRuval seydhu – smiled
siRRilOdu engaL sindhaiyum – our toy-houses and our hearts too
sidhaikkak kadavaiyO – will you destroy?
(Not stopping with that)
emmaip paRRi – grasping us
meyp piNakku ittAl – if you embrace
indhap pakkam ninRavar– those who are in proximity
en sollAr – what [all] will they not say?
Simple Translation
Oh, kaNNapirAnE! Oh, one who measured the entire materialistic realm with your one divine foot, by leaping and all the other upper worlds with the other divine foot! You entered our courtyard, where we were playing in seclusion, and showed your divine face to us, with a smile. Will you destroy our toy-houses and our hearts too? If you embrace us, by grasping us, what will the people, who are in proximity, not say (about us)?
vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
muRRaththUdu pugundhu – “He is expecting something unacceptable, union, from us, girls. If we remain here, within his vision, he will certainly carry out mischievous deeds. Hence, it will be better to remain out of his sight” – they got together and discussed the options, just as the people of ayOdhyA got together, as mentioned in SrI rAmAyaNam ayOdhyA kANdam 2-20 “samEthya manthrayithvA thu sarvE sangathabhudhdhaya: l UsuScha manasA gyAthvA vrudhdham dhaSaratham nrupam ll” (citizens [of ayOdhyA] consulted together, came to a conclusion, considered that dhaSarathan has become aged and told him accordingly). Affirming their action, they decided that if they went together, kaNNan will follow them. Hence, they went singly, to a courtyard which could accommodate all five lakh girls in thiruvAyppAdi, bolted both the front and back doors. However, since he is antharyAmi (one who dwells inside everyone), he does not need a path to enter any premises. Isn’t he capable of stealing butter, without disturbing the markings made on the pots! Thus, even as they did not expect him to come there, he entered amidst them. “We thought that we came here, without his knowing anything about our whereabouts; he has come ahead of us here. What a manner in which we have reached here, thinking that we have deceived him! Alas! How horrible? How do we escape from him?” Not finding a way to escape, they hung their heads down, in shame. This verse “muRRaththUdu pugundhu” explains their situation…
nin mugam kAtti – he lifted the head of each girl, individually, and told them “See! We have come here. We did not have the fortune to come together, we have come after you. By which route did you come? Your legs would have got hurt, having had to walk such a long distance”. Thinking of their defeat, they felt ashamed, thinking “Whatever we had expected, did not happen”.
punmuRuval seydhu – He smiled, manifesting clearly his victory over them. Thinking that “He should not know that we feel ashamed at losing out to him. Let us pretend that we are engaged in some other act”, they started building their toy houses. Getting angry, he thought “When we are here, they are pretending as if they are engaging with some other work”, he started engaging with some activities which made their hearts not to cooperate with them and their hands, not to engage in the work which they intended to do. Seeing that, they say further…..
siRRilOdu …. gOvindhA – Isn’t your work looking after cows, in line with your name gOvindha [one who tends to cows]? Has torturing girls too become part of your work? Apart from destroying our toy houses, is it proper on your part to destroy our hearts too, when we wish to build our houses?
muRRa ….. aLandhu koNdAy – Aren’t you one who had pushed [king] mahAbali, who had given you three steps of land, into pAthAlam (nether world) just like those who push people who help them, into an abyss? They say “Aren’t you the type who did just as periyAzhwAr had said in periyAzhwAr thirumozhi 4-9-7 ‘iRaippozhudhil pAdhALam kalavirukkai koduththugandha emmAn’ (our emperumAn who felt happy [that he had fulfilled indhra’s prayers] after pushing [the monster mahAbali] into the nether world in a moment)?” Thinking “What other slander could we listen to? We have reached the limit of calumny. There is no other defamation left to be hurled on us”, he started tugging at their clothes and hugging them, such that they could not stand in the presence of their mothers. The pAsuram mentions this, further …….
emmaip paRRi meyppiNakkittAl – If you come close enough to grasp us and hug us…..He asks them “Was this intolerable for you all? Does it embitter you if we hug you? Even great sages are waiting for us to hug them. Don’t you like it?” They respond to his queries, further ….
indhap pakkam ninRavar en sollar – They say “We too desire it; however, will not those who are in proximity to us, reproach us?”, thus hinting that they had united with kaNNan. It is said that nampiLLai, one of our preceptors, would say in amazement “Unlike other AzhwArs who had to assume the pathos of a beloved and use harsh words towards emperumAn just as it has been said in thiruvAimozhi 6-2-7 “oru nAnRu thadi piNakkE” (it may happen that one day, you would get beaten up with a stick), in thiruvAimozhi 6-2-1 “pandhum kazhalum thandhu pOgu” (do not steal my anklet and ball; return them to me) and in perumAL thirumozhi 6-8 “en sinam thIrvan nAnE” (I will get rid of my anger suitably), since ANdAL is, by nature, a tender girl, and since she developed further tenderness after uniting with him, you could see that she has used words with tenderness”
Next, we will consider the last pAsuram of this decad.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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