SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: Sri varavaramunayE nama:
periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> First Centum >> Eighth Decad
avathArikai (Introduction)
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says, in his svApadhESam, that AzhwAr is asking krishNa to come with the fragrance of sandalwood paste, applied on him by the hunchback lady, kubjA.
nARiya sAndham namakku iRai nalgu enna
thERi avaLum thiru udambil pUsa
URiya kUninai uLLE odunga anRu
ERa uruvinAy! achchO achchO emperumAn! vArA achchO achchO
Word-by-Word Meanings
namakku – “apt for our form
nARiya – being with fragrance
sAndham – sandalwood paste
iRai – a little bit
nalgu enna – you must give” saying these words, when you asked the hunchback
avaLum – that hunchback too
thERi – comforting her mind
thiru udambil – on the divine form
pUsa – when she applied eminent paste
anRu – at that time
URiya – sprouting from her back
kUninai – hunchback
uLLE odunga – to disappear inside her body
ERa uruvinAy – oh, one who straightened it, with your divine hands! You should embrace me.
emperumAn! – oh, one who is the king of our clan! You should come and embrace me
Simple Translation
When you had asked a hunchback lady, who was selling sandalwood paste in mathurA, “You should give us a little bit of your eminent sandalwood paste, apt for our divine form”, she had applied the paste on your divine form. At that time, oh, one who had pushed her hunch, which had sprouted from her back, into her body such that it disappeared! You should embrace me. Oh, one, who is the king of our clan! You should come and embrace me.
vyAkhyAnam (Commentary)
nARiya … – when krishNa and his elder brother balarAma killed the washerman, donned new dresses and roamed in the streets of SrI mathurA, they came across a hunchback lady, kubjhA, who was taking sandalwood paste to be given to kamsan. When krishNa told her “Are you capable of giving sandalwood paste for our elder brother and us?” unable to refuse his request and thinking “Will these people, who are used to the smell of butter, know the distinction of sandalwood paste?” she offered them sandalwood paste of poor quality. Just as it has been mentioned in SrI vishNu purANam 5-20-6 “sugantham Ethath” (this appears to be with artificial and not natural fragrance), krishNa refused all those offers. As mentioned in continuation of the same SlOkam “AvayOr gAthra sadhruSam dhIyathAm anulEpanam” (Look at our divine forms and give sandalwood paste which will be the most appropriate for them), he told her “You should give a little bit of fragrant sandalwood paste which is apt for elder brother’s and our forms”. Feeling happy with way in which he rejected the lowly pastes, the eminence with which he sought the high-quality paste and his beautiful form, the hunchback, without fearing “What shall I do if kamsan punishes me for giving them the high-quality paste that I am taking for him?” consoled her mind and applied the best sandalwood paste which she had, on the divine forms of krishNa and balarAma.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that thERik koduththal (comforting her mind and offering them sandalwood paste) refers to giving them sandalwood paste with affection, without fearing about the torture that kamsan would mete out to her once he comes to know of this incident. This indicates that she had applied the paste on their divine forms with pathos and affection. It would also mean that she offered them the paste so that they could apply it themselves.
URiya … – Feeling affectionate towards her since she served him a little bit without expecting anything from him, krishNa mercifully thought in his divine mind “Let us straighten her hunchback”. Oh, one who had pushed back, at that time, the hunch which appeared as if it had taken root on her back, into her body, with your divine hands! You should embrace me. Oh, one who is the king of our clan! You should come and embrace me.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here for the term uLLE odunga – he had pulled her jaws and pushed her hunch such that it would get hidden inside her body. The purpose of his straightening her hunch was to indicate to us to get rid of our crooked thoughts and follow him. anRu – at the same time when she applied sandalwood paste on him, he removed her hunchback.
We shall next consider the 5th pAsuram of this thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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