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periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> Second Centum >> Fifth decad
avathArikai (Introduction)
There is no specific avathArikai for this pAsuram
paLLaththil mEyum paRavai urukkoNdu
kaLLa asuran varuvAnaiththAn kaNdu
puL idhu enRu podhukkO vAy kINditta
piLLaiyai vandhu kuzhal vArAy akkAkkAy! pEy mulai uNdAn kuzhal vArAy akkAkkAy!
Word-by-Word Meanings
paLLaththil – in lower regions of water bodies
mEyum – searching for prey
paRavai – bird, crane
uru koNdu – taking the form
varuvAn – one who came
kaLLa asuranai – dishonest monster (bakAsuran)
thAn – he [kaNNan] who was grazing calves, and playing outwardly
kaNdu – seeing him
idhu puL enRu – superficially considering it as a bird and not thinking deeply that it is a monster
vAy – its mouth
podhukkO – suddenly
kINditta – oh, crow! Comb the divine locks of the child who tore its mouth
pEy – pUthanA’s
mulai uNdAn – oh, crow! Comb the hair of the one who consumed [milk from] her bosom
Simple Translation
A dishonest monster, bakAsuran, had taken the form of a crane, which was searching for its prey in lower regions of water bodies. krishNa was grazing calves nearby, and playing outwardly. Thinking that it is a bird and not a monster, krishNa suddenly tore the mouth of that bird. Oh, crow, comb the locks of that child krishNa. Oh, crow! Comb the locks of the one who consumed milk from the bosom of the monster pUthanA.
vyAkhyAnam (Commentary)
paLLaththil … – taking the form of a bird, crane, which searches for prey in small ponds.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai, in his svApadhESam, says that the demon looked at the auspicious qualities of krishNa as faults, and hid himself in the form of a crane. He started looking for desired prey [fish] in low lying water bodies, along with lot of other cranes which were also looking for their favourite food. Though all the cranes looked similar, the difference could be seen. This is the reason why AzhwAr calls him as “kaLLa asuran” (dishonest monster)
kaLLa asuran – dishonest monster. Hiding his form [of a monster], he took the form of a bird, due to his dishonesty.
varuvAnaith thAn kaNdu – krishNa, who was engaged with grazing calves, saw the monster, who had come hiding himself in the form of a bird, in order to harm krishNa.
puL idhu enRu – not thinking of it as a monster, but considering it as a lowly bird.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that he could see the two forms [form of monster and form of bird] in that crane, just like a calf which is not desirous of eating. Even though it appeared like other birds, its distinction from the rest was evident.
podhukkO vAy kINditta – the crane came opening its mouth to swallow krishNa. However, krishNa suddenly tore its mouth, without giving it any thought of carrying out what it had intended. podhukkO – suddenly.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that even though the monster came as a crane, he appeared to be the king [leader] among the cranes. podhukkO is a single word, with the meaning of ‘suddenly’.
piLLaiyai – one who has no limit for his childishness. Despite doing all these activities [of killing a monster, consuming milk from another monster etc], it appeared to him that these are playful activities.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that krishNa did not have any boundary to his activities of childishness. When children see a hole anywhere, they will insert their hand inside, without thinking about the result. In the same way, when the bird came, opening its mouth wide, krishNa inserted his hand. Since it was a rare sight for him [to see a crane coming with its mouth open], he started growing, out of happiness. His hands too grew, as the result of which the mouth of the bird tore and the monster fell down. The child [krishNa] was born in such a muhurtham [auspicious time] that any unfavourable entity, approaching him with evil mind, will perish. If this weren’t the case, the story would have been told as “Crane swallowed the child”. Since that did not happen, and krishNa protected himself, AzhwAr, remembering that benefit, tells the crow to comb the locks.
pEy mulai uNdAn – Even when he consumed [milk from] her bosom, it appeared like a playful act for him, without limit to his childishness.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that the child escaped both from the bird and the fiend. It is generally mentioned, in colloquial terms, that children would be affected by birds and fiends.
We shall next consider the 5th pAsuram of this thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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