SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: Sri varavaramunayE nama:
periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> Second Centum >> Fifth decad
avathArikai (Introduction)
There is no specific avathArikai for this pAsuram.
kaRRinam mEyththuk kanikkoru kanRinai
paRRi eRindha paraman thirumudi
uRRana pEsi nI Odith thiriyAdhE
aRRaikkum vandhu kuzhal vArAy akkAkkAy! AzhiyAn than kuzhal vArAy akkAkkAy!
Word-by-Word Meanings
kanRu inam – herd of calves
mEyththu – grazing
oru kanRinai – one calf, in which a monster had pervaded
paRRi – lifting it, catching hold of its leg
kanikku – in order to bring down a wood-apple in which another monster had pervaded
eRindha – one who threw [the calf on the fruit]
paraman – benefactor’s
thiru mudi – beautiful, divine locks
uRRana – peculiar to your species
pEsi – speaking about
nI Odith thiruyAdhE – without flying away
aRRaikkum – oh, crow! Come every day and comb his divine locks
AzhiyAn than – oh, crow! Comb the divine locks of one who is holding the divine disc on his divine hand.
Simple Translation
While grazing cows, krishNa caught hold of the leg of one of the calves in which a monster had pervaded, and threw it against a wood-apple, in which another monster had pervaded [with the intention of killing him]. Oh, crow! Without speaking about matters relating to your species and flying away, come every day and comb the beautiful, divine locks of that benefactor. Comb the divine locks of one who is holding the divine disc on his divine hand.
vyAkhyAnam (Commentary)
kaRRinam … – grazing the herd of calves. At young age, one has to graze calves. Only after growing older, could grown-up cows be grazed. Thus, krishNa too started with grazing calves, initially.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai, in his svApadhESam, says that krishNa doesn’t like going behind old cows. He prefers going behind young calves, grazing them. He would gently stroke their stomachs; only if their stomachs are filled, would he feel that his stomach is filled up. While he was going behind the calves which had their stomach filled up with grazing, he was playing with them and unable to leave them. Some monsters were waiting to harm him, wondering “When will he come?” One of them had taken the form of a calf and the other had taken the form of a wood-apple. krishNa noticed both, seeing the difference between them and the other calves / wood-apple fruits. Just as one removes a thorn using another thorn, he threw the calf in which a monster had pervaded, on a wood-apple in which another monster had pervaded, killing them both. Thus, he became the benefactor, by protecting himself. His divine locks indicate that he is the supreme entity.
kanikkoru kanRinaip paRRi eRindha – In the places where he was roaming around, grazing the calves, he saw two monsters who had pervaded a calf and a wood-apple fruit, with the intention of harming him. Just as it has been mentioned in periya thirumozhi 9.8.6 “viLam kanikku iLam kanRu visiRi” (throwing a young calf for making a wood-apple to fall), he threw a calf in which a demon had pervaded, by holding its foot and threw it on a wood-apple fruit, inside which too another demon had pervaded, to bring down both, killing them, similar to removing a thorn with the help of another thorn.
paraman thirumudi – Instead of getting caught at the hands of these two demons who had come to harm him, krishNa annihilated them, thus protecting himself, who is the supreme lord for all the worlds, thus acting as a benefactor. The divine locks of such a supreme entity…
uRRana pEsi nI Odith thiriyAdhE – Instead of flying away, speaking about matters related to your species, without staying in one place…
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that AzhwAr is addressing the samsAris here who are not paying heed to the true words of an AchAryan and carrying out servitude to him, but are discussing superficial meanings of certain matters which appear to be synchronised. He says that without looking at the topic which is being discussed, the explanations which are offered for proving that and the conclusion drawn at the end, and confirming that these are correct, samsAris would say what comes to their minds, affirming that this is what is mentioned in SAsthrams. They will bewilder people of the world such that when a learned person comes to explain, they will turn their faces away and leave. AzhwAr warns such people by addressing the crow and telling it not to roam around, speaking irrelevant matters.
aRRaikkum vandhu kuzhal vArAy akkAkkAy – You should come every day and comb krishNa’s divine locks.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that AzhwAr tells the crow that even if it does not come on any other day, it should come at the least on that day when krishNa had taken a bath in order to get rid of the faults which have come onto him on account of those who attempt to attain him through means other than himself [means such as karma yOgam, gyAna yOgam, bhakthi yOgam (the paths of deeds, knowledge, devotion) etc] and is waiting for his divine locks to be combed. If the crow comes on that day and combs his divine locks, it would be equivalent to coming every day and combing his locks.
AzhiyAn – One who has the divine disc. This implies that he has the means to control those who are unfavourable.
We shall next consider the 6th pAsuram of this thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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