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periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> Second Centum >> Seventh decad
avathArikai (Introduction)
There is no specific avathArikai for this pAsuram.
erudhugaLOdu porudhi Edhum ulObAy kAN nambI!
karudhiya theemaigaL seydhu kanjanaik kAl kodu pAyndhAy
theruvin kaN theemaigaL seydhu chikkena mallargaLOdu
porudhu varuginRa ponnE! punnaip pUch chUtta vArAy
Word-by-Word Meanings
nambI! – oh, one who is complete in your infatuation towards nappinnaip pirAtti!
erudhugaLOdu – with bulls, which have been pervaded by monsters
porudhi – you were fighting (for the sake of nappinnaip pirAtti)
Edhum – in anything
ulObAy kAN – behold, you were without any desire (the meaning hinted is that krishNa was not concerned about protecting his divine form, his life)
karudhiya – [acts] which kamsan had thought of carrying out against you
theemaigaL – wrongful acts
seydhu – you carried out against him
kanjanai – kamsan
kAl kodu – with your divine feet
pAyndhAy – you had kicked
theruvin kaN – on the way to annihilating kamsan
theemaigaL seydhu – carrying out acts against kamsan such as killing the washerman, snapping the bow
mallargaLOdu – with wrestlers chANUra and mushtika
chikkena – permanently
porudhu – waging a battle
varuginRa – one who comes
ponnE! – oh, kaNNa, who has a divine form, like gold!
punnaip pU – you should come to don the punnaip pU (a fragrant flower, Alexandrian laurel)
Simple Translation
Oh, one who is complete in your infatuation towards nappinnaip pirAtti! You engaged in a battle with bulls, in which monsters had pervaded to harm you, for the sake of nappinnaip pirAtti. You were without any desire in anything concerning you [such as protecting your divine form or protecting your life]. kamsan had thought of various activities to carry out against you. You did these against him and kicked him with your divine feet. On the way to annihilating him, you had indulged in acts such as killing the washerman and drawing the bow. Oh, one who has the divine form which is like gold, with which you had fought with wrestlers such as chANUra and mushtika! You should come and don the fragrant punnaip pU.
vyAkhyAnam (Commentary)
erudhugaLOdu porudhi – Due to your desire of attaining nappinnaip pirAtti, without looking at the tenderness of your divine form, you fought with the bulls, which had been pervaded by monsters. Even though the event [fighting with the bulls] had taken place a long time back, since it is shining as if it were taking place now, AzhwAr is using the present continuous tense, porudhi – fighting.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai, in his svApadhESam, says that yaSOdhAp pirAtti had beaten him [as in the previous pAsuram] since “She would not tolerate the blaming words of those who are in thiruvAyppAdi”. Could such a person tolerate if he were to engage in a fight with bulls? Even an event which had taken place much earlier, would appear as if it were happening during present time.
Edhum ulObAy kAN – Behold, you were standing without any desire [ulOpam – desire; ulOpAy – without desire]. In other words, krishNa did not seem concerned about protecting his divine form or divine life.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that despite telling krishNa to step back, he wouldn’t. ulObAy – not looking after his divine form or his life. Even when sages, who knew events in all three times [past, present and future] told krishNa “These are not mere bulls; these are monsters ordered to harm you, by kamsan” he would say “That is what I relish”. Behold, he has such boldness.
nambI – Oh, one who is complete with infatuation towards nappinnaip pirAtti!
karudhiya theemaigaL seydhu – carrying out the wrongful acts, which kamsan had intended carrying out towards you, on him.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that krishNa carried out the wrongful acts which kamsan had intended to carry out on krishNa. He pushed kamsan from his throne and kicked him with his divine feet. Alternatively, AzhwAr thinks “Just as I had thought ‘He is capable of carrying out this too’ you had completed all these”. AzhwAr is afraid that krishNa could fall on other enemies too, who are like this.
kanjanaik kAl kodu pAyndhAy – You kicked kamsan with your divine feet. Just as it has been mentioned in SrI vishNu purANam 5.20.26 “thunga manja vyavasthitha:” (kamsan was sitting on a high throne), you went and jumped up the steps to the throne where kamsan was sitting. Just as it has been mentioned in SrI vishNu purANam 5.20.84 “kESEshvAkrushya vigaLath kirItam avaneethalE l sa kamsam pAdhayAmAsa thasya upari papAthacha ” (that krishNa, caught hold of kamsan’s locks such that kamsan’s crown fell on the ground. He pushed kamsan on the ground and fell upon him), krishNa grabbed and threw the crown, pulled kamsan’s locks such that kamsan fell down on the ground and jumped on kamsan. This is how kamsan was killed.
theruvin kaN theemaigaL seydhu – theru: way. On the way to annihilating kamsan, krishNa killed kamsan’s washerman, entered the weapon storage area and broke the bow, which was kept there with decoration, since it was the festival with bow, creating wrath in kamsan and then killed kuvalayApeedam, which was kamsan’s favourite elephant. These are the wrongful deeds which he carried out.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that krishNa would say “I am going to play in the street”, and while playing with his friends, he will carry out mischiefs with them. Alternatively, while going on the streets of SrI mathurA, he would make faces at the ladies who are walking there, frightening them fraudulently.
chikkena mallargaLOdu porudhu – just as it has been mentioned in periyAzhwAr thirumozhi 4.2.6 “EviRRuch cheyvAn EnRedhirndhu vandha mallar” (The wrestlers who came, as ordered by kamsan, to oppose krishNa), wrestlers such as chANUra, mushtika et al were ordered by kamsan to wrestle with krishNa. However, krishNa killed them all, as per his pledge.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that while the wrestlers were killed first and then only kamsan, AzhwAr would have remembered that he had killed the wrestlers too and hence says this later. chikkena – in line with his pledge [of killing all of them]. AzhwAr says ponnE, looking at the radiance in krishNa’s divine form after killing the enemies. This refers to the attractiveness which he had in his divine form.
varuginRa ponnE – when you came, after annihilating all the enemies like this, oh, one who had an effulgent form, like gold, with an arrogance! Why did AzhwAr narrate the destruction of kamsan first and the others, who had been annihilated before that, later? Since killing of kamsan was the objective, there is nothing contradictory in narrating about kamsan first and then these, which were a corollary to that.
punnai … – you should come such that you could don the punnai flower, which is a favourite one for you. Since she says “ponnE punnaip pUch chUtta vArAy”, just as gold is united with gold, one could see that she is calling him, who has a divine form like gold, to bedeck with the punnai flower, which has golden pollens.
We shall next consider the 7th pAsuram of this thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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