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periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> Third Centum >> Second decad
avathArikai
There is no specific avathArikai for this pAsuram.
midaRu mezhumezhuththOda veNNey vizhungippOy
padiRu pala seydhu ippAdi engum thiriyAmE
kadiRu pala thiri kAnadhar idaik kanRin pin
idaRa en piLLaiyaip pOKkinEn ellE pAvamE
Word-by-Word Meanings
veNNey – butter
midaRu – in the throat
mezhumezhuththu Oda – to go in smoothly (without causing any irritation)
vizhungi – consuming
pOy – going out
pala – unlimited
padiRu – mischiefs
seydhu – carrying out
ippAdi engum – throughout this village [of thiruvAyppAdi]
thiriyAmE – instead of roaming
pala kadiRu – many wild elephants
thiri – roaming
kAn adhar idai – in the path to the forest
kanRin pin – behind calves
idaRa – to go about in distress
en piLLaiyai – my krishNa, who is of a tender nature
pOkkinEn – I allowed to go
ellE pAvamE – how sad! What sin have I committed? (says she, in disgust)
Simple Translation
krishNa would consume butter such that it would go in smoothly, through his throat, without causing any irritation. He will then go out and carry out unlimited mischiefs, roaming throughout this village. Instead of allowing him to do this, why did I send him behind calves, to go in distress, to the forest, where wild elephants roam about? How sad! What sin have I committed? (says she, in disgust)
vyAkhyAnam (Commentary)
midaRu mezhumezhuththOda veNNey vizhungi – this describes the effortlessness with which krishNa consumed butter. In other words, when eating rice or foodstuff such as apUpam (vadai etc), they should be taken in a limited quantity, kept in the mouth and pushed down. Unlike those foodstuffs, as mentioned in periyAzhwAr thirumozhi 1.5.9 “thAzhiyil veNNey thadam kai Ara vizhungiya” [krishNa consumed butter from the pot, extending his large hand into the pot) and in periya thirumozhi 10.7.3 “thadA niRaindha veLLimalai irundhAl oththa veNNeyai vAri vizhungittu” (scooping and swallowing butter from the pot, in which it had been filled up, looking like mEru [a celestial] mountain,) looking at the abundance of butter available, with affection, with overflowing desire, krishNa would take butter, spreading his hands fully, as mentioned in thiruvAimozhi 1.8.5 “kai kalandhu uNdAn” ([krishNa] ate butter, stretching his hands fully). Butter was such that, when he took it in both his left and right hands, it would go into the mouth and through the throat, without any hurdle, in a smooth manner. Hence, this material would be the most apt for his tender nature too. It was butter which krishNa liked, more than the other materials obtained from cow [such as milk, curd, ghee etc]. It was for eating this that he had incarnated too, as mentioned in thiruviruththam 21 “Ittiya veNNey thodu uNNa…” (to consume butter which has been churned and gathered). The term vizhungip pOy would refer to his eating butter; it would refer to his eating butter and slipping out of that place and going to some other place, as if he had nothing to do with butter disappearing; it would also refer to his eating butter in his house and going out [to indulge in mischiefs].
thiruvAimozhip piLLai, in his svApadhESam, says that krishNa’s throat was such spacious [he had swallowed all the worlds at the time of deluge] that butter slipped into it smoothly, just as it has been mentioned in periya thirumozhi 10.6.1 “pon midaRu aththanaip pOdhu angAndhavan” (krishNa had opened his mouth wide to let all the entities to go in, for his protection). He had swallowed a large quantity of butter such that he could gargle with it. If there is any trace of butter on the hand, it would have to be cleaned by washing [with soap-nut powder and water] or by wiping it on the head. However, stickiness due to butter in the throat will not be visible. Thus, he could indulge in mischiefs every day. The term Oda refers to the butter, not being controlled by the throat. Even if he eats to his mouthful, it will slip in without any trouble.
padiRu pala seydhu – padiRu – mischief; since it says “pala”, this indicates that there is no limit to the mischiefs which he indulged in. Just as it has been mentioned in periya thirumozhi 10.7.5 “pandhu paRIththuth thugil paRRik kIRip padiRan padiRu seyya” (indulging in mischiefs such as snatching the ball from the hands of girls, tugging at their dress etc), he would snatch the playing materials from the hands of girls who are playing with them; he would tug at their dresses and tear them; he would destroy the little sand-houses which they would have built; there is no limit to the mischiefs which he would indulge in, fighting and arguing with them, as mentioned in nAchchiyAr thirumozhi 2.8 “thottu udhaiththu naliyEl ” (don’t harm us by touching and kicking us) and in nAchchiyAr thirumozhi 2.9 “emmaip paRRi meyppiNakkittAl” (If you grasp us and embrace us, what will people nearby say?) Since his mischiefs are unspeakable and uncountable, AzhwAr mentions them as padiRu [mischief] and pala [many].
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that the mischiefs indulged in by krishNa could not be mentioned as “such and such mischiefs”. They cannot even be spoken of. Hence, AzhwAr says “pala padiRu”.
ippAdi engum thiriyAmE – it was not one house or two; it was not one street or two; krishNa would go around all the five-lakh houses in the thiruvAyppAdi village, where each house was twenty-four feet long. If he had indulged in these countless mischiefs, yaSOdhAp pirAtti too would have been happy, as mentioned in nAchchiyAr thirumozhi 3.9 “anja urappAL asOdhai ANAda vittirukkum” (yaSOdhAp pirAtti would not scold him to frighten him; she would have allowed him to grow to indulge in more mischiefs). When he indulges in mischiefs, instead of controlling him to frighten him, she would think “We have been fortunate to have got a son like krishNa who is capable of doing thee mischiefs”. It is because of this that yaSOdhAp pirAtti felt sad that she had allowed him to go to the forest, instead of roaming around and indulging in mischiefs like these.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that the term engum would not be restricted to one or two houses, one or two streets, one or two corners. After krishNa incarnated, thiruvAyppAdi was home to five-lakh houses, with each house being twenty-four feet long.
kadiRu pala thiri – in the forest where many elephants are roaming. Just as a type of fish, called as keLiRu [in thamizh], is referred to as kediRu, elephant, which is called as kaLiRu, is referred to here as kadiRu. Just as garuda is referred to as garuLa (replacing the syllable La with the syllable, da), kaLiRu has been referred to as kadiRu. Since the pAsuram refers to many elephants, yaSOdhAp pirAtti is afraid that “Wild elephants will chase people when they are seen in the forest and kill them”.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that krishNa had to go the forest where wild animals were roaming. Alternatively, kadiRu would refer to kaLiRu, elephant
kAnadhar idai – in the forest path. In other words, since it is a single-track path, there will not be space on the left or right side, even to step out.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that the path in the forest was such narrow that krishNa could not move to the side and control the calves from going out of line. Also, he was at that stage of an innocent child when he did not know the means of controlling them. He would follow the calves. These features make yaSOdhAp pirAtti to fret about his safety.
kanRin pin – even here, instead of roaming around as he pleased, krishNa will have to go behind calves, which will enter wherever they see grass for grazing, and will have to control them.
idaRa en piLLaiyaip pOkkinEn – I allowed my son, who is very tender, to go like this, in a distressful manner.
ellE pAvamE – In a dejected manner, she says “What cruel sin have I committed?”
We shall next consider the 7th pAsuram of this thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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