SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: Sri varavaramunayE nama:
periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> Third Centum >> Sixth decad
avathArikai
There is no avathArikai for this pAsuram.
vAn iLavarasu vaigundhakkuttan vAsudhEvan madhurai mannan nandha
kOn iLavarasu kOvalar kuttan gOvindhan kuzhal kodu UdhinapOdhu
vAn iLam padiyar vandhu vandhu INdi manam urugi malarkkanNgaL panippa
thEn aLavu seRi kUndhal avizhach chenni vErppach chevi sErndhu ninRanarE
Word-by-Word Meanings
vAn – for paramapadham [SrI vaikuNtam]
iLavarasu – as the prince
vaigundham kuttan – as a small child who has to be looked after constantly by those who are in that divine place [it is also said that vaigundhak kuttan refers to a small child who has the divine name of vaikuNdan)
vAsudhEvan – as the divine son of vasudhEvar
madhurai – for mathurA, in the north
mannan – as the controller
nandhar kOn – for nandhagOpar (as the son)
iLa arasu – as the prince
kOvalar kuttan – as the entity who has to be looked by after herd-folk
gOvindhan – when kaNNan, who got to graze cows, played on the flute
vAn – inhabiting celestial world
iLa – apt for enjoyment
padiyar – women, with forms
vandhu vandhu INdi – gathering, coming again and again (impelled by the music from flute)
manam – minds
urugi – melting like a liquid
malar – like flowers
kaNgaL – eyes
panippa – to be cool with tears of joy
thEn aLavu – with honey
seRi – being in abundance
kUndhal – locks
avizha – to loosen and to sway
senni – forehead
vErppa – to perspire
sevi – with ears
sErththu – hearing the music from the flute
ninRanar – stood
Simple Translation
krishNa is the prince of SrI vaikuNtam. He is like a little child, to be properly taken care of by those who inhabit that divine abode. He is the divine son of vasudhEvar. He is the controller of mathurA. He is the prince of nandhagOpar, who has to be looked after by the herd-folk. When such krishNa played on the flute, young women, who were inhabiting celestial worlds and who had forms apt for enjoyment, came in large numbers, with their minds melting like a liquid, with their eyes, which were like flowers, becoming cool due to tears of joy, with their dense locks, filled with honey, loosening and swaying. They stood, hearing his music, with their ears tuned to the music.
vyAkhyAnam (Commentary)
vAn iLavarasu – One, who is the prince in paramapadham. He is like a young king who is nurtured by aging ministers. He has made the nithyasUris as the prominent entities in paramapadham, as mentioned in thiruviruththam 2 “mUdhuvarAm – viNNAttavar” (making himself under nithyasUris, who dwell in paramapadham, ahead of all the others, chronologically), and remaining as their lord. parASara bhattar would often say “This entity [emperumAn] sustains himself on the lap of thiruvananthAzhwAn [AdhiSEshan], under the cane of SrI sEnApathiyAzhwAn [vishvaksEnar] and under the wings of periya thiruvadi [garuda]”
thiruvAimozhip piLLai, in his svApadhESam, says that he is referred to as vANiLavarasu, since the ancient entities in paramapadham had made him as the prince and were worshipping him. He is referred to as vaigundhak kuttan, since they consider him as a little child, all the time, carrying out mangaLASAsanam for him constantly, and he, in turn, is obedient towards them.
vaigundhak kuttan – considering him as being protected by those in SrI vaikuNtam. He is of such an age [yuvAkumAra:, about 16 years of age] that he has to be taken care of constantly, fearing about his safety in a place where one need not have any fear.
vAsudhEvan – the divine son of SrI vasudhEvar.
madhurai mannan – One who is the king of SrI mathurA. In paramapadham, since there is none who feels independent, AzhwAr had referred to him as prince, in order to describe his ASritha pArathanthryam [being subservient to his followers]. However, here [in samsAram], since everyone considers himself / herself to be independent, AzhwAr refers to him as the king, in order to avoid having two kings in the same place.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that since he killed the king of mathurA [kamsan], AzhwAr refers to him as madhurai mannan. Though krishNa had coronated ugrasEnar [father of kamsan] as the king of mathurA [after kamsan’s death], he was indeed the king of mathurA.
nandharkOn iLavarasu – This term refers to his even higher degree of simplicity than vAsudhEvan [from being the lord of nithyasUris, he manifested his auspicious quality of simplicity by incarnating as the son of SrI vasudhEvar]. In the case of vAsudhEvan, he was in a regal clan. However, here [in thiruvAyppAdi], it is the clan of herd-folk. He is the prince, being the divine son of SrI nandhagOpar, who is the king of thiruvAyppAdi, having five lakh families of herd-people.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that since nandhagOpar is the king of five lakh families, and as mentioned in periya thirumozhi 2.2.4 “nandhan maindhan Agu nambi” (placing himself as the divine son of nandhagOpar, with all the auspicious qualities), in thiruppAvai 1 “nandhagOpan kumaran” (as the dear son of nandhagOpar) and in perumAL thirumozhi 7.3 “nandhan peRRanan nangaL kOn peRRilan” (nandhagOpan was fortunate to enjoy your divine activities whereas our lord, vasudhEvar was not fortunate), krishNa was the protector of herds and herd-folk. If any harm comes their way or if a thorn pierces their leg, it is krishNa who would feel hurt. Hence, he remains as their prince, protecting them. krishNa became complete with his auspicious qualities only after becoming the son of nandhagOpar.
kOvalar kuttan – This term distinguishes him from vaigundhak kuttan, mentioned earlier. He is at the age where he has to be taken care of, by the herd-folk.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that he is an equal to a thousand herd-boys who were like him. He was protected by them. They would even engage in a battle, if it comes to that, in order to protect him.
gOvindhan – He was looking after the cattle, which is appropriate for his clan, as his occupation.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that he is gOvindhan without any shortcoming [kuRai onRUm illAdha gOvindhA, as mentioned in thiruppAvai 28].
kuzhal kodu Udhina pOdhu – when krishNa played on the flute, which attracts everyone.
vAn iLam padiyar – women, who inhabit the celestial worlds, not having the stages of aging and death until those worlds exist, as well as having forms which are apt for enjoying. padi– form [body].
vandhu vandhu INdi – coming in large numbers, following the path of music from the flute.
manam urugi – With their minds melting, like liquid.
malarkkaNgaL panippa – tears of joy flowing from their eyes, which are like flowers.
thEnaLavu seRi kUndhal avizha – even if the flowers, which they had donned on their locks, had fallen down due to the speed with which came [to the place where krishNa was playing on his flute], the trace of honey would still be present on the locks which the flowers had decorated, Thus, the dense locks, which were with honey, had loosened [due to their speed]
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that when the flowers fell down when the celestial women came hurriedly to see krishNa, they did not even realise that the flowers had fallen down. Only if they know that the flower has fallen would they pick it up and keep it back on their locks.
senni vErppa – With their foreheads perspiring. Will celestial ladies perspire? We could consider this as the transformation in the basic nature created by the music from flute on entities who / which were listening to the music.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that it was not clear whether they were perspiring or the drops of honey from their locks were dripping on their foreheads.
sevi sErththu ninRanarE – They stood, with their ears tuned to the music.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that their ears will not go elsewhere. Each of the celestial ladies was saying “He was playing the flute, only for me”, filling their ears with the music, considering that as purushArtham [ultimate benefit].
We shall next consider the 4th pAsuram of this thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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