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periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> Third Centum >> Sixth decad
avathArikai
There is no specific avathArikai for this pAsuram.
dhEnugan pilamban kALiyan ennum thIppap pUdugaL adanga uzhakkik
kAnagam padi ulAvi ulAvik karum siRukkan kuzhal Udhina pOdhu
mEnagaiyOdu thilOththamai arambai uruppasiyar avar veLgi mayangi
vAnagam padiyil vAy thiRappinRi Adal pAdal avai mARinar thAmE
Word-by-Word Meanings
dhEnugan – monster, dhEnukan
pilamban – monster, pralamban
kALiyan – snake, kALiyan
ennum – known by these identities
thImba – cruel
pUdugaL adanga – all the bad elements [the term pUdu stands for pUNdu, a type of shrub
which is avoided in our sampradhAyam]
uzhakki – annihilating them
kAnagam – in the forest
padi – in a natural manner
ulAvi ulAvi – wandering around for a long time (out of his volition)
karu – having a dark, divine form
siRukkan – when kaNNan, the young person, played on the flute
mEnagaiyodu – along with mEnakA
thilOththamai arambai uruppasi – all these
aravar – apsaras, celestial women
veLgi – feeling ashamed
mayangi – feeling fascinated (due to engaging with the music, played by him, on the flute)
vAnagam – in the celestial world
padiyil – and on earth too
vAy thiRappu inRi – without opening their mouths
thAmE – on their own (without being implored by anyone else)
Adal pAdal avai mARinar – they avoided singing and dancing
Simple Translation
krishNa, annihilating cruel elements such as the monsters dhEnukan, pralamban, the snake kALiyan et al, was roaming around in the forest, as his nature. When he, who has a dark, divine form, played on his flute, celestial ladies such as mEnakA, thilOththamA, rambA and uRvasi, felt ashamed [that they too were singing, and he was playing such a divine music on his flute]. Fascinated with his music, both in their celestial world and on earth, without uttering a word, without being implored by anyone, on their own, they stopped singing and dancing.
vyAkhyAnam (Commentary)
dhEnugan … – The monster, dhEnukan, came in the form of a donkey, inside the forest, with the intention of harming krishNa; while krishNa, balarAma and their friends were playing, the monster, pralamba, came in the form of one of the herd-boys and played with balarAma, with the intention of harming him [he felt that balarAma was a huge protective entity for krishNa and that by eliminating balarAma, he could then turn his attention of krishNa and harm him too]; kAliyan, the snake, made the water, used by the herds as well as herd-folk for their water needs, unfit for use by spitting poison in it. krishNa annihilated the first two and drove away the third. The term thIpapppUdu refers to their nature of harming others. While each of them is individually strong, to term them collectively as “pUdugaL” [a type of shrub], in a lowly manner, is to indicate that compared to the strength of the one who annihilated/drove them, these are mere worms. This is the reason that AzhwAr did not say azhiththu [to destroy] but as uzhakki [to trample or to smash].
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says, in his svApadhESam, that krishNa tried to bring the monsters under his control through his music. Since they did not get attracted to it and come under his control, he had to destroy them. Just like kAnjori [a type of plant, which, when contacted, will make sores on the skin, compelling the person to keep scratching], eripuzhu [a type of caterpillar, which also will lead to similar situation], sarpa [poisonous snakes, which will carry poison even when they get hatched and come out for the first time], these monsters had the nature of harming others right from the time of their birth. Hence, they are termed as vishappUdu [poisonous entities]. thIppappUdu – in carrying out mischiefs, they are fully focussed with all their three faculties of mind, words and deed.
kAnagam padi ulAvi ulAvi – there were no experts inside the forest who could discern the manner in which one would walk and appreciate it. Thus, instead of having the objective of “Let me show the superior manner of my gait”, krishNa roamed around the forest, out of his volition, and walked, in his natural manner. Even then, when he walked it appeared as if an expert was dancing.
karum siRukkan kuzhal Udhina pOdhu – krishNa had a divine dark form, which was attractive and pleasant for the beholders [explanation for the term karum]. He was at a stage of youthfulness, which too was attractive [explanation for the term siRUkkan]. When he was walking like this and played on his flute …
mEnagai … – Celestial apsaras [eminent ladies] such as mEnakA, thilOththamA, rambA and Urvasi were famous as “There is none beyond these women who could dance or sing as well as these”. After experiencing the beauty of his gait and his music, they felt ashamed thinking “We think that we too dance and sing” [and it is nothing compared to what krishNa is doing], and swooned, as the shame overtook them.
vAnagam … – Determining “We shall henceforth not mention about dancing or singing, either in the upper worlds or on earth”, they avoided dancing and singing. The reason for avoiding this not on account of any neutral person, knowing the nuances of dancing and singing, telling them “Hereafter, you people need not dance or sing”.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that the term avai [as in Adal pAdal avai mARinar] shows their expertise in these forms of art [dancing and singing]. They avoided even going to congregations where these are discussed and celebrated.
thAmE – On their own, they avoided dancing and singing.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here, the following: The celestial ladies did not give up dancing and singing because people, who were neutral and who knew the difference between krishNa’s dancing / singing and these ladies’ dancing / singing told them “You have been attracting those who had given up attachments towards worldly pursuits [such as sage viSvAmithra et al] through your dancing and singing. Also, people in the celestial worlds were praising you all along on your accomplishments and you had taken those complements as recognition of your talent. Now, stop your dancing and singing”. They had given up their dancing and singing, on their own, out of their sense of shame. Those who know about dharmam [righteousness] will consider the repository of such dharmam, who is the dharmi as dharmam itself [emperumAn is the repository of all the dharmam. Thus, he is referred to as dharmi. However, such emperumAn himself is referred to as dharmam as in the saying in mahAbhAratha krishNam dharmam sanAthanam [know krishNa as the dharmam, traditionally]. Now, krishNa had said in bhagavath gIthA 18.66 “sarva dharmAn parithyajya” [give up all the dharmams which you are following …]. Even if dharmam [dharmi] himself says “Follow the other dharmams which I had told you earlier to give up. If you do not follow those dharmams, it will lead to accumulation of sins for you”, those who have given up everything and have attained emperumAn alone as their refuge, will not go back to those other dharmams. In the same way, if neutral people tell these celestial ladies to continue to dance and sing, they will not do so. There [in bhagavath gIthA 18,66], it was after emperumAn said to avoid other dharmams, that those who surrendered to emperumAn gave up those other dharmams. For those who had received from emperumAn knowledge, based on devotion, through his mercy, instead of saying “thyaja; vraja; mA sucha:” [terms from bhagavath gIthA 18.66 where krishNa had told arjuna to give up all dharmams, take refuge only under him and not to grieve], even if he had told them “Carry out those dharmams” they would have said, as in thiruvAimozhi 5.7.1 “nORRa nOnbilEn” (I have not performed karma yOgam to attain you), as in thirumAlai 25 “oLiththittEn” (I do not have the quality of carrying out karma yOgam, to attain you) and as in sthOthra rathnam 22 “na dharma nishtOsmi” (I am not involved in practicing karma yOgam). It could be said that these celestial ladies are like those entities in this one aspect of changing themselves fully, after seeing him.
Even if emperumAn, in order to carry out the proper manner of carrying out these activities [dancing and singing] for the sake of the worlds, had told them, through neutral persons, to engage with dancing and singing, they are capable of telling him “You could carry out these through those who you wish; we have forgotten even the names of those activities”. How did these women, who had avoided such activities, re-engage with them? This happens when their karma bhAvanai [pathos of carrying out deeds] rears its head. This is required for the sake of the world. When brahma bhAvanai [pathos of engaging with the supreme entity, emperumAn] rears its head, they will say “dhAsOham” [we are your servitors], melting in their hearts. However, when karma bhAvanai rears its head, the same people will say “sOham” (I am ISvaran), with total independence.
We shall next consider the 5th pAsuram of this thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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