srI:
srImathE satakOpAya nama:
srImathE rAmAnujAya nama:
srImadh varavaramunayE nama:
This gOpikA is thinking that if her eyes are beautiful enough (if we have the svarUpa gyAnam (that it is He who looks after us)), then kaNNan would automatically come to her. So she is just lying in her bed. She heard the gOpikAs singing praise of chakravarthy thirumagan in the previous thirumALigai, and so decides not to keep quiet and asks the gOpikAs when they came to her door, about the rAma nAma sankIrthanam. They reply, yes we can sing about not only rAman, but also about our favorite krishNan.
புள்ளின்வாய் கீண்டானைப் பொல்லா அரக்கனைக்
கிள்ளிக் களைந்தானைக் கீர்த்திமை பாடிப்போய்ப்
பிள்ளைகள் எல்லாரும் பாவைக் களம்புக்கார்
வெள்ளி எழுந்து வியாழம் உறங்கிற்று
புள்ளும் சிலம்பினகாண் போதரிக் கண்ணினாய்
குள்ளக் குளிரக் குடைந்து நீராடாதே
பள்ளிக் கிடத்தியோ பாவாய் நீ நன்நாளால்
கள்ளம் தவிர்ந்து கலந்தேலோர் எம்பாவாய்.
puLLin vAi kINdAnai pollA arakkanai
kiLLik kaLaindhAnai kIrthimai pAdippOi
piLLaigaL ellArum pAvaikkaLam pukkAr
veLLi ezhundhu vyAzham uRangiRRu
puLLum silambina kAN pOdharik kaNNinAi!
kuLLak kuLiRa kudaindhu nIrAdAdhE
paLLik kidaththiyO pAvAi nI nannALAl
kaLLam thavirndhu kalandhElOrempAvAi
Word by Word Meaning
puLLin vAi kIndAnai – (empirAn who) tore and threw away the mouth of bakAsuran who came in the form of a bird,
pollA arakkanaik kiLLik kaLaindhAnai – who very easily/casually destroyed rAvaNan who was bad deeds personified,
kIrthimai pAdip pOi – (we) go while singing of (such empirAn’s) brave deeds;
piLLaigaL ellArum – all the gOpikAs
pukkAr – entered
pAvaikkaLam – (to) the place marked by krishNan and us for nOnbu;
veLLi ezhundhu – sukran has risen, and
vyAzham uRangiRRu – guru has set
puLLum silambina kAN – (and) birds are spreading out (to look for prey);
nI – you,
pOdhu arik kaNNinAi – with the eyes like flower and deer,
pAvAi – (and) naturally having women’s greatness,
nal nAL – (we are going to be together with krishNan) in this good day,
kaLLam thavirndhu – (so) avoid the ill will (of being alone with krishNan)
kalandhu – (and) join (us);
kuLLa kuLira kudaindhu nIrAdAdhE – (you,) without taking bath well in the cold water (enjoying krishNan)
paLLik kidaththiyO – sleeping in the bed (instead)?
Al – surprised (that we got such a good day)!
Simple Translation
puLLin vAi kINdAnai
perumAn who killed the bird that was bakAsuran
For people who have surrendered to Him, He helps them get rid of their kAmam (lust) and other dhOshams (ills) which come as hindrance to kainkaryam.
pollA arakkanai
Like the arakkan (rAkshasa) who separated pirAtti from perumAn; he is a bad arakkan, unlike the good one like vibhIshaNan. Because he is so bad, they do not want to say his name in the pAsuram; thirumangai mannan also said ‘mun poLa irAvaNan’ to say that his main defect is his pollAngu (bad deeds).
Our ahankAram;
kiLLik kaLaindhAnai
Like how we snatch out the leaves affected by insects and leave the good ones in the tree, perumAn saved vibIshanAzhvAn and snatched the head of pOllA arakkans like rAvaNan.
pollA arakkanai (does not destroy the Good aspect of ahankAram, which is – when ‘aham’ (I), and ‘mama’ (mine) make us think that Isvaran and His belongings are liked by us; srIvaishNavas living with the realization that being subservient to perumAn is their nature. perumAn would help us keep this good thing.
pollA – Bad, ahankAram – feeling of an independence from perumAn, feeling that we can decide about something on our own without considering what the scriptures say – He helps us by snatching away only such bad aspects without affecting the good aspects.
kIrthimai – greatness due to valor;
Enemies, and others who supported them, lost themselves to perumAn – rAvaNan for perumAL’s valor, his sister melted for His beauty, and his brother became the target of His kindness/greatness.
So it goes without saying that we His adiyArs would fall flat on His lotus feet.
pAdip pOi
Thing to do while on our way to go to Him is to sing His names; they won’t go if they don’t sing; singing itself is their goal; mukthan would be taking puNdarIkAkshan’s divine names as the journey-food (food that is packed along for consumption during the journey), while going to paramapadham.
piLLaigaL ellArum
even those little gOpikAs whom we have to wake up have already woken up and are on their way for the nOnbu
pAvaik kaLam pukkAr
to the place where we and krishNan have marked to meet for doing nOnbu.
(bhAgavathas woke up early and went to the place of kAlakshEpam).
“Is it dawn already for them to be going now?”
veLLi ezhundhu viyAzham uRangiRRu
sukran (veLLi) has risen in the sky, and the bruhaspathi (vyAzham) is set.
(agyAnam fell and gyAnam about perumAn rose)
“Any star you see, you would think it is veLLi rising and vyAzham setting”, (because you are always thinking of a reason to start going for the nOnbu)
They reply, “not only that sign, …”
puLLum silmabina, kAN
All the birds too – they have not only woken up, but are also making noise as they have started going to find their food.
(remaining bhAgavathas have also gotten ready and gone to kAlakshEpam)
pOdhari kaNNinAi
O, gOpikA, whose eyes are like a flower (podhu: flower)
and like those of a deer (ari -> deer);
Or, like how a bee inside the center of a flower would look like. ( ari -> bee)
Or, your eyes are winning the competition against flowers on beauty.
We want krishNan to go deep in to the water that is the beauty of your eyes, and seeing that, we want to go deep in to the water that is kaNNan’s beauty and your being with him (உமிழ் நீர் உண்ணல்). (bhAgavatha sambandham);
The gOpikA inside is a deer with beautiful long eyes; krishNan is aravindhalOchanan (lotus eyes) who owns the whole world; and we are the target of both your eyes.
(O the bhAgavathA who has the gyAnam and bhakthi to perumAn)
==> AzhvAr – In this pAsuram, ANdAL is referring to thiruppANAzhvAr by saying ‘pOdharik kaNNinAi‘. He sang so much about perumAn‘s eyes in his only prabandham of amalanAdhipirAn: ‘adiyArkku ennai At paduththa vimalan‘, ‘en kaNNin uLLana‘, ‘koNdal vaNNanai kOvalanAi … en amudhinaikkaNda kaNgaL‘… so ANdAL is calling him ‘pOdharikkaNNinAi’. He sang ‘chathura mAmadhiL sUzh ilangaikku iRaivan thalai paththu udhira Otti Or vengaNai uyththavan‘, and ANdAL is saying here, ‘pOllA arakkanai kiLLi-k kaLaindhAnai‘.
kuLLakkuLira
before the sun rises and water becomes warm
kudaindhu nIrAdAdhE
without bathing to reduce our thApam for not being able to see kaNNan, and making sure we will never miss Him, and that we would go and enjoy His anubhavam, you are still sleeping;
(without entering the place of kAlakshEpam and enjoyng bhagavath anubhavam along with other bhAgavathas)
paLLik kidaththiyO
you are lying down in the bed – you are just enjoying the fragrance of the bed that had been touched by krishNan’s thirumEni (divine form), instead of going to krishNan – this is like collecting and eating a few grains when there is so much of them available grown in the paddies.
(doing bhagavath anubhavam staying alone?)
pAvAi nI
you are not of the nature to be alone, (you always want to join the other bhAgavathas and perumAn for kainkaryam).
nan nALAl
The future from today are good days, unlike the rAvaNan days where there was separation; we don’t know what the elders will say after this month – we got a good month to be with krishNan, but you are smelling the bed lying down;
aithIhyam -> for vaikunta EkAdhasi, parAsara bhattar’s thiruththAyAr (mother) ANdAL had done upavAsam (fasting), and next day she asked bhattar for thIrtham; since vaikunta EkAdhasi comes during the great days of pagal paththu and rAppaththu uthsavams, bhattar asked his mother, ‘why did you choose this EkAdhasi for doing fasting?’ (this means, when one needs strength to enjoy the uthsavams, this EkAdhasi is coming in between the uthsavams; or it means, when during uthsavam we should be thinking of emperumAn all the time, where was the time to think of food and do upavAsam to avoid the food? [explanation is taken from Sri u.vE. vEnkatakrishNan swami’s “vAzhvum vAkkum”, item 88.]
kaLLam thavirndhu kalandhu
kaLLam – enjoying alone, thinking about krishNan’s mischief
thavirndhu – do not do KaLLam,
kalandhu – come and join us
Not showing us your face is like stealing (kaLLam) the jIvAthmA from paramAthmA.
Cannot tolerate the feeling of svAthanthryam (feeling that we are independent of perumAn and can decide right or wrong about things without considering what He has given in vEdhas).
(read also as: kalandhu kuLLakkuLira nIrAdAdhE paLLikkidaththiyO?)
In this pAsuram ANdAL is waking up a gOpikA who has got beautiful eyes (gyAnam), to sing about the great deeds of krishNan, and calling her to go and bathe in cold water to reduce their angst of missing krishNan (join with krishNan), asking her to join quickly. bhAgavathas go to kAlakshEpams early and quickly to gain gyAnam, and get anubhavam.
English translation raghurAm srInivAsa dhAsan
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