SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavara munayE nama:
avathArikai (Introduction)
AzhwAr once again enjoys the activities of krishNa as a child and as a youth. He also enjoys other incarnations such as AlilaikkaNNan (emperumAn lying on a tender banyan leaf), SrI varAhap perumAL (wild boar) and vAmanAvathAram (vAmana, the dwarf) since they are alike krishNAvathAram in terms of playful act, simplicity and connecting with everyone, without looking at the differences amongst them.
kAyththa nIL viLangani udhirththu edhirndha pUngurundham
sAyththu mA piLandha kaiththa kaNNan enbarAl
Aychchi pAlai uNdu maNNai uNdu veNNey uNdu pin
pEchchi pAlai uNdu paNdu Or EnamAya vAmanA
Word-by-Word Meanings
kAyththa – having sprouted completely
nIL – being eminent
viLam – wood apple’s
kani – fruits
udhirththu – making them scatter
edhirndha – opposing
pUm – fully blossomed
kurundham – a type of tree
sAyththu – uprooted it
mA – kESi, a monster, who had taken the form of a horse
piLandha – tore him into two
kaiththalaththa – having hands
kaNNan enbar – the wise sages will say that he is krishNa
Aychchi – herd-woman yaSOdhA, her
pAlai – milk
uNdu – drank
veNNey uNdu – ate butter
pEchchi – pUthanA’s
pAlai – milk from her bosom
uNdu – drank
pin– at the end of kalpam
maNNai – earth
uNdu – kept in the divine stomach
paNdu – at the beginning of kalpam
Or – unique
EnamAya – incarnated as wild boar
vAmanA – (to retrieve that earth from mahAbali) oh one who incarnated as SrI vAmana!
Simple Translation
Oh one who incarnated as SrI vAmana! You scattered the fruits of the wood apple tree, which had sprouted throughout the tree. You uprooted the kurundham tree which had fully blossomed flowers. You tore the monster, kESi, who had come in the form of a horse, into two. Wise sages would say that you carried out all these activities with your divine hands. You drank milk from the herd-woman yaSOdhA, you ate butter, you drank milk from pUthanA’s bosom. At the end of kalpam, you kept the earth in your divine stomach and at the beginning of kalpam, you incarnated as a unique, wild boar.
vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
kAyththa nIL vilangani udhirththu – a demon, kapiththAsuran, had pervaded a wood apple tree which had plenty of wood apple fruits. He was waiting for kaNNan, thinking “kaNNan will come desirously to eat the fruit. I would kill him then”. Another demon, vathsAsuran, pervaded a calf and waited for kaNNan to come near him, to kill him. kaNNan grabbed vathsAsuran and threw him at kapiththAsuran, killing them both.
edhirndha pUngurundham sAyththu – even after the demon who pervaded the wood apple tree was killed, another demon pervaded a kurundham tree which had blossomed well, waiting for the time when kaNNan will come near to pluck the flowers. kaNNan uprooted the tree and destroyed the demon. In these two cases, narrative about demons who disguised themselves as friendly entities to kill kaNNan, was mentioned. Next, AzhwAr speaks about the demon who came as an enemy and was killed.
mA piLandha – kESi, the demon, came as an enemy, in the form of a horse, opening his mouth wide, threatening to swallow the town. kaNNan, very casually (with his bare hands) tore him up into two pieces, removing the danger to the town.
kaiththalaththa kaNNan enbarAl – knowledgeable sages such as vyAsar, parASarar et al will mention in ithihAsams (epics) and purANams (narratives which are old but which appear new, each time it is read) that emperumAn did not use his weapons for these amazing activities, but used his bare hands, casually.
Aychchi pAlaiyuNdu maNNaiyuNdu veNNeyuNdu pin pEychchi pAlaiyuNdu – Aychchi pAlaiyuNdu veNNeyuNdu – mercifully consuming the milk from yaSOdhaip pirAtti and butter. chAndhOgya upanishath 8-7-1 says ya “AthmA apahathapApmA vijarO vimruthyur viSOkO vijighathSO‘pipAsas sathyakAmas sathyasankalpas sOnvEshtavya:” (That AthmA who is without sins, without old age, without death, without sorrow, without hunger, without thirst, without desire unfulfilled and who has solemn vow, is apt to be searched for). Unlike this when emperumAn was without hunger, [during krishNAvathAram] it appeared as if he could not sustain himself without eating the food touched by his followers.
pEychchi pAlaiyuNdu – consuming the milk from the bosom of pUthanA, who came to kill him after taking the form of his mother, he [kaNNan] killed her. Usage of the term uNdu (consuming) indicates that just like yaSOdhA’s bosom milk, even pUthanA’s bosom milk along with her life which came with it, sustained him.
pin maNNaiyuNdu – as soon as AzhwAr enjoyed the activities of krishNa as a child, he enjoys the activity of Alilaip perumAn (emperumAn on the tender banyan leaf) another child, matching krishNa. Did not the activity of emperumAn convey that it was an innocent act of a child who did not know that if he were to swallow the entire world in his small stomach, it will not hold?
pAndOr EnamAya vAmanA – During the starting of AdhivarAha kalpam (the time when you incarnated as a wild boar), even when none had prayed to you, you incarnated as SrI varAhap perumAn, digging out earth and protecting her. Later, when that earth was seized by mahAbali, oh one who incarnated as vAmana, measured the earth and redeemed it!
Since emperumAn took the forms of varAha [a wild boar] and vAmana [a mendicant], which were totally incongruent with the form of his parathvam (the characteristic of being supreme), these two incarnations, for their sheer simplicity, match krishNAvathAram. Without any distinction between the eminent and lowly, since he connected with everyone [through his divine foot] when he measured the worlds as thrivikrama, a quality of simplicity manifested by vAmana, this avathAram matches krishNAvathAram. For these reasons, AzhwAr is enjoying these incarnations together.
We will take up the 38th pAsuram of this prabandham, next.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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