SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavara munayE nama:
Full series >> Fourteenth decad
avathArikai (Introduction) – nithyasUris [permanent dwellers of SrIvaikuNtam] are like aged ministers, as mentioned in thiruviruththam 2 “viNNAttavar mUdhuvar” (nithyasUris came ahead of all others); they made paramapadha nAthan [emperumAn] as the prince of SrIvaikuNam as mentioned in periyAzhwAr thirumozhi 3-6-3 “vAniLavarasu” (prince for SrivaikuNtam). Being obedient to them, when they were performing divine bath for him, as mentioned in thiruviruththam 21 “sUttu nanmAlaigaL thUyavEndhi” (holding distinguished garlands in order to adorn them on his divine crown as ornaments) appropriate to their SEshathva svarUpam (basic nature of being servitors), he heard that in thiruvAyppAdi “Butter is available in plenty in every house” and that “nappinnaip pirAtti has reached youthful stage”. Not satisfied with being in parama padham, he incarnated as kaNNan in this vibhUthi (samsAram, the materialistic realm) and roamed around in SrI brindhAvanam, just as he liked, as a bull. This pAsuram describes that.
patti mEyndhOr kArERu baladhEvaRkOr kIzhkkanRAy
ittIRittu viLaiyadi ingE pOdhak kaNdIrE
ittamAna pasukkaLai inidhu maRiththu nIr Utti
vittukkoNdu viLaiyAda virundhAvanaththE kaNdOmE
Word-by-Word Meanings
Or kAr ERu – a dark bull (kaNNa pirAn)
patti mEyndhu – roaming as [he] liked, without restraint
baladhEvaRku – for balarAma
Or kIzh kanRu Ay – as a unique younger brother
ittIRittu – crying out loudly as an outlet for his happiness
viLaiyAdi – playing
ingE pOdha – to come here
kaNdIrE – did you see?
ittam Ana – ones he liked
pasukkaLai – cattle
inidhu – sweetly
maRiththu – calling out their names
nIr utti – making them drink water
vittuk koNdu – grazing them (like this)
viLaiyAda – (that emperumAn) as he played
virundhAvanaththE – in brindhAvanam
kaNdOm – we saw
Simple Translation
Did you see kaNNa pirAn, who was like a dark bull, roaming around here without any restriction, as a unique younger brother of balarAma, crying out loudly as an outlet for his happiness and playing here? We saw that emperumAn, coming here with the cattle which he liked, calling out their names, making them drink water, grazing them like this, in SrI brindhAvanam.
vyAkyAnam (Commentary)
patti mEyndhOr kArERu – when he was in parama padham, emperumAn was like a bull on a leash. After incarnating as kaNNan and reaching thiruvAyppAdi, he was like a bull, roaming as he pleased, shining with a dark complexion. Just as periyAzhwAr had mercifully called him as vAniLavarasu (prince of parama padham), he was “nurtured on the lap of thiruvananthAzhwAn (AdhiSEshan), under the cane of sEnai mudhaliyAr (vishvaksEnar) and under the wings of periya thiruvadi (garudan)”, bhattar would often say. Thus, in parama padham he was a bound bull. Here, after incarnating as kaNNan, like an elephant which had entered sugarcane fields, he was indulging in mischiefs, roaming around freely. Unlike parama padham where no activity could be conducted against one’s svarUpam (basic nature), in this thiruvAyppAdi, everywhere people were saying “Butter has been stolen by kaNNan”, ”Girls have been abducted by kaNNan”. He was roaming, destroying all boundaries. ANdAL refers to this as patti mEyndhu.
Or kArERu – Sine he was roaming as he desired, he was like a unique dark bull, which was roaming arrogantly. Perhaps, in SrI vaikuNtam, he was pale in colour!
baladhEvaRkOr kIzhkkanRAy – as the younger brother of balarAma, he was controlled by his elder brother. Though he had incarnated in thiruvAyppAdi to roam around as he pleased, since he was nurtured as a prince in SrI vaikuNtam by AdhiSEshan who kept him in his lap, here too he was under the control of balarAma, the reincarnation of AdhiSEshan. kaNNan, who used to carry out mischiefs towards girls, was obedient to balarAma. Moreover, when cowherd girls, who were dear to him, did not talk to him due to love-quarrel, since this balarAma himself was like a mediator between them, he was obedient to balarAma.
In SrI rAmAvathAram, when perumAL and pirAtti were sleeping in the forest, lakshmaNa was awake, with bow and arrow in his hand, protecting them. Just as it has been said in SrI rAmAyaNam bAlakANdam 1-31 “ramyamAvasatham kruthvA ramamANA vanE thraya: l dhEva gandharva sankASAs thathra thE nyavasan sukham” (Those three (SrI rAma, sIthAp pirAtti and lakshmaNa) who were like dhEvas and gandharvas [celestial entities] and who were happily roaming in the forest, were living comfortably in a hermitage) lakshmaNa too had a part when SrI rAma and sIthAp pirAtti were happily together by nurturing their happiness. Similar to that, this balarAma too, when the girls were hurt due to kaNNan’s mischiefs, as mentioned in SrI vishNu purANam 5-24-20 “sandhESais sAma madhurai: prEma gharbhair agarvithai: l rAmENASvAsithA gOpyO hariNA hruthachEthasa ll” (cowherd girls, who had their hearts stolen by hari [krishNa], were consoled by information which was sweet with grace, full of affection and without any arrogance), through his sweet words, would remove their hurt, and unite them with kaNNan. Hence, kaNNan was obedient towards balarAma. Though kaNNan used to act as per balarAma’s thoughts, since he was the SEshi (lord) and balarAma was his Seshan (servitor), he would also control balarAma, on occasions. Hasn’t periyAzhwAr too mercifully said in periyAzhwAr thirumozhi 1-7-5 “baladhEvan ennum thannambiyOdap pin kUdhach chelvAn” (as his elder brother balarAma ran in the front, kaNNan would go behind him), indicating that kaNNan was obedient to balarAma? For balarAman too, was it not a habit to ensure that kaNNan did not get into any dangerous situation? On a day when balarAman was not with him, did not kaNNan jump into the mouth of [the poisonous snake] kALiyan?
ittIRittu – carrying out activities such as shouting, which demonstrated his arrogance. When a badhdha chEthanan (an entity who is bound to this samsAram) gets liberated from this and attains parama padham as a mukthan [liberated entity], manifesting his happiness of enjoying emperumAn, he would say as said in thaiththirIya upanishath bhruguvalli 10-6 “Ethath sAma gAyannAsthE l hA vuhA vuhA vu l ahamannam ahamannam ahamannam l ahamannAdhO’hamannAdhO’ham annAdha: ll” (mukthAthmA (after attaining the supreme being) would sing the following sAma – hA vuhA vuhA vu; I am food (to the supreme being). This is repeated twice; I eat the food (of the happiness of that supreme entity); this too is repeated twice). Just as the mukthan manifests his happiness through singing sAma vEdham, since emperumAn comes here incarnating himself and interacts with the entities here by manifesting his simplicity and easy approachability, he emits loud cries, indulging in such activities. In the first line of the pAsuram, the term kArERu refers to his activities in line with the clan he was born in. Thus, there is no repetition of verse in this. siRiyAththAn, one of the disciples of kUraththAzhwAn would say – The supreme entity with such great eminence, as mentioned in chAndhOgya upanishath 3-14-2 “avAkyanAdhara:” (paramAthmA, due to his majesty, does not speak to any one; he does not support anyone), transforms himself to one who is spoken of as indulging in activities such as ittIRittu viLaiyAdum!
viLaiyAdi – this speaks about the activities mentioned earlier, manifesting his arrogance. Isn’t playing like this, the purpose of taking an incarnation!
ingE pOdhak kaNdIrE – are there people here who have seen the activities of such kaNNan, which cannot be seen even if one goes to parama padham? Until now, it has been the pAsuram of those who were asking.
Now, the second half is the pAsuram of those who are responding. This feature will be seen in all the pAsurams of this decad.
ittamAna pasukkaLai – aren’t girls dear to him! What is the reason for saying cows are dear to him, here? Those who are in the youthful stage, more than their beloveds, will be affectionate towards those who unite them with their beloveds. kaNNan too would desire the cows, more than the cowherd girls. Just as it has been said in thiruvAimozhi 6-2-2 “AgaL pOgavittu kuzhaLUdhu pOyirundhE” (driving the cows far away, going there and playing the flute, as if to call them back), kaNNan will drive the cows to where his beloveds were present and would go there and play the flute as if calling them back, while in reality he would invite his beloveds. Thus, the cows are not only mediators between kaNNan and his beloveds; when kaNNan returns home late, after playing with the cowherd girls, when his parents ask him the reason for returning late, he would say that “Cows had gone over a long distance; I had to go after them, call them back and return” thus providing an alibi for his late arrival. Hence, the cows are dear to him.
ittamAna pasukkaLai – isn’t he one who desires to graze the cows more than being in paramapadham, as mentioned in thiruvAimozhi 10-3-10 “thivaththilum pasunirai mEyppuvaththi senganaivAy engaL Ayar dhEvE” (Oh, enjoyable lord for the herd-people, who has beautiful lips which are like reddish fruit! You desire tending to cows more than remaining in parama padham)! Even when he is in parama padham, it is only the cows which he had tended to in krishNAvathAram that he would keep murmuring about and dream of the places where he had tended to them!
inidhu maRiththu – calling them sweetly, mentioning their names. When a person and his beloved are speaking to each other, if they call each other by their name, it would be sweet to the one who has been called. In the same manner, when the cows are being grazed, if they are called out by their names, they will feel sweet. When there are thousands of cows, could each of them be called by different names? For one who has given nAma rUpa vyAkaraNam (giving distinct name and form) at the time of creation for countless chEthanas in leelA vibhUthi, this is not at all difficult.
nIrUtti – if they [calves] feel thirsty and want water, he will lead them to a shallow water body; since they can only drink with their mouth, he will fold his hands behind him, bend down and drink water with his mouth, teaching them the way to drink. Then, they too will drink similarly. Hasn’t thirumangai AzhwAr too said in periya thirumozhi 2-5-3 “thadam parugu karu mugil” that when he drinks water from the pond, it will be like a dark cloud drinking water from the pond? bhagavath gIthA 3-21 says “yadh yadhAcharathi SrEshtas thath thadEvEtharO jana: l sa yath pramANam kuruthE lOkas thadhanuvarthathE ll” (whichever deeds a knowledgeable person follows, other people (who do not have knowledge) too follow the same deeds. The extent to which that knowledgeable person observes those deeds is also followed by the world). As mentioned in this gIthA SlOkam, for drinking water, kaNNan follows the mode which is followed by the cattle. Calves, which do not know as to how to drink water, could be taught only in this manner and not by any other way. Just as thirumangai AzhwAr had mercifully said in thirunedundhANdagam 16 “kanRu mEyththu inidhugandha kALAy ” he was very keen on tending to calves which do not know how to drink even water.
vittukkoNdu viLaiyAda – Is it possible to play with cattle when they are grazing? When he was in parama padham, since he did not get what he desired, without looking at his eminence [when he came down to leelA vibhUthi as kaNNan], not tending to his divine locks, not washing his divine dress cleanly, he would roam around as he liked. After the cattle have grazed and drunk water, there is nothing for him to do. At that stage, is there anything other than playing with them! The benefit of his incarnation too is this playful activity only.
virundhAvanaththE kaNdOmE – Since this could not be seen in thiruvAyppAdi too, even this would look like as if it had been carried out in parama padham. Isn’t the experience which he had in SrI brindhAvanam similar to the experience of eminent kings who would go with their dear consorts to exclusive places for their enjoyment!
Next, we will consider the 2nd pAsuram of this decad.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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