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periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> First Centum >> Second Decad
avathArikai (Introduction)
There is no specific avathArikai for this pAsuram.
sIdhak kadal uLLamudhanna dhEvaki
kOdhaik kuzhalAL asOdhaikkup pOththandha
pEdhaik kuzhavi pidiththuch chuvaiththu uNNum
pAdhak kamalangaL kANIrE pavaLa vAyIr vandhu kANIrE
Word-by-Word Meanings
sIdhak kadal Ul amudhu anna – like pirAtti (SrI mahAlakshmi) who was born as the inner nectar in cool ocean
dhEvaki – dhEvakip pirAtti
kOdhai – decorated with flowers
kuzhal AL – one who has locks
asOdhaikkup – to yaSOdhAp pirAtti
pOththandha – allowing [her child, krishNa] to go
pEdhaik kuzhavi – ignorant child.
pidiththu – holding (with his divine hands)
chuvaiththu – tasting
uNNum – feeding with his divine mouth
pAdhak kamalangaL – divine feet which are like lotus
kANIrE – look
pavaLa vAyIr – oh women, who have coral-like reddish mouth!
vandhu kANIrE – come (at once) and look at his divine feet.
Simple Translation
dhEvakip pirAtti, who is like SrI mahAlakshmi, who in turn is like the nectar inside the cool ocean, sent her child, krishNa, to yaSOdhAp pirAtti. That ignorant child is holding his divine feet in his divine hands and is feeding on them. yaSOdhAp pirAtti is calling out to herd-women, who have coral-like reddish lips, telling them to come and look at his divine feet which are like lotus.
vyAkhyAnam (Commentary)
sIdhak kadal uLLamudhanna dhEvaki – the ocean is cold because it is very deep. The [initial] nectar which came out of that ocean was the one which was offered to celestial entities to grant them long lives [so that they could fight with the demons and monsters for long periods of time]. The nectar which was inside that cold ocean was as mentioned in periya thirumozhi 6-1-2 “amudhil varum peNNamudhu” (SrI mahAlakshmi who was the essence of that nectar]; dhEvakip pirAtti was similar to SrI mahAlakshmi, who was the uLLamudhu [inner nectar]. SrI mahAlakshmi is one who constantly helps others by forgiving their offences and uniting them with emperumAn through her recommendatory role. dhEvakip pirAtti too was helping others by giving birth to krishNa and offering him to the world such that he would help all.
kOdhaik kuzhalAL asOdhaikkup pOththandha – yaSOdhAp pirAtti has decorated her fine locks with flowery garlands. dhEvakip pirAtti allowed krishNa to come to SrI gOkulam. pOththandha refers to allowing krishNa to go to SrI gOkulam. It is considered as a single word.
pEdhaik kuzhavi – just as it has been mentioned mercifully by kUraththAzhwAn in athimAnusha sthavam 14 “mugdha SiSu vatadhaLE Sayisa: athi thanvA thanvA jaganthi bibrushE sa vikAsamEva l iSIm imAm thu thava Sakthim atharkithavyam avyAjatha: prathyasE ki miha avathIrNa:” (You were lying on a tender banyan leaf, keeping all the worlds inside your stomach, as a little innocent child. kUraththAzhwAn is wondering as to how to explain the reason for emperumAn’s arrival here [samsAram]. Is it to prove to the world your unmatched ability and your being the reason for the creation of all the worlds?) The samskrutha term mugdha SiSu aptly explains the thamizh term pEdhaik kuzhavi [an ignorant child]. Not having the knowledge apt for its age.
pidiththuch chuvaiththuNNum – Holding [the divine foot] in his divine hands and relishing the taste [of his divine foot]. parASara bhattar has mercifully said in his SrI rangarAja sthavam uththara Sathakam 54 “vatadhaLa madhi Sayya rangadhAman! Sayitha ivArNavatharNaka: padhAbhjam l athimukhamudharE jaganthi mAthum nidhathika vaishNava bhOgyalipsayA vA ll” (SrIvaishNavas apply the divine mark of emperumAn’s divine feet on their foreheads [as thirumaN kAppu] since it is enjoyable. It appears that you wanted to ascertain whether it is indeed so and hence you have put your divine foot inside your divine mouth). SrI vishNu sUktham says “vishNO: padhE paramE madhva uthsa:” (honey is dripping from the divine foot of vishNu); thiruvAimozhi 1-5-5 says “thEnE malarum thiruppAdham” (your divine foot is blossoming with honey). emperumAn wanted to check the veracity of these verses and hence relished his divine foot with his divine mouth, acting in the way an ignorant child would act by putting its foot in its mouth. Another explanation – in an earlier pAsuram (1.1.6) it has been said “vaiyam Ezhum kaNdAL piLLai vAyuLE” (yaSOdhAp pirAtti had seen all the worlds in his divine mouth). Since he has captured the worlds and kept them imprisoned in his stomach, he had to feed the people who are inside the prison; hence, he kept his divine foot in his divine mouth.
pAdhak kamalangaL kANIrE – yaSOdhA is beseeching the herd-women to look at his divine feet which are like lotus. Reference to lotus implies the colour, coolness, softness, fragrance etc of his divine feet.
In the svApadhESam for this pAsuram, thiruvAimozhippiLLai brings out the following explanation – Just as nammAzhwAr had mentioned mercifully in thiruvAimozhi 4-6-8 “vEdham vallArgaLaik koNdu viNNOr perumAn thiruppAdham paNindhu” (surrendering to the enjoyable, divine feet of emperumAn who is worshipped by nithyasUris [permanent dwellers of SrI vaikuNtam] through the purushakAram (recommendatory role) of those who are experts in vEdham), other herd-women have to look at and enjoy the divine feet of krishNa, only when shown by yaSOdhAp pirAtti.
pavaLa vAyIr vandhu kANIrE – yaSOdhAp pirAtti is calling the attention of other herd-women who have their lips similar to coral and who were also keen to enjoy the divine features of child krishNa, just like she was, by praising them [through the term pavaLa vAyIr].
In his svApadhESam, thiruvAImozhip piLLai says the following: just as the reddish lips are covering the whitish teeth inside the mouth, devotion (which is denoted by rAga or reddish colour) is covering prapaththi (surrendering to emperumAn, which is denoted by whiteness). After surrendering to emperumAn, one should be fully devoted to emperumAn and carry out mangaLASAsanam to him [praising him] constantly, in order to carry out kainkaryam to him. The herd-women have both the devotion towards emperumAn and the quality of obedience towards yaSOdhAp pirAtti [who is like an AchAryan]. Hence, yaSOdhAp pirAtti is urging them to come and witness the divine feet of emperumAn so that they could pass through the stages of parabhakthi, paragyAnam and paramabhakthi [knowing about emperumAn, envisioning emperumAn and inability to sustain oneself in the absence of emperumAn, respectively].
We shall next consider the 2nd pAsuram of this thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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