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periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> First Centum >> Eighth Decad
avathArikai (Introduction)
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says, in his svApadhESam, that AzhwAr had told krishNa to come hurriedly in the previous pAsuram such that his dress and locks were dishevelled. In this pAsuram, he tells krishNa to come such that his divine form is not disturbed.
panjavar thUdhanAyp pAradham kai seydhu
nanju umizh nAgam kidandha naR poygai pukku
anjap paNaththin mEl pAyndhittu aruL seydha
anjana vaNNanE! achchO achchO Ayar perumAnE! achchO achchO
Word-by-Word Meanings
panjavar thUdhanAy – as the messenger of pANdavas
bAradham – in the mahAbhAratham battle
kai seydhu – providing help
nanju umizh – spitting poison
nAgam – the snake, kALiyan
kidandha – dwelling
nal poygai – in the cruel river
pukku – entered
anja – to be fearful
paNaththin mEl – on the spread hoods of that kALiyan
pAyndhittu – went and jumped (with that, kALiyan surrendered)
aruL seydha – oh, one who has a dark complexion, who showered mercy on him! You should embrace me
Ayar perumAnE! – oh, one who is the king of herd clan! You should embrace me
Simple Translation
You had gone as a messenger of pANdavas and helped them during the mahAbhAratham battle. You had jumped on to the spread hoods of snake kALiyan, who was residing in the cruel river and spitting poison, in such a manner that he surrendered to you, and you had showered your mercy on him. Oh, one who has a dark form! You should embrace me. Oh, one who is the king of the herd clan! You should embrace me.
vyAkhyAnam (Commentary)
panjavar … – after having been troubled by dhuryOdhana et al, pANdavas lost their kingdom and wealth. They did not have any support other than you [reference here is to krishNa]. Being dependent on them completely, you had gone as their messenger, to the court of dhuryOdhana et al, and tried to bring about a compromise between the two sides. When the kauravas refused to accept your proposals, you had said “If that is the case, engage in battle such that the winner gets to rule the kingdom”. Later, during the battle, you had sided with the pANdavas, conducting the battle for them, by arranging their armies in various formations.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that it was krishNa’s prayer that the pANdavas should pray to him to go to the kauravas as their messenger. It is said that parASara bhattar [son of kUraththAZhwAn] had told his disciple nanjIyar, just as it has been mentioned in periya thirumozhi 2-2-3 “munnOr thUdhu vAnaraththin vAyil mozhinzhu – avanE – innAr thUdhan ena ninRAn” (during SrI rAmAvathAram, SrI rAma had sent hanuman as his messenger to rAvaNa; the same SrI rAma, in krishNAvathAram, was ready to go as the messenger of pANdavas). krishNa went in as a mediator between pANdavas and kauravas, wondering “Could we make these people [kauravas] to accept the peace proposals?” Not finding even an iota of sympathy in their hearts, he had to help the pANdavas in the battle which ensued, by arranging the army formations etc.
nanju … – the poisonous snake, kALiyan, was dwelling in the cruel pond. Without any regard for him, you had entered the pond. The reason for calling the pond as nal poygai (good pond) is the result of contrarian indication, with the snake spitting poison in that pond.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai rearranges the verse as nal poygai pukku – kidandha – nanjumizh nAgam – anjappaNaththin mEl – pAyndhittu to get cogent meaning. It was because of the entry of kALiyan that the pond, which was earlier like nectar, became mixed with poison now.
anja … – all the friendly people such as the women of the herd clan as well as the menfolk were frightened when they heard this narrative, just as it has been mentioned in nAchchiyAr thirumozhi 4-4 “AychchimArgaLum Ayarum anjida” wondering “What will happen, now that he has entered?” Just as it has been mentioned in thiruppallANdu 10 “aindhalaiya painnAgaththalaip pAyndhavanE” (Oh, one who jumped on the spread hoods of the five-headed snake kALiyan!) you had jumped on the spread hoods of kALiyan and danced on his heads, weakening him, such that he surrendered to you, to save his life and prayed, as mentioned in SrI vishNu purANam 5-7-70 “krupA mAthra manO: vruththi prasIdha mE” (you should shower only your mercy on me, thinking of me in your divine mind). You too had showered your mercy on him after he had surrendered to you. The verse “anjap paNaththin mEl pAyndhittu” would also indicate that krishNa had jumped on to the spread heads of kALiyan such that kALiyan was scared.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that all the people in thiruvAyppAdi (SrI gOkulam) and those who saw the event were frightened for krishNa’s safety when he jumped onto the spread hoods of kALiyan. Also, AzhwAr, who was feeling knots in his stomach for an event which had happened much earlier in the past, was afraid. thiruvAimozhip piLLai says that AzhwAr thinks that kALiyan surrendering to krishNa and being showered with his mercy were due to his [AzhwAr’s] fortune
anjana vaNNanE – Oh, one whose divine form became cool and radiant, since you had protected an entity who had surrendered! You should embrace me.
Ayar perumAnE – Oh, one who has the simplicity of being the lord of herd folk, as opposed to the eminence of being the lord of nithyasUris [permanent dwellers of SrI vaikuNtam]! You should embrace me.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that krishNa is the controller of both those who were scared [when krishNa jumped on kALiyan] and those who were not scared [since they didn’t see the event] and protected them all.
We shall next consider the 4th pAsuram of this thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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