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periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> Second Centum >> First decad
avathArikai (Introduction)
thiruvAimozhip piLLai, in his svApadhESam, says that AzhwAr is saying that the mischievous person is showing appUchchi.
iruttil piRandhu pOy Ezhai vallAyar
maruttaith thavirppiththu van kanjan mALap
puratti annAL engaL pUmbattuk koNda
arattan vandhu appUchchi kAttuginRAn ammanE! appUchchi kAttuginRAn
Word-by-Word Meanings
iruttil – in pitch darkness
piRandhu – mercifully incarnated
pOy – (then) went to thiruvAyppAdi [SrI gOkulam]
Ezhai – those, having deep affection towards him
val – having strength due to attaining krishNa
Ayar – herd-folk
maruttai – words of delusion
thavirppiththu – avoiding those
van kanjan – hard-hearted kamsan
mALa – to die
puratti – seizing him by his locks and turning him over
annAL – that day when the ladies had bath in the cold river yamunA
engaL – our
pU pattu – beautiful silk dresses
koNda – one who scooped and went
arattan – mischievous person
appUchchi kAttuginRAn – is showing appUchchi
ammanE! – oh, my! He is showing appUchchi
Simple Translation
krishNa mercifully incarnated in utter darkness. In that darkness itself, he left for thiruvAyppAdi. He made the herd-folk, who were affectionate towards him, and who were strong since they had taken refuge under him, to avoid speaking words in delusion. He had pulled kamsan by his locks and turned him over such that kamsan died. During that time, when we had gone to yamunA river to have bath in its cold eater, he had stolen our beautiful, silk dresses. Such a mischievous person is showing appUchchi. Oh, my, he is showing appUchchi.
vyAkhyAnam (Commentary)
iruttil piRandhu – Just as it has been mentioned in SrI vishNu purANam 5-3-7 “ardharAthrE akhilAdhArE jAyamAnE janArdhanE” (janArdhana [krishNa], who sustains everything, incarnated in the middle of night) krishNa incarnated, without being seen by evil entities such as kamsan et al, in utter darkness, when even those nearby could not see him. kamsan, who was standing with drawn sword to harm him when he was born, wouldn’t have spared him if krishNa had been seen. dhEvakip pirAtti too said “jAnAthumAvathAranthE kamsOyam dhithijanmaja:” (This kamsan, who was born in the clan of dhithi, as a monster, not knowing about your divine incarnation…).
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that krishNa incarnated in utter darkness so that he would not be seen by kamsan who was standing with drawn sword, to kill him. Having incarnated in darkness, he could have taken his mother’s milk and slept. But, knowing the consequence if kamsan had come to know of his incarnation, he had to mercifully leave for thiruvAyppAdi, not minding the forest and darkness enroute.
pOy – leaving for thiruvAyppAdi, with dhEvakip pirAtti crying out, catching hold of vasudhEvar’s and krishNa’s feet, with the pangs of separation, in that pitch darkness, as mentioned in thiruvAimozhi 6-4-5 “vIngiruLvAy anRannai pulambappOy” (leaving for thiruvAyppAdi, during that night of expanding darkness, when dhEvakip pirAtti was crying).
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that he had to leave, as soon as he incarnated.
Ezhai vallAyar maruttaith thavirppiththu – herd-folk were deeply affectionate towards krishNa. Just as it has been said in mahAbhAratham dhrONa parvam 18-3-24 “krishNASrayA: krishNa balA:” (they took refuge under krishNa; they derived strength from krishNa), whenever herd-men, who had attained krishNa, said out of arrogance they had attained him, that they are capable of killing kamsan, krishNa would tell them “Does this require you people? I will do that myself”; he would counsel them through his distinguished plans, to avoid any indiscrete action.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that the term vallAyar [strong herd-folk] refers to their strength in ignorance [sarcasm]. While they look up to fresh water, through rains, and wooden utensils for keeping their food, they were talking among themselves, while playing with the sticks which they use for grazing cows “We are so many here; we have these sticks too in our hands. Why should we pay any tax to kamsan? Let us kill kamsan with these sticks in our hands”. Hearing this, kaNNan got up to tell them “Are all of you required for this task? Wouldn’t I myself pull him down and kill him?” Many herd-folk got up, once krishNa said these words. krishNa again told them “Do not speak like this again. Get rid of your delusion that you are capable of completing what you had told”. He told them further “Elder brother [balarAman] and I are enough for this task” and prepared to leave for SrI mathurA. akrUrar came with a chariot saying “You should mercifully come”, speaking about their relationship. When krishNa was ready to mercifully leave, the capable herd-folk, with total affection for him and all the herd-women, who were friendly with krishNa, also came in a large assembly. They despised akrUrar saying that “akrUra: krUra hrudhaya:” (akrUrar has a cruel heart [krUra in samskrutham refers to cruelty]. They blocked the chariot and told krishNa and balarAma “If you go, all of us will kill ourselves”. krishNa told them “This is not your mouth speaking these words. Is it possible for you to end your lives whenever you think of? Do not create any delusion in me by saying that you would all die”. With the help of nambi mUththa pirAn (balarAma, his elder brother), krishNa removed their delusion. Here, their friendliness is termed as maruttu. How did he prevent their delusion?
van kanjan mALap puratti – instead of letting what he had said to disappear as a mere strategy, krishNa implemented what he had said. He mercifully went to SrI mathurA, when akrUra came, having been sent by kamsan to bring krishNa there with the pretext of attending a bow festival. On the way, kamsan had arranged for killing krishNa through his elephant, kuvalayApeedam, and his chosen wrestlers. The hard-hearted kamsan had sat on a throne, at a high level, watching these, just as it has been mentioned in SrI vishNu purANam 5-20-26 “thunga manjE vyavasthitha:” (he was seated on a high-level throne). krishNa destroyed the elephant and the wrestlers initially. Then, he jumped onto the high pedestal, just as it has been said in SrI vishNu purANam 5-20-84 “kESEshvA krushya vigaLath kirItam avaneethalE sa kamsam pAthayAmAsa thasyOpari papAdhacha” (with a loud cry, that krishNa pulled the locks of kamsan such that kamsan fell on the ground with his crown and jumped on top of that kamsan), pulling kamsan by his locks, making his crown to fall down and jumped over him, as mentioned in periya thirumozhi 3-10-3 “kanjan kunji pidiththu adiththa” (one who hit kamsan by pulling him by his locks).
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that they [krishNa and balarAma] said that they will return after seeing their maternal uncle, kamsan. The ladies felt sorrowful, saying “Is that [your returning to thiruvAyppAdi] possible? If you see women in the city [of SrI mathurA] will you return to us, who are lowly, rural people?” Hoping that krishNa will take pity on them [and decide against going to mathurA] they immersed themselves deeper and deeper into their delusion. In order not to get trapped in their delusion and to rid them of their delusion, he told them “Are we princes? Is it that we are going to establish a great relationship with them? Go, look after your chores”. It was saying this way that he entered mathurA. Since they saw kamsan’s deceptions there, krishNa destroyed those also. He then jumped on to the high pedestal, where kamsan was sitting, pulled him down such that his head fell on earth. Since that hard-hearted kamsan [vankanjan, as seen in the pAsuram] did not die, he pulled him again by his hair, and hit him hard such that kamsan’s life ebbed. What then is pUmbattukkoNdu?
annAL … – the mischievous person, who took away all our beautiful silk dresses on that day when we had gone to yamunA river for having a bath, early in the morning, in its chill water. arattu – mischief; it would also refer to strength. He is showing appUchchi.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that it is only after the enemy was destroyed that AzhwAr could enjoy krishNa’s activity of stealing the herd-women’s clothes. Hence, AzhwAr speaks about that activity, after kamsan had been done with. Since AzhwAr has mercifully said “engaL pUmbattukkoNda arattan”, periyAzhwAr has joined the ranks of the herd-women and enjoys this activity. When balarAma is not around, since krishNa gets caught in certain confusions, in order to ensure that there is no controversy here, AzhwAr went to the banks of yamunA, when krishNa had stolen the dresses of herd-girls; when the girls claimed “These are ours”, krishNa said “No, they are not yours”. When they again said “These are ours”, AzhwAr joined them, saying that they are ours [“engaL pUmbattu”]; he gave back their dresses, after getting them from krishNa and put an end to the confusion. But, when AzhwAr goes in their assembly, will they not object to his presence? Even if they accept balarAman, will they accept AzhwAr? They will accept. When sage Sri vEdha vyAsa was coming their way, the girls jumped into the river; however, after he had passed them and his son, sage SrI sukhabrahma came that way, they came out of the water without any sense of shyness. That sage [SrI sukhabrahma] and AzhwAr celebrate krishNa’s activities. AzhwAr’s immersion in krishNa’s activities is not limited to sage SrI sukha brahmam’s. When describing dirt and mud on krishNa’s divine form [in pAsuram 1.9.1], AzhwAr had used certain terms such as water droplets dripping from his divine form. Not considering rules of hiding certain words, AzhwAr had openly mentioned about secretions from krishNa’s divine form [This shows how deeply involved he is in krishNa’s activities]. Hence, the girls will accept him to mediate. Alternatively, AzhwAr would have made himself as one among the herd-women and to ensure that krishNa’s heart did not get hurt, engaging with his activity, would have said engaL pUmbattu (our dress), to make krishNa happy. He too has all rights with krishNa. Just as it has been mentioned in mudhal thiruvandhAdhi 53 “senRAl kudaiyAm” (AdhiSEshan engages in all types of servitude with emperumAn, being his umbrella when emperumAn walks, etc), SrI rAmAyaNam ayOdhyA kANdam 12- “yadhA yadhA hi kausalyA” (just as kausalyA is dhaSaratha’s friend, minister etc) and sthOthra rathnam 41 “dhAsassakA” (garudan is emperumAn’s servitor, friend etc), when they had been servitors to emperumAn in whichever state they were in, periyAzhwAr too showed his affection towards krishNa in various states. arattu – mischief; strength. Through the verse “annAL avanai mALap puratti, innAL engaL pUmbattuk koNda arattan” AzhwAr treats their term “engaL” (our) as his own benefit and follows their pathos. His action is also similar to bhagavath gIthA SlOkam “sambhavAmi yugE yugE” (I make myself incarnate in every epoch to establish dharma (righteousness)…). Just as emperumAn incarnates in every epoch to establish righteousness etc, AzhwAr incarnates in all those epochs to carry out mangaLASAsanam to emperumAn. This is his dharmam.
ammAnE – Oh, my! He is showing appUchchi.
We shall next consider the 5th pAsuram of this thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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