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periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> Second Centum >> First decad
avathArikai (Introduction)
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says, in his svApadhESam, that one, who is the protector of all, is showing appUchchi.
seppiLa menmulaith thEvaki nangaikku
soppadath thOnRIth thoRUppAdiyOm vaiththa
thuppamum pAlum thayirum vizhungiya
appan vandhu appUchchi kAttuginRAn ammanE! appUchchi kAttuginRAn
Word-by-Word Meanings
seppu – having the appearance of copper
iLa – youthful
mel – soft
mulai – having bosoms
dhEvaki nangaikku – for dhEvaki who is complete with Athma guNas [qualities of soul suchas being subservient to emperumAn, being dependent on him etc]
soppada – very well
thOnRi – shining
thoRuppAdiyOm – we, who are in thiruvAyppAdi
vaiththa – saved and kept
thuppamum – ghee
pAlum – along with milk
thayirum – and curd too
vizhungiya – one who mercifully consumed
appan – krishNa, who is our benefactor, is showing appUchchi
ammanE! – Oh, my! He is showing appUchchi
Simple Translation
dhEvakip pirAtti has her bosoms which are having the appearance of copper, and which are youthful and tender. Instead of taking milk from that dhEvaki, who is complete with the Athma guNas, krishNa is consuming ghee, milk and curd, which we have saved and kept safely in thiruvAyppAdi. Such krishNa is showing appUchchi. Oh, my! He is showing appUchchi
vyAkhyAnam (Commentary)
seppu …– dhEvakip pirAtti, who was complete with noble qualities, had her bosoms with the appearance of copper, being soft and tender. The purpose of describing now bosoms is – these are the bosoms which krishNa should have suckled on; however, due to fear of kamsan, she had to allow him to go to another place.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that the reason for describing her bosoms here is because they were the ones from which he had mercifully taken milk. The reason for using the metaphor seppu is because, with aged bosoms, the milk will not have strength and, sustenance for the infant will be an issue; hence, he calls them as youthful bosoms. When krishNa holds on to the bosoms while taking in milk, since they would melt in his hands, AzhwAr calls them as tender.
nangai – dhEvakip pirAtti had the qualities of knowing the events which would unfold, having the affection with which she could see the situation of her just-born son, letting others to enjoy and nurture themselves [reference to people in thiruvAyppAdi – SrI gOkulam] etc.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here, for the term dhEvaki nangaikku – even though she had missed out on suckling krishNa, as mentioned in perumAL thirumozhi 7-7 “ozhugu pErezhil” (bosoms which have beauty, but from which you had not consumed milk), just as it has been said in perumAL thirumozhi 7-5 “ellAm dheyva nangai yasOdhai peRRALE” (yaSOdhAp pirAtti, the celestial mother, had the fortune of experiencing all the joys of nurturing you), since she considered the benefit which yaSOdhAp pirAtti had obtained by nurturing krishNa as her own, AzhwAr refers to dhEvakip pirAtti as nangai – one who is complete with all the auspicious qualities of soul. When krishNa incarnated, he came with his four shoulders, along with the divine weapons, displaying his total supremacy. Looking at his divine form, dhEvakip pirAtti told him “Oh, my lord! We are residing under the shadow of kamsan’s turret. He is one, who would not tolerate even words such as sages, celestial entities etc. If he sees you like this, he will not leave you. After killing six and losing the seventh, he has been waiting, wondering ‘When will the eighth child arrive?’ Please hide this divine form; Take the form of a normal child, don’t stay anywhere around me and hide in some place, in some manner”. Since she prayed this way and hid his incarnation, AzhwAr considers these as benefits for him, enjoins her with him as a mangaLASAsanaparars [one wishing well for emperumAn] and refers to her as nangai, one who is complete in auspicious qualities of the soul.
soppadath thOnRi – incarnating well. In other words, when she had carried out penance in order to give birth to the lord of all, just as it has been mentioned in SrI vishNu purANam5-3-10 “jAthOsi dhEva dhEvESa SankhachakragadhAdhara” (being the controller of nithyasUris, you incarnated with your divine weapons of conch, disc, mace etc) you incarnated with the symbols which explicitly mention that you are the lord of all. You had fulfilled dhEvakip pirAtti’s wish, as mentioned in SrI vishNu purANam 5-3-14 “sapalam dhEvi sanjAtham jAthOham yath thavOdharAth” (Oh dhEvaki! The reason for which I had incarnated through your stomach…). Instead of saying “being born” the reason for saying “incarnated” is to be in line with the SrI vishNu purANam SlOkam 5-3-2 “dhEvakI pUrvasandhyAyAm AvirbhUtham” (rising from the eastern direction, which is dhEvaki) [just as sun rises from the eastern direction, emperumAn rose from dhEvaki’s stomach], without the fault of having stayed inside a womb. This is also congruent with mahAbhAratham sabhA parvam 62-35 “naisha garbhathva mApEdhE nayOnyAm avasathprabhu:” (this krishNa did not have the quality of staying in a womb; he did not stay in any other womb too).
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here: soppada – very well. Incarnating, without any shortcoming in his qualities of either eminence or simplicity. Just as it has been mentioned in thiruvAimozhi 3-5-5 “Adhi am sOdhi uruvai” (incarnating here with the same effulgent, primordial form which he has in SrI vaikuNtam), he hid that divine form in order to fulfil the words of his mother [dhEvakip pirAtti].
thoRuppAdiyOm – thoRu – cow; thoRuvar – herd-folk; thoRuppAdiyOm – we, who reside in AyppAdi.
vaiththa – saved and kept
thuppam … – thuppam – ghee. One who consumed ghee, milk, curd etc. After mentioning the materials, since AzhwAr had used the term vizhungiya (swallowed), the terms thuppam and pAl (milk) refer to ghee which had solidified and milk, which had been concentrated, respectively. Alternatively, the term vizhungiya could refer to consuming, based on the qualities of the materials consumed.
appan – one who is the benefactor. It refers to one who consumed all these materials and created a benefit for us [that he had consumed them].
vandhu appUchchi kAttuginRAn – such krishNa coming and showing appUchchi. Oh, my! He is showing appUchchi.
We shall next consider the 7th pAsuram of this thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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