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periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> Second Centum >> Fourth decad
avathArikai (Introduction)
There is no specific avathArikai for this pAsuram.
veNNey aLaindha kuNungum viLaiyAdu puzhudhiyum koNdu
thiNNena ivvirA unnaith thEyththuk kidakka nAn ottEn
eNNeyp puLippazham koNdu ingu eththanai pOdhum irundhEn
naNNal ariya pirAnE! nAraNA! nIrAda vArAy
Word-by-Word Meanings
veNNey aLaindha – resulting from wallowing in butter
kuNungum – peculiar smell of butter
viLaiyAdu – resulting from playing
puzhudhiyum – dirt too
koNdu – carrying these
ivvirA – tonight
unnai – you
thEyththu – rubbing your body on the mattress, due to itching
kidakka – to remain
nAn – I, who am affectionate in matters related to you
thiNNena – certainly
ottEn – will not agree
eNNey – protective oil (to apply on your body)
puLip pazham – protective tamarind, to remove that oil
koNdu – taking in the hand
ingu – in this place
eththanai pOdhum – for a long time
irundhEn – I have been standing
naNNal ariya – difficult to approach for anyone, with one’s effort
pirAnE! – oh, one who is the benefactor!
nAraNA! – oh, nArAyaNa!
nIr Ada – to mercifully carry out bath
vArAy – you should mercifully come
Simple Translation
I will not certainly agree to your sleeping on the mattress tonight, rubbing your body on it, to remove the itching resulting from wallowing in butter, carrying its peculiar smell, and having dirt on your body, resulting from playing in it. I have been standing here for a long time, carrying oil, to apply on your body to remove that smell and dirt, and tamarind, to remove that oil. Oh, one who is difficult to attain by those with their efforts! Oh, one who is the benefactor! Oh, nArAyaNa! You should mercifully come to carry out your bath.
vyAkhyAnam (Commentary)
veNNey aLaindha kuNungum – while eating butter, due to his desire, just as it has been mentioned in siRiya thirumadal “thArAr thadandhOLgaL uLLaLavum kai nItti” (extending his hand such that the shoulders, with the garland on them, would touch the rim of the vessel containing butter), due to his childish ignorance, thinking that his stomach would get filled up till the level to which his hand would go inside the pot containing butter, krishNa put out his divine hand into the pot containing butter fully. This is also similar to perumAL thirumozhi 7-8 pAsuram “muzhudhum veNNey aLaindhu” (wallowing in butter with his divine hand, reaching till the bottom of the pot).
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says, in his svApadhESam, that the terms veNNey and puzhudhi refer to mumukshus [those who are desirous of getting liberated from samsAram (materialistic realm) and in attaining mOksham (spiritualistic realm)] and samsAris [those who are happy, residing in samsAram forever] respectively; if that is so, can they be got rid of? [in the pAsuram, yaSOdhAp pirAtti tells krishNa that he should have a bath to get rid of veNNey and puzhudhi]. thiruvAimozhip piLLai says that mumukshus are those who have rejected any desire in ahankAram [mistaking the physical body for AthmA and ensuring that the body’s desires are always met] and in mamakAram [possessiveness; considering consort, children, relatives, wealth and so on as one’s own and not belonging to emperumAn] which come about while in samsAram. They reject desire in kaivalyam too [AthmA, after getting liberated from samsAram, crosses vrajA river and enjoys itself, instead of carrying out servitude to emperumAn]. This term [mumukshus] refers to those who are deeply engaged with prapaththi [surrendering themselves to emperumAn] and with bhakthi [choosing the path of devotion to attain emperumAn], even though the divine abodes of emperumAn [dhivyadhESams] are present here. They consider emperumAn and bhAgavathas, the followers of emperumAn, as their possession. He further says that samsAris are those who take a pledge to enjoy all the pleasures in samsAram, and being pArathanthryars [those who are totally dedicated to such pleasures] they are servitors of indhriyam [sensory organs], saying that this is mine, this is me. Just as it has been mentioned in thiruvAimozhi 1-4-5 “pozhilEzhum thAn nalgik kAththaLikkum nAraNan” (emperumAn, on his own, due to his exclusive relationship with everyone, protects everyone and fulfils their desires in all the worlds), emperumAn fulfils the desires of all, irrespective of whether they are mumukshus or samsAris. emperumAn desires samsAris more than mumukshus [since it is tougher to correct them and make them engage with him]. When such is the case, is it correct to say that veNNey and puzhudhi [viz. mumukshus and samsAris] should be removed under the pretext of having a bath? thiruvAimozhip piLLai answers this himself saying that for periyAzhwAr [who has composed this pAsuram], anyone who is not interested in praising emperumAn through the path of mangaLASAsanam is apt to be removed. While AzhwAr runs after krishNa to make him take a bath in order to get rid of the smell of butter and all the dirt from his divine form, krishNa tries to escape.
viLaiyAdu puzhudhiyum – further, playing in dirt such that dirt also got stuck to butter on his divine form.
koNdu – with the peculiar smell of butter due to putting his divine hand in the pot containing butter and dirt which came about due to playing with dirt.
thiNNena – surely.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that thiNNam refers to AzhwAr’s pledge that without giving krishNa a bath, in order to remove butter and dirt from his divine form, he will not remain quiet. It is also telling krishNa “Why are you so certain that you will not have a bath? We should carry out what I have decided to do. I will get this done soon”. Unless your body is rubbed well, the itching will not stop. Unless itching stops, you will not be able sleep well. Hence, AzhwAr tells krishNa “Unless I rub these off your form, I will not remain quiet”
ivvirA … – I will not allow you to lie down in your bed, tonight, and to rub your divine form on the mattress due to itching.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that the term ivvirA refers to samsAram [irA refers to darkness; samsAram always creates ignorance in us; hence, irA is samsAram]. For both the person who does not have any taste in it and for the person who has taste in it, it is only samsAram which creates ignorance. emperumAn gives commonly to both, without any distinction. Could AzhwAr fight with emperumAn like this [compelling him to have a bath] and serve him? Yes, he could, since it is good for krishNa [to have a bath] and it is expected to be done.
thiNNena – ottEn – Certainly, I will not allow you, like this. I will surely give you a bath.
When krishNa asked her “Have you brought all the materials required to give me a bath?” she says…
eNNey …– I have brought oil which needs to be applied first on your divine form and also tamarind, to later remove the residual oil from your form. Have I not been waiting here for a long time?
naNNal ariya pirAnE – Oh, one who is the benefactor, who is not attainable for anyone with one’s own efforts!
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that AzhwAr tells krishNa that he is a great benefactor since despite AzhwAr calling him several times to come for a bath, krishNa is not coming [he will come on his own and not because he has been called]. He tells krishNa that he should not have this much of independence.
nAraNA – This divine name is universally known for both his eminence and his simplicity [eminence comes out of emperumAn being the abode for all the other entities, both chith (those with thinking ability) and achith (those without thinking ability), while simplicity comes out of emperumAn residing inside all entities, both chith and achith]. For yaSOdhAp pirAtti, the target now is in his quality of simplicity.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that krishNa’s manifestation of svAthanthryam (being totally independent) is his most common quality. AzhwAr hints that being obedient to his followers is a distinguishing feature in emperumAn.
nIrAda vArAy – Even though I had told you that I will not allow you [to go to bed like this, with butter and dirt on your divine form] out of my affection for you, there is no use for all these materials which I have gathered for your divine bath. They will have a use only if you come. Hence, you should come for your bath,
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says at the end that eNNey is prakruthi dharSanam (seeing the nature of prakruthi, the primordial matter which is composed of the five sensory features and three qualities of sathva, rajas and thamas) and puLi is dhEha dharSanam (seeing the nature of body which keeps changing constantly). It is only through seeing the nature of prakruthi and dhEham that the dirt [of samsAram] will get removed.
We shall next consider the 2nd pAsuram of this thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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