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periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> Second Centum >> Fourth decad
avathArikai (Introduction)
Despite yaSOdhAp pirAtti calling him, instead of responding to that, krishNa was engaging with the playful activity of dropping large, black ants into the ears of calves to see them running helter-skelter, in fear.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says, in his svApadhESam, that AzhwAr tells krishNa that even if he doesn’t come when AzhwAr calls him out, he should come for his bath, at the least, on his birthday.
kanRugaL Odach cheviyil katteRumbu pidiththittAl
thenRik kedum Agil veNNey thiratti vizhungumA kANban
ninRa marAmaram sAyththAy! nI piRandha thiruvONam
inRu nI nIrAdavENdum empirAn! OdAdhE vArAy
Word-by-Word Meanings
kanRugaL – calves
Oda – to run in fear
seviyil – in their ears
katteRumbu – large, black ant
pidiththu ittAl – if you drop
thenRi – helter-skelter, such that one [calf] does not go in the same direction as the other
kedum Agil – if they run (then, you)
veNNey thiratti – scooping up butter
vizhungum A – the way in which you swallow
kANban – I will see (the meaning hinted is: I will not see, since the cows will not give milk if
calves do not return to them and if there is no milk, there will be no butter too)]
ninRa – standing close to one another
marAmaram – seven ebony trees
sAyththAy! – oh, one who snapped and felled!
inRu – this day
nI piRandha – the day that you incarnated
thiru Onam – it is the SravaNa nakshathram (Hence)
nI nIr Ada vENdum – you should mercifully undertake a bath
em pirAn! – oh, my lord
OdAdhE – without running (deceiving me)
vArAy – you should mercifully come
Simple Translation
If you drop large black ants into the ears of calves, they will run helter-skelter in fear. Without calves, the cows won’t give milk and you will not be able to scoop and consume butter. Oh, one who snapped and felled seven ebony trees which were standing close to each other! Today is thiruvONam star, your birthday. You should mercifully have a bath. Oh, one who is my lord! Do not run. You should mercifully come for your bath.
vyAkhyAnam (Commentary)
kanRu … – if you drop large, black ants into the ears of calves such that the ants bite them hard to make it painful for them…
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that AzhwAr tells krishNa: while there are a thousand herd-boys like you, instead of playing with them, would you play with calves?
thenRi … – if they run helter-skelter, out of fear, such that one does not run in the direction of another and they get scattered in various directions …
veNNey thiratti vizhungumA kANban – I would be pleased to see you scooping up butter in your hands and consuming it. However, only if calves are present, would the cows allow milking. Only if they allow milking could milk be gathered. Only if milk is gathered could butter be prepared. Now, you would see that your existence itself is in question [krishNa would not exist without consuming butter].
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here: You are one who could not remain without butter even for a moment. For you, the smell of butter on your divine form is the cause for your existence. We are waiting to see your existence, without even taking a bath.
ninRa marAmaram sAyththAy – Oh, one who pierced seven ebony trees which were standing close those together and felled them in order to remove the doubt expressed by one follower [sugrIvan, during SrI rAmAvathAram]!
nI piRandha thiruvONam inRu – see, today is SravaNa nakshathram, when you had incarnated. This refers to the nakshathram of vishNu as well as to the nakshathram of his other incarnations [such as vAmana], since all the incarnations have a commonality, having incarnated from SrIman nArAyaNa.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that this [statement that today is your birth-star, thiruvONam] is not showing any doubt unlike AzhwAr’s earlier pAsuram “aththaththin paththA nAL” (tenth day from the star of hastham) and is not uncommon too. Even though this star has been seen in other incarnations [of SrIman nArAyaNa], AzhwAr is not explicitly mentioning that [to prevent kamsan from knowing the identification of krishNa].
nI nIrAda vENdum – is there anyone who would not bathe on his/her birthday? yaSOdhA tells him to have a bath today, while he tries to run away saying that he would not have a bath.
empirAn odAdhE vArAy – Oh, one who is my lord! You should not run. Come and have a bath.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says at the end that the term kanRugaL refers to those who do not have any interest in their self-protection [they depend on emperumAn for their protection]. The term katteRumbu refers to the distinct instructions which are full of thamas [ignorance and laziness] given which will hurt the ears when listened to. The term thenRik kedum refers to those who, after listening to such instructions, slip from their previous position of being dependent on emperumAn for their protection and engage in activities to protect themselves [moving away from emperumAn].
We shall next consider the 3rd pAsuram of this thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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