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periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> Second Centum >> Ninth decad
avathArikai (Introduction)
Some of the women in thiruvAyppAdi (SrI gOkulam) come and complain to yaSOdhAp pirAtti, mother of krishNa, about the mischiefs which he has carried out in their houses during the previous night and request her to call him to her house. This pAsuram reflects this.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai, in his svApadhESam, says that yaSOdhAp pirAtti had thought that krishNa was asleep. However, he had gone into the village and carried out mischiefs in the night. Some people came on the next day morning and complained many times to yaSOdhAp pirAtti about his mischiefs. AzhwAr recalls those events in this pAsuram.
veNNey vizhungi veRum kalaththai veRpidai ittu adhan Osai kEtkum
kaNNapirAn kaRRa kalvi thannaik kAkka killOm un maganaik kAvAy
puNNil puLippu eydhAl okkum thImai purai puraiyAl ivai seyya valla
aNNaRku aNNAnOr maganaip peRRa asOdhai nangAy! un maganaik kUvAy
Word-by-Word Meanings
puN – in a wound
puLi – tamarind (paste of tamarind)
peydhAl okkum – just as it irritates when applied
thImai – intolerable mischiefs
purai purai – in every house
seyya valla – being an expert in carrying out
aNNaRku – for elder brother, balarAma
aNNAn – one who is opposed to, in his activities (aNNAn – one who is far away)
Or – being unique
maganai – son
peRRa – as one who gave birth to
nangai – one who is complete
asOdhAy – oh, yaSOdhAp pirAtti!
veNNey – butter, which has been kept safely in pots
vizhungi – swallowing, through stealing, without leaving any residue
veRum kalaththai – vessel, which contained the butter
veRpidai ittu – breaking it, by hitting it against stone
adhan – during the time when it breaks
Osai – sound
kEtkum – one who listened
kaNNan – krishNa
pirAn – benefactor (this is a word uttered in disgust; it is to be taken as one who gives troubles)
kaRRa – learnt
kalvi thannai – art of making mischiefs
kAkka killOm – we are powerless to protect ourselves
(Hence)
un maganai – your son
kAvAy – you protect
(as a precursor to it)
un maganai – your son, who is roaming around, creating mischiefs
kUvAy – call him
Simple Translation
After swallowing butter, krishNa would relish the sound of the empty container which he hit against stone. We are unable to protect ourselves from the mischievous deeds carried out by krishNa. You should keep your son, with you. Oh, yaSOdhAp pirAtti who is complete with all qualities! Your son is carrying out mischiefs in every house, similar to pouring tamarind paste on a wound. Call your son, who you gave birth to and who is totally different from his elder brother.
vyAkhyAnam (Commentary)
veNNey vizhungi – krishNa, through stealing, swallows butter which has been prepared by churning [curd], without leaving behind anything. Is it only this much?
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that krishNa had swallowed butter which had been kept freshly in many containers, in each house. The people in those houses wanted to bring him with butter both in his mouth and hands and show him to yaSOdhAp pirAtti.
veRum kalaththai veRpidai ittu – He breaks the container, in which the butter had been stored, by smashing it against stone. When yaSOdhAp pirAtti asks them in amazement “He had swallowed butter. But, why should he break the container? What benefit will he derive out of that?” They respond, saying …
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says additionally that he broke the containers in order to distract them such that they would not follow him and bring him with butter in his mouth and hands.
adhan Osai kEtkum – “The benefit which accrues to him out of this activity is that he hears the sound of the container being broken”. yaSOdhAp pirAtti tells them “If that were the case, lock your houses such that he cannot enter them”. They tell her …
kaNNapirAn kaRRa kalvi thannai kAkka killOm – “We are unable to protect ourselves from the mischievous activities learnt by krishNa, who is the benefactor. We could protect ourselves from the mischiefs of others, but not from krishNa. The term pirAn [benefactor] has been used with a negative connotation. It refers to one who steals everything and everyone. yaSOdhAp pirAtti tells them “If you could not protect your respective house, who will?” They say …
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that upon hearing the complaints made by the women to yaSOdhAp pirAtti, krishNa came there rubbing his eyes [as he had been sleeping deeply] and told yaSOdhAp pirAtti “They are telling lies”. When someone had said previously that butter is getting stolen in thiruvAyppAdi, he had made a tantrum saying “They are blaming only me”
un maganaik kAvAy – “If you could keep your son safely, everyone’s property would get saved. Please do that”. yaSOdhAp pirAtti tells them “Would not little children indulge in mischiefs? If he had done something unknowingly, shouldn’t you people put up with those activities? Could you blame him like this?” to which they respond …
puNNil puLippeydhAl okkum thImai – Just as a wound on which, if a tangy material is poured, it will burn, when he carries out mischiefs which cannot be tolerated by us, how could we put up with those? When yaSOdhAp pirAtti tells them “Are you people living in the same house? It is not possible for him to carry out such mischiefs which you mention, in each of your houses”. They tell her “It is not only in our houses”
purai puraiyAl ivai seyya valla – He is capable of carrying out these mischiefs in every house, you see. purai – house; repetition of this word [purai purai] is to emphasise that it is in every house; Al [as in purai puraiyAl] is for poetic measure. It does not have a meaning.
aNNal kaNNAn – The term aNNal refers to being the lord. aNNal kaNNAn refers to one having eyes which hint that he is the lord. Through this: the term lord here conveys the meaning that he is the lord of those carrying out mischiefs. One who has eyes, highlighting this lordship. Alternatively, the term aNNal would refer to elder brother. The term aNNAn refers to one who is totally distanced from that person [one who is the opposite of the person]. Just as it has been mentioned in periya thirumozhi 10.7.4 “than nambi nambiyum ingu vaLarndhadhu avan ivai seydhadhu aRiyAn” (balarAman [elder brother of krishNa], too lived in thiruvAyppAdi. However, he did not indulge in the mischiefs which krishNa was indulging in), krishNa was one who had nothing congruent with balarAman, his elder brother and a quiet person.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that krishNa doesn’t come under his elder brother, balarAman’s, control too. He is uncontrollable.
immaganaip peRRa asOdhai nangAy – Oh, one who has the completeness of having given birth to a son like krishNa, who is unique!
un maganaik kUvAy – Instead of roaming around, carrying out mischiefs like this, please ensure to keep krishNa with you.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that even as these women were complaining to yaSOdhAp pirAtti, some more women came there, saying “Look at the mischiefs which he is carrying out in our houses”.
Through this, thiruvAimozhip piLLai says that the term butter refers to mumukshus [those who are interested in attaining mOksham, liberation from samsAram], and the term containers refers to those who are not interested in mOksham. Through his sankalapam [pledge], krishNa destroys them by pushing them in samsAram repeatedly. This meaning is brought out in this pAsuram.
We shall next consider the 2nd pAsuram of this thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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