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periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> Third Centum >> Fourth decad
avathArikai
thiruvAimozhip piLLai, in his svApadhESam, says that this pAsuram is in the words of a mother, negating the words of blame heaped on her daughter.
surigaiyum theRivillum seNdu kOlum mElAdaiyum thOzhanmAr koNdu Oda
oru kaiyAl oruvan than thOLai UnRi Anirai inam meeLak kuRiththa sangam
varugaiyil vAdiya piLLai kaNNan manjaLum mEniyum vadivum kaNdAL
arugE ninRAL en peN nOkkik kaNdAL adhu kaNdu ivvUr onRu puNarkkinRadhE
Word-by-Word Meanings
surigaiyum – short sword
theRivillum – catapult
seNdu kOlum – stick with bunch of flowers
mEl Adaiyum – upper garment
thOzhanmAr – friends (who cannot tolerate separation from him, even for a moment)
koNdu – carrying in their hands
Oda – as they followed (to give him when required, without any delay)
oruvan than – a dear friend’s
thOLai – shoulder
oru kaiyAl – with one divine hand
UnRi – firmly supporting
(with the other divine hand)
A nirai – cattle
inam – herd
meeLa – in order to return
kuRiththa – blew
sangam – holding conch
varugaiyil – during the time of return
vAdiya – wilting
piLLai – being young
kaNNan – kaNNan’s
manjaLum – turmeric
mEniyum – complexion of the divine form
vadivum – the beauty of individual limbs and of the collective divine form
arugE – near the path, by which he returns
ninRAL – one who stood
en peN – my daughter
kaNdAL – saw (like everyone else) (moreover, since it was a rare sight)
nOkkik kaNdAL – looked at him desirously, with her eyes
adhu kaNdu – looking at the manner in which she looked at him
i Ur – those in this village
onRu puNarkkinRadhu – are creating a connection between krishNa and my daughter.
Simple Translation
Friends of krishNa, who would not tolerate any separation from him, went behind him, carrying his short sword, catapult, stick with a bunch of flowers and his upper garment, in order to give him when he required. krishNa supported his divine hand on the shoulders of one dear friend, and held the conch, with which he would gather the cattle by blowing on it, in order to return home. As the young krishNa came in this fashion, looking at his wilting form, the fresh turmeric, the complexion of his divine form, beauty of his individual limbs and of the collective divine form, my daughter stood in the way, by which he was returning. She saw him, just like everyone else. Since it was a rare sight to behold, she looked at krishNa with desirous eyes. As a result, the people in the village are creating a connection between my daughter and krishNa, says the mother of the girl.
vyAkhyAnam (Commentary)
surigai … – When krishNa goes behind cattle for grazing, he goes with necessary implements for annihilating enemies as well as for playing. In the earlier pAsuram, there was mention about “udaivAL sAththi” (keeping a short sword). Here, surigai refers to another type of short sword, thus implying accessories for annihilating enemies. Since they [herd-folk] go and engage with enemies in fighting, weapons are required. theRivil refers to catapult. This and seNdukOl (stick with a bunch of flowers tied at one end] are implements for playing. These and …
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that surigai would refer to a weapon. However, it could also be considered as an implement for playing since the next two words theRivillum and seNdukOlum refer to implements for playing.
mElAdaiyum – while going out for grazing cattle, apart from the dress worn on the waist, apt for it, for the upper dress [like a belt] worn over the dress on the waist, another upper garment is worn, covering that and the upper part of the divine form.
thOzhanmAr koNdu Oda – krishNa’s friends, who are of his age, who are his friends, who cannot tolerate separation from him even for a moment, carry these [weapons, implements for playing and upper garment] in their hands, going a step behind krishNa, such that when required, they could hand it over to him immediately.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that just as it has been mentioned in periya thirumozhi 5.8.1 “ugandhu thOzhan nI” ([SrI rAma tells guhap perumAn] affectionately that you are a friend), apart from krishNa being affectionate towards his friends, his friends were also affectionate towards him. They considered these materials [weapons, implements for playing, upper garment etc] as purushArtham (ultimate benefits)
oru kaiyAl oruvan than thOLai UnRi – unlike the friends mentioned in the previous term, this person is a dear friend for krishNa, and who would counsel krishNa with what is good for him. krishNa keeps one hand on the shoulder of this friend.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai adds here that even when that friend tells things which are good for krishNa, he would tell them in a manner which will make them to be desirous for krishNa.
Anirai inam meeLak kuRiththa sangam – with the other hand, krishNa holds the conch with which he blows, to gather the cattle to return to where he is standing. While blowing the conch, there is a way for getting them ready to go for grazing, a way for calling them back for returning, a way to ensure that they do not go astray while walking [for grazing or returning]. The cattle would know the distinction among these calls. Since it is dusk time, the pAsuram says “meeLak kuRiththa sangam” (sounding the conch to gather the cattle for returning home]. This sound is also a signal to the girls in thiruvAyppAdi, to tell them that he is returning, just as he had blown his pAnchajanyam to send a message to rukmiNip pirAtti [SrI mahAlakshmi] about his arrival.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that krishNa was returning, holding the divine conch in his divine right hand. It would also refer to krishNa returning, with the conch with which he had called all the cattle to gather and return home. The cattle know the purpose for which he blows the conch. The sound of the conch also told people to not lose themselves in lowly pursuits such as going after women, but to uplift themselves to attain emperumAn, as mentioned in thiruvAimozhi 2.10.2 “sadhir iLa madavAr thAzhchchiyai madhiyAdu…” (not getting attached to damsels who are intelligent and mesmerising, through their youthfulness). Through this, it is said that in order to correct and uplift those who are as good as animals [in terms of their knowledge about emperumAn and their activities in attaining and serving emperumAn], emperumAn takes the help of an AchArya. Here, AchArya is considered as being similar to conch – being pure white in heart, knowing the words of emperumAn, being servile to his AchArya, having the qualities to help others, always interested in the wellness of disciples, such that without the AchAryan, even emperumAn would find it difficult to correct and uplift the samsAris, despite various methods employed earlier – giving the samsAris bhagavath gIthA, carrying out abhayapradhAnam [giving refuge to vibhIshaNa at seashore near thiruppullANi], reciting SrI varAha charama SlOkam, instructing SrI pAncharAthram etc. It is for this reason that nammAzhwAr said, as in thiruviruththam 96 ”vEtkai ezhuvippan” (Though you [referring to emperumAn] have created many different paths for people to attain their goals, created many philosophies due to differences in the levels of knowledge of people, created many deities for all those philosophies, I will create desire in the minds of samsAris towards you). It is for a similar reason that parASara bhattar said in bhattar mugdhakam “mrugya madhyasthvathvam” (searching for a neutral person to establish emperumAn’s supremacy).
varugaiyil vAdiya piLLai kaNNan – due to his tender nature, krishNa was tired, having to go behind the cattle throughout the day. He was also showing fatigue, having separated from the herd-girls through the day. Such krishNa’s …
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that the mother is calling krishNa as piLLai [child] though he is yuvAkumAra: [adolescent, entering the stage of youth], since she is concerned about her daughter and wants to negate the damaging words of the people in the village.
manjaLum mEni … – herd-girls would use krishNa’s dark divine form to check the quality of turmeric. Hence, his form would be full of yellow marks. When he returned from grazing the cattle, the yellow marks as well as the dark form, which was complementing the yellow marks, the beauty of his individual limbs as well of the collective form as a whole, were attractive enough for everyone to see him. The narrator’s [of this pAsuram] daughter too saw him returning, with these features.
nOkkik kaNdAL – she was on her way to playing; looking at the rare-to see sight of krishNa returning with all these features, she looked at him with a little bit more of focus.
adhu kaNdu ivvUr onRu puNarkkinRadhE – looking at the way that she looked at krishNa, the people of this village are imagining that she looked at him with affection. onRU puNarththal – refers to creating a connection between the girl and krishNa, when there was none between them.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says at the end that the mother is wondering whether krishNa and her daughter are the cause for the people of the village to imagine a link. He further says that this is the reason for AzhwAr composing the pAsuram aiya puzhudhi, which we will learn about in a subsequent pAsuram. Through this, it appears that for those who are involved completely with their AchAryas, involving with the distinguished sighting of emperumAn too is not acceptable.
We shall next consider the 4th pAsuram of this thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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