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periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> Third Centum >> Fourth decad
avathArikai
thiruvAimozhip piLLai, in his svApadhESam, says that another girl says that she will not bother about her femininity hereafter.
sindhuram ilangath than thiruneRRI mEl thiruththiya kORambum thirukkuzhalum
andharam muzhavath thaN thazhaikkAvin kIzh varum AyarOdu udan vaLai kOl vIza
andham onRillAdha Ayap piLLai aRIndhu aRIndhu ivvIdhi pOdhumAgil
pandhu koNdAn enRu vaLaiththu vaiththup pavaLa vAy muRUvalum kANbOm thOzhi!
Word-by-Word Meanings
than – on his
thiru neRRi mEl – applied on the divine forehead
sindhuram – vermillion powder
ilanga – to shine
thiruththiya – applied properly, over that
kORambum – ancient ornament for the forehead
thiruk kuzhalum – divine locks, which are complementary to that
ilanga – to be resplendent
andharam – throughout the sky
muzhavam – to reverberate with the sounds of musical instruments
thaN – cool
thazhai – umbrella with peacock feathers
kAvin kIzh – below the garden
varum – coming with him
AyarOdu udan – along with herd-boys
vaLai kOl – curved sticks
vIsa – as they throw (shouting victoriously)
onRu – each of them (in terms of decoration)
andham illAdha – unable to see the boundary
Ayap piLLai – one who is a herd-boy
aRindhu aRindhu – knowing that I couldn’t exist without him and knowing that he could,
without me
i vIdhi – on this street
pOdhum Agil – if he comes
pandhu – “Our ball
koNdAn – (when we were playing) he snatched and went”
enRu – complaining this way
vaLaiththu vaiththu – preventing him from going anywhere outside
pavaLam – like coral
vAy – divine lips
muRuvalum – smile
thOzhi – Oh, my friend!
kANbOm – let us see and enjoy [this pAsuram is in the manner of friends speaking to one another, this way]
Simple Translation
krishNa has his divine forehead shining with the vermillion applied on it. Over that, he has the aptly applied divine ornament on his forehead, which too is splendorous. His divine locks, which are complementary to that golden ornament, too are resplendent. With the sounds of musical instruments reverberating throughout the sky, with his friends coming with him, holding the umbrellas made of peacock feathers like a garden, they keep throwing curved sticks at one another, along with shouts of victory, in a playful way. There is no limit to the decorations which krishNa has. He knows that I could not survive without him and he also knows that he could survive without me. If such krishNa comes through this street, we will surround him, such that he would not be able to go outside anywhere. We will complain “He has snatched our ball when we were playing”. Oh, friend! Let us enjoy the sight of his divine lips which are like coral and his smile.
vyAkhyAnam (Commentary)
sindhuram ilangath than thireneRRi mEl – krishNa has a beauty of his divine forehead, just as it has been mentioned in thiruvAimozhi 7.7.7 “nAL mannu veN thingaL kol nayandhArgatku nachchilai kol” (Is the divine forehead of krishNa like the faultless moon? Or is it something which is not to be desired?) On top of that divine forehead, vermillion, which complements that [dark] divine forehead, has been applied and is shining.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that the vermillion on his divine forehead would be similar to that mentioned in nAchchiyAr thirumozhi 9.1 “sindhurach chem podi pOl” (butterflies are flying all over thirumAlirunjOlai, like vermillion powder). On top of that, a divine golden ornament has been applied. His divine locks, which are like a garland of bluish gems, in colour, complement the golden ornament.
thiruththiya kORambum thirukkuzhalum – On top of these, a divine golden ornament has been applied aptly on his divine forehead and his divine locks are complementing the divine ornament. The word ilanga, which was seen in the earlier verse, has to be added here too.
andharamuzhavam – the entire sky is reverberating with the sounds of musical instruments. The term muzhavam refers to drum, a percussion instrument. Here, the meaning extends to refer to the sound made by the drum.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that ANdAL had dreamt that krishNa was coming with the drums playing resoundingly and that the conches blowing, as mentioned in nAchchiyAr thirumozhi 6.6 “maththaLam kotta varisangam ninRUdha” (even as the drums were played and the conches with lines in them were blown for a long time). Here, the herd-girl saw the event unfolding in front of her eyes.
thaN thazhaik kAvin kIzh – under the garden of umbrellas, made with peacock feathers [held by krishNa’s friends to provide him protection from rain and sunshine].
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that there is an alternative connotation to this: krishNa was coming under a green canopy, which was cool.
varum AyarOdu udan – along with the herd-boys, who are coming with him
vaLai kOl vIsa – as they keep throwing curved sticks on one another, shouting words of victory [in a playful way]
andham onRu illAdha Ayap piLLai – he [krishNa] is a herd-boy whose beauty of decorations, beauty of the manner in which he is returning [from grazing the cattle] and his playful [mischievous] activities cannot be estimated by even those who are capable of estimating anything.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that it is impossible to see the boundary of his childish activities. It may be possible to analyse emperumAn’s various other incarnations as well as his eminence in various states such as para [his state in SrI vaikuNtam], vyUha [his state in the divine milky ocean] etc. However, it is not possible to analyse the extent of his activities as a child in his krishNAvathAram. This is due to the fact that his amazing activities are most liked by everyone. When he returns from grazing, the herd-girl thinks that he appears, as mentioned in nAchchiyAr thirumozhi 6.3 “indhiran uLLitta dhEvar kuzhAm” (all the assemblies of celestial entities, including indhra). This is her desire, just as it has been mentioned in nAchchiyAr thirumozhi 12.2 “AyppAdikkE ennai uyththidumin” (carry me to thiruvAyppAdi).
aRindhu aRIndhu ivvIdhi pOdhum Agil – Since he knows that I could not exist without him and that he could exist without me, he should not come through this street. Despite knowing this, if he comes through this street …
thiruvAimozhip piLLai adds here that even when she is desiring to see krishNa going through her street, she is engaging with praNaya rOsham [a made-up pathos of anger, due to overflowing love], due to her overflowing tender nature.
pandhu koNdAnn enRu vaLaiththu vaiththu – Do not think “How will we surround him when he comes in a large crowd [of herd-boys]?” We will stop him from going further by saying “He had snatched our ball when we were playing, and disappeared”
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that they [herd-girls] will even speak about absurd things in order to stop him from proceeding further. She will say, as mentioned in thiruvAimozhi 6.2.6 “kazhagam EREl” (Do not enter our assembly); she will say “When we were playing, you had snatched our ball and gone off”; this is a ruse for engaging in a conversation with him. Alternatively, she will throw the ball, which she is having in her hand, on his lap and accuse him of stealing their ball.
pavaLa vAy muRuvalum kANbOm thOzhi – When we accuse him like this, he will stop, without proceeding further, and smile gently. Oh, friend! When he does this, we will look at his divine lips, which are like coral and the smile, which is complementing his divine lips, and enjoy those. She desires to see this.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that the girl says “We will see [now] whatever we had not seen before. We will get to see a rare sight. We will not look at his smiling face, directly”. She desires to tell him “Who do you think that we are that you are smiling at us? You should realise that this is our street. Are you bewildered?” Only if her desire fructifies would her pledge too get established [to see his divine lips and the sweet smile].
We shall next consider the 7th pAsuram of this thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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