SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: Sri varavaramunayE nama:
periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> Third Centum >> Ninth decad
avathArikai
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says, in his svApadhESam, that AzhwAr is engaging with krishNAvathAram.
panjavar thUdhanAyp pAradham kai seydhu
nanjumizh nAgam kidandha nal poygai pukku
anjap paNaththin mEl pAyndhittu aruL seydha
anjana vaNNanaip pAdippaRa asOdhai than singaththaip pAdippaRa
Word-by-Word Meanings
panjavar – for the five pANdavas
thUdhanAy – taking the role of a messenger
bAradham – in the mahAbhAratha war
kai seydhu – helping
nanju – poison
umizh – spitting
nAgam – snake, kALiyan
kidandha – lying down
nal poygai – on the banks of the cruel river
pukku – went and entered
anja – such that he was frightened
paNaththin mEl – on the hoods
pAyndhittu – jumped, making him weak
(at that time, when kALiyan and his consorts surrendered)
aruL seydha – letting him go, without killing him
anjanam – like black pigment [used for decorating eyes]
vaNNanai – sing about the one, who has a complexion like that
asOdhai than singaththai – sing about the one who is like a lion cub for yaSOdhAp pirAtti.
Simple Translation
krishNa took on the role of a messenger for the five pANdavas and helped them [later] during the mahAbhAratha war. He entered the shore of the river inside which kALiyan, the snake, was lying, spitting poison in the river. He jumped onto the hoods of the snake such that the snake was frightened. When kALiyan and his consorts surrendered to krishNa, without killing him, he allowed him to go. Sing about such krishNa, who has he complexion of a dark pigment. Sing about the one, who is like a lion cub, for yaSOdhAp pirAtti.
vyAkhyAnam (Commentary)
panjavar thUdhanAy – as a messenger for yudhishtra et al. Among these five [brothers], it appears that there is none who does not ordain him [krishNa].
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that krishNa incarnated only to become a messenger. It was only after he was identified as “innAr thUdhan” [the messenger of pANdavas] that his incarnation established itself. He overcame the shortcoming of awaiting the result of sending a messenger, by going as a messenger himself [reference here is to SrI rAmAyaNam, where, SrI rAma had to wait until hanuman returned from lankA, to know about the condition of sIthAp pirAtti). The term Ay [as in thUdhanAy] indicates that being a messenger was natural for him and was not something which he had to take on.
thUdhanAy – while he is the sarvAdhikan [superior to everyone else], he went as a messenger, tying a palm leaf around his neck [to notify all, that he is a messenger], without any fault. He thinks that this is a difficult-to-attain benefit for him, just as it has been mentioned in periya thirumozhi 2.2.3 “innAr thUdhan ena ninRAn” (he stood, as the messenger of pANdavas). It was only after becoming famous as the messenger of pANdavas that he sustained himself and stood upon earth.
bAradham kai seydhu – when krishNa kept asking dhuryOdhana to grant at the least, ten villages to pANdavas, later scaling it down to one village, dhuryOdhana refused even that. He made them engage in war, by saying “In that case, let the one who emerges victorious in the war, rule the world”. During the subsequent war, he helped the pANdavas by arranging the battle formations and remaining as the charioteer for arjuna, conducting the war.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that the term bAradham kai seydu refers to his partiality towards pANdavas, after his role, as a messenger of pANdavas, did not yield the desired result and he helped the pANdavas to emerge victorious.
nanjumizh nAgam kidandha naRpoygai pukku – kALiyan, a poisonous snake, had entered the river and spat poison inside the water such that all the tress and birds nearby started falling down, dying. He entered, as mentioned in periya thirumozhi 10.7.12 “nachchazhaR poygai” (river where the snake was spitting poison), the poisonous river. What is the reason for calling it as nal poygai, when it is poisonous? This is similar to saying nalla pAmbu [good snake, for cobra], nalla neruppu [good fire, for a destructive fire] etc, through the symbolism of opposite enunciation. Alternatively, before kALiyan entered it, the river was a good river, hence it is mentioned even now as a good river.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that just as it has been mentioned in thiruchchandha viruththam 86 “salam kalandha poygai” (it appeared as if water had been added to a poisonous river), kALiyan had spat such an amount of poison in that river that cows were unable to drink any water. nal poygai pukku – before the entry of kALiyan, the river was indeed good. krishNa jumped into that river, making kALiyan to surface. If he stood inside the water, it would not have been possible to jump onto the head of kALiyan; hence, he climbed a tree nearby [kurundham tree] and jumped on top of kALiyan’s hoods, by twisting his body while jumping, such that the snake was frightened. It was only after jumping atop kALiyan that he showered his mercy on it. It was only after that his natural complexion manifested itself [shiny black].
anjap paNaththin mEl pAyndhittu aruL seydha – krishNa agitated the river such that kALiyan surfaced. Then, he jumped onto the spread hoods of that kALiyan such that he was frightened. He danced on him, making him grow weaker. kALiyan pleaded with krishNa, as mentioned in SrI vishNu purANam 5.7.70 “krupAmAthra manOvruththi: prasIdhamE” (you should shower only your mercy on me), and his consorts pleaded, as mentioned in SrI vishNupurANam 5.7.79 “bharthru bikshA pradhIyathAm” (You should mercifully grant us our husband, back to us). After their surrendering to him, he showered his mercy on them such that kALiyan went out, alive.
anjana vaNNanaip pAdippaRa – sing about the one whose divine form shone brightly, with black pigment, getting the splendour on account of granting them protection, after they surrendered to him.
asOdhai than singaththaip pAdip paRa – sing about the one who is like a lion cub, since yaSOdhAp pirAtti nurtured him eminently.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that more than the term dhEvaki singam, it was this term, asOdhai than singam that AzhwArs celebrated. Hence, AzhwAr wanted this to be sung about.
We shall next consider the 6th pAsuram of this thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
archived in https://divyaprabandham.koyil.org
pramEyam (goal) – http://koyil.org
pramANam (scriptures) – http://granthams.koyil.org
pramAthA (preceptors) – http://acharyas.koyil.org
SrIvaishNava education/kids portal – http://pillai.koyil.org