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periyAzhwAr thirumozhi >> Fourth Centum >> Seventh decad
avathArikai
thiruvAimozhip piLLai, in his svApadhESam, says that AzhwAr mentions in this pAsuram that gangA is coming with sandalwood paste of celestial women.
viRpidiththu iRuththu vEzhaththai muRukki mEl irundhavan thalai sAdi
maRporudhu ezhap pAyndhu araiyanai udhaiththa mAl purudOththaman vAzhvu
aRpudham udaiya ayirAvadha madhamum avar iLam padiyar oN sAndhum
kaRpaga malarum kalandhu izhi gangaik kaNdam ennum kadi nagarE
Word-by-Word Meanings
aRpudham udaiya – such that everyone would be amazed
ayirAvadham – elephant named as airAvatham [indhran’s royal elephant]
madhamum – exulting fluid
avar – desired by celestial entities, who inhabit svargam [heaven]
iLam padiyar – celestial women, who always look young, until the time that they remain there
oN – distinguished
sAndhum – sandalwood paste
kaRpaga malarum – kaRpaga flower [flowers of the celestial tree, kaRpagam/kalpaka], donned on their locks
kalandhu – mixed, together
izhi – descending
gangai – on river gangA
kaNdam ennum kadi nagar – the distinguished abode, named as kaNdam
vil pidiththu – holding the bow
iRuththu – snapping it
vEzhaththai muRukki – snapping the tusks of elephant, kuvalayApeedam
mEl irundhavan – the keeper of elephant
thalai – head
sAdi – blowing to smithereens, with the tusk
mal porudhu – wrestling with wrestlers chANUra and mushtika, such that their physical forms were crushed
araiyanai – (sitting at a high level) kamsan, the king (pulling him down by his locks)
ezhap pAyndhu – jumping atop him
udhaiththa – kicking him, with his divine feet
(Resulting from these activities)
mAl – one, who has eminence
purudOththaman – for purushOththaman
vAzhvu – it is the divine abode
Simple Translation
The exulting fluid of elephant airAvatham, which amazes its beholders, sandalwood paste, applied by the young women, who retain their youth until their time in svargam [heaven] and who are desired by celestial entities, and the karpaga flowers donned on their locks, mingle and descend into river gangA. The distinguished abode, kaNdam, located on its bank, is the desired abode, where purushOththaman, who snapped the bow [during the festival of bows conducted by kamsan], snapped the tusks of elephant kuvalayApeedam, killed its keeper, who was sitting atop the elephant, killed the wrestlers and kicked kamsan, after jumping on him, dwells desirously.
vyAkhyAnam
viRpidiththu iRuththu – kamsan invited krishNa, as a relative, for the bow festival [which he was going to conduct at SrI mathurA]. krishNa went for that purpose, to mathurA, entered the arena where the festival was being held and snapped the bow, which was kamsan’s favourite one.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that kamsan had kept the bow as a measure of testing krishNa’s strength. krishNa held that bow in the middle and broke it, while stringing it
vEzhaththai muRukki – subsequently, he snapped the tusks of the elephant, kuvalayApeedam, which was made to stand at the entrance of kamsan’s mansion, as mentioned in periya thirumozhi 6.5.6 “puguvAy ninRa pOdhagam” (the elephant which was standing at the entrance) and which was in exultation.
mEl irundhavan thalai sAdi – the keeper of the elephant, sitting on top of the elephant, through his power of instructions, was capable of making the elephant, which had fallen on the ground after its tusks had been snapped, to stand up again. krishNa hit the head of the keeper, with the tusk in his hand and broke it into smithereens
maRporudhu – when krishNa entered the arena, with the tusk in his hand, unable to tolerate that, the wrestlers, chANUra and mushtika, came to fight with him. He fought with them such that their physical forms were crushed.
ezhappAyndhu araiyanai udhaiththa – subsequently, krishNa jumped onto the courtyard of kamsan, where he was sitting on a mattress, as mentioned in SrI vishNu purANam 5.20.26 “thunga manja vyavasthitha:” (sitting on a high mattress). kamsan was sitting with his regal crown. krishNa jumped on him, kicking aside his crown, as mentioned in SrIvishNu purANam 5.20.86 “kESEshvAkrushya vigaLath kireetamavaneethalE – sa kamsam pAdhAyAmAsa thasyO parIapAdhaSa” (krishNa caught hold of kamsan’s locks such that the crown fell down, pushed him onto the ground and jumped on him), set aside his crown, caught hold of his locks and pushed him to the ground, jumped on him and kicked him with his divine feet.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that kamsan thought that the higher [from the ground] that he sat, the better protected he was. However, krishNa jumped much above kamsan’s head, kicked him with his divine feet and killed him.
mAl purudOththaman vAzhvu – it is the desired dwelling abode for purushOththaman, who has the eminence of annihilating kamsan, who had the qualities of a monster.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that it was after coronating ugrasEna as the king of mathurA, due to his desire, that krishNa became purushOththaman.
aRpudham udaiya ayirAvadha madhamum – the exulting fluid of elephant airAvatham, which had amazing form [it was whitish in complexion and had four tusks], and amazing activities.
thiruvAimozhip piLLai says here that airAvadham was nithyApUrva purushArtham [the ultimate benefit which he had, which was unmatched, everyday] for indhran, the head of celestial entities.
avariLam padiyar oN sAndhum – for the inhabitants of svargam [heaven], the young damsels were desirous; they had youthfulness with them until their stay there. The sandalwood paste, which they had applied on themselves.
kaRpaga malarum – the kaRpaga flowers, which they had donned on their locks
kalandhu izhi gangai – on the bank of river gangA, which had descended with all these
kaNdam ennum kadi nagarE – it is the distinguished abode, named kaNdam.
We shall next consider the 8th pAsuram of this thirumozhi.
adiyEn krishNa rAmAnuja dhAsan
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