Who is Nappinnai?

[Guest guest]

The name Nappinnai, or just Pinnai, is unique to

Thamizh, NeeLaa being the equivalent in Sanskirit.

Aazhvaars use Nappinnai almost exclusively for Lord

Krishna's consort. References to Pinnai is found in

non-sri vaishNava Thamizh literature as well, such as

Chilappathikaaram and Paripaadal. These precede

aazhvaar paasurams by at least 100 years.

 

Who is this Nappinnai? Due to the association with

Krishna and Gokulam it is intuitively satisfying to equate

Nappinnai with Radha. But is this tenable? If not, what

alternative association is plausible?

 

Until just a few years ago I simply assumed that

Nappinnai must be Radha. Then, I heard someone

contradict this view. Now, in "Viraha-Bhakti" (page

221-225) F. Hardy [1] suggests that Nappinnai and

Radha are NOT one and the same. However, the

alternative he offers seems farfetched to me. First let me

present the reasons for disassociating Nappinnai from

Radha, followed by Hardy's alternative suggestion, and

finally my own guesses.

 

Nappinnai and Radha:

--------------------

All of aazhvaar's works are free of specific references to

the name Radha. Aazhvaars did not shy away from other

northern names, albeit they Thamizhized them, such as,

sireedharan, irudeekEsan, uruppiNi (RukmiNi), iraaman,

vaidhEvee, ilakkumaNan, sanagaraasan (Janaka),

iraNiyan, kancan (Kamsan), etc., etc. If they

intended to refer to Radha, they surely would have used

something like iraadhai, in stead of Pinnai. Interestingly,

Hardy says Bhagavatham, a Sanskrit work by a South

Indian in line with aazhvaar paasurams, is also free of

the name Radha. Further, Nappinnai is portrayed by

aazhvaars as Krishna's wife while Radha is supposed to

be his mistress. One may then speculate that legend of

Radha was not well known in the south during aazhvaar's

time.

 

Hardy's alternative:

--------------------

First, Pinnai is to be understood as "after" and not plaits

as in Pinnal. Thus, according to Hardy, Pinnai is

younger sister and the Nal in Nal + pinnai (= Nappinnai)

is just an adjective. Then, Hardy goes on to suggest that

Pinnai is Krishna's younger sister, Subhadra. Further,

this Subhadra is none other than Kali for Kali is

referenced as Krishna's anujaa in Mahabharatham.

Another unlikely source Hardy cites is

Chilapathikaaram. In vEduva vari (12.20 - 22) we have

the name Neeli for Kali with Kamsan referred to as her

maternal uncle, i.e. maaman. (Here Chil. has Neeli

kicking Sagadam to death!!) Thus, Hardy suggests,

Neeli is indeed NeeLaa and she is Krishna's younger

sister (pinnai) Subhadra. To reconcile all of this with

the erotic association between Nappinnai and Krishna

found in thamizh literature, Hardy hopelessly suggests

that (1) Subhadra is only a step-sister for Krishna, not a

real one, and (2) the Thamizhs making these erotic

associations were not aware of or have forgotten the true

identity of Nappinnai.

 

My guess:

---------

Hardy is right to reject "the one with beatiful plaits" for

Nappinnai, but there is no justification for interpreting

Pinnai as younger sister, that too to Krishna. If nappinnai

is Subhandra that would be an important part of our puraaNaas.

It is incredulous that aazhvaars, who otherwise show remarkable

familiarity even with obscure legends described in puraaNaas

would be unaware or forgotten such an important association.

My guess is that pinnai simply means the one who came later.

Then, pinnai is Lakshmi, the one who came after MoodhEvi,

i.e. Munnai, from thiruppaRkadal. Or, pinnai could mean

the second thaayaar, i.e. Bhu dhEvi, after the first, i.e.

periya piraatti. Thus, Nappinnai is piratti incarnated

as a gopikaa in Gokulam.

 

 

What do you think?

 

 

 

----------------

[1] "Viraha-Bhakthi: The Early History of Krsna

Devotion in South India," Friedhelm Hardy, Oxford

University Press, 1983.