THE HINDU articles and Thiruppaavai (part 1 of 4)

[Guest guest]

----------

 

Poems in devotional fervour

 

----------

10-12-1995 :: Pg: 39 :: Col: a

 

Cl: Religion

 

THE month of Margasiram, otherwise cherished as

Maargazhi, is the Tamil month of religious austerities and

devotional singing. It corresponds to the December-January period

culminating in the harvest festival called "Pongal".

 

Maargazhit-thingal or the month of Maargazhi is hallowed

all over Tamil Nadu as the most appropriate time in the year when

people, old and young, rise up at dawn, go round the streets

singing bhajans and particularly two celebrated devotional hymns,

the Tiruppaavai, sung by the legendary Aandal - one of the twelve

Alwars, and the Tiruvempaavai, sung by Saint Maanickavaachakar,

one of the sixtythree Nayanmars. Both these immortal hymns belong

to the form of poetry called PAAVAI, signifying maiden girls

seeking divine intervention for securing worthy husbands.

 

Legend has it that Andal and her father Periyalwar

belonged to Srivilliputhoor in the Pandyan Kingdom during the

ninth century. Andal was the foster child of Vishnuchitta or

Periyalwar who found her as a child beneath a tulsi plant, in his

garden. The father brought up the girl with great care and love.

His own overwhelming devotion to Lord Vishnu (known in the shrine

of Srivilliputhoor as Vatapatrasaayin) led to Periyalwar's

encouragement of Andal in her participation in the worship of the

Lord. Andal thus grew up in a religious ambience and soon began

to show a rapturous devotion to Lord Krishna. Her poetic talents

were extraordinary and she composed the Tiruppaavai consisting of

30 hymns and the Naachiar Tirumozhi in 143 stanzas, both of

amazing lyrical felicity and rich imagery besides puranic

allusions evocative of the great epic literature of ancient

India.

 

Andal, also known as Kothai, was believed to be an

avatara of Sridevi, Mother Earth. It is said that one day, Andal

decked herself with the garland which her father, Periyalwar, had

kept for adorning the Lord. On discovering this, Periyalwar was

filled with remorse and decided not to offer the garland to God.

God Vatapatrasaayin appeared in Periyalwar's dream that night and

told him that he would be delighted to wear the garland which

Aandal had worn. Periyalwar was thrilled that the Lord himself

had attested to the great devotion of Aandaal.

 

In course of time Aandal's Bhakti knew no bounds and she

took to Paavai Nonbu (austerities) in expression of her earnest

desire to have none other than Lord Krishna as her husband. It is

said that later, Lord Ranganatha of Srirangam appeared in a dream

and asked Periyalwar to bring Aandaal to his abode. It was there

that Aandaal, the saint-poetess, merged with the divine form of

Lord Ranganatha.

p73

Tiruppaavai is a lyrical poem of thirty stanzas, of

exquisite beauty and devotional ecstasy. The hymns which

constitute Tiruppaavai are as imaginative, in the literary sense,

as they are vivid portraits of the life-style of the

Aayarpaadi's, the members of the cowherd-community.

 

Traditionally, the thirty hymns of Tiruppaavai, are

classified into six groups of five each. Hymns 1-5, providing the

overview, refer to the five essential requisites by way of

knowledge for Jeevanmukthi, namely, the nature of the Paramatman

or the Supreme Being, of Jiva, the individual soul, mukthisadhana

or means of redemption of which Bhakthi is the most accessible

means, the God of attainment, and the obstacles to redemption.

 

HYMN 1

 

Maargazhi-th thingal madhinirainda nannaalal

Neeraadap pothuveer pothumino nerizhayeer!

Seermalgum aaipaadi selvachirumeergaal

Koorvel kodum thozhilan Nandagopan kumaran

Er aarndha kanni Yasodai ilam singam

Kaar meni-ch-chengan kadhir madhiyam pol mukathaan

Naaraayanane namakke parai tharuvaan

Paaror pugazha-p-padindhu-el or empaavaai.

 

Now is the month of Maargazhi. It is the auspicious full

moon day. Lovely young ornamented maidens of the cowherds colony

which is flourishing in wealth! Don't you want to bathe in the

Yamunaa? Please come along! Take part in the festival! (Paavai

nonbu).

 

Naaraayana, the son of King Nandagopa who is the terror

of his enemies what with his sharp spear, Naarayana, the young

lion's cub of Yasoda, of charming eyes, Lord Naaraayana with his

dark-cloud like complexion and eyes of crimson lotus hue, with

his lustrous face shining like the sun and cool like the full

moon, He will surely grant us all our desires! Come, let us bathe

and celebrate the festival, for which the world will praise us.

 

HYMN 2

 

Vaiyathu Vaazhveerkaaal! Naamum nam paaavaiku

Seyyum kirisaigal keleero! paar-k-kadalul

Payya-th-thuyinra parama adi paadi

Ney-unnom paal unnom! Naatkaale neeraadi

Mai-ittu ezhuthom, malar ittu nam mudiyom!

Seyyaadana seyyom; thee kuralai senrodhom

Aiyamum pichayyum aanthanayyum kaikaati

Uyyumaaru enni uganthu-el- or em paavaai.

 

People of this earth! Listen to the austerities we shall

follow during the paavai-nonbu!

 

We shall sing the praise of Naarayana who sleeps gently

on the milky ocean. We shall abstain from ghee and milk. We shall p73

bathe before daybreak. We shall not apply collyrium to our

eyelids nor shall we adorn our locks of hair with flowers. We

shall not indulge in gossip nor perform actions which are taboo.

Of alms and gifts, we shall give liberally. We shall follow the

path to a life of contentment and happiness.

 

HYMN 3

 

Ongi ulagalanda uthaman per paadi

Naangal nam paavaiku chaatri neeraadinaal

Theenginri naadellaam thingal mummaari peidu

Ongu peru sennal oodu kayal ugala

Poomkuvalai-p-podhil porivandu kannpaduppa

Thengaade pukkirundu seertha mulai patri

Vaanga-k-kudam niraikkum vallal perum pasukkal

Neengada selvam miraindu-el-or empaavaai.

 

When we sing the glory of the Lord (Trivikrama) who took

his cosmic form and measured the three worlds in two gigantic

strides and put his foot, for the third stride, on the head of

the arrogant emperor Mahabali, and when we perform the paavai-

nonbu, the whole country will be rid of all evils. It will then

rain three times every month. Fishes will gleam and leap amidst

the rich paddy plants. Spotted bees will fall asleep among the

water lilies. Cows milked tirelessly will yield copious bounties

enough to fill pots and pots. Prosperity will thus pervade the

land.

 

HYMN 4

 

Aazhi mazhai kanna! Onrum nee kai karavel

Aazhiyul pukku mugandhu kodu aarthu, eri

Oozhimudalvan uruvam pol mei karuthu

Paazhi am tholudai Padmanabhan kaiyil

Aazhipol minni valampuripol minru adhirndhu

Thaazhaade Sarngam udhaitha saramazhai pol

Vaazha ulaginil peidhidaai; naangalum

Maargazhi neerada magizhndu el or empaavaai

 

Oh Lord Varuna (God of rains), please do not hold back

your gift of rains. For the sake of the prosperity of the world

and for our sake so that we can gleefully bathe in the river

during this sacred month, plunge into the sea, gather as much

water as there is, make thunder, and rise into the sky in the

form of a cloud mass which would resemble, in its black colour,

the body of our primordial Lord (Vishnu). May you then pour down

your bountiful showers! You will then become resplendent with

lightning like the discus held by Lord Padmanabha. Your

thunderous roar would reverberate like the couch called

Panchajanya held by our Lord in his left hand. May you bring

forth rains in abundance without a pause in the manner of the

flow of arrows from the bow of Sri Rama, called Sarngam!

 

HYMN 5

p73

Maayanai mannu vada Madhurai maindhanai

Thuyap P peruneer Yamunai-t-thuraivanai

Aayar kulathinil thonrum mani vilakkai

Thaayai kudal vilakkam seida Dhamodharanai

Thooyomaai vandhu naam thoomalar thoovi-t-tozhudhu

Vaayinaal paadi manatthinaal sindhikka

Poya pizhayum pugutharuvaan ninranavum

Theeyinil thoosaakum seppu-el or empaavaai.

 

Our mysterious Lord, born at North Mathura, who sports in

the pure deep waters of the great river Yamuna and who is the

veritable jewel-light of the race of cowherds, gloried his mother

Devaki by being born of her and transported his foster mother

Yasoda into a world of joy by showing her his little belly with

the imprint of the tiny ropes with which she had bound him to put

him out of mischief. If only we approach Him with a pure mind and

body and worship Him with fresh and fragrant flowers, singing His

praise and meditating on Him, we can be certain that our sins of

the past births and those which ensued without our intentions,

will all be extinguished the way cotton is reduced to ashes in a

fire.

 

HYMN 6

 

Pullum silambina kaan; pull araiyan koilil

Vellai vili sangin peraravam kettilaiyo

Pillaai! ezhundirai! peymulai nanjundu

Kalla-ch-chakatam kalakkazhia-k-kaalochi

Vellathu aravil thuyil amarndha vithhinai

Ullathuk kondu munivarkalum yogikalum

Mella ezhundu UHari' enra per aravam

Ullam pukundhu kulirndhu-el or empaavai.

 

Young girl, don't you hear the chirp of the early birds?

The beckoning sound of the white conch from the temple of Vishnu

who rides on the king of birds, Garuda? Wake up, innocent girl!

The sages and ascetics with their minds ever focussed on the

great Lord, who sleeps on the serpent-couch in the ocean of milk,

have risen. These sages have started chanting the name `Hari'

over and over again, in a rising cresendo. While they chant His

name, no doubt, they are reenacting in their own minds the deeds

of the child-God who sucked the poison from the breast of the

demoness, Putana and who kicked to death, with his little toe,

the demon who came to destroy Him in the guise of a cart. Don't

you hear all the loud chanting which enters our hearts and makes

them rejoice?

 

----------

 

Go to : |Weekly edition |THE HINDU Main Menu|

 

----------

Copyright ) 1995 THE HINDU & PARALOGIC CORPORATION.