Denver Conference: PeriyAzhwAr Paasurams --PUcchUttal

[Guest guest]

Dear KrishNa PrEmis :

 

In his Periya Thirumozhi 2.4 decad , PeriyAzhwAr

pleaded with Bala KrishNan to come and have his

fragrant bath . He obliged and had a wonderful bath

organized by YasOdhA with great affection and love.

 

After that , YasOdha wanted to brush the Lord's beautiful

curly black tresses. KrishNan was restless and wanted

to escape to play with His friends . YasOdha came up with

a trick to make Him stand still , while she combed His hair.

She distracted Him by calling for the crow to join with her to

comb the Lord's hair . In the ten paasurams of decad 2.5 ,

she engaged the attention of the restless son of hers .

Combing was completed .

 

YasOdhA wanted thereafter to decorate the freshly

combed tresses of the Lord with fresh and fragrant

flowers . The restless son looked out of the window

and saw His playmates getting ready to take

the cattle to their grazing places . KrishNA was in a big hurry

to join His playmates on their trip to the forest . He asked His

mother for the shepherd's crook (stick ) . YasodhA once again

tricked Him to keep Him at home to enjoy His company .

She said " O my son ! The Crow that came to help me

comb Your hair has run off with Your crook . Let me

call it back and ask it to bring back Your crook .

KrishNan is persuaded to wait until the crow

brought the stick .

 

After her cheating game went on , YasOdhA invited KrishNA

to stay still so that she can enjoy decorating her Lord's shiny

black hair with many kinds of fresh flowers . In decad 2.7

known as pUcchUttal , PeriyAzhwAr transforms himself into

the fortunate mother , YasOdhA , and enjoys the experience

of touching the silky hair of the Lord and decorating it with

Jasmine , red lilly , Hibiscus and other beautiful flowers .

 

Decad 2.7 : pUcchUttal Paasurams

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Paasuram 1 : Aanirai mEykka ----

 

O great helper, who is sweeter than honey and jaggery !

The people of this world do not realize Your grace

(anugraham ) is the sole curing medicine for destroying

the disease of Samsaram and the elixir as well for the enjoyment

of the nithya sUris in Sri Vaikuntam . My neighbors make fun

of You for drinking fresh milk stored in their pots right out

of them and yet they are delighted that You blesed them

with Your visit to their houses . O the most beautiful one

( SukumArA ) , You are ready to run off and follow the cattle

in the forest through the rough and tumble and are going to be

exposed to the harsh rays of the mid-day Sun . Let me first

decorate first Your hair with freshly picked CheNpakA flowers .

Please come here and stand still until I complete the decoration .

 

Paasuram 2 : Karuvudai MehangaL--( Jasmine flowers

and Sri Ranganathan )

 

O my beautiful one ! When I enjoy Your unsurpasable beauty

with my eyes , they become cool as if I am looking at the water-laden

rainy clouds . O Lord with the incomparable beauty of eyes !

O my Swami who redeemed this world with auspiciousness

through Your incarnation ! O the auspicious principle behind

your consort , who is the embodiment of all auspicousness

( MangaLAnAM MangaLam , Thiruvukkum ThiruvAhiya selvA ) !

You are resting at Sri Rangam in response to Your dear consort,

MahA Lakshmi's prayer to rescue the samsAris of this world

( LeelA VibhUthi ) . Please come near and wear the jasmine

flowers of everlasting fragrance .

 

Paasuram 3 : Macchodu MaaLigai Yeri--( Paathiri flower &

ThiruvEnakatamudayAN )

 

O GovindhA who stands on top of the lofty peak of Thirumalai !

O my dear one , who engages daily in so many pranks such as

climbing the upper stories of neighbor's mansions and tearing

to shreds the upper garments( kacchu) and gold borderd ,

silk sarees of young girls stored in the women's quarters !

Please come here and permit me to decorate Your

freshly combed hair with the ever green

Maruk kozhunthu and the red paathiri flowers .

 

Paasuram 4 : Theruvin kaNN ninRu -----

 

( KaNNan responded to His mother's complaint

about entering other people's houses and tearing

up the garments of young girls. He said that he was

never there , but was standing in the corner of the street

playing with his friends . How come You accuse me falsely

was the response of the" innocent One " ?

This paasuram is YasOdhA's response to her

son " not pleading guilty " ) .

 

O my precious one ! It is at these street corners , You

chase the girls and make them suffer with Your pranks .

Please do not kick and destroy their sand castles constructed

during their play hours. Please do not deprive them of their

toys and cease teasing them . O ParipUrNa Sundara RajA !

( the perfect embodiment of beauty) noted particularly

for Your matchless dark brows , enchanting forehead and

black wavy tresses of hair ! This garland made up of

Maru and Tamanakam is rich with fragrance . It is waiting

to join Your tresses and be blessed by that union . I dearly

long to decorate You with this garland . Please come here !

 

Paasuram 5: KaLLa arakkiyai --

 

O Powerful One , who tore apart the beaks of the asuran

( BakAsuran ) , who lay in wait for You to kill You at the banks

of YamunA river ! O victorious One , who pulled out the tusks

of the royal elephant of Kamsan and killed it during the occasion

of the sports at the court of the deceitful uncle , Kamsan , who

wanted to see You destroyd by his mighty elephant ! O Just One,

who cut off the nose of the insulting SoorpaNakA and the heads

of her brother RavaNA , when they offended You with their evil

acts ! O my Lord , What a terrible injustice have I done . While

waiting to see You enjoy eating the stolen butter, I was overcome

with anger at Your brazen act and hit You . Fie me ! After hitting

You and suffering for my rash act , I wanted to protect You from

slander through Your engagement in similar butter stealing

pranks in other people's houses. I want now to make up for my

rash act and with overflowing affection for You , I am holding this

lovely garland made up of red lilly flowers . Please do not be

angry at me , come near and wear this special garland on Your

tresses .

 

Paasuram 6 : YeruthukaLOdu poruthi ---

 

O Lord who did not pay heed to the softness of Your limbs

while You were intensely involved in gaining the hand

of Nappinnai through Your subjugation of the seven

mighty bulls ! You did not care at that time about what

happens to Your limbs or life . O Lord who has been

fulfilled though Your matchless love for Nappinnai !

You responded to Your uncle Kamsan's ill deeds

and kicked him out of his throne with Your powerful

feet .On the way to killing Your uncle , You killed the

washerman , who insulted You and took possession of

the lovely clothes that he had frshly prepared for Kamsan .

You broke the bow of Kamsan , killed his royal elephant

and smashed the mighty wrestlers of Kamsan's court ,

who wanted to harm You . At that time of Your mighty

encounters at kamsan's court , Your valor shone like

freshly melted gold . I want to join that golden body

of Yours with the gold-colored Punnai flowers . Please

come near and let me decorate Your tresses with this

lovely yellow flowers .

 

Paasuram 7: KudangaL yedutthu--- AarAvamudhan

of Thirukkudanthai and Kurukkatthi flowers

 

{ when the wealth of the Brahmins increases , they will

show their joy by conducting Yaj~nAs for the well being of

the universe and its beings . When the wealth of the shepherds

increases , then they celebrate that blessing with " pot -dance

(kudak kUtthu ) " . They place earthern pots on their head , hands

and shoulders and dance with skillful steps without dropping

the pots . This is a celebratory event ) .

 

O Lord who made the cowherd colony be blessed with

undiminishing wealth through Your association with them !

You placed a row of pots on Your head , held one pot in

each of Your hands and threw them up in the air

and caught them while engaged in sporting intricate steps .

Who can match Your dance that surpassed all the rules of

Bharatha Naatyam ?

 

O Lord of our kulam ! O my son who can enchant

all the girls brimming with the beauty of full moon !

O powerful One , who tore apart the mighty chest of

HiraNyakasipu " protected " by the boons of lesser

Gods ! O GOpAlA resting as ArchA mUrthy at

Thirukkudanthai to bless us , who came after

Your VibhavAvathAram as KrishNA ! Please come and

wear this garland of Kurukkatthi flowers .

 

Paasuram 8 : SeemAlikan avanodu --Sri Ranganathan

and IruvAtchi flowers

 

( Sri Maalikan was a boyhood friend of KrishNan and

learned the handling of all kinds of weapons as

a play mate.He became arrogant over his skills

in the use of weapons and caused harm to people .

KrishNA was angry at him and at the same time did not

wish to kill his friend . One day Sri Maalikan complained

to his friend that He had not taught him how to handle

the chakrAyudham . KrishNa replied that it is a tricky

business and He Himself is not sure some times

about how to handle that particular weapon .

 

Sri maalikan insisted however on being taught the

use of Sudarsanam . The Lord decided then that it was

the most appropriate occasion to punish his friend

for his erstwhile offenses . KrishNan threw the chakram

in the air and received it back with one finger and

warned His friend about the inherent dangers in

handling that powerful weapon . Sri Maalikan did not

heed the warning , threw the rotating chakram into the air

and got ready to receive it on his finger just like his

friend demonstrated. He held however his finger

too close to his neck .The returning Sudarsanam

landed on his finger, but cut off his head that was

too close to the receiving finger . PeriyAzhwAr

recalls here , the deft way in which the Lord protected

His asritha janams and punished the offenders ) .

 

O Lord who taught a lesson to the offending friend ,

Sri Maalikan ! You cut off His head with Your chakram .

O Lord resting at the beautiful temple at Srirangam

and engaged in the bhaktha samrakshaNam and dushta

nigraham ( protection of Your devotees and the destruction

of their enemies ) ! You chose the great kshEthram

of Srirangam , where the righteous people live . With that

choice of Srirangam as Your place of residence , You

allayed my anxieties over any harm coming Your way .

Please come and wear this freshly blossomed

IruvAtchi flowers and make me happy !

 

Paasuram 9 : Karumuhaip pushpam and

Vatapathra Saayeee of Sri VillipputthUr

 

O Lord seated in splendorous Sri VaikunTam

in the company of NithyasUris and Muktha Jeevans !

O Emperor , who rules over all the worlds ! O dear One

who prefers the hearts of Your devotees as even a better

place for Your eternal residence compared to the glorious

Sri VaikunTam ! O Lord of MahA Lakshmi seated on

the Lotus flower ! O MaayAvi who hid the Universes in

Your tiny stomach and floated on the waters of the ultimate

deluge ( PraLayam ) as a little baby resting on a pupil leaf !

Please come near me and make me happy by accepting

this KarumuhaippU garland for Your dark tresses .

 

Paasuram 10 : SeNpaka MallihaOdu --

 

O Lord I have assembled the SeNpaka flower that

blossoms at early dawn , the others that blossom

after sunrise ( Senkazhu neer and IruvAtcchi et al )

and the Jasmine flowers that blossom in the evening .

I have assembled all these flowers prescribed by

saasthrAs for Your alankAram . I am desirous of

decorating You , who took away the earth and the sky

from MahA Bali through a ruse during Your incarnation as

VaamanA and triviktramA .

 

I would like to enjoy the bliss of Your mother YasOdhA Piratti

at AayarpAdi, when she decorated Your beautiful hair .

The fruits of reciting these ten verses of mine

--celebrating the anubhavam of YasOdhA decorating

her son's tresses with beautiful flowers-- are the gaining

of the blissful experience ( RasAnubhavam ) of

the blessed foster-Mother of our Lord GOpAlan .

 

PeriyAzhwAr ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

Oppiliappn Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan