Guest guest Posted October 12, 1999 Report Share Posted October 12, 1999 Dear Sri Vaishnava perunthagaiyeer, Sri lakshmi nrusimha divya paadukaa sEvaka SrivaN satakOpa Sri Vedaanta desika yateendra mahaa dEsikaaya namah: In the previous postings, parts 1 to 9 on this topic, we saw * How periyaazhvaar identified KaNNan with thirumaal, * How he described the entire world was tied down by his divine music thru the paasurams (without the meanings of the paasurams), * Certain points on observations of bagavathaas. * The meanings in detail for the first six paasurams and few others who relished the kuzhal oothal episode of krishna leelai We also saw nammazhvaar in "maalaiyum vanthathu maayan vaaaraan". She laments kaNNan not coming to her place (He in naayika bhaavam). As a sequel or in the same veins another bakthaa Sudhdhaanandha Bharathi also known as kavi yOgi- a contemporary living tamil poet, says, KaNNanai kaaNpadeppO, kaarmEga vaNNanukkenmEl enna veruppO (kaNNanai) ViNNavarum paNiyum vENu vilOlan maNNaLantha vaayan maayan gOpaalan (kaNNanai) - [few more lines are there in the song, but not included here]. KaNNan kuzhal oothi, invited me but suddenly disappeared. When I am going to see him again? (kaaNpadhu eppO?). The cloud coloured kaNNan has a dislike for me- what it is and why- (enna veruppO?). what mistake I did? He plays flute music, who is worshipped by dEvaas (viNNavarum paNiyum vENu vilOlan). He is the same krishnaa, who showed the universe in his mouth to mother yasOdhaa (maNNaLantha vaayan), a trickster (maayan) the cowherd boy (gOpaalan). MaNNaLantha is actually to be considered for thrivikrama avathaaram- who measured the universe with his two feet - maNNaLanthavan. But for kaNNan- thaan uNda siru maN thuLiyaiyE aNdamaakki kaaNpiththavan- he converted the small grains of earth what he ate few minutes back, and showed these grains as the universe in his mouth- so maayan- to mother yasodhaa. In four words 2 avathaara leelai is fastened nicely by kavi chathuryam - krishnaanubhavam-words compete with one another and sits in the tongue of kavi- all because it is about my krishnaa. It is okay that he plays the flute music and dance so nicely. But where he learnt all these? both difficult arts?. Is it in the Saandheepany aasramam? Yes, but it was in the latter part of life, of grown up krishnaa. But these are baala seshtithangaL. Two poets give beautiful answers. First it is kaliyan- our pet aazhvaar - of course all 12 are pets, but more pet when being referred. MaNmagaL kELvan malar mangai naayagan Nandhan peRRa madhalai aNNal ilaikkuzhal oothi nam sErikke alluththaan vantha pinnai kaN malar sOrnthu mulai vanthu kamalach chevvai veLuppa enmagal vaNNam irukkavaa nangaai, en seigEn, en seigEnO! Periya thirumozhi- 10-7-6 (already mentioned in part 4) The husband of bhUmi piraatti, the hero or head of lotus flower born mahaa lakshmi, the child of nandhagopan, a person of very high status- aNNal- krishnaa. If you combine madhalai and aNNal- the taste is super- he is a child but person of high status- not an ordinary child but aNNal- mahaathmaa- the super child. He played "ilai kuzhal"- oothi- children in vilages pluck leaves of big size of any plant, roll them as pipes and start playing music. So krishnaa also started playing music like other children. Urbanites or children brought up in urban areas may not have such chances and may play plastic whistles. The village life has to be enjoyed in bits at least for the impressions it creates and to be enjoyed in later parts of life. KaNNan being the son of cowherd born in a village -sEri - started learning music with leafy pipes- soon he graduated himself to bamboo flute - vEin kuzhal- vEi is bamboo- muraLi-vamsa in samskrit. This graduated status is also given again by kaliyan only. See 11-2-2. Poonkurunthu osiththu aanai kaainthu arimaa seguththu angu vEzhaththin kombu koNdu van pEi mulai vaangi uNda avvaayan niRka ivvaayan vaai Engu vEinkuzhal ennOdaadum iLamaiyE. Krishnaa broke the kuruntha tree, killed kuvalayaapeetam elephant by breaking the tusks, killed the kEsi horse (arimaa seguththu) eaten the wild fire, drank the raakshasi poothanai's poisoned breast milk- the boy who did all these is the same cowhed boy- aayan niRka- where he stands? In brindhaavan- for what?- to play music- but his mouth is longing for the bamboo stick- Engu veinkuzhal- (or is it the other way - the bamboo stick is longing to be the flute, so that it can have the vaayamudham as said by aandaaL). Why? To play music and invite all young girls, like me, to his proximity-one gOpi says -the parakaala naayaki gopi- (cross reference -sloka 47 ch 8 of yaadhava abhyu. of swami dEsikan). He wants young girls like me- ennOdu aadum - iLamaiyE- young one- he is also young- he wants young girls- one young beauty wants to call another young beauty- because he is peethaambara dhara sragvee saakshaath manmatha manmatha - beauty- says bhagavatham in 10-32-2. Ok. In these, we saw where he learnt the music. Self learning -from leaf pipe to bamboo pipe- graduated- no aachaaryan to him since he is the aachaarya to aachaaryaas (who can be his Acharya when he himself is the Lokaachaaryan and Geethacharyan) - so no aachaarya- but later an sadhaachaarya in saandheepani rishi- for ratification purposes in the process of learning. Where he learnt the dance? Swami dEsikan in his gOpaala vimsathi slokam 4 gives the answer to this question. AavirbhavathvanibhruthaabharaNam purasthaath AakunchithaikacharaNam nibhruthaanyapaadham! Dhadhnaa nimanthamukharEna nibadhdha thaalam Naathasya nadha bhavanE navaneethanaatyam!! Mother yasOdha started churning the curd for taking out the butter in the nandha bavanam [or is it naadha bhavanam because he is learning music and dance here]. Krishnaa was begging to his mother for fresh butter with one leg slightly folded and anoher leg without moving ( this itself is in a abhinaya pose) - ammaa give me some fresh butter. (Cross reference for this begging scene from paapanaasam sivan- gencha vaiththaai thaaye- enna thavam seithanai). Hey darling krishnaa! If you dance, I will give you butter. Ammaa where is the music? Where is the thaalam to enable me dance? Ammaa you have not taught me any dance. Hey, dear boy here is the music- churning rod is pulled- maththu- the rope produces noise- sar- sar- the thaalam. Inside the pot -chala pula- resulting from this pull- that is the music- mother is the master- lord starts his dance- navaneetha naatyam says Swami. mother perfected the music- lord perfected his dance. He danced to the tune of mother- Oh what a mother? What a son?- a perfect combination- ammaa enna thavam seithanai? engum nirai para brahmam un kattukkuL aada- oh yasodhaa. No wonder in dEvaki's pulambal- kulasekara- thollai inbam- oh krishnaa, krishnaa. [srimaan V. Sadagopan swami said in another reference elsewhere, cold letters in print can not bring out the depth of bhakthi and bhaavam. In these pulambal words- it is true to a very great extent] When he danced the navaneetha naatyam like this, how another krishnaa bakthaa says "kaalinil silambu koncha kai vaLai kulunga muththu maalaigaL asaiya theru vaasalil vanthaan, vaanOrgaL ellaam magizha maanidarellaam pughazha neela vaNNa kaNNan avan narththanam aadinaan"- ooththukkadu in "thaayE yasodha". Oh kaNNaa aadinaaya - is it true you danced like this? Let us see Leela sukar, who enjoyed krishnaa so much, and his anubhavam on this flute playing episode. He has 8 slokams on this episode. All slokams end with "sanjagow vENunaa dhEvakee nandana:" meaning krishna played the flute or krishna sang on the flute. AnganaamanganaamantharE maadhavO Maadhavam maadhavam chaantharENaanganaa! IththhamaakalpithE mandalE madhyayaga: sanjagow vENunaa dhEvakee nandana: slokam 2.35 While krishna played sweet flute music, maadhavan was found between 2 gopees. At another place between two krishnaas, one gopee girl was found. In such a circle krishnaa played sweet flute music from the centre. [This means, while he played flute, he also took so many krishna roopam, and found playing with the gopees the raasakreetai. See also how many maadhavam words are appearing in the slokam]. kEkikEkaadhruthaanEka pankEruhaa leena hamsaavaLee hrudhyatha hrudhyatha kamsa vamsca atavee dhaaha dhaavaanala: sanjagow vENunaa dhEvakee nandana: slokam 2.36 The peacocks generally make sounds like kE, kee, kaa etc. The swans residing between the lotus flowers in the ponds, also make noise. These peacocks and swans were made happy, because of the sweet flute music played by the kamsa's enemy krishnaa. He is not only kamsa's enemy, but the fire which has come to burn the whole forest of kamsa vamsam. [Please note the words kamsa vamsa atavee dhaaha dhaavaanala:- meaning- the fire to destroy the kamsaa's clan (vamsam)- cross reference - "kanchan vayiRRinil neruppenna ninRa nedumaalE" of aaNdaaL in oruththi maganaai piranthu paasuram of thiruppaavai]. kvaapi veeNaabhiraaraaviNaa kampitha: kvaapi veeNaabhiraa kinkiNee narththitha: kvaapi veeNabhiraamaantharam gaapitha: sanjagow vENunaa dhEvakee nandana: slokam 2.37 In one place krishna was made to jump or do some comedy (kampitha:- jumping). In another place krishna was made to dance with salangai in the legs [salangai which produced sound like veena]. In another place he was made to sing. Like this he obeyed to the desires of all gopees and played the flute sweetly. [perhaps, the name kapitha- monkey which jumps quite often comes from the verb with kampitha:] vaaruchandraavalee lOchanaich chumbithO gOpagObrundha gOpaalikaa vallabha: vallavee brundhaaraka: kaamuka: sanjagow vENunaa dhEvakee nandana: slokam 2.38 krishnaa was surrounded by gOpees, who were having moon like shining faces, their eyes were fixed on krishnaa- the hero of gopaas, cows and the ladies of brindaavan. He also loved the gopees. The cupid (manmatha brundhaaraka:) of brindaavan played the flute sweetly. (Sri Swami dEsikan mentions in his gopaala vimsathi and yaadhava abyudhayam the words "vallavee" quite frequently along with jana vallabham). mouli maalaamilinmaththa bhrungeelathaa bheetha bheetha priyaa vibhramaalingitha: srasthagOpeekuchaabhOga sammElitha: sanjagow vENunaa dhEvakee nandana: slokam 2.39 A gopee, who is also the ladylove of krishna, was afraid of the bees, which surround the flowers in her hair tresses [mouli maalaa]. This girl hurriedly wanted to embrace krishna in fear, so that krishnaa will save her from the sting of the bee. This gopee lost her top dress in this act of rushing towards krishna, but did not bother about the losing of dress and embraced him. Such a krishna (who was embraced by a lady without top dress) played the flute sweetly. The cross-reference here is kovalar sirumiyar ilankongai kudukalippa of periyaazhvaar. The kannan's music and its power of destroying the senses are to be relished here. Peri. says udal uL avizhnthu, thugil nazhuva etc here. chaaru chaameekaraa bhaasa bhaamaa vibhur vaijayantheelathaa vaasithOra: sthhala: nandhabrundhaavanE vaasithaa madhyaga: sanjagow vENunaa dhEvakee nandana: slokam 2.40 Krishna, the husband of lakshmi who shines likes gold [not krishna but lakshmi], has vaijayanthi- tulasi garland in his chest, and the center of attraction in the nandagopa's brindaavan, played the flute briniging out very sweet music. baalika thaalika thala leelaalayaa sanga sandarsitha broolathaa vibrama; gOpikaa geetha dhaththaa vadhaanas swayam sanjagow vENunaa dhEvakee nandana: slokam 2.41 Krishnaa sang very sweetly with the flute. The young girls played the songs and the thaalam - rhythm. He enjoyed the singing, the thaalam and exhibited his enjoyment by moving the eyebrows. He also gave himself fully to that music- his flute, the songs, the thaalam, there was total mix up and only music was abundant, there was no difference- who is the singer and who is the enjoyer. [please recall swami dEsikan here who mentions about the eyebrows (the vanadEvathai's eye brows are like rainbows in seeing krishna) when he sang on the flute] paarijaatham samudhdhruthya raadhavarO rOpayaamaasa bhaamagruhyaangaNE! SeethaseethE vatE yaamuneeyE thatE sanjagow vENunaa dhEvakee nandana: slokam 2.42 Krishnaa sang very sweetly with the flute standing below the cool banyan tree, the tree standing on the bank of the yamunaa river. This krishnaa is the same person, who brought the paarijaatha tree from dEva lOkam and planted in the house of sathyabhaamaa. He is the same krishnaa who is also the raadhaa ramaNan - means lover of radhaa and is dEvaki's son. The meanings of arpudhams and rest of swami dEsikan's sloka meaning in yaadhava abhyudhayam will be covered in next post. 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