kaNNanai ninaiththaalum sugamE- post 12

[Guest guest]

Dear SrivaishNava perunthagaiyeer,

 

In post 7 we saw how periyaazhvaar describing the lifting of gOvardhana hill

as "gOvardhanam ennum koRRak kudaiyE". This is in the same lines of srimadh

bhagavatham.

 

See the lines "kEna hasthEna kruthvaa gOvardhana achalam! dhaDhaara leelayaa

krshna: chhathraakamiva baalaka:!!" 19th slokam 25th chapter, 10th dasakam

of bhagavatham.

meaning: He lifted the hill gOvardhanam with his hand. The young boy krishna

held it like an umbrella easily and sportively.

 

Now we will have the slokam of swamy dEsikan-

"aDhOmukha avasthitha mEru kalpam sailam tham uthkhaaya saraNya gOpa:!

Udhachchayan sathvaram oordhva moolam chakrE mahEndhram samitha arDha

garvam!!

49th slokam 7th sargam of yadhava abhyudhayam.

Meaning: "krishna, the lord of gOpaas, uprooted the govardhanam hill from

its base, raised it and held it upside down in his hand, like another mEru.

This lifting removed half of the self esteem of king dhEvEndhran"

 

Holding a hill like an umbrella is the substance of this krishna leelai-

whether flat on its base with the hand or upside down is immaterial in

enjoying krishna. But one thing- holding with crown like an ice cream cup is

more difficult but that was also done with such ease, means what to talk of

such a krishna- kim adhbhutham achalEndhra vahanam.

 

Dear bhakthaas, you may recall the "kaNNan thiruvadi" lines in the previous

post. Since our topic is kaNNani ninaiththaalum sugamE- kaNNan on his

gOvardhanam backdrop, or his thiruvadi plainly or staright away [without any

backdrop] is enjoyable.

kaNNan kazhaliNai naNNum manam udaiyeer

eNNum thirunaamam thiNNam naaraaNamE

- 10 - 5 -1 nammazhvaar thiruvaaimozhi

meaning: those who want to reach the feet of krishna, they will meditate in

their minds the name of naaraayaNan. This is sure.

 

For this "naNNum" the meaning given in eedu is class which I want to share

with you all- "pirinthu koodinaaraip pOl irukkiradhu kaaNum"- "those who are

separated and now wanting to join". In tamil this naNNum means- nerunguthal,

arugE varudhal, adaithal. This one is a class to think of separation first

and union later.

 

Same nam-aazhvaar gives in previous padhikam first paasuram- 1st verse -

'saarvE thava neRikku dhaamOdhran thaaLgaL"- the saarvu means the leaning

stone- thiNNai- the resort is dhaamOdharan's feet- for taking up the way of

penance - thava maargam. Here it is kaNNan kazhal iNai- jOdi kaalgaL.

 

Next to take up the lines quoted in previous post without source-

"kaNNan thiruvadi eNNuga maname thiNNam azhiyaa vaNNam tharumE"

meaning: verse 1: oh my mind please dwell on the feet of krishna, they will

save you from destruction (ika - para lOka palan). This is very sure.

 

"tharumE nidhiyum perumai pugazhum karumaa mEnip perumaan ingE"

meaning: that black bodied emperumaan, my god, will give wealth, esteem, and

fame here (ika lOka palan with more emphasis on ika lOkam).

 

The source is Sri Subramania bharathi- the staunch krishna bhakthaa. Verse

22 titled "manamE" in the group of vedhaanthap paadalgaL - page 117 of

bharathiyin kavithaigaL.

Points:

1. See how nicely the palan for both in this life and next life is

given by the poet.

2. This word "karumaa mEni" - is it "black huge body" or a lot of dark

black colour, signifying the darkness and not describing the body size?

Krishna is not a bootham or raakshasan having a huge body - then why this

word- maa- periya.

3. thoNdar adip podi aazhvaar says "pachchai maamalai pOl mEni" in his

thirumaalai - the body like a green coloured big hill. Does it really mean

hugeness or the intensity of colour.

4. Oh krishna- what a confusion? But this confusion results in one- as

to which one is it- colour or size etc- a continuous thinking on krishna is

made- "that is krishnaanandham" -continuous mediatation on you- as a result

aanandham- "ninaiththal sugam" of OVS from you.

 

See another verse, which gives a contrast like this karumaa mEni.

 

mEinirai keezh puga maa puraLa sunai

vaai niRai neer piLiRich cheriya ina

aanirai paadi angE odunga appan

thee mazhai kaaththuk kunRam eduththaanE

- 7- 4- 10 thiruvaaimozhi nam aazhvaar

 

see the words- "appan thee mazhai kaaththuk kunRam eduththaanE"- thee

mazhai.

Generally we use water to put off fire. Here it is rain. So naturally fire

can not stand or continue in its full glory, since fire will be quenched by

rain.

But aazhvaar says thee mazhai. Fire rain.

If it is taken as "theemai seyyum mazhai"- then it is ok.

Otherwise a contrast. For it is intended to cause destruction in aaippaadi-

so theemai seyyum mazhai- thee mazhai and not "fire rain". Appan thee mazhai

kaaththaan. Result again is a continuous thought on krishna.

 

Now a simple small and sweet krithi from sri thyaagaraaja swamigaL.

In raaga bahudhaari- [meaning of the raaga name is bearing many- a pleasing

raaga evoking sympathy very easily]

 

brOva baaramaa raghu raamaa

buvanamella neevai nannu okani - brOva

 

sree vaasudhEvaa aNda kOtla

kukshini unchukOlEdhaa nannu - brOva

 

kalasaambuDhilO dhayathO nama

rulagai yudhikaaga gOpikalakai

koNdalu eththalEdhaa

karuNaakara sree thyaagaraajuni - brova

 

meaning: Oh raghuraamaa, karuNaakaraa, even though you are spread across the

whole world and support it. To support this thyaagaraaja, is it so difficult

to you? Oh sree vaasudhEvaa, you support the whole universe in your stomach,

previously you supported the manthara hill for the dhEvaas when they churned

the milk ocean, another time you lifted the gOvardhana hill for the sake of

the gOpaas and gOpees. Is it so difficult to support this thyagaraaja?

 

Points:

1. See the point of argument- To support the whole world, it is easy

for you. Bu to support one viz. myself- is it so difficult?

2. You have lifted the mountain itself on your back as the tortoise, to

lend support to the dhevaas in churning the milk ocean. Also when the gopaas

were suffering on account of anger from indhran, you saved by lifting

mountain gOvardhanam as a young boy or a child. Both are stifling

circumstances. Under those you did wonderful job. But now I ask only a

simple thing, of extending support to me.

3. I am calling you as karuNaakaran, as many have done earlier- one who

showers grace on the devotees. Just to live to the meaning of that calling,

is it not your duty to save me.

4. See the krithi started addressed to raama but changed to

naaraayaNan and krishnan- all in one and one in all.

5. Sri bhadhraachala ramadoss has also done this - just to mention in

krithi "paahi rama prabho" he will start with raamavathaara deeds but mix up

with krishnaavathaara leelaas. Bhakthaas do not really distinguish.

6. See krithi gOvardhana girEEsam referred in post 7. There also MD

refers to these 2 leelaas of lifting the hills. So great minds think alike.

 

{thanks to Sri SV Suderson one of the list member from Bangalore, who gave

this krithi reference during our "in flight discussion" while coming back to

chennai after an official visit]

 

We will continue in next post.

 

Dhasan

M.G.Vasudevan