govindhan gunam paadi aavi kaaththiruppen- post 7

[Guest guest]

Dear Srivaishnava perunthagaiyeer,

 

We were singing the veera guNam of gOvindhan -valour of that young krishna

who entered the kaaLiyan madu in river yamuna in the previous post. For him

it is veeram- valour. For the young krishna's parents, it is achcham - bayam

- fear- oh, what will happen to our child- that snake is mighty- our son is

a young boy, that too he has carried no arms to fight - unarmed- not even a

stick to beat the snake. Whether the snake can be beaten down for he was of

such a huge size is a different matter.

 

See mother yasodha's reaction. See what she did or how she felt. This is

beautifully described by periyaazhvaar-

anchudar aazhi un kai agaththu Enthum azhagaa, nee poigai pukku

nanju umizh naagaththinOdu piNangavum naan uyir vaazhnthu irunthEn,

en seyya ennai vayiRu maRukkinaai, Edhum Or achcham illai

kanchan manaththukku ugappanavE seidhaai, kaayaamboo vaNNam koNdaai.

3-3-6 periyaazhvaar thirumozhi

 

meaning: oh krishna, you, the blue flower coloured beauty, you are the one

who carries that beautiful wheel as your weapon [sudharsana chakram]. I

lived through that moment of fear, to hear that you entered the swirling

waters of yamuna, where the snake has spit a lot of poison. I did not die

when I heard further that that snake twined you. May be, you are not afraid.

But, why you were born as my son, for I was almost dead when such things

happen. Your uncle kamsan was very happy to hear such news [which has

practically killed me].

 

Points:

1. Every word in this paasuram has been so nicely placed. Blue

coloured krishna - That neelOthpala flower coloured lord. He is named again

as azhagaa- hey beauty personified. For any mother, her child is azhagan or

azhagi- beautiful one - proverb is also there -kaakkaikkum than kunju pon

kunju- for a black crow also her ward is a golden one.

 

2. Uththamoor swamy puts it across for that kaayaamboo vaNNam koNdaai -

have you got this colour earlier itself? Or, is it a result of your having

entered that poisonous water - the snake poison changed your colour to that

blue- kaayaamboo vaNNam. A classic observation, statement, or

interpretation.

 

3. May be this interpretation he considered in his commentary, because

of the next word kaayaamboo vaNNam koNdaai - koNdaai- acquired - and not

kaayaamboo vaNNaa- which means he was born with that colour.

 

4. Anchudar can be split as am + sudar which means azhagiya sudar -

azhagaana siriya thee- flame beautiful. what is that - fire is a beauty?

Yes, when a flame burns calmly without any big fuss about it, then it is

really beautiful like in a lamp - am sudar. The kuththuviLakku sudar in an

area where cross airflow is less - is peaceful and adding to the serenity of

the place - like in krishnan sannidhi- brings in a contemplating mood.

Kuththu viLakkeriya is in thiruppaavai. When this sudar - thee becomes

neruppu - big fire - becomes furious then only all the trouble.

 

5. Like wise the "am sudar aazhi" - the small beautiful flame emitting

wheel as long it is in the hands of the lord, it is beautiful and adds to

lord's beauty.

 

6. The makara kuNdalam - ear studs- dazzling in ears are also well lit

by this wheel and adds to the beauty of the chin of the lord.

 

7. Or does the wheel gets its beauty from your lotus hand, getting

reflected in the chin - oh krishna- please clarify.

 

8. Further see words un kai agaththu Enthum - agam is the house - the

house for the wheel is his hand- garage for that wheel is his hand- Enthum-

gently supporting - not supporting with force- a beauty of a statement.

 

9. Mother says to lord "Hey, I lived after hearing you were simply

bound by that ferocious snake. Oh what a treacherous life- to think of

losing such a son and then why should I live?" That was her reaction.

 

10. In that mood continues Mother asks "en seyya ennai vayiRu

maRukkinaai" for what purpose you chose my stomach as your birthplace? For

having been born to me only all such bad things occur to you. Why I have not

died. You may be NOT afraid. But I die in fear repeatedly on the many news

of danger to you.

 

11. For every moment you take a big risk, I die and get a rebirth after

seeing you are out of danger - frequently dying out of fear and then getting

that aanandham - happiness in knowing and seeing you are safe.

 

12. When you do like this, it is the best for kamsan. He is very be

happy to see somebody else is able to kill you [rather the persons sent by

him]. Finally, Oh, krishna please stop doing such things.

 

The mother's anxiety is simply poured out. Periyaazhvaar has simply lived as

yasOdhai and painted exquisite picture of the mother's anxiety in this

verse.

 

By this it is also clear that krishna was bound- second time. Mother

yasOdhaa bound him with rope in the mortar -dhaama udharan- dhaamOdharan- we

enjoyed this as kaNNa piraan peRRa veNNaik kalvi series. Now second time

bound by a snake- kaaLiya mardhanam series.

 

Here is a krithi by sri annamaachaarya where in he says gOvindhan, that

krishna, standing in the hills on thiruvenkatam - is bound differently -see

how in the krithi- now enjoy the krithi and its meaning in the raaga

boopaalam

 

Pallavi: koNda vEla neththinathE gOvindhaa ninnu

koNdichEru yasOdhaku gOvindhaa - koNda

 

anu pallavi : gollethala mokkEru gOvindhaa nee

kollala cheeralimmani gOvindhaa

gollu venna dhongilaga gOvindhaa ninnu

kolluna navvEru veerE gOvindhaa - koNda

 

charaNam 1 : gOvula kaachE vELa gOvindhaa pilla

gOvini valachiri gOvindhaa

gOvaaLulai yamunaalO gOvindhaa neeku

kOvaramunnaaruraa gOvindhaa - koNda

 

charanam 2: kollEti pullakindha gOvindha neethO

gottavaathai penagEru gOvindha

guttutho sri venkataadhri gOvindhaa koodi

kottana bettEru battithi gOvindhaa - koNda

 

Meaning: pallavi: oh, gOvindhaa, about you, who lifted the mountain

gOvardhanam on your little finger, the cowherd damsels are making petty

complaints to mother yasOdhaa. [see this word koNdilu which is a unique word

- colloquial- meaning petty].

 

Anupallavi: Oh gOvindhaa, all these cowherd girls did prostrate to you and

begged you for their dress, which you have stolen. But same girls of gOkulam

laughed loudly, when you were accused of having stolen butter [you pleaded

innocence but at the same time your mouth was full of butter].

 

CharaNam 1: oh gOvindhaa, at the time when you were grazing the cows in the

forest the gOpees and cows were attracted by your flute music, then they

started loving you on the banks of yamuna.

 

CharaNam 2: oh gOvindhaa in the uRiyadi game the cowherd boys had a tug of

war with you [penagulaata in telugu] hoping of winning the game against you.

In the end they imprisoned you under the aanandha nilaya vimaana in

thiruvEnkatam hills by their devotion, oh, gOvindhaa - now where will you

escape? Oh gOvindhaa.

 

See how many gOvindhaa naamam appear in this krithi. Also annamayya 's

unique way of linking gOvindhan and srinivasan so nicely. Just enjoy how

that veeram of gOvindhan and achcham fear of mother has transformed as a

child play for that gOvindhan in thiru venkatam in the end.

 

Dhasan

 

Vasudevan m.g.