thiruppavai day eleven song eleven

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THIRUPPAVAI – DAY ELEVEN – SONG ELEVEN

 

Transliteration

 

kaRRuk kaRavayk kanankaL pala kaRanthu

ceRRAr thiral aziyac cenRu ceRuc ceyyum

kuRRamonRillAtha kOvalar tham poRkotiyE

puRRaravalkul puna mayilE pOtharAy

cuRRaththuth thOLimAr ellOrum vanthu nin

muRRam pukunthu mukilvannan pEr pAta

ciRRAthE pEcAthE celvap pentAtti nI

eRRukku uRankum porulElOr empAvAy.

 

Translation

 

Golden maid of the clan of the herdsmen

Who milk the calf-cows of countless herds,

Who undo the pride of foes in valorous wars,

Who are the unblemished.

Your vaginal slant is beautiful like the spread hood of a snake.

Your gait is like that of the wild peacock.

O maid of riches! Come and join us!

What mean you with your sleep and silence

When all your kinsfolk have assembled in front of your house

Singing in praise of the Cloud-Hued?

 

The eleventh song continues with the situation in the previous songs – the

maids on their way to the pond for the ritualistic bath stand in front of

the house of a friend to call her to join them. But there is a definite

change of tone in the eleventh song. While the previous songs tried to

upbraid her, tease her and provoke her, there is a tone of persuasion in

this song.

 

The herdsmen own countless herds of cattle. Their valour is such that the

pride of the foes is reduced to nothing. They are also said to be free from

all blemishes.

 

The maid is the golden maid of such a clan. She has a shapely waist and her

vaginal slant is as beautiful as the spread hood of a snake. She has as

gentle a gait as the wild peacock. She is persuaded to wake up and join the

friends waiting for her. “Don’t you know that there is nothing to be

achieved by keeping away from us? We are all your kinsfolk. We have

assembled in front of your palace. We celebrate the various names of the

cloud-hued God.”

 

Though the previous songs also acknowledged the nobility of the maid yet to

join those on their way to the pond, a sense of impatience and even

irritation was to be seen in their call to her. Beginning the eleventh song

through the fourteenth, the maids sound less sharp. They try to persuade her

to join them.

 

The fifteenth song dramatises a conversation between them even as they

remain where they are – she within doors and they in front of her palace.

There is a certain contradiction of terms in ‘kaRRuk kaRavai’. ‘kaRavai’

means milch cow and ‘kaRRu’ means calf. God in his grace for the cows will

make calves of cows and yet make them flow with devotion for Him. Therefore

the countless devotees of countless faiths shall be taken to be the

calf-cows of countless herds.

 

Nammalvar would say

 

vanankum thuRaikaL palapalavAkki mathi vikaRpAl

pinankum camayam palapalavAkki avaiyavai thORum

anankum palapalavAkki nin mUrththi parappi vaiththAy

inanku ninnOrai illAy ninkan vEtkai ezuvippanE.

 

Means of devotion so many You have caused.

Faiths so many You have caused.

Gods so many have You caused.

Means of devotion so many You have caused.

And in all You have instressed yourself.

You are the Unparallelled.

You have caused the thirst for You within me.

 

Foes are those who nurture antagonism towards God and those who offend the

devotees. Periyalwar would describe Kamsa as the vicious who nurtured anger

against God – thIyapuntik kanchan un mEl cinamutaiyAn’.

Nammalvar would say that kanchan offended the pious and the people – cAtu

canattai naliyum kanchanai’. Therefore the herdsmen clan is to be taken

valorous enough to undo such pride which makes one turn against God and the

devotees.

 

‘kOvalartham poRkotiyE’ can be interpreted in two ways. Firstly, the maid is

the ornament of gold in the herdsmen clan. Secondly, she is like a creeper,

however lush, dependent on a prop for existence. Her life depends on the

support she seeks from her prop, the God, through the pavai observance.

 

“Shouldn’t the very mention of the hue of the cloud make you jump off your

bed and join us? Does it become of you to lie still and silent even as we

sing in praise of the cloud-hued God?” That is the persuasion in the song.

This is easily obtained since she is called a wild peacock which at the very

sight of dark clouds spreads its long beautiful and colourful tail and

dances.

 

This song by extension is said to refer to the first three of the twelve

alwars – Poykai Alwar, Puttatu Alwar and Pey Alwar. They were wandering

yogis. While the other Alwars have to their credit long pieces of

composition, these three have composed only a hundred stanzas each in

quadruplets.

 

Poykai Alwar’s Tiruvantati is one herd. Along with Puttattalwar’s

Tiruvantati, it becomes two. And with Peyalwar’s Tiruvantati, they become

many. They were constantly on the move removing ignorance and insensitivity

to God with their songs. Therefore the reference to undoing the pride of

foes. All the three had been untainted in that they did not have a human

origin. Poykai Alwar made his appearance from a pond; Putattalwar from a

flower and Peyalwar from a well. They had also not tainted themselves with

any worldly attachments whatsoever. The question of renunciation does not

apply to them since they had appeared and lived with nothing to renounce.

Therefore ‘unblemished’.

 

In effect, the first three Alwars become the archetypes of the clan of the

devotees. The slant of the hip down to the vagina compared to the spread

hood of a snake also has metaphorical implications. The beauty of the hip is

the nobility of devotion, bhakthi. Besides, devotion is between the other

two means of realisation of God – jnana and virakthi. While Poykai Alwar is

an embodiment of jnana and Peyalwar is an embodiment of virakthi which is

also called parabhakthi, Puttatalwar is an embodiment of bhakti. He

concludes his hundred songs with, “My devotion is as large as myself” –

enran alavanrAl yAnutaiya anpu. The eleventh song in effect can be

identified as a celebration of the tradition of devotion to God beginning

with the first three of the Alwars in which Andal fits naturally in place

both as a devotee par excellence and poet par excellence.