thiruppavai day nineteen song nineteen

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TIRUPPAVAI - DAY NINETEEN-SONG NINETEEN

 

Transliteration

 

kuththu viLakkeriyak kOttukkAl kattil mEl

methenRa pancha cayanaththin mElERik

koththalar pUnkuzal nappinnai konkai mEl

vaiththuk kitantha malar mArpA vAy thiRavAy

maithatan kaNNinAy nI un manALanay

eththanai pOthum thuyileza ottAykAn

eththanai yElum piRivARRkillAyAl

thaththavmanRu thakavElOr empAvAy.

 

Translation

 

As the lamps are lit, You lie on the soft bed with virtues five

Spread on the ivory-legged cot,

With the feel of Nappinnai’s breasts on your broad chest.

Cool is your hair making buds bloom,

Nappinnai, with broad colirium lined eyes!

You will not leave your Lord to leave the bed even for a moment.

Nor can you bear separation from Him.

It becomes not of you to hold Him back all to yourself.

 

The nineteenth and the twentieth songs are the only two songs in Tiruppavai

with explicit sexual implications. While Andal has been quite explicit with

sexual sensuousness in Nacciyar Tirumoli, she seems to have underplayed the

sexual element in the Tiruppavai.

 

The ninth song earlier also referred to a bed chamber – that of the maid yet

to join the pavai. That was a bedchamber of luxury while the bedchamber of

this song is one of the bliss of union. That was a chamber lit by lamps;

perfumed with the smoke from incense. The bed there was luxurious enough to

keep one glued to sleep. The light blurred with the smoke and a bed

that encourages indulgence of the ninth song is in sharp contrast with the

description of a similar chamber in this song.

 

There is no smoke, however fragrant, to blur the lamps here. The bed here is

endowed with all five virtues of a bed – beautiful, cool, soft, fragrant and

pure. It is not indulgence but post sexual bliss that keeps the Lord and the

Lady held together in bed. The hair of the lady is so cool as to make the

buds bloom. There is no heat of passion that will make the flowers wither.

The bliss of union is so lingering in effect that the lady will not leave

her Lord to leave her and hence will try to keep him glued to his bed. She

knows pretty well that her Lord has His obligations to the devotees and

therefore it does not become of her to keep Him all to herself even as the

day has dawned, bringing the maids to Him.

 

Traditional interpretation will elaborately dramatise the whole situation.

At the end of the previous song, Nappinnai leaves the bed to open the door.

Krishna however wants to open the door Himself with the intention of winning

for Himself the credit of having answered the maids’ prayer. He thus drags

her back to bed and as she falls on His chest, the feel of her breasts makes

Krishna forget his intention. He forgets the fact that the maids are waiting

outside. And when the maids appeal to Him to at least answer their prayer if

not open the door, Nappinnai prevents Him with a tight hug. The maids

realise the passionate drama withindoors and tell Nappinnai that it does not

become of her to prevent her Lord from at least responding to their prayers

if not grace them with his august appearance.

 

Traditional interpretation will also ascribe a note of jealousy to the first

four lines of the song. While the maids could enjoy the company of Krishna

out in the field looking for a sandy spot to lie down, running through

thorny groves, Nappinnai enjoys the bliss of union with Krishna in a more

favourable situation.

 

Traditional interpretation will also interpret the scene of the Lord and the

lady twined with each other in two different ways. In the first, Nappinnai

is dragged back to fall on Krishna lying supine on the bed and thus her

breasts are felt on His broad chest. In the second, Krishna pushes Nappinnai

back to bed even before she could leave the bed and thus lies on her

breasts. That way, He feels the pressure of His chest on her breasts. By

far, the first interpretation appears to be more sensuous while traditional

interpretation s to the second.

At the philosophic level, the song seems to answer a curious question. If

God is a need to the soul, is the soul also a need to God? There are three

elements involved here: the God, the consort and the soul. Insofar as the

soul has taken its origin from the Primordial because of its karma, and

insofar as the scene of life is a route for the soul back to its origin

cured of its karma spent in living in Divine consciousness, the Divine

consort shall facilitate the communion between the God and the soul and not

act as a hurdle for whatever reason. Therefore is the last observation in

the song – tattuvamanru – it does not become of you to hold Him back all to

yourself.

 

Vaishnava poetry is usually sensuous. It does not advocate renunciation of

pleasures. It attempts at a transvaluation of pleasures enjoyed in the

awareness of the Divine. Incidentally, Tagore has acknowledged his poetic

sensibilities to the sensuous element found in Bengal Vaishnavite poetry.

 

The best illustration of God’s passion for union with the soul is to be

found in Jayadevar’s Asthapathi Gita Govindham in Sanskrit. Kannadasan and

Meera have translated the Sanskrit poem into Tamil and Ramani in turn has

translated it into English, as part of his attempt at translating Kannadasan

’s arttamulla intu matam – Meaningful Hinduism. Such of those of you who are

interested may visit http://www.geocities.com/ramaninaidu or

geocities.com/athens/academy/4485/contents.htm or

geocities.com/athens/academy/4485/kannadasan7.htm and find the English

version of Jayadevar’s Ashtapathi Gita Govindham in the Meaningful Hinduism

section there.

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Note from Moderator: I notice that some of the postings on tiruppAvai by

members stress on only one or two specific points. There are lots of devotional

aspects that are even superficially revealed in these pASurams. I am just

adding a few additional points of interest here.

 

1. The description of nappinnai and kRshNa trying to push each other from going

and opening the door, is because both want to be the first one to bless the

devotee. It is not for keeping each other from opening the door. pirATTi and

perumAL vie with each other in trying to grace the devotee. This is what is

symbolized here.

 

2. kOOTTuk kAl - made of the tusk of elephant. A reference to kuvalayA peeDam.

 

3. The soundaryam of the tirumeni of pirATTi and emperumAn is to be enjoyed in

this pASuram.

 

4. "agalakillEn iRaiyum enRu alarmEl ma'ngai urai mArbA!" is a corresponding

reference given by SrI perukkAraNai cakravartyAya svAmi.

 

5. A posting yesterday already emphasized the akAra, ukAra, and makAra in the

pASurams 18, 19, and 20 respectively as the first letters. These symbolise the

praNavam.

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