thiruppavai day twenty four song twenty four

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THIRUPPAVAI – DAY TWENTY FOUR – SONG TWENTY FOUR

 

Transliteration

 

anRu ivvulakam alanthAy ati poRRi

cenRankuth thennilankai ceRRAy pORRi

ponRac cakatam uthaithAy pORRi

kanRu kunilA erinthAy kaLal pORRi

kunRu kutaiyAy etuththAy kunam pORRi

venRu pakai ketukkum nin kaiyil vEl pORRi

enRenRum un cEvakamE eththip paRai kolvAn

inRu yAm vanthOm irankElOr empAvAy.

 

 

Translation

 

Hail to Thy feet that strode all the worlds that day!

Hail to Thy valour that vanquished Lanka in the South!

Hail to Thy kick that annihilated Sakatasura!

Hail to Thy poised feet that flung the calf away!

Hail to Thy greatness that made an umbrella of a hillock!

Hail to Thy spear that vanquishes the foes!

Here are we today to remain Thy slaves,

Singing Thy praise for ever and ever.

Pray bless us with Your grace.

 

 

The twenty-third song appealed to God to assume the throne and dispense

Divine justice in obliterating the elemental sin of the bodily existence of

the maids. The twenty-fourth song hails God who has thus assumed the throne

in all His majesty, splendour and grandeur. Not surprisingly, the song lists

out the manifest greatness of God in all his exploits against the evil

forces.

 

The first line refers to Vamana. God appeared as a midget brahmin when

Mahabali was reigning supreme through all worlds three. The gods represented

to Narayana and He appeared in the form of a midget brahmin. Mahabali was

munificent besides being an oppressive ruler. Vamana the midget brahmin was

offered a gift of his asking. He asked for a gift of land measurable by

three strides of his. The surprised Mahabali offered the gift ceremoniously

with his laughter reserved at such a humble gift. Once the gift had been

formally made, Vamana grew in magnitude and measured all the worlds in two

strides. The third step still remaining, Mahabali understood the Divine

intention. He bowed to Narayana asking Him to place his third step on his

head and thus annihilate him and at the same time redeem him. Such is the

story of Vamana avatara.

 

The second line speaks about the vanquishing of Ravana by Rama. The curious

word is ‘cenranku’ meaning ‘going there’. A series of situations was so

manipulated that Rama had to leave Ayodhya in the north and go all the way

to Lanka to annihilate Ravana. The speciality about the incidents narrated

in the story of Rama (Ramayana) is that all of them are essentially human

and the character of Rama that Narayana assumed was devoid of any blemish

associated with being human. Thus Rama manifestation can be taken to be a

lesson in the human ideal.

 

The third, fourth and fifth lines speak about Krishna manifestation. Perhaps

Krishna is the most romantic as well as the noblest and valourosque

manifestation of God. That makes Krishna the most beloved and the most

trusted form of Narayana. The third and fourth lines refer to how Krishna as

a child annihilated asuras despatched by Kamsa to kill him. The first

reference is to Sakatasura – a monster who possessed a cart and tried to

smash Krishna. Krishna is supposed to have kicked the cart away from beneath

and thus to have annihilated the monster.

 

The third reference is still more interesting. The herdsmen were in the

habit of offering prayers to Indira, the god of rain, fire and wind. When he

became wrathful at the negligence on the part of the herdsmen, he sent

Varuna the rain god to Gokulam. There was a mammoth downpour. Unable to

stand the floods any more, the herdsmen sought Krishna’s grace. Krishna is

supposed to have held a hillock above his head beneath which the herdsmen

and their cattle were protected from the rain.

 

A note on the manifestations will be very much in place here. There are

altogether ten manifestations mentioned of whom the tenth is awaited. There

is a certain evolutionary progression about the manifestations. The first

three belong to the animate forms, the fourth is anthropomorphic and the

next five to the human forms while about the tenth there are speculations

that definitely point to the superhuman.

>From the aquatic fish (macca) to the amphibian tortoise; from the amphibian

tortoise to the boar, the land animal; from the boar to the anthropomorphic

Narasimha, the lion headed human bodied manifestation, the first four

manifestations show a definite upward progression in terms of specialization

of species. The second aspect about the first four is that they are instant

appearances in all His might with a specific mission each to be

accomplished.

 

The next five are human in form. There is also a certain order of

progression. From the dwarf Vamana to Balarama is the development from the

primitive to the agricultural and social. From Balarama who wields the

plough to Parasurama who wields the weapons of war is to be seen the

progression from the agricultural to the political. From Parasurama to Rama

is a progression from type to a complete human ideal.

>From Rama to Krishna is the shift from the ideal to the practical. The

latest manifestation, namely Krishna, is an embodiment of a series of

several valorous exploits that ultimately reach a climax in the form of

Krishna’s role in the battle of the Bharatha in which Krishna is a party but

not a part insofar as he wields no weapon at all. Thus it is but natural

that the last two manifestations are more celebrated than the others and the

last, Krishna is the most celebrated manifestation of Narayana. Looking at

the rapid strides that man is making today in the fields of science and

technology, which would have sounded almost superhuman until a few tens of

years ago, the belief that Kalki, the anticipated tenth manifestation of

Narayana may be a high-tech manifestation need not be discounted, perhaps!

 

The twenty-fourth song, besides being an invocation, is also a declaration

of absolute commitment on the part of the maids. Though they have approached

the God now, their commitment remains eternal – enrenrum – for times

unended. Therefore they rightfully implore God’s grace in the last line of

the song.