nAcciyAr tirumozhi XIV – paTTi mEyndOr kArERu 1

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SrI:

SrI ANDAL samEta SrI ra’ngamannAr

tiruvaDigaLE SaraNam

 

nAcciyAr tirumozhi XIV – paTTi

mEyndOr kArERu

 

pASuram 14.1 (fourteenth tirumozhi-pAsuram 1 paTTi

mEyndOr kArERu)

 

baladEvanin tambiyai brindAvanattE kaNDOmE

 

paTTi mEyndOr kArERu baladEvarkku Or kIzhk kanRAi

iTTiru iTTu viLaiyADi i’ngE pOdak kaNDIrE

iTTamAna paSukkaLai inidu maRittu nIrUTTi

viTTuk koNDu viLaiYADa virundA vanattE kaNDOmE

 

 

A. From SrImAn SaDagOpan's tamizh treatise:

 

sundarAngan kaNNan gives gOdai several, wonderful

sights (sEvai) and gives her paramAnandam. In the

first pASuram, gOdai indicates how kaNNan is

independently roaming around in brindAvanam area,

while acting as a good brother to balarAman and being

mischievous at the same time with the AyarpADi girls

and pleasing all His friends.

 

- “Did you see a dark-hued, bullish personality, who

is balarAman’s brother and who goes around playing and

grazing cows to His delight?”

- “Yes, we did; we saw that gOpAlan in brindAvanam,

looking after His most beloved cows with great joy,

lovingly calling them by their names, feeding them

water and letting them graze the grass happily.”

 

B. Additional thoughts from SrI PVP:

paramapadanAthan was like a “vAn iLa araSu”

(periyAzhvAr tirumozhi 3-6-3), “appointed” by nitya

sUri-s (“viNNATTavar mUduvar” – tiruviruttam –2) who

were like wise, elderly ministers. He considered them

dear to Him and accepted their offerings – “cUTTu nan

mAlaigaL tUyana Endi” (tiruviruttam 21). Consistent

with their true nature as His Sesha-s, they offered

tirumanjanam to Him daily and offered dhUpam etc. But

then, one day, He found out that there was lot of

butter stored in the houses of the gOpi-s in AyarpADi,

and that nappinnai had become of age. Suddenly,

He lost interest in paramapadam and took incarnation

in tiruvAippADi as kaNNan, started roaming around like

a bull in AyarpADi at will, and attained great luster

as a result of this incarnation. This is what is

described in this pASuram.

 

paTTi mEyndu : When He was in SrI vaikuNTham, He was

a Bull all right, but a tied Bull. BhaTTar used to

say often: “In parama padam, SrI vaikunTha nAthan is

destined to be an eternal prince - growing on the lap

of tiru anantAzhvAn, under the care of vishvaksEnar or

sEnai mudaliyAr and under the wings of periya tiruvaDi

(garuDan) – just as periAzhvar has said: vAn

iLavaraSu”. Since He was constantly watched, He was

like a bull that is tied, with the controlling rope

always held by others. When He came to tiruvAippADi,

He transformed into a new shiny hued bull that

gallivants around as it wishes. After He made His

appearance in gOkulam as kaNNan, He had no one to

control Him, and so, He started performing mischiefs

at His will like an elephant that has entered a

sugarcane grove. In paramapadam, He could not do

anything against His svarUpam and was acting “normal

and decent”. Here, in tiruvAippADi, there is talk

everywhere of “kaNNan stealing butter”, “such and

such a girl has been abducted by kaNNan ” etc. He did

not abide by any “accepted rules” or “norms”. This is

what gOdai means by “paTTi mEyndu”.

 

kAr Eru: “Dark-hued Bull”. In Ayar pADi, He got His

natural hue by running around hither and thither

according to His own sweet will with a majestic gait,

like an unrestrained bull. In contrast, He was

probably pale white in color in paramapadam

(“paramapadattil uDambu veLuttup pOlE kANum

iruppadu”).

 

baladEvarkku Or kIzhkanRAi: He was willing to be under

the control of baladEvan, who was His elder brother.

In paramapadam, He was used to being pampered on the

lap of tiru anantAzhvAn and because of that sweet

memory, He is letting Himself be controlled by

baladEvan now (who is the avatAram of tiru

anantAzhvAn). Thus, even though He was full of

mischief when it came to the young girls of AyppADi,

when it came to balarAma, He behaved like a sweet

little younger brother. Also, whenever the girls got

mad at Him and refused to talk to kaNNan, balarAman

acted as a mediator between the two parties and made

them friends again; so, He always remained under the

control of balarAman.

 

SrI PVP explains in detail the significance of the

term “baladevarkku Or kIzhk kanRAi”, by pointing out

the intimacy of their relationship in their other

incarnations as well.

 

During SrI rAma avatAram, when perumAL and pirATTi

where resting in the parNa SAlai, iLaiya perumAL was

standing guard without even winking, bow and arrow in

hand, and protected them. It was as if lakshmaNa had

an intimate part of, and was sharing in, whatever

comfort rAma and sItA derived in being together.

 

“ramyamAvasatham kRtvA ramamANA vanE traya: |

dEva gandharva sankASAs tatra tE nyavasan sukham ||”

(rAmAyaNam bAla kANDam 1-29)

 

Those three (rAman, sItai and lakshmaNan), who looked

like dEva gandharva-s built a parNa sAlai and lived

happily in the forest. iLaiya perumAl was sharing the

happiness that rAma and sItai experienced by being

together and helped them more and more to experience

that happiness.

 

So also, in the balarAma incarnation, balarAma derived

great satisfaction by increasing the happiness of

kRshNa and the gopi-s by mediating between them, as

and when the gOpi-s were hurt because of the mischief

of kRshNa.

 

“sandeSais sAma madhurai: prema garbhaih agarvidai: |

rAmENa ASvAsitA gOpyO hariNA hRta cetasa: || “

(vishNu purANam 5-24-20)

 

Those gOpi-s who had their hearts stolen by hari

(kaNNan) were consoled by balarAman’s sweet and kind

words and thus felt comforted. periyAzhvAr in his

tirumozhi 1-7-5 talks about how kaNNan normally acts

subservient to His brother balarAman (“balaDevan ennum

tan nambiyoDap pin kUDac celvAn”). And balarAman

always watched out for kaNNan and made sure that no

danger befell Him.

 

iTTiRu iTTu viLaiyADi : iTTIRu means “action

proceeding from one’s haughtiness or arrogance”. iTTu

means “on account of” – e.g., adai iTTu vandAn. (He

came for that or on account of that). So in this

pASuram, this phrase means that kaNNan did everything

He could to create havoc to express His arrogance or

haughtiness. He is making noises to show His

happiness and independence. This is like a muktAtmA (a

realized soul) going to SrI vaikuNTham and chanting

sAma gAnam loudly to show his extreme delight and

ecstasy on being able to do kaimkaryam to bhagavAn

eternally from then on.

 

“Etat sAma gAyanaAstE |

hA vuhA vuhA vu|

aham annam aham annam aham annam |

aham annAdo’hamannAdo’hamannAda: || “ (taittriya

bhRgu. 10-6)

 

(muktAma reaches paramAtmA and sings – ‘hA vuhA vuhA

vu – I am the food for paramAtmA; I am food; I am

food; I am the enjoyer of food (in the form of

paramAtma’s love); I am the enjoyer of food; I am the

enjoyer of food).

 

In a similar fashion, paramAtma came here and because

He gets a chance to show His sousIlyam, soulabhyam etc

by sharing Himself with folks, He becomes so ecstatic

and makes noises.

 

SrI PVP refers to pUrvAcArya-s wondering aloud that

the paramAtmA Whom the upanishad declares as “avAkya

anAdarah” (chAndogya. 3.14.2) – He Who is without

speech because He has nothing to gain and has all the

Glory – this para tattvam is now behaving in such a

way that He has come to the “iTTIru iTTu viLaiyADum”

stage.

 

viLaiyADi: shows His leelA vyApAra-s. After all, the

whole purpose of His incarnations is leelA.

 

i’ngE pOdak kaNDIrE: have you seen the acts that we

cannot get to see even if we go to paramapadam?

 

Thus far, we have enjoyed the first two lines that are

from those who are asking the question, in SrI PVP’s

mode of interpretation, and ANDAL’s question to her

friends, in SrI UV’s mode of interpretation.

 

The next two lines are from those who respond. The

same applies to all remaining pASuram-s.

 

iTTamAna paSukkaLai: The cows that are dear to Him.

It is only the AyarpADi girls who are very dear to

Him; how is it that the cows are termed as dear to

Him? Just as young lovers love the mediators who try

to unite the lovers together very much, this kaNNan

also loved the cows more than the gOpi-s, because they

gave Him the excuse to go after the girls. He will

make sure the cows wander away towards where the girls

are and then try to call for the cows by playing on

His flute (with the hidden intention of calling His

lovers!). tiruvAimozhi 6-2-2 talks about this “AgaL

pOga viTTuk kuzhal Udu pOyirundE”. The cows helped

Him in another way as well. When He returned home late

in the evening after playing with the AyarpADi girls,

if the parents enquire as to why He was late, He could

say “These cows wandered away a long distance; I had

to go and round them up and that is why I am late”!

Thus, there were at least two reasons why the cows

were very dear to Him.

 

iTTamAna paSukkaLai: In tiruvAImozhi 10-3-10,

nammAzhvAr says that for kaNNan, looking after these

cows is more enjoyable than being in His paramapadam :

“tivattilum paSu nirai mEyppu uvatti”. SrI PVP’s

anubhavam is that even in paramapadam, He only dreams

about the cows he looked after in His kRshNa

incarnation, and speaks incoherently about them, as in

delirium, in His sleep.

 

inidu maRittu : Calling each cow sweetly by its name.

How could He have remembered the thousands of names

of those cows? Obviously, it is not difficult for Him

who gives a name and form to countless cEtana-s during

the time of sRshTi (creation).

 

nIrUTTi: When the cows and calves need water to

drink, He will find a water pond of the right size for

them and demonstrate to them how to drink the water -

He will hold both His hands on His back , bend down to

the water, and sip the water with His mouth; the cows

and calves will imitate Him and thus quench their

thirst. tiruma’ngai AzhvAr describes this in periya

tirumozhi 2-5-3 - “varaimI kAnil taDam parugu karu

mugil” (that cloud-hued perumAn pretended to drink

water from the pond in order to make the young calves

drink water).

 

SrI PVP continues his anubhavam of the term ‘nIr

UTTi”, by referring to bhagavAn’s words in the gItA,

where He indicates that He believes in setting an

example for the others (in this case, SrI PVP’s

anubhavam is that He is setting an example for the

cows!).

 

“yad yad Acarati SrEshTha: tat tadeva itaro jana: |

sa yat pramANam kurute lokas tad anuvartatE ||”

(gItA 3.21)

 

(People without the requisite knowledge will perform

only those karma-s that those with knowledge will

perform; they will perform the karma-s only to the

extent that the knowing people perform). Consistent

with this, kaNNan performed the act of drinking water

from the pond, so that the cows could follow His

example. And He enjoyed looking after these cows -

“kanRu mEyttu inidu uganda kALAi” – (tiruneDum

tANDagam 3-16).

 

viTTuk koNDu viLaiYADa: Thus leaving the cows to

graze (viTTuk koNDu), He went around sporting Himself

(viLaiyADa). How can He play when the cows are

grazing in the meadows? That is the whole purpose of

His taking this incarnation. So He is relishing in

that, without minding His greatness, ignoring the care

of His hair, not washing His clothes, and wandering

hither and thither according to His will. After the

cows have finished grazing and had enough water to

drink, there is nothing else to do. Then, there is

only playing for Him. He appeared in the earth only to

do leelA or playing.

 

virundA vanattE kaNDOmE: this kind of scene cannot be

had in SrI vaikuNTham or even in tiruvAippADi; the

anubhavam that kaNNan had in SrI brindAvanam is

similar to the practice the kings had in building

secret palaces in secluded spots so that they can

enjoy time with their wives in seclusion.

 

C. Additional thoughts from SrI UV:

 

iTTIRiTTu: Recall that SrI PVP had interpreted this

phrase as “As a result of the display of His arrogance

or haughtiness”. SrI UV gives a different

interpretation.

iDudal is ‘doing’ or ‘giving’; IRu is ‘finishing’;

“iTTIRiTTu” means “Having fulfilled all that He was

thinking about”. It can even refer to the jagad

vyApAra leelan’s sRshTi, sthiti and samhAram.

 

i’ngE pODa: Has He come to this place where I am?

 

Sri UV has two different interpretations for the first

two lines in this tirumozhi:

 

1. when the nAyakan is late in coming to her, the

nAyaki usually is mad and uses chiding remarks. This

anger is reflected in the first two lines of this

pASuram. gOdai is referring to kaNNan as a ‘kArERu’

that has been gallivanting around stealthily, and the

stealthiness is taking a dark-hued form. Doesn’t

baladEvan make sure that He does not lose His dEvatvam

even though He is strong? This kaNNan is subservient

to baladEvan and yet is committing atrocities.

2. The second interpretation is that gOdai is full of

respect for emperumAn, as reflected in her earlier

reference to Him as “kaRRinam mEykkavum mEykkap

peRRAn” (NT 12-8). Even though He is doing “paTTi

mEyndu” now, He is one who has no comparison [oppillA

appan] and one with no blemishes. He has so much

soulabhyam that He raises even His subordinates to a

level higher than Himself; and elevates the devotees

who are dear to Him. This respect of gOdai to Him is

reflected in the first two lines of the pASuram.

Listening to this, gOdai’s elderly folks who did not

have any interest in Him earlier, now form great

respect for Him, which is reflected in the next two

lines.

 

SrI UV notes that a similar bhAvam can be assigned to

the remaining pASurams also.

 

Abbreviations:

------------------

PVP= SrI periyavAccAn piLLai

PBA= SrI prativAdi bhayankaram aNNangarAcAriyAr

UV = SrI uttamUr vIrarAghavAcAriyAr

 

sarvam SrIman nArAyaNAyEti samarpayAmi.

 

aDiyAL,

kalyANi kRshNamAcAri

 

(Articles on nAcciyAr tirumozhi are available at:

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Troy/7673/azhwars/nachiyar.html

maintained by SrI VenkaT aiyengAr of SrI villiputtUr)

 

 

 

 

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