Thirppavai-Pasuram3,4 and 5

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Pasuram 3.- Ongiulagalandha

 

Ongi ulagaLandha uththaman perpaadi

naangaL nampaavaikku saattri neeraadinaal

theenginri naadellaam thingaL mummaari peydhu

Ongu perumsennel oodu kaylugaLa

poonkuvaLaippOdhil porivaNdu kaNpaduppa

thengaadhe pukkirundhu seerththa mulai patri

vaangakkudam niraikkum vaLLaL perum pasukkaL

neengaadha selvam niraindhelOrempaavai

 

Translation

 

When we sing the glory of the Lord who measured the whole universe

with one foot, and proceed to do our ritual by bathing in His grace

the whole country will be blessed with rains three times a month and

the paddy crop will grow tall and the fish will swim in the water

that surrounds it and the bees will sleep inside the kuvalai flowers

that grow in the water. The aayppadi will become prosperous with the

cows filling the pots by mere touch of the udder.

 

commentary

 

The Lord is referred to as Utthaman. The particle ‘thama’ is

added to words to show the superlative degree. ‘ Uth’ denotes mukthas

the realized souls, uththara the nityasuris, the ever-free souls like

Garuda, Ananta etc. and uththama the Lord.

 

Ongi ulagaLandha Uththaman â€"Ongi means rising high and ulagalandha

means measuring the world. This has reference to the Vamanaavathaara

when the Lord came as a midget Brahmin youth and asked Mahabali

three feet of ground as dhaana. When Mahabali started to give it the

Lord grew in size and covered the whole earth with His foot and the

heavens with the second and challenged Mahabali to give him the

ground for the third foot and when Mahabali offered his head for the

Lord to put His third foot He sent Mahabali to Paathaalaloka and

being pleased with his devotion the Lord also positioned Himself as

his guard. He is Uththama because He destroyed only the pride of

Mahabali but gave him in return His bhakthi samrajya. When He

covered the earth with His foot He placed it on all irrespective of

their merit to deserve it. He will give rain, which stands for His

grace,

unasked and hence He is Uththama.

 

Mahabali acquired the post of Devendra for a short duration

due to his merit and he gave away all the riches of Indra to the

saptarshis and as a consequence was born as Mahabali and became

arrogant of his power and confiscated the heaven from Indra . When

Aditi the mother of devas prayed to the Lord , He came down as her

son Vamana and punished Mahabali.

When the Lord raised His foot to heavens Brahma washed His

feet with the water from his kamandala, holy pot but it was not

sufficient and then the Lord tore open the cosmic shell and the

waters beyond the universe, aavaraNajala poured through and washed

His feet and that was Aakaasaganga, the heavenly Ganges which later

Bhagiratha brought to earth.

 

The whole creation belongs to the Lord as He is the seshi and

all the rest are seshas. Mahabali thought that the world belonged to

him and performed the sacrifice feeling proud that all his wealth and

thought that he is capable of bestowing anything to anybody. The Lord

killed only this arrogance but otherwise showered His grace on

Mahabali. Similar to Mahabali we also think that our soul, atman,

belongs to us whereas not only our soul but nothing else belongs to

us. Even our children are born through us into this world but not

born to us. The story of Mahabali illustrates only this .

 

Nammazvar asks, ‘ When the Lord covered the whole earth with

his first foot where was the space for His second foot?’ So Mahabali

gave on enough land for only one foot !

 

Perpadi â€" Singing His name is enough to secure His grace. The nama is

even greater than the nami. It was the nama that came to the rescue

of Draupadi. So Andal here praises the name which is enough to give

them rain.

 

NangaL nampavaikku saatri neeraadinaal - Neeraadal or taking bath

implies engrossed devotion. We bathe for cleansing ourselves of

impurity . Here the inner and the outer purity is intended as

Purandaradasa said, ‘manasu kuliyabeku krishnaanadhiyalu

thirthamaadi,’ the mind should be cleansed, and not the mere body, by

bathing in river of Krishna, the Lord. Saatri neeraadal means doing

everything as a service to the Lord, bhagavatkainkaryam.

 

Theenginri naadellaam thingLl mummaari peydhu - theenginri means

without obstacles. The rain should come three times a month, maadham

mummaari, to the whole country naadellaam. In ancient days when

people lived adhering to dharma, there were three showers a month,

nine days of sun and one day of rain. This ensured that there were no

excessive rain, athivrishti, or anaavrishti, draught. When for

instance the reading of virata parva of Mahabharatha was going on,

not only that region but the whole country got rain.

 

The word mummaari, according to the commentators, implies the

three streams of water, the water poured by Mahabali in the hand of

the Lord giving dhaana, the water from the kamandalu of Brahma to

wash His feet and the water of the Ganges created by Him by tearing

open the cosmic shell and bringing down the Avaranajalam.

 

Ongu perum sennel â€" The paddy crop, sennel, grew high and big giving

bountiful harvest after the birth of Krishna.

 

Oodu kayalugaLa - The water level was high likewise and the fish

were seen running through it. Commentators see a reference to

Matsyavathara and take the word kayal, fish to refer to the Lord

Himself.

 

PoonguvaLaippodhil porivaNdu kanpaduppa â€" The beautiful black bee,

porivandu, which has entered the kuvalai flower to drink the honey

became drowsy and slept inside as in a cradle rocked by the fish

going to and fro. The Lord Himself , who enters the heart of a

devotee and rests there rocked by the loving hand of devotion

could be imagined as the bee here.

 

Thengaadhe pukkirundhu seertha mulai patri

vangakkudam niraikkum vaLLal perum pasukkal â€" The cows of aayarpadi

were big, perumpasukkal, bountiful, vallal generous and do not

withhold their milk, thengaadhe , and fill the pot, kudam niraikkum,

when the cowherds touched their udder pukkirundhu seertha mulaipatri

vanga. When the cow is ready to give all she has if one is not able

to milk her fully, it is not the fault of the cow but due to the

inefficiency of the cowherd or insufficiency of the pot. Similarly

the Lord is like a generous cow, ready to give everything if we ask

him for trifles it is our fault.

 

The acharyas are likened to vaLLalperum pasukkal as they

are ready to impart all their wisdom to the disciples. But how much

the disciple is able to grasp depends on the vessel he carries,

namely the amount of faith, his thirst for knowledge and his

intellectual capacity, more than anything else his karma and the

grace of the Lord.

 

In this context the mummaari, the three showers are, the

resolve of the devotee who surrenders to the Lord to accept Him alone

as his master, to desist from seeking any other means of salvation

except the devotion to the Lord and not to look for any other end

than to attain Him. The word is also taken to refer to the three

types of serving Him, namely, to write about Him, to tell others

about His glory and to serve Him in the form of Archavathara , idol

to be worshipped.

 

Onguperum sennel , the tall crop of paddy is the growth in

the number of devotees who surrender to Him which makes Him sleep

peacefully in their hearts like a Porivandu, a black bee with spots.

The spots described here could be His ornaments as Azvar said’

palappalave aabharanam, His ornaments are numerous or by a stretch of

imagination one can be reminded of the sloka of

Kulasekhara, ‘ ‘Ksheerasaagaratharngasheekaraasaarathaarakilachaaru

moorthaye’ the body of the Lord is speckled with the drops from the

milky ocean like the sky shining with stars.

 

To the devotee whatever he sees will remind him of the Lord.

The gopis thought only of Krishna when they saw anything tall and

beautiful. To Parasara bhattar and Alavandar, the lotuses grown in

the water of the paddy fields and the tall full grown stalk of paddy

bending downward, brought the picture of the Lord and His devotees.

 

 

Pasuram-4

 

AazimazaikkaNNa onru nee kaikaravel

aaziyul pukku mugarndhu kodaarththeri

oozimudhalvan uruvampOl meikaruththu

paaziyamthOludai padmabnaabhan kaiyil

aazipOl minni valampuripOl ninradhirndhu

thaazaadhe saarngam udhaiththa sara mazai pOl

vaaza ulaginil peydhidai naangalum

maargazi neeraada maggizndhelOrempaavai.

 

Translation

 

Oh rain-bearing cloud, who looks like Krishna to us, be impartial and

send showers for the world to flourish . You dip into the sea and

draw the water and ascend to the sky looking dark in hue like that

of the Lord and shining with lightning like the disc and thundering

like the conch in the hands of the Lord of the lotus-navel, discharge

the showers like that of the arrows from His bow and enable us to

complete our neeraadal with glee.

 

Commentary

 

Andal has called the Lord as OngiulagaLandha Uththaman and so the

clouds were afraid that He himself may create rain as He created the

Ganges and deprive them of their job. Hence they already appeared in

front, ready to do the bidding of Andal and she commands them to

give rain. The elements obey the words of the ardent devotees of the

Lord.

 

AazimazaikkaNNaa- It may be construed to be addressed to the Lord

Himself as He is the indweller of all.

 

Onru nee kai karavel â€" Do not show partiality but give rain to

everybody. Here Andal, being the incarnation of Bhoo devi, entreats

the Lord to show mercy to all her children.

 

AaziyuLpukku - Andal gives instruction to the cloud to go deep into

the ocean and take as much water as it can so that all will be

benefited.

 

Mugarndhukodaarththeri â€" The cloud should draw water and ascend high

in order not to empty it on the way so that the entire humanity will

get the rain.

 

Oozi mudhalvan uruvampOl meikaruththu â€" The body of the Lord will be

dark especially at the end of pralaya just before creation due to His

daya, mercy, and also because He carried all beings inside Him. The

Lord is described as being dark like the rain- bearing cloud only for

this reason. The only difference is that while the dark cloud

becomes white after it has emptied the water inside the Lord is

always dark due to His eternal daya.

 

Padmanaabhan- He sports a lotus rising from His navel on which is

seated the four-faced Brahma who creates the world as per His

command. So the word Padmanaabha refers to the Lord as the creator.

 

Aazi Ool minni valampuripOl ninradhirndhu â€" The disc and the conch

are to protect the good and to punish the wicked. The disc shines

brilliantly to instill fear in the hears of the wrong doers and the

conch sounds like thunder to make them shiver. When Krishna sounded

His conch, Paanchajanya, at the outset of the Mahabharatha war it

tore the hearts of the Kouravas, says Gita, ‘paanchajanyam hrshikesah-

------ sa goshah dharthrashtranaam hrdhyaani vyadhaarayath.’

 

Thaazaadhe saarngam udhaiththa saramazai pOl - When the Lord sees

his devotees in distress He uses His weapons like the bow called

saarngam without a moment’s delay which indicates His haste in saving

them. When Gajendhra cried He could not even wait to mount His

vehicle Garuda but came running with Garuda following Him. Andal

implies here that the cloud should pour without delay like the Lord

in protecting His devotees.

 

Vaaza ulaginil peydhidaai ---------neeraadamagizndhelorempavai - The

cloud is asked to give rain in such away that it will be a source of

joy to the world and not like the rain Indra sent at the time of

Govardhanodhdhaarana.

 

The acharya is the rain-bearing cloud who out of his mercy

imparts his teaching to the sishyas. The similarities and difference

between the two are as follows.

 

1.The cloud takes salt water from the sea and gives out sweet water

as rain. So too the acharya absorbs the profound truths which are

unpalatable to all because they are difficult to understand and he

gives it out in a simple form for the world to understand.

 

2.If the rains fail the world will suffer. Similarly the acharyas

who appear from time to time to save the world from adharma and

calamity.

 

3.The cloud does not expect anything in return like a good acharya

who gives his upadesa without the expectation of any reward.

 

4.The clouds do not stay in one place but wander all over the sky

giving rain to everybody. So also the acharyas travel everywhere to

enlighten the people.

 

5. The rain of the acharyas is the grace of the Lord creating the

flow of joy that cools the others who contact them.

 

6. Unlike the cloud the acharya does not lose his rain of wisdom,

jnanavarsha, by giving to others.

 

..7. The lightning of the cloud is the brilliance of jnana of the

acharya and the thunder is his roar in order to establish the

vaishnavasiddhaantha as in the case of Desika who was known as

kavaithaarkika kesari for that reason.

 

It is beautifully expressed in a metaphor that the cloud, Nammazvar

took the water of mercy from the sea, Lakshmikantha, the Lord, and

showered it on the mountain, Nadhamuni from which the water was sent

down through the two mountain streams , Uyyakkondar and Ramamisra

and reached the river, Alavandar and through the canal,

Perianambi ,finally rested in the lake, Ramanuja, from which all are

benefited.

 

Pasuram5- Maayanai mannu vada..

 

Maayanai mannu vadamadhuraimaindhanai

thooya peruneer yamunaitthuraivanai

aayarkulatthinil thOnrum aNiviLakkai

thaayaikkudal viLakkam saidha dhaamodharanai

thooyOmai vandhu naam thoomalar thoovitthozudhu

vaayinaarpaadi manadhinaal sindhikka

pOya pzaiyum pugutharuvaan ninranavum

theeyinil thoosaagum cheppElorempaavai

 

Translation

 

Pure we come and worship Him, who is enchanting, the prince of

Mathura, the resident of the sacred banks of Yamuna and the light of

the clan of shapherds,with flowers, and sing about His glory and

contemplate on Him . All our sins past , present and future will be

burnt like dust thrown into the fire.

 

Commentary.

 

After referring to the Lord by names paiyir thuyinra

paraman,Ongiulagalandha utthaman etc. Andal says here that He is none

other than Krishna, who is madhuraimaindhan, aayar kulatthu aNi

vilakku and yamunaitthuraivan. She invokes His blessing for the

fulfilment of their vrata. We need God's grace only for good deeds

because the obstacles will occur only for good actions and not for

evil ones.The coronation of Rama was stopped but not the abduction of

Sita.

 

The Lord is called 'Maayan' because the events from His birth till

He went back to Mathura, which are hinted in this pasuram show His

wnderful powers.

 

Thhooya peruneer yamunai tthuraivan- refers to the exploits of

Krishna on the banks of Yamuna.The river is pure, thooya yamuna, due

to being associated with Him.Yamuna is also termed as pure because

she was not afraid of Kamsa and parted to allow Vasudeva when he

carried Krishna to Gokula, unlike Godavari who was afraid of Ravana

and did not reply when Rama asked her the wherabouts of Sita.Yamuna

also has another name Kaalindhi since the river originated from the

mountain Kalinga, named so becaause it destroys the faults of

Kaliyuga.

 

Aayar kulatthinil thonrum - Krishna manifested in the aayarkula , the

clan of Yadhavas but not born, as He has no birth and manifests

Himself through his maya, sambhavaamiaathmamaayayaa, as He says in

the Gita.

 

ANivilakkai - During His incarnations the Lord shows His guNas to the

world.Therefore He is compared to a light . He lights the whole

aayarpaadi by His attributes and actions.

 

Thaayai kudalviLakkam seidha damodaran- dhaama means rope udara is

belly. Krishna got the name Damodara because he was tied to the

mortar with a rope across his belly. he gave fame to Yasodha,thaayai

kudalviLakkam seidha. This scene is described beautifully in

Yadavabhyoudhya, Krishnakarnamritha and Bhagavatapurana.

 

Bhagavatapurana describes Yasodha as being desperate because

whichever rope she brought was found to be short by two inches and

finally seeing her dishevelled and perspirihg, Krishna willed to

become bound.Nammazavar mentioning His karuna in doing so, lost his

consciousness for six months saying 'etthiram, ' implying the wonder

of His leela.

 

Desika in his Yadhavabhyudhaya mentioning this episode says

that those who think of Krishna as being bound thus will become free

from bondage and refers to the mortar to which He was bound,

as 'aatthapunya,'

that which has done some punya to get the contact with Krishna.

 

Leelasuka in Krishna karnaamritha says that the upanishad

artha, the essence of the upanishads is tied to the mortor,

upanishadhartham ulookhalE baddham,' while Naryanabhattadri in

Narayaneeyam wonders that Yasodha was trying to tie,

bandhumichchathee, Him, who is the bandhu of the good, with pun in

the word bandha.

 

ThooyO mai vandhOm - We have come pure which means inner purity. The

word 'vandhOm,' 'we have come' implies that they have come to their

rightful place.

 

Thoomalar thooviththozudhu - offering fragrant flowers, Physical

worship, KaayEna.

 

Vaayinaarpaadi - singing His glory, Vaachaa.

 

Manadhinaal sindhikka - contemplating on Him, Manasaa.

 

Poyapizaiyum - the karma which has not started to take effect,

sanchithakarma.

 

Pugutharuvaan - the karma which is going to take effect, aagaami

karma.

 

Ninrnavum - the present karma which has already started giving

result, praarabdha karma.

 

Theeyinil thoosaagum - All the threekinds of karma will be burnt like

dust particles in the fire.

 

CheppElOrempaavai - This is in connection with the first three lines

and enjoins the smarana of Kriihna.

 

The five forms of manifestation of the Lord,

namely,para,vyuha,vibhava, archa and antharyami are referred to in

this pasuram. The word maayan refers to the pararupa as Paravasudeva,

the ultimate reality.Maduraimaindan stands for vibhavarupa, that of

incarnations. The word thuraivan implies the four forms of vyuha as

Vasudeva,Sankarshana, Pradyumna and Anirudhdha, all the four forms

appearing in Krishnavathara. The term 'viLakku' denotes the

antharyamin or , the light within and the word Damodara refers to the

archavathara , the form visible to all for worship as idol.

 

He is called 'Maayan' as He has the maaya in His control

which can be dispelled only through His grace. Krisna says in the

Gita ' dhaiveehyEshaa gunamayeeHYeSHaa mamamaayaa dhutarathyayaa

maamEva yE prapadhyanthE maayaamEthaam tharanthithE,'meaning that

the maayaa consisting of the three gunas, the constituent of

prakrthi, is difficult to break through by all but those who resort

to Him . .Vedantadesika in his Hayagreevasthothra, calls the maayaa

of the Lord as mohanapinchikaa, the enchanting bunch of peacock

feathers. Hence krishna is seen sporting the mayurapinchika on His

head as He is Maayan MaNivaNNan.

 

Vadamadhurai can be taken to mean Vaikunta as 'vada,' north

also means utthara or high and madhura can be derived as 'madhu

raathi ithi,' that which gives honey, the honey here being the Lord

as the Upanishad calls Him 'raso vai sah, He is the rasa.

 

'Kudal viLakkam ' may mean that the Lord through His

avathaara illuminated,viLakkam, the purport of the Gayathri manthra

and the ashtaakshara, both of which are likened to the mother. So He

is Damodara, who can be bound only through the rope of bhakthi as HE

himself has said in Gita ' bhakthyaathvananyayaa labhyah.'