Thiruppavai - 24th verse- anRivvulagam aLandhaay aDi pORRi.

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SrI:

SrImathE Gopaladesika mahadesikaya nama:

 

Dearest all,

 

Today’s verse is the 24th verse.

Let us continue to enjoy the wonderful commentary of His Holiness Srimath

Paravakkottai Andavan of Sri Poundarikapuram Swami ashramam, Srirangam –

translated into English by Sri CG Balaji Swami.

 

anRu ivvulakam aLan^thaay ati pORRi *

cenRaNGkuth thennilaNGkai ceRRaay thiRal pORRi *

ponRac cakatam uthaiththaay pukazh pORRi *

kanRu kuNilaa eRin^thaay kazhal pORRi *

kunRu kutaiyaay etuththaay kuNam pORRi *

venRu pakai ketukkum nin kaiyil vEl pORRi *

enRenRu un cEvakamE Eththip paRai koLvaan *

inRu yaam van^thOm iraNGku ElOr empaavaay. (2) 24.

 

Heeding to the entreaties of the Gopis, Kannan came and

seated Himself on the throne. Captivated by the beauty of His stride

and the beauty of His sitting stance, the Gopis forgot the reason for

their visit and sung Him a song of pallandu.

 

anRu ivvulagam aLandhaam aDipORRi: -You incarnated as Vamana and later took the

gigantic form of Trivikrama, measuring all the

celestial worlds and sanctifying them all with the sacred waters

from your lotus feet and sacramented them with the shadow of

your lotus feet. With the second measure you placed your foot on

the crowns of one and all without any bias relieving them off their

sins. You thus upheld your inherent virtue of saushilyam, by

associating yourself equally well, with the high as well as the low

ones. Having made the Lord take steps with such great a thiruvadi,

the Gopis deemed this to be a transgression and sought forgiveness

from the Lord and sung him a song of pallandu. The Gopis said

with delight, “Oh Lord! You had once walked into the sacrificial

arena displaying the beauty of your pace and had reclaimed the

worlds from Bali in the name of generous offerings. Today, by

bestowing on us the vision of the same exquisite gait, you have

reclaimed us all, who had withered in your separation. That day,

Indra got back his lost kingdom from you. The subjects won the

association of your lotus feet on their heads. But today, we have

won you!â€

 

senRangu thennilankai seRRal thiRal pORRi – Periyazhwar sung the glories of

the Lord in his pallandu as “un sEvadi sevvi thirukkAppuâ€. Similarly Andal

sung a mangalashasanam to the Lord to prevent His lotus feet from being tainted

by the devouring looks of humans. Sri Rama was extolled by His father. He sung

him a song of praise wishing Him overwhelming success against the evil.

 

Similarly, Andal sings a song of praise in favour of the valour of Sri

Rama, who fought triumphantly with the evil demons in Lanka.

senRu– Signifies the moving of the army of Sri Rama on the bridge

that was built by them across the ocean. The very sight of it would

nullify all our sins.

 

Here Andal extols not only the hands that have adorned the

bow, but also the lotus feet. To keep Kannan away from thinking

that they have started to praise Rama and not Him, she sings “_

ponRac cakatam uthaiththaay pukazh pORRi – The cart guised Shakatasura,

received a ghastly kick, and was bestowed with the same fate as

that of Maricha. “Oh Kannan, the measuring of the worlds and the

winning over of Lanka, were all accomplished by the triumphant

after having reached a prime age. But you vanquished the evil

Shakatasura, even as a toddler. Without even the support from

your mother, you playfully kicked him and saw his end. Long live,

such glory and such greatnessâ€.

 

kanRu kuNilaa eRin^thaay kazhal pORRi – “One demon came in the

guise of a calf and tried to kill Krishna. Another one tried to hit him

hard in the guise of a fruit called ‘vilaampazam’. Having known

this, you threw the calf into the air and killed the evil

Kapiththasuran as well. What a wonder! Just as how a thorn is

pricked out by another, you sent one asura into a whirl and

smashed the other. Glory to your brave and strong shoulders that

have accomplished such a featâ€, says Andal.

 

kunRu kutaiyaay etuththaay kuNam pORRi – For seven days in a

row, you held aloft the mighty Govardhana on your little finger and

protected the entire populace of Ayirpadi along with their cattle

from the onslaughts of the incessant shower. You gave the cattle

and the folks with fodder and food. Having seen stacks of grass,

you imparted the nectar to the folks of Ayirpadi and made their

hunger disappear. You thus subdued the pride of Indra, who had

inflicted such torments on your devotees. Your glories are

immeasurable and beyond reach of mere words. Andal thus extols

the infinite auspicious attributes of the Lord with special mention

of his compassion and mercy.

 

venRu pakai ketukkum nin kaiyil vEl pORRi - – Kannan adorns

the spear in His hand, in order to protect the cattle and the

cowherds from any impediments, when they set out to graze their

cattle in the forest. Also, the discus in His hand has many sharp

spikes similar to His spear. Sri Rama was a royal prince and so

adorned the bow in His hands. Since Kannan is “

koorvEl kodunthozhilan nandhagOpan kumaranâ€, He adorned the spear perhaps.

Andal thus sang in praise of the spear and the discus that is Sudarshana Azhwar.

 

yenRenRum un sEvakamE yEtthi paRaikoLvaan – Having painted the picture of all

your adventurous accomplishments on the canvas of our hearts, we have come here

singing praises and have assembled here today to relish and celebrate your

glories. We pray you to bestow your compassion and to shower your benevolence on

us.

The purport here is that the Lord unfailingly protects those

who seek refuge at His feet. It may also be taken as songs of glories

in favour of the preceptors. Preceptors like Bhagavad Ramanuja,

travelled far and wide, imparting spiritual and esoterical knowledge

to deserving disciples, dispelling the iniquitous attributes in them

like pride and selfishness that were as vicious as the ruler of Lanka

and thereby showed them all, the path to deliverance. Andal sings

the glories of the lotus feet of such an Acharya. This pasuram is the

singing of glories of an Acharya, who lights the lamp of knowledge

in us and dispels the darkness of nescience, thereby giving us

supreme bliss.

 

Andal ThiruvaDigaLE SaraNam

Regards

Namo narayana

dAsan