Thiruppavai - 8th verse- Krishna -Parama krupALu says aahaa (wow), welcomes and blesses us...

[Guest guest]

SrI:

SrimathE Gopaladesika mahadesikaya nama

 

Dearest all

 

Today’s verse: 8th verse for our enjoyment…

 

kIzhvaanam veLLenRu erumai ciRu vIdu *

mEyvaan paran^thana kaaN mikkuLLa piLLaikaLum *

pOvaan pOkinRaaraip pOkaamal kaaththu * unnaik

kUvuvaan van^thu ninROm * kOthukalamutaiya

paavaay ezhun^thiraay paatip paRai koNtu *

maavaay piLan^thaanai mallarai maattiya *

thEvaathi thEvanaic cenRu naam cEviththaal *

aavaavenRu aaraayn^thu aruLElOr em paavaay. 8.

 

In this paasuram , ANDAL awakens another

Utthama adhikAri (kOthUkalamudaya Paavai)

and asks her to join the BhAgavatha GhOshti.

 

In Gokulam , the Cowherds had three kinds of

wealth : Cows, Sheep and Buffalo (JananyAcchAr).

Here ANDAL adopts the language of the cowherdess

and refers to the early morning scene , where Buffalos

are let out for their first grazing (Panip pull mEytthal).

 

Literal Meaning of the Paasuram:

 

Oh beautiful girl full of uthsAham (kuthUhalam )

for the Lord ! Day break is approaching as seen

by the whitening of the Eastern sky from the earlier

red hue linked with AruNOdhayam . Awaken ! The hungry

buffalos have been led to the pastures close to home

( siRu Veedu mEyvAN) for their " breakfast " of dewy

grass .We have detained the other Gopis , who were

ready to go to the place of vratham so that you can join

with us all .We have assembled in front of your house to

awaken you and take you with us . Please get up.

If we sing about our Lord's glory together , He will

give us the vrathOpakaranams (Drum and other saamagriyAs

to observe our vratham ).When we approach our Lord--who

destroyed the asuran Kesi by tearing his mouth apart,

and killed the wrestlers of KamsA's court--and prostrate

before Him in all humility, that Lord (KrishNa ), the Lord

of all gods(Devaathi Devan ) will be moved and have

DayA for us and will inquire about our yOga KshEmam with

great interest (aavA yenRu=haa haa yenRu)/(V.S) .

 

The Inner Meaning of the whole paasuram:

 

Oh Joyous Maiden, who is very dear to the Lord!

Please come and join this ghOshti . We have come to

take you with us on our journey to AchAryan ,

who protects our Indhriyams from entering into

destructive ways and who by the power of Jn~Anam and

anushtAna sakthi destroys Naasthikan as well as

Kudhrushtis (Those who have viparItha Jn~Anam

and interpret Veda Manthrams wrongly).That AchAryan

is greater than even sarvEsvaran for us. We should

sing his praise through his taniyan and get our

minds cleared by the anushtAnam of Prapatthi

and understand well the mode of behavior after

prapatthi and practise it ; afterwards , placing

AchAryan in front , if we arrive at Bhagavath

SannidhAnam and prostrate before The Lord of Lords ,

He will be elated and inquire carefully into our

qualifications as aartha prapannan (One who is desirous of

Moksham without dealy )or dhruptha Prapannan (One who

wishes MoKsham at the time of falling of this body)

and grant us the appropriate prapathti phalan .

 

The Inner Meanings of the different words of this paasuram:

 

(1)The maiden in this paasuram is addressed as " KOTHUKALAM

UDAYA PAAVAAI " ( One who is very much desired by KrishNa).

Why So? In Bhagavath Githai , Lord says " priyOhi jn~Ani

nOthyarthamaham sa cha mama priya: " (GitA 7.17). He says

here that the Jn~Ani is ever dear to Him ;I am very dear to

him and he too is very dear to Me. " Even I , the Omniscient

and Omnipotent , is unable to express how much dear the Jn~Anin

is to me , since there is no such limit (as this much)

for this love ( that I have for him /Jn~Anin) " .This maiden

is one such Jn~Ani , who has the greatest preethi for

the Lord and He for her. The Gopis feel that meeting

KrishNa with this Gopi (Jn~Ani)in front (Puraskruthya)

will make it easy for them to obtain Lord's grace .

 

(2) Keezh vaanam veLLenRu: Vaanam means AkAsam or

Gaganam . KooratthAzhwAn has stated in Sundhara Baahu

Sthavam , " yamm tamm Vidhur daharam ashtaguNopajushtam

AkAsam oupanishadheeshu Sarsavatheeshu " based on

the Brahma Soothram ( dahara UttharEbhya:).

The Upanishadic statement is : " Dahram vipApmam paravEsma-

bhUtham yath PuNDareekam puramadhyasamstham,tathrapi

dahram gaganam visOkas tasmin yathanthas tadhupAsithavyam " .

We have daharAkasam inside us.There are two interelated

aspects to DaharAkAsam (paravEsma bhUtham): (a) One is

the aadharam/base for Parama Purushan , Dahara puNDareekam,

which is referred to as Keezh Vaanam (b) on that Keezh

Vaanam sits the daharAkAsa sabdha-vaachyan , EmperumAn ,

who is recognized as mEl Vaanam .If the Keezh Vaanam

(Dahara PuNdareekam ) does not have purity , then

EmperumAn wont sit on it .It has to be spatika

suddham ( " VeLLenRu Keezh Vaanam Irukka vENDum)

( View of Sri P.B.AnnangarAcchAr Swamy).

 

The connection between Dahara VidhyA upAsanai and

other upAsanais covered in Upanishads ending up with

" DevAthi dEvan " , Sriman NaarAyaNan is referred to here.

 

(3)Abhinava Desikan points out that the increasing

whiteness ( VeLLenRu) denotes a key transformation

for a Mumukshu ( One desires Moksham). Until the time

of AchArya sambhandham , it was a dark night for

the Mumukshu; after gaining AchArya anugraham through

Prapatthi , it is the onset of the bright dawn (Brahma

muhUrtham) for the Prapannan .Sri PerukkAraNai Swamy

as a great admirer of Abhinava Desikan's " SarvathO mukha

PaaNDithyam " takes off often from his " mentor's "

Sri Sookthis. We will see this again and again.

 

(4)Yerumai SiRu veedu mEyvAn paranthana kaaNN: Abhinava

Desikan has a telling explanation regarding the inner meaning

of this paasura Vaakyams. The Buffalo (yerumai) has a slower

gait than the Cow. They take their own time to get to

their destination(Moksham). On the way , they soak in ponds

and canals , enjoy themselves and therefore are delayed

further to reach their place of intent . Bhakthi nishtars

are so deeply entranced in Bhagavath anubhavam that

they are delayed in getting Moksham . In this matter ,

their lot is like that of the afore-described buffalos.

PrapannAs ( Those who have pereformed Prapatthi) are

like cows that move faster like an arrow leaving

the bow and attain MOksham (SiRu Veedu) without delay

and enjoys the nectar at Sri Vaikuntam .SiRu veedu has

also been intrepreted by other commentators as " siRRibham '

Compared to the the " anthamil pErinbham " (Sri Vaikuntam)

and also as Kaivalyam .

 

(5) " Paadi " = with anusandhAnam (recital) of AchArya Taniyan

 

(6) " parai KoNDu " = praising AchAryan's mahimai

all over the world like Madhura Kavi AzhwAr

or comprehending well Prapathti Vidhyai.

 

(7) " MikkuLLa PiLlaikaLum " : Those Mumukshus , who

know well that they do not have the qualifications

to pursue Bhakthi Yogam and hence choose Prapatthi

Maargam .

 

(8) " pOvAn pOhinrAraip pOhAmal kaathu unnaik koovuvAn

vanthu ninROm " : Sri P.B.A Swamy quotes the mangaLa

SlOkam of NyAya parisuddhi to illustrate the unique

greatness Of Sri RaamAnujA as a ParamAchAryan:

" tath Paadha kODirayOs sambhandhEna samitthyAmAna VibhavAn " .

EmperumAnAr ( Udayavar) has this rare distinction of

uplifting (utthIrNam) those who went before him with

his Thirumudi Sambhandham and those who came after him

with his Thiruvadi sambhandham.

 

(9) dEvAthi dEvan : ANDAL's usage of this naamam

to salute the Lord has been intrepreted to refer to

Kaanchi VaradarAjan ( " ayarvarum amararkaL adhipathi "

salutation of Swamy NammAzhwAr) or to DEva Naatha

PerumAL of ThriuvahIndhrapuram.

 

(10) Mallarai Maattiya: The subjugation and destruction of

ahankAra-mamakArams are referred to here ( " ahankaaram-

mamakAram pOnRavarkaL iru malai pOl yethirnthu vantha

mallarai saava tavirttha " is the paasuram passage to recall).

 

(11) MaavAi piLanthAnai: literally , the Lord , who tore

apart the mouth of the asuran Kesi ( " anru thuraka vaai keeNDa

mudiyAi , nangaL naraka vaai keeNDAnum neeyE " are the words

of AzhwAr) . The inner meaning here is the salutation to

the AchAryan , who mkaes the dumb speak . We are like

Jn~ana heena pasus (mruga saamAnyams)and are dumb creatures.

The Lord in the form of AchAryan intervenes and opens our

mouth to speak well and sing in praise of the Lord . Prakrutham

AchAryan is a living example of such a miracle . He did not

speak from birth and AchArya KatAksham transformed him

and placed him in an eminent position as an AchAryan

to guide the others.

 

(12) AarAynthu ARULAL : The use of " aruL " here means the arousal

of KrupA in the Lord on hearing our Aartha dhavani( screaming

in pain of samsAram for help).

 

(13) senRu naam sEvitthAl: " AchAryAthiha dEvatham

samadhikAmanyAm namanyAmahE " establishes the unmatched

glory of the AchAryan in Swamy Desikan's Sri Sookthi.

We have to approach (senRu) and offer our prostrations

(naamm sEvitthAl/sa GurumEvAbhigacchEth). We have to

fall at this AchAryan's feet and get our doubts cleared

with humility ( " praNipAdhEna pariprachnEna SEVAYAA " ).

 

(14) AAVENRU AARAAYNTHU ARULUM (AchAryan):When we approach

this AchAryan in all humility , then he will welcome us

with open arms and examine us for sishya lakshaNa poorthi

and bless us with great dayA.

 

(15) In addition to the deep spiritual insight gleaned

from the passages of this paasuram , one can not but

fall at the sacred feet of ANDAL for Her immaculate

poetic skills in the description of the advancement of

dawn .Those who have seen the red hue of dawn shifting

slowly into different degrees of whiteness as the Sun

climbs up can relate well to Her choice words " Keezh

Vaanam VeLLenRu " . ThoNDardippodi's ThirupaLLIyezhucchi

paasura Vaakhyams alos echo in our minds:

" SudaroLi paranthana Soozh disai yellAM

thunniya thAtakai minnoLi surungi " .

 

[Extracted from Sri Satakopan swami’s translation of exhaustive Tamil

commentary on Thiruppavai by Sri U Ve PerukaraNai Swami]

 

Andal Thiruvadigale saraNam

Regards

Namo narayana

dAsan