Thriruppavai pasuram5

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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.'