thiruppavai 29-chitRam sirukaalE

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Pasuram-29-sitram sirukAlE

sitramsirukAlE vandhunnai sEvitthun

pottramarai adiye pottrum poruL keLAi

pettram meitthuNNum kulatthil pirandhu nee

kuttrEval engaLai koLLAmal pOgAdhu

ittraipparai koLvAn anru kAN gOvindA

ettraikkumEzEzu piravikkum unthannOdu

uttrEmE AvOm unakkE nAm AtseivOm

mattrai nam kAmangal mAttrElOrempAvAi

Hear why we have come in the early morning and worship your lotus-like feet.Being born in th clan of cowherds you cannot refuse our service to you.We have not come here just ask for the requisites for this vratha but to pray that we should belong to you for all the lives to come and should serve you alone. remove all the other desires of ours.

sitram sirukAle-kAle means the time when the gopis start their work such as churningthe milk. sirukAle is the time before that when they wake up and sitramsirukAle denotes the brAhmamuhurtha when yogis and ages wake up and start their worship.

This word is also interpreted thus:

siru+am+siru kAl-siru kAl the small feet of young Krishna which is am,beautiful and siru, seen a little outside.

The time when we go to see the Lord is the early morning., sirukAle. In the temples even if the gate is opened at noon the suprbhatham is recited.It is mentioned as sitram siru kAl because the time we see the Lord in the temple is much less than that spent in other activities.

The time Krishna is found in Gokula is short because (i) as soon as the day breaks he will go to the forest to tend cattle (ii) soon he will leave for Madura.

To a devotee the time he acquires the knowledge if the Lord is the early morning because till then it was night spent in sleeping due to ignorance. From the time he leaves this body and attain the Lord his day starts.

vandhunnai sEvitthu-Whay Andal means is this: without expecting that you will come to us as you did in the case of Gajendhra we ourselves have come to you.

pottrAmarai adiyE- They did not want anything else like gold or worldlypleasures but wanted only to serve the Lord an dtherefore leaving everything have come to Him as Vibheeshana said 'thyakthva puthrAmscha dhArAmscha rAghavam SatraNam gathah' that is, "leaving my sons and wives I have surrendered to Rama."

Petram meitthuNNum----pOgAdhu- Vedanta Desika in DayaSathakam calls the Lord a krsheevala, farmer who is intent on His harvest of prapannas.(DayaSatakam-108) So like a farmer who protects his crop and stays on his fileld overnight to at the harvest time to guard against thieves and birds etc.from taking away or destroying his cp rop, the Lord also comes down to earth in the form of His incarnations to safeguard the interests of His devotees.Hence after having been born in the clan of cowherds Andal says that it is His responsibility to save us.

ittrai----unnakkEnam AtseivOm- It is not their intention to get the accessories for their vrata, Parai koLvAn anru but it was only a pretext to approach him and ask him to give them the opportunity to do his service.

uttrOmE AvOm- The Lord is the only real relation to us for all our lives ( seven times seven) , because others belong to one life only..'mAthA mE Laksmeedevee pithA dhEvO janArdhanah;bAnDhavAh vishnubhakthAscha vasudhaiva kutumbakam,' is the attitude of a prapanna.

The upanishad says, 'na vA arE pathyuh kAmAya pathih priyO bhavathi, Athmansthu kAmAya.'(Brhd.2-4-5) The worldly relationships are selfish-motivated. The self is the dearest of all and the Lord is the self of all.

UnakkEnAm AtseivOm- kuttrEval means the kainkryam to the best of one's ability and according to the will of the Lord. This denotes Anukulya sankalpam and prAthikulya varjanam, the first two angas of prapatthi mentioned in the previous pasuram. By saying kutrEval engalAu ikkoLlAmal pOgAdhu indicates mahavisvasam and the line uttrOmE AvOm unakkE nAm AtseivOm implies gOpthruthva varaNam at the exclusion of others. By saying pettram meitthuNNum kula they

mattrai nam kAmangaL mAttrElorempAvAi-While the previous lines imply svarupa samarpaNam and phalasamarpaNam, by saying we belong to you(uttrOmE AvOm) and we expect only the kainkarya as the phala, this line is by way of bharasamarpaNam, placing the burden of saving us on the Lord Himself. We are incapable of controlling our mind as Arjuna said, 'chanchalam hi manah krishna pramAThi balavaddhrDam thasyAham nigraham manye vAyOriva sudhushkaram,' the mind is fickle and very agitated and powerful and to control it is as difficult as controlling the wind. Hence Andal places the responsibility on the Lord himself by saying 'mattrai nam kAmangal mattrElorempAvai, remove all other desires from our mind ' The Lord creates vairagya in the mind of the one who surrenders and make him completely engrossed in Himself.