Guest guest Posted August 4, 1999 Report Share Posted August 4, 1999 Dear Sri Vaishnava perunthagaiyeer, Sri lakshmi nrusimha divya paadukaa sEvaka SrivaN satakOpa Sri Vedaanta desika yateendra mahaa dEsikaaya namah: In the previous postings, parts 1 to 8 on this topic, we saw * How periyaazhvaar identified KaNNan with thirumaal, * How he described the entire world was tied down by his divine music thru the paasurams (without the meanings of the paasurams), * Certain points on observations of bagavathaas. * The meanings in detail for the first six paasurams and few others who relished the kuzhal oothal episode of krishna leelai Before we see the next arpudam, let us see the meaning of periyazhvaar paasuram 3-4-7, which we saw in part 8, again on the kaNNan kuzhal oothum siRappu. KunReduththu aanirai kaaththa piraan KOvalanaai kuzhal oothi oothi KanRugaL mEiththu than thOzharOdu Kalanthu udan varuvaanai theruvil kaNdu EnRum ivanai oppaarai, nangaai, kandariyEn. KunReduththu kOvalanaai aanirai kaaththa piraan - the Lord who lifted the hillock (kunRu is hillock, malai - hill) govardhanam to save flocks of cows (aa- cows) (nirai- flocks). Here the word piraan is a beautiful selection - savior, head, lord, king all put together in one word. He is the gOpaalan- savior of cows- in tamil kOpaalan only -pa va mix up allowed, hence gOpaalan has become kOvalan. He is also the king of yaadavaas, so kOvalan. Kuzhal oothi oothi - playing the flute- why two times? oothi oothi- means, it is not a one time affair or one day affair. It is a regular and routine practice, that krishnan plays the flute, when he goes for grassing of the cows and calves. But one day he wanted to show his prowess in music, play with all the living things through his music. Hence all the arpudams happened on that day, which came to us thru 10 paasurams. Reason - he is leelayaa gOpa vesha: vishnO: as described by Sri Swami Desikan. Why this oothi oothi? Another reason- periyaazhvaar gives the indication in advance - that I am going to give arpudam after arpudam, prepare yourself to see that, enjoy that, because it may not be repeated. Because krishna has no equal/above in this world, his arpudangaL are also going to be above all excellent things available. Be prepared- a forewarning - that is why this warning appears in 3-4-4, and arpudams are given one by one in 3-6-1 to 10. Than thOzharOdu kanRugaL mEiththu- he goes to the forest to grass the young calves along with friends, so company for krishna is available- task is not handled single handedly. Kalanthu udan varuvaanai- he mixes and mingles with all easily- see the sowlabhyam- kalanthu - status is not thought about- not only with boys - calves also. Theruvil kaNdu - seen in the streets EnRum ivanai oppaarai kandariyEn nangaai- a person equal in stature to krishnaa, I have not seen- enRum- ever- oh my dear girls, says aazhvaar. Yes, who is there equal to my krishnaa except himself. In the " yaadhava abyudhayam " the voluminous master piece of Swami desikan, on my beloved krishna, Sri Swami says following about the kuzhal oothum episode. The slokams we saw in the earlier post. Let us see the meanings: 1. Praayasthadh aahvaanavidhow niyOkthum pragruhya vENum prathipanna dhUthyam! nyavEsayath kudmalithE saleelam bimbaadharE sUchitha chitha raagE!! - chapter 8 slokam 45 Krishna covered the flute with his bimba fruit like lips- red coral like lips- to play the music. (Bimbhaa fruit is viLaam pazham with a strong outer cover and red inside soft fruit material). The flute is the ambassador to convey his (krishnaa's) desire of calling his lovers, the gopees, to come to his proximity, at his place (means the forest here). 2. SaamOpapannaan kramasa: svarandhrai: sapthasvaraan saptha bhirudhvamantham! PrachamakramE vaadhayithum vanaanthE vamsam priyO vallava vamsajaanaam!! Slokam 46 KaNNan started playing the flute, staying in the forest [vanam- forest (or garden- solai in tamil?)]. This kaNNan is the same person who is liked by all gopees. The flute gave out the seven saama vEdha swaraas, through the seven holes in good array regularly. 3. Mukunda vakthraanila vaadhyamaanO vENur babhow vEdha iva dvitheeya:! Raagaavadheenaam rahasaam yadhEkam geethaathmanaam thasya nidhaanamaaseeth!! Slokam 47 It appeared that the flute music is like the emergence of vEdhaas for the second time [who knows except Himself, when he gave out the vedhaas for the first time, so Sri swami says it is the second time]. Flute music by kaNNan is the love signal given to individual gopees, inviting them to his proximity. vEdham is the basis for sangeetham and it's evolution. This is stated here very nicely. [Cross reference - oothum attheenkuzharkE uyyEn- by nammazhvaar the meaning of which is given here] Now let us see nammazhvaar paasuram, [which I included in part 4]. Just for easy reference the paasuram first- OothumaththeenkuzhaRkE uyyEn naan Athu mozhinthu idaiththan sei kOlath Thoothu sei kaNgaL koNdu onRu pEsith thoomozhi isaigaL koNdu onRu nOkki pEduRu mugam seithu nonthu nonthu pEthai nenjaRavarap paadum paattai yaadum onRaRigilam amma amma maalaiyum vanthathu maayan vaaraan. This paasuram is in antaadhi style - means last word or line in previous verse is the starting word or line for next. Previous lines are " pasunchaanthinil panchamam vaiththu adhu maNanthu innaruL aaichchiyarkkE oothum ath theenkuzharkE uyyen naan " and then the paasuram as above. The meaning is: I will not survive with any other thing except that flute playing kaNNan. Because he plays for the gopees like me only. To cool down the thaapam (heat) generated by thinking on him constantly, I have applied the good quality yellow colour sandal paste in my body in five places [means all over my body]. That paste has spread well and started giving out good smell. But the temparature of the body has not come down. So I want that krishnaa and his flute music. The gopi was telling this and meanwhile was looking at her dress (vEsham). In the forest kannan started playing music. The music also invited her, because it carried the message of his calling. She reached the place. There she saw kannan. In between the eyes of the gopi have started talking with Kannan, and his music has started speaking. What? Eyes are talking and music is seeing. Yes. See the words- thoodhu sei kaNgaL koNdu onRu pEsi- eyes are talking the message of love between krishnaa and gopees. Thoomozhi isaigal koNdo onRu nOkki- the divine music is the language for seeing. Is it confusion? No, for kaNNan's music, any thing is possible. Peduru mugam seithu- manam kalangi- with depressed mind, the girl is suffering continuously- pethai nenju ara ara- why? Suddenly kannan left - Mother or other senior gopi says " I do not how to console her " . amma amma maalaiyum vanthathu maayan vaaraan- the evening has come but kannan has not come. What he did? He invited through his music all these gopees and started playing with them, by speaking thru eyes and seeing through the music. But, all of a sudden disappeared from that place. So every body started searching. Where is he? Where is he? So maalaiyum vanthathu maayan vaaraan. Let us continue with Sri Swami desikan - 4. thadhvamsanaadha: subhagO anugachchan agrEsaram sowrabham aagamaanaam! Ayathnanishpannamanassamaadheen aabrahmakaan aathanuthEva janthUn!! Slokam 48 KaNNan's exhaled air - viz. the vEdhaa(s) go in front, followed by the flute sound waves emanating, because this sound is also from the air blown by kaNNan. [it is said the vedaas are the moochu kaaRRu of bhagavaan and hence this]. This tied down every thing in the world, starting from brahman to all creatures including animals etc, not allowing the mind of any one going astray. Thus the music of kannan helped every body to get into yoga trance very easily. [Just recall periyaazhvaar's paasurams here- specifically not any one but all] 5. vamsasvanaasvaadha vaseekruthaanaam vyakthOdhayaanaam vanadEvathaanaam! Sa karbura: snigdhathamai: kataakshai: sEndhraayudhow mEga ivaababhaasE!! Slokam 52 Kannan was like the black rain clouds with the rainbow. The bow was created by the eyesights of the angels, roaming in the forests. [Vana dEvathaigaL]. The angels came out attracted by the flute music of kannan. Once attracted, these angels were looking at kannan with lot of love. The eyesight of these angels appeared [to Sri swamy] as the rainbows. See the beauty of kannan's music enjoyment of his bakthaas. All are in same lines. 6. aadhmaapayaamaasa sa srungamagrayam sankham thathaa bhUthbhikaathmayOgaath! Jagow cha gEyaani bahUni yEshaa gaandharva vedhO api na paaradhasravaa!! Slokam 53 The conch (paanchajanyam) has come down on its own and made himself as flute in the hands of kannan. It appeared when he played the flute he was blowing the conch- sankha naadham. He sang so many songs also. Even the kaantharva vedhaam, which is supposed to be the basis for all music, cannot find the limit of sweetness of his music. [refer kinnarar tham tham kinnaram thodugilOm enranarE, kaanthappar amuda geetha valaiyal surukkundu nam param anRu] 7. thristhaanayukthasvara bhUshitham thath thridhaa sthitham graamavisesha yOgaath! Aran~jayan saptha jaganthyayathnaath geetham harE raahutha kinnarowgham!! Slokam 54 The music of kannan just pulled all the kinnaraas and made all the seven worlds (really the entire universe)to enjoy very easily. The music came out was made out of three swaraas- shadjam madhyamam, kantharam, emanating from the places of heart neck, and head. [Refer note added in previous slokam]. 8. vilaasavaakyairiva vENu naadhai dhivyEna geethEna cha dhaithya hanthu:! NivEdhithaarthaa " sudhrusa: svavaasaadhaajagmuraakarshaNa manthratheekshNai: slokam 55 The music was, like mantras, which attract persons living in distant places and hearing the music. The music was mystical and invited all gopees. On hearing his music all gopees came out. [Refer kovalar sirumiyar of peri.] The balance slokams of Swami dEsikan and arpudams will be continued in next post. Before I conclude this post I would like to add mention two songs. Sri Muthuswamy Dikshithar, [the second in the music trinity of thyaagaraaja, dikshithar and shyaamaa saastry], in his kurinji raaga krithi, enjoys krishnan as kuzhal oothubavan (flute player) and starts the krithi as 'Sri vENu gOpaala sri rukmiNee lola' In another krithi, in the raaga bairavi, starting with the words " baala gOpaala " - in charanam a line reads- " leelayaa gOpa vEsha dhara muraLi dhara sridhara dhaamOdhara " . Please see the rhyme ra ra at the end of every naama. Please see this is similar to Swami desikan who says " playfully you adorn the garb of cowherd- gOpa vEsha vishnO: " This particular krithi is a lengthy one on krishna, but taste is of it, is of very high order on Krishna. Who ever is the krishna baktha, the pleasure or enjoyment on this kuzhal oothum episode, is more or less similar. Dasan Vasudevan M.G. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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