PeriyAzhwAr Thirumozhi- 2.9- This ten is full of Kutti KaNNan's divya cEshtitham

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SrI:

SrImathE Ramanujaya namah:

Dearest srivaishnavas,

 

From veNNey aLaindha kuNungum..¡¨ till this ten (veNNey vizhungi¡¨) in five

decades, YasOdhA bathed the Lord Kutti KaNNan and sang rakshakam for Him as

well. Thus, she made Him now sleep next to her. Next day early morning the

ladies of cowherd group come to her house complaining about Kutti KaNNan¡¦s

stealing butter from their homes.

 

AzhwAr enjoys one pAsuram with complaints by the ladies and the next by

YasOdhA.

 

1. vNNeyvizhungiveRungalaththai ¡K...asOdhain^angaay! unmakanaikkoovaay.

 

Oh YasOdhA! After swallowing the butter completely, He throws the empty

vessel on the rock and enjoys at the noise it makes.. This KrishNan

(KaNNapiraan)¡¦s mischief- we are not able to stop. Hence, you keep him

under your custody. Like adding spice to the wound, (thereby causing more

pain), He spoils the vessel in addition to emptying it. He does such deeds

simultaneously at all houses (He is so capable). You are blessed with such

an unparalleled son [unlike His elder brother- who is a good boy]; Take Him

into your house.

 

Not only does He steal; he lets others see Him stealing; by making noise

while throwing the empty vessel against the rocks. How long can we bear?

Even if we lose butter, it is fine. the vessels also go off; By the time I

narrate this to you, YasOdhA, I am scared what all he is doing at my home?

When we shout looking at this, the neighbor also makes the yelling, because

she also has KaNNan¡¦s mischief in her home. Maayan! We are also not able to

tell our husbands. Because He is the darling of Nandhan (who is the master

of our men). None can have a son like you. You only can take care of Him.

Please do.

 

He is unlike His elder brother. meaning: He is ParamAthmA.

 

[Now yasOdhA calls KaNNan and praises Him for what His good qualities are;

and pleads for not doing such mischief as she is not able to bear others

complains on her darling boy]

 

2. varukavarukavaruka_ingE ¡K¡K... paaviyEnukku_ingEpOdharaayE.

 

KaNNA! Come in to our house fast. Oh Lord Vaamanaa! with the most auspicious

attributes! Oh dark hued KaakusthA! Raamaa! who has dark tresses; red coral

like mouthed divinely beautiful face! Come here. Oh lady! [one who came to

tell His deeds!] This Lord [who took birth like this] is my darling son. oh

collyrium [kaajal] like dark coloured Lord! when others [neighbors] talk

about you and complain, I am not able to bear. Come to me, the sinner [who

has to listen to all this from them about my darling son]

 

mathysa, korma, varaaha narasimham were not like human avatars; Vaamanan and

Ramam were. Vaamanan was KalyANa guNa paripoorNan. He stooped Himself to so

low level like a dwarf for Devas sake. Sri Rama avatar- has anyone

complained that you went and broke the pot in AyOdhyA? Never. Even when

someone stole your divine consort SitA PiraaTTi, you did not get back

clandestinely. You fought with him; killed him and got her back royally. I

am not blessed like those mothers. This can be a lowly cowherd group; but

not thieves¡¦ group.

 

Also she tells the lady, ¡§Is He an ordinary one? He is ParamAthmA Himself.

Do we deserve Him amongst us? Do not look at this small mischief of his

alone.

 

She calls Him..¡¨ you are like that kaajal- mai.. (collyrium). the mai when

one touches it gets stuck to the fingers. Similarly He also gets glued to

people [devotees- if they merely go near] Such a sowlabhyan.

 

[Now He eats ghee from other house and breaks the pot. On the way He also

starts behaving with a cowherd lady in the way he pleases; She has started

going towards His house to complain. Before He reaches she is there

complaining. He hides and listens to the sameļ]

 

3. thiruvudaippiLLaidhaan_theeyavaaRu ¡K...vaazhavottaanmadhusoodhananE.

 

YasOdhA! He never even hesitates to commit wrong deeds; also he is a

thEjasvI, after committing such a deed. This boy [your son] is the Lord

Himself, who has the wealth of Periya PiraaTTi always. In order to melt, I

had kept the butter on the stove and he drank the same completely and threw

away the pot and stood there. Is it right to also touch (and do mischief

deeds to) those who witness this and spoil them as well? Take your son in.

This EmperumAn will never let us live (in samsaaric afflictions)

 

4. koNdalvaNNaa! ingEpOdharaayE ¡K.... kaNNapiraan peRRa _kaRRakalvidhaanE.

 

Oh mEga vaNNA! (Cloud coloured Lord!) Come here, my son who stays at

Srirangam. Sriman Narayana! who resides in ThiruppEr! KaNNA! when I am

calling you for eating amudhu (food), you run to other¡¦s house and eat

there; see the lies of me in other women folks of Ayar paadi; and the moment

they see you, they take you in their waists. ¡V where have you learnt this

art (of enchanting everyone?)

 

When the day said, ¡§you son is hiding there¡¨ YasOdhA says, ¡§my son is not

here. I am calling Him for eating food. he is there at Srirangam; ThiruppEr

and such divya Desams. He is not whom you are talking about. And here He

comes; when he comes, none is able to resist taking Him with open arms and

hug Him to our chest and seat Him on our hips.¡¨- says YasOdhA. That is His

trick that He plays. Where has He learnt this? That is KaNNapiraan peRRa

kalvi.

 

paalaikkaRandhu_aduppERavaiththup .....asOdhain^angaay! unmakanaikkoovaay.

 

[After eating butter and ghee, now it is milk.] Oh YasOdhA! one who talks so

wetly like the sugar cane! I milked (the cow) and kept all the milk on the

stove for heating (it later). and to take care of that milk (in large

quantity), I also let my daughter be there (in the kitchen). I just stepped

out towards west to get the fire (from the neighbor¡¦s home) and stood there

for a fraction of a second (talking / gossiping). This KaNNan, one who shows

Himself always and resides for ever in SaaLagrAmam, drank all that milk

sitting on the floor, tilting the pot towards Him; came out of the house and

stood there. Call your (darling!) son.

 

Some say the daughter herself kept the milk on the stove and went out. He is

SaaLagrAma nambhI. (Sri UttamUr Swamy says) Even if we do not feed Him, He

feeds Himself. Hence AzhwAr used ¡§saalagrAma udaiya Nambhi¡¨. But

SaaLagrAmam never empties the vessel. This lad does. When complainiong you

talk all that sweet talk like sugar cane. We are not going to be folled by

your sweet talk now. Call Him right now.

 

pOdhar_kaNdaay_ingEpOdhar_kaNdaay¡K... viththakanE! ingEpOdharaayE.

 

[AzhwAr immediately remembers this saaLagrAmam nambhI at ThiruvEmkatam]

Oh my son! The One who lifted the Govardhana mountain! Pot dancer! Veda

purushA! The essence of Vedas! My ThiruvEnkata nAthA! The Most wonderful

Lord! Come here. Come into our house. Do not say ¡§no¡¨ and come into our

home. Other people start telling praises about you and end up saying all

sorts of complaints about you, darling. When they narrate all that one would

never dream of saying. They call you names. and I can not bear to hear that.

 

They start saying Thiruvudai nambhI; SaalagrAmam udaiya nambhI etc.. but end

up calling you butter thief. You should be praised for what you have done;

should you be called names like this? You lifted the mountain for them; and

they themselves talk all sorts of things. You dance with pot; can you break

them? karma kaaNdam of Vedas talk about the ArAdhanam done to you; jnAna

kANdam mention that You are the cause, creator, the one who grants fruits

and upAsyan and Parama Purushaartham as well. You are Sarva SamArAdhyan;

SarvEshwaran; Sarva Vedha prathipAdhyan. Veda purushan. All this is

reflected in the way You stand on the top of ThiruvEnkatam (Venkata veRpu

ena viLangum VEDHA VERPE..- says Swamy Desikan) Such greatest Lord- to be

talked about like this by illiterate cowherd folks- only You can do it ¡V

because You are Maayavan- vitthagan- Most wonderful, mysterious Lord.

 

KuttanE Venkatavaa- YasOdhA herself came later as VaguLamAlikA (as the

mother of ThiruvEnkatamudaiyaan- as is referred to in His mAhAthmya

grantham). hence, Venkata nAthan- is yasOdhA¡¦s kuttan. ¡V says Sri UttamUr

Swamy

 

sen^n^elarisisiRuparuppuch.... koovikkoLLaay_ivaiyumsilavE.

 

[Now he starts with food items like ThirukkaNNanamudhu- paayasaannam]

Oh YasOdhA! For the Lord, I had cooked using the just heated rice with small

grains (paruppu), sugar cane, fragrant ghee, cow¡¦s milk etc.. and made

[ThirukkaNNan amudhu- pAyasam] on the day of ThiruvONam (12th month) and I

had already heard of this boy¡¦s mischief from others. Now he wants to get

happier after completely eating everything from that vessel (hinting that he

could eat even more). Call you son back, YasOdhA. This is only little of

what he had done. [Meaning: There is a lot more]

 

Even in ThiruvAyarpAdi, it appears ThiruvONam was celebrated as a festival

for the Lord (being his birthday). The food (prasAdham was cooked for

offering to the Lord). It was cooked with dedication and devotion and purity

in heart. The Lord wanted to accept the offering REALLY and literally. So,

KaNNan went straight and ate everything from the vessel. But they are not

aware of His ThiruvuLLam and feel bad that before it was offered to the

Lord, He (this mischievous Boy) had eaten. Like this it is not once, twice,.

Every ThiruvONam ¡V same thing. Now He may be a two to three years old.

 

All of you are saying something or the other against Him; he says, ¡§I have

not done anything of that sort¡¨. Whom should I believe? What I said is only

little YasOdhA! He did much more.

 

kEsavanE! ingEpOdharaayE¡K.... dhaamOdharaa! ingEpOdharaayE.

 

[When she mentioned about ThiruvONam, AzhwAr, in the role of YasOdhA, enjoys

the Parathvam of PerumAL and refers to that here]

oh Kesava! One who created even four faced (chathur muka) BrahmA and

Rudhran! Come here. Without saying in the negative, come here. Do not play

in the houses of those who do not have any love for You. Come here.

DAmOdhArA! The One who knows that listening to mother and acts accordingly

as one¡¦s dharmam! Come from them (ladies and servants- who are our servants

working here and still) talk against You. Come here.

 

KesavA! also meaning- come here with your black beautiful tresses dangling

on your head.

 

kannalilattuvaththOduseedai¡K... koovikkoLLaay ivaiyumsilavE.

 

[Now He starts eating BhakshaNam- laddu etc]

Oh YasOdhA! Laddu, Seedai, the balls (made of black (til) sesame seed) etc-

were cooked and stored in huge vessels. This is my house and this place is

only known to me and I kept all of those food items in safe place and went

out of the house [for some work]. [That time- He] entered into my house and

finished everything (by removing them and passing them on perhaps to His

friends waiting at the back yard). When he stepped out, [i saw Him again

going back] He went back again to look up towards the roof if there is any

fresh brightest veNNai (Butter) stored there; that¡¦s when I saw Him looking

at the roof. Please call back you son and this is only a little of what he

has done.

 

Like others who call Him often into their houses and get their food items

and their places familiar to Kutti, this lady¡¦s house has never been

visited before by KaNNan (as she herself says, My house). She was sure that

he would never be able to enter and locate the house as well as the

bhakshaNam. He was not satisfied as He had not eaten yet, in principle (as

that is just passed on to his friends for later consumption). So, He started

searching for His favorite Butter. And this is only a tip of the iceberg.

 

sollilarasippadudhin^angaay!.....naanallEnenRusirikkinRaanE.

 

Oh YasOdhA! If I continue to narrate His deeds, you would feel bad. Your

cunning deceitful son entered into my house, called my small daughter and

removed all her bangles and bought the naval pazham (kind of dark small

fruits in the shape of grapes- KaNNan¡¦s most favorite fruit) in exchange

for those bangles of my darling daughter¡¦s. And now He chuckles saying, ¡§I

never did that¡¨.

 

You are getting angry at what I am saying. Now you will feel angrier. You

son- is very cunning and smart. He removed my daughter¡¦s bangles for eating

His favorutie fruit. He entered into my house and looked up (after passing

all bhakshaNams to his friends) to see for butter. my daughter who came

there asked Him as to what he is upto. He asked back, ¡§where is your

mother?¡¨ She said, ¡§she has gone out¡¨. Okay and he went to the back yard

and went to the street behind (where His friends would be waiting with

bhakshaNams). There the fruits vendor was selling naval pazham. He

immediately came back and removed my daughter¡¦s bangles (in front of the

lady seller) and bought the fruits. I came to know of this now from my girl

and that seller also. You yourself ask her. Now he is here with fruits full

in his hands. (when asked He says:-) I never did that¡¨ and stands laughing

:-) [YasOdhA never opens her mouth and calls Him in. She is also standing

silent]

 

vaNdukaLiththiraikkumpozhilsoozh¡K.... iNaiyadi_en_thalaimElanavE.

 

Bhattar Piraan VishNu chitthan- (I) have enjoyed singing ten PAsurams on the

playful mischievous and stealing acts of dancer Govindhan, KaNNan, the Lord

of Srirangam, surrounded by Cauveri. Those who recite this ten, singing and

enjoying and blessed to be the servants of EmperumAn KaNNan ¡V Govindhan are

the greatest devotees of the world. The feet of those devotees will be on

top of my head.

PeriyAzhwAr ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam,

Regards

Namo Narayana

dAsan

 

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[Guest guest]

SrI:

SrImathE Gopaladesika mahadesikaya namah:

Dear Sri Muralidhar Swamin,

Your anubhavam and highlighting Vaamana, Rama avtaar is also splendid. May I

seek your permission to post this to all and let us share this with all

others. Thanks for your encouragement on aDiyEn's post.

Regards

Namo Narayana

dAsan

 

----Original Message Follows----

" rangaswamy_m " <rangaswamy_m

" Madhavakkannan V " <srivaishnavan

Re: PeriyAzhwAr Thirumozhi- 2.9- This ten is full of Kutti KaNNan's

divya cEshtitham

Wed, 09 Oct 2002 18:39:36 -0000

 

Sri:

 

SrimatE Gopaladesika MahadesikAya Namaha,

 

Dear Sriman Madhavakkannan Swamin,

 

Thanks a lot for your brilliant posting on the Pasurams of

PeriyAzhwar. The verse describing the stealing of butter and the

complaints of the Gopis is most moving-particularly, the connection

to Lord Vamana and Lord Rama. Kindly permit adiyen some indulgence

here from the Gopala Vimshati Upanyasam of H.H.

 

Our Acharya Sarvabhouman declares " There is valid PramANam for Lord

Krishna stealing the butter of the gopa damsels. The Lord is foremost

among the followers of the Shastras. In the Vamana Avatara, He

incarnated as a Brahmachari. Mahabali was an emperor and thus it was

most appropriate that our Lord begged of three paces of land from

Mahabali. In the Rama Avataram, Our Lord occupied the throne of the

Raghus. In other words, He was born to rule-every word and deed of

His as Lord Rama bore the hallmark of royalty. Thus, He could command

anyone to do His bidding. However, the Lord incarnated as Krishna to

demonstrate His Soulabyam (easy accessibility) and thus took birth in

the Yadava clan. He was not a king (due to the curse of Yayati that

no descendant of Yadu could become a king). Therefore, He could not

command anyone to do His bidding. He was not a Brahmin either in this

incarnation. On the other hand, the Gopa damsels were common folk.

Thus, it was improper for the Lord to beseech them for favours.

However, the Lord was undoubtedly SarvEshwaran-the emperor of the

entire Universe. Therefore, everything sentient and insentient

therein was his rightful property including the butter of the Gopa

ladies. Consequently, Lord Krishna invoked His right as SarvEshwaran

and stole the butter from the Gopa damsels. "

 

The connection to the Lord of Seven Hills is most evocative. Ten out

of the 12 Azhwars have sung the praise of the Lord Srinivasa who

stands majestically atop the Venkatachalam Hill showering his Bhaktas

with the copious stream of his Daya. A common theme of their

outpourings on the Lord of Seven Hills is that of SharaNagati. Thus,

the Azhwar's tone of address becomes serious at the mention of Lord

Srinivasa. It may be remembered that

(1) Swami NammAzhwar, the Prapanna jana Kootasthar performed his

formal surrender at the Lotus Feet of Lord Srinivasa

(2) Kulashekara Azhwar declares that " PonmalaimEl EdhEnum AvEnE "

and " padiyAy kidandhu un pavazhavAy kANbEnE "

(3) Swami Alavandar establishes in the Siddhi Trayam that among the

three Rahasyams, the Lord of Seven Hills is the Charama Shlokam,

which is the most forthright advocation of the doctrine of ShraNagati

to His Lotus Feet

(4) Sri Ramanujacharya declares in the opening verse of Sri Bhashyam

that Lord Srinivasa is the beacon light known as Brahman that shines

forth at the head of the Shrutis, i.e., the upanishads " Shruti

shirasi vidhIpthE brahmaNi srinivasE "

(5) Swami Desikan's stotrams are replete with the usage of prapadhyE.

However, in keeping with the above declarations, Swami Desikan

commences the Daya Shatakam with PrapadhyE and ends verse 100 with

the declaration " mukthAnuBhUthimihadhAsyathimE mukundha: "

 

May the SharaNagatha Rakshakan, Vekatesha (he who presides over the

destruction of our sins), known as Lord Srinivasa (who is never

separated from Sri both in name as well as due to Thayar's eternal

residence in His vakshasthalam), the epitome of Daya, enrich,

elevate, ennoble and edify our lives. Thanks again for a superb

posting.

 

Namo Narayana,

 

SriMuralidhara Dasan

 

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