thiruppavai 28-karavaigal pin senRu

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Pasuram28-karavaigal pin senru

 

karvaigaL pin senru kanam mEithunbOm

arivonrum illAdha Aikkulatthundhannai

piravipperundhanai puNNiam yAmudaiyom

kuraivonrum illAdha gOvindhA unthannOdu

uravEl namakkinru ozikka oziyAdhu

ariyAdha piLLaigalOm anbinAl unthannai

sirupEr azaitthanavum Seeri aruLAdhE

iraivA nee tharAi paraiyElOrempAvai.

 

We are simple folks with not much wisdom and we follow the cattle and eat in the forest but we have done a lot of punya to have you in our midst. You have no faults and we have no other relation than with you.We are ignorant youngsters and if we call you as though you are one of us do not get angry but shower your grace on us.

 

This pasuram reflects the words of Arjuna in the Gita,'sakhEthimathvA prasabham yadhuktham hE krishna hE yadhava hE sakhethi;ajAnathA mahimanam thavEdham,mayA pramAdhAth pranayEna vapi,' (BG.11-41) There Arjuna asks forgiveness of Krishna on seeing His visvaroopa, that he had been calling Krishna with familiarity, treating Him like a friend, by names such as Krishna, Yadhava, friend etc. Here too Abndal assuming the role of a gopi, says that they were cowherd girls , without intelligence and knew no more than looking after the cattle and going to the forest with them and eating there etc.

 

arivonrum illAdha Aikkula ----puNNiam yAmudaiyOm- This is said to denote the souseelyam and soulabhyam of the Lord. Souseelyam is moving with the ignorant folk wirhout discrimination, 'mahathah mandhaih saha neeranDHra samslesha svabhAvah.' And the soulabhyam is 'labDHum suSakathvam,' easy accessibility. By being born im the yadhavakula the Lord has displayed both the qualities.

 

kuraivonrum illAdha govinda- The Lord is ananthakalyaNa guNa visishta, endowed with infinite ausoicious qualities and without a blemish.

 

uravEl namakkingu ozikka oziyAdhu- denotes the awareness that the permanent relationship is only with the Lord which is undeniable.

 

ariyAdha piLlaigaLOm-means that we do not know the proper way of worshipping you as we do not have any learning.

 

anbinAl----seeri arulAdhe- Not knowing your greatness we may have treated you as one among us. So do not get angry.This is similar to the words of Arjuna, quoted above.

 

Iraiva----parai elorempavai-On the other hand you have to show your grace because we surrender to you as our only refuge.

 

punniam yamudaiyOm- even though they are ignorant they had the result of past good deeds to have Krishna among them. The Lord expects only love which at its height becomes bhakthi more than learning or austerities. Krishna Himself says, 'nAham vedhairh na thapasA na DhAnEna na chejyayaa----bhakthyA thu ananyayA sakyah,' To understand Him in reality is possible only through bhakthi and not by penance, meritorious deeds or by performing sacrifices. Due to punya alone one gets bhakthi, whiich is meant here.

 

The name Govinda has great implications.:

 

The word 'go' has several meanings in sanskrit such as earth, indriya,svarga,or mokshaastra Cow, veda etc. Based on that the scholars explain the name thus:

1.Gaam(second case singular of 'go') , svargam or moksham vindhayathi,secures ithi govindhah. He is govindha because He bestows mukthi.

2.Gaam, ishum, meaning astras vindhathi - He acquired the astras from Visvamithra in Ramavathara.

3.Gaah(accusative plural of 'go', pasu.) vindhathi. He knew the cows, that is, He knew them to be the rshis of dandakaaranya in His krishnavathara.Balarama is also implied by the word cow as He went with Krishna for gorakshaNa

4.Gobhih (instrumental plural of 'go'meanind veda.) vindhyathe. He is known through the vedas.

5Gaam, vajram, vindhayathi. He made it possible for indra to get vajrayudha by instructing him to approach Dhadheechi and beg him to give his backbone.

6.Gavaa (instrumental singular of 'go'meaning dhrk, look) dhrsaa vindhathi. He knows all by His dhrk or appropriate kataksha.He knows how to look at every one and when.

7.Gaah nethraaNi vindhathi- He has thrinethra, three eyes as Nrsimha, and also eyes everywhere, 'sahasraakshassahasrapath'

8. Gaah, jwaalaah, vindhathi, has fiery form, being Suryamandala madhya varthi.Chandhogya upanishad describes Brahman as 'Ya eshahantharaadhithye hiraNmayah purushah dhrsyathe hiranyasmasru hiranya kesa aapraNakhaath sarva Eva suvarNah'. The purusha seen inside the orb of the Sun with golden beard, golden hair an exceedingly effulgent even to the very tips of His nails. The purusha here is paramaathman or Narayana.This is the passage where the famous'kapyaasam pundarikam' occurs referred to in the charitra of Ramanuja.

9.Gaam ,bhoomim vindhathi, brought the earth from the depth of the ocean, Vatrahavathara and also Parsurama as He wandered all over the earth and Trivikrama as He measured the earth with His feet.

10. Gaam , jalam vindhathi. resorts to the waters, Mathsya and Koorma.11. Gaam vedam vindhathi. He alone knows the real purport of the vedas. Refers to Hayagrivaavathara.12. Gaam ,indhriyam vindhathi .The Lord of the indhriyas, Hrishikesah. Makes the indhriyas enter into appropriate vishaya.

There are even more meanings mentioned by the saintly commentators but These are the generally quoted meanings. Andal was fond of this nama is also shown by her mentioning it in the three of her main pasurams.

Srivilliputhur is referred to as Govindhan vaazumoor.Commentators say that Andal being the avathara of Bhudevi had more love for govindha nama as the Lord saved her in Varahavathara..

Govindha pattabhishekam is extolled as being even superior than that of Rama because Valmiki says 'vasavo vaasavam yathaa', of the coronation of Rama comparing it to that of Indra but here Indra himself did the abhisheka of Krishna as Govinda.

When the Lord is called Govinda He feels indebted to the devotee as in the case of Droupadi who screamed with grief calling Him Govinda when He immediately came to the resque.

Lord Srinivasa of Thirupathi is known as Govinda and when the devotees sing the glory ofthe Lord they say only Govindanamasankirthanam. In VenkatesapuraNa , Lord Srinivasa is asked as to whom the preliminary poojs to be done, because He Himself cannot worship Himself. He was told, 'thvAmEva vEdmi Govinda,' meaning 'I know only you.' Then He mentioned the Narasimha of Ahobilam.

There are three places where He is known as Govinda, namely, Thirupathi, Chidambaram and srivilliputthur.

Kurai onrum illAdha govinda- the commentators say that this term is appropriate only to Krishna because he rectified the three seemingly defective acts of Rama in this avathara. Of course these reasons are given in light vein.

1. He redressed the wrong done to Vali, the son of Indra, by killing him and giving the kingdom to the son of Surya, Sugreeva , by doing the reverse in this avathara. He caused the death of Karna, the Suryaputhra and got the kingdom for Arjuna,son of Indra!

2.Hanuman said to Sita 'nahi prakrshtAh prEshyanthE preshyanthE hi ithare janah,' to reassure her. Usually the mightiest are not sent as messengers but only others and when he himself has been able to cross the ocean others, all of whom are mightier than him will certainly do so. Perhaps the Lord thought that Anjaneya might have such notions and hence considered himself to be inferior and to show the greatness of Maruti as a messenger, He Himself went as one in Krishnavathara!

3. the name Ramayana was not the one given by Valmiki who called his composition as 'seethAyah charitham mahath,' the great story of Seetha. In Tamil it is termed as 'siraiirundhaval Ettram' the glory of one who was imprisoned. Perhaps the Lord also thought that it is due to her exemplary character exhibited when she was a prisoner in Lanka and was a bit jealous about it and in krishnavathara He was born in Prison itself!