Fwd: nAcciyAr tirumozhi XIII kaNNan ennum karum deyvam 2

[Guest guest]

Dear BhakthAs:

 

I am attaching a posting from SrImathi Kalyani Krishnamachari

in a sister list. For the past many months , Smt. Krishnamachari

has been posting on the individual paasurams of our ANDAL's

NaacchiyAr Thirumozhi on and off. She has done a superb job

in compiling the various vyAkyAnams . It is always a pleasure

to read such comprehensive postings by her.

 

I request her to include the Oppiliappan , Saranagathy

lists relating to future postings .

 

V.Sadagopan

 

 

SrI:

SrI ANDAL samEta SrI ra’ngamannAr tiruvaDigaLE SaraNam

 

nAcciyAr tirumozhi XIII– kaNNan ennum karum deyvam

 

pASuram 13.2 (thirteenth tirumozhi-pAsuram 2 pAl Alilaiyil)

 

pAl Alilaiyil tuyil koNDa paraman valaip paTTu irundEnai

vElAl tunnam peydARpOl vENDiRRu ellAm pESAdE

kOlAl nirai mEittu AyanAik kuDandaik kiDanda kuDam ADi

nIlAr taNNam tuzhAi koNDu en neRi men-kuzhal mEl SUTTIrE

 

A. From SrImAn SaDagOpan's tamizh treatise

 

In the second pAsuram, ANDAL does mangaLASasanam to

ArAvamudan, who is lying on AdiSeshan in tirukkuDandai

on the banks of hEma pushkariNi.

 

Once this emperumAn was lying on a tender banyan leaf,

tasting His own toe and doing mAyA jAlam as if He is

ignorant of everything else that is going on around

Him. I am caught in the net of this paraman and

there is no way for me to escape. Do not use words as

you please that painfully pierce my body like spears.

That kaNNapirAn who played the role of a cowherd boy

and played the kuDak-kUttu when He was in AyarpADi, is

reclining in tiruk kuDandai on the AdiSeshan. Go

there and have the darSanam of ArAvamudan/hEmarangan

and then tell Him this. “Oh kaNNA, who performed the

kuDak-kUttu! We have come all the way from

srIvilliputtUr in the interests of gOdai’s welfare;

she has become unconscious because of unsurpassable

love for You; she wants us to get from You the

beautiful, green, cool, tulasi garland that you are

wearing, and put it on her thick, soft hair. By this

alone can she be saved.”

 

B. Additional thoughts from SrI PVP:

 

pAl Alilaiyil tuyil kONDa: pAl ilai refers to the

young tender sprouting leaf.

tirumangai AzhwAr also says in periya tirumozhi

2-10-1,. “Alin mElOr iLantaLiril kaN vaLarnda ISan”.

 

This wonder is described in BhAratam AraNya kANDam 188-94:

 

“katham nvayam SiSuh Sete loke nASam upAgate |

SAkhAyAm vaTavRkshasya pallavE tu sucismita: ||

 

(Even after the whole world is destroyed, how is this

baby with the sweet smile, lying down on the young

leaf of the banyan tree?).

 

tuyil koNDa: He is sleeping just as He was when yasOdA

put Him to sleep in a safe crib. Anyone else would

have been scared to lie on a young leaf thinking what

is going to happen next; but, He is sleeping on this

tender banyan leaf that has no support, without the

slightest fear whatsoever.

 

paraman: This vaTa patra SAyI is far above par when

compared with the aghaTita ghaTanA sAmarthyam of

yaSodA’s kaNNan. It is true that yaSodA’s kaNNan

did a lot of unbelievable things such as killing

pUtanA, SakaTAsura, bearing the govardhana, etc. But

what are those things compared to this young child

sleeping peacefully on a tender, unsupported banyan

leaf, after swallowing all the seven worlds?

 

poigai AzhwAr describes this wonder thus in mudal

tiruvandAdi 69: “bAlan tanaduruvAi EzhulaguNDu Alilaiyin mElanRu nI

vaLarnda mei enbar – AlanRu, vElai nIr uLLadO viNNadO

maNNadO” – It is said that you were truly floating on

the lonely tender banyan leaf, even though everything

had been swallowed by You and nothing was left except

this banyan leaf. We wonder whether this banyon leaf

was supported by the waters, the earth, or the air.

 

valaip paTTu irundEnai: She is the daughter of

peiryAzhvAr, who sang “pallANDu” to perumAL when there

was no reason for him to be worried about His safety

and welfare. Befitting this connection to periAzhvAr,

gOdai is worried about the safety of this Alilaip

perumAn - who is lying on an Alilai that has no

stability, and there is no one to sing “pallANDu” to

Him. Since her heart is with this perumAn, she is not

able to take her thoughts anywhere else and is thus

entrenched.

 

vElAl tunnam peydARpOl : Making it painful, as if by

making a hole (causing a wound) with the vEl (spear).

 

vElAl tunnam peidArp pOl: (SrI T. S. Rajagopalan

comments that pouring tamarind extract on a wound will

only cause a severe burning sensation, but drilling on

the wound with a sharp pointed spear will also make

the wound bigger, in addition to causing severe pain.)

 

SrI PVP gives an alternate interpretation: Taking

Al to mean “on top of” or “place”, it can mean “making

a hole on the body of a sharp spear that has already

penetrated the body, and that is lodged inside the

body – thus causing even more intense pain. In the

last pAsuram, gOdai talked about “hurting the wound

more by placing tamarind on it”.

In this pASuram, she is describing the pain as even

more severe – the pain of piecing the wound with a

spear instead of just pouring tamarind extract on it.

Here she is, worrying sick about His floating

listlessly with no one to care for Him, and all that

the old women folk do is talk whatever comes to their

mind, unconcerned about her state of mind. That is

causing her even more intense pain and suffering.

 

kOlAl nirai meyttu AyanAi: Instead of asking me to

forget about Him, you should be comforting me, as I am

concerned about His safety, by reminding me that He is

His own Protector. After all, when He was protecting

the cows in the forest, no one was protecting Him

except Himself. He did not even have a bow and arrow

like rAma when He was protecting the sages in the

forest.

 

kuDandaik kiDanda kuDam ADi: My kaNNan also performed

kuDam ADu kUttu, and

let everybody enjoy His beauty, and to rest after the

playing, He went to tirukkuDandai (kumbakONam) and is

resting there on AdiSeshan. His kuDam ADu kUttu is

described in SiRiya tirumaDal: “sIrAr kuDam iranDu

Endic cezhunteruvE ArAr enac colli ADum”.

 

nIlAr taNNam tuzhAi koNDu en neRi men-kuzhal mEl

SUTTIrE: Go and get the tirutttuzhAi from His

tirumEni from tiruk kuDandai, and place this fresh,

green tiruttuzhAi on my hair. The reference to “green”

implies that the tiruttuzhAi has been offered to Him

by those that seek no benefit from Him in return. SrI

PVP distinguishes between three categories of

tonDargaL – toNDar, SIrttoNDar, and mikka SIrttoNDar.

 

1. toNDar – those who love emperumAn for some favor in

return – “kUzhATpaTTu ninRIrgaL” (tiruppallANDu 3).

2. sIrttoNDar – upasaka-s who practice bhakti in order

to obtain mOksham.

3. mikka sIrttoNDar – those devotees like

periyAzhwAr who do not even think about mOksham and

sing pallANDu to perumAL.

 

 

SrI PVP’s anubhavam is that ANDAL is referring to the

“nIlAr taNNan tuzhAi”, that can be fresh and green

only when it is offered by the mikka SIrttoNDar, or

the likes of periAzhvAr. If it had been offered by

someone less, such as the ones who make the offering

with the attitude of “I will offer You this, and You

give me that in return” -

 

“dEhi mE dadAmi tE” ( yajur vEdam 5.3) (I will give

you havis; give me the fruits of my labor),

 

then the flaw associated with that kind of offering

would have already tarnished the tiruttuzhAi, and it

won’t be fresh and green anymore.

 

neRi men-kuzhal: The term “men” can mean either soft

(menmai), or lean (melliya) - 1. Dense, soft hair or

2. The hair that has become thin because she did not

take care of it due to her neRi (kaRpu).

 

 

C. Additional thoughts from SrI UV:

 

pAl Alilai: Even if the leaf was a thick, mature one,

it would have been impossible for anyone to lie on it

and make sure that it does not drown. This child is a

Wonder that is lying on a very soft, young, tender

leaf.

 

paraman: He is paraman because He is Only One who

remains after everything else is destroyed, and He is

paraman because He is the Only One who has periya

pirATTiyAr as His Consort – One who is equal to Him in

all respects.

 

taN tuzhAi: Since the tuzhAi has the ability to

remove her tApam, it is “cool”.

 

Abbreviations:

------------------

PVP= SrI periyavAccAn piLLai

PBA= SrI prativAdi bhayankaram aNNangarAcAriyAr

UV = SrI uttamUr vIrarAghavAcAriyAr

 

sarvam SrIman nArAyaNAyeti samarpayAmi.

 

aDiyAL,

kalyANi kRshNamAcAri