Thiruppavai 28 karavaigal pin senru

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Ramanuja.

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.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/4fyo1h audio file in Tamil

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 Andal 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.and did not know the glory of Krishan but treated Him as one of

them.

arivonrum illAdha Aikkula

----puNNiam yAmudaiyOm- This is said to denote the souseelyam

and soulabhyam of the Lord. Souseelyam is moving with the ignorant

folk without discrimination, 'mahathah

mandhaih saha neeranDHra samslesha svabhAvah.' And the

soulabhyam is 'labDHum suSakathvam,'

easy accessibility. By being born in the yadhavakula the Lord has displayed

both the qualities.

 

kuraivonrum illAdha govinda- The Lord is ananthakalyaNa guNa visishta, endowed with infinite

auspicious 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, which 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. (This

episode has been explained in the audio file of angNmaajnaalatthu)

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. This has reference to

Hayagtreevavathara.

..

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 of the 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. That is, 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!