Denver Conference: PeriyAzhwAr Paasurams --PUcchUttal
From the Bhakti List Archives
• December 20, 1997
Dear KrishNa PrEmis :
In his Periya Thirumozhi 2.4 decad , PeriyAzhwAr
pleaded with Bala KrishNan to come and have his
fragrant bath . He obliged and had a wonderful bath
organized by YasOdhA with great affection and love.
After that , YasOdha wanted to brush the Lord's beautiful
curly black tresses. KrishNan was restless and wanted
to escape to play with His friends . YasOdha came up with
a trick to make Him stand still , while she combed His hair.
She distracted Him by calling for the crow to join with her to
comb the Lord's hair . In the ten paasurams of decad 2.5 ,
she engaged the attention of the restless son of hers .
Combing was completed .
YasOdhA wanted thereafter to decorate the freshly
combed tresses of the Lord with fresh and fragrant
flowers . The restless son looked out of the window
and saw His playmates getting ready to take
the cattle to their grazing places . KrishNA was in a big hurry
to join His playmates on their trip to the forest . He asked His
mother for the shepherd's crook (stick ) . YasodhA once again
tricked Him to keep Him at home to enjoy His company .
She said " O my son ! The Crow that came to help me
comb Your hair has run off with Your crook . Let me
call it back and ask it to bring back Your crook .
KrishNan is persuaded to wait until the crow
brought the stick .
After her cheating game went on , YasOdhA invited KrishNA
to stay still so that she can enjoy decorating her Lord's shiny
black hair with many kinds of fresh flowers . In decad 2.7
known as pUcchUttal , PeriyAzhwAr transforms himself into
the fortunate mother , YasOdhA , and enjoys the experience
of touching the silky hair of the Lord and decorating it with
Jasmine , red lilly , Hibiscus and other beautiful flowers .
Decad 2.7 : pUcchUttal Paasurams
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Paasuram 1 : Aanirai mEykka ----
O great helper, who is sweeter than honey and jaggery !
The people of this world do not realize Your grace
(anugraham ) is the sole curing medicine for destroying
the disease of Samsaram and the elixir as well for the enjoyment
of the nithya sUris in Sri Vaikuntam . My neighbors make fun
of You for drinking fresh milk stored in their pots right out
of them and yet they are delighted that You blesed them
with Your visit to their houses . O the most beautiful one
( SukumArA ) , You are ready to run off and follow the cattle
in the forest through the rough and tumble and are going to be
exposed to the harsh rays of the mid-day Sun . Let me first
decorate first Your hair with freshly picked CheNpakA flowers .
Please come here and stand still until I complete the decoration .
Paasuram 2 : Karuvudai MehangaL--( Jasmine flowers
and Sri Ranganathan )
O my beautiful one ! When I enjoy Your unsurpasable beauty
with my eyes , they become cool as if I am looking at the water-laden
rainy clouds . O Lord with the incomparable beauty of eyes !
O my Swami who redeemed this world with auspiciousness
through Your incarnation ! O the auspicious principle behind
your consort , who is the embodiment of all auspicousness
( MangaLAnAM MangaLam , Thiruvukkum ThiruvAhiya selvA ) !
You are resting at Sri Rangam in response to Your dear consort,
MahA Lakshmi's prayer to rescue the samsAris of this world
( LeelA VibhUthi ) . Please come near and wear the jasmine
flowers of everlasting fragrance .
Paasuram 3 : Macchodu MaaLigai Yeri--( Paathiri flower &
ThiruvEnakatamudayAN )
O GovindhA who stands on top of the lofty peak of Thirumalai !
O my dear one , who engages daily in so many pranks such as
climbing the upper stories of neighbor's mansions and tearing
to shreds the upper garments( kacchu) and gold borderd ,
silk sarees of young girls stored in the women's quarters !
Please come here and permit me to decorate Your
freshly combed hair with the ever green
Maruk kozhunthu and the red paathiri flowers .
Paasuram 4 : Theruvin kaNN ninRu -----
( KaNNan responded to His mother's complaint
about entering other people's houses and tearing
up the garments of young girls. He said that he was
never there , but was standing in the corner of the street
playing with his friends . How come You accuse me falsely
was the response of the" innocent One " ?
This paasuram is YasOdhA's response to her
son " not pleading guilty " ) .
O my precious one ! It is at these street corners , You
chase the girls and make them suffer with Your pranks .
Please do not kick and destroy their sand castles constructed
during their play hours. Please do not deprive them of their
toys and cease teasing them . O ParipUrNa Sundara RajA !
( the perfect embodiment of beauty) noted particularly
for Your matchless dark brows , enchanting forehead and
black wavy tresses of hair ! This garland made up of
Maru and Tamanakam is rich with fragrance . It is waiting
to join Your tresses and be blessed by that union . I dearly
long to decorate You with this garland . Please come here !
Paasuram 5: KaLLa arakkiyai --
O Powerful One , who tore apart the beaks of the asuran
( BakAsuran ) , who lay in wait for You to kill You at the banks
of YamunA river ! O victorious One , who pulled out the tusks
of the royal elephant of Kamsan and killed it during the occasion
of the sports at the court of the deceitful uncle , Kamsan , who
wanted to see You destroyd by his mighty elephant ! O Just One,
who cut off the nose of the insulting SoorpaNakA and the heads
of her brother RavaNA , when they offended You with their evil
acts ! O my Lord , What a terrible injustice have I done . While
waiting to see You enjoy eating the stolen butter, I was overcome
with anger at Your brazen act and hit You . Fie me ! After hitting
You and suffering for my rash act , I wanted to protect You from
slander through Your engagement in similar butter stealing
pranks in other people's houses. I want now to make up for my
rash act and with overflowing affection for You , I am holding this
lovely garland made up of red lilly flowers . Please do not be
angry at me , come near and wear this special garland on Your
tresses .
Paasuram 6 : YeruthukaLOdu poruthi ---
O Lord who did not pay heed to the softness of Your limbs
while You were intensely involved in gaining the hand
of Nappinnai through Your subjugation of the seven
mighty bulls ! You did not care at that time about what
happens to Your limbs or life . O Lord who has been
fulfilled though Your matchless love for Nappinnai !
You responded to Your uncle Kamsan's ill deeds
and kicked him out of his throne with Your powerful
feet .On the way to killing Your uncle , You killed the
washerman , who insulted You and took possession of
the lovely clothes that he had frshly prepared for Kamsan .
You broke the bow of Kamsan , killed his royal elephant
and smashed the mighty wrestlers of Kamsan's court ,
who wanted to harm You . At that time of Your mighty
encounters at kamsan's court , Your valor shone like
freshly melted gold . I want to join that golden body
of Yours with the gold-colored Punnai flowers . Please
come near and let me decorate Your tresses with this
lovely yellow flowers .
Paasuram 7: KudangaL yedutthu--- AarAvamudhan
of Thirukkudanthai and Kurukkatthi flowers
{ when the wealth of the Brahmins increases , they will
show their joy by conducting Yaj~nAs for the well being of
the universe and its beings . When the wealth of the shepherds
increases , then they celebrate that blessing with " pot -dance
(kudak kUtthu ) " . They place earthern pots on their head , hands
and shoulders and dance with skillful steps without dropping
the pots . This is a celebratory event ) .
O Lord who made the cowherd colony be blessed with
undiminishing wealth through Your association with them !
You placed a row of pots on Your head , held one pot in
each of Your hands and threw them up in the air
and caught them while engaged in sporting intricate steps .
Who can match Your dance that surpassed all the rules of
Bharatha Naatyam ?
O Lord of our kulam ! O my son who can enchant
all the girls brimming with the beauty of full moon !
O powerful One , who tore apart the mighty chest of
HiraNyakasipu " protected " by the boons of lesser
Gods ! O GOpAlA resting as ArchA mUrthy at
Thirukkudanthai to bless us , who came after
Your VibhavAvathAram as KrishNA ! Please come and
wear this garland of Kurukkatthi flowers .
Paasuram 8 : SeemAlikan avanodu --Sri Ranganathan
and IruvAtchi flowers
( Sri Maalikan was a boyhood friend of KrishNan and
learned the handling of all kinds of weapons as
a play mate.He became arrogant over his skills
in the use of weapons and caused harm to people .
KrishNA was angry at him and at the same time did not
wish to kill his friend . One day Sri Maalikan complained
to his friend that He had not taught him how to handle
the chakrAyudham . KrishNa replied that it is a tricky
business and He Himself is not sure some times
about how to handle that particular weapon .
Sri maalikan insisted however on being taught the
use of Sudarsanam . The Lord decided then that it was
the most appropriate occasion to punish his friend
for his erstwhile offenses . KrishNan threw the chakram
in the air and received it back with one finger and
warned His friend about the inherent dangers in
handling that powerful weapon . Sri Maalikan did not
heed the warning , threw the rotating chakram into the air
and got ready to receive it on his finger just like his
friend demonstrated. He held however his finger
too close to his neck .The returning Sudarsanam
landed on his finger, but cut off his head that was
too close to the receiving finger . PeriyAzhwAr
recalls here , the deft way in which the Lord protected
His asritha janams and punished the offenders ) .
O Lord who taught a lesson to the offending friend ,
Sri Maalikan ! You cut off His head with Your chakram .
O Lord resting at the beautiful temple at Srirangam
and engaged in the bhaktha samrakshaNam and dushta
nigraham ( protection of Your devotees and the destruction
of their enemies ) ! You chose the great kshEthram
of Srirangam , where the righteous people live . With that
choice of Srirangam as Your place of residence , You
allayed my anxieties over any harm coming Your way .
Please come and wear this freshly blossomed
IruvAtchi flowers and make me happy !
Paasuram 9 : Karumuhaip pushpam and
Vatapathra Saayeee of Sri VillipputthUr
O Lord seated in splendorous Sri VaikunTam
in the company of NithyasUris and Muktha Jeevans !
O Emperor , who rules over all the worlds ! O dear One
who prefers the hearts of Your devotees as even a better
place for Your eternal residence compared to the glorious
Sri VaikunTam ! O Lord of MahA Lakshmi seated on
the Lotus flower ! O MaayAvi who hid the Universes in
Your tiny stomach and floated on the waters of the ultimate
deluge ( PraLayam ) as a little baby resting on a pupil leaf !
Please come near me and make me happy by accepting
this KarumuhaippU garland for Your dark tresses .
Paasuram 10 : SeNpaka MallihaOdu --
O Lord I have assembled the SeNpaka flower that
blossoms at early dawn , the others that blossom
after sunrise ( Senkazhu neer and IruvAtcchi et al )
and the Jasmine flowers that blossom in the evening .
I have assembled all these flowers prescribed by
saasthrAs for Your alankAram . I am desirous of
decorating You , who took away the earth and the sky
from MahA Bali through a ruse during Your incarnation as
VaamanA and triviktramA .
I would like to enjoy the bliss of Your mother YasOdhA Piratti
at AayarpAdi, when she decorated Your beautiful hair .
The fruits of reciting these ten verses of mine
--celebrating the anubhavam of YasOdhA decorating
her son's tresses with beautiful flowers-- are the gaining
of the blissful experience ( RasAnubhavam ) of
the blessed foster-Mother of our Lord GOpAlan .
PeriyAzhwAr ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam
Oppiliappn Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan