nAcciyAr tirumozhi XIV paTTi mEyndOr kArERu 1
From the Bhakti List Archives
• April 23, 2003
SrI:
SrI ANDAL samEta SrI raÂ’ngamannAr
tiruvaDigaLE SaraNam
nAcciyAr tirumozhi XIV – paTTi
mEyndOr kArERu
pASuram 14.1 (fourteenth tirumozhi-pAsuram 1 paTTi
mEyndOr kArERu)
baladEvanin tambiyai brindAvanattE kaNDOmE
paTTi mEyndOr kArERu baladEvarkku Or kIzhk kanRAi
iTTiru iTTu viLaiyADi iÂ’ngE pOdak kaNDIrE
iTTamAna paSukkaLai inidu maRittu nIrUTTi
viTTuk koNDu viLaiYADa virundA vanattE kaNDOmE
A. From SrImAn SaDagOpan's tamizh treatise:
sundarAngan kaNNan gives gOdai several, wonderful
sights (sEvai) and gives her paramAnandam. In the
first pASuram, gOdai indicates how kaNNan is
independently roaming around in brindAvanam area,
while acting as a good brother to balarAman and being
mischievous at the same time with the AyarpADi girls
and pleasing all His friends.
- “Did you see a dark-hued, bullish personality, who
is balarAmanÂ’s brother and who goes around playing and
grazing cows to His delight?”
- “Yes, we did; we saw that gOpAlan in brindAvanam,
looking after His most beloved cows with great joy,
lovingly calling them by their names, feeding them
water and letting them graze the grass happily.”
B. Additional thoughts from SrI PVP:
paramapadanAthan was like a “vAn iLa araSu”
(periyAzhvAr tirumozhi 3-6-3), “appointed” by nitya
sUri-s (“viNNATTavar mUduvar” – tiruviruttam –2) who
were like wise, elderly ministers. He considered them
dear to Him and accepted their offerings – “cUTTu nan
mAlaigaL tUyana Endi” (tiruviruttam 21). Consistent
with their true nature as His Sesha-s, they offered
tirumanjanam to Him daily and offered dhUpam etc. But
then, one day, He found out that there was lot of
butter stored in the houses of the gOpi-s in AyarpADi,
and that nappinnai had become of age. Suddenly,
He lost interest in paramapadam and took incarnation
in tiruvAippADi as kaNNan, started roaming around like
a bull in AyarpADi at will, and attained great luster
as a result of this incarnation. This is what is
described in this pASuram.
paTTi mEyndu : When He was in SrI vaikuNTham, He was
a Bull all right, but a tied Bull. BhaTTar used to
say often: “In parama padam, SrI vaikunTha nAthan is
destined to be an eternal prince - growing on the lap
of tiru anantAzhvAn, under the care of vishvaksEnar or
sEnai mudaliyAr and under the wings of periya tiruvaDi
(garuDan) – just as periAzhvar has said: vAn
iLavaraSu”. Since He was constantly watched, He was
like a bull that is tied, with the controlling rope
always held by others. When He came to tiruvAippADi,
He transformed into a new shiny hued bull that
gallivants around as it wishes. After He made His
appearance in gOkulam as kaNNan, He had no one to
control Him, and so, He started performing mischiefs
at His will like an elephant that has entered a
sugarcane grove. In paramapadam, He could not do
anything against His svarUpam and was acting “normal
and decent”. Here, in tiruvAippADi, there is talk
everywhere of “kaNNan stealing butter”, “such and
such a girl has been abducted by kaNNan ” etc. He did
not abide by any “accepted rules” or “norms”. This is
what gOdai means by “paTTi mEyndu”.
kAr Eru: “Dark-hued Bull”. In Ayar pADi, He got His
natural hue by running around hither and thither
according to His own sweet will with a majestic gait,
like an unrestrained bull. In contrast, He was
probably pale white in color in paramapadam
(“paramapadattil uDambu veLuttup pOlE kANum
iruppadu”).
baladEvarkku Or kIzhkanRAi: He was willing to be under
the control of baladEvan, who was His elder brother.
In paramapadam, He was used to being pampered on the
lap of tiru anantAzhvAn and because of that sweet
memory, He is letting Himself be controlled by
baladEvan now (who is the avatAram of tiru
anantAzhvAn). Thus, even though He was full of
mischief when it came to the young girls of AyppADi,
when it came to balarAma, He behaved like a sweet
little younger brother. Also, whenever the girls got
mad at Him and refused to talk to kaNNan, balarAman
acted as a mediator between the two parties and made
them friends again; so, He always remained under the
control of balarAman.
SrI PVP explains in detail the significance of the
term “baladevarkku Or kIzhk kanRAi”, by pointing out
the intimacy of their relationship in their other
incarnations as well.
During SrI rAma avatAram, when perumAL and pirATTi
where resting in the parNa SAlai, iLaiya perumAL was
standing guard without even winking, bow and arrow in
hand, and protected them. It was as if lakshmaNa had
an intimate part of, and was sharing in, whatever
comfort rAma and sItA derived in being together.
“ramyamAvasatham kRtvA ramamANA vanE traya: |
dEva gandharva sankASAs tatra tE nyavasan sukham ||”
(rAmAyaNam bAla kANDam 1-29)
Those three (rAman, sItai and lakshmaNan), who looked
like dEva gandharva-s built a parNa sAlai and lived
happily in the forest. iLaiya perumAl was sharing the
happiness that rAma and sItai experienced by being
together and helped them more and more to experience
that happiness.
So also, in the balarAma incarnation, balarAma derived
great satisfaction by increasing the happiness of
kRshNa and the gopi-s by mediating between them, as
and when the gOpi-s were hurt because of the mischief
of kRshNa.
“sandeSais sAma madhurai: prema garbhaih agarvidai: |
rAmENa ASvAsitA gOpyO hariNA hRta cetasa: || “
(vishNu purANam 5-24-20)
Those gOpi-s who had their hearts stolen by hari
(kaNNan) were consoled by balarAmanÂ’s sweet and kind
words and thus felt comforted. periyAzhvAr in his
tirumozhi 1-7-5 talks about how kaNNan normally acts
subservient to His brother balarAman (“balaDevan ennum
tan nambiyoDap pin kUDac celvAn”). And balarAman
always watched out for kaNNan and made sure that no
danger befell Him.
iTTiRu iTTu viLaiyADi : iTTIRu means “action
proceeding from one’s haughtiness or arrogance”. iTTu
means “on account of” – e.g., adai iTTu vandAn. (He
came for that or on account of that). So in this
pASuram, this phrase means that kaNNan did everything
He could to create havoc to express His arrogance or
haughtiness. He is making noises to show His
happiness and independence. This is like a muktAtmA (a
realized soul) going to SrI vaikuNTham and chanting
sAma gAnam loudly to show his extreme delight and
ecstasy on being able to do kaimkaryam to bhagavAn
eternally from then on.
“Etat sAma gAyanaAstE |
hA vuhA vuhA vu|
aham annam aham annam aham annam |
aham annAdo’hamannAdo’hamannAda: || “ (taittriya
bhRgu. 10-6)
(muktAma reaches paramAtmA and sings – ‘hA vuhA vuhA
vu – I am the food for paramAtmA; I am food; I am
food; I am the enjoyer of food (in the form of
paramAtmaÂ’s love); I am the enjoyer of food; I am the
enjoyer of food).
In a similar fashion, paramAtma came here and because
He gets a chance to show His sousIlyam, soulabhyam etc
by sharing Himself with folks, He becomes so ecstatic
and makes noises.
SrI PVP refers to pUrvAcArya-s wondering aloud that
the paramAtmA Whom the upanishad declares as “avAkya
anAdarah” (chAndogya. 3.14.2) – He Who is without
speech because He has nothing to gain and has all the
Glory – this para tattvam is now behaving in such a
way that He has come to the “iTTIru iTTu viLaiyADum”
stage.
viLaiyADi: shows His leelA vyApAra-s. After all, the
whole purpose of His incarnations is leelA.
iÂ’ngE pOdak kaNDIrE: have you seen the acts that we
cannot get to see even if we go to paramapadam?
Thus far, we have enjoyed the first two lines that are
from those who are asking the question, in SrI PVPÂ’s
mode of interpretation, and ANDALÂ’s question to her
friends, in SrI UVÂ’s mode of interpretation.
The next two lines are from those who respond. The
same applies to all remaining pASuram-s.
iTTamAna paSukkaLai: The cows that are dear to Him.
It is only the AyarpADi girls who are very dear to
Him; how is it that the cows are termed as dear to
Him? Just as young lovers love the mediators who try
to unite the lovers together very much, this kaNNan
also loved the cows more than the gOpi-s, because they
gave Him the excuse to go after the girls. He will
make sure the cows wander away towards where the girls
are and then try to call for the cows by playing on
His flute (with the hidden intention of calling His
lovers!). tiruvAimozhi 6-2-2 talks about this “AgaL
pOga viTTuk kuzhal Udu pOyirundE”. The cows helped
Him in another way as well. When He returned home late
in the evening after playing with the AyarpADi girls,
if the parents enquire as to why He was late, He could
say “These cows wandered away a long distance; I had
to go and round them up and that is why I am late”!
Thus, there were at least two reasons why the cows
were very dear to Him.
iTTamAna paSukkaLai: In tiruvAImozhi 10-3-10,
nammAzhvAr says that for kaNNan, looking after these
cows is more enjoyable than being in His paramapadam :
“tivattilum paSu nirai mEyppu uvatti”. SrI PVP’s
anubhavam is that even in paramapadam, He only dreams
about the cows he looked after in His kRshNa
incarnation, and speaks incoherently about them, as in
delirium, in His sleep.
inidu maRittu : Calling each cow sweetly by its name.
How could He have remembered the thousands of names
of those cows? Obviously, it is not difficult for Him
who gives a name and form to countless cEtana-s during
the time of sRshTi (creation).
nIrUTTi: When the cows and calves need water to
drink, He will find a water pond of the right size for
them and demonstrate to them how to drink the water -
He will hold both His hands on His back , bend down to
the water, and sip the water with His mouth; the cows
and calves will imitate Him and thus quench their
thirst. tirumaÂ’ngai AzhvAr describes this in periya
tirumozhi 2-5-3 - “varaimI kAnil taDam parugu karu
mugil” (that cloud-hued perumAn pretended to drink
water from the pond in order to make the young calves
drink water).
SrI PVP continues his anubhavam of the term ‘nIr
UTTi”, by referring to bhagavAn’s words in the gItA,
where He indicates that He believes in setting an
example for the others (in this case, SrI PVPÂ’s
anubhavam is that He is setting an example for the
cows!).
“yad yad Acarati SrEshTha: tat tadeva itaro jana: |
sa yat pramANam kurute lokas tad anuvartatE ||”
(gItA 3.21)
(People without the requisite knowledge will perform
only those karma-s that those with knowledge will
perform; they will perform the karma-s only to the
extent that the knowing people perform). Consistent
with this, kaNNan performed the act of drinking water
from the pond, so that the cows could follow His
example. And He enjoyed looking after these cows -
“kanRu mEyttu inidu uganda kALAi” – (tiruneDum
tANDagam 3-16).
viTTuk koNDu viLaiYADa: Thus leaving the cows to
graze (viTTuk koNDu), He went around sporting Himself
(viLaiyADa). How can He play when the cows are
grazing in the meadows? That is the whole purpose of
His taking this incarnation. So He is relishing in
that, without minding His greatness, ignoring the care
of His hair, not washing His clothes, and wandering
hither and thither according to His will. After the
cows have finished grazing and had enough water to
drink, there is nothing else to do. Then, there is
only playing for Him. He appeared in the earth only to
do leelA or playing.
virundA vanattE kaNDOmE: this kind of scene cannot be
had in SrI vaikuNTham or even in tiruvAippADi; the
anubhavam that kaNNan had in SrI brindAvanam is
similar to the practice the kings had in building
secret palaces in secluded spots so that they can
enjoy time with their wives in seclusion.
C. Additional thoughts from SrI UV:
iTTIRiTTu: Recall that SrI PVP had interpreted this
phrase as “As a result of the display of His arrogance
or haughtiness”. SrI UV gives a different
interpretation.
iDudal is ‘doing’ or ‘giving’; IRu is ‘finishing’;
“iTTIRiTTu” means “Having fulfilled all that He was
thinking about”. It can even refer to the jagad
vyApAra leelanÂ’s sRshTi, sthiti and samhAram.
iÂ’ngE pODa: Has He come to this place where I am?
Sri UV has two different interpretations for the first
two lines in this tirumozhi:
1. when the nAyakan is late in coming to her, the
nAyaki usually is mad and uses chiding remarks. This
anger is reflected in the first two lines of this
pASuram. gOdai is referring to kaNNan as a ‘kArERu’
that has been gallivanting around stealthily, and the
stealthiness is taking a dark-hued form. DoesnÂ’t
baladEvan make sure that He does not lose His dEvatvam
even though He is strong? This kaNNan is subservient
to baladEvan and yet is committing atrocities.
2. The second interpretation is that gOdai is full of
respect for emperumAn, as reflected in her earlier
reference to Him as “kaRRinam mEykkavum mEykkap
peRRAn” (NT 12-8). Even though He is doing “paTTi
mEyndu” now, He is one who has no comparison [oppillA
appan] and one with no blemishes. He has so much
soulabhyam that He raises even His subordinates to a
level higher than Himself; and elevates the devotees
who are dear to Him. This respect of gOdai to Him is
reflected in the first two lines of the pASuram.
Listening to this, gOdaiÂ’s elderly folks who did not
have any interest in Him earlier, now form great
respect for Him, which is reflected in the next two
lines.
SrI UV notes that a similar bhAvam can be assigned to
the remaining pASurams also.
Abbreviations:
------------------
PVP= SrI periyavAccAn piLLai
PBA= SrI prativAdi bhayankaram aNNangarAcAriyAr
UV = SrI uttamUr vIrarAghavAcAriyAr
sarvam SrIman nArAyaNAyEti samarpayAmi.
aDiyAL,
kalyANi kRshNamAcAri
(Articles on nAcciyAr tirumozhi are available at:
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Troy/7673/azhwars/nachiyar.html
maintained by SrI VenkaT aiyengAr of SrI villiputtUr)
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