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a nice pAsuram by thirumaN^gai mannan

From the Bhakti List Archives

Vijay Triplicane • April 10, 1997 


This one is from periya thirumozhi by sri thirumaN^gai AzhwAr:

Just happened to go through this and was instantly attracted to the sheer
beauty of this thamizh pAsuram and its emotions. Thought i will share it 
with the group..

This poem is sung by the mother of the nayika, the heroine. The nayika is 
madly in love with the Lord. Since the Lord doesn't show up she gets so
frustrated and restless which she explains to her sakhi, (friend).
Upon hearing this the mother is so worried about her daughter that she 
complains to the Lord and questions Him...

	`oozhiyil peridhaal nNaazhigai!' ennum
	 `oNsudar thuyinRadhaal!' ennum,
	 `aazhiyum pulambum! anRilu muRangkaa
	  thenRalum theeyiniR kodidhaam,
	  thOzhiyO!' ennum `thuNaimulai yarakkum
	   sollumi NnenseygEn?' ennum,
	   Ezhaiyen ponnuk kenninainN dhirunNdhaay
	    idavenNdhai yenNdhai piraanE!     2.7.4


A free Translation:
Oh! Lord of thiru idavendhai, my dear daughter is badly suffering the
separation from you. I heard her explaining to her friend as follows:

"The nights are as long as a yuga, it is so difficult to pass the night that
 i am more than eagerly looking forward for the day. When will the Sun rise?
Won't it rise at all? is the Sun dead or what? Oh! my dear friend, the Ocean
is so noisy and the krouncha birds are shouting all through the night. (It is 
said that the krouncha birds always live in pairs and never separate. If
 they get separated, they will shout to death. Hence the shouts of the
 krouncha birds seems like a bad omen to the nayika, furthering her pain
 and suffering). The southerly breeze is like a gust of fire on me 
(southerly breeze is said to be cold). I am so frustrated that I feel like
plucking my breasts out (sri ANdAL also says something similar to this..)"

The mother is obviously worried at her daughter and complains to the Lord.
"Oh! Lord what have you done to my dear daughter?????"
 
	
	oozhiyil peridhAl n^Azhigai" ennum -
	(my daughter tells her sakhi, "one n^aazhigai is longer than 
	a yugam")

	"oN sudar thuyinRadhu" ennum - 
	("is the sun dead??" ))
	(For the nayika in her viraham, she finds the nights to be very very
	long and is eagerly looking for the day and therefore waiting for the
	sun to rise.. In her restlessness, she gets so mad that she asks
	whether the sun is dead or what?? )

	"Azhiyum pulambum, anRilum uRaN^gaa" -
	("the ocean is making so much of noise (the ocean is noisy during 
	the nights...) 
	the anRil (krouncha birds) keep shouting all through the night..)
	(It is said that the anRil birds are always in pairs and they never
	separate.. if one of them leaves the other, the this one keeps
	shouting for a while and kills itself! the fact that these birds keep
	shouting all through the night appears to be a bad omen to her,
	furthering her pain...)

	"thenRalum theeyiniR kodithAm" - (even the southerly wind which is
	cold for everyone is like fire on me..

	"thuNai mulai arakkum", en seygEn sollumin - (the ammaa further
	continues.. the nayika tells her sakhi that she will pluck her pair
	of breasts  outa frustration...the ammaa is obviously worried now, 
	what to do with this daughter...)

	Ezhai en ponnukku en n^inain^dhu irun^dhaay , idavendhai pirAnE-
	oh! the Lord of thiru idavendhai, what have you done to my
	daughter...

	[based on Sri PBA's commentary..]

sri thirumaN^gai AzhwAr thiruvadigaLE charaNam
thiru idavendhai Sri nithyakalyANap perumAL thiruvadigaLE charaNam

-Viji
(Vijay Triplicane)