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Ramani - tiruppAvai - pASuram 5.

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Ramani Naidu • December 19, 2002 


          tiruppAvai - pASuram 5.

Transliteration

mAyanai mannu vata mathurai mainthanai
thUyap peru nIr yamunaith thuRaivanai
Ayar kulaththinil thOnRum ani viLakkai
thAyaik kutal viLakkam ceytha thAmOthiranai
thUyOmay vanthu nAm thUmalar thUvith thozuthu
vAyinal pAti manaththinal cinthikkap
pOya pizaiyum pukutharuvAn ninRanavum
thIyinil thUsAkum ceppOlOr empAvay.

Translation

When in all piety we shower pure flowers and pray,
Sing in praise and mediate in heart,
The Inscrutable, the Lord of the Yamuna of waters pure and deep.
The auspicious lamp of the herdsmen clan,
Damothiran who fulfilled the mission of his motherís womb,
The sins of the past as well those imminent
Will be burnt like cotton in fire.
Let us sing the names of God.

The first song the Thiruppavai referred to Narayana, the
transcendent reality. The second song referred to His condescending
manifestation on the milky ocean. The third song referred to the deed
of
manifestation in the form of Vamana. The fourth song was an appeal for
the bliss of GodÂ’s grace to be showered on the devotees. The fifth song
speaks about impediments in realising God.

In Vaishnava metaphysics, five kinds of impediments are named.
They impede communion with God. They are svarupa virothi, paratva
virothi, upaya virothi, purusartha virothi and praptha virothi.

The thought that this body is the soul and the thought that one is
independent of god make up the svarupa virothi.
Considering gods and devas as equal to Narayana is paratva virothi.
Considering means other than the Supreme to be better, to
understand one ís surrender of one ís self and soul to God and taking
good deeds done by one as means of salvation are impediments of means,
upaya virothi.
Considering the worldly phenomena as the ideals of life is
purusartha virothi.
Offending in matters pertaining to God or devotees are
impediments of duty, praptha virothi. It is the last of these that is
taken
to be sin in the Hindu context. The Christian equivalent may be taken
to
be blasphemy which in effect is perverting the very purpose of having
been created by God.

The fifth song expresses the conviction that all such sins of the
past will become nothing. All such sins that one is likely to commit
will
also become nothing. All that is required thus to negate acts of
indirection
is to sing in praise of the names of God. And to sing in praise of the
names of God has certain prerequisites which are mentioned in the song.
The burden of the whole song is purity. Different phrases are used
to mean purity. Tuyap perunir yamunai means the yamuna of pure waters.
Tuyom means we the pure. Tumalar means pure flower. The essence of
purity reiterated in the song is purity achieved by acts of showering
flowers at the feet of God, making obeisance to God, singing in praise
of
God and meditating the names of God. Thus do we get a series of the
names in which we can pray to Him, sing in praise of Him and meditate.

Mayan is the first name. Literally it may mean the deceitful. But the
connotation of deceit will not suit the context. God is not deceitful.
God
is inscrutable. One can never understand the ultimate purpose of GodÂ’s
deeds. Therefore he is mayan, the God of inscrutable deeds.
Vata maturai mainthan refers to various associations of God in
his different manifestations in Madurai. As Vamana He had been there.
The association of Madurai with the Krishna Avatar is well known.
Maintan means the son. But the word has more meaning added to it. It
means the son of accomplishments. Krishna had freed his parents from
the prison as soon as he was born. Thereafter he had accomplished many
a deed in Madurai ñ he had liquidated Kalinga, the snake king; killed
Kanja, the asura; killed Putanai, the devil; the list is fairly long.
So vata
maturai mainthan means MaduraiÂ’s son of accomplishments.
God is called the auspicious lamp of the herdsmen clan.
The womb of any woman completes its mission only when she
begets a child. When the child thus begotten is the best of all, the
womb
successfully completes the mission. The very greatness of the womb is
to be realised in the greatness of the offspring. That way, the birth
of
Krishna had gloriously completed the mission of his motherÂ’s womb.
Damothira is a name given to Krishna. There is an interesting
story behind it. Krishna is supposed to have been very mischievous as a
child. So to contain him, Yesodha has fastened him on to a mortar with
a rope tied around his waist. The rope left a scar round his waist as
he
had strained the rope to free himself. Uthiram means stomach, here the
waist. Damothira means the scarred-waisted.

The assurance that maintaining purity, offering flowers in prayer,
singing in praise of God and meditating the names of God at heart will
dispel the sins of the past and those probable in the future is a great
assurance indeed. In effect, salvation is inevitable to anyone who can
get rid of the impediments in the path of realisation of God.
One of the impediments, namely prapta virothi, can be easily
dispensed with through the acts mentioned in the song. Praptam is to be
explained further. The virtues and sins of the previous births decide
the
status and nature of life in the present birth. Ordained as it is based
on
the virtues and sins of the past, man is inevitably to add on to karma
which lead to future births. Insofar as the mission of life is to
transcend
such binding of karma, it can be achieved only with divine grace which
can be easily invoked as indicated in the song. That is the ultimate
message of the fifth song of Thiruppavai.
The song also celebrates a particular aspect of God. God is humble
to the sincere devotee. This quality of God is called Sowlapya, Godís
readiness to descend in grace to the devotee. Even such simple acts of
offering flowers, singing in praise of Him and meditating upon His name
are enough to invoke Godís grace because God has Sowlapya.



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