Search:
Bhakti List Archives

thiurppavai day fourteen song fourteen

From the Bhakti List Archives

Ramani Naidu • December 28, 2002 


THIRUPPAVAI – DAY FOURTEEN –  SONG FOURTEEN

Transliteration

unkaL puzakkataith thOttaththu vAviyuL
cenkazunIr vAy nekiznthu Ampal vAy kUmpinakAn
cenkal potikkurai venpal thavaththavar
tankal thirukkoyil cankituvan pOkinrAr
enkalai munnam eLuppuvAn vAy pEcum
nankAY elunthirAy nAnAthAy nAvutaiyAy
cankotu cakkaram Enthum thatakkaiyan
panakayak kannAnaip pAtElOr empAvAy.

Translation

The cenkalunir in the pond at the backyard has opened up.
The ampal has closed down.
The saffron-robed, white-teethed seers
Are on their way to the temples, keys on hand.
You had promised to wake us up early, lady of virtues!
ArenÂ’t you shameless of still lying abed?
Sweet tongued arenÂ’t you!
Let us sing in praise of the Lotus-Eyed,
Holding the conch and the discus in His noble hands.

The fourteenth song is the last in a series in which the maids on their way
to the pond for the pavai bath implore the maid withindoors to join them.
The fifteenth song dramatises a conversation between them, the maids calling
the maid and the maid answering them from within. At the end of the song,
the maid joins the troop and the march to the temple begins.

The fourteenth song continues with a reference to a few more indications of
the dawn. The red kuvalai flowers, also called cenkalunir,  a kind of water
lily, opens up as the sun rises. The ampal, which is also called alli,
closes down at dawn. The words used to the opening up an closing down are
significant. ‘nekilntu’ may be literally translated as loosening. The word
associated with ‘vay’, the mouth, is highly suggestive. In anticipation of
the sun, the flower opens up its petals. Throbbing in anticipated
fulfilment, passionate lips open up. Therefore ‘vay nekilntu’ is highly
suggestive of a passionate anticipation of the fulfilment of the longing for
union with God. ‘kumpina’ is the other word. That word is also suggestive in
its own way. When the longing for union is frustrated, the face withers.
Thus the bliss of the Divine experience is simultaneously gratifying and
frustrating.

The second scene described is that of the seers in charge of the temple
administration on their way to the temples to have it opened for the dayÂ’s
worship. By implication, it means that once the devotees have initiated the
spiritual cultivation, the heart of God is prepared to receive them. The
colour of the saffron robes of the seers is said to be that of the brick.

When there was no sign of the maid withindoors stirring, the maids become
exasperated. They remind her of her promise to join them and impress upon
her that she has to join them lest she should be taken to have betrayed her
own promise. But almost immediately, they try to placate her ascribing sweet
tongue to her – a maid of sweet words.

There is a contradiction of terms in the name assigned to God again. He
holds the mighty discus on one hand and the magnificant conch on the other.
They are meant to instil fear in the hearts of the foes. But GodÂ’s eyes are
said to be as fresh, soft, mild and beautiful as the lotus. In fact, the
conch and the discus are weapons that Lord Narayana in his manifested forms
does not hold explicitly. Perhaps the maids in their true devotion can see
the transcendental form of Narayana though they have seen Krishna as a
shepherd among the shepherds.

Thus, a careful reading of the song reveals contradictions complimenting
each other. The flowers that open up and those that close down; the dull
robes of the seers and their bright white teeth; the exasperated chiding and
the flattery; the mighty weapons and the merciful eyes.

Moreover, there is a colour pattern running through the song. Red and white
alternate each other through and through. The red and white flowers; the
saffron robe and the white teeth; the white conch and the fiery red discus.
And in the last, both the colours are in one – the eyes of God : white with
beautiful red lines. Perhaps, white as the colour of purity refers to God
and red as is traditionally done, is associated with his consort, Lakshmi.
It is surprising that the colour that is usually associated with God in the
Vaishnava literature is black. This song appears to be an exception. More
explanations can be offered by discerning readers.

Traditional interpretation will identify the maid in this song with
Tiruppanalvar. He has to his credit only ten songs in a collection of about
four thousand by the twelve Alwars. The legend about him is as follows:

Tiruppanalvar had been the son of a heavenly angel born to a brahmin. Unable
to take him with her to heaven, she left him behind on the earth. The child
was found in a paddy field by a minstrel couple who did not have a child of
their own. They brought him up. True to the clan in which he grew,
Tiruppanalvar mastered music and was given to rapturous ecstasy while
singing in praise of God.

Since he was identified with the minstrel clan, he had no admittance into
the temple. He used to stand on the banks of the Cauvery and sing
rapturously in praise of God.

Lokasarankar was a brahmin in the temple service. His duty was to fetch
water from  the river for  bathing the God.  One early morning when he was
on his way to the river, he found Tiruppanalvar in the middle of the path
and asked him to move away and make way. But he was in such a rapture that
he heard not the words. A brahmin was not supposed to brush against those of
the lower castes. So to make way to the brahmin, stones were pelted at
Tiruppanalvar. But there was no sign of his coming to consciousness. The
brahmins chose another path to the river.

But then, when they reached the temple, they found the image of God in the
sanctum sanctorum bleeding at the forehead as if of the wound of a pelted
stone. Lokesarankar was ordered by God to carry Tiruppanalvar on his
shoulders and bring him into the temple. Accordingly was Tiruppanalvar
brought into the temple.

Once his eyes fell on the beautiful image of God, Tiruppanalvar composed the
ten songs celebrating the beauty. Those songs have been incorporated in the
collection Nalayira Divya Prabandham under the title ‘amalanatipppiran’.

The maid is addressed ‘nankay’ meaning lady of virtues. Tiruppanalvar agreed
to ride to the temple on the shoulders of Lokasaranka, the brahmin in
perfect reconciliation with GodÂ’s will. Therefore lady of virtues. Even as
he was carried by a brahmin, he identified the will of God in it and was in
no way  proud of himself. ‘atiyarkku ennai atpatutta vimalan’. Therefore
‘nanatay’ in that ‘nan’ also means pride – one who is not proud. ‘navutaiyay
’, translated as ‘sweet tongued’ may be taken to refer to the poetic
grandeur of Tiruppanalvar. In just ten songs, he has loaded the implications
of the Vedas. Desikar will say, “panperumal patiyator patal pattum
palamaraiyin porul” – All that Panalwar has sung makes up the meaning of the
vedas of the old.

Tiruppanalvar, again, has acknowledged the beauty of  the Divine in the
physical manifestation. ‘kaiyar curicanku anal aliyar’ and ‘kariyavakip
putai parantu milirntu cevvariyoti nintavap periyavayakankal’ – therefore
the aptness of the line in Andal’s song – ‘the Lotus-Eyed’ and ‘Holding the
discus and the conch in noble handsÂ’.

The saffron robe has a reference to Lokasaranka.

The dichotomy between what Tiruppanalvar has claimed in his song and what
actually happened is also brought out in this song. ‘atiyarkku ennai
atpatutta vimalan’ – Vimalan has rendered me a servant to the devotees –
that was his claim. But he was carried to the temple by a devotee. Perhaps
the maids subtly suggest the contradiction between the promise by the maid
and remaining withindoors even as the others are ready for the pavai
observance.





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



--------------------------------------------------------------
           - SrImate rAmAnujAya namaH -
To Post a message, send it to:   bhakti-list@yahoogroups.com
Group Home: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bhakti-list
Archives: http://ramanuja.org/sv/bhakti/archives/
 

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/