KANNA PIRAAN PERRA VENNAIK KALVI- 13

From the Bhakti List Archives

• February 13, 2000


Dear srivaishnava perunthagaiyeer
It is usual to praise the things connected with the lord. AaNdaaL vies with
the bhaagyam of the conch paanchajanyam- that he is able to have the mouth
water- vaai amudham of the Lord always. 

Here "nigamaantha aachaaryan" praises that mortar which had the bhagyam of
getting tied with the Lord. See
muhu: pravruththam navaneetha chouryE vathsaan vimunchantham adhoha kaalE/
ulookhalE kuthrachidhaantha puNyE banDhum sathaam banDhuBhiyEsha maathaa//
4-33 yadhavaabhyudhayam

meaning: yasOdha the mother of krishna wanted to tie the naughty krishna in
the mortar who, 
*	steals butter quite often and has stealing as the main job, 
*	unties the calves when they are not required for milching the cows.

That mortar is so lucky enough to get tied with the Lord who is the close
relative of good men in the world.

After getting tied what he did or how was krishna's reactions?

OLiyaa veNNai undaan enru uralodu aaichchi oNkayirraal 
viliyaa aarkka aappundu vimmiazhudhaan - 6-7-1 thirumangai aazhvaar

Meaning: Krishna ate butter, which was kept in secret places. Mother tied
him to the mortar with ropes and beaten. He received not only tying, but
also beating and wept.

Uriyaarntha naruveNNai oLiyaal senRu angu uNdaanai aaichchi uralOdu aarkka
thariyaarntha karunkaLirE pola ninRu thadankaNgal panimalgum thanmaiyaan
-thirumangai aazhvaar 2- 10-6
Meaning: The butter was shining in the pots in the rope hangers. Due to that
shine krishna reached there and ate all butter. Mother aaichchi tied him
with rope to the mortar. Like an elephant tied to the tree with chains,
krishna stood there with those big eyes of him shedding tears. 
thadanKaNgaL panimalgum-  selected words used here.
thadam kaNgaL- broad eyes
pani malgum- snow falls- eyes shedding tears have become snow here- beauty
of words.

Also see similar description is given by Swami desikan with added reactions.
He says "People came happily laughed and krishna wept". Is it that Mother's
prowess in punishing the child is proved in front of the eyes of others? or
krishnaswami's simplicity "soulabhyam" in accepting mother as great.

ulookhalE pragrathithEna dhaamnaa nibaDhdhamaasraavilalOla nEthram/
sahaasamaikshantha janaa: samanthaadhaalaanitham naagaamivaanaBhignaa://
4-36 yadhavaabhyudhayam

meaning: Krishna was tied well to the mortar. Others saw him as weeping,
fearing for being tied and looking for help from others. People, who came
laughing to see krishna tied in the mortar, like how a captured elephant
will be seen, saw him happily.

Also see another description of krishna's reaction.
ViralOdu vaai thOintha veNNai kaNdu aaichchi
uralOdu urappiNiththa naanRu 
kuralOvaadhu Engi ninainthu ayalaar kaaNa irunthilaiyE 
ongOtha vaNNaa urai- 24 mudhal thiruvanthaathi poigai aazhvaar 

Meaning: Hey krishna, mother aaichchi saw you with all your fingers and
mouth coated with butter and tied you with ropes to the mortar. You, the
ocean coloured Lord, please speak, are you not able to raise your voice, do
you feel vexed, feel feeble, and why people see you in such a condition?
[perhaps, the lord is so tired and unable to speak aazhvaar encourages him
to speak]

Two more reference available are
Uriyaar veNNai undu uralodum kattundu 6-5-4 thirumangai

Uri thadavum aLavil uralOdu uRRU ninRana- adhikaara sangraham- paasuram 51-
line 3- swami dEsikan
 
Oh, what a scene! To see the lord to be tied and begging in front of the
mother for release. If this not soulabhyam what then is the meaning of that
word? krishna krishna.

No wonder that mother is praised "what is the thavam -penance you did to get
this son and the scene enacted in front you?" See the song-
"Biramanum indhiranum manathil poRaamai koLLa kaNNanai 
uralil katti vaai poththi kenja vaiththa thaayE nee- 
"enna thavam seithanai"- paapanaasam sivan krithi in the raaga kaapi.- 

meaning: The brahma and king devendra were jealous of you, because you were
able to tie kaNNan in the mortar. He begged to you with folded hands and a
finger kept on the mouth showing the fear- oh yasodhaa! What is the amount
of penance you did?

Is there any wonder then that kulasekhara writing "ellaam deiva nangai
yasOdhai peRRaaLe"- with a lot of force in that ellaam. "oh! Devaki- you are
really ill lucked not to have all these"- but "better lucked to have him as
your son".

See this soulabhyam is praised by swami nammaazhvaar thus.
MaththuRu kadai veNNai kaLavinil uralidai aappu uNdu
eththiRam uralinOdu iNainthirunthu Engiya eLivE! 1-3-1 thiruvaaimozhi

meaning: Due to your stealing the butter being developed on the churning rod
in the curd pot, you were tied to the mortar. How is it possible- eththiram?
Further you were tied to that mortar and begging to mother. Oh lord! What an
amount of simplicity you showed.

Perhaps that is why he further says "vadamathurai pirantha thaathu sEr thOL
kaNNan allaal illai kaNdeer charaNE" in 9-1-9 and 10. There is no other
place for refuge except that sulabhan kaNNan who is born in the north
mathura and who has shoulders which is the supporting base for the whole
world (thaathu means base-eg- ayath thaathu -iron ore)

This tying also developed into a permanent mark in the body- thazhumbu. 
Ariyum ulagellaam yaanEyumallEn poRi kol 
SiRaivaNam oornthaai veRi kamazhum kaambEi 
men thOLi kadai veNNai uNdaayai 
thaambE koNdu aarththa thazhumbu. 
*	22 mudhal thiruvanthaathi poigai aazhvaar.

Meaning: [the two lines are not of much importance to the present topic of
discussion and hence skipped] The young lady, with soft shoulders, with
difficulty, churns the curd and you ate the butter with ease. She got angry
and tied you [beat you] with the rope and that left a mark on you.

Now let us see a song by naarayana theertha another staunch krishna bhakthaa
about whom Sri Sadagopan has written in his series on krishna bhakthaas like
kshetrayya and others.
Kalaya yasOdhE thava baalam
Kala baala kakhEna lOlam- kalaya

Apahrutha bahuthara navaneetham 
anupama leelaa natanakrutham
kapata maanusha baalaka charitham
kalitha kandhuka khElana niratham-  kalaya

pathi pathi luNtitha dhadhi BhaaNdam
paapa thimirasatha maarthaaNdam
adhikabalOdhrutha jaghadaNdam
aanandha bhODharasama khandam- kalaya

navaneetha chOra baalaka charitham 
nandhaadhi vraja puNya tharu phalitham
dhruva padha palamEthadhathi daLitham
bhuvi naaraayaNa theertha  yathi phaNitham kalaya

The meaning of this song we will see in next post.

Dasan Vasudevan M.G.