Search:
Bhakti List Archives

govindhan gunam paadi en aavi kaaththiruppen - post 11

From the Bhakti List Archives

M.G.Vasudevan • February 14, 2002 


Dear Srivaishnava perunthagaiyeer,

Krishna's dances on each occasion are amirtham - nectarian in their own
exclusive way, a sweet for us to enjoy for quite a long time. In the
previous post we saw the beautiful krithi of Smt. Ambujam krishna. In this
one krithi itself she brings different occasions when krishna danced. To
combine all in one is like enjoying all sweets together - instead of
enjoying one by one- at the same time- without any thigattudhal - no
overdoing- that is krishna's glory. 

Now let us see some points which because of length of the post I postponed.
Pallavi:
aadina aravindhap padham uRu thuNaiyE aiyan un
aadina aravindhap padham uRu thuNaiyE

point 1: in the beginning itself there is total surrender- oh my lord- your
feet is the place where I have my refuge - prapaththi done. 
[whether it is with 6 angam etc only learned bhagavathas have to say who are
experts in this] 

anupallavi:
aadum thottilil aRiyaab baalanaai uruNdu
Odum sagadam udhaiththu nee viLai [aadina]

Point 2. In this, a doubt comes whether kicking the sakataasuran can be
called as a dance.  An ordinary child in the cradle like yours and mine, oh
bhakthaas, starts stretching hands and legs and then kicks in the air,
usually parents like us say "kuzhandhai ennamaai aadaradhu paar"- in what an
excellent way the child plays. 

But here this child - child krishna - is special - in every sense of the
word - so that simple aadaradhu has become a dance for the poetess. 

CharaNam 1:
thaa thaa enak kazhal silambu olikka
thaa thaa enach chevvai sol isaikka
thaa thaa enach chiram asaiya vizhi genja
thaa thaa enak karam veNNaik kEtkath
thaLar nadaiyittu niRka
thaai yasOdhai mei maRakka
dhaaraNiyOr kaNdu ugakka [aadina]

point 3: dear bhakthaas - this description immediately calls our attention
to the kulasekara aazhvar paasuram muzhudhum veNNai aLainthu and swamy
desikan slokam in gopaala vimsathi harthum kumbhe which lead to the coining
of a new type of dance called navaneetha naatyam. Since these two have been
dealt many times, not repeated again even though the taste is quite large. 

Just imagine this scene as per description given.
-	that kazhal silambu- anklets in the legs provides music for the
dance  
-	chevvai sol isaikka - the mouth provides the jathis for the dance-
in dancing parlance  it is called solluk kattu - the jathis - oh just enjoy
the beauty of krithi for its lyrical excellence also.
-	chiram asaiya- head moves and vizhi genja- eyes gives expressions-
this is what is called abhinaya in dancing parlance
-	thaLar nadaiyittu - sanchaari bhaavam in dancing parlance
-	yasOdhai and dhaaraNiyOr - mother yasOdhaa and general public are
the audience around 
-	now is it not leading to that thollai inbaththu irudhi as described
by aazhvaar - oh krishnaa what a dance you play in front of mother.

charaNam 2:
suruL kuzhal madhi nudhal puraNdida
karu vizhi iraNdum suzhanRu arul pozhinthida
naRu malar maalai maarbil ilangida
araithanil oLir pattaadai asainthida kaaLiyan
siraththai midhiththu thaththiththOm 
thiththOm thOm thagaNathOm thaahathajam 
thari kita thagita thaka  enRu oru 
padham niRuththi eduththu  [aadina]

point 4: 
-	here again- the description of krishna- just brings to mind the
periyaazhvaar paasurams thazhaigaLum thongalum - see also lyrical
excellence. 
-	See here another beauty- first the eyes poured kaNNan's arul on
kaaliyan- then only krishna does this thalai midhithal - crushing under his
feet - then it is not a pain but limitless boon granted. 
-	That  is what really happened- as vouched by kaaLiyan's wives. They
praise the lord - hey lord there are many rishis and munis who do long long
penance to touch your feet and get your feet stamped on them- but what
puNNIyam our husband did - you came on your own and put that feet stamp on
our lord. 
[The slokas I will cover in the naaga pathni sthuthi. Dear bhakthaas, pardon
me first- though I said earlier I will take up after 2 posts, the taste of
these cross references are so high, and the length of posts forces me to
postpone taking up the sthuthi]

charaNam 3:
veLLamena amudham pozhiyum nilavilE
thuLLum keNdai paayum yamunaik karaiyilE
meLLa varum iniya kuzhalin isaiyilE
uLLam urugi onRaaik koodum vELaiyil
konjum vizhiyilE anjuga mozhiyilE
nenjak kalappilE minju kaLippudanE
thaththithadhingiNathOm thiththadhingiNathom
thadhingiNathom thingiNathom giNathom Nathom thomenru [aadina]

Point 5: that line "meLLa varum iniya kuzhalin isaiyilE" kindles thoughts on
"naavalam theevil" of periyaazhvaar - this raasa dance when ever and
wherever referred I immediately go back to the aazhvaar paasurams only.
Again, here also the lyrical beauty of the krithi and description of krishna
is very high. 

Oh, krishna- it is stated that any dance has to be learnt at the feet of the
guru. For you  who is the guru. May be to certain extent mother yasOdhaa can
be considered as your guru as stated by our aachaarya. Fully is it or some
body else is also there. 

But that sukhar - one who has realised to a good extent about you oh
krishna, says 
thanmoorDharathna nikara sparsaathithaamra 
paadhaambujaa~khila kalaa aadhi guru nanarththa 
slokam 26 16th chapter x canto poorva ardham- Sri Sukha brahmam in srimadh
bhaagavatham.

For all the arts he is the first guru- so he has to learn from whom? Except
from himself.
Like vaalmeeki- is the aadhi kavi - krishna is the aadhi guru for all
kalaas- arts. 

These subtle points have to be just rolled over again and again in mind to
realise the full  extent of krishna bhakthi.  

Krishna is dancing on the hoods of kaaLiyan. Fine. As stated by Smt. AK, for
raasa dance he, that krishna himself, played the flute and provided music. 

For kaaliyan dance who provided music? 
The answer is from "yasodhai aazhvaar" is krishna himself does the music
also.  
kaayaneer pukkuk kadambu ERi kaaLiyan 
theeya paNaththil silambu aarkkap paainthu aadi
vEyin kuzhal oodhi viththaganaai ninRa -- 2-1-3 periyaazhvaar thirumozhi

he dances - paainthu aadi - also plays the flute - vEyin kuzhal oodhi-
viththaganaai ninRa - stood as a wizard. So it is clear- music is by self-
already we had that kuzhal oothi- not even kuzhal isaiththu- simply blowing
the bamboo - not playing flute - it is all krishna's magic- result of that
oodhal- is 10 wonderful paasurams from "yasodhai aazhvaar" - he is also the
"maamanaar aazhvaar" - svasura: - father in law also. mother and father in
law is the same person - wonderful - krishna un maayam again.

Dear bhakthaas- enjoy that arul pozhinthu thalai midhikkum guNam of
gOvindhan - is it really midhiththal- no - just protecting under his feet -
kOzhi midhiththu kunju mudam aagaadhu- is the proverb- by the trampling of
the hen the chick will not become lame- that proverb came from this? Think
and find an answer- so that we are ready to receive the next post.

Dhaasan

Vasudevan M.g.



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

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