Bhakti List Archives

ThiruppAvai first pAsuram

From the Bhakti List Archives

Mani Varadarajan • Thu Feb 18 1999 - 16:12:55 PST 


I also offer my thanks to Rengi for sharing his anubhava-laden
postings on Andal's first paasuram with us.  I have learnt quite
a bit from his series on this verse, and hope to learn 
much more as he continues through the next 29.

Rengi's invitation to each of us to contribute our thoughts is 
also a welcome one, though I must confess I can offer little
more than the bare literal meaning.  This will be helpful
primarily to people such as myself who do not know much Tamil.

In my translation, I have tried to avoid interpreting Andal's 
words as much as possible; I feel that that beginners
have an easier time first understanding the literal meaning.  
Digesting this, they can then progress to deeper allegorical 
interpretations. Therefore, I have translated "paRai" simply as 
"drum"; equating it with everlasting service or nitya-kainkaryam 
is the next step.

What is presented below has already been covered by Rengi and 
others, but, for what it's worth:

=========================================================

maargazhith thingaL madhi niRaindha nannaaLaal *
neeraadap pOdhuveer pOdhuminO nErizhaiyeer *
seer malgum aayppaadic celvac ciRumeergaaL *
koorvER kodunthozhilan nandhagOpan kumaran *
Eraarndha kaNNi yasOdhai iLaNYsingam *
kaar mEnic cengaN kadhir madhiyam pOl mugaththaan *
naaraayaNanE namakkE paRai tharuvaan *
paarOr pugazhap padindhElOr embaavaay.

Translation
-----------

The full moon day of Margazhi is here
What an auspicious day it is!

O dear ornamented girls
  who thrive in Brindavana,
    overflowing with prosperity

Come along, let us go bathe,
Come along if you so desire.

Narayana --
The son of Nandagopa,
  his sharp spear readily so cruel --
The young lion of Yashoda,
  her eyes so full of love --
With dark body
  red eyes
    face like the sun and moon

Narayana    alone 
will give   us
The drum!

So join us, so that the people
Of the world will celebrate.


Word for Word meaning 
---------------------

maargazhi thingaL        the month of maargazhi (december-january) 
madhi niRaindha          full moon
nal naaL                 auspicious day

neeraada                 to bathe
pOdhuveer                those of you who desire to go
pOdhumino                let us go
nEr izhaiyeer            you who are adorned with jewels

seer                     wealth, glory
malgum                   full of
aaypaadi                 Brindavana (where cowherds live)
celva                    prosperous
ciRumeergaaL             O young girls

koor vEl                 sharp spear
kodun thozhilan          cruel deed (to those who harm Krishna)
nandagOpan               Nandagopala, Krishna's father and
                         chief of the cowherds
kumaran                  son

Eraarndha kaNNi          eyes full of beauty
yasOdhai                 Yashoda, Krishna's mother
iLam singam              lion cub

kaar mEni                with a body that is dark
cen kaN                  red eyes
kadhir                   sun
madhiyam                 moon
pOl                      like
mugaththaan              with a face

naaraayaNanE             Narayana himself
namakkE                  to us, indeed
paRai                    the drum
tharuvaan                will give 

paarOr                   (so that) the people of the world
pugazha                  will celebrate, praise 
padindhu                 follow, get involved (in our nonbu)

-------------------------------------------------

SrI rangamannAr samEta ANDAL tiruvaDigaLE SaraNam

hemmige vAcaspati dAsan