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kaNNan and veNNai

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Vijay Triplicane • January 17, 2000 


Dear Sri Vasudevan,
    I really liked this posting on kaNNan's veNNai anubhavam. Lemme cite
some of the interesting  references...
------
1.      AaNdaaL enjoys seeing krishna in brindaavan and calls him
"kuNungu
naari kuttERu"in naachchiyaar thirumozhi 14-2 patti meinthu pathikam-
kutti
Eru smelling the kuNungu- meaning -a small bull smelling butter. Father
of
aaNdaaL calls him to bathe to remove his veNNaik kunungu- smell. But
daughter enjoys him with the smell of butter. Ways are different for
bhakthaas in enjoying the Lord.
---------
    Thats an interesting observation. Like nammAzhvAr says,"avaravar
thamathamadhu ...".

--------------
KeNadaiyoNkaNmadavaaL oruththi keezhaiyagaththuth thayirkadaiyak kaNdu
ollai
naanum kadaivan enru kaLLavizhiyai vizhiththup pukku vandamar poonkuzhal

thaazhnthu ulaava vaanmugam verppa sevvai thudippa thaN thayir nee
kadainthittavaNNam daamodharaa! meyyarivan naanE! 6-2 PerumaaL
thirumozhi.
---------------

    This is a marvellous pAsuram. I haven't read much of perumAL
thirumozhi. I understand the 7'th thirumozhi, "aalai n^IL karumbu..." is
very interesting and has a new perspective. Hope you could write about
that too.

----------
vaanmugam verppa - the clear blue colour sky like face has sweat drops
appearing- again a classy word- vaan mugam- it is said the Lord has
chandran
and suryan as his eyes -chandra suryou cha nEthrE is the dhyaana slokam
of
sahasranaamam- only a vaanmugam can have chandran and suryan as eyes-
aha
-aha- what a selection of word.
------------
    I can understand your elation at the choice of words. I am equally
enjoying it. To imagine kutti kaNNan churning with the drops of sweat on
his forehead is so moving.


--------
thaN thayir nee kadainthittavaNNam daamodharaa- (here itself KP calls
dhaamOdharan- but MGV reserves this for another part) thaN thayir- chill

curd- why thaN thayir- just in front is vaan mugam- that face and eyes
which
showers the whole world all the aruL and karuNai- he is focussing all
his
attention on that curd- the kataaksham is fully on the curd- then what
else
it could be except thaN thayir- chill and  cool - nee kadainthittavaNNam
-
the way you churned the curd
----------
    The reasoning for "thaN" thayir is so apt. What an awesome vyAkyAnam
by our AchAryAs that adds so many layers of beauty to the original
poetry!

----------
meyyarivan naanE- I know the truth- hey krishnaa- I know why you
struggle so
much- hey you want fresh butter only and like it -so you do all this.
Please
have it says KP aaichchi.
--------------
    This again is so touching. It is all His. But He took pains of
coming all the way to aayarpaadi, deceive the aayar girl, churn the curd
with his flower like hands, with sweat drops on his forehead and with
his lips twitching.... This is simply beautiful.

    I am reminded of my thirumaN^gai AzhvAr's description of kaNNan and
veNNai in siRiya thirumadal:

                                                    -avan kANmin
ooraanirai mEyththu ulagellAm uNdu mizhn^dhum
aaraadha thanmayanAy AN^goru n^AL AyppAdi
sIrAr kalai algul sIradich chen^dhuvar vAy
vArAr vana mulaiyAL maththArap paRRik koNdu
ErAr idai n^Ova eththanaiyOr pOdhumAy
sIrAr thayir kadain^dhu veNNey thiraNdadhanai
vErAr n^udhal madavAL vErOr kalaththittu
n^ArAruri yERRi n^angamaya vaiththadhanai
pOrAr vERkaN madavAL pOn^dhanaiyum poyyuRakkam
OrAdhavan pOl uraN^gi arivuRRu
thArAr thadan^ thOLgaL uLLaLavum kai n^Itti
ArAdha veNNey vizhun^gi - arugirun^dha
mOrAr kudam urutti mun kidan^dha thAnaththE
OrAdhavan pOl kidan^dhAnaik kaNdavaLum
vArAththAn vaiththadhu kANAL -

    I have separated the words for easier understanding and I didn't
want to write any meanings in between which would obstruct the beautiful
flow of the pAsuram.

ooraanirai mEyththu ulagellAm uNdu mizhn^dhum
aaraadha thanmayanAy - Having created the whole world and swallowed it
in its entirety, he wasn't satiated and what did he do? He came down to
AyarpAdi! Look at the sowlabhyam of vibhavam.

[...] describes yasOdhai churning the curd

vErAr n^udhal madavAL vErOr kalaththittu
n^ArAruRi yERRi n^angamaya vaiththadhanai
    Having known kaNNan's tricks, She transferred the butter into a
different container and placed it firmly on a stand (uri, that too
nArAruRi - n^Ar Arn^dha uRi)

pOrAr vERkaN madavAL pOn^dhanaiyum poyyuRakkam
OrAdhavan pOl uraN^gi arivuRRu
    Our dear kaNNan who was pretending to be sleeping (poy uRakkam),
waited for her to leave and as if he doesn't know anything, approached
the stand (uRi)

thArAr thadan^ thOLgaL uLLaLavum kai n^Itti
ArAdha veNNey vizhun^gi
    - He himself is so small. Imagine His hands. They will be even
smaller. The butter is inside a huge pot. He started eating butter with
His hands continously that it reached rock bottom. He couldn't reach
anymore. So he tries as far as His shoulders could let him. (The
vyAkyAnam beautifully explains this: Later on His amma comes in and
finds His chAn^dhu marks from his forehead on the brim of the pot. This
would happen only if he had literally tried to 'dive' into the pot!!
thats why 'thadan^ thOLgaL uLLaLavum kai n^Itti')

- arugirun^dha
mOrAr kudam urutti mun kidan^dha thAnaththE
OrAdhavan pOl kidan^dhAnaik kaNdavaLum
vArAththAn vaiththadhu kANAL -

    Having satisfied himself with enough butter, He could've just
retired. Instead He kicked the pot with buttermilk. Who cares for
buttermilk if one had had a sumptuous course of butter! :-) And then, as
if nothing happened, he went back and 'conntinued his 'sleep''.

    This is such an amazing poetry. We are all so gifted to be able to
enjoy this. Thanks Sri Vasudevan for letting me muse over my dear kaNNan
thro thirumaN^gai mannan.

adiyEn
-Viji
(Vijay Triplicane)