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thiruppavai day nineteen song nineteen

From the Bhakti List Archives

Ramani Naidu • January 2, 2003 


TIRUPPAVAI  - DAY NINETEEN-SONG NINETEEN

Transliteration

kuththu viLakkeriyak kOttukkAl kattil mEl
methenRa pancha cayanaththin mElERik
koththalar pUnkuzal nappinnai konkai mEl
vaiththuk kitantha malar mArpA vAy thiRavAy
maithatan kaNNinAy nI un manALanay
eththanai pOthum thuyileza ottAykAn
eththanai yElum piRivARRkillAyAl
thaththavmanRu thakavElOr empAvAy.

Translation

As the lamps are lit, You lie on the soft bed with virtues five
Spread on the ivory-legged cot,
With the feel of NappinnaiÂ’s breasts on your broad chest.
Cool is your hair making buds bloom,
Nappinnai, with broad colirium lined eyes!
You will not leave your Lord to leave the bed even for a moment.
Nor can you bear separation from Him.
It becomes not of you to hold Him back all to yourself.

The nineteenth and the twentieth songs are the only two songs in Tiruppavai
with explicit sexual implications. While Andal has been quite explicit with
sexual sensuousness in Nacciyar Tirumoli, she seems to have underplayed the
sexual element in the Tiruppavai.

The ninth song earlier also referred to a bed chamber – that of the maid yet
to join the pavai. That was a bedchamber of luxury while the bedchamber of
this song is one of the bliss of union. That was a chamber lit by lamps;
perfumed with the smoke from incense. The bed there was luxurious enough to
keep  one  glued  to  sleep.  The light blurred with the smoke and a bed
that encourages indulgence of the ninth song is in sharp contrast with the
description of a similar chamber in this song.

There is no smoke, however fragrant, to blur the lamps here. The bed here is
endowed with all five virtues of a bed – beautiful, cool, soft, fragrant and
pure. It is not indulgence but post sexual bliss that keeps the Lord and the
Lady held together in bed. The hair of the lady is so cool as to make the
buds bloom. There is no heat of passion that will make the flowers wither.
The bliss of union is so lingering in effect that the lady will not leave
her Lord to leave her and hence will try to keep him glued to his bed. She
knows pretty well that her Lord has His obligations to the devotees and
therefore it does not become of her to keep Him all to herself even as the
day has dawned, bringing the maids to Him.

Traditional interpretation will elaborately dramatise the whole situation.
At the end of the previous song, Nappinnai leaves the bed to open the door.
Krishna however wants to open the door Himself with the intention of winning
for Himself the credit of having answered the maidsÂ’ prayer. He thus drags
her back to bed and as she falls on His chest, the feel of her breasts makes
Krishna forget his intention. He forgets the fact that the maids are waiting
outside. And when the maids appeal to Him to at least answer their prayer if
not open the door, Nappinnai prevents Him with a tight hug. The maids
realise the passionate drama withindoors and tell Nappinnai that it does not
become of her to prevent her Lord from at least responding to their prayers
if not grace them with his august appearance.

Traditional interpretation will also ascribe a note of jealousy to the first
four lines of the song. While the maids could enjoy the company of Krishna
out in the field looking for a sandy spot to lie down, running through
thorny groves, Nappinnai enjoys the bliss of union with Krishna in a more
favourable situation.

Traditional interpretation will also interpret the scene of the Lord and the
lady twined with each other in two different ways. In the first, Nappinnai
is dragged back to fall on Krishna lying supine on the bed and thus her
breasts are felt on His broad chest. In the second, Krishna pushes Nappinnai
back to bed even before she could leave the bed and thus lies on her
breasts. That way, He feels the pressure of His chest on her breasts. By
far, the first interpretation appears to be more sensuous while traditional
interpretation subscribes to the second.
At the philosophic level, the song seems to answer a curious question. If
God is a need to the soul, is the soul also a need to God? There are three
elements involved here: the God, the consort and the soul. Insofar as the
soul has taken its origin from the Primordial because of its karma, and
insofar as the scene of life is a route for the soul back to its origin
cured of its karma spent in living in Divine consciousness, the Divine
consort shall facilitate the communion between the God and the soul and not
act as a hurdle for whatever reason. Therefore is the last observation in
the song – tattuvamanru – it does not become of you to hold Him back all to
yourself.

Vaishnava poetry is usually sensuous. It does not advocate renunciation of
pleasures. It attempts at a transvaluation of pleasures enjoyed in the
awareness of the Divine. Incidentally, Tagore has acknowledged his poetic
sensibilities to the sensuous element found in Bengal Vaishnavite poetry.

The best illustration of GodÂ’s passion for union with the soul is to be
found in JayadevarÂ’s Asthapathi Gita Govindham in Sanskrit. Kannadasan and
Meera have translated the Sanskrit poem into Tamil and Ramani in turn has
translated it into English, as part of his attempt at translating Kannadasan
’s arttamulla intu matam – Meaningful Hinduism. Such of those of you who are
interested may visit http://www.geocities.com/ramaninaidu or
geocities.com/athens/academy/4485/contents.htm or
geocities.com/athens/academy/4485/kannadasan7.htm and find the English
version of JayadevarÂ’s Ashtapathi Gita Govindham in the Meaningful Hinduism
section there.
=============================================================================================================================================Note from Moderator:  I notice that some of the postings on tiruppAvai by members stress on only one or two specific points.  There are lots of devotional aspects that are even superficially revealed in these pASurams.  I am just adding a few  additional points of interest here. 

1. The description of nappinnai and kRshNa trying to push each other from going and opening the door, is because both want to be the first one to bless the devotee.  It is not for keeping each other from opening the door. pirATTi and perumAL vie with each other in trying to grace the devotee.  This is what is symbolized here.

2. kOOTTuk kAl - made of the tusk of elephant.  A reference to kuvalayA peeDam. 

3.  The soundaryam of the tirumeni of pirATTi and emperumAn is to be enjoyed in this pASuram.

4. "agalakillEn iRaiyum enRu alarmEl ma'ngai urai mArbA!" is a corresponding reference given by SrI perukkAraNai cakravartyAya svAmi.

5. A posting yesterday already emphasized the akAra, ukAra, and makAra in the pASurams 18, 19, and 20 respectively as the first letters.  These symbolise the praNavam. 
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