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thiruppavai day twenty three song twenty three

From the Bhakti List Archives

Ramani Naidu • January 6, 2003 


TIRUPPAVAI  - DAY TWENTY THREE – SONG TWENTY THREE

Transliteration

mAri malai muzainjil mannik kitanthuRankum
cIriya cinkam arivuRRuth thI viziththu
vEri mayir ponka eppAtum pErnthuthaRi
mUri nimirnthu muzankip puRappattup
pOtharumAp pOlE nI pUvaippU vannA un
kOyil ninRu inkanE pOntharulik kOpputaiya
cIriya cinkAthanathirunthu yAm vantha
kAriyam ArAynthu arulElOr empAvAy.

Translation

The Puvaippu-Hued!
Like the noble lion in the rocky den
On the hills after the monsoon at dawn
Awakening, staring fiercely, swelling its mane,
Giving a shake through and through,
Throwing away all the dust,
Starting majestically, roaring aloud,
Leave your abode and grace the noble throne
And consider our business and bless us with grace.

The twenty-third song is the most graphic of all the thirty songs in the
Tiruppavai. Graphic evocation is very much part of the genius of Andal and
in the twenty-third song, it is at its best.

In a rocky cave up in the mountains after the monsoon at dawn is the noble
lion – thus begins the evocation. The lion awakens and the evocation becomes
dynamic. The eyes of the lion burn bright as it stares. The mane swells like
frothing waters. A shake given through and through the whole body throws
away all the dust of the sleep.

The lion straightens up, stiffens its body and roars. The roaring echoes
through the rocky cave and is heard in its amplified form outside. Thence
the lion starts majestically to attend to its business – dispensation of
justice in the forest, perhaps.

The dynamism in the evocation is the most significant aspect about the song.
Scenes previously evoked recreated the  scenes either of the indulgent sleep
of the maid or the luxurious sleep of God in His abode on the one hand. On
the other hand, evocation was used as a poetic device to celebrate the
manifest expression of GodÂ’s valour.

On yet other occasions, the typical indications of dawn in the form of the
activities of the instinctive animate and the conscious human as well as the
forms of natural phenomena like the effect of dawn on flowers were seen. The
majestic dynamism of the graphic has been perhaps reserved for the
twenty-third song. It marks majesty, splendour and grandeur.

The keyword for appreciating the song is ‘kAriyam’. A literal translation of
the word will be ‘business’. The appeal to God is to consider
sympathetically the business for the fulfilment of which the maids have
approached God. The business here is to get rid of the ‘capam’ mentioned in
the previous song. It has been adequately explained as elemental sin which
however is not a sin of any particular commission or omission.

The fact remains that however one tries doing whatever one considers to be
commensurate with virtuous living, the elemental sin cannot be done away
with.

It is so because one suffers the elemental sin which in itself is the origin
of bodily existence and at the same time remains unawares of its nature.

If anything can be done to atone for, it is first to be known for what it
is. The mystery of living consists of realising the necessity for atoning
for the elemental sin and yet remaining unawares of its nature and extent.
In such a context, total surrender to God and earnest prayer alone can
dispel the bondage of elemental sin thus severing recurrence of bodily
existence. Severing bodily existence is the beginning of unimpeded communion
with God.

That such severing is the ultimate that the maids pray for is made clear in
the twenty-eighth song. ‘piRavip peRuntanai punniyam yAmutaiyOm’ – as long
as we are given a life to live in body, we cannot achieve salvation.

‘unthannOtu uRavEl namakku inku olikka oliyAthu’ – the relationship between
God and soul cannot be undone. Again, the twenty-ninth song declares for
certain the essential nature of the maids – ‘eRRaikkum ELEL piravikkum
unthannOtu uRROmE AvOm umakkE nAm Atc ceyvOm’ – for ever and for seven times
seven births our business is to achieve unimpeded communion with God.

If the bondage of elemental sin is so strong, it requires an equally strong
force to obliterate it. That makes the maids in this song associate God with
majesty, splendour and grandeur. It is much more than valour in that valour
removes evil forces in the course of living.

What the maids ask for is more than that – to enable the soul extricate
itself from elemental sin which is possible only by a concernful God of such
majesty, splendour and grandeur. And it is exactly such majesty, splendour
and grandeur attributed to the lion in turn gets attributed to God in the
twenty-third song.

Thus considered, the apparent disparity in the terms of description of the
lion and what is expected of God can be resolved – the dynamic, resolute
force of the lion and consideration of God sought.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



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