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thiruppavai day thirty song thirty

From the Bhakti List Archives

Ramani Naidu • January 13, 2003 


THIRUPPAVAI – DAY THIRTY – SONG THIRTY

Transliteration

vankak katal kataintha mAthavanaik kEcavanaith
thinkal thirumukaththuc cEyiLaiyAr cenRiRainji
ankap paRai kontavARRai aniputhuvai
painkamalath thantheriyal pattar pirAn kOthai conna
cankath thamiL mAlai muppathum thappAmE
inkip paricuRaippAr Irirantu mAlvaraiththOL
cenkaN thirumukaththuc celvath thirumAlAl
enkum thiruvaruL peRRu inpuruvAr empAvAy.


Translation

Songs in praise of matavan kecavan
Who churned the trafficked ocean;
Songs in celebration of the prayers and gifts obtained
By the moonfaced and bejewelled maids,
Sung by kotai the daughter of the Pattar at Srivilliputtur,
Donned in a garland of lotus –
Mal the mountain shouldered and noble faced with eyes red
Blesses everyone everywhere with His grace
Those who recite them in cankat tamil in all piety,
And leaves them blessed.

The last song of the Tiruppavai formally concludes the series with a mention
of the benefits that accrue to the devotees when they recite the thirty
songs in all piety while the twenty-ninth song has clinched the pavai
observance.

The thirtieth song is an assurance to the effect that either sung along with
Andal in realtime or sung in the days to come, the Tiruppavai songs bestow
Divine grace and bliss.

The reference to churning the milky ocean has a definite purpose. The
Vaishnavite belief is that appeals to God for His grace are best answered
when made through Lakshmi, his consort. And Lakshmi has been one of the
incidental outcomes of the churning of the milky ocean for the sake of
obtaining amrita, which was believed to bestow immortality. Moreover, God
who has gone to the extent of taking the form of the tortoise to provide a
base for the mountain used as the churnpost will certainly grace the maids
with His gifts. Both ways, the reference to the churning of the milky ocean
is very much in context in this song.

That the maids are beautiful in form and determined in devotion is indicated
by ‘tinkal tirumukattu ceyilar’ – moonfaced and bejewelled maids.

The gift acknowledged in the thirtieth song is the ultimate gift of being
blessed with Divine association for several seven births indicated in the
twenty-ninth song – ‘erraikkum elel piravikkum untannotu urrome avom’.

Srivilliputtur, the place of appearance of Andal is called ‘aniputuvai’ in
the sense that Periyalwar and Andal had adorned the place with their
presence. Brahmins are honoured with a garland of roses. Periyalwar is
called ‘pattar piran’, the Lord of the Brahmins because he has established
the meaning and message of the Vedas in the royal court amidst thousands of
brahmins. He is also the great among the brahmins because he has the special
privilege of giving his daughter in marriage to none other than God Himself.

Andal identifies herself in the name of Kotai. The Sanskrit word ‘Goda’ and
the Tamil word Kotai are almost synonymous. While the Tamil word means just
a maid, the Sanskrit word means the one who came out with divine songs.

Cankat tamil can be interpreted in two ways. In the first, it is Tamil
nurtured by the cankams. The First, Second and Third cankam were the
assemblies of poets and scholars in Tamil successively sponsored by the
Pandya kings in Tamilnadu. Secondly it may be taken to refer to the nature
of the Tiruppavai songs in Tamil community songs songs meant for community
worship.

A note on identifying the composer by name will be in place here. This is a
tradition with the Vaishnavite Alwars. When the composition is fairly long,
at regular intervals the composer identifies himself and declares that
recitals of the songs is an assurance for redemption. It is in the same
tradition that Andal has identified herself in the last song of the series.
It is called ‘mudra’ in the general context of Indian art. A sculptor or a
painter leaves his name or some other indication of himself in his work.

Ramani thanks everyone who has read the elucidation of Thiruppavai. He owes
a special note of thanks to everyone who has encouraged him through the
series.






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