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Sadagopan • March 5, 2003 


At 05:17 AM 3/4/03 -0800, you wrote:
>adiyen ramanjuja dasan
>namaskar
>
>can anyone of you tell me why is Lord Krishna
>addressed as 'Kannan' in tamil.
>
>rgds,
>harini

Dear SrImathi Harini:

" Kannan" is the most endearing name in Tamil 
for celebrating a  precious limb of the body 
(namely ) of the Lord KaNN or eyes. Avan KaNNIl ULLAn .
Karutthil ULLAn. We just have to close our
eyes with affection and then the KaNNIn MaNi
will present Himself there.

The  address "KaNNE " is the statement that
stands for the peak of expression of affection
that a Mother , Lover or a Bhakthan can have.

KaNNE , MaNiyE , MutthE , MaaNikkamE ,
Yennappaa are endearing referrals , terms 
of endearment to Him , who is inside our Jeevans
as the light of the eyes .

KaNNan is a nAamam chosen by Swamy  NammAzhwAr
for SrIman NaarAyaNan . KaNNan is the Jagan MOhana
KrishNan , whose glances drove Gopis and
the ParAnkusa Naayaki wild with passion 
and enduring affection for Him. 

We can appreciate the depth of Bhakthi that
Swamy  NammazhwAr had for KaNNan through
many of His ThiruvAimozhi Paasuram passages
that echo with his addressing  KaNNan:  

(1)KaNNAVAn yenRum maNNOR ViNNOrkku
   TaNNAr Venkata ViNNOr VeRpanE
   -- ThiruvAimozhi (TVM): 1.8.3

Swamy  NammAzhwAr salutes the Lord of Venkatam here as 
the "KaNNAvAn" , one who becomes the guiding eyes ,
one who is the precious light to men ,
who are bound in SamsAram and as well to the liberated 
ones in SrI Vaikuntam .Here on earth , He serves as the eye to 
lead us to His sacred hills  for His darsanam

(2)Speaking of those beautiful eyes that led 
Him to be identified as KaNNan , KaNNazhagan
AzhwAr hints why he was moved to address HIM
as KaNNan in TVM 2.8.10 Phala sruthi paasuram:

" kaNDalangaL seyya KarumEni AmmAnai--"

SatakOpa sang about The Lord who has long , large 
reddish eyes( like lotus petal ) and dark cloud-like 
hair .

(3)Speaking of the tight bond that the AzhwAr has with 
his KaNNan , he gives us a  clue:

Kadal VaNNan  KANNAN ViNNavar KarumANikkam yenathu aaruyir
---PerumAn Kazhal kANpathu yenRu koll KaNkaLE? 
--TVM 3.6.10

Oh , When I am going to see KaNNan with my eyes(KaNKaL),
my dear praanan laments Swamy  NammazhwAr here.

4) AzhwAr's desire , his moving pleas to see the Lord 
with his physical eyes on this earth and to embrace Him
are etched in many  TVM Paasurams . In these Paasurams , we
come  across many references to the longing of the AzhwAr's
eyes " to swallow the Lord (KaNNan) " as it were with his 
mortal eyes ( KaNNgaL/Maamsa Chakshus):

aRinthaRinthu tERitthitERi yAnnyenathAviuLLE
niRaintha Jn~Ana Moortthiyai ninmalamAha Vaitthu
piRanthu setthum ninRidaRum pEthamai theernthozhindhEn
naRum ThuzhAyin KaNNIyammA nAnunnaik-kaNdukoNDE
--TVM: 4.7.7

I have enjoyed You in my heart lotus. I have
realized Your presence  in my  soul as a profound
force of pure Jn~Anam and anantha kalyANa guNams.
I can not  deny that it is a source of immense
joy. That aanandha-anubhavam has released me from
the cycles of births and deaths. My delusions 
are gone. Yet , I seek one boon form You. 
Oh KaNNA ! I must  see You and Your PuNDarIkAksham
with my mortal eyes . Please grant that boon to me!

5) In his mood of dissatisfaction of not experiencing
the KaNNan with his physical eyes right here on earth , 
AzhwAr will pour his heart out elsewhere:

KaNNapirAnai ViNNOr KarumANikkathai amudhai
naNNiyum naNNahillEn--
--TVM: 5. 1.5

Tadh VishNO; paramam padham sadhA pasyanthi
Sooraya: ( Those Vaikunta Vaasis, the Nithya Sooris 
and MukthAs, are blessed to see Your beautiful form 
with their wide open eyes ). Here Swamy  NammazhwAr
considers  his bodily limitations as an obstacles
to see KaNNan on this earth .He cries out: " My 
lovely  KaNNan --Him I have secured and yet I have not". 

Here AzhwAr address KaNNan as KaNNapirAN
( PirAn--the Supreme Emperor with the most enchanting eyes). 

6) the name chosen by  AzhwAr for his dearest eye of eyes,
KaNNan will prpopel the Azhwar towards a cascade of Naama
archani as we see in the TVM Pasuram 3.4.9:

KaNnanai Maayan tannaik-kadal kadainthamudham koNDa
aNnalai Acchuthani ananthanai ananthan mEl
naNNi nankuRaihinRAnai 

It is folish to attempt to describe and cover 
all the vaibhavam of the Lord , who is always 
accomplishing many maayams. I attempted out of 
my  unquenchable and insatiable deisre to 
describe this MaayAvi KaNNan's glories . I recognize
now my limitations in describing this KaNNan 
ane will content myself by consoling me that
He is all things and  all beings (SarvAntharyAmi).

7) Swamy  NammazhwAr gives us a vital reason
for the Lord's nAmadhEyam as KaNNan and how to 
access Him:

KaNNuLLE niRkum kAtanmayAl thozhil
yeNNiulum varum yennini vENDuvam---
--TVM: 1. 10.2

The Lord (KaNnapirAn) will enter our eyes and become 
visible to us due to His great affection for us , if we
worship Him with unadulterated Bhakthi and blemishless
devotion . Through Bhakthi Yogam or SaraNAgathy , 
you can have the experience equivalent to actual
vision of Him . 

8) kamalak-KaNNgaL yenn  kaNNiluLLAn KaaNbhavan kaNkaLAlE

--1st line of TVM: 1.9.9( Once the lotus-eyed Lord occupied 
(got into ) my  eys. Then He became not only visible to my
eyes  but adiyEn also began to see through His eyes . I saw 
Him and continue to see Him also by His grace(KatAksham)...

9) KaNnan illai kaNDeer saraNathu niRkka vanthu
maNNIn bhAram neekutaRkkE Mathurai piRanthAn
--TVM 9.1.10

No other Sure God is there for SaraNAgathi 
than KaNNan. he was born in Vada Mathurai for 
that purpose .

10)KaNNE ! Unnaik kANakkaruthi , yennenjam
yeNNa koNDa chinthayathAi ninRiyampum --
TVM 9.4.2

Oh My  Vision! Ny eyes long to see You .
These eyes are but Yourself !

11) towards the end og His ThiruvAimozhi, 
Swamy  NammazhwAr gives us upadEsam on
the Tatthvam about KaNNan:

KaNNan KazhaliNai --naNNum Manamudayeer
yeNNum ThirunAmAm --tiNNam NaaraNamE
--TVM 10.5.1

Oh Suffering Humans who long to reach , as the central
goal of your life , the paadha dhvayam ( the sacred feet of
KaNNan), p;ease meditate on the most important name , 
NaarAyaNA! if you do it , you will be rewarded for sure !

Here Swamy  NammazhwAr links beautifully 
the name of Kannan with Moola Manthram , Dhvayam
and Caharama slOkam .

AshtAksharam samAsrithya tE jagmur VaishNavam Padham

NaarAyaNa , NaarAyaNa  ,NaarAyaNa !

Oppiliappan Koil varadAchAri Sadagopan   

P.S: please do not forget our ThiruvahIndhrapuram
KaNNan's RathnAngi Kaimkaryam. 
  
 



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