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kaNNanai ninaiththaalum sugamE- post 12

From the Bhakti List Archives

M.G.Vasudevan • October 29, 2001 


Dear SrivaishNava perunthagaiyeer,

In post 7 we saw how periyaazhvaar describing the lifting of gOvardhana hill
as "gOvardhanam ennum koRRak kudaiyE". This is in the same lines of srimadh
bhagavatham. 

See the lines "kEna hasthEna kruthvaa gOvardhana achalam! dhaDhaara leelayaa
krshna:  chhathraakamiva baalaka:!!" 19th slokam 25th chapter, 10th dasakam
of bhagavatham.
meaning: He lifted the hill gOvardhanam with his hand. The young boy krishna
held it like an umbrella easily and sportively.

Now we will have the slokam of swamy dEsikan-
"aDhOmukha avasthitha mEru kalpam sailam tham uthkhaaya saraNya gOpa:!
Udhachchayan sathvaram oordhva moolam chakrE mahEndhram samitha arDha
garvam!!
49th slokam 7th sargam of yadhava abhyudhayam.
Meaning: "krishna, the lord of gOpaas, uprooted the govardhanam hill from
its base, raised it and held it upside down in his hand, like another mEru.
This lifting removed half of the self esteem of king dhEvEndhran"

Holding a hill like an umbrella is the substance of this krishna leelai-
whether flat on its base with the hand or upside down is immaterial in
enjoying krishna. But one thing- holding with crown like an ice cream cup is
more difficult but that was also done with such ease, means what to talk of
such a krishna- kim adhbhutham achalEndhra vahanam.

Dear bhakthaas, you may recall the "kaNNan thiruvadi" lines in the previous
post. Since our topic is kaNNani ninaiththaalum sugamE- kaNNan on his
gOvardhanam backdrop, or his thiruvadi plainly or staright away [without any
backdrop] is enjoyable.
kaNNan kazhaliNai naNNum manam udaiyeer
eNNum thirunaamam thiNNam naaraaNamE 
- 10 - 5 -1 nammazhvaar thiruvaaimozhi
meaning: those who want to reach the feet of krishna, they will meditate in
their minds the name of naaraayaNan. This is sure.

For this "naNNum" the meaning given in eedu is class which I want to share
with you all- "pirinthu koodinaaraip pOl irukkiradhu kaaNum"- "those who are
separated and now wanting to join". In tamil this naNNum means- nerunguthal,
arugE varudhal, adaithal. This one is a class to think of separation first
and union later.

Same nam-aazhvaar gives in previous padhikam first paasuram- 1st verse -
'saarvE thava neRikku dhaamOdhran thaaLgaL"- the saarvu means the leaning
stone- thiNNai- the resort is dhaamOdharan's feet- for taking up the way of
penance - thava maargam. Here it is kaNNan kazhal iNai- jOdi kaalgaL. 

Next to take up the lines quoted in previous post without source-  
"kaNNan thiruvadi eNNuga maname thiNNam azhiyaa vaNNam tharumE"
meaning: verse 1: oh my mind please dwell on the feet of krishna, they will
save you from destruction (ika - para lOka palan). This is very sure.

"tharumE nidhiyum perumai pugazhum karumaa mEnip perumaan ingE"
meaning: that black bodied emperumaan, my god, will give wealth, esteem, and
fame here (ika lOka palan with more emphasis on ika lOkam).

The source is Sri Subramania bharathi- the staunch krishna bhakthaa. Verse
22 titled "manamE" in the group of vedhaanthap paadalgaL - page 117 of
bharathiyin kavithaigaL. 
Points: 
1.	See how nicely the palan for both in this life and next life is
given by the poet.
2.	This word "karumaa mEni" - is it "black huge body" or a lot of dark
black colour, signifying the darkness and not describing the body size?
Krishna is not a bootham or raakshasan having a huge body - then why this
word- maa- periya. 
3.	thoNdar adip podi aazhvaar says "pachchai maamalai pOl mEni" in his
thirumaalai - the body like a green coloured big hill. Does it really mean
hugeness or the intensity of colour.
4.	Oh krishna- what a confusion? But this confusion results in one- as
to which one is it- colour or size etc- a continuous thinking on krishna is
made- "that is krishnaanandham" -continuous mediatation on you- as a result
aanandham- "ninaiththal sugam" of OVS from you.

See another verse, which gives a contrast like this karumaa mEni.

mEinirai keezh puga maa puraLa sunai
vaai niRai neer piLiRich cheriya ina
aanirai paadi angE odunga appan 
thee mazhai kaaththuk kunRam eduththaanE 
- 7- 4- 10 thiruvaaimozhi nam aazhvaar

see the words- "appan thee mazhai kaaththuk kunRam eduththaanE"- thee
mazhai. 
Generally we use water to put off fire. Here it is rain. So naturally fire
can not stand or continue in its full glory, since fire will be quenched by
rain. 
But aazhvaar says thee mazhai. Fire rain. 
If it is taken as "theemai seyyum mazhai"- then it is ok. 
Otherwise a contrast. For it is intended to cause destruction in aaippaadi-
so theemai seyyum mazhai- thee mazhai and not "fire rain". Appan thee mazhai
kaaththaan. Result again is a continuous thought on krishna.

Now a simple small and sweet krithi from sri thyaagaraaja swamigaL. 
In raaga bahudhaari- [meaning of the raaga name is bearing many- a pleasing
raaga evoking sympathy very easily]

brOva baaramaa raghu raamaa
buvanamella neevai nannu okani  - brOva

sree vaasudhEvaa aNda kOtla
kukshini unchukOlEdhaa nannu - brOva

kalasaambuDhilO dhayathO nama
rulagai yudhikaaga gOpikalakai 
koNdalu eththalEdhaa
karuNaakara sree thyaagaraajuni  - brova

meaning: Oh raghuraamaa, karuNaakaraa, even though you are spread across the
whole world and support it. To support this thyaagaraaja, is it so difficult
to you? Oh sree vaasudhEvaa, you support the whole universe in your stomach,
previously you supported the manthara hill for the dhEvaas when they churned
the milk ocean, another time you lifted the gOvardhana hill for the sake of
the gOpaas and gOpees. Is it so difficult to support this thyagaraaja?

Points: 
1.	See the point of argument- To support the whole world, it is easy
for you. Bu to support one viz. myself- is it so difficult? 
2.	You have lifted the mountain itself on your back as the tortoise, to
lend support to the dhevaas in churning the milk ocean. Also when the gopaas
were suffering on account of anger from indhran, you saved by lifting
mountain gOvardhanam as a young boy or a child. Both are stifling
circumstances. Under those you did wonderful job. But now I ask only a
simple thing, of extending support to me.
3.	I am calling you as karuNaakaran, as many have done earlier- one who
showers grace on the devotees. Just to live to the meaning of that calling,
is it not your duty to save me.
4.	 See the krithi started addressed to raama but changed to
naaraayaNan and krishnan- all in one and one in all. 
5.	Sri bhadhraachala ramadoss has also done this - just to mention in
krithi "paahi rama prabho" he will start with raamavathaara deeds but mix up
with krishnaavathaara leelaas. Bhakthaas do not really distinguish.
6.	See krithi gOvardhana girEEsam  referred in post 7. There also MD
refers to these 2 leelaas of lifting the hills. So great minds think alike.

{thanks to Sri SV Suderson one of the list member from Bangalore, who gave
this krithi reference during our "in flight discussion" while coming back to
chennai after an official visit]

We will continue in next post.

Dhasan 
M.G.Vasudevan



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