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what was that you did -2

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M.G.Vasudevan • September 20, 2000 


Dear Sri vaishnava perunthagaiyeer, 

In the previous post, we saw 3 krithis (songs) from 3 different krishna
bhakthaas, the first 2 are contemporaries, and 3rd one is at least 3
generations earlier to these 2 poets. But the central theme of all the 3
compositions is wondering about mother yasOdhaa's bhaagyam of getting that
supreme Lord as her son. 

If you have a close look at these krithis, all these 3 authors state, accept
or establish in the first few lines viz. pallavi, anu pallavi stage itself,
that para brahmam only has come as Kannan. See the words 
-	Engum nirai parabhrahmam - that all pervading supreme reality
-	paarkadal paambu aNai viduththup paraman - that supreme lord para
vaasudhEvan left his abode of milk ocean and snake bed
-	engum illaadhoru pillai- a child not found elsewhere- a unique son,
who just after being born, takes a viswa roopam to show to the parents who
has come as their son. Which other child any where has done this wonderful
act in all puraanaas, ithihaasas or literature in the entire world. Such an
unique son, engum illaadhoru piLLai. 

Another similarity is, that, while first two Paapanaasam Sivan PS and
Ambujam krishna AK have wondered on the paal oottuthal -  feeding the child,
all the three composers have touched on that veNNai + kaLavu + uNNuthal +
uralil kattal showing that simplicity of the great kaNNan for simple butter
(our heart to be white so that he will steal that without ourselves knowing
it is being stolen by some body) and resultant punishment he had (his
receiving the punishment gives us that release from bondage) from mother. 

That parama purushan has come as yasOdhaa's child to get such heavy
punishment for a simple act of stealing butter.  This also can not be
considered a crime since butter was available in abundance once he was there
in aaippaadi. When a scarce material is stolen for usage by one particular
person then it is punishable but when material is in abundance then it is
only a child play not a crime.
 
Now, we will see the meanings and few points as my comments on these
krithis.

First the PS krithi "enna thavam"
Pallavi:
Enna thavam seidhanai- yasOdhaa
Engum nirai parabhrahmam ammaa enru azhaikka - enna

Meaning of pallavi: oh! YasOdhaa!! what was that penance you did? That para
brahmam- that supreme universal Lord calls you "Oh! my mother!". To  get
such a call, from such a supreme person, what was the penance you did?

Comments: The mother named dhEvaki, who really bore that supreme child in
her womb, who is described by periyaazhvar as 

"Seethak kaduluL amudhu anna dhEvaki" in 1-3-1 [the nectar like dhEvaki, the
nectar obtained from the cool milk ocean] 

and 

"Paruvam nirambaamE Paarellaam uyya thiruvin vadivokkum dhEvaki" in 1 - 3
-17 [she has not yet grown fully into an adult, but for the good of the
entire world, she, who, is alike that mahaa lakshmi bore in her womb, that
supreme lord as her son, that dhEvaki] 

That dhEvaki who weeps saying

Ammaavenru uganthu azhaikkum aarvach chol kELaadhE aNisEr maarvam
En maarvaththidai azhuntha thazhuvaathE muzhusaathE movaathuchchi
Kaimmaavin nadai anna mennadaiyum kamalam pOl mugamum kaaNaathu
Emanai en magani izhanthitta izhi thagaiyEn irukkinRenE" 10-6 kulasekara
aazhvaar

she curses herself with "I am a poor creature who is unable to hear that
sweet word ammaa from my son, not able to get his embracing on my chest, not
able to enjoy that child's elephant like walking, lotus like face etc".

Note: Actually this verse of kulasekara is when raaman leaves for the forest
but it equally applies to the present context.

she, that DhEvaki, the mother of krishna says 
nangaimeer or peN peRRu nalgineer 
enkanE sollukEn yaan peRRa Ezhaiyai
sangennum chakkaramennum thuzhaayennum  --- 4-2-9 nammazhvar
"Oh! Yasodha! thank you for giving me that girl child. how can I describe to
you or say about my poor son who has a sankham, chakkaram tulasi garland
etc". Is he really a poor son, may be poor in the eyes of that mother who
missed him, but actually?

that dhEvaki after consoling herself says "oh! my son!! "thakkathE, nalla
thaayai peRRaayE" [you deserve it, you have a very good mother] 7 -10,
kulasekhara aazhvaar. 

Dhevaki considers herself not that much blessed, so admires yasOdha as the
"nalla thaai" - good mother. Because she got her son separated within few
moments after that supreme child was born, so she is ill lucked- so not a
nalla thaai. 

But some doubting minds put the question " hey! this yasOdhaa really got
this child on her own, or adopted that child from some body"- "thaththuk
koNdaaL kolO? ThaanE peRRaaLkolO? Siththa manaiyaaL asOdhai"  2 - 1- 7
periyazhvar. 

For such doubting minds yasOdhaa asserts "gnaalaththup puththiranaip peRRaar
naanE! nangaimeer" 3 - 3 - 1 periyazhvaar- "Hey folks! I got this great son
of this world". 

Immediately the question came up - "Enna thavam seidhanai- yasOdhaa Engum
nirai parabhrahmam ammaa enru azhaikka - enna?"- what is that penance you
did to get such a son?

To deal with "gnaalaththup puththiran"- these two words have more than one
meaning- 
1.	he is so endearing to one and all - every body in this gnaalam, this
earth, likes him, to have him as their son- so gnaalaththil uLLor ellaam
tham puththiran enRu koLvathinaal gnaalaththup puththiran

2.	he came to this gnaalam to relieve the burden of this gnaalam,
bhoodhEviyin bhaaram theerkka vanthavan -mother's burden remover- so
gnaalaththup puththiran

3.	gnaalaththup puththiran -gnaalaththaiye puththiranaaga urpaththi
paNNugiravan - the creator of this world, the father of this world - so
world becomes his son- so gnaalaththup puththiran

In the krithi, please note the words- "Engum nirai para bhrahmam ammaa enru
azhaikka". Perhaps the third meaning stated above was lingering in minds of
the author. So he puts the words "Engum nirai parabhrahmam".

The author did not name that supreme child as krishna or kesava or by any
one of those "one thousand names" which are made familiar to us by Sri
Bhishma. He calls it straight "Engum nirai para bhrahmam". 

The author puts in very simple words a mahath thathvam. He is a realised
soul. "bahoonaam jenmaanaamanthE gnaanavaan maam prapadhyathE, vaasudhEvam
sarvam ithi sa mahaathmaa sudhurlabha" says the same krishna bhagavaan 7-19
in his magnum opus Sreemadh bhagavath geethaa. This krithi author simply
puts it across for us to realise. 

That supreme Lord, the jagat kaaraNan, that Engum nirai parabhrahmam from
which all were created, has come in the form of child and calls yasOdhaa,
"Oh! my mother!". Is there any doubt that She is a blessed soul. So it is
fully logical to inquire and know from her what penance she did to beget
such a child, to know what is the means to get him. 

YasOdhaa is the aachaaryan. She has to show the way to beget him, because,
she has done it. Only, one who has done it, or, realised that mahath
thathvam, can be a good aachaaryan. So the question raised is fully
justified.

Yasodhaa herself says " minnanaiya unnaik kaNdaar enna nOnbu nORRaaL kolO
ivanaip peRRa vayiru udaiyaal ennum vaarththai eithuviththa irudeekEsaa,
mulaiyuNaayE" 2-3-6 periyaazhvaar - "Those, who see you, who looks like a
lightning, immediately ask me, oh! YasOdha! what is the type of penance, you
made to get such a son. hey! hrusheekEsaa! Oh! kannaa! you made this
question to be asked by one and all, please come and have milk from my
bosoms". With lot of perumai, she exhibit her thaaimai, the qualities of the
mother in that call.

Is it that, PS took the clue from these lines of periyazhvaar?

Anupallavi:
EerEzhu bhuvanangaL padaiththavanai kaiyil Enthi 
Seeraatti paal ootti thaalaatti vaLarkka nee - enna

Meaning of anu pallavi: To hold that child [Lord] in your lap as your own
child, to caress that child- to feed that child with milk with your hands,
to see the child growing in your care- that child- who created all the 14
lokams - 14 worlds- to do all those things, oh! YasOdhaa! what was the kind
of penance you did?

Comment: EerEzhu bhuvanangaL padaiththavanai - gnaalaththup puththiranai-
oh!  Great simplified words come and sit easily in place by His grace.

kaiyil Enthi Seeraatti paal ootti thaalaatti vaLarkka- says PS

panniru thingaL vayiRRil koNda appaanginaal en iLankongai amudham ootti
eduththu yaan- 3-2-8 periyaazhvar- a straight quote - 10 months pregnancy
period for all mortals like us. 12 months  for immortals like Krishnan -
amudham ootti - paalootti-  appaangu- vayiRRil thaangiya paangu- now
vaLarkkum paangu- the mode of having born that child in the womb- now method
of taking care of that immortal child, oh yasOdhaa- you are really blessed.

We will continue in detail in next post.

Dhaasan 

M.G.Vasudevan

PS: When Sri M.S. Hari said that "enna thavam seithanai" krithi has to be
out rightly rejected in the controversy on nadhopaasanai, I thought, I will
write a full article on that krithi and now, Oh! Bhakthaas! it is for you to
take that magnificient krithi and enjoy that krishna anubhavam. 


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