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kannanai ninaiththaalum sugame - post 7

From the Bhakti List Archives

M.G.Vasudevan • September 17, 2001 


Dear SrivaishNava perunthagaiyeer,

I prey to my krishna to mitigate the sufferings of those who were directly
hit in the mis-happenings in the World Trade Center. Prayers to my krishna
to give peace to the world. 

Now to continue-- We are enjoying krishNaa with the backdrop of gOvardhana
giri episode of krishnNaa's baala leelaigaL. That gOvardhana giridhAAri
provides manOllaasam to this bhakthaa when he continuously thinks on the
giridhaari. Read his song- this krithi is in the raagaa hindhOlam by Sri
Muththuswaami Dheekshithar [MD].

pallavi
gOvardhana gireesam smaraami anisam 
gOpikaadhi manOharam garvitha kamsaadhi haram - gOvardhana

CharaNam-
gOvindha naama saaram 
gajEndhra rakshaNaa dheeram 
kavi jana hruNmandhaaram 
kanaka jitha susareeram
ravi sasi nayana vilaasam 
ramaNeeya mukhaabhaasam
sivagaNaadhi visvaasam 
sri guru guha manOllaasam - gOvardhana

Meaning: 
gOvardhana gireesam smaraami anisam - I incessantly meditate on that lord
who is the lord of the gOvardhana hill, and lifted it.
gOpikaadhi manOharam- he enchanted the hearts of gOpikaas and others.
garvitha kamsaadhi haram- he killed the arrogant kamsan. 
gOvindha naama saaram - the essence of that name  "gOvindhan".
 gajEndhra rakshaNaa dheeram - he is the brave one who protected the
elephant gajEndhran from the paws of the crocodile. 
kavi jana hruNmandhaaram - he is the coal tree in the hearts of poets or the
churning stick [or rod or the mandhara hill] to the hearts of poets and
churns them, thus enabling them to pour out sweet songs.
kanaka jitha susareeram -his body defeats gold in effulgence.
ravi sasi nayana vilaasam -he is the charm and shine provider for sun and
moon. 
ramaNeeya mukhaabhaasam - he always appears with a charming face.
sivagaNaadhi visvaasam - siva and his assistants rely on him for all their
powers and positions.
sri guru guha manOllaasam - he is the aanandham provider to sri guruguhan-
viz MD.

Points: 
1.	See the words- kavi jana hruNmandhaaram- the word mandhaaram means
coral tree- pavazha malligai maram- giving that red stemmed and white
coloured smelly flower- so krishna flowers like that pavazha malli in the
hearts of poets. 

2.	Other meaning is- poets' hearts are churned in the same way as how
the mandhara malai was used to churn the milk ocean and amudham-nectar was
brought out. He brings out nectar like songs. 

3.	In case, oh readers, you have any doubt- please listen to this song
itself. The rasa is so effective, the raga is so evocative, and the lyrics
are so nice, that even a kaththuk kutti [beginner or learner] sings this
song- automatic aanandha bhaashpam- tears will flow out, not to a
connoisseur, but to an ordinary listener also.

4.	See words - kanaka jitha su-sareeram- we read in many places the
thirumEni of kaNNan is neela mEgha syaamaLam- here MD says kanaka jitha
susareeram. Why this colour blindness to many poets? Is it? Bhaarathi says -
paarkkum idangaL ellaam nandha laalaa unthan pachchai niRam thOnRuthada
nandha laalaa, forgetting the fact that in the first line of this song, he
said kaakkai siRaginilE nandha laala unthan kariya niram thOnruthadaa. [I
saw black colour of you in that crows feathers, oh krishna, now when I turn
around and see the trees, I see your green colour].

5.	While it is raining and krishNaa holding aloft the gOvardhanam,
krishNaa appears bright in the flashlight of the lightning that strikes the
surrounding. Because of the suddenness of two shines meeting each other, one
from krishna, another from the real natural lightning, it appears that
krishNaa the super lightning is the striking one. So the super golden light
from krishna only strikes the eye fading the real lightning. Hence kanaka
jitha susareeram, even though he is dark. 

6.	Also he is the light provider to the lightning. So also we can take
his sareeram is kanaka jitha susareeram. 

7.	Play of words like the above to explain kanaka jitha susareeram can
not describe the beauty of kaNNan. Dear bhakthaas- Close your eyes.
Visualise kaNNan in the inner eye. Have rains in your eyes, the real
lightning will strike then in your inner eyes, then look at kaNNan- now see
the colour- it is kanaka jitha susareeram. KrishNa- krishNa- idhu enna un
maayam.

8.	guru guha manOllaasam- happiness of guruguhan- light in the hearts
of guruguhan- that is MD. 

Without knowing how krishna lifted the gOvardhana hill and supported through
seven days, how to do this "anisam smarami"- remembering always. Here are
the details as provided to us by periyaazhvaar.

kaduvaaich china venkat kaLiRRinukkuk
kavaLam eduththuk koduppaan avan pOl 
adivaai uRakkai ittu ezhap paRiththittu  3-5-4

idavan ezha, 3-5-5

seppaadu udaiya thirumal avan than 
senthaamaraik kai viral ainthinaiyum
kappaaga maduththu maNi nedunthOL kaambaagak koduththu 3-5-6

padangaL palavum udaip paambu araiyan 
padar boomiyaith thangik kidappavan pOl 
thadangai viral ainthum malara vaiththu 
dhaamOdharan thaangu thadavarai  [3-5-7 Periyaazhvaar] antha gOvardhanam

meaning: Like how a mahout [trainer of an elephant] lifts a big ball of
cooked rice and offer it to the elephant which is hungry and angry with
reddened eyes, krishNa sent his strong forceful hand beneath the foot of the
gOvardhana hill and lifted it  from the base of it. [3-5-4]
While he lifted the earth pods dropped from the hill.[3-5-5]
He, that thirumaal, who has red lotus palms, used his fingers like a set of
rods supporting a cup and supported the hill which looked like an umbrella
and his shoulder like a handle.[3-5-6]
Krishna, the dhaamOdharan, supported the gOvardhanam with spread palm and
fingers, like that 1000 headed snake with the spread hood, who supports the
universe.[3-5-7]

Points: 
1.	Kaduvaai sina venkat kaLiRu- see here a beauty- venkat kaLiRu- can
be split as 

Vem+ kaN + kaLiRu- the elephant whose eyes are red due to anger and hunger.
[Pasi vanthida paththum paranthu pOm allavaa so eyes flash the anger with
red colour].

Now extend the same.
Vem + kaN- venkat- so venkatEsan- can it be taken as vem + kaN + easan-
sivandha kaNgaLai udaiya thalaivan- [ta can be Na or vice versa in grammar
is permitted]. 

Vem+kaN+raman = venkatraman- raman one who has red eyes.

2. maNi nedunthOL kaambaaga- handle for the umbrella the hill for the rain.
The small lotus fingers are the reinforcements or braces for supporting the
load of the hill. Perhaps from this only later the concept of having a
central pillar and angular bracing to stiffen the load above giving the
stability has come into the world. [This is from my typical civil
engineering brain to interpret]. 

3. PhaNaabhirama prasrutha anguleeka: priyaanga raagavyathishanga paandu:
BhujasthadheeyO giriNaa babhaasE bhoomaNdalEnEva bhujanga raaja:!! Slokam 50

This is the slokam from yadhava abhyudhayam in chapter 7 describing the
gOvardhana giri episode and ending with gOvindha pattaabhishEkam. Meaning is
just the same as for periyaazhvaar paasuram sighted above in 3-5-7. 

Now see how great minds think alike- aazhvaar & dhEsikan. 
 
But there is one major variation which swami dhEsikan gives. As per yaadhava
abhyudhayam, the lord holds the hill in its inverted position with the flat
base up and top crown down in his grip. But bhagavatham and aazhvaars
consider the hill is supported on its flat base. We will see more about it
in next post.

Dhaasan 

Vasudevan M.G.



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