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PeriyAzhwAr Thirumozhi 2.7-KaNNA! Come to adorn your head with fragrant flowers!

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Madhavakkannan V • Fri Sep 20 2002 - 19:04:06 PDT 


SrI:
SrImathE Ramanujaya namah:
Dearest Srivaishnavas,

In 2.4- YasOdhA gave a wonderful bath to Kutti. Then in 2.5- she asked (in 
order to divert Kutti's attention andcrying while comobing the long black 
tresses) crow to come near and comb the hairs. Kutti believes that crow 
actually is combing. :-)

In 2.6- Kutti is seeing other boys going behind cows and calves for rearing 
them with sticks in their hands. Kutti is excited at that and tries to get 
up asking for a stick. YasOdhA appeases Him by again calling the crow to 
bring a stick for Kutti KaNNan.

Now Kutti is all dressed up. YasOdhA wants to decorate the freshly combed 
tresses of the Lord with fresh and fragrant flowers. The restless son looked 
out of the window and saw His playmates getting ready to take the cattle to 
their grazing places . KrishNA was in a big hurry to join His playmates on 
their trip to the forest . He asked His
mother for the shepherd's crook (stick ). YasodhA once again
tricked Him to keep Him at home to enjoy His company.

She said " Oh  my son ! The Crow  that came to help me comb Your hair has 
run off with Your crook . Let me call it back and ask it to bring back Your 
crook . KrishNan is persuaded to wait until the crow
brought the stick .

After her cheating game went on , YasOdhA invited KrishNA to stay still so 
that she can enjoy decorating her Lord's shiny black hair with many kinds of 
fresh flowers . In decad 2.7 known as pUcchUttal , PeriyAzhwAr transforms 
himself into the fortunate mother , YasOdhA , and enjoys the experience of 
touching the silky hair of the Lord and decorating it with Jasmine , red 
lilly , Hibiscus and other beautiful flowers .

aaniraimEykkan^eepOdhi arumarundhaavadhaRiyaay
kaanakamellaamthirindhu un_kariyathirumEnivaada
paanaiyilpaalaipparukip paRRaadhaarellaamsirippa
thEniliniyapiraanE! seNbakappoochchoottavaaraay. (2)        1.

Oh most merciful, Parama upakArakA! great helper, who is sweeter than honey 
and jaggery ! The people of this world do not realize Your grace
(anugraham ) is the sole curing medicine for destroying the disease of 
Samsaram and the elixir as well for the enjoyment of the nithya sUris in Sri 
Vaikuntam . My neighbors make fun of You for drinking fresh milk stored in 
their pots right out of them and yet they are delighted that You blesed them 
with Your visit to their houses . Oh  the most beautiful one ( SukumArA ) , 
You are ready to run off and follow the cattle in the forest through the 
rough and tumble and are going to be
exposed to the harsh rays of the mid-day Sun . Let me first  decorate first 
Your hair  with freshly picked  CheNpakA flowers . Please come here and 
stand still until I complete the decoration .

karuvudaimEkangaLkaNdaal unnaikkaNdaalokkumkaN_kaL
uruvudaiyaay! ulagEzhum_uNdaakavandhupiRandhaay!
thiruvudaiyaaLmaNavaaLaa! thiruvarangaththEkidandhaay!
maruvimaNamkamazhkinRa mallikaippoochchoottavaaraay.        2.

Oh my beautiful one ! When I enjoy Your unsurpasable beauty with my eyes , 
they become cool as if I am  looking at the water-laden rainy clouds . Oh  
Lord with the incomparable beauty of eyes ! Oh my Swami who redeemed this 
world with auspiciousness through Your incarnation ! Oh  the auspicious 
principle behind your consort  , who is the embodiment  of all  
auspicousness ( MangaLAnAM MangaLam , Thiruvukkum ThiruvAhiya selvA ) ! You 
are resting at Sri Rangam in response to Your dear consort, MahA Lakshmi's 
prayer to rescue the samsAris of this world ( LeelA VibhUthi ) . Please come 
near and wear the jasmine
flowers of everlasting fragrance .

machchodumaaLikaiyERi maadhar_kaLthammidampukku
kachchodupattaikkizhiththuk kaampudhukilavaikeeRi
nichchalumtheemaikaLseyvaay! neeLthiruvEngadaththu_endhaay!
pachchaiththamanakaththOdu paadhirippoochchoottavaaraay.    3.

Oh GovindhA  who stands on top of the lofty peak of Thirumalai ! Oh my dear 
one , who engages daily in so many pranks such as climbing the upper stories 
of neighbor's mansions and tearing to shreds the upper garments( kacchu) and 
  gold borderd , silk sarees of young girls stored in the women's quarters ! 
Please come here and permit me to decorate Your freshly combed hair with the 
ever green maruk kozhunthu and the red paathiri flowers .

theruvin_kaNn^inRu iLavaaychchimaar_kaLaiththeemaiseyyaadhE
maruvumthamanakamumseer maalaimaNamkamazhkinRa
puruvamkarunguzhaln^eRRi polindhamukiRkanRupOlE
uruvamazhakiyan^ambee! ugandhivaisoottan^eevaaraay.         4.

( KaNNan responded to His mother's complaint about  entering other people's 
houses and tearing up the garments of young girls. He said that he was never 
there , but was standing in the corner of the street
playing with his friends . How come You accuse me falsely was the response 
of the" innocent One " ? This paasuram is YasOdhA's response to her son " 
not pleading guilty " ) .

Oh my precious one ! It is at these street corners , You chase the girls and 
make them suffer with Your pranks . Please do not kick and destroy their 
sand castles constructed during their play hours. Please do not deprive them 
of their toys and cease teasing them . Oh  ParipUrNa Sundara RajA ! ( the 
perfect embodiment of beauty) noted particularly for Your matchless dark 
brows , enchanting forehead and
black wavy tresses of hair ! This garland made up of Maru and Tamanakam is  
rich with fragrance . It is waiting to join Your tresses and be blessed by 
that union . I dearly long to decorate You with this garland . Please come 
here !

puLLinaivaaypiLandhittaay! porukariyin_kombosiththaay!
kaLLavarakkiyaimookkodu kaavalanaiththalaikoNdaay!
aLLin^eeveNNeyvizhunga anchaadhu_adiyEn_adiththEn
theLLiyan^eerilezhundha sengazhun^eersoottavaaraay.         5.

Oh Powerful One , who tore apart the beaks of the asuran (BakAsuran ) , who 
lay in wait for You to kill You at the banks of YamunA river ! Oh  
victorious One , who pulled out the tusks of the royal elephant of Kamsan 
and killed it during the occasion of the sports at the court of the 
deceitful uncle , Kamsan , who wanted to see You destroyd by his mighty 
elephant ! Oh  Just One, who cut off the nose of the insulting SoorpaNakA 
and the heads of her brother RavaNA , when they offended You with their evil 
acts ! Oh  my Lord , What a terrible injustice  have I done . While waiting 
to see You enjoy eating the stolen butter, I was overcome with anger at Your 
brazen act and hit You . Fie me ! After hitting You and suffering for my 
rash act , I wanted to protect You from
slander through Your engagement in similar butter stealing pranks in other 
people's houses. I want now to make up for my rash act and with overflowing  
affection for You , I am holding this lovely garland made up of red lilly 
flowers . Please do not be angry at me , come near and wear this special 
garland on Your tresses .

erudhukaLOduporudhi Edhum_ulOpaaykaaNn^ambi!
karudhiyatheemaikaLseydhu kanchanaikkaalkodupaayndhaay!
theruvin_kaNtheemaikaLseydhu sikkenamallar_kaLOdu
porudhuvarukinRaponnE! punnaippoochchoottavaaraay.          6.

Oh Lord who did not pay heed to the softness of Your limbs while You were 
intensely involved in gaining the hand of Nappinnai through Your subjugation 
of the seven mighty bulls ! You did not care at that time about what happens 
to Your limbs or life . Oh  Lord who has been
fulfilled though Your matchless love for Nappinnai ! You responded to Your 
uncle Kamsan's ill deeds and kicked him out of his throne with Your powerful 
feet .On the way to killing Your uncle , You killed the
washerman , who insulted You and took possession of the lovely clothes that 
he had frshly prepared for Kamsan . You broke the bow of Kamsan , killed his 
royal elephant and smashed the mighty  wrestlers of Kamsan's court , who 
wanted to harm You . At that time of Your mighty encounters at kamsan's 
court , Your valor shone like freshly melted gold . I want to join  that 
golden body of Yours with the gold-colored Punnai flowers . Please come near 
and let me decorate Your tresses with this
lovely yellow flowers .

kudangaLeduththERavittuk kooththaadavalla_em_kOvE!
madangoLmadhimukaththaarai maalseyyavalla_enmaindhaa!
idandhittu_iraNiyann^enchai irupiLavaakamun_keeNdaay!
kudandhaikkidandha_emkOvE! kurukkaththippoochchoottavaaraay.  7.

{ when the wealth of the Brahmins increases , they will show their joy by 
conducting Yaj~nAs for the well being of the universe and its beings . When 
the wealth of the shepherds increases , then they celebrate that blessing 
with " pot -dance  (kudak kUtthu ) " . They place earthern pots on their 
head , hands and shoulders and dance with skillful steps without dropping  
the pots .  This is a celebratory event ) .

Oh Lord who made the cowherd colony be blessed with undiminishing wealth 
through Your association with them ! You placed a row of pots on Your head , 
held one pot in each of Your hands and threw them up in the  air and caught 
them while engaged in sporting intricate steps .
Who can match Your dance that surpassed all the rules of Bharatha Naatyam ?

Oh Lord of our kulam ! Oh  my son who can enchant all the girls brimming 
with the beauty of full moon !O powerful One , who tore apart the mighty 
chest of HiraNyakasipu " protected " by the boons of lesser
Gods ! Oh  GOpAlA resting as ArchA mUrthy at Thirukkudanthai to bless us , 
who came after Your VibhavAvathAram as KrishNA ! Please come and
wear this garland of Kurukkatthi flowers .

seemaalikanavanOdu thOzhamaikoLLavumvallaay!
saamaaRu_avanain^eeyeNNich chakkaraththaalthalaikoNdaay!
aamaaRaRiyumpiraanE! aNiyarangaththEkidandhaay!
EmaaRRam_ennaiththavirththaay! iruvaatchippoochchoottavaaraay.  8.

( Sri Maalikan was  a boyhood friend of KrishNan and learned the handling  
of all kinds of weapons as a play mate.He became arrogant over his skills in 
the use of weapons and caused harm to people .
KrishNA was angry at him and at the same time did not wish to kill his 
friend . One day Sri Maalikan complained to his friend that He had not 
taught him how to handle the chakrAyudham . KrishNa replied that it is a 
tricky business and He Himself is not sure some times about how to handle 
that particular weapon .

Sri maalikan insisted however on being taught the use of Sudarsanam . The 
Lord decided then that it was the most appropriate occasion to punish his 
friend  for his erstwhile offenses . KrishNan threw the chakram in the air 
and received it back with one finger  and
warned His friend about the inherent dangers in handling that powerful 
weapon . Sri Maalikan did not heed the warning , threw the rotating chakram 
into the air and got  ready to receive it on his finger just like his friend 
demonstrated. He held however his finger too close to his neck .The 
returning Sudarsanam landed on his finger, but cut off his head that was too 
close to the receiving finger . PeriyAzhwAr
recalls here , the deft way in which the Lord protected His asritha janams 
and punished the offenders ) .

Oh Lord who taught a lesson to the offending friend , Sri Maalikan ! You cut 
off His head with Your chakram . Oh Lord resting at the beautiful temple at 
Srirangam  and engaged in the bhaktha samrakshaNam and dushta nigraham ( 
protection of Your devotees and the destruction
of their enemies ) ! You chose the great kshEthram  of Srirangam , where the 
righteous people live . With  that choice of Srirangam as Your place of 
residence , You allayed my anxieties over any harm coming Your way . Please 
come and wear this freshly blossomed
IruvAtchi flowers and make me happy !

aNdaththamarar_kaLsoozha aththaaNiyuLLangirundhaay!
thoNdar_kaLn^enchiluRaivaay! thoomalaraaLmaNavaaLaa!
uNdittu_ulakinaiyEzhum OraalilaiyilthuyilkoNdaay!
kaNdun^aan_unnaiyukakkak karumukaippoochchoottavaaraay.   9.

Oh Lord seated in splendorous Sri VaikunTam in the company of NithyasUris 
and Muktha Jeevans ! Oh Emperor , who rules over all the worlds ! Oh  dear 
One who prefers the hearts of Your devotees as even a better place for Your 
eternal residence compared to the glorious
Sri VaikunTam ! Oh  Lord of MahA Lakshmi seated on the Lotus flower !  Oh  
MaayAvi who hid the Universes in Your tiny stomach and floated on the waters 
of the ultimate deluge ( PraLayam ) as a little baby resting on a pupil leaf 
! Please come near me and make me happy by accepting
this KarumuhaippU garland for Your dark tresses .

seNbakamallikaiyOdu sengazhun^eer_iruvaatchi
eNpakar_poovumkoNarndhEn inRu_ivaisoottavaavenRu
maNpakar_koNdaanai aaychchimakizhndhuraiseydha_immaalai
paNpakarvillipuththoorkkOn pattar_piraan_sonnapaththE.  10.

Oh Lord I have assembled the SeNpaka flower that blossoms at early dawn , 
the others that blossom after sunrise ( Senkazhu neer and IruvAtcchi et al ) 
and the Jasmine flowers that blossom in the evening .
I have assembled all these flowers prescribed by saasthrAs for Your 
alankAram . I am desirous of decorating You, who took away  the earth and 
the sky from MahA Bali through a ruse during Your incarnation as
VaamanA and triviktramA  .

I would like to enjoy the bliss of Your mother YasOdhA Piratti at  
AayarpAdi, when she decorated Your beautiful hair  . The fruits of reciting 
these ten verses of mine --celebrating  the anubhavam of YasOdhA decorating 
her son's tresses with beautiful flowers-- are the gaining of the blissful 
experience ( RasAnubhavam ) of the blessed foster-Mother of our Lord GOpAlan 
. [Sri Satakopan mama had written in 1997 and I had only reproduced his 
wonderful translation of the same- Thanks for his permission]
PeriyAzhwAr ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam
Regards
Namo narayana
dAsan

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