nAcciyAr tirumozhi III-kaNNan's vastrApaharaNam 1

From the Bhakti List Archives

• August 7, 1998


                                         SrI:
                SrI ANDAL samEta SrI rangamannAr tiruvaDigaLE SaraNam

                   nAcciyAr tirumozhi III-kaNNan's vastrApaharaNam 
              pAsuram 3.1 (third tirumozhi - pAsuram 1 kOzhi azhaippadan)


A. Translation from SrImAn SaDagOpan's tamizh treatise:

ANDAL appeals to kaNNan: "Oh, kaNNA, who is indulged in yOga nittirai on 
AdiSesha! My friends and I came to the pond to do snAnam for performing our 
vratam before even the cock would crow.  The sun has now risen. We have 
finished our baths, and now stand insulted and very sad, finding that
you have stolen all our clothes.  It is getting very cold; we will not 
even come to this pond ever again.  My friend and I are praying to you: 
Please give us back our clothes and protect us!"

kOzhi azhaippadan munnam
  kuDaindu nIrADuvAn pOndOm,
Azhiyan celvan ezhundAn
 aRavaNai mEl paLLi koNDAi!
Ezhaimai ARRavum paTTOm
 ini enRum poigaikku vArOm
tozhiyum nAnum tozhudOm
 tugilaip paNittaruLAyE

B. Some additional thoughts:

As indicated earlier, this episode is based on the incidence described 
in SrImad bhAgavatam(skandam 10, chapter 22).  There is more elaborate detail 
there about how SrI kr*shNa won't give back the clothes as long as the girls 
were attempting to defend themselves, and only half-heartedly pleading with 
Him for His help.   It is only when they ultimately gave up that He 
helped them.  This reminds one of draupadi's vastrApaharaNam by 
duryodana's people, where as long as draupadi was trying to defend 
herself, there was no intervention by kr*shNa, and it was only when she 
gave up trying to protect herself and completely depended on kr*shNa 
that He came to her help. 

sarvam SrIman nArAyaNAyEti samarpayAmi.

adiyEn,
Kalyani Krishnamachari
(kkrishnamachari@lucent.com)