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govindhan gunam paadi aavi kaaththiruppen- post 7

From the Bhakti List Archives

M.G.Vasudevan • January 30, 2002 


Dear Srivaishnava perunthagaiyeer,

We were singing the veera guNam of gOvindhan -valour of that young krishna
who entered the kaaLiyan madu in river yamuna in the previous post. For him
it is veeram- valour. For the young krishna's parents, it is achcham - bayam
- fear- oh, what will happen to our child- that snake is mighty- our son is
a young boy, that too he has carried no arms to fight - unarmed- not even a
stick to beat the snake. Whether the snake can be beaten down for he was of
such a huge size is a different matter. 

See mother yasodha's reaction. See what she did or how she felt. This is
beautifully described by periyaazhvaar-
anchudar aazhi un kai agaththu Enthum azhagaa, nee poigai pukku
nanju umizh naagaththinOdu piNangavum naan uyir vaazhnthu irunthEn,
en seyya ennai vayiRu maRukkinaai, Edhum Or achcham illai
kanchan manaththukku ugappanavE seidhaai, kaayaamboo vaNNam koNdaai. 
3-3-6 periyaazhvaar thirumozhi

meaning: oh krishna, you, the blue flower coloured beauty, you are the one
who carries that beautiful wheel as your weapon [sudharsana chakram]. I
lived through that moment of fear, to hear that you entered the swirling
waters of yamuna, where the snake has spit a lot of poison.  I did not die
when I heard further that that snake twined you. May be, you are not afraid.
But, why you were born as my son, for I was almost dead when such things
happen. Your uncle kamsan was very happy to hear such news [which has
practically killed me].

Points: 
1.	Every word in this paasuram has been so nicely placed.  Blue
coloured krishna - That neelOthpala flower coloured lord. He is named again
as azhagaa- hey beauty personified. For any mother, her child is azhagan or
azhagi- beautiful one - proverb is also there -kaakkaikkum than kunju pon
kunju- for a black crow also her ward is a golden one.

2.	Uththamoor swamy puts it across for that kaayaamboo vaNNam koNdaai -
have you got this colour earlier itself? Or, is it a result of your having
entered that poisonous water - the snake poison changed your colour to that
blue- kaayaamboo vaNNam. A classic observation, statement, or
interpretation. 

3.	May be this interpretation he considered in his commentary, because
of the next word kaayaamboo vaNNam koNdaai - koNdaai- acquired - and not
kaayaamboo vaNNaa- which means he was born with that colour.

4.	Anchudar can be split as am + sudar which means azhagiya sudar -
azhagaana siriya thee- flame beautiful. what is that - fire is a beauty?
Yes, when a flame burns calmly without any big fuss about it, then it is
really beautiful like in a lamp - am sudar. The kuththuviLakku sudar in an
area where cross airflow is less - is peaceful and adding to the serenity of
the place - like in krishnan sannidhi- brings in a contemplating mood.
Kuththu viLakkeriya is in thiruppaavai. When this sudar - thee becomes
neruppu - big fire - becomes furious then only all the trouble. 

5.	Like wise the "am sudar aazhi" - the small beautiful flame emitting
wheel as long it is in the hands of the lord, it is beautiful and adds to
lord's beauty. 

6.	The makara kuNdalam - ear studs- dazzling in ears are also well lit
by this wheel and adds to the beauty of the chin of the lord. 

7.	Or does the wheel gets its beauty from your lotus hand, getting
reflected in the chin - oh krishna- please clarify.

8.	Further see words un kai agaththu Enthum - agam is the house - the
house for the wheel is his hand- garage for that wheel is his hand- Enthum-
gently supporting - not supporting with force- a beauty of a statement. 

9.	Mother says to lord "Hey, I lived after hearing you were simply
bound by that ferocious snake. Oh what a treacherous life- to think of
losing such a son and then why should I live?" That was her reaction. 

10.	In that mood continues Mother asks "en seyya ennai vayiRu
maRukkinaai" for what purpose you chose my stomach as your birthplace? For
having been born to me only all such bad things occur to you. Why I have not
died. You may be NOT afraid. But I die in fear repeatedly on the many news
of danger to you.

11.	For every moment you take a big risk, I die and get a rebirth after
seeing you are out of danger - frequently dying out of fear and then getting
that aanandham - happiness in knowing and seeing you are safe.

12.	When you do like this, it is the best for kamsan. He is very be
happy to see somebody else is able to kill you [rather the persons sent by
him]. Finally, Oh, krishna please stop doing such things.

The mother's anxiety is simply poured out. Periyaazhvaar has simply lived as
yasOdhai and painted exquisite picture of the mother's anxiety in this
verse. 

By this it is also clear that krishna was bound- second time. Mother
yasOdhaa bound him with rope in the mortar -dhaama udharan- dhaamOdharan- we
enjoyed this as kaNNa piraan peRRa veNNaik kalvi series. Now second time
bound by a snake- kaaLiya mardhanam series. 

Here is a krithi by sri annamaachaarya where in he says gOvindhan, that
krishna, standing in the hills on thiruvenkatam - is bound differently -see
how in the krithi- now enjoy the krithi and its meaning in the raaga
boopaalam

Pallavi: koNda vEla neththinathE gOvindhaa ninnu
koNdichEru yasOdhaku gOvindhaa  - koNda

anu pallavi : gollethala mokkEru gOvindhaa nee
kollala cheeralimmani gOvindhaa
gollu venna dhongilaga gOvindhaa ninnu
kolluna navvEru veerE gOvindhaa - koNda

charaNam 1 : gOvula kaachE vELa gOvindhaa pilla
gOvini valachiri gOvindhaa
gOvaaLulai yamunaalO gOvindhaa neeku
kOvaramunnaaruraa gOvindhaa - koNda

charanam 2: kollEti pullakindha gOvindha neethO
gottavaathai penagEru gOvindha
guttutho sri venkataadhri gOvindhaa koodi
kottana bettEru battithi gOvindhaa - koNda

Meaning: pallavi: oh, gOvindhaa, about you, who lifted the mountain
gOvardhanam on your little finger, the cowherd damsels are making petty
complaints to mother yasOdhaa. [See this word koNdilu which is a unique word
- colloquial- meaning petty]. 

Anupallavi: Oh gOvindhaa, all these cowherd girls did prostrate to you and
begged you for their dress, which you have stolen. But same girls of gOkulam
laughed loudly, when you were accused of having stolen butter [you pleaded
innocence but at the same time your mouth was full of butter].

CharaNam 1: oh gOvindhaa, at the time when you were grazing the cows in the
forest the gOpees and cows were attracted by your flute music, then they
started loving you on the banks of yamuna.

CharaNam 2: oh gOvindhaa in the uRiyadi game the cowherd boys had a tug of
war with you [penagulaata in telugu] hoping of winning the game against you.
In the end they imprisoned you under the aanandha nilaya vimaana in
thiruvEnkatam hills by their devotion, oh, gOvindhaa - now where will you
escape? Oh gOvindhaa.

See how many gOvindhaa naamam appear in this krithi. Also annamayya 's
unique way of linking gOvindhan and srinivasan so nicely. Just enjoy how
that veeram of gOvindhan and achcham fear of mother has transformed as a
child play for that gOvindhan in thiru venkatam in the end.

Dhasan

Vasudevan m.g.



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