Tiruppavai

Verse 7

According to the Indian calendar December-January is the month of maargazhi. On each day of maargazhi, one verse from Andal's divine poem, the Tiruppavai. is savored. Today's verse, "keecu keecu", is the sevent one of the work.

What I have presented is the surface meaning. Each verse can actually be understood in many poetic and profoundly philosophical ways.

keecu keecu

keecu keecu enRu engum aanaic caaththan * kalandhu 
pEsina pEccaravam kEttilaiyO pEyp peNNE *
kaasum piRappum kalakalappak kai pErththu *
vaasa naRuNGkuzhal aaycciyar * maththinaal
Osai paduththa thayiraravam kEttilaiyO *
naayakap peN piLLaay naaraayaNan moorththi *
kEsavanaip paadavum nee kEttE kidaththiyO *
dhEsamudaiyaay thiRavElOr embaavaay.

Translation

Word for Word meaning

``keecu keecu'' enRu    chirping sound (an onomatopoeia)
engum                   everywhere
aanaiccaaththan         birds of a particular type, known 
                        as "valiya" in Tamil or "bharadvAja"
                        in Sanskrit
kalandhu                together
pEsina pEccu            saying words, talking
aravam                  sound
kEttilaiyO              didn't you hear?
pEy peNNE               hey spellbound girl!

kaasum                  (garlands of) auspicious coins
piRappum                cylindrical golden jewelry
                        (two kinds of wedding necklaces)
kalakalappa             the jingling sound of ``kala kala''
                        (another onomatopoeia)
kai                     hands
pErththu                moving

vaasa naRum             very fragrant (lit. "fragrant fragrant")
kuzhal                  hair
aaycciyar               cow girls (gopikas)

maththinaal             using the churning rod
Osai paduththa          making noise
thayir                  yogurt
aravam                  sound
kEttilaiyO              don't you hear? 

nayaka                  leader
peN piLLaay!            O girl!
naaraayaNan             Narayana's
moorththi               descent (avatAra) (lit. form)

kEsavanai               about Kesava (one of the principal names of Narayana 
                                / Lord Vishnu)
paadavum                singing
nee                     you
kEttE                   even while listening
kidaththiyO             are you lying down?

dhEsam                  splendor (Sanskrit: tejas)
udaiyaay                you who are with
thiRa                   open (the door)
 

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