Verse 6 Word For Word Translation Commentary Errors |
Index 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 |
puLLum cilampina kaaN puLL araiyan kOyilil * Birds (are) chirping See ! birds (the) king (of) (in his) temple veLLai viLi caNGkin pEr aravam kEttilaiyO * white (used for) calling conch (it's) loud sound don't you hear piLLaay ezhun^thiraay pEy mulai naNY cuNtu * children wake up ! (From the) rakshasa's breast (HE who) poison ate , kaLLac cakatam kalakkazhiyak kaalOcci * (He who came as) fake wheel , (He who) destroyed (and) kicked (the enemy) veLLathth aravil thuyilamarn^tha viththinai * (He who lies) in the milk ocean (on the) snake in yogic sleep (the) source of all life uLLaththuk koNtu munivarkaLum yOkikaLum * (Into their) minds bringing (His name) saints (and) Yogis meLLa ezhun^thu "ari" enRa pEr aravam * slowly waking (and) Hari saying (this) great sound (has) uLLam pukun^thu kuLirn^thu (in our) hearts entered (and) made (us) calm El Or empaavaay Come (Let us do) (the penance of) paavai nOmbu
Awaken , Oh Young girl! Even the birds have woken up and are chirping about
the arrival of the morning. Don't You hear the loud and sacred sound from the
white conch being blown at the temple of our Lord , who rides on the divine
GarudA ? Oh Young girl ! Wake up! The Yogis and Sages with minds known
for uninterrupted contemplation of our great Lord celebrated for His
adhbhutha leelais such as:
(1) destroying evil Poothanai by suckling her poisonous milk-bearing breast and at the same time sucking her life away
(2) destroying a cunning asuran , who came in the form of a cart by splintering him into pieces with a swift kick from His tiny (baby) toe .
He (Our Lord) is the primal cause of the whole Universe. He sleeps on AdhisEshan in Yoga NidhrA at the milky ocean. The Yogis and sages have now come out of their meditation slowly and are reciting the name of Lord Hari loudly for seven times. The crescendo of that Hari Naama UccharaNam resounds like thunder and enters into our hearts and pleases us. Does not that aravam enter your heart too? Oh Young girl! Please Awaken and join us in the nOnbhu !
Commentary By Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchari Sadagopan
From the sixth to the fifteenth paasuram ,Bhaagaavtha ThirupaLLiyezucchi (awakening of the devotees of Lord Krishna )are covered. Ten important bhakthais deeply involved with KrishNa anubhavam are woken up to participate in the Paavai nOnbhu. Each of the Ten important devotees of KrishNa are awakened with one paasuram (6-15). In this sixth paasuram, the first one to be awakened is a young Gopi , who is a novice in devotion to and love for KrishNa. She does not know the difference between Bhagavath and Bhaagavatha anubhavam due to her youth (JananyAcchAr)."yEka svAdhu bhunjItha, bhunjItha cha dasabhi: saha" says Saasthram.
The parama bhOgya vasthus should not be enjoyed alone. They must be enjoyed with
tens (many) people" .If that were so for worldly pleasures , then the
enjoyment of the greatest of pleasures -- enjoyment of the anantha kalyANa
guNams of the Lord-- must be done with thousands of like-minded adiyArs of the
Lord. Swamy NammAzhwAr refers to the same, when he describes the
aananthAnubhavam of perumAL sEvai at Sri Vaikuntam: " vanthavaethir koLLa
maamaNi maNTapatthu, anthamil pErinbatthu ADIYORADI IRUNTHAMAI"
(Sri PBA Swamy anubhavam).
Therefore ANDAL and Gopis awaken many represented by the level of spiritual perfection of this Gopi to join in the enjoyment of Bhagavath GuNAnubhavam and Kaimkaryam to Him.
The Inner Meanings of this Paasuram
PuLLum Silampina KaaNN |
The Lord who took HamsAvathAram and the bird like AchAryAs (Parama HamsAs) , who have received His anugraham , are performing upadEsam for us now. |
PuLLarayan Koil | For us like Pakshis (little birds) and Pasus (helpless Janthus), that one ,(white conch) present in the ashtAkshara roopa temple of the Lord (is blowing) |
VeLLai ViLI Sankham | That one (Sankham), which is the embodiment of satthva guNam and which instructs us on all the rahasyArthams (is sounding). |
pEr aravam kEttilayO? | Haven't you heard of that majestic naatham of the white conch ? Its
sound delivers us the message : (1) EmperumAn is Sarva-Seshi, the Supreme Lord (Swami) of us all (2)We, the chEthanams, are His seshans (eternal servants). Haven't you heard that uplifting message? |
PiLLAi YezhunthirAi | Please discard your childish attitude that the Supreme Lord and You are one and the same and gain true knowledge about Your Master-servant relationship with Him and awaken ! |
pEy mulai nanjunDu | Of those (AchAryAs), who destroy the avidhyai named Poothanai, which is the cause of ahankAram and mamakAram in us |
kaLLa chakatam kalakka azhiya kaal Occhi |
Of those (AchAryAs),who control and prevent our body (cart)drawn by the indriyAs from running in destructive directions thru their intervention |
VeLLattharavil Thyuil amarntha |
Of those(AchAryAs),who do not have any desire of swimming in the samsAra saagaram full of fierce snakes(Taapams) |
Vitthinai | Of those great (AchAryAs) , who set us on our journey in the Moksha maargam(path) by being the seed of AchAram & anushtAnam |
uLLatthil koNDu MunivarkaLum YogikaLum mella Yezhunthu |
meditating on them (on those AchAryAs), the two kinds of prapannAs recognize clearly their insufficiencies to practise Bhakthi Yogam (One kind of prapannan is known for Bhagavath guNAnubhavan and the other known for Kainkarya anubhavam or Karma yOga nishtai ). |
Hari YenRa pEraravam | approach the Lord and loudly request Him to eliminate the Paapams and PuNyams , which are the seeds of SamsAric afflictions (approach AchAryan as Moksha bheeja BhUthan) |
uLLam Puhunthu | That aartha naatham (sufferer's loud cry) of the PrapannAs entered through the Lord's (AchAryA's) ears and reached His (their)heart(s). |
KuLirnthu | That sound reaching the Lord's heart made Him happy and contented; That anubhavam of the Lord (Achaaryan) made Him PrasAdha-Visishtan for us. Hearing this uplifting message and its effect on our Lord (AchAryan), Oh Girl, please awaken and join in the Nonbhu ! |
Special comments on Individual words of Paasuram
A. The addressing of the Gopi Here as "PiLLAi"
Four Views:
(1) This Gopi being awakened is a novice in Bhagavath-BHAgavatha anubhavam .The highest among the bhakthAs of the Lord is the One , who has Bhaagavatha Bhakthi (devotion to the Lord's devotees). This Gopi is not there yet and She has PiLLaitthanam ( attributes of a novitiate).Her BhAgavatha Bhakthi is not ripe and needs growing . Hence , She is addressed as PiLLAI (Sri PeruKKaraNai Swamy).
(2) The young ones do not know kapatam; they are not adept in the wily ways of life. It is a guNa visEsham of youngsters. Therefore, this Gopi is addressed as "PiLLAi"...Sri PBA Swamy
(3)Our AchAryAs are also addressed as Vadakku Thiruveethi PiLLai, Periya VaacchAn PiLLai, NampiLLai. In this context, this Gopi who is good as a youngster in grasping , preserving and growing Bhagavath anubhavam (GrahaNa DhAraNa pOshana padur Baala:) is given a place of respect by being addressed as "PiLLAi"...Sri PBA Swamy
(4) Oh Gopi! You are new to Bhagaathanubhavam. Therefore this sleep has enwrapped you. Please cast aside this slumber of PiLLaittanam (youth) and make an effort to grow further in Bhagavathanubhavam . Please grow up in anubhava rasam and become adhikAri in Bhagaavth anubhavam by joining this group singing the Lord's ThirunAmams.--Sri UtthamUr Swamy
B. Inner meanings of the Other phrases of the 6th Paasuram
Abhinava Desika Sri UtthamUr Swamy's anubhavam:
(1) PuLLarayan Koil= Thirumanthram (AshtAksharam), the place of preferred rsidence (Koil) of the Lord.
(2) Sanghu = The Conch there (at that temple ) is PraNavam .
(3) Inn (ViLi Sankhu+inn ) = Iniya(Sweet) sound of NaarAyaNa padham in AshtAksharam.
(4) VeLLai= Satthva guNam. "VeLlai ViLi sankhin Peraravam KettilayO?" = Haven't you heard yet the rahasyArthams of the sweetest manthram arising from the sankha dhavni?
(5) pEy mulai nanjunDu= pEy is Moola prakruthi; its mulai (breasts) are bhuddhi and ahamkAram; nanju = the dhOshams arising from them.
(6) KaLLa sakatam kalakkazhiya KaalOcchi= Sakatam is manOratham (abhilAshai); That sakatam unless directed towards the Lord is stealthy and defective ( sthEna mana: anrutha vaadhini vaak--Vedam). Kalakkazhippathu in this context is the growth of vairAgyam to eliminate the KaLLatthanam (stealthiness) of anrutha Vaak ( untrue talk).
(7) VeLLattharavu = SamsAra BhOga pravAham
(8) Thuyil amarvathu = dircting the mind away from those dhukkham causing Bhogams
(9) Vithtinai ULLatthu kONDu = by treasuring that Koota-sthAna AchAryan/Bhagavaan deep in mind and meditating with preethi. "ULLatthuk KoNDu": When we get up, we uter the ame of Hari, when we start travel, we say KesavA , when we eat we say GovindhA and whenw e are about to sleep, we say MadhavA". Lord is kept in the heart and meditated upon by Munis and Yogis.
(10) meLLa Yezhunthu: Hari yenRa pEraravam = arising slowly with the recitation of the name of Hari ( One who removes our aj~nAnam and Viparitha Jn~Anam completely) . That Hari naama sankIrthanam has swelled up to a loud ghOsham. Hari's naama mahimai has been celebrated by Haryashtakam of PrahlAdhan : "Taani sarvANi asEshANi Harir ithi akshara Dhvyam".
Sri Venkat (adiyen) Iyengar of Baharain has audio files of the ThiruvallikkENI GOshti headed by Sriman M.A. VenkataKrishNan Swamy reciting melodiously the Paasurams of ThiruppAvai in the most traditional manner. Please click here (GodaStuti, tpavai 1, tpavai 2, tpavai 3) to listen to them.
Soodikkoduttha NaacchiyAr ThiruvadigaLE Saranam ,
Sarvam KrushNArpanam asthu
RaamAnuja Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri
SatakOpan
Article by Shriman Sadagopan Iyengar of Chennai:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bhakti-list/message/16883
This is the month of Margazhi, with a pleasant chill in the air. Getting up in the morning, which is difficult even in normal times, is even more difficult as you feel like snuggling deeper into your bed, with the blanket covering you from head to foot. It takes a lot of will power to shake off sleep and lethargy and to rise and shine. If we at all get up, we must thank our Alarm Clock for the courtesy, for if it doesn't shake us out of slumber with its shrill cry, we would probably sleep on and on. There are of course those of us who religiously set the alarm to the desired time, and when it goes off, just silence it and sleep on. This is our fate when modern chronometric devices like the Alarm Clock are available. In the good old days, when time was measured by the position of the Sun and the stars, what would people have done for waking up in time, especially before Sunrise?
For the most part, people seem to have relied on their biological clock, which would jog them to wakefulness automatically at a particular time. Once the body is accustomed to doing certain things at fixed times, it gets into the groove and gets ready for them involuntarily, without any conscious effort on their part. However, such biological clocks do not work for everybody, and especially when you are tired, the body's compensating mechanism lets you sleep longer to shake off fatigue. On such occasions, the biological clock is not much reliable.
Realising our difficulty, the Lord, in His infinite mercy, has created beings like birds and animals which come awake much before we do and give us a wake-up call too. These are extremely reliable and regular and don't oversleep like us. A few of these find a mention in Tiruppavai and Tiruppalliezucchi.
"PuLLum silambina kAN" says Sri Andal, pointing out that the birds have begun their day, chirping merrily and waking up human beings deep in slumber, with their sweet warbling.
Though this is a thing of the past in the urbanised environment where all birds and animals have been banished to make room for the ubiquitous human being, people in the villages wake up even today to the melodious twitter of our feathered friends. Coming awake to the accompaniment of this memorable music is an experience by itself, which only those who are familiar with it would be able to appreciate. To the untrained ear, the cheep-cheep of these birds might sound like unintelligible babble, but to the ardent devotee it would be amply clear that the birds are indeed uttering the Bhagavan nAma in their own tongue. If we listen keenly, we might find in it resemblance to several of the Lord's haloed names. And even if we are unable to discern such exalted strains in these sounds, if we remember that all words and all sounds ultimately indicate the Lord and His gunAs, we would be convinced that the apparently meaningless (to us) gibberish that we hear from birds is indeed Bhagavan-nAma.
Even if we were to ignore birds prattling away in unknown tongues, we find parrots explicitly and succinctly uttering the Lord's names, which they come to hear often or are taught. The author of Sri Venkatesa Suprabhatam describes how the parrots of Tirumala, immediately after waking up and fortifying themselves with a breakfast of leftover fruit, start chanting "Good Morning, Milord!' (SrI VEnkatAchalapathE tava suprabhAtam"), much before the human devotees do.
"Koottil irundu KiLi
eppOdum Govinda Govinda endru azhaikkum
oottakkodAdu seruppan Agil UlagalandAn endru uyara koovum"
- thus says Sri Kodai in Nacchiar Tirumozhi, confirming the propensity of her parrots to chant the Lord's names always, even when they are battling with hunger. The words "uyara koovum" indicate a Shastra-arttha -- while uttering the Lord's names or reciting stotras, we should do so loudly and not just mumble. By a loud recitation, not only is our tongue engaged in kainkaryam but our ears too, as they get to hear the chanted tiru-namams. And it benefits not only ourselves, but also whoever is within hearing distance. Thus the manner of reciting stotras is to do it unabashedly, audibly and in ringing tones, as the conduct of Sri Andal's parrots would show.
It is not merely the parrots that announce the daybreak, but a host of other birds too -- for instance the "Anaic-chAtthan" ("Keesu keesu endrengum AnaicchAtthan kalandu pEsina pEccharavam"), the Cuckoo ("Madhavi pandal mEl palkAl kuyilinangaL koovina kAN") and hens and cocks (" vandu engum kOzhi azhaitthana kAN"). Sri Tondaradippodi Azhvaar too confirms the chorus of birds at the crack of dawn -"Pulambina putkaLum poompozhilgaLin vAi".
There are the hard-to-wake sleepers who are quite capable of sleeping through birdsong, for their snores would easily drown the reedy voices of birds. How to get through to such descendants of KumbhakarNa? Sri Andal says that Nandagokulam is equipped for this difficult task, too. TiruvAippAdi is full of healthy buffaloes, which call their progeny to feed early in the morning. In their anxiety to wake their own calves, the buffaloes moo in stentorian voices, waking up everybody in the vicinity, willy-nilly. All they do is just clearing their throats noisily and, lo! the concerted effort of these hefty creatures creates a roar, which is difficult to sleep through -- "Kanaitthu iLam kattr-erumai".
Adding to this racket is the raucous and shrill "music" issuing from the flutes of young cowherds taking their bovine charges out for grazing. Inspired by the delectable strains of Sri Krishna's kuzhal, these cowherds too try their hands at it, with mixed results. The resultant din is enough by itself to wake up the soundest sleeper.
As if all this were not enough, the early-rising Yadava ladies churning curds for butter with wooden implements fills the air with a clamour ("Aycchiar matthinAl Osai paduttha tayir aravam kEttilayO"). One might think lightly of the noise of curds being churned. However, imagine this operation being carried out in all homes simultaneously at TiruvAippAdi, and you have a tremendous body of sound, to which the numerous bangles adorning the wrists of Gopis add their own music due to the constant movement of the owners' shapely hands. Women are generally not known for their reticence (with due apologies to the lady readers) and the Gopis are no exception. While their hands are busy with churning, they exchange pleasantries with one another and swap tales of Sri Krishna's latest misdemeanour, all of which adds up to a tidy volume. According to one version, the cumulative uproar was enough to pervade Sri Vaikuntam - " udgAyateenAm aravinda lOchanam vrajAnganAnAm dhivam asprusat dhvani:"
The moment we come awake, we are supposed to sit up gently in bed and chant the Hari nAma seven times, meditating on the Lord and His attributes. What a wonderful chorus this would make if hundreds of people, holy men that too, were to chant "Hari: Hari:" simultaneously! Would this not be enough to enter the ears of even sound sleepers and wake them up instantly? This incredibly sweet and sanctifying BhagavannAma samkIrtanam enters not only the ears but the soul too and cures one of all maladies, says Sri Andal-
"munivargaLum YOgigaLum
meLLa ezhundhu ari endra pEraravam uLLam pugundhu kuLirndu".
The reference to "KuLirundhu" indicates that Hari nAma
samkIrtanam cures one of the three
types of heats (Tapatrayam" -- AdhyAtmikam, Adhidaivikam
and Adhibhoutikam.
The concerted boom of the conches being blown in various temples of the Lord, inviting the devout for the morning prayers, ensures that any stragglers sticking to their beds despite all the aforesaid uproar leap out and get ready for Bhagavat kaimkaryam.
We really envy the inhabitants of Gokulam. What pleasant days they must have had, waking up day after day to the music of birds, bees, buffaloes, jingling bangles, devotional songs in the Lord's praise, nAma samkIrtanam and conch-blowing! With all this auspicious beginning, it is little wonder that their days and lives were peaceful and prosperous, with disharmony and disgruntlement totally unknown to anyone. And after waking up, they could look forward to spending the day in the enthralling company of Sri Krishna, who was everything to everybody.
We do wish, with overwhelming wistfulness, that we didn't have to wake-up tomorrow to the piercingly strident tones of the Alarm Clock.
Srimate Sri LakshmINrsimha
divya paduka sevaka
SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana Yatindra Mahadesikaya Nama:
Dasan, sadagopan.